[VXA] Major Arcana

i like the newcharas & the menus design.

when finished playing the demo, I give you a more accurate review.

but. anyone know how I can get the VX RPT?

keep going!, See ya' later 

but. anyone know how I can get the VX RPT?

VX or VXA? This game uses Ace.

In any case, you can get both from the RPG Maker Web site here.

i like the newcharas & the menus design.

when finished playing the demo, I give you a more accurate review.

Thank you!

And I look forward to it~

NECRO'D.

So, me and the Pacman were talking about Major Arcana the other day. I even re-played it and decided to see if I can actually get it complete. This semester in school has ended, so that gives me some free-time to work on a game~ (Hopefully).

Anyways, I think I'm actually going to down-grade the maps here. I'm not sure yet. The problem is that parallaxing (even just) the floors takes up a lot of time and demotivates me from the game. The less time I spend on the maps, the more time I can spend on the story. Here's what I might do:

Spoiler for New Sample Map:

It's not for Major Arcana (maybe) but it's a map I made that looks similar. Notice how the floors are not parallaxed. I like them better in some ways, because they look more "busy", but at the same time they are less-realistic.

Okay. Any thoughts/comments? I'd really like some feedback, not on the map, but rather if I were to change the style. I'd really like to do that (assuming it's not a huge sacrifice) to save up on time, effort, AND game file-size. >_>


Another thing: We're planning on cutting back on the game's length to about 5-6 hours-ish. So, about 4 cards per hour of gameplay. That's kind of the pace it's at right now, so that's not a huge update. xD haha


Also, if anyone wants to become a teammate (even if contributing in a small way), feel free to send me a PM or post or something~ Some of my teammates aren't around, or are too busy, so any help would be awesome~! That's mostly to ensure that the game gets completed, because I'd really like to see this thing to the end.

Would love to see you guys finish this! Let me know if you need play testing.

I've always favoured parallax maps, simply because they do look better and you can do more with them, without having to make individual tiles to recreate the effect. But they do take considerable time to make.

To avoid getting bored, consider creating maps which use the default mapping to begin with. This lets you get on with the important bits like developing the story and expanding the game. That helps you to keep progress going. Somtimes, though you might get to a point where you want to just take a break from the story stuff too, at which point you can go back over some of the maps and make some decisions about the way the look.

Not all maps need to parallaxed, even in part. They might completely serve their purpose and adding in random complex "tiles" probably isn't necessary. But you might see a few places where a bit of a touch up with parallax seems like a good idea. You can identify areas that players will come across more often and more readily, and those should be the main focus for graphical touch up.

Seeing as you don't have a single person dedicated to graphics and maps, you do need work out where your time should be invested for the most returns. Good graphics these days will always help to set the game apart visually from the generic RM games we have. But for the most part, people expect to see average graphics and are more interested in the actual game itself.

Not only that, but you can always update the graphics on the game even after a release of the final thing, assuming that you were willing to put in the time then. If you get good reviews from people, it might encourage you try to do some more for them. Similarly, you can even add in special areas that are included to get people to play the game again/update their current game.

If there's anything I can do to help, you only have to ask. I'm not sure what I can do, and I don't want to be doing a huge amount either (working on my own things too, y'know ). But a little bit here and there to help out, I can do that.

Thanks for the response, guys.

Yes, it would help if I had a graphics person. I am one, but I don't prefer to spend too much time working with graphics. D: It gets boring and tiresome after awhile. I like pretty graphics, but (like you said), as long as they look OK, I'm really just more focused on story with games. xD

I've actually got several non-parallaxed maps up that haven't been touched up yet, so that's what I normally do haha. Eventually, I'll *try* to get back to them and parallax them.

Thanks ~

Just started playing some on the 2.0 version demo, and wow this is great!

I really enjoy the sense of humour you have implemented on the get-go! Its a sweet balance between downright awesome comments, and clean storytelling!

Spoiler for Previous statement:

What I mean with "downright awesome comments on the get-go", would of course represent the first wardrobe you come across: "I have already changed my underwear today" had me cracking up xd

Spoiler for Early thoughts:

I can tell that you are really good at dialouge, and presenting your characters in a really good way. I have already felt bad for Cory, and laughed on his account.. and that is like 10 minutes into the game. I think the Natasha part was totally awesome aswell.. I wasnt prepared for that at all, and it cracked me up even more xD

I also enjoyed the way, that Cory is being sent into the whole adventure.. starting off with things going bad for him, and everyone just sees him as a pain in the ass of sorts, and then he is presented with a greater purpouse. Something I think is kind of symbolic

The whole change stance system was really awesome aswell, and I played around with it right from the start!, cant wait to get further and see how it develops! I happend to die at the Cerberus that is occupying the librabry though, he kind of smelted my face pretty hard.. Im not sure if I just suck, or if he is supposed to be killed when you are higher level.. He attacked me 4 times in a row and then I was dead, so Im not sure if he is meant to be that strong?

