Search the Community

This week it's time for another random topic : Encounters, expecially of the random kind. Bosses and other scripted encounters are a whole different kettle. Warning : Following is a heavilly opinionated piece. The points put forward here are personal opinion born from personal experience as both an avid RPG player, both jRPG and aRPGs, and a tabletop Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master. First, why do I use random encounters in my jRPG, as opposed to on map random encounters or fully handcrafted non-respawning encounters? There are some basic reasons why I do it : 1. It's Fast and Easy 2. It's Flexible and Robust Reasons other people think why I shouldn't or did do it : 1. Not Realistic/Outdated 2. Lazyness 3. Frustrating/Frequent/Repetitive 4. Too Random/Dissalows skilllful play/ Interaction Now for a little elaboration on these points : 1. Fast/Easy. Let's admit it, it is fast, a set and done method. I make some enemies, an encounter list, paint some encounter zones if I'm feeling fancy, and I'm done. I can churn out a lot of content in a short mount of time, it is 90 % realy streamlined database work, if you have your enemy stats already layed out. Not having to bother with every encounter, just making sure I have about a target number of encounters per area on a mildly suboptimal run through, which most beginners will be doing on their first runaround, alllows me to be more productive as the one man team I am. 2. Robust/Flexible It makes playtesting way way easier, I can just switch them on and off to my liking. It also makes mapbuilding easier, not having to account for enemy terrain passability for roving encounters, or an enemy getting stuck and blocking something, wether it be an NPC, a switch or a doorway. I don't have to put up 20 respawn timers on every map. I often do entire redesigns of certain areas. Random encounters allow me to at least reuse my encounters, freeing up time for the other parts of the redesign. Now, to discuss some of the downsides : 1. Unrealistic and Outdated As a short asside, when people use "realism" in a video game, often they mean verisimilitude or appearing real within it's own work. We accept a lot of things in video games, aka. willing suspension of disbeleief, but then other things that are just as unrealistic seem to jar us out of it. As a designer, I think we should strive not to be realistic, but just not to break that willing suspension of disbelief, not introducing elements that we think "do not belong there" and thus do not seem real. This means many genre conventions, even though they are outdated, are tolerated within their genres, because they seem to belong there. Things such as ridiculous jumping distances in Mario, or the health regeneration in shooters, the speed boost from drifting in certain racing games. They are in a vacuum totally unrealistic, but because they are part of the genre, we accept them. As thus I do not see random, instanced, encounters as an absolute problem in top down 32-bit jRPG's, while they would totally seem out of left field in for example Call of Duty, or Skyrim. 2. Lazyness Where some might see lazyness, I see efficiency. If I had the time, I would personally and lovingly craft every single encounter the players have, but alas, I am a one man team attempting a game with over 100 dungeons. Productivity is key here. My personal experience as a D&D dungeon master has taught me much here. It is a way more efficient use of my time to spend 50 hours designing about 20 robust, interesting reuseable encounter templates that I can for example fill with Brute #A,B, spellcaster C, Healer D and environmental hazard E, slap some paint on the wall and call it finished in 5 minutes, than lovingly spend 2 hours crafting each encounter, only to have the players trash it in 2 turns, or completely miss or circumvent it. This moves more work to preproduction, but once set up, allows for a lot of things to be done rather fast. These encounter templates will be explained further later on in my rant/article. 3. Too Frustrating/Frequent/Repetitive This most often has to do with 3 things : Encounters are too frequent, or they are present in areas where they should not be, like complex puzzle areas, or they are formulaic and boring. I find that these are both adequately solvable without having to go to map or event based encounters. The important element is that of player control. He has to be able to , through choice, influence encounter rates, I find. In my game this is a rudimentary stealth system and certain weapons allowing for surprise attacks more often. 