Heh . . . you know what'd be awesome? An RPG with a bunch of advanced tech: artificial life type AI, simplified natural language processing, natural per-character faction and morality systems, GPU-accelerated AI processing . . . and this kind of 8-bit NES RPG presentation.
I think it'll take me a few years to learn how to do all that though. I may have to charge you THREE bucks.
Actually with all the XNA framework tinkering that I've done -- no games, just toy apps that poke at the API -- maybe I should volunteer unpaid time this summer to help RainbowDespair and slash000 with their next game.
(What am I saying? I'm not worthy! *bows down* I'm NOT WORTHY!)
mspencer on
MEMBER OF THE PARANOIA GM GUILD
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
There is a list of stats called Epitaphs that tracks certain things, too, not unlike Achievements; which is something we added for completionists.
Glad you guys liked my suggestion.
Arrath on
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RentI'm always rightFuckin' deal with itRegistered Userregular
edited April 2010
Wait wait wait wait
Full refill of health after battles? So it's a 2-d FFXIII?
Okay now I have to get it
Rent on
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited April 2010
Props for the optional encounter feature after the quota has been met.
I loved that in Wild Arms 4 (also in WA5 but they gutted the cool platforming and side scroller elements in that one so it shall remain nameless to me).
Just went through the ruins and then crossed to get to the town on Motherbound. I really really loved the ruins dungeon. It was excellently designed and pretty a pretty unique setting for this type of RPG. I also liked the dragon boss fight. Nothing too hard yet but I could see it ramping up a bit.
Breath of Death VII gave me the Red Ring of Death.
But I'll talk about that later. Here's my review:
The game is great. Although it has an indie feel (which makes me pine for a Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden port), it does capture the 8-bit RPG feel well. Especially with the cluttered dungeon landscapes that make it cumbersome to run around.
The only thing that threw it off was the character portraits. The hand drawn portraits make it seem like the flash games you'd see on Newgrounds. I would have preferred 8-bit portraits, but the current ones are still fine. It's only a minor grievance, like wishing that the trailers had the characters running around the map rather than slowly walking around, making it seem like the game has a slow pace. The map obstruction objects needed some more contrast as well, to help separate obstructions from background scenery.
The run button was a great feature to add, in addition to the Choose-to-Fight and limited random battles feature. It really streamlined the game and added to the minimalistic nature of it. Not having to bother with selling outdated items has its pros and cons, but given the minimalist approach to things, I'd say it added to the enjoyment.
Choosing your level up bonus was a good idea, but it had a small flaw. A bad side to this minimalism is not knowing what the heck is going on in regards to choosing your bonuses. You cannot bring up your stats to view what you need to boost, and there is no help text explaining some of the mechanics. Without help text or a manual, a player would have to figure out some of these mechanics and what they mean on their own.
The story was paced well and didn't feel short at all. The references were peppered throughout and highly enjoyable. Each main character was great in their own way and unique, and the whole undead civilization was a nice subversion of the fantasy genre.
The combat was pretty strategic as well. Depending on how you build your characters, you could really rack up combos and hit some strong combo boost+ attacks.
This is what my screen looked like after the game crashed. After rebooting the system, instant RRoD.
It occured around the very final savepoint of the game. Spoilers abound:
I was using the Death Breath unite attack to grind for EXP. During one case, I believe Dem got stunned by a Lab Coat's BOO, and the attack never came out. It just said "2 Hits!" "2 Hits!" with no damage recorded.
Using the Death Breath again did the same thing, nothing happened. There was one time where Lita was stunned at the end of one fight, and I couldn't use Death Breath because she was still stunned in the fight right afterwards, even though I used the save point in between to heal up.
The crash occured after I selected FIGHT.
EDIT: In case it isn't clear, I'm just ribbing slash and Rainbow. RRoD is a hardware overheating issue that can POSSIBLY be encouraged by things like a shitty xbox magazine demo, but in this case I don't blame BoD at all.
