Flux World is Still Recruiting Background/Sprite Artists

[Regnum Eternum]

Skeleton? Screw? Scientist? Skittish? Skates?

None of these.  The actual word I had in mind is much closer than any of these guesses.  Think of an English word of Greek origin that is a philosophical term but that is frequently used in everyday speach.

Skeptic?

[fluxmaster]

Yes.  Skeptic is derived from the Greek word σκέπτομαι, meaning consider, think about.  The precinct of Skefalia deals with thought.

Each of the six precincts in Flux World, and each of the eight precincts in the 3-D version Flux Warrior, represents one important human activity.  Skefalia represents thought.  Note the differences between Skefalia and the other precincts.  In Skefalia the beast does not chase you, it helps you.  That is because thinking is something one does during leisure time, when one is not burdened by other pressing concerns.  Note also that you cannot die in Skefalia, whereas you can die in the other two precincts that you have encountered so far.  That is because thinking cannot kill you, whereas the activities represented by the other two precincts can kill you, or, rather, failing to preform them can kill you.

[Akatosh]

... you put a lot of thought in this, didn't you?

[fluxmaster]

About ten years, actually.  I spent nine years working on the 3-D version, but I couldn't find an artist to do the graphics, and my 3-D graphics aren't that great.  I spent about a year on the 2-D version.

Speaking of thought, here is another important difference between Skefalia and the other precincts.  You may have noticed that the other precincts that you have encountered so far each have their own vortices, but there is no particular vortex assigned to Skefalia.  That is because, when we are thinking, we are not usually thinking about thought itself; rather, we are thinking about one of the activities represented by the other precincts.

[Meistari F]

I'll look forward to see more of this game too. I'm still haven't finish this game but when will we see the next beta of this game?

[fluxmaster]

Sorry for the delay, but the Fluxmistress recently had a baby, so I've been a bit busy.

I've just posted a new beta version on my website.  This version fixes all the bugs that have been reported so far and upgrades one of the backgrounds.  Only the 16-bit color version has been upgraded.

[Meistari F]

I think it will also be great you write a walkthrough for this difficult game because I think people are getting so confused how to play this weird game.  BTW you should make people understand they can not enter in the house again once they get out in first time. 

Error report-
When I go out of the house I appear on the middle of the background wich is wrong. I think people will also feel confused where to go once they get out. This game are too hard to play for beginners.

[fluxmaster]

One of the purposes of beta testing, for this game, anyway, is not simply to find bugs but to test the game for playability.  If the game is too difficult, then, rather than write a walkthrough, I would prefer to make the game more intuitive so that a walkthrough is not needed.

you should make people understand they can not enter in the house again once they get out in first time.

Actually, this is not true.  You can go back into the house at any time by clicking on the question mark icon, then clicking on the help button.  In fact, if you click on the door to the house, a message will come up telling you to do just that.

My intention is for the game to have a very good help system, at least in the first part of the game.  Whenever you're at a loss as to what to do, you can always click on the question mark icon and then the help button, and it will bring you back to the room with the man behind the desk.  You can then ask him questions.  The questions will change depending upon what part of the game you're in at the time.  In the second half of the game, clicking on the help button will bring up a message telling you which NPC you should talk to for more information.  I think that this is a lot better than providing a walkthrough at this point, although eventually one may be provided.

If you have time for some more testing, try using the help system whenever you're at a loss as to what to do.  If you don't find the help system very helpful, tell me what questions you'd like to ask, and I'll add them to the help system in the next beta.  (And I'll give you the answer in the meantime.)

I'll also try to improve the positioning of the main character when entering a room in the next beta.

[Meistari F]

I hope you like this new edited image. It should make it easier for people to find their way now.


New edited image nr 1

I made this larger now and added a door so it can help people wich way to go out of the house.

New edited image nr 2

[fluxmaster]

Thanks, Fribbi.

In the first image, there is a road leading southbound.  Where is that supposed to lead?  Troforia is to the north, and there is no path leading there.  In the second half of the game you will be able to travel south from that screen, but not until then.

Also, roads, like everything else in this game, have a specific symbolism, so I don't want then constructed everywhere.

You made the second image two screens long, but there is nothing to do in the right half of the image.  But adding the doorway was a good idea--I'll definitely use that.

Thanks for providing the images.

[Meistari F]

You can always change the way where Trofia are.  But my friend found it difficult in wich way he should go when he played that game. I thougth this could be easier now for the player to think what way they should go. And you can also cut the second room screen in half. I made that door because my friend didn't know where to go out. But this will make it easy now to find where to go now. I think I need to add more road so this can look better out soon.