4. No Skill involved. This one I'm going to split up into 2 parts : Avoiding encounters/Pre-emptive strikes and preparation. The wandering of enemies on the map does give the illusion that the player he can skillfully avoid the encounter, or in some systems (like the Persona Series) hit the enemy before it hits them and get an advantage in combat. While in theory this works nicely, in practice this comes down to either it being too easy, and you always evading/suprising the enemy, or being too hard, in which case, why have bothered. I try and reach the same effect by correct equipment choice and actions in combat. A player that wants to be stealthy can try to be so, but I don't have to put every enemy on the map, Win-Win. The other comes down to preparation, thinking that if I can see the enemy/encounter (if they have unique map sprites per enemy type), I can prepare for it. Now there are RPG's that go heavily of off this model, like the Baldur's Gate series, where each resource is unique, each spell is single use, and encounters are often save reload retry heavy, but for a standard jRPG, with a flexible, often MP based resource system, I just see a frustrated player spending 5 minutes in his inventory, specifically preparing for every encounter he meets. For flexible resource systems (MP-Based) I think it is more fun if the player does not know when he is going to encounter what, in the short term, forcing him to improvise from turn to turn, while still allowing for mid-to-long term planning. What I want them to think :"This cave has bats and snakes, I 'll take my anti-bat weapons and anti-snake ones. Better have a nice mix of both. In the encounters : Hmm, snakes, I should keep him healing poison, while the guy with the anti-snake goes to town on them, and the rest takes down the snake handler" What I do not want : " The next encounters looks like snakes, everybody put your anti-snake gear on, next encounter is bats, better take off the anti snake, and put on the anti-bat, repeat for every encounter." One I feel leads to more dynamic play, the other leads to menu overload. That said, like I told you, there are series where this is appropriate, I just don't think it is in my game. Rant over Now after my too long rant defending why I'm using random encounters, Let me explain what I am doing with them. First of all, all of my enemies are based upon a blueprint of what a monster of their role should look like in combat, like brute, healer, artillery, ... So my orks are lvl 9 brutes, my flame imp is a lvl 17 artillery, ... (More on the specifics of this in a following article). Short summary : Skirmisher : Base Brute : Low Def, High damage Soldier : High Def, Medium Damage Elite : Counts as 2 enemies Solo : Counts as 4 enemies Artillery : Multi-target damage Buffer/debuffer: Raise/Lower stats Controlers : Take control away from player (stun, sleep, silence, ...) Summoner : Does nothing for multiple turns then casts high damage spell or summons other enemy. Sniper: Heavy Single target Damage, with set-up or wind-up turn(s) Next, I spend time designing Encounter templates. An encounter template is like an ingredient list, listing all the things that are in the encounter, centered around a central challenge beyond just kill all the enemies, requiring the player to think how to best do this. Once you have these, you can pick n mix with enemies you have, and voila, you have an enormous amount of quickly generated content. This will be clearer with some examples, so here, have some examples: 1. The broodmother. Enemies: Elite Soldier, and minions. Challenge: Kill the broodmother, while also killing all the minions she spawns turn by turn. Abilities required : Multi-target skill, high damage single target 2. Beauty and the beast Enemies: Solo/ELite Brute or summoner and 1/2 healers/Buffers Challenge: Keeping one half occupied while you deal with the other half. Required Ability: Debuff, Stuns or Spike damage 3. X marks the spot Enemies : 1-2 Debuffer and 3 Snipers. Enemy AI: Focus Fire Challenge: Keep the debuff off the targeteted character long enough to kill either the debuffer or the snipers first. Required Ability : Debuff remover/ Bufffer 4. Artillery Misery Enemies : 3-4 Artillery, each with a different Element. Challenge: Stay alive long enough to kill the enemies Required Ability : Intense healing, elemental resistances 5. Spikey Portal Enemies: 3 Skirmishers, 1 Summoner Challenge: Kill the summoner before he summons something nasty that might be a total party wipe, while also not ignoring the other enemies chipping at your health. Required ability : Spikey Single target Damage, Medium multi-target damage. 6. Sands of time Enemies : 2 controlers ,a healer and a damaging environmental effect. Challenge : Kill the enemies before they can just stun all of you and let the environment finish you off. Required abilities : Spikey Damage, stunbreaking, environmental damage negation. 7. Palace of mirrors Enemies : 4-6 Brutes, with wildly different immmunities and weaknesses, absorbances and reflects Challenge : Kill them all with AoE spells, using the correct spells in the correct sequence. Required abilities : Multiple AoE Spells of multiple elements 8. Down with the King Enemy : Solo enemy that begins combat with a series of buffs. Challenge: Stack your debuffs correctly, so you both survive and damage him enough before he reapplies these buffs. Required Abilities : Spikey Damage, debuffer, Healer. 9. The bubble pop Enemies : 2 Skirmishers and 2 Debuffers Challenge : Reapply a buff that is needed for survival (for example: water breathing), while still killing the enemies. Required abilities : Reapplying the survival skill in combat. 10. The breather Enemy : 2 Skirmishers Challenge : None, just a breather Each and every one of these can be filled in with level apropriate enemies and quickly populate a dungeon , without giving the feeling that the encounters are identical. Now as a bonus point, you are allowing the player to build a repertoire to handle similar encounters once he sees patterns. I try not to use more then seven different enemies in one dungeon , but even then , that still gives a whole lot of gameplay.

