A video of a battle in my game.

[Matti]

English is my first language. However I am only 16 and I am still uses to talking in a AIM way. I try to use different words and change my sentences so you all can understand me. But this sometimes fails.

You should go out more, talk to people from face to face.

FF isn't the world, it's just a stupid series of videogames.

[Snarky]

Icey, I'm wondering if you may actually be an undiagnosed dyslexic. That's something you might want to check out. It may not be a problem when you're texting with your mates, but as you have experienced here, it is a serious handicap if you want to be taken seriously in the wider world. However, I believe that it can be overcome to a large extent with special training.

Much the same applies if you're just illiterate. Seek out extra tutoring!

If, on the other hand, you really do know how to spell if you try, then honestly, make more of an effort!

Being unable to express yourself coherently in writing, either from a handicap, ignorance or indifference, will seriously limit your opportunities and prospects in life. Most decent jobs require a written application, and in most cases yours will be thrown out if it is riddled with errors.

As for the videos, others have made most comments I would make. Except I don't agree with Scavenger that it's a problem to have the heroes on the left and enemies on the right. In Western cultures left-to-right is the natural direction of progress, and most arcade games have you moving and attacking towards the right, whether in Super Mario Bros. Karateka or QFG4.

[WHAM]

I second Snarky's idea. You could just try REALLY hard, and take a minute or two to read your own posts before actually posting them. Try fixing typo's as well as you can and READ ALOUD the posts as you write. If you cannot do this, then please see a doctor about that. Even I had to go to speech therapy at one point in my life to get me around a slight form of dyslexy (although that was more of an issue with my native language).

On another nore: I just cannot understand why Studio3 sees it nessecary to post every single slight advancement to his projects across the forum. Separate video clips of different battles where the same two characters do the same attack on different enemies with no variation at all. These videos do not show anything in your game that would make people want to play the game. What they show is that you have a base which you CAN build on. Keep working and post in your in-dev thread when you make some actual concrete progress.

If you want to have a dev blog which people can follow, just do that and post a link on the forums, once. Then all who are interested can spread the word and keep an eye on your project(s).

I doubt I am the only one who feels that these threads and posts need to stop at some point. Why did these two links need to be a separate post in the critics lounge? Why did you not just post them in the "In-developement" thread.

[Monsieur OUXX]

Ah, Studio3 is young and excited by what he can do :-) We've all been like this.

However, the other comments remain :
- Work on your spelling and grammar. Like, seriously.
- You've already provided a lot of work since the era when you were ripping off everything. Now you're producing almost everything. So keep on working on original material to make your combat system clearer to read (effects, etc.) and innovative (rules, etc.)

[Khris]

The problem I see here is that the heart of these battles, namely a tactical element, is practically non-existent.
There are two characters in the party, but they attack as one? There's only one type of attack, and one type of enemy attack?
Who are you kidding here?

This has been the problem all along, from the very first game you've made: you are trying to create something that in a very superficial way looks and feels like Final Fantasy. The problem is missing substance; your games are like those $100 'iPhones' from China.

You simply aren't a talented enough coder I'm sorry to say. The fact alone that you're copy-pasting the battle script from room to room is witness to that.

Take the +7 and -10; those are fixed sprites, right? They aren't, as they should be, random values generated by a proper battle engine.
I've pondered whether I should show this since I've been uploading it yesterday, and I'm thinking what the heck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPCY3JGu0JU

I did this a few months ago, mostly for the purpose of evaluating the feasibility of mouse-driven battle.

It's far from finished, it's a working basis though.
The battle is started using this command:

StartBattle(eBattleJungle, eEnemyBlob, eEnemyBlob);

I didn't draw any sprites for other party members / enemies yet; the point is if I did, a minimal effort is necessary to add them to the game and then I'd simply put the new name into the function call.

What I'm saying is, there's really no point in coding an RPG unless you can code an RPG. You are really ambitious and you have a lot of stamina when it comes to creating games, and while I'm at least as ambitious, my stamina is severely lacking.
But the greatest stamina is useless without dexterity, if you will.

You haven't so far created a single polished game. You always struggle to include all that fancy stuff that's clearly still over your head, and it shows. You have been told numerous times by numerous people, from the get-go, to start simple and do a basic adventure game.
Yet you still can't/won't. It's always something, stereoscopic, online, ESRB rating, cross-assault. The guy who's supposed to code your online stuff doesn't know how to spell "server", for Christ's sake!