[fluxmaster]

Thanks, Fribbi.

EDIT:  Since paved roads have a special significance in this game, could you please add dirt paths instead of roads.  Thanks.

[Meistari F]

Can you use this?

Outside hut with dirt path

more dirt road

The new image is suppose to be on the place where when you walk left from the hut/house. That will explain why I added those two signs in the first image. This should now make it easier for the player to find his way now.

BtW I wish you and your family happy new year buddy!

Ando to all people here who is reading this "Happy new year!"

[fluxmaster]

The first image is good, but could you add some texture to the road to make it look more like a dirt path?  Also, since the player will not be able to travel south from that screen in the first half of the game, it would be better not to include the path leading south, or, at least, to make it very vague.

The second image adds a new room to the game, which makes for a lot more walking.  In the game, it is necessary to walk from one precinct to another many times.  By the time you get to the end of the game, you'll wish you didn't have to do so much walking.  So I don't think that adding an extra screen to walk through is a good idea.  In fact, if I could reduce the amount of walking in the game without breaking the overall concept, I would do it.

I hope your new year went well.  The Fluxmistress and Fluxmaiden are both doing well.

[Meistari F]

Outside house re-edited

Well I don't know if you still want this road path but re-edit that too.

Road

I hope you like it now.

[fluxmaster]

The first one's better, but I don't want that path going south (unless you can make it very indistinct).

[Akatosh]

Well, it's nice to see the visuals are getting better at least. Still, you might want to clean them up a little, add more consistent outlines, shapes and perspectives and probably do something about the textures that makes them look less, well, repetitive. Get GIMP, for instance; it's got an own function for filling things with textures, gradients and whatnot. Also, please don't save the images as .JPG files... .PNG will do them much, much more justice, trust me. Seems like there's a game with lots of deep, philosophical meaning in production here... but you still want people to play it, don't you? 

[Meistari F]

Well I can always edit that image 2 somehow. Glad you like the house image. I have re-edited that house image once again. I added more realistic gras on it now. I will send you the image on your e-mail the .png image file if you like it. But I can't upload png image where I upload them because of the mb size is to much for it.

The final Hut image with much better gras and path texture

About that white shiny window, we could add a window there as a object.  You also could add a door on this hut too.

[egamer]

I've taken a look at your game, and I have a couple of questions for you.

In the intro to the game, the man behind the table speaks of the "ever present flux," and says that "the flux contains many vortices."  This suggests to me that the flux is supposed to be everywhere, and that the vortices are merely part of the flux.  Yet in this thread you state that "the flux manifests itself in the form of vortices," which suggests that the vortices themselves are the flux.  So are the vortices merely part of the flux, is the flux nothing more than the vortices?

You state that everything in the game is symbolic of something else.  Since one of the meanings of "flux" is "change," is the flux symbolic of change?

[fluxmaster]

The final Hut image with much better gras and path texture

The textures on the grass and dirt path are much better.  But what are those things behind the house that look like wooden planks?  And what is that dark area right above them?

I've taken a look at your game, and I have a couple of questions for you.

In the intro to the game, the man behind the table speaks of the "ever present flux," and says that "the flux contains many vortices."  This suggests to me that the flux is supposed to be everywhere, and that the vortices are merely part of the flux.  Yet in this thread you state that "the flux manifests itself in the form of vortices," which suggests that the vortices themselves are the flux.  So are the vortices merely part of the flux, [or] is the flux nothing more than the vortices?

The Flux is everywhere, but it would be difficult to draw the Flux everywhere, since it would cover up everything else.  The vortices are part of the Flux--they are the places where the Flux is strongest, and its effects most noticeable.

Think of gravity.  Gravity is everywhere in the universe, but it is strongest near the surface of planets and stars.  The areas where gravity is the strongest we call gravity wells.  The area where the Flux is the strongest we call vortices.

You state that everything in the game is symbolic of something else.  Since one of the meanings of "flux" is "change," is the flux symbolic of change?

No, but that is a good guess.  The Flux is symbolic of something more concrete than that.  In fact, every vortex is symbolic of something very specific.

I came up with the name Flux after magnetic flux.  The Flux permiates the Parallel Flux Universe like an electromagnetic field or a gravitational field, changing the way objects behave.  But remember, you don't have to know (or care) anything about physics to play this game.

Excellent questions, by the way.