Greetings dear utopic people . I was wondering something , what do you think about time-limited games ? Just like the title says indeed . Like , you have a story line , and during brief moments you have a certain amount of time to find specific objects and once the time is up , you are led to different endings depending on the items you had enough time to find . ( Like a bad ending , a true ending and a good ending .) Let's say you have to find a rose , a fruit and a cat . If you had enough time to find a rose and a cat , you have a good ending . If you had enough time to find a rose and a fruit , you have ending number one . If you had enough time to find only the cat , you have a bad ending . And etc ... So . What are your thoughts ?

Hey guys, I've been troubled by this a while now, and I've had enough of it. I feel like some cutscenes feel a little monotone and boring when the same music plays all the time. However, I have a hard time in fixing this. The change seems unnatural, or out of place. How do you change music in / between cutscenes? Do you fade out the old music and fade the new music in during a black screen? Do you directly fade out the old music and fade in the new track while the scene is playing or do you keep a brief moment of silence in between? Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions, I hope this will help me make better games!

Greetings everyone ! The matter of this topic is that , I've been recently giving myself to parallax mapping . As it may be a little hard to render , I do consent that gives out a lot more smoothly . So here are my two questions : First : Would you still play a game and think it is good-looking even though it isn't parallax mapping ( imagining that the creator of the video game still spent a lot of time making those maps so they would look attractive anyway.) Second : Here is my two very first mapping , therefore I wish for your opinions and advices . Please , keep in mind that these are first attempts . (Normally , there are also little fairy-like particles that are smoothly flickering to give some depth but I could not include them .) [The first map (entitled "Chrysalum Cove") is meant to be a gloomy and remote cove/cave that yet inspires enchantement and captivation. I do not have much story about it yet but it is supposed to keep hidden a ressourceful slash ancient tree . The second one [no name yet] is meant to be a nature , ancient-looking forest slash ruin's entrance . ] EDIT : I just noticed that there is a blue-shaded square near the lower part of the first map , please do not mind it . I do not even know why it is even here since it isn't on the original file . I am looking forward for your replies ! Thank you .

Hey guys, I recently made a pixel art, a monster named Jawstal, and I would like to see your opinion about it! I know Jawstal is very strange, but I had to think a lot to imagine how would I make it xD His eye is supposed to be in the middle of his head, over his mouth. Let me know your opinion and what should I improve. If you want to use it, you don't even have to credit me.

