Liphidain: Dissonance of Darkness (New Artwork!)

[Ocedic 249]

I love that you shared your thought process behind development. I wish more people would do that!

 

I'm interested to see what you will do with chapter 1. Your crafting system sounds interesting, and I can't wait to see all of your sprite animations, especially with the dancing scene (and honestly, the movement-only dancing scene was still pretty good).

[Tharis 212]

Well I'm at it again. Things have slowed down in the personal life (and in some cases sped up) enough to warrant a return to this title's development. I've been absent since January and was only sluggishly moving along from October to that point prior still. However, with the news that my new Full bust artwork will be finished and ready for presentation by the end of this week I will have everything I need to finish and release the first chapter as a Demo, currently the demo available is not going in the same direction (generally it is but a lot of things have changed) as the current development and I'm excited for people to see the newest iteration as it has been reimaged. Yes I know, this game has been reimaged more than probably any in history, but I want to do it right or not at all . Again, this title is largely just a project I want to make for personal use, but I am sharing it because I hope that others may enjoy, if they don't, it's no skin off my nose .

 

So if you are interested then keep an eye out and I'll have some new stuff soon to post, hopefully in the next 3 days or so.

[seriouscat 347]

I've watched this project for quite a bit (as you know haha!) and I am so impressed with your hardwork and dedication! Can't wait to see your finished bust artwork! Keeping my eyes peeled for the new info you post soon! ãƒ½(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

[Noyemi 45]

So far I was pleasantly surprised by the game. I went in expecting it to be fairly generic but the presentation's nice and the intro is enough to tell me what's going on up to the point you begin play. I haven't gotten much further but I will play more.

 

One little issue I have is with the text though—the font is hard for me to read, since commas and periods look alike, cases are stylistically mixed, and Ss look like 8s. If you could tweak that a bit I'd be quite happy with the overall package. Still better than default though.

[Tharis 212]

Thanks for the encouraging words Ciruscat  one day soon I'll have the artwork to update this project with and then the new demo will be released.

 

I'm glad you have initially enjoyed yourself Noyemi, the demo is a little old and the text issue was one that a LOT of people said needed to be fixed haha so you are definitely right on with that! The story up to what you have seen thus far will not have many changes so if you were to wait until the new demo was released the only thing that would really change is some presentation elements such as moving sprites and a SLIGHT bit more set up for some plot lines further down the road.

[Noyemi 45]

It's all good if I can keep my save.

[Tharis 212]

Depending on where you got to, you should be able to. However you may not want to after I get the new graphics, they are going to be pretty sweet. Hopefully a breath of fresh air

[Tharis 212]

The new artwork is up an ready to be seen!

[Tharis 212]

Just got done rearranging some of the beginning of the first chapter so that the player isn't going from one cut scene to the next without any real control over the character except where to walk. I felt like the intro was starting to drag because the player was left with no way to just go out and bash on things for a little bit. But with this change, it's much better. the player can go and grind (none of the quests will be available until after the player furthers the story) maybe not the best option but they can now at least experience and learn the way the game works a little bit, as well as find some materials for crafting!

[Tharis 212]

The latest additions to the portraits are in! Talinious, Astris, and Tayron!

[Tharis 212]

Been pretty excited to have fleshed out a bit more of a subtle political undertone to the game's story. I kept looking at the story and wondered why it felt thin, It was like I was not seeing the forest for the trees. With the new back drop that this creates it makes the main character's tale a bit more complex, and more meaningful. Very glad to have had this epiphany. Also I got more artwork, but I don't want to show it off because then there wouldn't be any surprises and I don't want to ruin that =P

[DaXigua 2]

Hey I'm new to these forums, but just want to say I really enjoyed playing through this demo. I think this game has a lot of promise and some of the mapping was quite pretty.

 

For some comments:

 

 

 

- The font is cool but really hard to read, I would just change it back to a more readable font, even if it might seem boring. The font really made it hard to get through some of the text heavy scenes.

- I might adjust some of the character battlers to match the sprites better. Things like hair color are a little off and it's noticeable.
- The game starts off a bit slow, I might recommend you allowing the player to participate in some of the first battles (the ones between the paladins and demons in the first scene) just to mix up the pace and keep the player engaged. This might be useful for other long cut scenes as well.

