[VX] Final Fantasy IV-II: Skill Demo Here!

EvilM00s · September 04, 2009, 03:02:22 AM

Less buggy Demo 5.0 coming soon!

[mp3]http://rmrk.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=34656.0;attach=19860[/mp3]

"It was like any other day in the Feymarch. I had audience with His and Her Majesty.I went to my room for research. Some of my friends stopped in to wish me well. I ate my midday meal. And then... I'm still not sure what happened next.

"All I know for certain is that the next instant I was somewhere else. Magical energies coruscated around me, burning my skin like fire. Then they invaded my mind, tearing, ripping, shredding my memories. Not just the magic, although that, I found later, was stolen from me too. The very memories surrounding the spells were gone! My friends, my mother, the Feymarch, Mist... everything and everyone I loved, gone... and I was powerless to stop any of it."
-Rydia

The Plot
[spoiler]Rydia finds herself in a strange place, apparently summoned by an unknown wizard. She is locked in the dungeon but escapes, aided by a friendly knight. He helps her find out why the antagonist summoned her here and why she can't remember her spells. She finds more people willing to help her recover her memories and finds herself leading a rebellion against a tyrant, who was the wizard that brought her here in the first place... Meanwhile, the tyrant's ambition spreads and threatens to enslave the country of Canopus and her neighboring kingdoms of Spinnaker and Oakhaven, home of the elves. The heroes find that political power is not the main goal of his conquests as mages from all over the globe are kidnapped and never heard from again. What else could he be after? [/spoiler]

The Characters
[spoiler]Rydia the Caller

Young but not so naiive anymore, Rydia is a stranger in a strange land. She has been stripped of most of her spells, and wants to know why this has been done to her. During the game, she will re-learn some very powerful Black Magic and Summon Spells, but the most powerful spells are hidden away in very dangerous places- some not of this world at all.

Lazarus, the Holy Knight

A knight in training who offers to help Rydia escape Bintel Castle's dungeon. Selfless and compassionate, he is a champion of all good causes. He is a stout warrior whose Holy Sword skills can turn the tide of battle, but his true strength is in his ability to use some common White Magic spells which will carry the party through in the earlier stages.

Tividar, the Divine Knight

Lazarus' teacher and master of the Mighty Sword. He is a lieutenent in a rebellion against the master of Bintel. He is a connsumate warrior, tough enough to withstand a lot of punishment. While not a spellcaster, per se, he wears heavy armour and wields some of the most devastating weaponry the world knows.

Matilda the Toadwitch

Her head is full of equal parts sunshine, bats, and self-rising cake flour. The source of much comedic relief, Mattie can still muster enough magic to be an asset to any party. Toadmagic combines some traditional status spells with lower/mid level damage spells. Not a big skillset, but fun to play with... and she makes delicious baked goods, some of which have lasting effects.

Mornay, the Alchemist

Another odd young soul. The orphanage says he grew up by the chocobo stables. Makes sense, he only speaks chocobo.
While presenting the appearance of a naiive, even childlike individual, Mornay is a talented Alchemist as well as an inventor. He won't ever be on the front line of combat, but if supported well his Tools and Alchemy just might save your bacon.

Shandril, the Geomancer

An elf ranger, she has some "off-element" spell ability. She is passionate about reclaiming her homeland from the supernatural rot which is destroying the life around Oakhaven. She is sometimes seen as cruel, though if you ask her she is simply intolerant of evil. Although somewhat fragile, this lithe huntress has quite a deadly sting, whether wielding bow, dual blades, or calling upon the fury of Nature herself.

Donal,The White Wizard

A Prince of Bintel, he is the main insurgent against Prince Bartuc of Canopus. Older and wiser than the other characters, but not frail. His willingness to to forgive even villains is sometimes a sore point in his dealings with the other characters. White Magic is his strength and mainstay, and often that of the party, as well.

]"Ginsu Jim" Yojimbo Gin Soo Yoshitsuna

A teacher of unarmed fighting. His country refuses to participate in what they see as petty politics, but "Jim" sees wisdom in following the heroes. Despite his age, his body is a finely tuned machine, able to break stone with his bare hands. He needs little in the way of weaponry or armour, and his combat prowess is nearly legendary in his country. He is also quite the gentleman with impeccable manners.

Lucy, the Psion

The Librarian of Andretta City. Blind since birth, she posesses mental abilities that can stun, cripple or even destroy. She will sometimes say the strangest things that prove useful later... if you can figure out what she's talking about. Though she does not use physical weapons, her psionic strength will amaze you and devastate your enemies.

Jander, the Dragoon

A true soldier, he is calm under pressure and willing to go to any lengths to carry out his sworn duty of protecting Spinnaker and her people. He is proficient with the Dragoon's signature attack, the Jump skill, and can learn how to use other skills as well.