I just love good antagonists, like Xemnas, Darkrai, my character Xerain, and so on. But, something irks me when people make/write/have a needed piece to a puzzle as too bland, or bleak in his/her/its goals. I mean, I can't bash them if the overall game play is good, but when the whole game is focused directly on it, then I can't really follow. For example, in my games, Xerian is out to kill the gods of Scalvose to reign as the strongest being. However, Will, Wane, Lek, and others always stop him, even though there's always somebody else ripping holes in peace. In PMD, things like Darkrai and the Bittercold are both out to end the world. (Ironically both in darkness) Darkrai goes so far as to almost kill you, cause you to be taken away from the world, send you away with Dusknoir into the future, and then even then, he causes Dialgia to rampage. Xemnas, in Kingdom Hearts 2, plays with the hero, Sora, and as the game progresses, you get that taste for wanting to kill Xemnas, Siax, and the rest of Organization XIII. Problem is... You can't find where they are and they're stealing the hearts of innocent lives. Examples of poor antagonists? Well, In some games, like Colourblind (Although I love the game), there's little interaction with the antagonist, besides chasing him down in levels to rescue your friend. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity also screwed up be having the story short and game play more to the player just wandering. Sure, they made a slight bounce back when the Voice of the Earth, Hydreigon, was frozen, killed, and shattered into dust by Kyrum, with you nearly following the same fate. However, you only interact with the main antagonist, Kyrum, for three to four times, and then boom! Bittercold, who's just a giant light eating snowflake of ice. You get one fight, win, and done! Game beat. What are your opinions of good and bad antagonists, and what do you expect?