People still help you and sometimes encourage you because they see how desperate you are and also, that you are actually improving from month to month. It's not enough yet though.
Your latest thread about the bitmap font is as harebrained as ever: first of all, you don't have any concept of how to display a font that consists of sprites. Then you miss a link after a long section of text that's striked through.
Next you post that you still have no concept of how to do it, in the hopes of somebody doing all the coding for you. When the module is pointed out to you, again you basically ask for someone else doing all the coding, looking like you didn't even try.

I know it's frustrating. For instance, I'd love to build my own sports car. But I lack the money and the expertise, so I don't do it. And I sure as hell don't build a soapbox and try to pass it off as Porsche GT3.

[WHAM]

Ha! Khris had not changed the default font either! 

[Anian]

I hate to be on this wagon, but seriously, I still do not get why are you trying to convert AGS into an RPG engine when surely there are existing rpg engies for exactly what you are trying to do (and a lot of them are free)...I mean you're trying to make a battle system but if you took and engine with one already built in, you could concentrate on art and other scripting modifications that would make a game better.
I mean sure you can do it in AGS and you've had progress so far, but I suggest you find some sources (books, articles etc.) which talk about the actual concepts behind making battle systems.

[Monsieur OUXX]

People still help you and sometimes encourage you because they see how desperate you are and also, that you are actually improving from month to month. It's not enough yet though.

If Studio3/icey games had been a normal person, he'd been discouraged a long time ago by all the frontal insults he received.  Yet, he's still around, and has improved a lot.
He's in the phase of his life when he wants to do everything even though he can't (because he hasn't learnt yet), but also it's that age when you learn the fastest and can quicly do amazing things.

Studio3, read my post above for tips. Work on your battle system. Define it on paper first. Explain its rules in a post (but don't use all those fancy show-off terms you keep using for simple things!!!!!!!!!!) and ask for criticism.

[Scavenger]

Work on your battle system. Define it on paper first. Explain its rules in a post (but don't use all those fancy show-off terms you keep using for simple things!!!!!!!!!!) and ask for criticism.

I suggest basing it on an existing tabletop rpg. D&D is popular. It's what FF1 was based on. But most of all, it needs to be simple enough for you to understand, and scalable. No use having an rpg where it's just superpowers and damage strung together by badly written dialogue. Fallout was partially based on GURPS. So long as it has a good, solid resolution mechanic and is scalable over levels (if you're doing level based systems) it should be fine.

Maybe you should play some other rpgs for inspiration? And not just JRPGs!! FF has become stale and inbred. Ambermoon, Albion, Baldur's Gate, Quest for Glory, Temple of Elemental Evil: All good examples of rpgs that aren't just a fight, and implement rpg elements into every part of their being.

In any case, RPGs are 10% inspiration, and 9001% maths.

[Moresco]

It's difficult, nearly impossible to kind of meander towards the goal of creating an RPG if you have little idea how they function.  If you really want to move forward, my advice is to jump over to google and start searching for "basic RPG math" until you find something that explains the very fundamental system at work.  Paper RPGs are a good resource as well, as you can just crack one open and see how they balance various things.   

The most obvious bit is that the math is often randomized.   Attacks for example might range from 1-8 (just being arbitrary here, which means I'm pulling the numbers out of thin air), 1 being the least damage, 8 being the max.  Maybe that range is defined by the value in a stat like 'Strength'.  Then further offset by a bonus received say, from being equipped with a powerful sword.   You could give a monster a 'Defense' stat then, that would absorb some of the hero's attack.  Etc etc etc.

So that's what I would do now, study that.  Put everything else aside and get some math working in your system.  Open the manual for AGS and search for terms that make sense to your math system.  You need random numbers, so search for Random.  Although you can use Random without knowing this, typically random number generators need a "seed".  A number that's constantly changing to base your result on, otherwise you'd get the same sequence of numbers every time.  AGS's Random function is seeded already (probably with the seconds of the current time or something similar), so you're good to go.

Anyway cheers, good luck with those studies.

[Ryan Timothy B]

I've pondered whether I should show this since I've been uploading it yesterday, and I'm thinking what the heck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPCY3JGu0JU

Impressive video. Now I see the short legged man you posted in the CL in action. Nah, they're not as short anymore, but the knee definitely looks low.

I really like what you did with the blobs. A simple bobble graphic and when they attack they just shift their weight towards you.
How he runs towards them and then jumps backwards with a little back step is pretty nice too.

