Second Playable Demo is up!

[Deleted]

(skip to last post by mew for second demo information)

Edit: Here are the links to the demos (same demo but one's Max Drive and other is X-Port):

www.doanthenado.com/files/Paladin_XPS.zip

www.doanthenado.com/files/Paladin_MAX.zip

Thanks to Doan for hosting my demos on his site!

It's official, I got out (found) my X-Port today and my dad's gonna buy a second memory card tomorrow, so I'll be putting the demo up then. The playable demo includes the stuff below, and soon Doan'll have made and posted up video demos with this stuff in it for those of you that don't have a file transfer device or don't want to go through the time (since it isn't really playable but rather show-what-I've-done).

World Map______
Roughly 2/5 fifths done, the world map is simply... the world map, and I want feedback and criticism/suggestions if possible. It shows how with the party sized down the world map can actually seems quite expansive, like a world map. I've hidden little mini-treasures on the world map to make the player explore it and see what I've done.

City Exteriors_______
The interiors aren't near finished, but the exteriors are (close to done). I plan to re-size objects some to make them look more appropriate and do some other things too (like making those stupid moving windows stay still) that I haven't gotten around to. It's really just basically to show off the detail I went into with it.

Custom Music (7)_________
This is the biggy for feedback. I want all of you to at least comment on each of the seven songs entitled accordingly "Adventure Time(1)," "Phantom Manor(2)," "Save the World(3)," "Happyville(4)," "Evil Plans(5)," "Pleasant Dreams(6)," and "Woof Woof Song(7)" at the moment. Jugem and anyone else that's worked on custom music in RPGM2, what else do you think I could add to each song to make it better (I've had a lot of failed attempts on adding to all of them). And Doan, for your information for the video, 4 and 6 are short (1:00 to 1:30 about) and the other 5 are normal length (3:00 to 3:30 about). Any ways, tell me what you all think of each.

Battle System(MDBS)________
It's a modified version of the DBS with completely new battle formulas for everything and at a super-duper fast speed. It still has some quirks, but DW's gonna look at some of my scripts and try to find the problem (he'll know but I'm too stupid), and I owe you dearly for that DW (you are a God). I also get to show off some abilities and VFX I've made so far. My favorites on there are "Fire Rain," "Gale," and "Test" (called Test because that's what I use to test VFX, abilities, and scripts). For more info refer to my Gameplay Compiled Nicely topic at this forum.


Menu System(CMS)_______
The custom menu for the most part is done, but I have to re-do some things like taking out locations that have since been purged from my plans and adding in different shops and what not. It allows for numerous special things like...well, go to the site and see. For more information refer to my website: williampaladin.tripod.com .

Camera System (CCS)_________
A custom camera similar and created the same way as Doan's. It's nothing to special since it's not original to my game, but it'll be nice for the player. For more info go to the Custom Camera System topic at this forum.

Rock, Paper, Scissors mini game___________
Nothing that special. I made it a while ago when I was learning scripting and don't want to delete it till I need to (which should be when working for Paladin).

Jimmy Eat World cutscene___________
I thought it was stupid and funny and really enjoyed making it today, but I'm sure it's pointless to you guys. Doan, please make this a separate video and I'll post a link to the topic here with the link to watch the video at the jimmy boards to try to get them to see it. It was just a relatively simple practice cutscene for me since the last cutscene I made was now over a year ago.

Oh yeah, and lastly, for those of you that download the game and I give the password to: I've went through and changed the names of character, enemy, and object models I don't want you guys to look at as blank names. They're the ones that'd spoil the game some. Thank you.

[Tinbok]

Sounds cool, I hope I can get my X-Port tomorrow. I'll try your's and Nash's game when I get the chance.

[vespuleth]

ill check it out.

[Kumo Shinagi]

William, I have checked out your demo and I have to say your game looks mighty impressive.

But, where's the BG music?

I also liked your custom music.

Keep up the good work.

[Deleted]

Cool! Thank you! I'll make sure try out your demo very soon.

[Dungeon Warden]

I played through your game and it seems to suggest that there is a lot of stuff you plan to include. The first town is huge but only the starting building can be entered. I hope that as the town is populated, you'll take shoping off the [] button menu and let player's shop the normal way.

There is a test battle NPC that says "1" "3" "shop +1" (or something like that). 1 & 3 take you to a grayscale battle against some skeletons (1 or 3 skeletons to be precise). I'm not sure what the last choice does.

