Maps and screenshots thread

[MetalRenard]

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.

[MechanicalPen]

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?

[DerVVulfman]

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).

[JayRay]

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.

[Kain Nobel]

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.

[Talesdreamer]

The HUD is pretty nice, but I'd move the bars a little... They're too near to the edges of the screen.

[JayRay]

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.

[DerVVulfman]

Isometric maps are in the works....


  HoverTiles.png (Size: 9.19 KB / Downloads: 17)

Notice any unusual catwalks on the screen? That is not a parallax map. You can walk on top of and underneath these suckers!

And that red tile on the right? It floats up and down for you to ride.

[Kain Nobel]

That is a trip to look at, has me wondering what it would be like with proper textures applied.

[Ahzoh]

I am considering maps with impossible geometries...