HakuroDK

No, only from the one map to the other map. Going to any other map has no problems. I checked, like, ten times for any autorun or parallel processes in that one map. I only have one autorun, and all it has is text before it self-switches into my "Fadein Screen" parallel process, which I tried testing without just in case that might have caused issues. I also don't have any parallel processes. It's weird, because before I added in a few other events (all of which were Action Button and/or Player Touch), the Player Transfer command functioned properly. This is just so... bizarre.

That's the thing. I have a separate BGM and BGS for the new map, so I have no idea what happened. As for the fadeouts, other than the default fadeout as part of the "Transfer Player" command itself, I have no real fadeout commands on autorun or parallel process. On the contrary, I actually have a "fadein" as a parallel process in an event off in one of the corners of the map just because I use so many fadeouts otherwise.

I wish it were that simple. But there's more to it. To use the example in my previous post, there's going to be a lot of adding and removing of status effects through this Synergy system, so I'd need a way for a Fire Spell to check if there is a specific state active, remove that state (the state will always be removed if there's synergy), add a new state (if that's part of the synergy), and then calculate damage based on the synergy used amongst other factors. Simply put, I want a frozen enemy's ice to melt if hit with a fire spell and cause them to become soaking wet as part of the Fire Spell's effect. Simply having states cut specific elemental damage isn't exactly what I'm looking for.

Sorry to double-post, but I didn't realize there was a 100-character limit for damage formulas, otherwise this would have solved literally ALL of my problems. Anyway, to describe the problem a bit more technically, I'll try it like this. When a player casts a Fire Spell (purely an example) on an enemy, I want the spell to do the following: 1. Check for States applied to the targeted enemy (or enemies). 2. Execute effects on the targeted enemy (or enemies) depending on which states they do or do not have. 2a. If an enemy is Frozen, remove Frozen Status and add Soaked Status. If an enemy is Soaked, remove Soaked Status. 2b. (Optional) If either of the scenarios in 2a were executed, play a message saying that some kind of Synergy was used. (Preferably just a simple "Show Text" command if possible.) 2c. Inflict Damage, which will be altered based on strength of Fire Spell used, weakness/resistences, and whether any of the scenarios in 2a were carried out or not. 3. If none of the scenarios in 2a were carried out, add Burning Status. If I were to write out the code myself, it might look something like this (but may look wildly different due to lack of knowledge of Ruby language). If target.state = "Frozen" show.text = "Fire/Ice Synergy! Fire Melts the Frozen enemy!\linebreak The enemy is now soaked, but the spell does 1/4 damage!" remove.state = "Frozen" add.state = "Soaked" If spell.used = "Fire" battle.damage = "(player.mat*4-target.mdf*2)/4" else If spell.used = "Fira" battle.damage = "(player.mat*8-target.mdf*2)/4" else If spell.used = "Firaga" battle.damage = "(player.mat*16-target.mdf*2)/4" else if target.state = "Soaked" show.text = "Fire/Water Synergy! Fire dries off the soaked enemy!\linebreak The enemy has been dried, but the spell does 1/2 damage!" remove.state = "Soaked" If spell.used = "Fire" battle.damage = "(player.mat*4-target.mdf*2)/2" else If spell.used = "Fira" battle.damage = "(player.mat*8-target.mdf*2)/2" else If spell.used = "Firaga" battle.damage = "(player.mat*16-target.mdf*2)/2" else If spell.used = "Fire" battle.damage = "player.mat*4-target.mdf*2" else If spell.used = "Fira" battle.damage = "player.mat*8-target.mdf*2" else If spell.used = "Firaga" battle.damage = "player.mat*16-target.mdf*2"

That link was exceptionally helpful, thanks! Does exactly what I was asking for.

Ooh, that's pretty cool! I'll have to look into that, too!

