Week 4: Back on Track

Starting with a screenshot of Oakwood. It's a Western-inspired town that will be a quest hub for one of the islands of Geldion. I would like to eventually add a mini-game, but I really want to actually make it work. I've had issues with several puzzles now, so I'm working extra hard on debugging them all. I admit, I have a new-found respect for those puzzle whizzes who add a million and one puzzle to their games.

I've been absent lately, mainly due to the fact that we're buying a house (my first!) and it's a very complex process. I've been pretty much away from the computer every day and left with almost no free time for the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, we're now at a small lull and I have the time to get TUAH back on track.

I have a very exciting bit of news to share. Joerao, the composer who created the Par Tillian theme, has agreed to create some custom music for the project. He has already composed two new pieces, one of which is the theme to Oakwood (in screenshot). The second piece is an ambient swamp theme that I'm itching to use.

Other than that, I want to say that I really appreciate your patience! I'm still as committed to TUAH as ever and looking forward to sharing more content with you.

Week 3

Starting off with another teaser screen of the world map. This time, it's a more familiar location - Par Tillian. I've added some names to the map, making it easier to remember the layout of the locations.

Done this week:
- World maps are done!
- Started on Venusi Castle. It looks gorgeous, but it's a pain to map.
- Finished some random NPC chatter.
- Poked at couple of battles.
- Finished script for events of chapter 3. It's a long one.

To do:
- Stop procrastinating and actually get that database done.
- Finish mapping Venusi Castle + at least get started on the inside maps.
- Find time to breathe.

Changes:
- Nothing has really changed since last week, save for the personal life stuff. I'm in the process of looking for a new house - an actual normal house where we can have room to walk and breathe. It's a very consuming process and it's piled on top of other very stressful life things, so it's been taking a lot of my attention.
- I didn't forget about the casino, smithy and item shops in game. There's this really awesome chain of quests that unlocks each, but we haven't really gotten there yet plot-wise. I think I will have to hint at it a bit, though.

Week 2

There's your sneak peak at the brand new world map. This particular tiny section is from Vega, the continent where we start the adventure. The way the travel system will work is via choices and pictures. I've tried to make something that's both fun and visually pleasing. I've yet to implement it ingame, however, which may turn out to be a bigger mountain of work than I thought.

Onto this week's progress!

Done this week:
- Finished Andras and Ahden world maps, and it was no easy feat! They're both pretty massive continents with a lot of locations. By comparison, Maia and Geldion are pretty tiny and shouldn't take more than a day to finish.
- Mapped one of the resting/waiting areas of the arena.
- Unsuccessfully attempted to add another puzzle to chapter 2, then scrapped the idea altogether.
- Fiddled with audio and switched some MP3s to an .ogg format so they'll take a lot less space.
- Figured out what makes the download size of the project so huge.

To do next week:
- Maia and Geldion maps.
- Start eventing cutscenes for Chapter 3 (yes, I'm that far behind).
- Finish up database.

Changes:
- After a very long look at the size of the project, I've figured out where some of the size is coming from. Parallax maps take a bit of space, sure, and I've got 410 battlers for the 410 database enemies. But the biggest bulk of the size is from the animations folder. I haven't finished the database for skills yet, but the custom animations I've included so far have bloated the size of the project by 90mb. It's not that I have a whole lot of them, but it seems that quite a few of them are 5-8mb in size. So, as much as I like custom animations, a lot of them are going to have to go. I'll save a little room for the super special effects, but the rest of it will be using smaller and simpler animations.
- I'd been balancing skills and battles via arbitrary numbers, but it's tough to guess how much players will level, especially since I'm opening up areas where they can grind. So, I've taken another look at the battle system and changed some skills to work via percentages instead. The other advantage of this is that it will make each battle just as challenging as the next and give me more room to script interesting bosses.
- I'm leaning in favor of releasing a partial chapter to get some feedback. It's going in a slightly different direction than the rest of the game has been so far. There's more complexity, so I'm very interested in seeing what everyone thinks.

On progress

When I was working on chapter 2, I had gotten into the habit of posting weekly updates with lists of things I'd done that week. That accountability made me very motivated to work on TUAH. I dropped that as I started working on chapter 3, mainly due to the fact that my free time was much more limited and it takes a while to write blog entries. I figured it would be better if I spent that time actually working on TUAH. Looking back at how much I got done over the past few weeks, however, makes me realize that it didn't help. So, I've decided to dedicate a few hours each week to writing up progress entries. They may not be the most fascinating things to read, but they may give you a bit of insight into my development process.

Done this week:
- World maps for E. Andras and Vega are done.
- Finished half of the villager facesets.
- Finished writing down main objectives for Valhalm.
- Finished sprite for I*'s mom
- Finished sprite for M.