- Be careful with your mapping, there are many cases where I was able to step into areas I shouldn't be because a chip allowed me to pass (for example the tree shadows in Ardailias and some places in the towns as well).

- Also just want to point out that if you interact with the rock that blocks the Ardailias camp site from the wrong side, it freezes the game.

- I know its a work in progress, but the town in Chapter 1 is completely bonkers when it comes to the transfer point and eventing (I was often transported in completely different areas after exiting a house). It made it hard to complete the town section.

 

 

 

I don't mean to be too critical because I really enjoyed the demo and I am excited about how this game progresses. Best of luck to you and your development!

[Tharis 212]

In my opinion there is no feedback that is Too critical. Feedback is a gift as my boss often tells me ha ha! Thank you for giving this a shot, I have to admit I'm a little ashamed of the current demo. However it's never going to be perfect in my own eyes, and I do appreciate that you enjoyed what is currently there. Hopefully as the progress is made throughout the development it will become more enjoyable.

 

to give validation to your points of feedback...

 

- The font was something that everyone had a problem with ha ha! I can't blame you for feeling like it was difficult to read. Yes I felt like it had the effect that I was wanting to go for in terms of style but, it's not pragmatic enough to use.

- The person who made the battlers in the current demo will not be finishing that job, so I have changed to a modified version of Holder's battlers. These, like your suggestion states, will more accurately match the sprites that represent the characters in battle to their "on map" counterparts.

-True that the opening is a bit arduous. I may explore allowing the player to participate in some of those battles, though I feel like it would just be more of a distraction than an effective addition. I do like this idea however.

- The mapping, in a lot of cases, has been altered to unrecognizable levels. Most of these alterations are purely cosmetic, but in some cases (as mentioned above), there are more rudimentary applications to these changes.

- In regards to the rocks in the Ardalias Mountains I was unaware of this bug, I'll make sure it's fixed (or changed) by the next iteration of the game's demo.

- Where in Bayle were you sent to a place that did not allow you to continue on? I'm not sure which sections would cause you to get stuck so any information regarding this would be extremely helpful.

 

Thanks again for your feedback!

Edited September 18, 2014 by Tharis

[DaXigua 2]

In my opinion there is no feedback that is Too critical. Feedback is a gift as my boss often tells me ha ha! Thank you for giving this a shot, I have to admit I'm a little ashamed of the current demo. However it's never going to be perfect in my own eyes, and I do appreciate that you enjoyed what is currently there. Hopefully as the progress is made throughout the development it will become more enjoyable.

 

to give validation to your points of feedback...

 

- The font was something that everyone had a problem with ha ha! I can't blame you for feeling like it was difficult to read. Yes I felt like it had the effect that I was wanting to go for in terms of style but, it's not pragmatic enough to use.

- The person who made the battlers in the current demo will not be finishing that job, so I have changed to a modified version of Holder's battlers. These, like your suggestion states, will more accurately match the sprites that represent the characters in battle to their "on map" counterparts.

-True that the opening is a bit arduous. I may explore allowing the player to participate in some of those battles, though I feel like it would just be more of a distraction than an effective addition. I do like this idea however.

- The mapping, in a lot of cases, has been altered to unrecognizable levels. Most of these alterations are purely cosmetic, but in some cases (as mentioned above), there are more rudimentary applications to these changes.

- In regards to the rocks in the Ardalias Mountains I was unaware of this bug, I'll make sure it's fixed (or changed) by the next iteration of the game's demo.

- Where in Bayle were you sent to a place that did not allow you to continue on? I'm not sure which sections would cause you to get stuck so any information regarding this would be extremely helpful.

 

Thanks again for your feedback!

 

It was hard to keep track, but for example when I was kicked out of the rich person's house I was transported to another region of the town that was different than the house I entered. 

[Tharis 212]

Getting kicked out of the church will cause the same problem. It's something that I have fixed for the upcoming demo release =) Thank you for the info =)

[Tharis 212]

Ok, I've been working on setting up the main and side quest timelines for Chapter one. I have actually made a LOT of progress despite just having started back up again. I'm not sure how long it will take me to have the demo ready but if i can keep going at this pace (knock on wood) it should be a few weeks before I start asking for testers.