I've been following the development of that new title on your blog and, judging from the screenshots, it looks good I loved princess maker series, so this one is definitely a game I'll be following closely.



A pity if you wont' be able to add also the combat itself on the game, that would rock...

Yeah well, I'm still doing the relationship part of the game, and the events. It's quite time-consuming. I don't think will put any combat inside the game, but could always release an add-on or maybe better, do that "gladiator management simulation" I talked about some time ago with other people in this forums.

Well all I can say is that will be different from PM series (at least the 2, I didn't play all the other episodes!).

It will be more focused on the personal relationships and events that will happen in the normal life-cycle.

Looks like it's been a while since anyone commented on this game. I'm a newcomer to the game and your games in general and I have a few things to say.



I really enjoyed SH. I just wish it went a lot more deep with more encounters, more possible partners more life situations, maybe life after marriage...umm babies? Another thing, I like to really feel like I'm the girl in the story, not just me controlling a character. For instance, instead of, at the beginning, being told to choose your character, I would rather it ask, Who will you be in this game? and that all comments in the story are clearly directed to me the player (follow me? ). A little point maybe but one that makes a difference to me. A suggestion along this line: Sometimes the dialog is clearly from the character, other times it's what she's thinking, and sometimes it's text that describes what's happening. I think to avoid confusion that different typefaces or different colored text should be used for each point of view. This should apply to all your games, btw.



Now a question: So far I've "married" two of the guys--the captain and the musician. But is it possible to marry all the guys (not all in the same game of course.)? I've tried to date the others but find that there aren't enough encounters and that I have to work at my "jobs" a long time only to find I'm not interacting with anyone; sometimes I just don't care what the goddess wants me to do cause it sometimes seems to take out the dating options.



Also...Please, please...fix errors in spelling and grammar. I've noticed mistakes in every game I've looked at from you (even the new Planet Stronghold one). Sometimes a word is left out and sometimes the sentence is awkward. It's not only your games, just about every game I've played has inexcusable English errors in it...even one from National Geographic. Heck, I'd be willing to proofread for you if you would like me to. Oh, but I also meant to compliment you on the dialog which is "snappy" well-written and often funny.



Well enough rambling. I think it's clear I really like your dating/life-sim games and I really like "getting into" the stories.

Now a question: So far I've "married" two of the guys--the captain and the musician. But is it possible to marry all the guys (not all in the same game of course.)? I've tried to date the others but find that there aren't enough encounters and that I have to work at my "jobs" a long time only to find I'm not interacting with anyone; sometimes I just don't care what the goddess wants me to do cause it sometimes seems to take out the dating options.

Yes you can marry all of the guys I wrote a guide here in forums, and also gamertell wrote a very good one: http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/5-spirited-heart-success-secrets/

Also...Please, please...fix errors in spelling and grammar. I've noticed mistakes in every game I've looked at from you (even the new Planet Stronghold one). Sometimes a word is left out and sometimes the sentence is awkward. It's not only your games, just about every game I've played has inexcusable English errors in it...even one from National Geographic. Heck, I'd be willing to proofread for you if you would like me to. Oh, but I also meant to compliment you on the dialog which is "snappy" well-written and often funny.



Well enough rambling. I think it's clear I really like your dating/life-sim games and I really like "getting into" the stories.

Hah well Planet Stronghold alpha is not-proofreaded yet, so for sure there are mistakes. I first write the game texts myself and then ask people I know to proofread them, but in the promo video/screenshots I mostly use my original texts (so this is why you see mistakes).

Anyway will remember your offer - I have so many games going on, and with so many texts (some games have 50k words!) that is hard for the proofreaders to check everything

OK. Thanks. I totally overlooked the"Places" clues in the Relationship Panel. Now I know where to look for the guys!



New Question: I went broke before taxes twice in one month and though I was warned I'd go to jail if I didn't pay up the next time, nothing happened--just the same old warning. Dang, I wanted to go to jail! I guess there's no jail screen?

,

There probably won't be any more updates to this game, correct? I am looking forward to the next version but you said that it will have more jobs and less encounters? The jobs are boring to me but I LOVE the encounters. It is called Spirited HEART, you know. Am I in the minority here? An idea related to jobs: Having only one way, one game, to make money gets kind of old. How about more varied games to earn the cash?



I know it would take more art labor, but it seems there should be 4 seasons (4 backgrounds, not 2) when the girl goes to relax in the park. As it is, there's winter, then...boom...everything's green!



I hope there are more girls and more guys in the next version. I must say the personalities of the guys really comes through; they're all distinct types and very well crafted. I like the music too.

