La-Quien Tales

[DCurrent]

I wnder where intelligence and charisma will matter in actual gameplay scenario, a conversation maybe ?

The stats are story based, but I'm a big believer in "show, don't tell", backing up story with in game mechanics. It's an action RPG type game, where the world map is a lot like your He-Man game, you select different quests, and have to complete this or that task before certain others open up.

The only stat that doesn't have a direct effect in game is Passive, because it's just a sort of arbitrary scale of how powerful their passive abilities are. For example, one of Valis's passive abilities is half-elf senses. His vision "bubble" in dark areas is larger and he can detect invisible/stealth enemies with hearing (an arrow appears on their location).

Intelligence hints at other things, like overall variety of technique, use of different weapons and such, but it has a strong in game affect too. It determines some dialogs, and is also important for areas that require problem solving. There will be in-game puzzles and obstacles that require some real life thinking by the player, like fibinachi sequences, pattern matching, riddles, mazes, etc., and they're randomized to stay challenging. Higher intelligence will make these much easier by providing automatic hints, simplifying the sequence, or giving you a head start. In the case of multiplayer, the game will use the highest available intelligence score.

Charisma affects store prices and interactions. If you have a good charisma score, you'll have a big advantage stocking up on items, getting quests without the runaround (with bigger rewards), and even optionally bypass some fights/obstacles. In multiplayer, the game averages all active charisma scores.

So if you go back to Valis and look at his scores, you can see that he has maxed intelligence, high strength, strong magic, and above average physical stats in general. So when it comes to beating up enemies and exploration he's kind of easy mode. But shopkeepers violate him with Icy Hot, he can't access certain quests at all without a LOT of extra work, and some encounters increase in difficulty.

BTW DC do you plan to setup github runner on openbor ? so you can compile quickly and no hassle to setup envo ?

Not at the moment, too many irons in the fire. It's something I can look into in the Spring though.

DC

 

[O Ilusionista]

My intent is to have something like this in game at character selection

I was about to ask if you will display this to the user, because it looks so cool

 

[DCurrent]

To elaborate on Charisma, a lot of what goes on is based on personality and approach. In Valis's case, he's overly formal and sesquipedalian, plus he doesn't read people well, so he tends to inadvertently rub them the wrong way. Example:

---

Chandra - Char 8:

*Walks casually into rural potion store, gives shopkeep a friendly wave*

C: "Oh, hello there! I'm looking for some healing potions, can you help me out?"

Surly shopkeep:

*eyes her figure*

SK: "For a pretty little thing like you? Here's my best formula, with a special discount!"

---

Valis - Char 2:

*Marches purposefully into rural potion store, bows formally to shopkeep*

V: "Salutations, Master Proprietor. I wish to procure a restorative decoction, assuming such within your extant inventory."

Surly shopkeep:

*raises an eyebrow*

SK: "Bend over."

---

 

[bWWd]

so , just like real life! tested that theory with my gf back in the day and its defo a thing, regular dood vs pretty girl advantage in basic life scenarios

 

[DCurrent]

I was about to ask if you will display this to the user, because it looks so cool

Yeah, I plan to, though obviously looking a bit different. Some part of me wants to generate the graphs live with script just to prove I can, but the math involved makes my head hurt.

DC

 

[DCurrent]

Some select screen prototyping. Very early stages. There needs to be room for three players, with full portrait, in game model, and I would prefer, a radar graph and maybe even a profile like in @O Ilusionista's Avengers. That's a pretty tall order, but right now I'm just trying to make a decent portrait.





Half-Elf, 20 Years
182cm, 91kg

Melancholic half of the famous Yuan Twins, Valis is a gentleman scholar pushing every aspect to the breaking point in pursuit of his father's heroism. Extremely intellectual, polite, and dutiful, but a literal mindset and overuse of etiquette leave him at a loss in social encounters. Not much for quick thinking, Valis lets his strength and skill do the talking when pressed, but he's a master planner and tactician, armed with peerless amalgamations of spellcraft and physical prowess.




DC

 

[DCurrent]

More select portrait work, and trying it out with in game palette. I also started on an in game radar graph prototype. Obviously needs a lot of work (like... color!) , but I was able to get a decent amount into small space.







DC

 

[DCurrent]

Really, really rough and early selection screen mockup. I always liked the CVS1 style of portraits sliding in at a forced perspective from the background, but the problem is I think it important players can see the body and some stats too, and my portrait for Valis wound up being a little big. So I'm thinking of a kind of hybrid layout where the portraits are vertically stacked (Player 1 in the middle, Player 2 top, Player 3 bottom). Then lay out the bodies more traditionally to the right, with names over top and stats under.





