PSIV: Beneath a New Light. (I'M BACK...with a bang!)

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Postby HTD » Wed Nov 03, 2010 1:17 pm

*cough* Language System *cough*
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Postby Wing-0 » Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:42 pm

Regarding Gryz, I don't think that he has to be a racial issues character to make him more interesting.

Gryz had some other characteristics that can make him an interesting character. For starters, he took care of his little sister a lot. Also, Motavians always seemed to me to like tinkering with machines, technology and stuff. In PS2, there were the Motavians who restored the vehicle that you could get at Roron. In PS4, the Motavians are the only ones who process titanium, which effectively makes them more advanced in metalworking.

Also, being a Motavian, Gryz is rather short, yet he sometimes dishes a good amount of damage. Using your imagination, you can find something to add.

Honestly, in the original, Gryz was the character that I felt was the least developed, but always had a big potential to be one of the most interesting characters around.
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Postby Tanith » Thu Nov 04, 2010 2:28 am

WING-0 wrote:Also, Motavians always seemed to me to like tinkering with machines, technology and stuff. In PS2, there were the Motavians who restored the vehicle that you could get at Roron. In PS4, the Motavians are the only ones who process titanium, which effectively makes them more advanced in metalworking.
Very true, and I wish Sega had expanded on this. Combine Motavian's mechanical and metallurgy skills with the fact that Motavia was their planet for much longer than Palman colonization--and thus might be more in tune with the geography and nature of Motavia--and you have yourself an interesting race of characters.

Plus, you could expand on Motavian physiology: Advanced sight (aren't their red eyes protection against intense radiation?), advanced hearing, advanced strength for their stature (like Wing-0 mentioned), etc. All of that could be useful, not necessarily all for battle, but for script as well.
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Postby Wing-0 » Thu Nov 04, 2010 3:06 am

Yes, that's correct. More details can enrich the fictional world further, which in my case only makes the experience more entertaining.
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Postby lyla2284 » Thu Nov 04, 2010 7:30 am

Hmm... interesting ideas going on here. Really, this is the kind of feedback I need. At the other site, all I got was as, Tanith put it, blatant-brownosing. I think, that out of all the posts there, I only got a few mentionable posts about my game ideas. Over here, you guys aren't afraid to criticize, and that's what I respect.

Love those ideas about the Motavians. Who knows, maybe Gryz will actually get some fans now. ;)

Quick graphical update: My maps were far too big in the previous demos. Here's what I'm aiming for now.

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Piata. It's much smaller now, but it looks far better than my previous maps.

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Interiors are smaller and more homey-looking as well now. And the chibi-sprites are back. Always loved them. :)

The only challenge here will be to balance out the battles. I'm aiming for a hard, but fun to play game. Based off the comments so far, it's hard ( make that very hard ) and no fun at all. RMXP by default doesn't work with low-numbers, and I had to adjust every enemy's setting accordingly.

Any ideas on how to make my battles fun and challenging?
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Postby Wing-0 » Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:02 am

No. Most of us are RPG Maker XP illiterate. I'd suggest going to the actual community and asking there. That, I think, would be your best bet.

The only idea I can actually contribute would be to implement a certain technique being more effective on a certain boss/type of enemy.

Examples:

Dark Force: Raja's St. Fire -- Why? Dark Force is sort of a dark attribute (if it can be called that) monster. Raja's a priest. Natural enemies.

Locust/Grass Assassin: Foi series -- Why? Locusts are insectoids. Insects don't really like fire in real life.

I think you can take it from there.
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Postby Wing-0 » Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:24 am

One other suggestion. You gotta decide on maps for towns, etcetera that you like and stick to them, then go to the next step. While I think that smaller maps are better (the ones I saw before were freakin' huge), don't make them THAT small. Think of a size that is easy for both you to work with and for the player.

As an example, there is a certain RPG I like called Dragoneer's Aria on the PSP that is relatively fun, but the freaking towns are HUGE, and the character, while running at a human speed, reminds me each and every time I'm in the main city, why I LOATHE going to buy groceries.

Every damn time I need to buy items in that city, I have to run ALL that damned distance to buy a few potions and return to raising experience.

I dunno about other people, but that crushes my... AHEM... you know... It takes the enjoyment out of the game...

So long story short, do try to balance eye candy with functionality.

Bigger isn't always better.

Damn, gotta stop watching Panty & Stocking before going to bed... My analogies start having a double meaning...
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Postby meteor9 » Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:28 am

XP's default stat system IS pretty ridiculous. It's what I'm working with currently for mine and Black Waltz's game, and aside from some dungeon maps and most of the main hub-town, there's naught much else. And XP's wonky stats are the biggest deterrent. I mean, seriously, I've sat down and worked out 2 basic enemies and one (joke) boss, and with characters ranging from level 1 to 100 I've got both parties still missing on occasion. (Granted, when they DO hit the 100's one shot the boss and break it's HP based scripting, but, er, yeah.)


Fairly certain there's mods/scripts out there to change it, but I haven't found one that struck me yet.
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Postby lyla2284 » Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:19 am

You are right about XP's default stat system, meteor. I mean, the default hero Aluxes/Arshes ( whatver ) starts off with over 700 HP at lvl 1.. !! Man, I doubt even the early Final Fantasy games starting stats were that high.

