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SHiIDA development journal
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 335
Location: Tennessee

PostPosted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 4:27 pm    Post subject: SHiIDA development journal Reply with quote

I'll cut to the chase, I decided to shoot for the Halloween 2009 OHR contest, with a side-project named SHiIDA. I didn't want to announce it until I had some sprites ready to showcase - for some reason I've got that "PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN" mentality.

What is SHiIDA? My attempt at a mix between RPG and Survival Horror.
[EDIT]The crowd stays silent. They are not impressed. Here are more sprites.[/EDIT]

Starring this cute little chickadee by the name of Katrina. She's not quite right in the head, you see, and has a powerful mind that has created a bizarre pseudo-world containing her biggest fears; darkness, bugs, drowning, burial, etc. Katrina's ultimate goal here is to escape her own sadistic subconscious.

Features a few spins off of the ordinary RPG battle system. Using a new power source, Runes, Katrina can attack enemies outside of battle to destroy them before they get too close. This method of fighting is cheap and efficient, but if an enemy catches you, it will either engage you in close combat or kill you instantly.
In "close combat" (actually just your standard RPG battle), you've got magic spells as your main weapon, making MP a valuable resource. Melee weapons have a new "Drain" stat, which will absorb some HP to give back to your MP, with varying HP-to-MP ratios. Swords are powerful and costly, Staves are weak but fill your MP quickly. Knives fill the middle ground.

This segment was removed by its author.


Last edited by Baconlabs on Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:16 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 335
Location: Tennessee

PostPosted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is all by no means an easy feat, and I'm doubting I'll actually finish the whole thing by October 31. So I've been enlisting some help.
One fellow, who I'll refer to as Giovanni, will be providing some nice portrait graphics a bit later. He may also do a 320x200 screen too, if time permits.
Another fellow is my main composer, masterjiji. He's still doing a few pieces for Viridia, but we're diverting to have a few cool original tracks for SHiIDA. He's already got some stuff done, check it out:

-Only the Beginning
-Katrina's Theme/Intro

I still need some help if I'm going to get a finished-looking game by month's end. If you guys are feeling generous and helpful, here are some areas where help would be immensely appreciated:
-Dungeon layouts and designs
-Maptile sets
-Enemy sprites (50x50 and up)
-Attack sprites
-Weapon sprites
-Plotscripting
-And of course playtesting

PM me ASAP and I'll send you the details.
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NeoSpade
Of course!




Joined: 23 Sep 2008
Posts: 249
Location: Wales GB

PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Autosaving commands are easy (or not :S), just use these two commands together:

last save slot

autosave

I just dug these outta the plotscripting dictionary, so I'm not sure if this'll work if you throw them together like this:

Code:
plotscript,autosave,begin
last save slot
autosave
end


also I've gathered that this won't work unless theres already a save, so you'd need the player to select a save slot at the start of the game.

BTW, you where asking for those things on the checklist right? I didn't just intrude on anything? Oookay...
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Moogle1
Scourge of the Seas
Halloween 2006 Creativity Winner
Halloween 2006 Creativity Winner



Joined: 15 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No need to use "last save slot." Here's what autosave does:

Plotscripting Dictionary wrote:
Transparently saves the game to the last save slot used, or if the game has not been saved yet, calls save menu. Returns the number of the last save slot, or if the user cancelled the save menu, returns false


So you can just use "autosave" and let the rest take care of itself.
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Last edited by Moogle1 on Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 335
Location: Tennessee

PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

NeoSpade wrote:
BTW, you where asking for those things on the checklist right? I didn't just intrude on anything? ^^;

While the list was meant for myself - I can't expect anyone to code a "Web snare script" without any details - any inputs from the community are greatly appreciated.

But again, since the list was made for myself, it's mostly nonsense to anyone else.
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
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Location: Tennessee

PostPosted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewgame.php?t=3187

Here's the beginning of it. Updates coming soon.
(Feedback is always appreciated.)

Anyway, here's a more detailed list of new features I want to implement for the next release:
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 335
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 12:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

1) DUNGEONS: The meat of the game, the environments. This first dungeon was just The Labyrinth, there's still many areas left to explore:
-The Forest (sub-dungeon: The Hollow)
-The Graveyard (sub-dungeon: The Crypt)
-The Marsh
-The Dungeon

2) RUNES: What? Runes? Yes, runes. Runes are to Katrina as all those sub-weapons were to Link or Simon Belmont. Find them and she'll get some kind of overworld power, or at least a really rare in-battle power.
-Set things on fire!
-Freeze 'em!
-Fill the screen with light or rain!
-Push a block or something else!

3) EQUIPMENT: Swap between 3 types of weapons (plus some secret specialty weapons) and Katrina's attack sprites will change accordingly! Change robes to alter her appearance entirely.

4) FATALITIES: We see two possible gruesome ways for Katrina to die here, but there will be oh so many more! Will you avoid them? You shouldn't. They are important to the story. You may never discover the identity of the corpse in the red room otherwise.

