TFR: Fantasy Tree

This week's resource is a curly fantasy tree:

Terms: Free for non-commercial use in any of Enterbrain's RPG Maker programs.
Do not repost/redistribute! Link to this blog post instead.
Credits: Lunarea

Thursday's Freebie: Sparkles 2

I missed the update on Thursday, so you get it a few days later:

Glow-y witch battler.

Here's how she looks with a dark background:

Terms: Same as the RTP EULA.
No need to credit.
You may repost elsewhere, but please link to my blog if you do so.

Weekly Progress: Sprites

I've started spriting some characters. Instead of doing NPCs, I figured it would work better to start with the main characters.

So, after much time and several hand/wrist cramps, here are Alistair and Claudia:

 They now match their portraits/faces (Yay!).

The rest of the week was pretty much spent on some requests/commissions and work.


Not much of an update, but I'm pretty tired today.

Weekly Progress - Details

As last week, the bulk of my work in TUAH has been on the database. I finally mostly finished the iconset - with the exception of the little NPC face icons that will be used for the quest interface.

Screenshot of the menu:

 As you can see, I have all kinds of fun little icons that make the standard VXAce menu seem more exciting.

Next week, I plan to get into spriting. I need to get started on making NPCs - as there's a giant variety of those in the game. I will post some NPC designs in the next update.

Free Battler

Yet another Thursday freebie for you all!

This time, it's a sparkly female battler:

There's actually quite a few shiny effects that are hard to see with the white background, so here's how the battler looks on a dark background:

All shiny and sparkly.

Terms: Same as the RTP EULA.
No need to credit.
You may repost elsewhere, but please link to my blog if you do so.

Weekly Progress: Cast Changes

I finished Claudia's faceset and expressions last week. They turned out just fabulously, of course, and allowed me to make just the perfect expressions for her.

This week, I was all set to start spriting when it struck me that the rest of the cast now looked kind of shabby by comparison. I mean, Claudia gets a custom look and everyone else is just barely re-colored RTP.

And so, I spent a little time and redid the look of everyone else. It was a big move, and I was pretty nervous about the reaction. But I ran it by some friends first, and they were all supportive (thanks a bunch Ronove, Volrath and RavenTDA!). I decided I'm going through with it, and now I'm happily spriting away the new cast.

New Cordelia:

She has pretty curly hair, now. 

She's also a little older, because it was just way too creepy to write her as a romantic interest otherwise.

New Penelope:

That's actually how she looks in all my concept sketches, and stuff. But I didn't find a sprite or portrait that matched at the time.

New and much-hotter Alistair:

Long hair! *swoon*

Special thanks to Jalen, here, since I pretty much used her awesome Dominic portrait.

And lookie, young Alistair:

Can you believe this young little guy saved the world?

The rest of the time has been spent organizing the database (will it ever be done?!? ;_;), making some awesome new icons and working on the inner tavern map.

Wild West

Continuing with the wild wild west theme and bringing you some more furniture:

Enjoy, and don't forget to credit me!

Terms: Free for non-commercial use in any of Enterbrain's RPG Maker programs.
Do not repost/redistribute! Link to this blog post instead.
Credits: Lunarea

Title Woes

Working on the title screen, not sure which version I like best.

Version 1: Mostly bits and pieces from the RTP.

Version 2: Mostly custom with RTP sword and an "old page" textured background. Also, dragons. Not that there are any dragons in the game, really. They just look cool.

Version 3: Sparkles. 'cause sparkles...

  

At the moment, I'm leaning toward 3. But that might change in the morning. >_>

----
Edit:
After taking in all suggestions and opinions, I've come up with a final version:

Weekly Progress: Mapping and Expressions

Though I just updated on Wednesday, I'm trying to go back to my regular updating schedule.

Despite being busy, this week has been pretty productive for TUAH.

The first thing that was completed is Claudia's new faceset and expressions:

She is back to her quirky, sarcastic and flirty self. Yay!

The second thing that's been completed is yet another revamp of Burgunda Post:

I was not entirely happy with the previous version. In re-scaling for the taller custom sprites, I found that the town lost a lot of its charm and purpose. So, the town has been remapped to have more of a log-cabin look - which is much more true to the town's purpose than the previous map.

And the third thing that's been done is reworking and restructuring the town to actually include the gameplay features that the player should really see from the very beginning. So, the following changes have been made:
- You will be able to actually shop in various shops. This is a change from my original "you shall unlock special shops later on" sort of deal that TUAH's had thus far.
- Added a blacksmith shop where you can get quests for weapon upgrades. There will be one of those in most towns, as I don't want to make constant backtracking into an obligation.
- The magic shop will have a fortune teller that will tell you your relationship with various party members as well as your personality traits (which have also been revamped).
- You will actually be able to complete two side-quests in the town or immediate vicinity. I think it was too confusing to get quests that you can't even turn in until much later.

And that's the gist of my week!

Back to work

Now that the holidays are over, I'm slowly getting back into the development groove. Despite having a few very busy weeks, I managed to squeeze in a few free moments to do some work on TUAH.

What I've done:
- Created a concept map for one of the temples:

 Special thanks to PandaMaru for creating the awesome logo.

There's still things that need to be changed about it, such as the water flowing on the two towers. That part will have to be drawn from scratch, however, as I can't really edit it from the RTP. Or maybe I'm just going about it the wrong way. In any case, that temple should be pretty fun to explore.
- Changed the iconset.
It doesn't sound like much, but there were a good 40 places that needed to be reconfigured and re-updated. I've still got to reconfigure a couple more scripts that use icons. I will not be changing the iconset again, trust me.
- Started converting some RTP sprites to the new template:

They look much better in comparison, I think. And they make the RTP look that much more squished.
- Finalized the concepts for all the playable characters, readjusted their back story and started databasing the skills and weapons.
- Went through the game script again, just to make sure it's the final version that I will not deviate from. Also decided that even if an amazing new maker comes out that practically makes the game for me, I will not be switching engines again.
- I may have also spent a fair amount of time whining about how much work it is to port everything over to Ace and redo stuff like the database. I hate databasing with a passion.

And to kill two birds with one stone, here is Thursday's resource release:

I can't recall what I originally created this door for, but it looks a bit like it belongs in the Wild West or something. In any case .... Enjoy! And please don't forget to credit me.

Terms: Free for non-commercial use in any RPG Maker program.
Do not repost/redistribute! Link to this blog post instead.
Credits: Lunarea