For a final note, I think this is really awesome and I will play some more tommorow.

Finally.. I just have to say.. Pancakes!   

Pancakes! Lol xD

Your comments are inspiring me to work on the game some more! It's going well (I'm pretty sure I have the story almost completely planned out, up to the (hopefully) dramatic ending. Yet, my current progress is about an hour's worth of gameplay and working on card 4...Lol, I need to pick up the pace.) >_<;

Anyways, I'm really glad you liked the humor!


As for the boss fight...I admit that it's a bit tough... >_< It really depends. I was able to get through it with my strategy. Which was pretty much, Tyler keep healing the crap out of both of them, and Cory attacks in warrior stance. o.o Health comes first, since the boss doesn't heal or anything like that, there's no rush to kill him. I think I was about level 2 or 3 or something when I fought him. I'm not sure. ^^;

The boss isn't supposed to be simple. There's a reason there's a dungeon before the boss; fight mobs, get experience, level up, get stronger. If we wanted we could've just put the boss right at the front door. You may think that that's just silly, because it is, but there'd be nothing stopping us from doing it.

Also yuyu I'm away until the 13th and I go back to school at the end of the month, but I'd really love helping you out with anything. As long as it's not map-related D:

The boss isn't supposed to be simple. There's a reason there's a dungeon before the boss; fight mobs, get experience, level up, get stronger. If we wanted we could've just put the boss right at the front door. You may think that that's just silly, because it is, but there'd be nothing stopping us from doing it.

I'm not sure it's entirely good design to require a person to spend time crawling through a dungeon only to find he needs to grind to a certain level to complete it, especially if that level cannot be gained in a short time after the boss has been reached. For example, boss ideally needs you at level 10, and you enter at level 4. By the time you reach the boss you are level 7, it requires you to gain another 3 levels. In most RPGs, exp requirement increases each level, so you technically aren't even half way to the desired level yet. This isn't fun for anyone.

My example might be a little over exaggerated but that's the point. Always remember that good game design is player-centric, and that doesn't mean thinking about you as a player. You might like to grind for a while every time a boss shows up, but not everyone else does. There should be some natural sense of progress being made, not a "here's a boss, time to grind again".

Rather than have players need incredible luck or grind for 20 minutes, think about making the dungeon more interesting and take a bit longer to get through which will force people into random battles to get the exp, as opposed to having them run around the same 4 tiles to do the same thing.

I was afraid the way I phrased that would give the connotation of grinding. There is by no means a requirement to grind. It's simply designed in such a way that if you skip all the mobs on the way you're gonna have a bad time, but if you beat all of the mobs defeating the boss is very well achievable. Grinding is only necessary if you went through the dungeon like a stammering tit. However, the boss still presents a challenge even if you do fight all the mobs, for, as made evident by yuyubabe, a strategy is likely required to best the boss.

I was afraid the way I phrased that would give the connotation of grinding. There is by no means a requirement to grind. It's simply designed in such a way that if you skip all the mobs on the way you're gonna have a bad time, but if you beat all of the mobs defeating the boss is very well achievable. Grinding is only necessary if you went through the dungeon like a stammering tit. However, the boss still presents a challenge even if you do fight all the mobs, for, as made evident by yuyubabe, a strategy is likely required to best the boss.

I didnt mean to sound like you have done a bad job with the boss-encounter, hope you didnt take it that way! Personally I dont mind grinding, I have done that in most RPG games I have played and I fairly enjoy it. I was just a bit shocked on how fast I died.. I even used a revive item since I got from full to 0 hp in 1 attack from the boss.

I think I encountered a pretty good amount of random mobs before the fight aswell, so I didnt rush through the dungeon whatsoever. In any case, my statement wasnt meant as being something negative, after all I just tried the boss once before I had to go to bed. In fact I like some challange, so figuring out a strategy sounds even better! I will play some more today and see if I can make better progress on the boss, but all I wanted to present with that statement was that I was a bit shocked that he smelted my face that bad

I lack the patience to grind extra levels...I just kinda ran to the boss, fought pretty much everything along the way, and then did my strategy, haha. xD He kept me on my toes, but I didn't have any actual problems with him. Just lots of Strong Attack and Healing~ Even if someone doesn't seem all that injured, be sure to heal them and watch out for his double-attack! =o Also, make sure you're healed when you face him! And I can't stress enough over how much it helps to have Cory use his Warrior stance (it may help to at least be level 2-3 in Warrior stance. Stances level up individually >_<). Tyler can handle the healing, so it's good to have Cory do some damage and be able to take some hits. Actually, you may do well to go and stock up on some new gear, as well! I believe Cory can use a shield, too? I think...

On that note, I'm a little concerned that I didn't make it easy enough to access the crafting items. I'm thinking I'll add a shop with some of those back into the town (if the strange merchant isn't still in the inn). I don't want to make it too difficult for people to upgrade gear. =( Though shields should be an easy buy at the accessory shop~