MEMBER OF THE PARANOIA GM GUILD
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
In other news it seems we slipped to the #2 top rated slot. I guess that we're right on the border there with I Mad3 a Gam3. I can't complain though, I'm ecstatic with the response we've gotten as it is, it's been great. edit again: we're slipping back and forth between slot 1 and 2.
As a side note, I've also noticed that Beat Hazard and Miner Dig Deep keep battling it out for the #3 position; Beat Hazard took number 3 from Miner Dig Deep this morning, then they switched back and Dig Deep is back at #3 again. I guess those two games are each right on the border of those two slots as well.
I kind of prefer to walk most of the time anyway, personally. Feels more natural. Although, if you have to trek back for something, like if you hit a dead end and have to turn back, it certainly does save you time in getting to where you need to be.
Although running doesn't affect encounter rate, it does help speed things along when needed
Hey slash and rainbow, I gave you guys a dollar today
On a completely unrelated note I also got a really sweet indie RPG
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited April 2010
As much as I enjoyed this game, I got to say the ending was kind of a bummer.
Maybe I've been playing abit too much Fallout lately which is full of morally gray choices but the lack of a real choice at the end really hurt it for me.
Seriously, why should I destroy my own race just to bring back one that already killed themselves off and left the planet to rot?
I was really hoping Dem and the gang would stand up for themselves instead of allowing the human race to press the rewind button and start the vicious cycle all over again.
This game is awesome. I am making my Sara really strength based, and it's hilarious seeing her outdamage Dem with basic attacks. After she got an extra hit, it got scary.
This game is awesome. I am making my Sara really strength based, and it's hilarious seeing her outdamage Dem with basic attacks. After she got an extra hit, it got scary.
I am doing the exact opposite, and she turns out awesome either way
Jeez, this thing is running amok. Another question: how much PR work did you guys do? I'm suspecting the answer is "None!" aside from pre-release testing on the XNA Creators Club forums.
Holy shit, best Indie Game rating ever? Well played, Zeboyd duo. (I personally always thought I MAED A GAME was kind of overrated anyway, IMO.)
whoa, congrats dudes
I appreciate it; we both really appreciate it. We poured our hearts into this thing and we're glad that so many people are enjoying the results.
I will say though that the rating for Zomb1es and our game is almost exactly the same. We traded off spots a couple of hours ago, and then traded back. So BODVII and I Mad3 a Gam3 are both really really close to the same rating number. And honestly, I'm honored that we're doing as well as we have, and I'm somewhat speechless. I just can't thank everyone enough for the support, really.
Jeez, this thing is running amok. Another question: how much PR work did you guys do? I'm suspecting the answer is "None!" aside from pre-release testing on the XNA Creators Club forums.
We've been trying to spread the word by attempting to contact various websites, and sending out press-release type information. We've also been doing interviews when we get the opportunity, and answering questions in various forums. This past weekend we have sent out review codes to a variety of places, but we won't know which places review the game and post about it until next week probably. Again, we really appreciate all the places that have agreed to do interviews with us or done podcasts - Xbox Live Indie games is a service that doesn't get much coverage, and it's hard for any XBLIG dev to spread the word about their game and the service overall.
Has anyone emailed Gabe and Tycho about this yet? Seems like something they should be informed of!
RBD emailed them way back when we created our first trailer.. unfortunatley we haven't heard back from them... We also emailed them again when our game came out Thursday along with a Review Code, and screenshots, and a link to the launch trailer. RBD hasn't mentioned it, so I guess he hasn't heard back from Gabe or Tycho from that either..
I understand that they're extremely busy guys, and they probably get bombarded by Xbox Live Indie Devs all the time now after they have mentioned a couple in the past on the front page of their site. Still, it would be nice to hear from them eventually though, since I've been a huge fan of Penny-Arcade for so long. Our own project wouldn't exist if not for PA, and the PA community, honestly.