5) STORY: Yes, there will eventually be some story. There is almost no text in this first area because it would have been redundant - "Where am I?" "What is that?" "I feel so lost!" - but I will eventually get around to explaining who Katrina is and just what everything here means.
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




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PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

what the hell is this i didn't even
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 335
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmph! The demo isn't standing out to be as great as I thought it would be.
[Reply to Moogle1] For once in my life, I played to win, and man was it exciting! I never knew competition could get my blood pumping like that. I became a temporary egomaniac and mentally praised my game without limit. As usual, everything's being brought back down to earth now that the hype's over. I still aim to finish this game, now for my own purposes rather than the Halloween contest.[/r]

This is now a straight-up find-the-flaws-so-I-can-fix-em list. Here are some flaw-hypotheses and solution ideas I'm considering:

1A) Hypothesis: It's a "Halloween" game, one that was built for a contest. Contest games, or even Halloween games, may have a bad reputation and will be frowned for that title.
1B) Solution: Shed the Halloween Contest identity, and possibly even remove it from the CP and SS servers, and then release the complete version as a stand-alone game later.

2A) Players can't see anything due to the Darkness script and the general layout of the Labyrinth.
2B) Offer a "skip ahead" option in the completed version, allowing players to choose to skip the Labyrinth and go straight to the Forest, which doesn't have either of the lighting "problems."

3A) Players are disappointed by the lack of gameplay.
3B) Same as 2B, skip right into the action instead of going through the prologue that is the Labyrinth.

4A) The game is cryptic and pointless.
4B) Such is the fate of a demo, and my failure to write dialogue for characters. I did release a version with some text boxes, but they were immediately labeled as silly and full of narm, so I cut them out.
I will eventually petition the aid of a good writer, because this game does have a story I want to tell.

5A) The game is a pointless dungeon crawl.
5B) This is very similar to 4A, but the solution in this department is to implement unique and interesting gameplay. I was so hoping to test out the Rune and Drain systems before the demo was over, but I ran out of time and had to cut both features out.

6A) Baconlabs is a silly publishing name.
6B) I'm doubting this one. This is a community with such garbled names as Fnnrfygmschnish and Fenrir-Lunaris, neither of which roll off the tongue, but are both talented designers who have earned my respect.

==========
++++++++++
==========

Add to the list! CRITICIZE ME


Last edited by Baconlabs on Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:20 am; edited 1 time in total
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Moogle1
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Joined: 15 Jul 2004
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Location: Seattle, WA

PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your premise is flawed. What do you even mean by "standing out to be as great as [you] thought it would be?"

I liked the game, anyway.
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Nepenthe




Joined: 27 Sep 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that as a contest entry, yeah, it was a bit hollow and aimless. But as a teaser for what's to come, it worked brilliantly. The atmosphere grabbed me instantly (due in large part to the sound effects), and I enjoyed the exploration. As long as you explain later why she started there, it shouldn't be a problem.

I keep getting a SCRIPT ERROR! right after shocking that spider thing (using the nightlies) so you might want to look at that, but otherwise keep up the good work!
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NeoSpade
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Joined: 23 Sep 2008
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Location: Wales GB

PostPosted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Baconlabs wrote:

6A) Baconlabs is a silly publishing name.
6B) I'm doubting this one. This is a community with such garbled names as Fnnrfygmschnish and Fenrir-Lunaris, neither of which roll off the tongue, but are both talented designers who have earned my respect.


Le gasp! Baconlabs is not a silly name! How is a lab that works solely into the creation of delicious bacon be a silly thing! (even though I'm a vegie and should not say bacon is delicious.)*ahem* Saying Baconlabs is silly is like saying that the second most powerful version of the summoning Spade is silly...(one day I shall be know as SpadeZERO!)
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8bit
Clutcher of toes.




Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 110
Location: In the thoughts and dreams of all the world's children.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So... what's up with the name? WHy AlL thE StrANge CApiTaliZAtiOn? Does it mean anything? I really like the demo for what it is. Hope you continue working on it.

EDIT: I was just looking at your list of problems and I honestly think the only problem that the game had was that it was released prematurely. This isn't really your fault. It was a contest game and contests have deadlines. You're over analysing.
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 335
Location: Tennessee

PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:13 am    Post subject: SHiIDA acronym Reply with quote

Serial
Hallucinations
in
Imperiling
Distress
Analysis

But this has little bearing on the game itself and I will probably not reveal the actual acronym during normal gameplay.
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Baconlabs
PURPLE IS MANLY




Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 335
Location: Tennessee

PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:07 am    Post subject: ITEM DUMP Reply with quote

I just went nuts and drew and/or ripped the sprites for 85% of all items in the game so far. I will go ahead and confess I ripped a lot from the DS Castlevania games, but my philosophy is that if it's generic enough, you might as well rip it.



Can YOOOUUU guess which items do what?
We have potions, elixirs, tonics, shields, robes, anklets, bands, ribbons, bows, knives, swords, staves, wands, and even some mushrooms.
My favorite is the big mushroom dripping with fat. It happens to be the obligatory "Boost Max HP" item.
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