I thought maybe I should make a topic about my game.

[mxx15]

Oh sorry, I wasn't specific enough. n_n; The cross graves should appear to look like roman numerals. The bottom left patch might help you see what I mean.

At first I started staring at the cross grave individually trying to see if I could see a roman numeral on it, then I looked at the bottom left patch and thought wow..I'm dumb, but I had no idea or would of guessed that they would represent roman numerals, but yeah I got it right. 😀

 

[Lurker]

The volcano is a bit harder, because there are some optional places in between. If you want, you can try these places I marked on the map first.

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/9232/aftergy.png

Just posting that in case you're interested. If not, please, feel free to explore and do whatever as you like.

 

[mxx15]

The volcano is a bit harder, because there are some optional places in between. If you want, you can try these places I marked on the map first.

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/9232/aftergy.png

Just posting that in case you're interested. If not, please, feel free to explore and do whatever as you like.

Will do, Only reason I beat josh was the rope binding, Thank god for that, he just stood there and I just attacked away. I'm lvl 4 right now, what level should I be for the volcano?

 

[Lurker]

Will do, Only reason I beat josh was the rope binding, Thank god for that, he just stood there and I just attacked away. I'm lvl 4 right now, what level should I be for the volcano?

Level 4? I can't believe you made it that far. x_X In the walkthrough I'm writing right now, I have the graveyard as level 6 . . . Well . . . Congratulations for progressing so well at your level. Nice work.

Um, I'm inclined to advise against finishing the Volcano before hitting level 8, only reason being is the dungeon after that has a somewhat challenging boss, and even though there is a health restoring event, you can't leave the dungeon before you beat the boss. That one is supposedly level 9.

If you haven't explored it yet, you can also try the cave that is Northwest of the bridge. I think there's only one bridge in the game.

 

[Lurker]

Oh crap. In retrospect, I really dropped the ball in that place. I need to add another thing to watch out for in the opening post. x_X

 

[slacker2114]

I dunno, do people want me to just release another version of the game where there's more exp and gold at the start?

Only if there isn't a simpler solution. Like maybe just lowering the xp needed for the levels. If that were the case, it might be easier for others to survive with less gold until they do some fighting and earn more. I doubt you could make the xp/gold drops higher retroactively, so maybe that would be the easier way to go.

'Just' 20 fights? Ugh. And I hate to say it, but I'm playing this game for the tickling scenes, I really don't like I have to grind for an hour just to get to my fourth tickling scene. I count three true tickling scenes (tickled by the sorceress' pet, game over trap, lose to Pouch). If I have to name a major gripe, it's the leveling system. C'mon, how about instead of a thousand exp needed to level up, make it five hundred.

Make no mistake, I like a lot of things about this game, but the combat system and the grinding for exp thing is a real dealbreaker for me right now. I'm like at the 1700 mark for three character and 1100 for another and the fact I'd have to grind, heal, grind, heal for ages just to keep the plot going bugs me like hell. I want to keep playing, and I want to know what happens next, but the fact that I'd have to grind all my chars to level 2 just to progress the plot makes me want to get up and do something else.

Sorry, for being so negative, Lurky, it's just really bothering me ):

Dude, seriously?? :blink

If you only want the cut-scenes, you should just hang in the story forum. Lurker went to a LOT of trouble to make a game out of this and you criticize, basically because you have to actually PLAY THE GAME. I didn't play FF7, Xenogears, Planescape: Torment, Dragon Age, etc. and even the other games posted here because I wanted to see the cuts. The game is what's supposed to MAKE getting to the cuts fun, not a boring prelude to them. It's the whole experience that I, and I'm sure many others, enjoy with these games.

Jeez, lighten up, Francis.

 

[Lurker]

Sadly, RPG Maker doesn't let you make your own values for levels. If it did, I honestly would have this game perfectly balanced.

But since there's only sixteen levels, and RPG Maker doesn't really seem to care about max levels less than 99, it's really hard to make a curve that huge. What I would have wanted personally, would be like, 10 exp to level 2, 50,000 exp to level 16, etc.

This is as high as the curve goes. I knew the 2000 was just completely out of the question, so I made characters start with 1000 exp in the class change event.

 

[Lurker]

So yeah, everybody keep checking things to watch out for in the first post, because I really don't want someone mad at me because I wasted their time/they had to start over thing. x_X

 

[slacker2114]

Sadly, RPG Maker doesn't let you make your own values for levels. If it did, I honestly would have this game perfectly balanced.

