Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
  • entries
    4
  • comments
    3
  • views
    4,091

About this blog

A developer journal for my RPG Maker MV project "Crystal Crown". The name of the game is probably not definitive, but I like it anyways.

Expect a lot of ramblings about my conworld.

Entries in this blog

 

Update on the game

First of all: I'm not dead, just extremely lazy to post here. It's just something that always happens with me and blogs. I like blogging but I am too lazy to keep one updated. Anyway, time for an update on the game. I have introduced a set of changes that I am going to describe below.   Skills I had a small set of skills for each character. As I was developing the game and creating enemies and dungeons, I quickly realised that they weren't enough so I decided to further expand the skillset for each playable character. Everyone will have three skill types: one with the main skills, those which defines them as being from one job or another. A second skill type with secondary skills and finally a third one that includes exclusive skills gained through "job quests", which I explained in a previous post. For example: Araken now has:
-"Feints", which are dodges, either just a regular "dodge next attack received" or a more complex "dodge then counterattack" or a "block then counterattack".
-"Hunter techniques", which are his main skills. Attacks targeting one or more foes that cause states, applies buffs and debuffs. Every skill is quick, consumes low TP but deal average damage.
-"Bolts", which include both his normal crossbow skills (special attacks that deal damage and inflict a state) and his elemental bolt skills that he gains through job quests.   Blocking I have introduced, thanks to Ramza's shield block plugin, a new stat: Block. The plugin offers two characteristics: block chance and block rate. The first one refers to the % of blocking an incoming attack and the latter refers to the % of damage reduced. Additionally, I have added small chances to dodge attacks to represent in gameplay terms the ability to parry/deflect attacks, which is different from blocking. Tinkering with the plugin's notetags I have managed to adjust the new parameter to all characters that have shields:
-Araken wears shielded bracelets, a specialty of the people from the Northwest. They are useful for protecting, blocking and deflecting attacks from the enemy, whichever weapon they use. As for gameplay, shielded bracelets have less block rate than a proper shield but good block chance. Furthermore, all bracelets provide a small dodge chance. -Narissa wears round shields or bucklers made out of wood, iron, steel and other materials. Some are blessed or provide unique buffs. All of her bucklers offer average block chance and block rate, with one of them being specially made for working with spells only. Bucklers do not provide dodge chance, as Narissa only uses her shield to block. -Asher uses targes, small round shields that are employed in battle more to parry attacks but not so for blocking. In terms of gameplay, targes have a high dodge rate, low block rate and good block chance. Targes have a good chance of dodging, to represent their unique parrying nature. -Heidek uses greatshields, big and heavy shields that protects the user but reduces his agility. In-game, greatshields have the highest block rate and block chance, but Heidek won't be able to dodge attacks.   Formulas Introducing damage formulas! Not only for skills, but also for weapons. Thanks to Hime's Weapon Damage pluging, different weapons have different formulas that are included into the damage formulas of skills. Furthermore, some skills have unique formulas and magic attacks have also their own formulas.   Multi-language Thanks to SumRndmDde Translation Engine plugin, I will be able to translate the game from Spanish (original language) to English and have a multilanguage game. It will be hard work, but worth it.  
AnarelHaeran