Who's that man in the black hat? I smell livestock! You look like a bad guy... Was that a Dwarf? Are we being followed? You can do what with a sword?
Even more characters await your discovery in this world!
[/spoiler]

Screenshots

[spoiler]Bintel Castle's Dungeon[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Wayland town
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Bintel Castle's Interior [spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Rydia, Tividar and Lazarus in secret [spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Jander using his Jump attack[spoiler]

[mp3]http://rmrk.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=34656.0;attach=19861[/mp3][/spoiler][/spoiler]

A Short Intro Video
[spoiler]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wEn3vHq07U&feature=youtu.be[/yt]

[/spoiler]

Game Features
[spoiler]
Many characters to choose from!
Ten main storyline characters and six not-so-obvious characters round out the cast of heroes.

Character sprites subject to change by final version

A variety of classes!
From good old standards like the Caller, White Wizard and Dragoon to less common types such as Geomancers, Alchemists and the esoteric Toadwitch, you are sure to find a party to suit your style of adventuring.

Customisable Menu Interface!
Don't like the default windowskin? Change it! Want a different font? Included are several attractive fonts to mix things up a bit.

12 skins and 10 fonts are included

Create your own potions, tools, and many other battle use items!
Use acquired reagents and alchemy to mix up some really useful recovery items, and even some one-use, permanent stat boosters. Be the first to discover the formula for Omegalixir, or the recipie for Power Pot Roast.

Travel the globe in style!
Use a 3-mast ship or even the legendary lighter-than-air balloon to reach your destinations. Be careful, though, some vehicles are easier to park than others...

Secrets, easter eggs and hidden stuff!
Find all kinds of treasures and ancient places off the beaten path, like the Grave of Erdrick, The M00s Den, the sword Joyeuse, and the Tail Collector's House. Use artifact weapons against overwhelmingly powerful monsters forgotten by all. Find gateways to other worlds.

MINI GAMES!
Break up the grind by solving puzzles and mini games scattered throughout the globe.

Monster Journal Deluxe!
Various scan spells of escalating power add similarly escalating information to a menu-accessible bestiary. Now you don't need to keep scanning an enemy to see what your party already knows.

More information is availabe with stronger spells

Music by Nobuo Uematsu and art by Yoshitaka Amano!
The BGM's and face art should really conjure up the atmosphere of the Final Fantasy franchise's earlier days.

In depth skill descriptions, after-battle reports, and much more!

[mp3]http://rmrk.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=34656.0;attach=19862[/mp3]

Experience and loot screen[/spoiler]

Credits
[spoiler]Yanfly, ahref, Modern Algebra, KGC, Rubymatt, Pacman for scripting; all the scripters involved in the Tankentai SBS 3.3, such as Kylock, Mr.Bubble, and of course Tankentai; SD Arius, for iconset and charsheets for NPC's and dwarves; Mein Captein for graphics work; Elaynii for box art; grafikal for technical and mapping guidance; Zylos fur moral support and the mini-games; Woratana for scripts and windowskin generator; the FF VX team for a few amazing tiles, Tezuka for the new starting screen, D&P3 for a little scriplet or two and promotional videos and Elaynii for the new thread banner. Special thanks to Pacman for helping to crack a few especially hard nuts in the events and scripts department!

Square-Enix is sole proprietor of the Final Fantasy franchise, artwork, music and related indicia, so let's hope they don't take offense to this project.[/spoiler]

Demos and Downloads[spoiler]The Skill demo, featuring a few of the main characters and two of the hidden characters, is available for download here! It contains several skills to give you an overview of the combat system, and even includes 3 characters with Desparation Attacks enabled. Not intended to be a game demo, and animations are subject to change by the final cut. Just a reminder: you will need your own RTP (you can get it here) and you must insert the provided font into your fonts folder![/spoiler]

The to do list:
[spoiler]Constant playtesting
Loop BGMs (65% so far)
Skill Animations (80% so far)
Remaining Dungeon and town mapping (56% so far)
Need graphic of several weapon icons: a drill, chainsaw, nailgun, a flashlight, a belt sander, a palm sander.
Need help on making the elves look more elf-y.[/spoiler]

The storyline is playable to a little under half the epic tale!
If you like the direction I'm going in, please show your support!

Peace and hair grease.

Grafikal · September 04, 2009, 03:19:18 AM

Good luck. It sounds like you have a plan instead of just throwing things together. A note though: Fan games aren't the best choice of first games to create. People tend to have too high expectations and considering how fresh you are, a lot of those expectations are extremely difficult to get up to. Again, good luck though and I hope to see some screenshots. I'll try and help you out with any mapping problems if there are any.