I tried some of the abilities and items and the ones I tried seemed to work fine. I noticed one character had his text in green. Is this what you meant by a indirect effect changing the character to green? I though you meant the character model turned green. Text color effects is under Game Settings > custom and are used to determine the health of the character. I'll look into changing this for you.

I'll take a look at your scripts tomorrow. I just though I'd let you know I played around with it and saw what you had done so far.

[Deleted]

Cool! Thanks a million DW!!!

The Shop Update+1 updates the shops so they have newer stuff. I'll be adding to that manually in the final game at certain points. That was a little unclear but I forgot about it till I'd already put up the demo.

I'm not sure whether to keep the shopping on square or not. I know I like the idea of being able to visit the inn from the world map and such, since often times that's all the player's intending to do at town and it'd save them some time. Perhaps I'll make a poll soon about this since I'm unsure.

I'll be playing everyone else's demos over this weekend and week and get back to you guys on that. I'm excited to finally play all the games I've heard so much about.

[Dungeon Warden]

I was running around in your game and I bumped into the band from Jimmy Eat World. Now how did they get traped in your game?

I notice that none of your weapons have any direct effects attached so they are unusable. I wondered why some characters couldn't attack and then found that equiping a weapon removed the ability to attack!

I found that you placed your custom condition under conditions instead of under Adv > Traits > Custom Conditions. This is why your text turns green while mine didn't. Green is the color used when a character is effected by a status condition. Usually these are conditions the character wants to remove (like poison). You could change the color of the text is you want (it's the middle left green square on the bottom row of the text color boxes) but I recomment changing the contition to a custom one and putting it in the appropate slot.

I couldn't find the error you were talking about (the characters attacking themselves when an indirect effect ends). Could you be more specific about what effects you were testing?

I notice you seem to use Change Back Active Character more often than you need to. This command resets the instigator as the current active character, which can very easily change the instigator to the target in some cases. You really shouldn't use this command unless you really need to and you're sure that you want the instigator to be active at that point.

If an indirect effect ends and there is a Change Back Active Character in the effect ending script, this could cause a character to attack the party.

Please give me some specific examples to try so I can see the problem in action and attempt to fix it.

[Deleted]

Okay, I'll test around with it a lot and try to get it to happen again. So far it's only happened once, and it was before I added a Change Back Active Character at the end of some scripts - I think the "Apply(somestatuseffect)" Scripts. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but it did seem to fix that (I haven't had it happen since but I don't know), and it fixed a problem where the first party member's (or enemy's I assume, it was always Trevor/the 4th party member, aka. the first to act each round) variables for STR and INT (Battle Variable1 and 2) failed to load and he always did the minimum damage. I don't really understand what fixed it though, but they do sort of sound like they could be related (the variables not being loaded and the targeting himself instead of the enemy). And, now that I think about it, the one time I saw the indirect effect (it was "Confuse") it was Trevor hitting himself with it, then suddenly dying for no reason after the "End: Confuse" message came that same exact turn.

One question though, so with the Make Active Character and Change Back Active Character I would want every direct effect's script to do Make Active at the very start and Change Back Active at the very end, regardless of whether it's healing, damaging, or applying an indirect effect? Okay, I'll look over my scripts and see if I've done that. Oh, and in the damage scripts I also use these to gain offensive and defensive power for physical, magical, accuracy/evasion power, etc. too: is that what you're talking about when you say using them a lot?

And, I'll try making it into a Custom type indirect effect instead of Condition.

And sorry about the weapon thing. I haven't gotten to making them quite yet. I've been working on VFX for all the different weapons types (you can see the Long Sword ones in the "Test" ability), and that's been delaying my progress on item direct effects.

Edit: Wait a minute. Are indirect effects applied to Targets or Instigators? The script command reads Target: Apply: Condition Status: _______. So in the "Apply_____" Scripts should I just take out the Make Active Character and Change Back Active Characters entirely (and change calling Instigator Name to Target Name or whatever)? Perhaps that could make things a lot easier.

Edit: I tested around some and got it to fail loading Trevor's variables again. Try using Omni Enhancement on all four party members then doing Fire Rain with Trevor several times. Even though his AGI and CHA are through the roof he'll miss every time, so I think it's not loading his variables properly.

I got the color to change by making it a Custom Status and that worked perfectly, thank you, but is there a way to change the color for Action and/or Condition Status Effects?

I looked in the "Apply____" Scripts and I seem to have done it the way I'd said above where "every direct effect's script to do Make Active at the very start and Change Back Active at the very end, regardless of whether it's healing, damaging, or applying an indirect effect." I have no idea what's causing the problem.