AnarelHaeran

0
 

Classes, Job Quests, Weapons and Armors

Classes   Each character has a class or job that not only defines their skills and combat style, but it is an important and defining part of the character behind. For example, Araken is a monster hunter. This means that he has a set of skills to reflect that: quick strikes, counter attacks, crossbow bolts with different effects, etc. However, being a monster hunter is part of who he is, it shaped his personality, has given him an objective, something to do and to accomplish in life.   Classes are not just "I am a warrior because it says so in the menu." Classes are jobs, in the literal meaning of the word, not just the gaming term. Asher is a thief because he was raised and trained to be one. Sherr is a Druid because he was choosen to be one, something he accepted and welcomed with a smile in his face and hope in his heart. Karsten is a Judge-Knight because of family tradition and because he has a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. In general, classes equal to a job, an occupation the character has and likes. The character has devoted their life to that class/job, training hard to be better at what they do.   Each character has a "class headquarters", where they can improve their weapons and armors, buy class-related items and accesories and complete quests and minor tasks. Of course, there will be a lot of NPCs to talk to and ways to learn more about the world and the lore. These "class headquarters" leads to the next element analysed in this section: job quests.   Job Quests: New skills and weapons   Each character belong to a class and has a corresponding "class headquarters" where you can freely travel. There is a set of skills for each character that are only unlockable through "job quests", a series of plot-related, lore heavy and character developing quests that have an increasing difficulty and offer great rewards in the form of the aforementioned skills and also new weapons.   New skills   Completing a job quest grants a new skill related that expands the role of the character in battle: -As a Priestess of Light, Narissa will learn "Prayers", a type of buffing skills which are very useful in battle. Complete all quests to get a powerful and permanent passive skill. -As an Expert Thief/Thief, Asher/Sherr will learn "Bombs", a type of throwing skills with different and explosive effects. Complete all quests to get "fragmentation" versions of the bombs hat target all foes. -As a Mage, Rashana will learn "Erudition", a type of soul based magic that consumes HP and PM in exchange of dealing a lot of damage. Complete all quests to get a useful permanent passive skill. -As a Judge-Knight, Karsten will learn "Shouts", a type of buffing skills that have an positive and negative effect on the character (e.g. raise max HP for 4 turns but lose 15% HP when it ends). Complete all skills to get a unique accesory. -As an Engineer, Laani will learn "Gunslinger", that grants bullets with different effects. Complete all quests to gain a new weapon. -As a Monster Hunter, Araken will learn "Elemental Bolts", which is self-explanatory. Complete each quest to receive new crossbows and all quests to receive his final crossbow. -As a Druid, Sherr will learn "Alchemy", a skill used to brew potions. Completing each quest unlocks new recipes and completing all will grant a recipe for permanent stat bonus potions. -As a Velaker (Scythe wealding blade dancer), Xander will learn "Shadow Magic", a dangerous but powerful magic. Complete all to receive his final scythe. -As a Paladin, Heidek will learn "Divine Protection", a new set of protective skills that affect the allies but not the user. Complete all quests to receive his final shield.   New weapons   In "Crystal Crown" you can't buy weapons nor will you find weapons normally in dungeons or dropped by monsters. The only way to get a new weapon is to complete tasks and quests for your "job headquarters". Each character has 5 weapons: first one is considered "regular", second is "normal", third is "average", fourth is "rare" and the last is "legendary". For example:   Araken uses swords. Regular, usual, longswords. Nothing too impressive, but he is comfortable using them. Now, say that you want a new weapon for him. Just go to the Order of Monster Hunters Headquarters and complete "Hunting Missions" to achieve "Hunter points". When you ahve enough, you can claim a new weapon.   However, this is not always the case: some characters will be asked to complete a series of quests either with the rest of the group participating or by themselves. Thieves will be asked to steal valueable relics from nobles and merchants. The Paladin will be tasked with heathen-dealing missions (in which you decide what to do, follow orders or not), etc. Sometimes you are asked to recover an ancient artifact as part of a "Job Quest", which will grant you a new weapon/armor/accesory.   The important thing here is that the player will need to advance each character in their classes/jobs to get them new weapons.   *Exception: Laani, the engineer, crafts her own weapons, but only after finding certain tools or after improving a weapon she alrwady own sufficiently. She will determine what she needs in order to craft a new weapon and then you will have to search for the materials and tools.   WEAPONS AND ARMOR   "Ok", you say, "I have a new weapon but is not that powerful. How am I going to defeat monsters with only five weapons?"   The answer is: by improving them. Weapons can be improved at blacksmiths and artificers (also called "crystalsmiths") up to +10 or up to +5, depending on the weapon. There are many forging materials to do so and they can be collected from mines, caves, dungeons and finally monsters, which will drop parts of them (horns, hide, etc) that can be later brought to a city to be processed into forging materials. Some weapons have a heavy lore background, explained during the quest involved in its recovery or after being rewarded with it. Other weapons are related to the background and story of a character. Armors can also be improved, by the way. Some classes can wear various types of armor, but some others can only wear one type. There is head, shield, body, gloves and leg armor, in addition to necklace, ring, bracelet and earring slots. Accessories offer the usual elemental and state resistances, stat improvement, etc. I am working on a "full set bonus" for certain accesories and/or armors in the form of a passive buff or something like that.   Blacksmiths   There are several scattered across the world: in some towns, in each major city and in each "job headquarters". There are tiers for them, with the most basic ones being "Apprentice blacksmiths", who will only improve the first weapons of each characters. On the other side of the spectrum, "Master blacksmiths" can improve any weapon, except the final weapon of each character, which can only be improved by the blacksmith of the "job headquarters".   There is an exception: Laani, the engineer, her weapons (and only them) can only be improved by herself, providing that she has adequate tools and forging materials. Additionaly, some engineer equipment can only be improved by other engineers.   Crystalsmiths or artificers   There a few, settled in some of the major cities and key locations. As with blacksmiths, there are tiers, with only the crystalsmiths from the Garkon Tower Education and Research Facilities being able to improve legendary equipment.     Dev corner   I used customised Yanfly's "Item Synthesis" to create the menus for alchemy, as well as weapon and armor improving. With the recipe system the plugin offers I created several crafting menus for armor/weapon improvement, potion brewing, item creation, etc. The fact that you can open up the synthesis menu for just one recipe is also very helpful and honestly, it has been a life saver for an otherwise complicated but rewarding system I have set up.   I also use Yanfly's "Item Core" to add lore snippets on the info windows on the weapon/armor/item menus, sort of like Dark Souls do. I think it gives more meaning and life to the world, lore and item.      
AnarelHaeran