Well I finally got around to buying BoD and it's a lot of fucking fun. I love the music, the art, the battle system, the humor, everything. You two guys did an awesome job and deserve every bit of credit you get.
She was definitely the weakest link in my party by the end, but she's still pretty good.
That's funny because in my party she was the main big damage dealer. The fastest character overall, and with a single cast of Research she ruined worlds with absurdly powerful magic.
As much as I enjoyed this game, I got to say the ending was kind of a bummer.
Maybe I've been playing abit too much Fallout lately which is full of morally gray choices but the lack of a real choice at the end really hurt it for me.
Seriously, why should I destroy my own race just to bring back one that already killed themselves off and left the planet to rot?
I was really hoping Dem and the gang would stand up for themselves instead of allowing the human race to press the rewind button and start the vicious cycle all over again.
That's the joke. It's, I think, the only time in the game that "choice" thing even shows up. And natuarlly, it was only to parody the pointless "Yes/No" answers that often appear in JRPGs.
She was definitely the weakest link in my party by the end, but she's still pretty good.
That's funny because in my party she was the main big damage dealer. The fastest character overall, and with a single cast of Research she ruined worlds with absurdly powerful magic.
That's how it goes. If you go Strength, she's really useful early on but peters off once the other characters catch up. Going Magic, she has a slow start but later drops BOMBS.
Erik was more useful than he originally appears after he gets a useful group regenerate and a stronger smash. Lita was really useful early on with her shotgun but I later relegated her to Lightning stun, Drain HP for the group, and potion-tossing duty.
For status effects and DoTs though, I found them completely useless outside of BOO during the early game. A DoT attack just isn't worth doing unless you want to rack up a larger combo count against bosses. Bosses are immune to status effects and regular enemies die too quickly for them to be of any use.
Since I don't have an Xbox 360 any more, I convinced my brother to give this game a shot. Two minutes of playing the trial got him to buy it and he loves it.
Has anyone emailed Gabe and Tycho about this yet? Seems like something they should be informed of!
RBD emailed them way back when we created our first trailer.. unfortunatley we haven't heard back from them... We also emailed them again when our game came out Thursday along with a Review Code, and screenshots, and a link to the launch trailer. RBD hasn't mentioned it, so I guess he hasn't heard back from Gabe or Tycho from that either..
I understand that they're extremely busy guys, and they probably get bombarded by Xbox Live Indie Devs all the time now after they have mentioned a couple in the past on the front page of their site. Still, it would be nice to hear from them eventually though, since I've been a huge fan of Penny-Arcade for so long. Our own project wouldn't exist if not for PA, and the PA community, honestly.
If you want, since you guys have the edge on other indie guys by being members of the community here, you can try Robert Khoo, ask him to prompt Mike & Jerry on it maybe. He's good to the forum.
I love the look, the music, the dialogue, and the balance is great; tough, but always fair (I played through on Hard, and only lost when I got careless). The story was a lot of fun too.
Just a heads-up: I did run across a few bugs. One was a one-time crash in the brown cave just before the start of the desert, during a fight. One was a one-time crash while saving just outside the final story dungeon (thankfully, the save succeeded; it just crashed right after). On a more minor note, characters can occasionally execute Unite moves even after one of them is knocked out earlier in the round (I saw this happen twice with Lita; I'd tell her and Erik to use Cover Fire, she'd get knocked out before using it, and then the Cover Fire would go off successfully anyway. Didn't happen every time.) And lastly, on an even more minor note: During the conversation at the end of the final dungeon, there are a couple of lines where
Titus'
name and/or character portrait don't appear.
But again, great work. Congratulations on your success.
Grombar on
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BeezelThere was no agreement little morsel..Registered Userregular
edited April 2010
gaaah you geese I thought this was something about a new Breath of Fire game at first. I feel so silly now
In the middle of the dungeon where you get Lita and I love it! The difficulty has been cranked up to 11 (in a good way) and the level design is very nice.
