Taylor: I agree, it's an interesting mechanic to have in a game (different person scanning = different information) but MechanicalPen's question is a good one, how will you stop it from being redundant? Maybe some characters have more knowledge of certain types of enemies or enemies from an area they are more familiar with. That way you'd have to designate a different person to scan depending on situation and it would be a much more important game feature. :)
JayRay, sexy sig, pal. I like the screenie, the colours work well together and the book shelves etc are nice. (basically I like the aesthetics)
Deep lore/political systems are always a nice bonus too, in terms of player immersion.
I'd just make every non-ranged attack count as a scan. Then the scan data depends on party composition more so than "whose turn should I waste this battle?"
JayRay: that cursive font is a bit hard to read when it's not being used as a title header thing. Is there a less curly one you could use for the "Gender, Race, GClass" sections?
I would gather it is only hard to read because his image is being twice scaled down. The forum is scaling it 70% (720 x 540 down to 500 x 375) and he in fact scaled it before posting 70% (from a native 1024 X 768). It is now less than 50% of it's original size. Pretty clear for that. You should see Sid Meyer's Pirates (the updated remake of his 80's game), as it had a similar font style.
Oh, AND I'd make scanning a very VERY costly skill, and limit Metia being around so much. Should be kept a mystery or hard to scan... (chance to NOT succeed).
Up is down, left is right and sideways is straight ahead. - Cord "Circle of Iron", 1978 (written by Bruce Lee and James Coburn... really...)
yeah, actual image is not 720x540... is 1024x768... I just am posting the images to facebook to ensure a standard format for all my screenshots from here on out.
BLOG: JayVinci.blogspot.com
FORUM COMING SOON
Currently working on:
Ambitions: RPG Developer Bakin
Heart of Vox: RPG Developer Bakin
Re-drafting the look of the ATB system. *Gets out his WIP*
Technical Details & Further Plans
The Battle Background
Battle backgrounds may consist of a whole image (such as this one), a mix of two different images (example being the ground and the sky) or a particular map itself. Screens which are larger than the expected resolution may allow for long-range combat, so it's best to have a sniper on the team for these situations.
Combat Information
Simply displays help messages related to command and target selection as well as current battle actions. A simple delay will be implemented to display a queue of information lines, adjustable within the Menu => Config section.
Not pictured : An assist window shall pop up for command selection, revealing more technical detail about the action or skill
the player is about to use. For instance, it may show elemental and/or status properties as well as applicable HP, MP and/or Ammo costs, perhaps even charge and cool down time.
Command Display
Still rather standard so far, but different "Skills" or whatever will be cataloged for certain weapon and/or class types. Even the standard "Fight" command will lead to a sort of skill menu. We'll go ahead and use somebody equipped with a Gun for our example.
Fight
Single Shot : A concentrated shot, normal to high damage for a single target.
Double Shot : Two concentrated shots on a single target, may cause delay.
Spread Fire : A series of shots which may randomly hit multiple targets.
Full Mag : Unload a full clip or magazine on a single target without remorse.
Warning Shot : Purposely miss an enemy, hopefully causing them to flee in terror.
Fatal Shot : Target a single enemy for critical to fatal damage.
Status Display
Since battle scenery has been granted extended screen real estate, the battle status "window" has been replaced with a more revealing graphical interface. A series of states will be displayed for allies inflicted with multiple ailments, example being a combo of Poison, Blind and Mute. HP and MP is still pretty standard; white when normal, yellow when low, red when zero, gray when petrified, purple when possessed or zombified. States such as "Slow", "Haste" and "Stop" are purposely considered 'hidden' since the ATB bar itself will change appearance in representation of said states.
Target Display
Target display window simply lists a series of targets. With certain actions and skills, one may switch between allied and enemy targets using the SHIFT key. Ally information is always fully displayed, but enemies must be scanned into the bestiary before their traits are revealed.
Roguehaven is always undergoing changes... but this is now the character select screen...
(Right click and view image to see in full size)
As you can see, up to 10 pre-main storylines are available, 5 of which must be unlocked to proceed with the main story. Depending on the five (or more if you want) storylines you choose, you may be able to unlock the other character storylines, and complete those to have those characters available in the final quest in The Saga of The Shadow Thrones main storyline quest...
I have my game setup so that all the items and money accrued during each person's quest will be added to the final totals for your beginning funds in the main quest.
BLOG: JayVinci.blogspot.com
FORUM COMING SOON
Currently working on:
Ambitions: RPG Developer Bakin
Heart of Vox: RPG Developer Bakin
I am considering maps with impossible geometries...
"Turning iron ore into iron swords is a hard process, for one must first dig out the rock, and melt it to refine it, then one must pour that metal into a mould, let it cool a bit, and pound on it while it cools even further. Games are no different." - Ahzoh
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Vrkhazhian
ʾEšol ḵavud ʾelẕakud lav ʾezʾaẕud zwazaršeru ya lit žalneru lav lit t͛enud. Ṗal sa-ražheru lav raržižu paplam lav ṗal widsaṟam bemaḵu šuku lit ʾeyṭu waẏnilaẇ. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.