jack1974
Apr 17, 2017
No all characters have same amount of scenes. If you think one has less scenes the only solution would probably to count them
if you press F1 while playing will display the file/line played in case could be useful?
In any case if you stop romancing when there are only 2 characters, the "missing scene" could be the 10th scene which is correct, since you chose to stop the romance with one of the two. The important is that all the scenes play when you choose one character (and I think that works for sure).
I have to say that didn't test well in VNMode, maybe I'll try again in the next days.
SimonStardust
Apr 17, 2017
Ah, I guess I now know why I initially thought that Daniel has one scene less. His scenes are spread differently across the game than the others. My mistake. ^^
jack1974
Apr 17, 2017
Good to know, to be honest I supposed that if he had one scene less, someone else would have noticed
but you never know, some bugs seems capable of hiding themselves well
myoksy
Apr 18, 2017
very much not my genre, so take this complaint with a grain of salt ; )
it would be helpful to see the level requirements for jobs on the offer screen - I just accepted a task where I needed a skill level of 25 for the recipe, when the char had something like 7. no way I would have been able to fulfil the job.
jack1974
Apr 18, 2017
You mean, like this?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9uGysJXcAAS-NJ.jpg" style="max-width:100%">
Will be on next update!
myoksy
Apr 18, 2017
nice, and you're nearly there - you should also display the current level ; )
another thing: is there some help planned? I am mostly missing an easy way to see what is included in the collective categories like "Basic Fuel"
jack1974
Apr 18, 2017
True I will do that (also in the crafting screen).
For the help with an ingredient: it's enough to click on any ingredients to automatically search all the shops for the item - I think I put this info in the tutorial at the beginning ?
myoksy
Apr 19, 2017
iirc not in the tutorial. at first when I got a job I tried to memorize what resources I need and used the shop interface to get the stuff.
it was by chance that I saw the small help in the crafting display about the quick buy function - this one is only shown when one has not enough items.
couple of unrelated opinions:
- item quality
the 0..100 scale feels overblown and doesn't fit in the setting, imo - too technical and fine-grained, no one should be forced to think about the difference of 31% vs 32%. I would prefer e.g. a five-step model, internally mapped to a few percent values (like 10, 30, 50, 70, 90 or so). item quality could be displayed with a star(s) overlay
http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170419/r4a8s4mt.jpg" style="max-width:100%">
http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170419/et2eebsk.jpg" style="max-width:100%">
- energy and time
my biggest complaint. the dynamics of this system is imo not a good one. I fooled around with the game for a couple of hours and it still doesn't feel natural and I am not able to predict energy and time usage. if I had a say I would get rid of one of the two resources and drop energy altogether and only keep time. to give the player a tactical choice a boost point could be given when sleeping early - usable for one action giving better results (e.g. 50% more collected items or one star better quality when crafting).
as I don't have a say at least show the time and energy usage for the actions (collecting and crafting use both, looking for a job takes time, waiting/sleeping/eating uses time and gives energy. did I forget something?)
kind of related to time: the background story emphasises that different resources can only be collected at different time of day, the game play seems to ignore this.
jack1974
Apr 19, 2017
The stars to display the quality is a good idea to quickly see the item quality.
For this game I will keep the 0 to 100 scale though since changing this now would need to rewrite too many things (like the tasks, etc). But it's a good system to keep in mind for future crafting games
As for the energy, I did that because if I allowed to do too many things in one day (as originally was) the game would be even more grinding. I tried to make progress go much faster than originally planned, and even if you don't have much control on the energy thing, in the long run doesn't matter since basically you have 450 days to finish the main plot task. Doesn't make sense right now to change how the energy work.
Same thing for the resources to be collected at different times of the day, I had that originally, but then each day would last too long
myoksy
Apr 19, 2017
would need to rewrite too many things (like the tasks, etc)
one class to remap percentages to the fixed steps. you do code object-oriented, don't you? : P
and even if you don't have much control on the energy thing, in the long run doesn't matter since basically you have 450 days to finish the main plot task
it's not so much about control but more information, thus something like "action will take 4 hours and 20 energy" would be nice.
but this could be totally genre-related, I am very much not in the target group for this game : D
jack1974
Apr 19, 2017
one class to remap percentages to the fixed steps. you do code object-oriented, don't you? : P
Well the right answer would be "not really"
I know what you mean. The issue is that after working on this for 5+ months, I am scared of doing ANY changes that could potentially break the whole game right now when I'm about 1-2 weeks from the release.