Lol no, you can't go to jail I thought about doing that, but then probably would have been a bit too cruel!

I am still unsure about the relationships on the Spirited Heart spin-off. I might put some, problem is that they take long time to write (the SH game has over 40k words of dialogues!) and yes, not everyone likes them (that's why I put a button romance on/off in the latest update). But even if there won't be in this game, I'll probably release another, or an add-on (I want to make several for this new game, each one adding some aspects to the game).



Anyway, if you like romance/dialogues I reccommend you also take a look at my other games VNs (Heileen 1-2, The Flower Shop and if you like sci-fi, Bionic Heart).

....the forum is not very busy...

First time poster here. Yeah ... this message board seems sparsely trafficked. I have been surfing the net looking for message boards and blogs relevant to Spirited Heart, but not much luck so far.



At a glance, SH reminds me of better-known Princess Maker series. Similar game mechanics, as both games center on raising character stats with open-ended objectives. Unlike PM, cash management is easier in SH (as long as you pay attention to when tax collector knocks on your door and not have too much cash sitting around when they come!). Another thing that makes SH easier is its game duration: The game goes on until she turns 30, a plenty of time for her to settle down on a career and get married.



Perhaps the first half of the game is the pain in the rear-end, as it involves quite a bit of stat grinding and frequent game saves. However, the girl will not build up adequate amount of attributes if she has an easy life! Things open up quite a bit once she starts taking advanced jobs as this improves her cash flow situation considerably. Once she reaches that point, she can build up her romance in a leisurely manner.



The choice of her race and family background matters, as they determines her starting stats (both) as well as starting cash (family background only). A player should pick a background in such a way that it meshes with the girl's future career. For example, being raised by a general boosts her concentration attribute, which should be handy if she were to be groomed to become an armorer.



Overall, SH is a decent game for those who like stat building and can set his/her own game pace. It is, however, not recommended for those who like a lot of action and complicated plays.

That was a good review, thanks

(game programmer)

I'm probably going to make the sequel next year with more complex stuff like trading, dungeon fight, etc.

YW



Some of my 'what-if' ideas ...



My thoughts on running combat:



1. Magical: To hit = (Dexterity - 10)/100 * Magic. Damage inflicted = (Concentration - 10)/100 * Magic. Damage absorbed = Magic/400. If the player chooses not to attack in a given round, then he can use To Hit probability to evade. Each time magic is used in any way, a certain amount of Magic points are deducted from 'current' Magic level (does not affect the 'permanent' Magic level). If he chooses to use magic at or below zero 'current' Magic skill level, then he starts deducting from his 'current' Stamina level.



2. Physical: To hit = (Combat - 10)/100 * Combat. Damage inflicted = (Strength - 10)/100 * Combat. Damage absorbed = Combat/400.



3. Various magic and combat items can modify one or more combat calculations. While mundane items like knife can be bought from local armory, magical armor is not something that can be found in store shelves. Not to mention, someone who is neither a soldier nor an established arms merchant possessing military equipments is going to attract unwanted attention from the imperial security folks!



******

My thoughts on jobs: Impose pay grades for each job, depending on the levels of attributes or skills. This roughly simulates job experience and promotion. So, a a soldier with Combat 80 & Stamina 70 is going to get a bigger check, compared to another soldier with Combat 60 & Stamina 60. But the privileges of higher pay grade carries a price: Greater position of authority = more severe the punishment in case of failure. (For example, an officer running away from combat is not going to be punished the same way as a conscript.)

Interesting ideas, on combat I don't know if the sequel will have the same statistics as the first one (but probably yes). The formulas you posted look quite good to me

About the magic items definitely will have different levels of those, and I was thinking even with requirements. A new feature I plan to add is "levels". You'll have levels of every skill, each level will be a value of 100. So having 540 in combat will mean level 5 and 40/100 in combat skill. Limiting the values to 0/100 and stop makes the game too short I think.

So your idea of jobs will indeed be implemented, each promotion in level will also mean you get promoted in your work, higher pay but also higher penalties if something wrong happens.

Still more brainstorming ....



My 'what-if' combat resolution was based on the stats used in the current version of SH. I stayed away from anything more complicated, because I fear that having SH to become too stat-heavy may turn it into a stereotypical stat-unwieldy RPG. (I have played a bit of stat-heavy tabletop RPGs in the past. Too much stat-crunching diminishes the fun part, both from the player's perspective as well as that of the game master's. Overall game concept and story lines seemed more important in the long run.)