My project is currently at a stand still, but my brain continues to work on parts of the game that I haven't gotten to yet. As such, I thought it a good idea to seek opinions from other users of the program, as well as those who may end up playing the finished product, while I'm waiting for my brain to work on the part of the game that I'm currently trying to work on. First off, the name of the game is 'Chronicles of Camyre'. I'm thinking of adding the subtitle 'Palace of Distortion', but that depends on how important the final role of said 'palace' actually is. So for right now, just 'Chronicles of Camyre'. Next up, the main characters of the game. So far they are Arik, Una, Asido, Nodoo, Breena, Camyre, and Kira. Note that not all of these characters are protagonists. In fact, Nodoo and Kira are very close to the main antagonist spot. The true antagonist however, is a shapeshifter that doesn't really have a name. It's questionable whether it's a main character or not, but I'll include it. i'll go into each of the characters more in depth below. Arik was born in a world parallel to the one where the game actually takes place. During the opening scene of the game, he is seen in his world talking to someone who looks exactly like him. During the conversation, another person appears out of nowhere, and after a brief monologue opens a portal and thrusts Arik's twin through it. The twin grabs for something to prevent being taken through the portal, but what he grabs turns out to be Arik's arm, and so they end up making the unexpected journey together. Arik wakes up in a strange house, made even stranger by the fact that he doesn't remember what happened. When he is greeted by a strange young girl and a grumpy old man, he realizes that things are not how they should be. The old man wastes no time in booting Arik out of the house. Una is the granddaughter of the mayor of a town called Esidil. Their house is where Arik wakes up after his journey through the portal, and in fact Una is who took Arik in, without her grandfather's permission I might add. Shortly after Arik is kicked out, Una joins him on his travels to look after him, as up until then, and for some time after he proves to be quite brash. Asido is a young and surprisingly skilled shaman from the village of the High Elves. He is the only High Elf to be on good terms with the Dwarves, and in fact he serves as healer for both tribes. The job is quite taxing, though after Arik and Una come to be on good terms with the Dwarves, Asido takes some time to pass on to a handful each of High Elves and Dwarves his skills as a healer before parting with his brethren to combat the forces that drove the Dwarves and the High Elves apart in the first place. Asido is the primary healer in the game, and has a higher pharmacology rate than other characters as well due to his background. Nodoo is a character who is shrouded in mystery. in fact for most of the game, the people of the world don't realize they he is the one doing the things that are making everyone suffer. Nodoo was involved from the very beginning, even so much as to say that he is the one who plunged Arik and his twin into the world that the game takes place in. All this and yet he isn't aware of any of it. Well in a way he is, since as he is his will is that of a shifter who stole his body. He, the person who he originally was, felt his freedom restricted in a way few usually consider or even care about. He wanted to experience the lives of other races in a way that only someone of that race could. When he was promised that chance, he couldn't imagine the cost of accepting. Now his will, the shifter's will, is that of a purely malevolent being with no qualms of doing anything he wishes. Breena is a Dracomorph, a rare being that is the result of a love between a dragon and a human. Though they are rare, that wasn't always the case, in fact there was once a prosperous city entirely inhabited by the hybrids. Now, as far as Breena is concerned, she is the only one left. When she was young, she was attacked and nearly killed by an adult male dragon who had a thing for despising hybrids like her. However, in her dire situation, something happened, something that isn't supposed to happen until a spell placed on them at birth as released by another who sees fit to do so. Breena's desperate desire to survive breaks the spell 50 years before a Dracomorph is typically deemed ready, and in fact she is not ready. With the spell broken, Breena's dragon blood begins to course through her body, mingling with her human blood. However, lacking the ability to control her dragon blood, the spell is like a dam in the ferocity of the repercussions of it breaking. The flood of power instantly causes a transformation in Breena, one that makes her look like her father, though her mentality is more like a wyrm than a dragon. In a thrashing rage, the transformed Breena brings down her attacker in a swift, terrifying assault. However, she keeps going until she tires, after which she reverts and falls asleep. That happens 20 years before the events of the game. About a third of the way through the game, Breena joins the party to try to find meaning in her otherwise empty life. She grows fond of Arik's trademark brashness, but not long after, she forces herself to make the toughest decision of her life up to that point. To once again go solo. This decision comes as a result of what happens when Breena loses control of her dragon blood again. Arik tries to stop her rampage, and gets too close at the worst possible time. The sight of the young human's blood is the trigger of her reversion, and after helping to see to his wounds, Breena makes the decision to leave after everyone is asleep that night, following some reassuring, but empty-sounding words from Una. 'Nobody blames you for what happened.' After she leaves, she is not seen again until the post-ending story. She is found in a desperate struggle for control of her dragon blood. She loses the fight, and her dragon blood flows stronger than ever. After a fierce struggle with Breena's transformed state, her physical weakness allow her to revert, though without saying anything she continues on her way. Just before she is out of earshot, she turns back and shouts a promise to conquer her problem and come back after. Camyre is an utterly mysterious individual. All anyone knows about him is that he is the author of every historical text currently in existence. As such, many have stuck to calling him the 'God of Knowledge', and his many works the 'Chronicles of Camyre'. The truth? As he rarely shows himself, no one knows that he is a Dracomorph. However, where those like Breena mentioned above have no control over their dragon blood are referred to Dragonlings, Camyre, who has his dragon blood in complete control, refers to himself and others like him as Dragon Knights. He is only met in the post ending story, first by Breena at the end of her journey to find someone who can help her rein in her out of control blood, and later by the rest of the party after sending Breena back to them with a written invitation to meet him. Kira is Arik's twin that appears in the opening scene where he drags Arik into the game world with him. They are separated, and Kira goes on to work for Nodoo, unaware that Nodoo is the one who sent him to the game world in the first place. He becomes deeply mixed up in the 'bad guy' side of things, but after he finds out the truth, he tries to go help the player party before Nodoo stops him. As Nodoo is about to be vanquished, he starts acting very differently, though the player characters don't notice it. For the post ending story, Kira is taken over by Nodoo's former host, it having switched bodies just in time to avoid being slain. Kira's own personality is more mischievous than truly evil. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, so he really starts to get on Nodoo's bad side when he starts refusing to follow orders that involve killing. The Shapeshifter is just what it sounds like, though at the same time it's considerably more too. As is said by its only name, it is able to assume different forms. However, how it expands this ability is different from what people usually think. It feeds by assimilating whole beings into itself, which has the additional effect of absorbing the food's memories and gaining the ability to assume their form. The Shapeshifter is without a doubt, a monster of the worst kind. It appears to be instinct-driven in nature, but if that's the case, then its instinct is to destroy, and nothing good can come of that. When the Shapeshifter finds Nodoo, he is assimilated in the process of the Shapeshifter 'granting his wish'. However, when he is about to be slain while taking the form of Nodoo, he ejects the assimilated Nodoo under cover of the attack, leaving the real, innocent Nodoo to take the lethal punishment while the Shapeshifter assimilates Kira instead. Then, when the Shapeshifter is about to be killed again, this time in Kira's form, he once again ejects the subject of his current form, and then takes hold of Arik, trying to assimilate him instead. This drastic turn sets up the game's final boss, which starts as a one-on-one between the Shapeshifter and Arik, until Camyre infiltrates Arik's mind and lets Una, Asido, and Breena in to help. I haven't gotten very far in actually making the game, but I've done a lot of thinking regarding things I haven't gotten to the point of making yet. Also, I originally had other things I wanted to mention, but I spent more time on the characters than I thought I would so I'll leave it at that for now.