I'm not referring to the famous song, but rather a common concept in video games and how to properly apply it in such a way that it grants a perfect balance between freedom and quality. When only a single love story is told, the story can focus on that and it becomes well-fleshed out and could be absoutely grand. Add in a second option and it doesn't often deter from the quality too much. Adding in a third and a fourth? It seems far more difficult to keep the love interest from being well-written without overexerting creativity to ensure that all four have the same quality as when there was only one love interest to worry about. I am a homosexual man and I am plenty proud of that. I do often feel disconnected and even discouraged when playing a game where any large amount of effort is put into a heterosexual romance in a video game. It's very difficult for me and I often try to find any possible "Gay Option" wherever I can find it, and as stupid as it sounds, any game where a "Gay Option" is available is usually a huge factor in whether or not I decide to purchase a game nowadays. The method in which BioWare has been implementing their same-sex romances as being almost precisely equivalent to that of the heterosexual romances is very commendable (though there are still some heterosexual romances, such as between the male Grey Warden and Morrigan that are more encouraged for a richer plot progression across the entire trilogy) and I want to try hard to aim for what they have going on, even if some of their options are... less than desirable (Zevran was the ONLY same-sex option I actually liked. Anders was fun to have around in Awakening, but was ruined by Justice/Vengeance, and I wanted really hard to love Fenris, but he kept brooding about the same garbage over and over and over again.). And then there are many un-romanceable characters that are actually much more preferred over their romanceable counterparts due to personal taste. Which is an issue in its own right. I guess what I'm asking is, how should I go about romances in a game? Should I have one or two options of either gender? Should I have more? How many is too many? When should the romance be initiated? Should it be right at the time of recruitment? Or should it instead be much later in the plot? How should a romance affect the plot in my game? Is it really okay to play favorites with my romanceable NPCs and pick my favorite to have more depth and plot integration than the others? As a gay man, am I even qualified to write a heterosexual or lesbian romance when I know nothing about nor have interest in writing neither? Any feedback would be appreciated, and feel free to contribute your own questions as well!

I think it also depends on how hard of a game you want to make. If you want it to be an easy game, put signposts and reminders everywhere. If you want the game to be moderate, throw in some help, but not a lot. If you want the game to be hard, nix the signposts, write the dialogue so the player has to figure out where they have to go next, and don't give them any help.

You should only have as many PCs as your story is able to support. If you have a very heavy plot centered on your small party of adventurers and the events around them, then too many PCs could spoil the plot. On the other hand, giving your PCs a base and making them into a living, breathing organization or military (much like Suikoden), then you can have as many PCs as you want, as long as most of them fill SOME kind of role in that organization.

Missable content is something that I think is sometimes necessary, and sometimes ridiculously limiting. When it's necessary is, for example, in Persona 4 Golden, if you don't build up social links with certain major characters by a certain date, you miss a lot of opportunity to get different endings because, after that date has come and gone, it's already too late, and you can't just build up social links from 0 to max over the course of a single day. Except for Elizabeth, no Social Link lets you do that. When it's ridiculously limiting, on the other hand, would be like in Final Fantasy IX, where you have to get to the final map of Memoria before the final boss in under 12 hours in order to earn the sword "Excalibur II". The reason it's silly is because with the sword comes a note from Enkidu to Gilgamesh saying that he left Excalibur II behind because it had a stupid name, and that he would return to give him the Excalipoor. By that logic, the Excalipoor should only be obtainable with those restrictions, and the Excalibur II should always be accessible after that. As long as it makes sense to the plot for it to be time sensitive, then make it so. If it's important and it fits the theme, even have a character reference the time sensitivity of the event. For example... your game has a special Halloween event that only ever happens once. And a special secret shop opens up ONLY on Halloween. You can have a random NPC or two say "It's Halloween. I wonder if that secret shop is open today..." and/or "Aww... I hate that the Halloween shop is only open on Halloween. It has a bunch of awesome stuff for sale you can't get anywhere else!" But if it's time-sensitive for the sake of being time-sensitive and for no other reason other than to be a secret easter egg in the game? Then that's kinda not cool.

I absolutely love writing and forming a think tank with other writers on storylines, so do please count me in!

Haha, I saw it up on Steam a year or two ago (when they started hosting non-game software) and made an impulse buy. Kind of a mistake to not wait for a sale (because it's Steam), but I got it.

Ah, damn! If I had known months ago, I totally would have done it! Thanks for letting me know, though! I'll have to keep an eye out for future events!