I didn't realise the hit+1 passive bonus meant a second attack though I'll have to pick that up in my second playthrough.
Posts
This. Do this. NOW!
I'll pay TWO bucks for this.
Actually with all the XNA framework tinkering that I've done -- no games, just toy apps that poke at the API -- maybe I should volunteer unpaid time this summer to help RainbowDespair and slash000 with their next game.
(What am I saying? I'm not worthy! *bows down* I'm NOT WORTHY!)
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
Full refill of health after battles? So it's a 2-d FFXIII?
Okay now I have to get it
I loved that in Wild Arms 4 (also in WA5 but they gutted the cool platforming and side scroller elements in that one so it shall remain nameless to me).
But I'll talk about that later. Here's my review:
The game is great. Although it has an indie feel (which makes me pine for a Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden port), it does capture the 8-bit RPG feel well. Especially with the cluttered dungeon landscapes that make it cumbersome to run around.
The only thing that threw it off was the character portraits. The hand drawn portraits make it seem like the flash games you'd see on Newgrounds. I would have preferred 8-bit portraits, but the current ones are still fine. It's only a minor grievance, like wishing that the trailers had the characters running around the map rather than slowly walking around, making it seem like the game has a slow pace. The map obstruction objects needed some more contrast as well, to help separate obstructions from background scenery.
The run button was a great feature to add, in addition to the Choose-to-Fight and limited random battles feature. It really streamlined the game and added to the minimalistic nature of it. Not having to bother with selling outdated items has its pros and cons, but given the minimalist approach to things, I'd say it added to the enjoyment.
Choosing your level up bonus was a good idea, but it had a small flaw. A bad side to this minimalism is not knowing what the heck is going on in regards to choosing your bonuses. You cannot bring up your stats to view what you need to boost, and there is no help text explaining some of the mechanics. Without help text or a manual, a player would have to figure out some of these mechanics and what they mean on their own.
The story was paced well and didn't feel short at all. The references were peppered throughout and highly enjoyable. Each main character was great in their own way and unique, and the whole undead civilization was a nice subversion of the fantasy genre.
The combat was pretty strategic as well. Depending on how you build your characters, you could really rack up combos and hit some strong combo boost+ attacks.
Now, about the Breath of RRoDeath...
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4445/breathofrrod.jpg
This is what my screen looked like after the game crashed. After rebooting the system, instant RRoD.
It occured around the very final savepoint of the game. Spoilers abound:
Using the Death Breath again did the same thing, nothing happened. There was one time where Lita was stunned at the end of one fight, and I couldn't use Death Breath because she was still stunned in the fight right afterwards, even though I used the save point in between to heal up.
The crash occured after I selected FIGHT.
EDIT: In case it isn't clear, I'm just ribbing slash and Rainbow. RRoD is a hardware overheating issue that can POSSIBLY be encouraged by things like a shitty xbox magazine demo, but in this case I don't blame BoD at all.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
In other news it seems we slipped to the #2 top rated slot. I guess that we're right on the border there with I Mad3 a Gam3. I can't complain though, I'm ecstatic with the response we've gotten as it is, it's been great. edit again: we're slipping back and forth between slot 1 and 2.
As a side note, I've also noticed that Beat Hazard and Miner Dig Deep keep battling it out for the #3 position; Beat Hazard took number 3 from Miner Dig Deep this morning, then they switched back and Dig Deep is back at #3 again. I guess those two games are each right on the border of those two slots as well.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I'm normally such an... astute reader but that one completely slipped past me.
I've got a bad case of lovin' you.
Although running doesn't affect encounter rate, it does help speed things along when needed
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
On a completely unrelated note I also got a really sweet indie RPG
Seriously, why should I destroy my own race just to bring back one that already killed themselves off and left the planet to rot?
I was really hoping Dem and the gang would stand up for themselves instead of allowing the human race to press the rewind button and start the vicious cycle all over again.
