[CC][XP-Demo]Oh, Brother

I had planned to change the windowskin depending on which town Nini is in, however this posed issues with font colors. If I could change the menu font color mid-game, then I would use the varied windowskins I showed earlier in the thread. As I cannot figure out how to do that, I have made a windowskin that mimics the style of her diary pages. This way it fits the over all theme.

I did try adjusting the color, the pink was a bit eye-gouging and likely a little overkill on the girly. There is also no contrast in the current colorscheme. So, I've been fiddling with it a bit. Does this look a bit less girly? Or at least less eye-gouging?

Spoiler for Windowskin Tests:

It's girly, yes, but in a cute little girl girly way. The basic elements of a hero story are still there; the strong character- who has the added advantage of being unlikely- the conflict, a clearly defined motive for the adventure, and well thought out supporting characters.

I would think "girly" is like FF X-2. That shit was GIRLY.

And yes, the purple is easier on the eyballs. Good choice!

Thank you for that. Now I know it's not too girly. ><


----
As an update, my old map looked terrible so I tried my hand at something lighter and more colorful. It doesn't quite fit, as Nini doesn't draw her own map but that may change now. As an aside, those are not the names of the towns, Nini has her own names for things. -There are also far more areas than shown. I just didn't want to give that away.

Spoiler for Map:

Much better.

I think Nini ought to do her own maps. I know, It's more work, but "her" style of drawing is just adorable.

On the other hand, maybe a break from all the cuteness would be a good thing... I guess I'm on the proverbial fence, but the ground looks softer on Nini's side.

Just popping in to say I am still working. Lots of dialogue. Lots and lots. The maps for the first town are finished, however. I have also, just about, completed the only battle (it's a long one) that will be featured in the demo. The rather involved area that is her home is complete, though there is a dungeon in there that needs fixing(spike floors are tricky to time properly).

I have portraits to finish for Nini, her Mother, Father, first doll and three other NPCs. Then there is more dialogue. This includes all of the NPCs(there are many and I've barely finished half of them), the objects Nini can interact with, and a handful of little errands left to event.

Rest assured, I am doing things. I just have nothing to show for it just yet. Once the portraits for her Father and Teddy are finished, I will post those though. Then maybe change the main post to portraits instead of sprites to represent the characters.

Not much, but here is a sketchy colored portrait of Nini's father. Because it is something to show. ><

Spoiler for Nini's Father:

Awesome as usual, D!

Thank you! ^.^

--As a small update--

I've decided that there is way more going on in the first town then there should be. I wanted a reason to come back later, and have there be new things to do/people to see as time passes, but I'd been working as if the town were starting in it's final incarnation. This was a bad idea and wasted a lot of time, what with NPC dialogue being so...robust?

So- I am going to block some areas off, complete only the NPCs that will be in town when the game starts, and stop working on events/sidequests that should be saved for later. Once all of the in-game events and dialogue are completed THEN I will work on the remaining portraits.

Hopefully this will get the demo finished sooner and I can get some help testing everything, and the all-important feedback that comes with it.

This game is shaping up to be quite wonderful. My only complaint is that for me, the font is very hard to read. My eyesight isn't great, so maybe its just me. Makes it really hard to read the text on that fantastic intro, for example.

Other than that, its looking great looking forward to seeing this finished.

Thank you for the kind words. = )

I've been fiddling with the image size for the Storypages in-game. Is this easier to read?
(it's hand-written, so I understand if it's illegible -
my handwriting is terrible normally and I'm actively trying to make it worse for the sake of little girl writing.)

If you meant the color, that can be changed, if you meant the font in message boxes than I can try to increase the size.

Spoiler for In-game Screen:

Thank you for the kind words. = )

I've been fiddling with the image size for the Storypages in-game. Is this easier to read?
(it's hand-written, so I understand if it's illegible -
my handwriting is terrible normally and I'm actively trying to make it worse for the sake of little girl writing.)

If you meant the color, that can be changed, if you meant the font in message boxes than I can try to increase the size.

Spoiler for In-game Screen:

Thats much more readable, now its bigger, but i think making the colour slightly  darker would help

Spoiler for Hot pink crayon!:

Better?

Much better! Its looking good

That's much better. I think you're on to something, there.

Excellent. I'll keep the font to a darker shade and remember the image size for future Storypages.

---
Cutting out the events that take place later and the NPCs that go with them has saved me a great deal of work.
I can't really give a proper ETA just yet, but my workload has been halved so it will be significantly sooner than I expected.

I should have all the dialogue and events finished by this time next week (barring any tangents, some NPCs are too fun to write). Then it's just portraits and testing (so the game will be out for those interested in testing. Perhaps without portraits, as they are not integral and can be worked on while the testing is underway).

I'm going to keep from drawing anything else until I'm done with the actual gameplay. I needed a break from the writing and tried to draw portraits instead, but portraits do not a game make. So, events/dialogue/testing until it's ready to go out to other eyes for testing.

I probably wont update again until this is finished and I'm sending it out to test volunteers. If you guys have any questions I'll still check and reply though. ^.-

Thank you again, everyone who has said such nice things, for taking an interest in my little project. I hope it does not disappoint.

