Category: Week 5

Hi everyone!

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been debating a lot of things; story, gameplay, themes, amongst other things. Right now, I want to talk about the gameplay.

Basically, I want my project to be a sort of “love-letter” to the games I played as a child, which primarily consisted of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Golden Sun, and Pokémon. In short, anything I could play on my GameBoy Advance, or that I played on my uncle’s PS2. Because of this, I want to try and take my favourite aspects of the games, and meld them together to create new mechanics.

Here’s a list of mechanics I’ve been looking at, by series and game:

Final Fantasy

• Materia (Final Fantasy VII)
• Espers (Final Fantasy VI)
• Job System (Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy V, Bravely Default, Bravely Second: End Layer, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance)
• Summoning (Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XV, Bravely Default, Bravely Second: End Layer, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance)
• Magicite (Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates)
• Weapon Proficiency (Bravely Default, Bravely Second: End Layer)
• Active Time Battle (ATB) (Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII)

Dragon Quest

• Vocation System (Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies)
• Skill Point System (Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies)
• Item Creation (Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies)
• In-Battle Item Abilities (Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Satrry Skies)

Golden Sun

• Djinn System (Golden Sun, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn)
• Out-of-Battle Magic (Golden Sun, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn)
• Summoning (Golden Sun, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn)

Pokémon

• Growing Crops (Berries) (Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, Pokémon Emerald, Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Pearl, Pokémon Platinum, Pokémon HeartGold, Pokémon SoulSilver)
• Personal Home (Secret Base) (Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, Pokémon Emerald, Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Pearl, Pokémon Platinum)

Fire Emblem

• Tactical Battle System (TBS) (Entire Series)
• Stronghold (Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)

Suikoden

• Rune Magic (Entire Series)
• Stronghold (Entire Series)
• Skirmish Battles and Tactical Battles (Entire Series)

You see one of my issues here, right? Too much inspiration. As I’ve played plenty of JRPG’s, I know what mechanics exist, but I want too many of them in one place. I have neither the time or the expertise to implement everything, no matter how much I may want to try. The deadline for this project is at the end of May, so I don’t have long to get this ironed out. Whilst I may be running a little slim on time, I can produce my game quite quickly, once I know exactly what I want.

I do feel like I was maybe a little too overambitious in my project proposal, as my plan went out the window quite quickly. They say that no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy; I seem to be living that addage. What I need to focus on now is sorting through this mass of inspirational material to produce something that at least vaguely resembles the brief I wrote at the start. Otherwise, this has just been a wasted exercise.

Actually, this is quite a common trap for indie developers to fall into (apparently). I have a video by Yanfly on FIVE traps that independant and individual developers can fall into quite easily:

I’m guilty of at least three of these traps myself, and projects like this are incredibly aggravating because of it. To be honest, I think that I’m massively overthinking this project. What I mean by that is I’m getting hung up on the academic side, and not enjoying the project for what it should be: a chance for me to make something I love. I mean, that’s why I got into game development in the first place.

Let’s have some fun!!!

Bibliography:

Finalfantasy.fandom.com. (n.d.). Final Fantasy Wiki. [online] Available at: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Wiki [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Goldensun.fandom.com. (n.d.). Golden Sun Universe. [online] Available at: https://goldensun.fandom.com/wiki/Golden_Sun_Wiki [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Suikoden.fandom.com. (n.d.). Suikoden Wikia. [online] Available at: https://suikoden.fandom.com/wiki/Suikoden_Wiki [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Fireemblem.fandom.com. (n.d.). Fire Emblem Wiki. [online] Available at: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Emblem_Wiki [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net. (n.d.). Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia. [online] Available at: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Dragon-quest.org. (n.d.). Alltrades Abbey – Dragon Quest Wiki. [online] Available at: https://dragon-quest.org/wiki/Alltrades_Abbey [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

YouTube. (2018). 5 Common Traps Indie Devs Fall Into – RPG Maker MV. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNH5xMYHkVw&t=115s [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Hi there, me again!

After listening to “1000 Words” from Final Fantasy X-2, I remembered something. In a lot of JRPG’s, they seem to use a musical piece as a plot device. In FFX-2, when Yuna sings this song to a crowd of people that had attended her concert, it summons the soul of Lenne, who is the deceased lover of the primary antagonist, Shuyin. It also caused the video screens that people were watching to show Lenne’s last memories, which were of her being brutally gunned down. She even sings the song in a duet with Yuna!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpRwLdibm0

Another good example is Fire Emblem Fates, and the song “Lost in Thoughts All Alone”, which has a mechanical effect as well as having plot significance. The mechanical effect is that the singer (which would either be Azura, or her son Shigure) gives another character another action this turn. It’s plot significance is that it is a magical song, which has various powers over dragons, those who bear the blood of dragons, or those affected by draconic magic. It comes with a drawback though; if sung outside of the cursed land of Valla, it causes the singer to suffer incredible pain, and if the song is sung to completion, the singer can be seriously injured. (In the Birthright route, when Azura uses the song to completion against King Garon during the final chapter, she ends up disolving into water and slowly dies)

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Music has also been used in the Legend of Zelda series extensivley, in games such as Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker, Oracle of Ages, Spirit Tracks, to name a few. In each, the musical instrument is the source of the magic, especially when paired with certain songs, which can have a large array of effects raging from Weather Manipulation and Transportation, all the way to Teleportation and Time-Travel!

Other games such as EarthBound and Pokémon have also had special musical effects, usually required to advance the plot, or access some important content.