Nope, XP clearly isn't geared towards low numbers.

@Wing: The maps are decent-sized. Not too small, not too big. I work on small areas at a time to get the player's viewpoint into perspective. I learnt a couple of mapping tricks over at the RMXP/VX forums. They suggest using small maps for rooms and such ( for that afore-mentioned homely feel, I know for a fact that my previous maps, were as you stated, freaking huge, and I do agree.) It just appeared empty and lacking atmosphere ( one of the most NB points to consider when mapping ).

With regards to battles. Yes, I already have implemented weak/strong elements against bio-monsters and mechas. Like Gryz's Zonde skill ( electricity ) and the Grantz Blade ( also with a Zonde attribute ) to work well against those pesky mechs. We all know that the sandworms are weak against ice, so Hahn's Frozen Miasma and Gryz's Ice Buster OverDrive skills do killer damage against them.

I was also thinking of making custom weapons that only a Motavian hermit is capable of forging ( thus bringing in their knowledge of both metal-working and technology to the fore). Gryz could play an important part here as well, seeing as he and Dorin are the only people that knows his location.

Only catch here is that Gryz is thorougly mistrustful of both Alys and Hahn. I'm going to re-write that scene where they meet him and well... you can guess the rest. It will encourage character development as well between the three. Since Alys and Hahn have no intention of confronting Zio ( hell, they don't even know who he is by this point ), Gryz's reason for accompanying the duo will be very different. He only grudgingly agrees to help with the search for the Alshline. How about when he leaves the group and goes about on his own ( granted it will make the game much harder with only Alys and Hahn in your party ), since Gryz doesn't trust them well enough to 'tag along'. Honestly, the tagging along thing in IV irked me the most.

"Duuuuh, okay, Dorrin. Gryz take purdy lady and fwends down to basement for happy magic liquid. *after getting alshline* HAY GUYZ, Gryz come along and smash, too?"
Tanith, you made me laugh there. :D

Happy magic liquid... LOL.
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Postby Tanith » Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:35 am

lyla2284 wrote:He only grudgingly agrees to help with the search for the Alshline.

Don't spoil it if you don't want to, but what's the hook to get him to escort Alys and Hahn for alshline now that there's no Zio revenge factor? Just out of the goodness of wanting to unfreeze innocent people? (Nothing wrong with that; just wonderin'.)

If you're building Gryz's character more thoroughly, then honestly it would be kind of fun for him to stay with the group. I don't know what reason you could use, maybe there's something else threatening Molcum (does it exist in your game?) or Tonoe.

Oh! Oh! What if Pana went missing?
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Postby lyla2284 » Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:53 am

I'm racking my brains now as well to give Gryz another motive for actually joining the group other than the 'revenge' factor. As of writing this post, I haven't actually changed the current script in my game, they are merely suggestions. But the revenge trope works well for Gryz. He does have every reason to kill Zio, you know. And I suppose it's through Gryz ( and NOT Rune ) that Alys and Hahn find out who Zio really is.

After all, Rune isn't the arrogant, know-it-all bastard like he was in IV, after all. ;) Overpowered as well. He no longer joins the group at lvl 17, but rather, lvl 12. ^^

Pana goes missing? Hmm... Or perhaps Dorin falling ill? So many ideas to develop Gryz. I'm going to try and focus on him for the first bit of the game ( since Alys and Hahn are permanent characters ).
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Postby The PS Logo » Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:34 pm

In my first post, Lyla, I didn't suggest that because I wanted to see it, I suggested that because I know you don't like Chaz. ;)

Since, in your game, Juza takes Zio's place as the first major boss, Does Zio take LaShiec's place, or does he appear after LaShiec? I'd also like to see how you have handled the three Dark Force fights too. :)

As for developing Gryz, May I make a suggestion?
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Postby lyla2284 » Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:31 am

Zio does not take Lassic's place, and Lassic still appears in my game ( that guy has always been a fan favourite ). The only problem would be to develop Juza's character ( that guy only had one piece of dialogue in the entire game, so it may prove to be a bit troublesome), into a believable boss-type enemy.

As for Gryz, of course you may make a suggestion. I'm open to new ideas, you know. :)

And yeah, my dislike of Shorty is pretty... er... legendary. Everyone knows I hate him. ^^
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Postby The PS Logo » Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:31 am

I think Juza wouldn't be too hard to develop. Him being Zio's right hand man and completely loyal to Zio would make him a real threat as he would do anything to stop the heros from reaching Zio.

If Zio still destroys Molcum, then Gryz would be in the team longer. Suppose that, when the team beats Juza, Juza drops a crystal. Gryz picks it up and acquires powers similar to Seth in the original. However, using said powers makes Dorin rather ill and only eradicating the dark power would save him. Defeating LaShiec would give Dorin more time. Perhaps Zio kidnaps Pana in order to kill Gryz, but the ending would depend on whether Zio dies or becomes an ally (since you suggested that Zio may become a playable character).

A legendary dislike should have a legendary scene in the game ;) like this:
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Do you also hate Rika? :P
Last edited by The PS Logo on Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby HTD » Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:46 am

The PS Logo wrote:A legendary dislike should have a legendary scene in the game ;) like this:
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Do you also hate Rika? :P


Brilliant XP
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