But since there's only sixteen levels, and RPG Maker doesn't really seem to care about max levels less than 99, it's really hard to make a curve that huge. What I would have wanted personally, would be like, 10 exp to level 2, 50,000 exp to level 16, etc.

This is as high as the curve goes. I knew the 2000 was just completely out of the question, so I made characters start with 1000 exp in the class change event.

That's pretty stupid on their part to rigidly set levels like that. Kinda limits your ability to really personalize a game. What about just raising what xp/gold you get from all the mobs and bosses? Sure, people would have to grind a bit to get caught up, but it would be better than starting over, especially those that are level 4 and up already.

 

[Lurker]

That's pretty stupid on their part to rigidly set levels like that. Kinda limits your ability to really personalize a game. What about just raising what xp/gold you get from all the mobs and bosses? Sure, people would have to grind a bit to get caught up, but it would be better than starting over, especially those that are level 4 and up already.

I was considering just making those two enemies in the class shop basement give out really high amounts of exp and gold and just call it an easy mode version or something. People could use that to boost themselves.

 

[slacker2114]

I was considering just making those two enemies in the class shop basement give out really high amounts of exp and gold and just call it an easy mode version or something. People could use that to boost themselves.

That's not a bad idea, but I wouldn't get too extravagant or many would never leave the basement until they're level 16, then blow thru everything...lol

 

[JonesyJones]

Only if there isn't a simpler solution. Like maybe just lowering the xp needed for the levels. If that were the case, it might be easier for others to survive with less gold until they do some fighting and earn more. I doubt you could make the xp/gold drops higher retroactively, so maybe that would be the easier way to go.



Dude, seriously?? :blink

If you only want the cut-scenes, you should just hang in the story forum. Lurker went to a LOT of trouble to make a game out of this and you criticize, basically because you have to actually PLAY THE GAME. I didn't play FF7, Xenogears, Planescape: Torment, Dragon Age, etc. and even the other games posted here because I wanted to see the cuts. The game is what's supposed to MAKE getting to the cuts fun, not a boring prelude to them. It's the whole experience that I, and I'm sure many others, enjoy with these games.

Jeez, lighten up, Francis.

Dude, calm down, maybe get that stick out of your ass and look at what I actually wrote.

My point is more or less that I felt that the grinding I would need to do to advance the plot was "a boring prelude to [the actual events] them". If you had paid any attention at all to what I wrote, I was never "criticizing" the game, just want I didn't like about it, and what I thought could be improved to make the game a bit better. That's called feedback. I agree, Lurker made a great game, and I'm not disputing that. I'm just saying that there's a way to make it better.

Again, I wonder if you did more than skim my post, since at the very end, I apologized for the pseudo-rant, and the general negative tone of the message. But yeah, I guess I shouldn't have expected any better from some dude called Slacker, right?

So yeah, I have an opinion, you have an opinion, just cos you disagree doesn't mean you have to start trolling. Lurker made a great game here, how about we talk about that instead?

 

[slacker2114]

Dude, calm down, maybe get that stick out of your ass and look at what I actually wrote.

My point is more or less that I felt that the grinding I would need to do to advance the plot was "a boring prelude to [the actual events] them". If you had paid any attention at all to what I wrote, I was never "criticizing" the game, just want I didn't like about it, and what I thought could be improved to make the game a bit better. That's called feedback. I agree, Lurker made a great game, and I'm not disputing that. I'm just saying that there's a way to make it better.

Again, I wonder if you did more than skim my post, since at the very end, I apologized for the pseudo-rant, and the general negative tone of the message. But yeah, I guess I shouldn't have expected any better from some dude called Slacker, right?

So yeah, I have an opinion, you have an opinion, just cos you disagree doesn't mean you have to start trolling. Lurker made a great game here, how about we talk about that instead?

Despite what you believe, I read your post 3 times (and again after your ever-so-eloquent new post where you're attacking me personally, just in case I missed something) and I stand by what I said.

But you're right about one thing: this is about the game that Lurker created and all the effort he's put into it (and still is) and therefore will no longer interact with you or your posts, as that will only detract from the greatness of the game itself and the man who created it.