To do next week:
- Finish world maps for W. Andras, Ahden, Geldion and Maia
- Event travel map system
- Implement objectives for Valhelm
- Script side quests

Changes:
- I've changed the CTN a bit so it's more visual. It is now going to show a "world map" and have you select your location. Thanks to the new design, you will have a much better idea of how different locations relate to each other.
- After chapter 1, I cut out a lot of the locations that won't be used in the project. TUAH was initially a much bigger story and too ambitious of a project. The world map, however, still reflects those old locations. With the new travel system, the maps have been updated to better reflect the current story.
- Thanks to all you faithful and thorough players, I've managed to fix a lot of minor bugs and annoyances. The sometimes-buggy puzzle in Gullad Mts, room 1, has been redesigned. It was fairly frustrating as some people encountered issues while others didn't.
- There isn't a whole lot of complexity to the dungeons in chapters 1 and 2. This is intentional, as a part of my audience is casual or new-to-RPGs players. But I would like chapters 3 and on to have more elaborate and complex dungeons. As such, I will be spending more time designing dungeon areas and implementing puzzles.
- I'm thinking of recruiting someone to help with the database work and setting up different enemies/boss fights. I've got good ideas on how I'd like the fights to go, but it's an extremely time-consuming process and I'd hate to delay releasing chapter 3 more than I already am.

Progress Update: Week I-lost-count

I am very tired, but I haven't updated the blog for a while and I didn't want anyone thinking that TUAH is on a hiatus. I've really had very little free time due to work and other miscellaneous errands, so I've spent all of it doing work on chapter 3.

Here are some things I've done so far:
- Finalized the design for one of the party members you meet in chapter 3. He's gone through a lot of changes, and I'm looking forward to sharing the process once you've met him.
- Fixed up some face sets. I noticed that certain faces had a much lower quality than the RTP - mainly stray pixels.
- Did the dreaded database work and animation setting for some of the skills that haven't been encountered yet.
- Started coding the main and side quests.

There's still a lot of work to do, but I'm slowly getting there. I'm also contemplating releasing just a partial chapter, as its length is probably more than chapter 1 and 2 combined. I'll keep you updated on  the decision!

Progress Update: Weekly Screenshot

Let's begin with eye-candy:

Screenshot of the appropriately-named Pirate Cove. Oh, what fun it will be to prance around with pirates!

The area in the screenshot and the area immediately connected to it is what I'm working on right now. The NPCs have been designed and added, the main quest and side quests are ready to be plugged in, but the mapping itself is inching toward completion at a snail's pace - which frustrates me to no end. In terms of design, it's one of my favorite locations. It has a unique look and I'm hoping to find an equally unique song to go along with it. But the actual mapping has just been excruciatingly slow.

Mapping is usually my favorite part of game creating. I enjoy placing every little detail and making up little stories around different bits and pieces. Occasionally, I will stop mapping to create an NPC with quirky dialogue or add a side quest. More often than not, however, I'll just map until the maps are completely done.

Yet this Pirate Cove ... This fun and quirky place has left me feeling so frustrated! I'm excited by the side quests, tickled by the characters and NPCs and working hard on introducing much needed features (relationship expert, for instance, that will tell you about the party member relationships and offer some not-so-legal relationship-altering potions) and looking forward to letting you explore every nook and cranny. I just have to actually make those nooks and crannies worth exploring. Which they're not right now. Definitely not! {imagine me shaking my head here and muttering some gibberish, here}

Let's shift gears to something more positive. The story!

There's a rare moment writers encounter every now and then that's like a writing epiphany. You'll be plodding along, writing or thinking, when the metaphorical gates of inspiration flood open and you just get it. That perfect scene, line of dialogue or motivation. It clicks on every possible level, and all you can do is tell yourself: "Now, that's good. That's really, really good."

I had a moment like that last night with TUAH's plot. It's not about anything major, since the story has already been written and decided. But it is a glorious plot point that ties many things together in a neat little package. It's so good, in fact, that it's still giving me chills thinking about it. I am at the edge of my seat, wanting to share it, but I will let you discover it as you play.

I will, however, take a moment to laugh the masterful laugh and utter the phrase "You have no idea what you're in for, ladies and gentlemen. The fun is just beginning."

Character Evolution

I've just finished changing the appearance and back story of Ian, one of the party members you'll come across in Chapter 3. It struck me how different the characters have turned out from their initial concepts. So, just for kicks, here are the early concepts for the main cast you've encountered so far (I will post other characters after they become a part of the plot):

Early Alistair:

Originally, Alistair was a loud-mouthed, washed-out "hero" who spent his days drinking booze and trying to charm all the ladies. He was a pervert and completely unlikable. The introduction scene has Alistair very bitterly spilling the story of his life to a bartender and a couple of patrons. One of the patrons is an old sage who grew bored of living atop his lonely mountain. He messes around with fate and practically throws Alistair into adventure again. Alistair's motivation becomes equal parts thirst for revenge and a huge desire to be famous again. He was completely dependent on his companions: in fact, there were a couple of quests that had to do with finding ways to avoid taverns and other places that could get Alistair drunk. Since the initial concept for TUAH was to create a shallow comedy, this worked very well.
But, as the plot began to evolve into something deeper, Alistair's image didn't fit in quite so well. He was too reckless and brash to carry the audience through some of the more subtle thematic content. He evolved into someone more sensitive and clever. His reasonable and dependable nature might seem boring in comparison, but it propelled character and plot development into something much more meaningful. Because of this change, the plot twists and the ending pack a bigger emotional punch - one that I hope you will enjoy.

