FableQuest: Origin of the Phoenix Knight (MO)

[Strife]

So I was referred to some really neat articles recently that explain some neat tips and tricks for action adventure game building:

www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4326/action_adventure_level_design_.php
www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4413/action_adventure_level_design_.php
www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/5441/action_adventure_level_design_.php

Basically, it talks about some things you can do to align your player's motivation with the main character's so that the player actively wants the protagonist to finish their quest. It also goes on to describe how to brainstorm and analyze the flow of your game through different kinds of charts and diagrams.

I took their advice and tried my hand at developing a table of FableQuest's gameplay flow:

a.imageshack.us/img291/5216/gameplayflow.png

Basically, this table is a chronological timeline that analyzes every piece of the game where the main quest is updated. It goes from the start of the game to the point where Ikkin first reaches the White Weewoo.

Of particular interest to me is the New Features category. My aim is to provide a constant stream of new skills, abilities, and gameplay mechanics to keep players involved and interested in what will happen next. If all goes well, there should never be too wide of a gap between new features, and if there is, I should balance it out through other means. (Oh, and the white boxes in that row indicate optional new features, while the green ones are mandatory for the player to continue.)

I'm also inclined to believe that the story has taken itself pretty seriously so far, which is all the more reason to go for a more lighthearted tone between the introduction of the Pirates and the fourth dungeon. After the terrifying experience of the Solar Temple, I think that it would be a nice gesture to provide the player with a bit of comic relief before their next dramatic dungeon crawl. xD

[Killix]

The only time the story has felt serious to me is in the Solar Temple where you're trapped... but I suppose mileage may vary, there. XD

[Strife]

Very much so. x3 And I guess it's not so much how serious it feels, but how seriously the game takes itself.

On another note, since I put this in a thread in the Diaries section, I might as well put it here. xD;

SPOILER: Click to show

I'm about halfway through with the beach region, including the monster animations. I tried to think of something I could do to separate it from your stereotypical Palmtree Panic-esque beach level, so I gave the vegetation more of a bluish tint and paled the sand.

Sometime after the beach is done, I must go through the excruciatingly difficult task of drawing the White Weewoo in a shipwrecked state. xD; Ugh... I'm definitely going to need Hunty's help with this one.

[Pacmanite]

The mood plan is looking cool, Strife, and so's the beach scenery so far. The one thing that's bugging me about those palms though is that they're all so straight-trunked.

In nature they'd often have a kind of a lean to them, most especially the trees that are closest to the water's edge. Not only do those trees get to endure the strongest oceanic storm winds, but these palms grow in very unstable soil. So when sand at the shoreline gets worn away each season by the breaking waves, that erosion tends to make the trees at their bases lean out towards the ocean. In response the growing tip of the plant tries to "correct" that angle and grow upwards more towards the vertical, so you end up with a sort of lazy curve that leans out over to the sea.

...and maybe the shoreline could use a little more debris to indicate where the wave line ends: dried seaweed, little shells, rubbish, driftwood splinters.

I like the way you're incorporating rocks into this landscape, though. Are you going to be having coastal rockpools as well? I always loved mucking around those places. And clambering over rocky outcrops too. These rocks here look awesomely organic and well dispersed as far as I can tell so far.

...actually, about that mood map thing again, what kind of mood is "mounting triumph"?

[Killix]

The boulders are really smooth and look kinda like chocolate pudding piles, too. X3

The vegetation looks great, though. :}

[Strife]

Thanks guys. ^_^

Pacmanite - Hmm, you may have a point there. x3 I was just going by a reference picture I used of a palm tree that was perfectly straight. Anyway, does this look better?

SPOILER: Click to show

As for rock pools/debris, I'll see what I can think of. Might be interesting to have random items spawn on the shoreline, much like mushrooms spawn randomly in the forest areas. ^_^

As for "mounting triumph," I snatched that term from the article, which basically describes how the player feels themselves getting closer and closer to victory, gaining a confidence boost as a result.