AnarelHaeran

0
 

Overworld maps - Provinces and Regions

Overworld maps - Provinces and Regions   In "The Crystal Crown" there won't be a single overworld map with every dungeon, city, town and minor locations. Instead, there will be many, many overworld maps (each slightly different than the others so as to represent change in environment, like jungle, desert, mountain, snowy, etc) that will depict Regions and Provinces.   LORE explanation: The action takes place in a enormous continent dominated almost entirely by the Ark-Empire ("Ark" meaning 'power, might'). The Empire is divided into 21 Provinces, each one governed by one of the 21 Great Houses. Each Province is further divided into several Regions, governed by a House that pledged loyalty to a Great House and the Crown.
  Archduke is the title of the Lord of a Great House.
Great Duke is the title of the Lord of a House. Dukes are the title of the Lord of a Clan. ---------   Of the 21 Provinces, the player will only be able to travel and explore around 12 in total, including main quest, secondary quests and extra stuff. I will explain this further via images, spoilered so as to not screw up with the formatting.   This is the Golden Province, the first place you visit in the game:     The Golden Province is divided further into 4 Regions:   Krastornaban Region, where the capital, Krastornaban, is located:     Nainmaqar Region (Nainmaqar means 'Bright Forest')     Gentle River Region (The river is named that way because is navigable)     Hazer Region     As you can see, there are, in reality, four overworld maps linked to one another to form one Province. The player will be able to travel freely through these Regions, entering towns, ruins, dungeons and places of interest. Some locations will only be unlocked via main quest, secondary quest or world events. This is how overworld maps will work in "The Crystal Crown".   TBD: I have yet to create a way for the player to open a map that shows the full province and marks the location of the player within it. Maybe with X, Y coordinates, layers and several images? I don't know.  
AnarelHaeran

AnarelHaeran

3
 

Plot, characters and more - An intro page

The Crystal Crown [WIP]   "The Crystal Crown" is a RPG game that I am currently developing with RPG Maker MV. It is set in the conworld I've been working on since I was 15. Something I'd like to point out from the beginning is that the game will be in Spanish, as that is my mother language. Anyway, below I will explain some quick facts about the game. Later, I will continue with the plot and characters:     This is all for now, I will explain in deth some of these features later on. Okay, let's go with the plot and the characters.   SYNOPSIS   Historical background
    Plot
 