How do you feel about game creators making the same type of game over and over? Why?

Hello guys I'm working on a game using somewhat of a bust/bubble system. It looks like that: Thing is (and it may be just me) to my eye it's kinda... empty; Like something is missing. ..so i came up adding a small semi-transparent frame with the character's name on it to fill the emptiness. Looks like this: ..and because this is a dark map, i've added the same pic with a different background so you can see the difference better. without the frame... ..and with it. or even darken the background while the bust pops up? Aaahh, so many ways to do things. I need to choose one to move forward with the game. But which one? What do YOU think?

Hi there! I started to experiment with Parallax Mapping and i do this for the first time, so i really would appreciate your thoughts/opinions/feedback about it. Thank you for reading! Original designed in Ace: Version A: Version B:

Hi i 'm thinking a lot about it lately, if i should use message busts in my game or something else. I'm trying different techniques the last couple of days but i cannot decide quite yet. I do like the graphic busts but i do not love the message window that much. So maybe something else? I currently came up with this: Opinions? What do you think? Thanks for reading!

When you are making a game, and one of the towns has a Tavern/Bar/Pub type of building, what - if anything - do you sell there? My first thoughts were to sell some drinks that gain back health or mana, but that seems redundant with the existence of the potions in the game. So now my thoughts are to simply sell something like "Whiskey" that gives a temporary boost to agility (sort of playing on the whole "Liquid Courage" type of idea), or some form of smaller stat bonuses or something. So what do you guys sell in this type of a building, where it isn't necessarily a shop, but it still sells things? This question could be expanded into the Inn, and things of that sort as well. If you sell something in a building outside of the stereotypical shops (armor, weapons, potion-like goods, and so on), what do you sell?

Information I'm asking for the community's thoughts and opinions on my main character's skill set and spells (and so on). I will also show his general stat growth so you can get an idea of what kind of character he his. It should be noted that Attack slightly effects Hit Rate, Defense slightly effects Evasion Rate, and Agility greatly impacts both Hit Rate & Evasion Rate. Also, Luck effects both Critical Rate and Critical Evasion. Formulas: Vernik Class: Honor-less Knight (A tank class, that relies on physical attacks more than spells. Very slow.) You cap out at level 50 until you beat the first arc of the game. When you begin the second arc, all characters that were level 50 will automatically become 1 of their 2 new classes. You can switch classes anytime you go to a save point, world map or anywhere in towns. For now, all skills are learned at set levels. Each class learns different skills however, and levels up separately. Class: Barricade Baron (The best tank class in the game. Continues to rely on physical attacks over magic) Class: Syphon Lord (A versatile class. Still can take a beating, and can rely equally on spells and skills) Skills & Spells It should be noted as the spells become stronger, they become slower to cast as well. I'm leaving this out, because Vernik is the only frame of reference, which won't say much. Also, everyone of Vernik's spells does Corrupt damage. Lastly, not every skill will be put down because because I'd like to keep somethings a secret. The second class skills are extremely good, but also do not replace class one skills for various reasons. Learned as Honor-less Knight ---------------------------------------------------------------