Great work and so fast! I'm kinda stuck because I had to care for a house of someone on vacation. Jealous! I'm curious through, what are you going to do with the mapping part? Have you done any and/or will you need help with it?

Keep up the work!

I thought I was being slow, considering it's just one town. Now I wonder if I forgot something and miscalculated what I have left to do. ><

Honestly, I do have quite a few more interactive events to put in. I want Nini to say something when the objects inside houses and whatnot are interacted with. Drawers, bookcases, lamps, etc. I have some of the little books written out, but I still need to figure out where to put them. There are a lot of bookcases but not all of them will have actual books she'd care to read in them.

Still- not too much to do, really. If I stop getting distracted by Path of Exile (..because I am a sucker for dungeon crawlers...), I should have the first town ready for testing in a week. Maybe a day or two more if I go overboard with the books/dialogue. Which has been happening, another reason to need outside testers. I ramble.

The first town's maps are finished. There are maybe three interiors to do, but they will likely be locked off until later. I've been trying to make the interiors unique and I may have run out of variations. The area leading to the next town, as well as the caves that make up the town are roughed out but likely to change a few more times before I start actually mapping them.

Unless you meant something else?

The reason why I asked it was because I didn't know how far you where. It could also be that you needed some help with mapping. I myself have quite some experience with mapping, so I wouldn't be bothered with helping you here and there. Btw, books! Nice

*Goes out to put the support banner in his signature.*

Thank you for the offer. I tend to map when I'm stuck on things, so I don't know what I'd do if I had someone else mapping too. ><

---As a small update---

I worked through the days I was supposed to take off from this and still have a lot of little events left to do. I also underestimated how difficult it is to write dialogue for someone who speaks in rhyme (she also speaks in the majestic plural). ..And mean little girls are more fun to write than they should be.

So, I'll just say that I'm still working on it and will update the moment I have the demo ready.

She speaks in rhyme!? That sounds so awesome! Small update my tail... Unless you've already mentioned that.

One of the NPCs speaks in rhyme. She is meant to act as preview for a later town where -all- of the NPCs will speak in a similar fashion. I'm glad it sounds awesome. ^.- It's fun and frustrating to write, and hopefully not too difficult to understand.

I may put in options to ask her to simplify, ending with one of Nini's dolls saying it plainly if the option is chosen a certain number of times. Rhymes often turn to riddles, it seems, and I'm not the best judge on how challenging they are. I'm not making them on purpose, after all, it's just happening as I write.

Nini herself just uses simple words and will try to sound out the more complicated ones. She also tends to give people nicknames. For instance, the NPC in question is a witch and Nini knows her rather well and thus gets away with calling her "Witchiepoo" or "Ms. Witchiepoo".

Really, it is quite fun writing all of the dialogue and I hope it's as fun to read. Most of the adults will have quite a bit, but kids tend to be too full of energy to sit around and gab. Nini is inquisitive and will have lots of questions and sometimes special chat options.

And that was more than I intended to write. ><

This seems to be going well! I just had the opportunity to play around with it and I have to say it left me wanting more. As in, I want to play it more. I think it's good material so far, and your overall technique is darned good.

I encourage you to go forth and keep tinkering with it, I truly believe this will be a contender for Project of the Season.

...for what my opinion may be worth.

Hello everyone,

Just completed a piece that will represent the treacherous terrain beyond the barrier of Unai, where vicious monsters lurk unshackled.
This piece is called,

No Barrier Here:
http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=11556943&q=hi&newref=1

This piece is meant to motivate as you explore, problem solve, and fight your way to the next town.

Hope you enjoy. 

And a beautiful piece it is. I can't wait to finish what's needed for the demo so I can get to the areas it will play in. ^.-

--Speaking of demo--

I'm currently testing things out and finishing up a few NPCs/event tweaks(making sure the time system that basically everything depends on is not broken like it seems to be). Then I'll get to work on the remaining portraits (so there's no longer a horrible disconnect of happy face to not-so-happy text)  and be ready for the real testing to begin.

So, not to get hopes up, but SOON - it will be ready soon. ^.^

I will add more screenshots, pictures, and try to trim and pretty up the main post a bit, when the demo is finished.

I can say that there will be some time between demo and anything else as I plan to work on the art-side of things for a bit. I still have battlers to do (the monsters are defaults right now, but I want them to match in style so I'll be drawing my own), never mind the portraits, story-pages, custom sprites that I'll need to do, and quite a bit more. - there is also the matter of I might need a break after this to figure out how to proceed in a more efficient manner.

If you guys are interested, I can try to release things on a chapter by chapter basis and then pack it all into one when they're all finished(along with extras). This way the wait isn't too long and it'll be less pressure for me if I work on one chapter at a time.

The chapters would be relatively small, as I've arranged the events to go from town to town. This way each Chapter will begin as she begins her journey to the next town and end when she finishes the events in that town. I'm thinking five chapters. The first and last acting as Prologue and Epilogue, respectively.

However this goes, I just wanted to say I will have something playable soon. And to update to let people know I'm still working.

I would personally prefer a chapter by chapter release

That way the demo would end at a perfect time, and it'll make the feedback easier to present