 

[JonesyJones]

Despite what you believe, I read your post 3 times (and again after your ever-so-eloquent new post where you're attacking me personally, just in case I missed something) and I stand by what I said.

But you're right about one thing: this is about the game that Lurker created and all the effort he's put into it (and still is) and therefore I will no longer interact with you or your posts, as that will only detract from the greatness of the game itself and the man who created it.

Glad we could all shake hands on it and move on. Lurker did make a very good game, and is it so wrong that I want it to be even better? Besides, I actually read your post and you basically agree with me about the exp/gold thing. Why were arguing again? Oh well, whatever 😛

 

[Lurker]

Alright, I made a walkthrough. It's very revealing as far as tips and advice goes though. It's not perfect. I whipped it up fast. I'll put it in the first post.

 

[Lurker]

And I made a "different version." Link is in the first post. Should hopefully work, the link, I mean.

 

[Rainax]

While I haven't completed the entire game yet, I'd like to give a little feedback to the author.

First of all, I find this game amazing as far as concern the "bad ends"; it really lives up to his name, the scenes are beautiful and superbly written. The efforts of the author are clearly visibile and, while the approach is a bit different, personally I think it was since the time of "Tower of Gargalesis" and "Labyrinth of Laughter" that I didn't enjoy the written content of a tickle-oriented game that much. It is no small achievement, really.

I also appreciate the class system, perfectible but still very original, and the concept that rather than multiclassing you can switch classes and lose stat power, but not skills; this allows very flexible and interesting combinations. I have not tried every class however, so it would be too early to say if there is any serious imbalance; the concept is still remarkable in my opinion.

Now, a few things I think could be improved:

1) As many people have already observed, the experience curve required for levelling is quite rough. The amount of grinding required is considerable, especially at the beginning. I think that this aspect could be revised (in wathever way the author feels appropriate). This is not, however, a complaint on the difficulty of combat. I just feel it should be more rewarding.

2) In terms of balance, the only thing that bugs me a little is the power of the negative effects inflicted by monsters. Effects such as "tickled" or "paralyzed" prevent the characters from being of any use in combat, and monsters usually spam them very generously. There is very little defense against that, and sometimes you can be sent to the game over screen just because your enemies killed 1 character and paralyzed the other three, in a couple of rounds of combat. Not that I complain, given that "game overs" here are quite rewarding... ;-P

I haven't found any real bug yet. And I've found at least 1 "secret boss", the one hidden in the castle of Cantrul. Nicely done, really.

Keep up the good work, if you can and if you are willing to; this game is definitely good, and I think it has the potential to become a real milestone in his genre.

 

[jax1]

I don't know how RM2003 work so maybe I'm wrong ,but I know that on RPGM XP and VX you can set the experience curve and how much exp/gold each monsters give when defeated.On those versions of RPGM ,the exp curve is set in the Character/Actor tab of the Database window ,maybe it's here too on RM2003 but you have maybe don't see it?^-^ if not you can still try to change the exp/gold rate for each monsters and make it a bit higher.And if nothing work...Maybe you can force the level change after a boss battle for example or something like that?

I have a few experience with RPG Maker and I've learn that if something don't work in one way ,you can make it work in another way ^-^

By the way I agree with Rainax ,the Tickled and Paralyzed effects are often spammed by the enemies ,maybe the Rating of those attacks is too high (if it's set on three ,try to set it on two)? Again I say that as it work on XP and VX versions ,but I don't know how 2003 work ^-^"

 

[LurkLurkLurk]

Sadly, RPG Maker doesn't let you make your own values for levels. If it did, I honestly would have this game perfectly balanced.

But since there's only sixteen levels, and RPG Maker doesn't really seem to care about max levels less than 99, it's really hard to make a curve that huge. What I would have wanted personally, would be like, 10 exp to level 2, 50,000 exp to level 16, etc.

This is as high as the curve goes. I knew the 2000 was just completely out of the question, so I made characters start with 1000 exp in the class change event.

Assuming RM2K3 here. Database -> Classes -> (Pick a class) -> Double click the exp curve picture -> choose the experience per level tab. Now start playing with the sliders until you see what you want.

If you want to do it even more easily, edit the exp awarded from the bosses to give enough to give players the exp needed to go from the level you think they're at to the level you want them to be. E.g. if it lists level 5 as taking 100 exp and you expect the player is level 4, award 100 exp. That will admittedly leave the exp from grinding random encounters as the mere rounding errors that they are, IMO, right now. People who run from random counters will thank you, the others can still grind if they really want to, though grinding will still suck.