This game is awesome. I am making my Sara really strength based, and it's hilarious seeing her outdamage Dem with basic attacks. After she got an extra hit, it got scary.
I am doing the exact opposite, and she turns out awesome either way
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I also spent a dollar on a video game today. It had blackjack. And hookers!
I didn't give you guys a dollar.
But I did the next best thing; tweet, forum, and Facebook postings demanding or asking people (whichever works best on them) to do so.
whoa, congrats dudes
I appreciate it; we both really appreciate it. We poured our hearts into this thing and we're glad that so many people are enjoying the results.
I will say though that the rating for Zomb1es and our game is almost exactly the same. We traded off spots a couple of hours ago, and then traded back. So BODVII and I Mad3 a Gam3 are both really really close to the same rating number. And honestly, I'm honored that we're doing as well as we have, and I'm somewhat speechless. I just can't thank everyone enough for the support, really.
We've been trying to spread the word by attempting to contact various websites, and sending out press-release type information. We've also been doing interviews when we get the opportunity, and answering questions in various forums. This past weekend we have sent out review codes to a variety of places, but we won't know which places review the game and post about it until next week probably. Again, we really appreciate all the places that have agreed to do interviews with us or done podcasts - Xbox Live Indie games is a service that doesn't get much coverage, and it's hard for any XBLIG dev to spread the word about their game and the service overall.
RBD emailed them way back when we created our first trailer.. unfortunatley we haven't heard back from them... We also emailed them again when our game came out Thursday along with a Review Code, and screenshots, and a link to the launch trailer. RBD hasn't mentioned it, so I guess he hasn't heard back from Gabe or Tycho from that either..
I understand that they're extremely busy guys, and they probably get bombarded by Xbox Live Indie Devs all the time now after they have mentioned a couple in the past on the front page of their site. Still, it would be nice to hear from them eventually though, since I've been a huge fan of Penny-Arcade for so long. Our own project wouldn't exist if not for PA, and the PA community, honestly.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
That's funny because in my party she was the main big damage dealer. The fastest character overall, and with a single cast of Research she ruined worlds with absurdly powerful magic.
Erik was more useful than he originally appears after he gets a useful group regenerate and a stronger smash. Lita was really useful early on with her shotgun but I later relegated her to Lightning stun, Drain HP for the group, and potion-tossing duty.
For status effects and DoTs though, I found them completely useless outside of BOO during the early game. A DoT attack just isn't worth doing unless you want to rack up a larger combo count against bosses. Bosses are immune to status effects and regular enemies die too quickly for them to be of any use.
Great job, guys.
I have no Xbox, but I'll definitely bug everyone I know who does to pick this up. Congrats on the #1!
As an aside, maybe I should reread the animal crossing LP
But, man, fuck I always end up rereading the thread and that's like 80 damn pages
If you want, since you guys have the edge on other indie guys by being members of the community here, you can try Robert Khoo, ask him to prompt Mike & Jerry on it maybe. He's good to the forum.
I love the look, the music, the dialogue, and the balance is great; tough, but always fair (I played through on Hard, and only lost when I got careless). The story was a lot of fun too.
Just a heads-up: I did run across a few bugs. One was a one-time crash in the brown cave just before the start of the desert, during a fight. One was a one-time crash while saving just outside the final story dungeon (thankfully, the save succeeded; it just crashed right after). On a more minor note, characters can occasionally execute Unite moves even after one of them is knocked out earlier in the round (I saw this happen twice with Lita; I'd tell her and Erik to use Cover Fire, she'd get knocked out before using it, and then the Cover Fire would go off successfully anyway. Didn't happen every time.) And lastly, on an even more minor note: During the conversation at the end of the final dungeon, there are a couple of lines where
But again, great work. Congratulations on your success.
"...only mights and maybes."
I didn't realise the hit+1 passive bonus meant a second attack though