And, one last question, would putting the same "Turn Stat Up" Script (that raises a stat) in both the "Character End" and "Before Turn" slot screw stuff up? I think by doing this one could make a stat-up status effect take effect on both the turn it's applied and the turns there after.

[Dungeon Warden]

Make Active Character and Change Back Active Character I would want every direct effect's script to do Make Active at the very start and Change Back Active at the very end, regardless of whether it's healing, damaging, or applying an indirect effect?

Only the success script (Direct Effect > Result > Success) needs to have Make Active character and Change Back Active Character in it, since this is the only script applied to the target. Although you might need to use Make Active character in the Success check script if you need to load the target's stats. Any effect that can effect someone other than the user needs Make Active character.

I noticed several scripts started with Change Back Active character which I though might cause some problems.

Are indirect effects applied to Targets or Instigators? The script command reads Target: Apply: Condition Status: _______.

Target in this case refers to the current active character, so you still need to switch to the actual target to apply the effect.

I'll try the Omni Enhancement thing and see what happens.

Is there a way to change the color for Action and/or Condition Status Effects?

I though I make it clear that you can change the text color in Game settings > Custom > Text. It's the same tab that the frames and background of the message and text boxes is on. Near the bottom of that window is a bunch of different color boxes. Each box represents a color of text used at some point in the game (actually, several of the boxes are unassigned and can be used however you wish). Just press Start while the cursor is over a box to find out which text is effected. The middle boxes of the second row effect the color of character text when a condition is applied.

Would putting the same "Turn Stat Up" Script (that raises a stat) in both the "Character End" and "Before Turn" slot screw stuff up?

Yes, this is definately a bad thing. Character End is every time the affected character ends his turn. Before Turn is at the beginning of the battle round. Therefore, this script is running twice every round! I don't think that is what you want.

[Deleted]

Okay, I'll re-do all the Make Active and Change Back Active Characters and simplify it. THank you so much!!

And sorry about the color thing. I understand perfectly now. I'll get started right away!

[Deleted]

I found one thing that might've been causing it and changed it for STR Up 20% to no avail. I'd had it where the NewStatUp Script Applied the status effect. I changed STR Up 20% so that it's like Confuse/etc. (for examples look in Indirect Effect Confuse, its scripts, the ApplyConfuse script, and the Stupefy Direct Effect), but the problem's still occuring.

I'm beginning to think the problem may be from a party member (Trevor) targeting himself and being both the Instigator and Target (when he casts a good status effect on himself). I looked all the scripts over and others than that I have no ideas at all as to what might be causing this, others than that switching from Instigator to Target (find evasion), from Target to Insitigator (find accuracy) is messing it up, but no matter what I'll need to after that change from Insitgator to Target to do damage. Perhaps the DBS simply just doesn't allow going back and forth to happen.

Edit: I thought of and tried one more thing and it seems to have worked (combined with the changes I made above). Before I know it's the cause I must ask one thing:

Okay, in Script:20 Battle Registration I make everyone's (enemy and member, it's in their battle registration Adv slots) BattleVariables1-5 be set equal to their STR, INT, etc. I had it like so before, and I think the Make Active at the start was messing it up:

Battle: Make Active Character
Substitute Attributes for Variables
change values of BattleVariables1-5
Substitute Variables for Attributes

Now, if everything else was working fine and done correctly (as it seems to me), would that Battle: Make Active Character mess up the loading and saving of each party member's variables? I think this may be it because Trevor missing every time and healing the minimum amount started to happen even on the very first round of battle before doing any status effects. I now think I understand that whichever enemy or member going through this script when registering for battle begins as the Instigator, correct?, and the Make Active Character would go to some other enemy or member.

[Dungeon Warden]

To go back and forth, just use Make Active Character over and over again. Change Back Active Character is rarely used in the preset scripts. It could be (and this is just a guess based on what is happening) that Change Back Active Character removes all target pointers so that there is only one active character (the instigator). It is better and safer to use Make Active Character any place you see Change Back Active Character in your scripts. Only the last command (just before the character ends his turn) should be Change Back Active Character (so that any indirect effects on the character with Character Ends applied can take effect).

Edit: Yes, each character becomes active when their start battle scripts run so there is no need for a Make Active Character here. This would likely cause the previous character to get the stat change instead. If trevor is first, then there wouldn't be a previous active character and the script would be ignored. That soulds like it might be the problem.

[Deleted]

In an all targeting spell would Make Active Character for the second target go back to the Instigator or the first target?