Also, the percentage is used in a lot of other places in the game (calculating experiences, time bla bla) so it's not just a simple "cosmetic change" as it might seem.
but this could be totally genre-related, I am very much not in the target group for this game : D
Not sure, not saying it's wrong what you say, but for example for QoT I implemented all your suggestions, and it improved the game. However, when the base idea behind it is flawed, there is only so much you can do.
In summary I don't think spending any more time to improve "non essential things" can benefit at all the game, when probably 99% of people will be playing it in VN Mode.
Maybe one day I'll make a blog post about this, but in summary for all future games with gameplay I'm going to stick with RPG+VN thing, after QoT and this game I've realized that I am really not good at designing gameplay and I don't even enjoy it
I prefer to have a story and fixed battles (not random encounters like in QoT) and tweak those, like I did with SOTW, where I got a very good result (modestly speaking
). Doesn't make sense for me to waste a lot of energy in something I'm not good. Better if I keep doing what I do better
jack1974
Apr 19, 2017
That said, the quality change is a nice idea (and has been asked already by other people) so when I do the next update (I am waiting for some edits) I could try adding that, maybe it's not too complex to do
Troyen
Apr 19, 2017
Maybe one day I'll make a blog post about this, but in summary for all future games with gameplay I'm going to stick with RPG+VN thing, after QoT and this game I've realized that I am really not good at designing gameplay and I don't even enjoy it
I prefer to have a story and fixed battles (not random encounters like in QoT) and tweak those, like I did with SOTW, where I got a very good result (modestly speaking ). Doesn't make sense for me to waste a lot of energy in something I'm not good. Better if I keep doing what I do better
Hmm, I wouldn't say you're bad at it. I just think it may need a different approach than the other games. It sounds like you started the major gameplay work after the story was written, which may be okay for an RPG, but really limited a lot of your options on the tweaks you could make. Maybe next time you try something different (Undead Lily?) see if you can work on the gameplay earlier in development (if not concurrently with the story). Perhaps prototype a technical alpha like you did with QoT for some early feedback.
But if you don't enjoy it, that's a different story...
jack1974
Apr 19, 2017
Yes true, I should do the gameplay at same time, or BEFORE the writing, that's for sure. But while I enjoy balancing the fights/skills of RPGs (even if it's still a lot of work of course) I don't enjoy much doing those "sims" games anymore. When I started Amber I wasn't sure yet, but now after working on it for months I can say that I don't really like it as much as doing RPGs for sure.
Another thing I really liked doing was the card game design for PSCD. Probably doing kind of games you also enjoy playing helps
jack1974
Apr 19, 2017
Haha believe me I would rather be working on a card game right now, but... c'est la vie. I'll try to make another for sure though!
myoksy
Apr 20, 2017
I am scared of doing ANY changes that could potentially break the whole game right now when I'm about 1-2 weeks from the release.
oh, I am aware that it's a hell of a rework. and I'm - as always - in effect way too late with my beta test involvement. sorry.
for QoT I implemented all your suggestions
my most important CR was the one in 0.8.6
the horizontal/vertical passages layouts artwork are perfectly symmetrical
this one drove me mad : P
two more on-topic remarks:
- when a job giver wants pebbles the resource calculation is wrong: only one raw item is needed for two pebbles, but the game implies the double amount.
- even when all shops are closed (the "nothing to see here" message for dock and market) the quick buy function in crafting let one buy items
jack1974
Apr 20, 2017
my most important CR was the one in 0.8.6
What does CR means?
two more on-topic remarks:
- when a job giver wants pebbles the resource calculation is wrong: only one raw item is needed for two pebbles, but the game implies the double amount.
- even when all shops are closed (the "nothing to see here" message for dock and market) the quick buy function in crafting let one buy items
For the first I don't think can be solved easily, maybe with a custom check if the recipe is about pebbles might work
About the second I could disable it when shops are closed but in this case I am not sure realism is better than practicity. I'm more inclined to allow players to always buy from the recipe screen, it would just annoy them and not improve the game in any way.
myoksy
Apr 20, 2017
Change Request.
When you build some special handling for pebbles (are those the only items with more than one produced item with a single raw ingredient?) you should also enforce an even number as job offer. I don't think your crafting screen can handle decimal numbers ; )
The shop thingy is simply weird seen from a story/char PoV, the functionality is neither good nor bad (the time between shop closure and enforced sleep is anyway too short for crafting).