EvilM00s · September 04, 2009, 04:19:07 AM

Thank you, grafikal, for the good mojo. I love the song, BTW.

Zylos · September 04, 2009, 04:23:37 AM

I'm always a bit skeptical about Final Fantasy fan games, as I've only ever seen one that's been successful so far. But you sound as though you have a good head on you, so I'll be keeping an open eye on this. Good luck, and throw some screenshots in as soon as you can. :3

EvilM00s · September 04, 2009, 08:29:03 AM

Thank you, Zylos, for taking interest in this project.

Truthfully, I'm a bit skeptical too, this being my first game and all, and judging by the games I've seen in the "complete" forum, I have much to learn! And, as grafikal said, fan games are apoor first choice for many reasons. Still, you gotta start somewhere. I hope when I'm done, the least that can be said is that it's good for a rookie.

Screenshots will be posted later today... as long as the job leaves me alone...

EvilM00s · September 05, 2009, 05:47:24 AM

Well I was going to post some screenies today, but evidently I don't remember how to do it correctly. It seems that alt+printscreen isn't good enough for my computer. I'll figure it out later. I have a 3 day weekend.

I'm kind of disappointed though. I was all excited to show you Matilda's house.

I finished a town or two. As soon as i figure out this screenshot BS you can see 'em, too.

The database is nearing completion. I find myself adding to it as the plot progresses...Oh, one more item/weapon/armor won't hurt...

I'm gonna go see if I can't get you a screenie now.

Grafikal · September 05, 2009, 06:02:49 AM

Instead of posting all your updates in new posts, edit your first post and put that information there. You can make a new posts writing that you made an update if you want, but after so many updates, no one will care since no one wants to filter through an entire topic to find all the updates.

EvilM00s · September 05, 2009, 06:39:00 AM

Per the mod's suggestion, all furrther updates will be edits of the first post.

Grafikal · September 05, 2009, 06:40:57 PM

Your exteriors need help. Buildings especially. I think that your interior is your best screenshot though I find it really cluttery. Cluttery as in there's a lot of things on the wall there. Beds randomly in the middle of the room feel reeeeally awkward. Also, you're using the incorrect wall and ceiling tiles. The ones you're using at the moment are part of the outdoor set. The indoor set is below those and above the floor tiles. Your world map seems ok from a distance, but I'm assuming you're using the RTP, and I know that a world map doesn't look like that using the World Map tiles from TileA. I think you're using the map autotiles instead. The difference being, that when a normal map autotile meets a world map autotile, instead of blending similarly, they create a nasty harsh edge between the two tiles. I can't say for sure, but you have a really far shot of the world map. Also, I would suggest you tone down your world map's size. 500x500 is extremely large. It might look and feel alright when you play it with just maps, but when you start laying down events and key up some scripts, that map is going to be so slow. If you're on the world map and go into the menu, when you exit the menu it'll freeze for a little bit before going back to the map. VX doesn't handle it as well as you would think. I would say max maybe like 300x300.

EvilM00s · September 05, 2009, 07:44:35 PM

Ok, food for thought.

Concerning the exteriors, I was trying to mix up my tile selection as much as possible. I'll go back and try to see what you mean.
With the interior, though, I don't see the difference as long as it looks like what one wants. Tinkering may change my opinion.

As far as the world map goes, you're right. There ARE harsh edges; I just thought that was the nature of the VX beast. Looks like a mapping tutorial would be in order. How embarassing.

I agree, the size is excessive. I figured I'd fill it, but it seems I dont need as much space as I first thought to satisfy the story.
Later today I'll post some screens of towns I finished yesterday, see what you think of them; probably some same tileset agreement problems.

As always, thank you for your input.

EDIT: Yes, I see what ya mean on the world map. In some areas, though, I wanted a certain tile that just gives that edge. I'll look for alternatives, because -wow- it looks so much better without them!

Grafikal · September 05, 2009, 11:59:30 PM

Also I noticed that in the image of your exterior, the waters edge can be seen at the very bottom of the screenshot. I don't know if you wanted it like that or if you meant to have the water leave off screen, but do that, hold in SHIFT and then click with what ever tile you have. When you do that with autotiles, it automatically used the center 'fill' autotile and doesn't create the nice border or anything. I don't really know how to explain it. Just do it a couple times and I'm sure you'll know what I mean.

EvilM00s · September 06, 2009, 01:52:27 AM

You know, I DID want that water down there, but neat trick all the same.

After retooling my world map, I've noticed some problems of placement and I think I'll just start over. As I was doing the retile, I felt a bit limited in what I have at my disposal, but it looks soooooooo much better. I'll start looking for a tile mod for those autotiles, i'm sure there's one to be had.