Here’s the most recognisable peice of plot-rleated Zelda music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL1VnXIAEUg

I’m debating whether to use Music as a plot device in my game, which although would require me to write it, it could prove to be interesting. If I have the time, as well as access to the right software and expertise, I may actually go with it. If not, I at least want to have some kind of music-based ability in my game. I find that it gives the player something memorable, which will make them remember the game. Serously, I have a hard time not crying when I hear the Orchestral Version of “1000 Words”!

Now this brings me to something that I’m going to have to look at: The difference between Diagetic and Non-Diagetic sounds. These are technical terms used in both the games and film industries, and they are used to denote whether or not the characters in the production are able to hear the sound. Diagetic sounds are audible to both the character and the audience, such as a door being slammed, the clashing of blades, or even character dialogue, whereas Non-Diagetic sounds can only be heard by the audience. An example of Non-Diagetic sound is the Avenger’s Theme from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Hopefully this has been interesting, and I hope to be back soon. So (quite literally!!) stay tuned!!!

Bibliography:

YouTube. (2010). Final Fantasy X-2 – Yuna & Lenne HD – 1000 WORDS. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhOS1RwDK90&t=3s [Accessed 25 Apr. 2019].

Finalfantasy.fandom.com. (n.d.). Final Fantasy Wiki. [online] Available at: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Wiki [Accessed 25 Apr. 2019].

Fireemblem.fandom.com. (n.d.). Fire Emblem Wiki. [online] Available at: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Fire_Emblem_Wiki [Accessed 25 Apr. 2019].

YouTube. (2011). Song of Time – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL1VnXIAEUg [Accessed 25 Apr. 2019].

Over the last week or so, I’ve been trying to create some custom character sprites inspired by Final Fantasy Job Classes and Dragon Quest vocations. So far, I’ve been creating:

• Freelancer
• Warrior
• Black Mage
• Red Mage

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On a side note, keen readers will probably recognise the art style used in the Dragon Quest series. The artist is none other than AKIRA TORIYAMA, the creator of Dragon Ball, and Dragon Ball Z. He’s always been the series designer, and I even studied his work for my GCSE Art (many years ago).

I’ve also been using the test shots that I took towards the start of the project (https://sldesignfmp.game.blog/2019/03/20/character-designs/), as well as some of the reading I did on medieval armour construction and materials (https://sldesignfmp.game.blog/2019/03/15/medieval-armour-research/) in order to make my sprites look a little bit more realistic. I know I won’t be able to go for full realism given the 16-bit style, but on the other hand, a bit of realism never hurt anyone.

My Mood Board helped me compare existing styles of charcater sprites, and see what sort of costumes have been used previously:

I started by making Tommyn‘s sprite, and I decided to make the hairstyle a bit more anime, as the game I’m trying to make is a JRPG; I thought it’d be more appropriate. I looked through my mood boards to get an idea of how I could anime-fy his appearance, and I came up with this after mush trial and error:

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I’ve nearly finished the Mage, although I’m having a bit of an issue with the rear angled sprite. The cloak appears to be a very 1980’s one, with wide shoulders, but I’m having difficulty making the cloak look right. The others need to be finished, but as only the Red Mage has a cloak, they shouldn’t be too difficult, although they’ll take a while. I don’t have a graphics tablet, you see, so I’m having to use mouse controls. It’s a right pain.

One thing I’m finding difficult is creating female sprites. I can’t seem to make them actually look female! That’s why I’m starting with a male sprite, to kind of get my eye in. Hopefully, I should be able to create a custom sprite for Jeanné, but to be honest, I’m nott looking forward to the hassle of making it!

There we go! I’ve actually started making stuff for my project!!! But there’s a few songs I listened to that have helped me get through this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggjIDjAQtrw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpRwLdibm0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZBXIo94CWQ

As you may have guessed, music is a very important part of my creative process. It helps me think, clears my head, or just lets me relax. Anime and Game music in partcular is particularly evocative for me. Although I also like other types of music, when I’m creating game related content and material, I can only listen to this type of music.

Hopefully you like my work, and the music that I’ve posted here. I’m hoping to have some more stuff later on, so stay tuned!!!

Hi Everyone!

So I woke up this morning, only to discover that my laptop had UNINSTALLED RPG MAKER MV!!! (Seriously unhelpful!!!) Trying to re-install it over the college wi-fi is also proving difficult, as it’s slow, unreliable, and blocks just about everything related to game design. Really, if the college is going to offer a Game Design course, they really should actually allow the students to access the required resources!

Then, all of a sudden, it decided to RE-INSTALL itself! What is up with my tech recently? Nothing seems to want to do what I want it to do. It’s so aggravating!

Anyway, this is just me having a quick rant. I’ll be back soon with some actual project related stuff, so stay tuned!!!

Hi Everyone!

Over the last few days, I’ve been looking at colours. Specifically, I’ve been looking at colours I could use as part of my character designs. Starting out with hair colours, I created some colour bars for the four shades of natural hair; Brown, Blonde, Black, and Red. Some of them are quite surprising;

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The black colour bar actually appears mostly blue, but thats due to how the eyes actually percieve colour. I couldn’t use black and greys, as they wouldn’t show up terribly well on 16-bit spritesheets. However, blues can appear to be black depending on the saturation.

The other three colour bars are fairly normal, although the upper end of the reds includes some yellow tinges.

Now, as this is going to be a JRPG, I could potentially explore more varied hair colours such as green and pink, but I’ll get to them in a bit. That’s it from be for now, but I’m hoping to have more soon. Until later!