Other expansion idea that I can think of is to increase the roster of NPCs. Specifically, a roster of non-romantically involved but politically influential NPCs, such as city mayor, traveling merchant, banker, resident scholar, inventor, alchemist, smuggler. Getting to know one or more of these influential personalities becomes important for the girl's career. Each personality may provide goods/services for a price. Also, their presence affects random encounters, both positively and negatively. Each one of them require 4 key stats: Social, Decorum, and Reputation, plus an appropriate skill (e.g., Research for resident scholar). Decorum and Reputation requirements depend on his/her hierarchy.



Insofar as SH's economy is concerned, good to see that it avoids stereotypical RPG-plunder-based-economy in which cash flow problem can easily be overcome by hosing down countless number of monsters and cannon-fodders. This is one of the excellent feature from SH.

Yes definitely planning to have more NPC with special roles as the one you described.

About the economy, if I add combat I'll be somehow forced to add crafting based on resources, but I consider what you wrote. However I don't know how to circumvent that problem - fighting monsters could only improve XP/skills? I should provide some reward at least

As for monetary reward for defeating monsters, an alternative to cash reward would be to have salvageable items (usually weapons, armor, and some supplies) which could be sold at a marketplace. The type of an opponent makes a huge difference. (A knight carries lot more valuable goodies than a brigand, for example, but getting into a fight with a knight is very rare.) However, looting by itself does not diminish the need for a steady source of income, unless the girl is allowed to be in charge of a gang of bandits or a military unit.



Another way of look at combat encounters is to how much of an incentive would you like to provide to the player? The more after-combat looting is allowed, the more the player is likely to seek combat. Or .... make combat dangerous and unpredictable, even for the girl with good combat-related stats. In this case, combat is to be avoided unless the girl is desperate: Higher rewards = higher risks.

Well combat would be 1 vs 1, and was thinking about dungeons mostly. I could do a bit like Recettear indeed, where you get XP but also items to salvage or resell. I was even thinking special items that boost various stats, not necessarily related to combat (Amulet of Charisma for example). And have the combat moderately dangerous. This way could be a sort of shortcut or alternative path to normal stat grinding.

One way of making combat dangerous is to have seriously negative consequences in case things do not go as planned. For example, if the girl gets curb-stomped (but short of entering the afterlife!), then her Health and Morale go down the drain. Depending on the severity of damage received, it could take weeks for her to get her Health back. If the injury is bad enough, she could lose s significant chunk of her Strength, Stamina, and Combat. In addition, she has goes through a trauma in which her Morale will also take weeks to recover. If the trauma is bad enough, she could lose a signficant chunk of stats like Concentration, Dexterity, Wisdom, plus one or more skill points. Healing potions are available, but the most they can provide is to have her recover at a somewhat faster rate. If she has good friendship and/or relationship, they could help lessen the trauma and help her recover quicker. Depending on who has whooped her rear-end, she could also lose Reputation. If the combat result is moderately unsuccessful, then she will still take penalties, but within less extreme bounds. Needless to say, combat in general takes away valuable time she could have used to work, study, and train, even if she only suffers from bruises and scratches.



Speaking of stat-grinding, I think this area alone deserves quite a bit of brainstorming.

Yes that's an interesting suggestion - but I would need to balance it carefully. For "hardcore" players it won't be a problem, but I had many "casual" players that are already pissed off by the small stats decreasing that happens already in the Spirited Heart Deluxe Though is true that in the case of the combat, they wouldn't be forced at all to get into it. It should be a way to "risk" something, with big rewards. So players who feel more brave could try to get a big boost with combat, while those who prefers to play safely can keep doing their daily activities/jobs

The current version of SH already has 'easy' and 'normal' modes. I think this is good enough. A more complicated approach would be to have a game setup table that has a list of sliding scales. Possible options:



1. Tax rate: Range: 0% to 50%. This sets the average tax rate. The actual tax rates fluctuate around it. Higher setting also results in more volatile fluctuation.



2. Romance difficulty: The higher the setting, the more the girl must invest time and money to develop and upkeep relationship.



3. Unused skills decrease: Zero setting means no unused skills decrease over time.



4. Training difficulty: Higher setting means stats increase at a slower rate. Also, the girl's health and mood have stronger impact on stat increases.



5. Ordinary random encounters: Zero setting means the girl does not go through random encounters like illness and going out of the town to see her friend's marriage ceremony.



6. Game save allowance: Per week or per month. If the latter option is chosen, the player can only save game at the beginning of a month.



Overall: The player can customize game difficulty to suit his/her taste. However, if the overall game setting is a bit too easy, then he/she cannot unlock some special scenes and events.

Thanks that's a very good suggestion - a bit like many "sandbox" games were you can adjust the difficulty of several aspects of the game. Will surely remember this when I start working on SH2!