Edit: I recently found a project which has a lot of scripting I like. I figure I'll bring the game from my work computer to my home computer, take it apart, and keep the scripts i need. Sure beats poring over a database, especially since i don't know one version from another...

Edit: I'm a moron. I just looked at the first screenshot and saw shoreline along the bottom. I misunderstood you.
Fail... screenshot removed for editing.

EvilM00s · September 13, 2009, 02:50:49 AM

Okay, so I swallowed some pride, read a bunch of tutorials, played a bunch of RMVX games by authors who know what they're doing, and concluded that I could do a lot of visual stuff better. Like, a lot better. So, I'm goin back to every map and making them cleaner/more interesting/generally better.

Grafikal, I can't thank you enough for your honest yet non-adversarial criticism. Also, I think you'll recognise some of your resource work in the upcoming screens- which I hope to have up by 9/16.

Grafikal · September 13, 2009, 02:57:57 AM

I'm curious, have you played any of my my graphic demos? It's like a super sketchy demo of my game. There're no working NPCs but I made them mostly so people have something to look at. If you have, then nice, it's a good start of something to look at, if not, I'll scrounge up something or get you the latest link.

Actually, if you'd like I can PM you what I sent to Maia the other week. It hasn't changed, but it's an intro to a full scale castle (interior), an epic scaled sewage system (only a part of it since it's not all mapped but not to worry, you shouldn't be getting lost since it's a puzzle and kind of explanatory), then you can check out my world map which I take the most pride in since it's what I spent the majority of my time working on, there's 1 town which isn't completely finished but good enough for show (it's mostly small things missing like sound effects in the correct places and things), there's a medium sized plains zone to walk through and the first 2 maps of what is planned to be an epic black forest maze.

EvilM00s · September 13, 2009, 03:51:18 AM

Fire away! I would be tickled to see what you have. If yer demos (which I did DL) are any indication, it should be visually pleasing.

BTW, new screenie of first dungeon and town above. I hope it looks as improved to everyone as it did to me.

EvilM00s · September 26, 2009, 05:18:14 AM

Against my better judgement, I am posting my first ever sprite re-do. It's from the Pineda FF IV sprite sheet. You'll see the modifications I made. I'm a little nervous to see what you all think. (Translation: I'm terrified of embarassing myself.)

Anyway, there she is, your heroine. She's the one with pink shit in her hair and showing less skin.

http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad230/EvilM00s/RydiaSpriteSheetVX.png

modern algebra · October 01, 2009, 12:07:54 AM

I think it looks pretty good myself. Nice stuff.

EvilM00s · October 01, 2009, 01:13:55 AM

Oh, thank you! I followed the advice of a tutorial I found here at the forum. I'm so glad it looks okay!

As long as I'm posting, the database is complete and map re-draws are 60% done as well. I will pick the best screens and post by 10/8 in the top section of this thread.

Also by that time I'll have faces for the chars. It's some Amano work that I thought would go nicely with the characters, plus the characters themselves.

EvilM00s · October 10, 2009, 03:23:40 AM

Faces are up, but no screens. I'll get that tomorrow.

What do you think of the faces? Would something else be better, or does using Amano's work give the feel of the franchise?

Grafikal · October 10, 2009, 03:27:34 AM

I like the faces, but I don't like that they appear to be different styles of artwork and different resolutions.

EvilM00s · October 10, 2009, 03:38:50 AM

The resoultion can be fixed, I think. As far as the style, I had hoped that since it was all from the same artist they would all blend a bit btter. I do see yer point though, I'll look for alternatives.

Grafikal · October 10, 2009, 03:45:51 AM

Well, they kind of seem to be the same art style, it's just that the one seems to be way more saturated than the others and some have different colored backgrounds, and one has some weird line running down the left side of it and stuff. Just a lot of little things. If they all had transparent backgrounds and similar saturation, it would appear better I think.

EvilM00s · October 10, 2009, 03:56:16 AM

I would expect you to see that kind of stuff, (that's a compliment, btw) and thanks for the advice. I'm pretty sure I can find the same image without such vibrant color compared to the others.

Transparent backgrounds, huh? I think I may look into that... it'll take a lot of work, but I can do it.

The line you see is my craptastic image editing, lol.

Grafikal · October 10, 2009, 04:05:32 AM

lol, if you have photoshop, you can just reduce the saturation of images without completely desaturating them. I think maybe Gimp does that too. Gimp is at least free.

EvilM00s · October 10, 2009, 04:12:24 AM

I have Gimp! I'll give that a try, because I really like that image for Tividar's face. It just... looks like him. I guess I've been using Windows Paint (fail) for so long I forgot what Gimp can do. Thanks a million, graf.