[Dungeon Warden]

It would go to the instigstor because the direct effect runs seperately for each target. Make Active Character should switch between Target and Instigator each time. Again, a Change Back Active Character might be needed at the very end; otherwise, when a new target appeared it might start switching between the last target and the new one (not sure about this, but it's possible).

[Deleted]

Okay, I'll work with it some more tonight or tomorrow and get back to you. It's started to seem more possible though. I owe you so much.

[Deleted]

I did all that stuff and it worked perfectly!!!!

I tested it all out by doing the same thing that broke Trevor's variables last time and it worked the way I wanted it to. I also tested seeing if the variables loaded correctly by checking damage amount from Flame with all 4 party members and the damage amounts were relevant to their INT stats (higher INT = more damage, y'know).

What I did was... (feel free to skip this paragraph) delete the Make Active Character in the Battle Registration script, change all the Change Back to Active Characters in my scripts to Make Active Characters except for the last ones that would run for the various types of moves (healing, damaging, status, etc.), and deleted the Apply/Remove:_____stat-upstatus effect in the New and End Scripts.

Any ways, Dungeon Warden, I owe you my life for helping me so much to get the BS running correctly. You are the almighty God of the RPGM2 online community!!!

Yay!! So, yes, I've now got the BS all straightened out, but not in the current demo. The basic real change is that everything works correctly now.

I got the color-changing too. Sorry I messed up on that.

[Doan the Nado]

If you want to send me another file, I can update your demo.

[Deleted]

Okay, cool, thanks! I might. Hooking up the PS2 and X-Port was a hassle last time, but I also have a lot of demos to play. I may do it soon (like this week or next). Thank you!

[WarDragon]

Yor demo looks good

[Deleted]

Cool. Thank you! ;D

[dragaron]

Your demo looks cool! I love how the characters look cell-shaded... It's a nice effect. I personally would make the zoom in (everytime you talk to someone) either quicker or optional. Other than that, your game looks very promising.
Great job!

[Deleted]

Thank you! ;D

I'll play around with the zoom and see if it looks okay going faster. The zoom's only on interactable townspeople (not including shops/inns), which most aren't, but I'll take that into consideration and try it out.

Haha, I wasn't going for cell-shaded, just thought making the skin less pale brought them more to life. Glad to hear you liked it though. I'll be checking out your demo soon too!

[Deleted]

Second Demo Now Includes:

Battle System is now flawless thanks to DW!

Party reordering has been fixed.

One new song has been added. It's my most abstract yet (I think my best), and I can tell it's influenced by Night Drive! (I didn't steal anything, I first made the chime part then the bass and the bass sounded so evil and spooky I ended up developing it into a mellow spooky song.)

I put in one of my favorite townspeople.

Weapons have direct effects. Notice that depending on what weapon is equipped the normal attack and "Poison Strike" ability's VFX changes.

Cost for abilities has been balanced out properly.

Weapons have been reordered properly in the item database and equipment shop.

The treasure chest problem where after you open it, leave the room and come back, it's closed yet you can't open it has not been fixed (the one problem I didn't get to yet).

[Deleted]

I've become skilled enough with the X-Port to where I know what to do for sure! I'll be trying out all the demos. So far I've downloaded all the newest versions of Crown of Order (Dungeon Warden), Doan's Untitled RPG, Dragon Knight, Sprite Chaser Hikashi (Dave Carter), Legend of Zelda: Sword of Magic (Doyleman), Leon the Hero (Kumo Shinagi and Leon Hiroshima), Light Warrior (Kumo Shinagi), SD Paradise (Dave Carter), Tabloid (Shawn Forbes), Vanished Nights (Jugem), and Zelda: Link's Adventure (Nash). I told Nash, Doyle, and Cloud I'd play their games soon so I'm gonna play those ones first. Right now I've got Legend of Zelda: Sword of Magic (Doyleman), Light Warrior (Kumo Shinagi), and Leon the Hero (Kumo Shinagi and Leon Hiroshima) on my RPGM2 playing memory card. I'll be getting your game next Nash. Yours and Doyleman's were both on the same RPGM2 file so I had to pick one or the other and I figured yours would take longer to get through and such, and Leon the Hero and Tabloid were the only ones not on RPGM2 file 0 or 1. Anyways, I'll be posting about them soon! If you're close to releasing another playable demo and you want me to hold off on playing yours till then tell me and I will.

Edit: I accidently got taizon's zelda one on my card instead, but yours is next Doyleman.