Hey guys! So I was inspired by the recent Persona discussions to post this little story idea. Feel free to take it, I don't really like making fangames. But I do want to get it out there because I want to see someone make it. Persona: Search for Philemon "A soul slumbers at the ends of the world--that of a young man who devoted himself to becoming a seal...That soul is risking itself to prevent mankind, who has lost the joy of living, from calling down the ultimate destruction... She told me she was going to save him from that fate." " I had planned to bring her back by force... but I won't interfere anymore. " Philemon, the master of the Velvet Room and all of its inhabitants, is forever locked in guarding humanity against the vile Nyarlathotep for eternity with no way of escape for himself, much to the sorrow of his servants. However, one of his servants has broken from her duties and is determined, without a doubt, to free her master and destroy the menace who threatens humanity's safety. Elizabeth, one who rules over power, has shirked her duties to the Velvet Room and is instead taking matters into her own hands to free her master. However, she knows she cannot do it alone and she must take on the role of those she has guided in the past, developing social links and creating new persona for which to help her. She cannot develop these Social Links, however, without others to link to. Because of their incredible willpower, she has gone back and forth through time and space to create a small force which can aid her in defeating Nyarlathotep and freeing her master. Cast of Characters: Elizabeth (The Fool)- A servant of Philemon and a former resident of the Velvet Room. Elizabeth is deemed as "one who rules over power" and is currently "shirking her duties". Through an impossible miracle, she now holds the power of The Wild Card. Margaret (The Empress)- A servant of Philemon, resident of the Velvet Room, and Elizabeth's elder sister. Margaret, too, is regarded as "one who rules over power" and, while at one time disapproving of her sister's activities, now understands her motivation and wishes to help her however she can. Theodore (The Tower)- A servant of Philemon, resident of the Velvet Room, and Elizabeth's younger brother. Theodore, much like his sisters, is also regarded as "one who rules over power". He was present when his older sister left the Velvet Room. Unlike Margaret, Theodore still fails to understand why her sister would leave and urges her to give up this foolish crusade. Igor (The Hermit)- A servant of Philemon, resident of the Velvet Room, and former master of Elizabeth in Philemon's absence. Igor is a very mysterious individual, but possesses the unique ability to manifest and fuse personae together into more powerful versions. The extent of his power is unknown as he never leaves the Velvet Room, but he has incredible wisdom and has permitted Elizabeth to leave the Velvet Room, though his motivations for allowing her to leave are unknown. Demon Painter (The Hanged Man)- A servant of Philemon and resident of the Velvet Room. Demon Painter was once human, but has been granted gifts by Philemon in exchange for his services in the past. He cares little for Elizabeth's journey, far preferring paint to power, but will help her all the same through the power of his art, using his abilities to alter personae in a variety of different ways. Nameless (Temperance)- A servant of Philemon, resident of the Velvet Room, and betrothed of Belladonna. A blind pianist, he lives to play the music of the soul. He cares little for Elizabeth's journey, preferring his piano to power, but will help her all the same through the power of his music, using his abilities to identify the location of strong souls in the ebbs and flows of time and space. Belladonna (The Star)- A servant of Philemon, resident of the Velvet Room, and betrothed of Nameless. A soprano opera singer, she cares little for Elizabeth's journey, preferring pitch to power, but will help her all the same through the power of her singing, using her abilities to foresee the path that Elizabeth must take in her travels. Naoya Todo (The Emperor)- A student of St. Hermelin High School, Naoya was one of the first to realize his power. While he does not possess the power of the Wild Card, his will is strong indeed. Tatsuya Suou (The Sun)- A graduate of Seven Sisters High School, Tatsuya, too, realized his ability to summon Personae. His willpower has overcome great obstacles in the past and he senses looming danger. Maya Amano (The Moon)- A writer for "Coolest" Magazine, Maya Amano was forced into summoning her Persona while encountering a madman. Her willpower is great and she is eternally optimistic. Her optimism and cool head grants her great amounts of strength in combat. Minato Arisato (Judgement)- A student at Gekkoukan High School, Minato is among the first humans to possess the power of the Wild Card. He is largely distant and prefers to be alone, but he is called by one person he cannot refuse. Yu Narukami (The World)- Formerly a student at Yasogami High School, Yu is among the first humans to possess the power of the Wild Card and the only human who has proven himself capable of defeating Margaret. Upon hearing Margaret speak of Elizabeth, then later meeting Elizabeth herself, Yu is sympathetic towards Elizabeth and will assist her as a request from Margaret. Philemon - The master of the Velvet Room and formerly humanity's guide to ensure that they stay on the path to become enlightened beings, he has sacrificed himself to guard humanity against the influences of Nyarlathotep for eternity. It is Elizabeth's goal to free her master and assist him in banishing Nyarlathotep from all existence. Nyarlathotep - Philemon's counterbalance whose purpose is to cause humanity to stray from the path from enlightenment and take the road leading to self-destruction. Nyarlathotep returned from his former banishment and committed a terrible atrocity, one which forced Philemon to take drastic measures personally to seal himself and Nyarlathotep forever.

I always liked the idea of a hero coming from the most unlikely of places and being the most unlikely of men. Most of the time, they're either already the heroes of legend or they're picked from a pool of random high school students or people of that age range. How about a fishmonger or a barkeep suddenly becoming the hero? They hear lots of things in their jobs. Rumors, plots, things that most people would be killed for hearing. But what's a bartender gonna do about it? Usually nothing. That ain't his job. His job is to pour the drinks. But what if the bartender starts putting all the hints together and finds out something terrible is gonna happen and eventually gets all the details long before any authorities would, and he decides to do something about it?