Apathy of Angels - Updated 7/22/12 - Full mini update on pg1

[drenrin2120]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3W3TYSAX

I've fixed most everything and even added a secret dungeon at the end of this demo. Yes, this very long demo. Which is really more like an episode I guess. But whatever. I've added some stuff to make the Skill tree more convenient and fancied it up with a new main menu screen when you open your "Tome of Mekra", which is what you use to view quests, skilltrees, and organize party members. I actually did all this a while ago. Any time spent on this recently was fixing bugs. I'm fairly confident there aren't any game breaking bugs left. I even fixed a bug in the skill tree that no one had noticed which rendered a branch basically useless. But yeah, regardless, this is the last update of this version. Any more work on this game will be going forward with the storyline and maybe actually doing something about the sprites not having animations for everything.

As always, enjoy.

[drenrin2120]

Welp. New link 'cuz megaupload imploded...

http://depositfiles.com/files/4bj7rqmaa

[drenrin2120]

So, having become fed up entirely with trying to work with rm2k3's default experience system, I believe I've found a way around it. If all monsters experience is set to 0, it won't display during the victory screen that any was given. My plan is to given experience based on my calculation after the battle.

Problems with default experience system.
-The equation is utterly useles (primary, seconday, tertiary). It's essentially, A + B + C. Which means it doesn't really matter what numbers go where, they're just being added up arbitrarily.
-Because of the first problem, this means the experience system only ever doubles itself. This means level 50 only takes twice as much experience to level up at then level 25.

The solution.
-If I can't change the above system, I'll change how experience is given out.

In this system, the amount of experience you gain from a battle will be given after you exit the battle (since I already have a message that pops up displaying the amount of AP you got from that battle). While the exp needed to gain a new level doubles with each level, the experience you get with each level increases by less than half. I spent a few hours hashing out equations and this is the best I came up with, for anyone interested.


NOTE: rm2k3 always rounds up. (I think, it might actually just ignore decimals, meaning 2.5 becomes simply 2.)

P = Character's average level
M = Monster group's level
B = Boss Bonus (doesn't only apply to bosses)
N = Number of enemies present
L = [50 - (P - 25)/ 2] = Level Bonus
A = B + L

LEVEL BONUS CURVE
LEVEL 1 BONUS = 62
Level 10 BONUS = 58
Level 25 BONUS = 50
LEVEL 50 BONUS = 37
LEVEL 99 BONUS = 13

[(M-P) + M)] * N + A


Some examples
M = 1
P = 1
N = 1
Exp = 63
To next level = 77, 2 battles

M = 4
P = 10
N = 2
Exp = 54
To next level = 752, 14 battles

M = 10
P = 10
N = 3
Exp = 88
to next level = 752, 9 battles

M = 25
P = 25
N = 3
Exp = 125
to next level = 1877, 15 battles

M = 50
P = 50
N = 3
Exp = 187
to next level = 3752, 20 battles

M = 98
P = 98
N = 3
Exp = 307
To next level = 7352, 24 battles

It's based off character levels and enemy levels that will be assigned. If a character is a higher level than an enemy, they will gain less experience points. If a character is a lower level then an enemy, they will gain extra points then if they were the same level. The theory going that this will force players to move on to new territories and new monsters. You won't be able to spam low level monsters for too long. This system also allows for low level characters to gain new levels a lot faster then they will at higher levels, while higher levels take gradually more and more time to gain. BUT, an awesome unexpected side effect is it seems that the difficulty in gaining higher levels increases slower than pre-level 25 grinding.

Another great result from this equation is that the higher you level, the more important it becomes to fight more than one enemy, meaning the battles become tougher. At level 5, fighting one or three monsters is the difference between 3 exp points. At level 50. it can mean the difference between 150 points.

[drenrin2120]

Aww thanks! It's really just a lot of trial and error.

[bigbadke12]

Amazing Game!
Rating: 

[drenrin2120]

Oh? So you've played the game? Thanks! Any critical review is always welcome!

[drenrin2120]

YAYAYAYAYAY!
http://rpgmaker.net/tutorials/10/
Why did I not know this?!

[Prpl_Mage]

YAYAYAYAYAY!
http://rpgmaker.net/tutorials/10/
Why did I not know this?!

Or you just choose to create a game disk and it automatically saves every resource including the rtp into the new game folder thingy.

[drenrin2120]

Well, I assumed that too, but I've had friends who have run into problems even with a gamedisk. They got back "RTP missing" errors. That little bit about adding "FullPackageFlag=1" into the RTP_RT.ini file actually worked. Also, RMTool is great for deleting files you don't use and saving space.

[Meiscool]

Since I haven't tried the game yet, I do not know how your first boss fight works. However, if you want to add "difficulty" to the battle without actually making it harder, you could add a trigger skill or something. Make an ability where the boss puts a shield up (or something similar, can be anything really), and your character's have a specific skill or item that breaks the shield. While it doesn't make the battle any more difficult to survive, it does add a factor to the fight that makes it more challenging.
Just an idea.

[drenrin2120]

I pretty much agree with you. After having test played it so many times, it can be hard for me to tell whether or not the boss battles are fun or not. I've also kind of always had a hard time making battles in general interesting. I hoped the skill tree would help and I think it has, but that alone won't cut it. No excuses here, but the default battle system is hard to work with, too. Any suggestions are definitely needed.

[drenrin2120]

Gah... I DID start one last year... so much tedious code...

[Meiscool]

CBS really aren't that hard, just time consuming. It depends on what you are aiming for I guess.
Don't expect your first cbs to work perfectly though... It took me till my 5th or so try to make what I have now, and now I'm scrapping that to make all the events common events instead of on-field events.
Anyways, if you want tips I can help, but the DBS is probably the best bet if you are going for turn based system.

[drenrin2120]

It's worth considering. And mic, I'm pretty deadset on turn based battle. I think I'll compile a list of things I'd like to be able to do in a battle system, and see if I can finagle them to work in the DBS. I've got a lot invested in the DBS and it might be possible to make a lot of things work, especially with the pics in battle patch.

[Prpl_Mage]

Let me know if you need a hand with anything coding-related, I'm kinda nifty with those things. Also that exp calculation thing is looking good, been meaning to do something similar.