I was revising the database for my project to become smaller, and have been removing, editing, and replacing stuff here and there. I've come across a little thing where I have replaced a Limit Break from a Character with a more suitable one. To cut to the chase, I've conceptualized a Transformation Limit Break. However, this Transformation allows Player Input (Concept is a spinning wheel, like a "Wheel of Fortune", that can be stopped by the player - but it slows down instead of coming to a screeching halt). The wheel is aimed to have 16 Slots in total, it runs like this: Transformation Chance Transform into Actor 1 4 / 16 Transform into Actor 2 4 / 16 Transform into Actor 4 4 / 16 <Free Slot A> 1 / 16 <Free Slot B> 1 / 16 <Free Slot C> 1 / 16 <Free Slot D> 1 / 16 Now here's the reason why I created this topic. there are 4 Free Slots, each one is unique. I wanted to know what type of RPG Characters you would like to see as Easter Eggs. The Character (Battler) will remain consistent with the Game's art styles So here's the outline The Character has to be an actual Character. So no OCs, sorry Preferably a Protagonist Character Characters that fit into fantasy You can think outside the box, the video-game box, you can submit stuff from TV, too Try to submit iconic Characters that many people know Gender doesn't matter But Sexuality does, keep it family-friendly, yo The Characters will be Easter Eggs, or a kind of Spoof, so their design will be acknowledge, but not their lore. In other words, I won't be giving information of the character itself in the game, but a reaction from an Actor in-game may come about. Also, Pro-Tip, these characters can be aware of media such as Movies, Games, and Television, but they will obviously be spoofs - since it's a fictional world, and copyright. The Stats and Skills of the Character don't matter, I'll handle that personally. I have a list to start off of so far, but only 4 of them will be allowed into the game. This list is not sorted for any type of order. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy 7) Finn the Human (Adventure Time) Black Mage / Vivi (Final Fantasy series) Guts (Berserk) Auron (Final Fantasy 10) Dudley (Street Fighter III: Third Strike) Korra (Avatar: Legend of Korra) Marceline the Vampire Queen (Adventure Time) Jack (Samurai Jack) Rogue (X-Men) Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess) Eowyn (Lord of the Rings) Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) Prinny (Disgaea) Link (Legend of Zelda) Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games) For future stuff, I'll add a Poll when enough people come by. It won't mean that "Top 4 Get Confirmed", but it will have an impact on who I choose.

For those who might have seen my previous map work, I have decided to put that project on hold and began on a new one. So far, it is going quite well in my opinion. I feel my mapping design has gotten better, but I would really like to have your opinion on it. Here are a few explanation on some of the maps. On capture 2, if you are wondering why the continent doesn't have other varieties such as snows or deserts, it is for story purpose. On capture 3 and capture 4, it is basically the same town but it has grown bigger during the years. What do you think?

