Not gonna lie here guys, I didn't get a lot done this week. Not because of any slacking off, I should note. Though there was a bit of that towards the end. No, this week was just spent wrestling with a largely utility-based part of the game. Text wrap. Text wrap now does some really cool stuff, like breaking the text into new text entries if it flows too long, so I can now just past an entire segment in without having to manually break it up like I used to. That does have the small unfortunate side effect of no more dramatic pacing but...eh.
Also combat pictures are now mostly uniform. Positioning of characters varies a little, but they're the same size within a couple pixels, and they've got a nice area of blue above them. What's the blue area for? Taller characters. Now if a character is taller than Jessica you can actually see the difference in the fight screen. I'm going to apply the same thing to the conversation screens when I get around to overhauling those.
Anyway, download is here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/lm6jb748mtnsp3a/Shield%20High%20JS%200.611.zip
Let me know what you all think, feedback and bug reports are always appreciated. My apologies I was unable to deal with the previous bugs, if they persist please try and narrow down the cause/when the bugs start/when the bugs end/what exactly happened when you got a bug, so I can try and fix it.
Enjoy!
Pudding Earl
It's nice to see you back. Not so much to see a new bug. At the end of 1st day, clicking 'continue' to display wrapped text results only in showing new screen for a moment if 'continue' is pressed. Otherwise it shows old text.
ReplyDeleteWhat resolution were you on when this happened?
DeleteDefault 800x600. Don't want to nitpick, but in that resolution the colored action boxes could be longer as text sometimes doesn't fit.
DeleteOn 1024x768 the problem didn't appear but in most cases, click areas were a bit too low.
Okay, I checked it out, should be a really simple fix for that.
DeleteAs for the buttons, I know they look shitty and I have every intention to fix them, it's just that making the change work for just that seems really petty right now. So, when I start going through and adding a lot of buttons so I know how much space I need, or I do anything else that requires variation based upon the screen size, then I'll touch on it.
Then I'm waiting for next release.
DeleteYeah, you're right but I pointed that out for you to not forget ^_^ And when you're fixing them you could also change the navigation as I suggested some time ago, and Blank below also notice...
Really loving this game so far! I really like the freedom of choice that these early builds are implying. It's nice to see a game where failure isn't a game-over scenario, but just another path the story could take. (my favorite path so far)
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on the navigation: Have you considered a floor plan style map instead of a navigation compass? I'm guessing you opted for a room-to-room travel system rather then a quick-travel method because of possible people and events you might encounter on your way from area to the next.
But you could easily manage a map the same way by limiting travel to directly-connected rooms. With a map you could also highlight areas of interest, like where you need to go for your next class. I don't mind having the classes spread out between the blocks, but even with your schedule you posted, navigation is pretty tedious as this point.
You could switch to alternate maps when traveling upstairs, or use special maps for expanded interaction in a single room. Having a layout of Shield High would also help visualize the setting as well.
Again, loving the game so far, and looking forward to what the future holds.
Never considered it like that, but I don't think I'm going to put it in. Re-working the whole thing to include a map that allows movement would be a fair amount of work, and I'm very fond of the RAGS-style movement, which is why I ported it over.
DeleteThat having been said, I would like to include a map of some sort, it'll just take a while. The ability to rush out the old content is my top priority, and maps aren't going to help with that. That having been said I'll probably work on it when I get up to the next fight and realize I didn't think things through and I have to write fight text again.
I can see how the game is really improving, although I will admit, it IS still riddled with various bugs, although none of them seem to break the game. I skipped the Sasha "tutorial" fight, but whenever you pass by the square outside the B room classes, that dialogue always comes up. It doesn't ruin anything though.
ReplyDeleteStill, the new "avatars" are actually pretty nice! Although I wonder where the chains for Jessica came from...
I kind of miss RAGS, but its not really a fair comparison given I know you're working hard to get the new engine all set up! The new fighting is, at least, far more involved and does feel a lot less luck-based, or just repeating the same actions over and over until you win.
As a random aside, I can't promise anything, but if in the future I was able to acquire an artist for some artwork, I could see about having avatars made for Shield High. Unless you just want to keep using what you've got of course.
I want the art to be uniform, if I can get an artist to do avatars for everyone that would be lovely. If not I'm gonna stick with what I've got. Right now I love the current system since I'm not beholden to someone else. If I need to add 20 characters this week I can just make them in a day or two and be ready to go.
DeleteAnyway, the early stuff is really just to test how everything works, I'll start fixing that up after weekends are put in, or I get bored. Either or. Glad you like what I've got so far, I want to make the combat system more involved but I've got some creativity issues. I'm probably going to give some base bonuses to molestation attempts, and improve the AI a bit. Also add more combos.
I think I had more things to say but I ended up being distracted by my friends. Fuck my those guys.