[Killix]

Seashells that spawn randomly on the beach would be neat if we could go shell collecting (pick them up) and sell them for ore. X3

[Omni]

*looking at the MMF2 screenshot and mentally comparing features to GameMaker*

Hmm... The trees look better, now that their leaning over, though I think they should be curved, just a little bit. I think it would be a little more realistic.

Thought I'd also mention that while I don't remember how I felt for each part as I played through it the first time, the 'player emotion' seems pretty well accurate so far.

...Not much else to say, other than maybe I tend to panic during 'I need to get out of here, quick!' moments.

[Strife]

Sweetness. ^_^



Mastery Demolitions has been improved. At the mastery level, you can throw bombs by holding the left or right key as you're pressing the shortcut key. The bombs will travel a little over halfway across the screen before exploding. Hitting monsters will not cause them to explode early, so players don't have to worry about getting their faces blown off if it hits something right next to them. xD;

Also, at the mastery level, if you drop a bomb on the ground, you can pick it back up before it explodes, just in case you happen to drop one accidentally when you meant to throw it.

[PFA]

Oh yeah, Omni asked me to check if it still lags under Virtual PC, even with the hardware acceleration.

yeah no

It's Virtual PC, it's going to play everything really lousy. XD There's no salvaging it, man.

[Killix]

My save disappeared. ._.
I guess I'll just have to start a new one. I was going to anyway, but I wanted to complete the Alpha and take on the final boss first. XD

[Omni]

Aug 15, 2010 16:27:55 GMT -5 Killix said:

My save disappeared. ._.
I guess I'll just have to start a new one. I was going to anyway, but I wanted to complete the Alpha and take on the final boss first. XD

You could use one of the saves previously uploaded to this thread.

...Eh. I guess if you were going to start over anyway, it doesn't matter that much.

[Strife]

Aug 15, 2010 16:27:55 GMT -5 Killix said:

My save disappeared. ._.
I guess I'll just have to start a new one. I was going to anyway, but I wanted to complete the Alpha and take on the final boss first. XD

Really? Huh... I wonder why it vanished like that. I never tell the game to delete files. MMF doesn't let even let me do it without a third party extension.

SPOILER: Click to show

This screenshot amuses me more than it should. xD;

Anyway, I've started work on the ally system and given Rider a very basic AI. So far, she can follow the player and jump with them at roughly the same time. Think Sonic and Tails. I want to try and find some sort of pathfinding tutorial for MMF2 so that I can figure out how to make her weave around obstacles with the player, rather than constantly moving in a straight path to each destination.

I'm also thinking that in order to save myself from frequent headaches, I should make her behavior really tight with the player's, in such a way that she's really more of an extension of the player rather than an independant AI (kinda like the Ice Climbers from Super Smash Bros, if you've ever played that). If the player doesn't attack monsters and decides to flee from them instead, she'd do the same, and when the player attacks, she'd attack similarly. In this regard... it's a longshot, but there's a possibility that I could allow her to be controlled by a second player, but it would have to be through a separate input device so that it doesn't interfere with the player's keyboard configuration. It all depends on how much time it takes to fully implement the ally system.

[Strife]

Aaand Rider's AI is now fully functional. ^_^ She can follow the player, swim, jump, and use a basic sword combo whenever Ikkin attacks.



All I need to do is make her take damage from monster attacks and give her better pathfinding skillz. The latter might have to wait a while.

I'm going to stick with the tight, Ice Climbers-esque AI to keep things simple. If you're clever, and once you have a feel for how your ally functions, you can pull off some nice double-teaming to maximize your damage against monsters. For example, I find that using Rising Slash while having Rider stay at ground level and hack away while Ikkin is airborne to be a pretty effective move. She only does a small amount of damage in Alpha 4, but it's still enough to make her useful.

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]I am so dang sexy.[/glow]