2) In terms of balance, the only thing that bugs me a little is the power of the negative effects inflicted by monsters. Effects such as "tickled" or "paralyzed" prevent the characters from being of any use in combat, and monsters usually spam them very generously. There is very little defense against that, and sometimes you can be sent to the game over screen just because your enemies killed 1 character and paralyzed the other three, in a couple of rounds of combat. Not that I complain, given that "game overs" here are quite rewarding... ;-P

If the curative items were affordable, stuff like paralyzed would be okay, as it would just mean "the afflicted character is out until a clean character spends 1 turn bringing them back in." (I don't know whether tickled is a removable status, though.)

 

[jax1]

If the curative items were affordable, stuff like paralyzed would be okay, as it would just mean "the afflicted character is out until a clean character spends 1 turn bringing them back in." (I don't know whether tickled is a removable status, though.)

Yes it's possible to do that ,but if you fight against the Mimic for example ,you're going to use all your curative items ,because the last time I've fight against it ,it have just spam me with Tied&tickle attack ,making my characters tickled and paralyzed at the same time ,so healing one only make it able to be paralyzed again next turn :blink

 

[mxx15]

Level 4? I can't believe you made it that far. x_X In the walkthrough I'm writing right now, I have the graveyard as level 6 . . . Well . . . Congratulations for progressing so well at your level. Nice work.

Um, I'm inclined to advise against finishing the Volcano before hitting level 8, only reason being is the dungeon after that has a somewhat challenging boss, and even though there is a health restoring event, you can't leave the dungeon before you beat the boss. That one is supposedly level 9.

If you haven't explored it yet, you can also try the cave that is Northwest of the bridge. I think there's only one bridge in the game.

Wow, I thought the enemies were easy at lvl 4 at the grave, I bought 99 health potions and I thought I was good. 😱 but that explains why Josh kept 1 hitting my party with his fire attack. Well after I get some more time I'll explore that cave and start leveling. I got 4 more levels to go 🙁

 

[ApprentTinkerer]

Hello, first I would like to say you have made an excellent game and I believe you have done an excellent job in both content and gameplay mechanics. The disables do get a little spammy, but it adds a bit of strategy in my opinion, and makes the team positioning seem relevant.

I did have a few questions, however. One, one of the options in the menu is an Active/Wait toggle. Would anyone happen to know what the toggle changes, if it changes how encounters occur or anything?

Second, I've come across a rather serious issue, though I don't know if it's just me or if it has occurred for others as well. While in the tower with the spider bosses, after the fight and the ensuing event, the screen goes black and I am in the other nearby area. I can still move and pull up the menu, but the screen is entirely black. I memorized the area and can still move around and talk to people by blindly feeling around, but unless the menu is up (which works normally), there is no map or characters, or anything except dialog boxes. I managed to feel my way outside hoping to fix it, but even in the encounters the only things that weren't black were the battle menu, and when the fighters moved, I could see somewhat of an outline of the movement, but outside of actions it returned to black.

I've tried running the game in various compatibility modes as well as administrator (Win 7), but to no avail thus far. Would anyone have any suggestions on what could be done, and if this is an isolated issue or a bug? I tried triggering the boss fight and scene multiple ways, but immediately after the scene starts everything is black aside from dialogs and the like. Any help or advice would be appreciated, and I could upload screenshots if it would help.
(Sorry for the wall of text).

 

[Lurker]

I know about the exp curves.

http://imageshack.us/a/img855/3692/curve.png

Secondary is what creates the actual curve, and as you can see, I have it maxed. =/ That's the best it can do.

Let me rephrase it. What I want, what RPGM doesn't let me do, is actually input my own numbers for exp needed.

 

[Lurker]

IMPORTANT! What ApprentTinkerer mentioned is actually a bug. I'm sorry. It is not supposed to happen. There is a bug if you enter that specific room before doing the Shrine. I changed the link for the "different version" in the first post, and I believe that should fix it.

If it's already happened, you may be able to just copy and paste save files into the new version?

 

[ApprentTinkerer]

I'll give it a try, it seemed to me almost like it was a fade-to-black for the event that just never undid itself or something. I'll let you know how it goes, thanks for the update.