Early Cordelia:

Cordelia began as an apprentice warrior who kicks Alistair's butt in combat, and is then forced to follow him as a way to make amends. She had a fiery temper and spent way too much time styling her hair. She would constantly berate Alistair and force him to do side quests. Alistair drooled over her, in a completely inappropriate way (since she's 16 and he's 32). There was never going to be any romance between the two, since Cordelia finds Alistair completely disgusting and vile.
But Cordelia's back story was extremely flimsy, and her reason for joining and staying with a perverted Alistair seemed ridiculous after a while. She evolved into a much more gentle and subdued character. She eventually turned into the seemingly cliche naive girl who idolizes an older man and follows him around like a love-sick puppy. There's a lot more to Cordelia, however, and you catch glimpses of it in chapter 3.


Early Penelope:

Early Penelope was as cliche as cliche can get. She was a female, nun, healer, and had that gentle/nurturing personality that made her almost too sweet. Her early dialogue consisted mostly of "oh my!" and trying to find ways to assert herself. She was the only one who could cast healing spells, which made it so she had to be present for virtually every major area - unless I wanted to frustrate the players by making them heal through potions only. There wasn't anything really wrong about Penelope, other than she was completely boring! The rest of the female cast was strong and independent, which overshadowed her.
Penelope evolved into a more of a paladin type - very lawful and stoic. This created a fantastic contrast to the cast members who see laws as just suggestions. It also gave the possibility for internal conflict and growth.

Early Claudia:
Claudia probably changed the most out of everyone, starting with the name. In my early notes, she was named "Theresa". She was a warrior princess, a la Xena, and she joins the party because her father orders her to (after some random quest). Personality-wise, she was similar to the current Penelope. Very lawful, very mature and strong. She first started to evolve when I changed her reasons for joining Alistair's party. Rather than being ordered, she joins as an act of rebellion toward her father (who forbade her from leaving the castle). That small, rebellious streak really took off and started to shape her personality more and more. Soon, she became the fiery, sarcastic, anarchistic self. This personality suited her role and "feel" perfectly, but the background didn't. I wanted to keep her in a sheltered environment, but it was impossible to do so in an organized castle-type place. As I worked on some of the mage lore for Caeta, it seemed like that would be the perfect background for Claudia. Her role changed to that of a mage, and so did her looks. She still kept her purple/pink hair, however.

No updates for a few days

I was planning on writing up another update, but I just had a rough morning. Late last night, my aunt lost her fight with cancer.

She was an extraordinary woman, who remained strong through a lifetime of illness (arthritis). Mom remembers how she'd be in the hospital and still making arrangements so her family would be taken care of. She always put others first. She was a teacher and she touched the lives of many people.

What I'll miss the most is her birthday cards. Every year, without fail, she would send a card depicting flowers. Inside would be beautifully-worded messages and well-wishes. Reading them makes me feel loved and cherished.

She will be missed and I need a few days to get my composure (and good spirits) back. Thanks for understanding.

Revamp Released

Well, revamp has been released!
You can download it here.

I tried to get it as bug-free as possible, and my 2 beta-testers didn't see any issues. So, I hope it goes smoothly!

Nearly Ready!

The revamp of chapters 1 & 2 is 99.99% done. Everything has been evented, switched up and changed. I just have to test-play it a couple of times and make sure everything's running as it's supposed to. Since two of the cosmetic changes were a new message system and a new font, I've had to format the dialogue again. I think I've got it right and there aren't things like cut-off text or the namebox code being messed up.

So, I'm setting the formal release date for tomorrow evening. I'm excited to share it, as there's quite a bit of new content - despite it not being any different story-wise. The biggest change will be the battles. Having played through them, I don't find them too difficult, but I do wonder if the players will agree. One thing that makes me very happy is that status effects like poison and stat buffing/de-buffing are huge parts of the strategy. Poison hurts. A lot. Two of the characters can remove it with spells, and poison-removing items are around. But it's one of those things you'll want to have taken care of immediately. Likewise for self-buffs. They make the difference between an attack taking a quarter of one's health and taking off 1%.

Where am I in chapter 3? Since I've revamped the puzzle in the mines, I took a critical look at the puzzles slated for chapter 3 and realized they may be a bit lacking. So, I've been redesigning some areas and some puzzles. Thankfully, I hadn't finished mapping a whole lot and I won't have to take a few extra weeks to fix that.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's update! I hope there will be a few reviews :3