StartBattle(eBattleJungle, eEnemyBlob, eEnemyBlob);

I imagine with that function you have some optional values (more than just two spots for enemies) defaulted to 0?
It would be smarter to have a random battle function in addition to yours:

StartRandomBattle(eBattleJungle, eDifficultyEasy);

Then within the StartRandomBattle function it will automatically assign random enemies for the eBattleJungle scene with the eDifficultyEasy settings.
That way you can call boss fights with

StartBattle(eBattleJungle, eEnemyBossLizard);

You beat me to making a proper RPG for AGS. I've just been way too busy to even start.

Also, what's the purpose for the flashing yellow and green blocks on the top GUI?

[Icey]

I don't have a disorder at all. But your right I don't take the time to fix my spelling.

-When I say copy and paste I don't mean every battle is the same with different view & backgrounds. each battle is different only thing that stays the same is part of the other rooms script. This makes it easier on me when making this game due to the fact that all I have to do is switch different command codes for different characters and objects in the room.

-This game is really more of an adventure game then a RPG because you will be running around solving puzzles more then you fight.

-I don't post in my games page because of 2 reasons.
~I don't know how long it will take people to give feed back on the vid vs if it's here then I know I will get feed back.
~The moderator will tell me that I am not supposed to ask that there and stuff.

-I don't know how to make random damage numbers and then call them. :/

-I plan to make more simple games after this one.

-I can't work on the battle system because I might mess up something and then thats it. I lose a game because somebody thinks the battle system if messy or not proper enough. It's not that hard to control it. I mean yeah it's missing random damage numbers for attacking but still it's as simple as command>enemy>wait.

That right there is only 3 things.

-I take my games very seriously, However they are trail and error. first RPG that was successful was OSD but the battle system was awful. The life was nothing but you losing score and the way to win was to wait a minute or so or use the Cow summon. I cleaned this all up in OSD2 yet it still used the score as life. in this game it is way different. I am using int's and strings for the first time and it looks better then my previous OSD's.

-The point of a Gold hit's game is to add new things into the game while also fixing a lot of previous things.

Now please don't think I am saying some of this stuff to go against you all or because I'm not listening to you because I am. Even if you were wrong about all this stuff one thing that is right is I am not ambitious and I can take a lot of stress from these types of games. But if I can figure out how to do them or at least find a way around it then I can move fast when making game. Now that doesn't mean I don't take my time but it wouldn't take me a year or less to finish a game that is not no more then a hour or less.


 

[Atelier]

To be honest I think it's ok. The first video looks good and with polish I wouldn't mind playing it - however it's the other elements that bring it down, like mentioned before spelling/grammar which can be corrected last-minute anyway, and lack of a streamlined interface.

[Khris]

StartBattle(eBattleJungle, eEnemyBlob, eEnemyBlob);

I imagine with that function you have some optional values (more than just two spots for enemies) defaulted to 0?

Yes, there's up to five enemies in a battle currently. The line was just an example to show how with a proper system set up, you need just a single line to insert a battle into the game at any given time. If I ever create the actual game, I will indeed have randomized battles using the method you mentioned.

The blocks fill up every time you land a successful hit; when they're full, you can do a special attack.

Studio3:
Why I posted this here: fixing the one battle against Ifrit won't do any good without a properly
organized structure, i.e. a database of enemies and a room-independent battle system.

-I don't know how to make random damage numbers and then call them. :/

That's the problem right there. You lack basic coding skills. I'm urging you to put the game on ice for now and do a simpler game instead or learn how to use structs and custom functions.
You can always pick it up later; getting back into the code won't be a problem because once you learned proper coding, you'll want to rewrite everything anyway.

Here's my main attack function, if you want to take a look:
http://codepad.org/5JpJr88S

a is the attacking character, d is the defending character, and f[] is a struct with fighter data where f[who] is the attacker and f[whom] is the attacked/enemy. It is used to store weapons, stats, etc.

[Icey]

Well I can't put it on hold because I got a composer so maybe I will finish the music then put it on hold.

Also the link wont work

[Khris]

Yeah, not sure what's up with the site; when I pasted the code there, it was fine.
I put it on another one:
http://codetidy.com/517

[Icey]

Ok I'ma look over it.

BTW. Khris, In the video the RPG uses something like a Active time battle right?

[Khris]

Yes, each character/enemy has an agility stat; the higher it is, the faster their bar fills. If an enemy's bar (not visible) is full, they attack, and if a party member's bar is full, the game waits for a move.

It's pretty much the same system Chrono Trigger used.

[Icey]

Humm..That sounds like something to learn.

[LRH]

Some of these responses seem a little harsh, no? Icey is doing exactly what we've all asked him to do. He didn't release a new game in the database full of errors but gave us examples to look at on youtube. Point out mistakes, sure, but there's no need to be 100% critical with no praise whatsoever for at least obeying the rules this time.