Astellus

KZ, if you wanted to teach a section on custom formulae or event scripting, I bet that would be well received. It would be like stealth coding. Astellus

Hello Academy Enthusiasts! The dev team is moving right along, laying out the basics and structure of the Academy, based largely on input we've received from you in this thread and via PM. Thank you all so much! Here's what we're working on right now: We want to identify the skill sets required to make a game using RMVX Ace, with an eye toward each skill set being a "class" you can take from a teacher in the Academy. Here are the skill sets we have identified so far: Eventing/Systems Design Spriting/Artwork Combat/Encounters/Balance Level Design/Puzzles/Mapping Scene Design/Writing/Story The questions I have are these: Are we missing any categories? Should they be divided differently? Which areas would you like to improve in as an RPG Designer? Looking forward to your responses! As always, you can PM me if you have any questions about the project that don't fit into this forum discussion. Astellus P.S. Scripting is an area of the engine that we have omitted intentionally. If there's a lot of interest and a teacher who feels comfortable leading a class in it, we may find a way to include it as an area of study.

I have almost the same question as natethegreat226. I am trying to get follow-up skills to trigger only if the actor has learned the appropriate follow-up skill. Does anyone have an idea how to go about doing that? Any help would be awesome! Astellus

This thread is getting pretty giant and disorganized, and it's hard to sort through it all to find the pertinent information. Getting feedback directly from people who have expressed interest is one option; another is to start over with a new, cleaner thread. I figured it'd be best to take the direct route since I didn't want to create confusion with a redundant topic. Once (and if) we set up a subforum or another place to organize all the ideas, that won't be as much of a problem. Don't worry - I'm not sending random PMs to everyone on the boards to "advertise." I'm letting people who explicitly expressed interest in the project have another direct way to participate, and letting them know that their individual contribution is heard and appreciated. Getting back on topic: Hello everyone! I'll be posting periodically in this thread to update everyone on the status of the Ace Academy project, and acting as liaison between the development team and everyone else in the community who is interested in participating. Sometimes we'll want to brainstorm a lot of ideas to make sure the project is taking the shape that will best suit its participants, and I'll post those questions in bold to help guide the discussion. Let's start now! Here's what we're working on currently: What would you like to get out of the project? What appeals to you about a social project like this? What would your goal be as a participant? And how can we shape the project to best suit your needs? And, as we get going on the setting: Are there any elements things you would particularly like to have, or to prohibit, in the setting? I love to collaborate, and I want to make sure the Academy ends up serving the needs of the community (meaning you!). If you have any questions, concerns, or exciting brain waves, please feel free to PM me. But please also put all of your exciting brain wave-type responses here in this brainstorm thread so you can inspire other people and toss ideas around. I'm looking forward to the project, and to hearing your responses! Astellus Edit: By "elements" I mean "things" - I should choose my language more carefully when discussing magic-themed settings.

I am a little confused about the process here. The dev team is asking some good questions, but it's impossible to crowd-source something like establishing the basics of a setting. If the dev team is decided (which it is, according to Titanhex), then you guys should get together and come up with something definite and propose it. That could be a poll with a handful of options, or you could write a proposal and get the community's response to it. As has been pointed out, there are just a few details that need to be worked out, and the majority of the specifics in the setting will be developed individually by participants once the project is underway. So work out the details together, make a proposal, tweak it if necessary, and then we can move forward. It's great that you want everyone to feel invested in the project, but you need very specific guidelines on what you are looking for from the community so we can actually work together. It sounds like right now you are in brainstorming mode, and you want ideas from us about a few specific questions. These are: The answers to the first two are of little consequence, and can be decided by the dev team. The structure of magic and the goal and flavor of the academy are the topics you are inviting us to pursue. I also think you should solicit feedback to this question: As you said, it's not a very big community, so the experience should absolutely be tailored to serve the needs of those involved. ---End Summary Section--- I like Bunni's idea of an academy training and teaching magic users in order to combat some natural force. If magic has a corrupting element, that provides a really good reason for an academy to be there (we have to teach people to use this power responsibly and safely), as well as providing an antagonistic force (magic itself, and those who have become corrupt through its use). I would also suggest that the school be open to non-magic users, so that it's not just another wizard school. What about the fighters, scholars, healers, scientists, tacticians, etc.? Not everyone needs magic (or a lot of magic) to participate in the organization.

I'd prefer to see something accessible via the RTP - which doesn't lend itself to high-tech or sci-fi settings particularly well. If there's a way to justify stuff people create using the RTP tilesets and sprites, then that's cool, but it is important they don't feel out of place with the frame story.

I guess it depends on how literally you're taking the "Academy" aspect of the project Personally, I want to learn, and the best way to go about that is to tackle specific elements of the program with a group of peers and an instructor who are all focusing on the same element. I wouldn't mind at all if the objective was "Retrieve a slime egg from the Sewers below the Academy," as long as there was a note or something along with it that communicated some specific lesson objectives. I think my concern is that without a structure that focuses on teaching how to use the program better, I won't improve as much. I can see how newbies like myself would want something more specific to the mechanics of RPGMaker, and how more accomplished designers might enjoy a broader scope more focused on the fiction we're going to create together. I would love to see a teacher/class/dorm/etc. devoted to improving skills in specific areas of RPGMaker - this could be as simple as slightly tweaking assignments ("This sewer assignment is a great chance to work on a boss battle - put a boss inside the sewer guarding the egg), just so we get a group of people working on and looking at the same thing. It's the difference between staying in practice and learning new skills. Astellus

Hey! This idea is really great, and I'm hoping to participate as a student. As an RPGMaker newbie, here's what I would like to get out of the project: Focused assignments: If one lesson is about mapping (i.e., "Create a Sewer Dungeon"), and the next is about writing (i.e., "Write a Scene About the Hero Coming Home"), that is going to help me learn and develop one skill at a time, so I will see more meaningful growth. Feedback: Getting feedback is crucial to the learning process, so I want there to be a forum (probably literally) for teachers and students to talk about each others' projects and help each other out. Bite-sized workload: Getting the timing right will probably be tough. Frequent enough assignments to maintain interest, but enough time between to allow people on different schedules to accomplish the task at hand. And hopefully the assignments will be tight enough that someone without much time can feel like they can keep up, and someone with a lot of time can elaborate and add polish - or bells and whistles. As has been mentioned, assignments need to appeal to both newbies and experienced designers - I think the answer is in compact, open-ended assignments. A simple goal that newbies can achieve, but with enough creative design space for experienced users to show off a little. I'll brainstorm a list and post it below to give folks an idea of the stuff I think might work well. I'm very excited about this! Astellus Lesson Ideas Brainstorm: P.S. Can you tell I know nothing about Eventing? I need to go to Eventing school.

Perfect! Thank you very much.

Thank you very much!