Sprinkle in some castle / portal scenery with a few indicator icons, and it may just work. If I wanted to get REALLY fancy, perhaps have the layout change based on number of players, so that the portraits are always stacked evenly.

DC

 

[Skull Kingz]

The overall presentation of cvs1 is really impressive. You can tell they were hype during development. I really like what you have here DC. In my opinion, the stats really bring another layer of debt to the character.

 

[DCurrent]

Trying another select mock-up. This one would have a 3D forced perspective background scrolling toward player, and a crystal ball effect for the portraits. Radar graph doesn't really fit in though, so it would probably have to go.



Really, none of these layouts are really jumping at me. It's just too busy when trying to present all the information to player, and I'm not willing to do an alternating effect or "push button to see stats" kind of thing. I'm starting to think I need to redraw my portraits to make it work.

DC

 

[DCurrent]

Little break from drawing stuff to work on some of the visual effects. In this case, motion trails. I used to be pretty proud of the motion tails in my Golden Axe Project, but I still figured there was a way to make them better. Here's a composited SS of it in action.

The left is old method. It works by binding a solid color swish with an alpha mask. The mask allows me to also bind the motion tail's palette to the character so the trail matches their weapon color. It works really well. However....



The one on the right takes it a step further. Now the trail is even less opaque and distorts items behind it like you see in contemporary titles (i.e Ninja Gaiden). Really stands out when in motion. It's a bit of a long story how it works, but I've explained before elsewhere.



Soon as I have some fighting animations drawn for Valis, I'll post a video in action.

DC

 

[O Ilusionista]

The one on the right takes it a step further. Now the trail is even less opaque and distorts items behind it like you see in contemporary titles (i.e Ninja Gaiden). Really stands out when in motion. It's a bit of a long story how it works, but I've explained before elsewhere.

oh, that is really cool.
Also, Photoshop has a tool called Path Blur, which let you blur an image while drawing a path for the motion (and it can even use bezier curves).
Maybe it can help you in someway

 

[DCurrent]

Most of my work is on the engine lately, but I'm still hard at this too. Still working on getting the basics to a satisfactory point. Retouched Valis's arms because he still looked a bit skinny (my monitor distorts a bit wide, so when I see him on another screen, he's wasted a little).

Also added some hair motion while walking.

 

[danno]

Good to see Valis walking around, I think he's desperate to give that sword of his a swing.

 

[O Ilusionista]

Something you can improve on its animation: the transition from the idle to walk.
Take a look where his sword is when idle and where it is when he start walking - its kinda a abrupt move.



Try experimenting making him start the walk animation on this frame, since the blade is not in the center of the image

(but you would need to reverse his legs)

 

[DCurrent]

@O Ilusionista.

We talked about that, and I'd already planned a transition even before then.

Right now I'm just working on the walk and idle itself. He's going to get a transition to/from soon as I can draw one.

DC

 

[O Ilusionista]

We talked about that, and I'd already planned a transition even before then.

oh sorry I forgot about that.

 

[DCurrent]

oh sorry I forgot about that.

No worries. It is a very obvious thing that needs fixing.

One thing I won’t be adding is a turn. Enemies will have one, but not players. After trying it out in other projects I found a turn animation on players actually has the opposite effect. Makes the game feel less smooth and responsive.

DC

 

[maxman]

One thing I won’t be adding is a turn. Enemies will have one, but not players. After trying it out in other projects I found a turn animation on players actually has the opposite effect. Makes the game feel less smooth and responsive.

I agree because as a player character, when you start walking while you have turn animation active, it's annoying to see the character turning in idle especially before moving to different directions.

The one on the right takes it a step further. Now the trail is even less opaque and distorts items behind it like you see in contemporary titles (i.e Ninja Gaiden). Really stands out when in motion. It's a bit of a long story how it works, but I've explained before elsewhere.

It looks clearly more transparent than the old one.

Good job, sir.

 

[DCurrent]

Trying out a more character appropriate idle using sub-pixel animation. Getting closer to how I pictured him behaving. Just needs a few more touches:

Valis glanced down and scraped a foot gently along the floor. Apparently satisfied, he unsheathed his sword and spun it around his wrist for three revolutions, then settled into his opening stance. Facing left shoulder forward, Valis held the weapon in his right hand loosely behind. His left hand lay in a slight horizontal guard, fingers twitching and flexing unconsciously.

DC