So, I'm in the middle of designing my game, and as I complete the charecter information, I start taking down several spells/skills they can use, as well as equipment & enemy design. First of all, I'm sure every one is pretty much tired with the cliche spells (Fire I, II, etc.) So I decided it might be nice to branch out for a bit, but would like some feedback on some ideas, as well as see what people actually would enjoy in a spell or skill, that might turn the battle around when your losing or winning or make it seem unique and diffrent. At what point is the disign too simpistic or too crazy. (Like the spell Death, or something simillar that Final Fantasy games usually have. I never go the idea of that.) For e.g. here are four of the spells my main heroine can use.(Edit - I added two more spells that she can cast to show how several of her spells can help in the long run. As you can see, she is mostly an Ice/Water/Necromantic(Dark) Mage) Icy Darkness: Elemental/Necromantic Summon shards of ice filled with dark energy that explode on contact. May cause Fear or Curse. (2-3 Turns) Vampiric Drain Necromantic Drain life from the target, healing the caster half the absorbed health.(Despite this skill, she is not a vampire) Curse Necromantic Sacrifice your own life force to lay a curse on the target, causing them to lose half their current lifeforce (3 Turns) Time Dialation Alteration/Time Slow down time for the enemy party to deliver unsuspecting strikes. Decreases SPD & EVA 60% for enemy party (Speed and Evasion) (3 Turns) So in general, do people actually pay attention usually to the way spells are designed, or do they want spells that make a difference, but are not too generic. I would think that people (like myself) would lean towards the latter, but I guess that's up to personal opinion. As for the equipment, I was thinking of having only one locked weapon for the main charecters, but one that provides bonuses that increase with charecter levels. This way OP weapons cannot be created that totally defiy the level the actuall charecter is meant to be. Would you perfer being able to switch out weapons for your charecters, or just have a single weapon with effective buffs increasing based on the charecter level. Finally would you perfer enemies to always stay the same, or instead have them relativly scaled to you level (As in still easy to defeat if the enemy was versed a whille ago, say 5/6 levels, but still pose a decent battle/fight). They, like the wapons start off with a base stats, but increase with the charecter level. While this will ensure enemeis are not like cannon fodder at one point, some people might find it annoying if their trying to "grind" (One thing I dislike in games). So would you perfer scaled or normal enemies?

So these are the maps that I have been working on for like...three days? They aren't finished yet. I hope that they are not to ugly for someone, but if they are don't hesitate to tell me about it. I want to know how I can improve these maps. And I apologize in advance that I have only attached the files, I don't know how to show them better like others do. A bit of history on the idea that I have for the game: The world is as big as its mystery. The adventure will begin at the long continent nicknamed "World". As our heroes explores the continent, they will encounter a long wall that is maintained by the Kingdom yet it was built long before the kingdom's founding. To northern part of the continent, the heroes will discover dry land with a people as harsh as the land they live in. The land's condition was due to an accident that happened long ago, maybe the nearby dry ruins of a city can tell the tale? To the west, there is an island, far more cruel and dangerous as the dry land. The sea holds many mysteries as well. Small islands that harbor lonely castaways or dangerous pirates. With the many dangers, comes as many secrets and treasure for the brave heroes to find. As the heroes explore, they will discover an icy cold continent that reach far and wide. The bitter cold and the dangerous and new creatures who lives there speaks of the nature's rule that only the strongest survives. As the heroes brave far to the west in the cold continent, they find their exploration blocked by a long wall, who guards a nation who desire a foe to test their steel.

Hey guys~! I'm here, looking for an opinion on my work, because, while drawing one day, and after already browsing the other faceset shops, I got inspired myself to do facesets, so I want to know if my artwork is worthy of being a shop. I wouldn't be doing a commission shop, it'd be free, but I'd be taking donations. It'd mean, nobody is obligated to give me money for my work, it just means if you feel like my work deserves more than a rave review and a liking, then there's a way to do so. There would also be no specific amount you'd donate, it'd be all up to you. So tell me, this was my own project work, for a side game I'm working on, but give me your honest opinion, I don't mind brutally honest comments, it's just a stronger opinion, and I'm always willing to work through any problems people have with any aspect. Anyways, enough of my rambling, it's in the spoiler. Check it out, and tell me what you think~! Edit: This is now the before. This is the after of a first round of editing.