Chapters
    CHARACTERS   All characters have their own life, story and past, which is all resolved and dealt with in their "companion quests". If the player does not want to complete them or even start them, they can miss armor, items, weapons and of course, cutscenes, dialogs and the possibility of getting a good end with the character. Similar to what the Fallout 3 and New Vegas did with companions, at the end of the game there will be a series of cutscenes with all the characters and their fates. If the player has completed their quests and keep a positive affinity with them, they will get the best ending. Of course, if you treat a character badly, do not complete his/her quest and so on, you will get a bad ending and even a death ending. To sum up: there are 4+1 possible endings for each character: Best Ending, Good Ending, Sad Ending, Bad Ending; Death Ending.   Main characters   Araken   Age: 26.
Height: 1'78 m. Weight: 74 kg. Born in: The capital of the Empire, Avanovark. Family: Does not know if his parents are alive. Job: Monster Hunter.
     
  Narissa Fislen-Hador   Age: 24. Height: 1'62 m. Weight: 58 kg. Born in: The City of Ebikaor. Family: House Fislen from his father's branch. House Hador, from his mother branch. Both Houses are related to the Great House Zarken. Job: Priestess of Light.
 
    Heidek Galart-Kurel
  Age: 32. Height: 1'88 m. Weight: 82 kg. Born in: The Sacred City, Maban. Family: House Galart from his father's family branch. House Kurel from his mother's family branch. Job: Paladin.  
  Sherr Hirek   Age: 20. Height: 1'72 m. Weight: 63 kg. Born in: Saran, a town near the capital of the Empire. Family: ?????? (Not revealed due to minor spoilers) Job: Druid or Thief. (Player will decide whether he will be one or the other)       Asher Hirek   Age: 22. Height: 1'75 m. Weight: 66 kg. Born in: Saran, a town near the capital of the Empire. Family: ?????? (Not revealed due to minor spoilers) Job: Expert thief.     Karsten Zirak-Nakir   Age: 42. Height: 1'91 m. Weight: 95 kg. Born in: Drakar, a major city in the North-East. Family: House Zirak from his father's family branch, Clan Nakir from his mother's family branch. Job: Knight-Judge.     Xander (not his real name)   Age: 19. Height: 1'78 m. Weight: 62 kg. Born in: ?????? (No longer remembers, but I won't reveal it due to minor character spoilers) Family: ?????? (No longer remembers, but I won't reveal it due to minor character spoilers). Job: Velaker (like sword dancers but with a scythe).     Rashana Parmak   Age: 28. Height: 1'67 m. Weight: 57 kg. Born in: Gaban, a city close to Garkon Tower Facilities. Family: Commoner. Job: Energy Manipulator, "EMA" or as it is commonly known: Mage.     Laani Shiref   Age: 27. Height: 1'71 m. Weight: 66 kg. Born in: Lashlan, a city in the As'hak Province, in the South. Family: Commoner. Job: Engineer.     Secondary characters   Lairen Saalei (not his true name)
       A monster hunter that holds a grudge against Araken for a reason to be revealed. He is ruthless and cold. Lairen wields powers beyond his comprehension.   The Master
       The leader of the Imperial Order of Monster Hunters and a former one himself. A rather mysterious man with a reputation of being honorable and reliable, but whose former life and deeds are only known by the oldest members of the Order and those very close to him. Araken reveres this man more than himself.   The Mother
       A strange woman living in the woods. She formed the group simply named "Worshippers of Avanias", who devote their lives to venerate Nature and the Primordials. She seems to be much more than meets the eye...   Lahn Ixar        A father whose main concern are his son and his former family. He will do anything to recover his long lost honor.   Screenshots      
AnarelHaeran

AnarelHaeran

0
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
×
Top ArrowTop Arrow Highlighted