17 replies to this topic

[Toatapio Nuva]

Time to bring a little more life to this forum (good job, Katuko, for maintaining your Bionicle Fighter topic here. I'm impressed.)

 

EDIT: VERSION 2.5 IS UP!



Some of you may remember this game from a couple of years back. It's a project I started a long time ago and have since then been expanding, adding new stuff and correcting errors and glitches. Now I'm here to present version two of the game. It still has the same story, but a lenghtened version of it. Also, new features have been added.

This is, however, an incomplete version. I've been playing it through and there are still bugs to be fixed. I wanted to let you Bzpers play this version also, though, so the game could get some more ideas for improvement.

EDIT: Version 2.5 of the game, which I have named Proto release, has been released. The new version has some graphics changed for the better (like the awful Toa Ilma battle graphics), new music, new story bits, improved monsters and side-quests, a completely new Kanohi mask system and more.

 

Download version 2.5 (Proto release)

 

Download version 2 (old)

The Story
Bio-Land (called Southern Continent by non-natives) is a beautiful island with many Matoran living on it. However, an upcoming crisis calls for six Matoran to be transformed into Toa. No one is sure how it happens, but these Matoran are suddenly transformed against their will... but they remain separate, each transforming in his or her home region. The Toa of Fire, Biokau, is given a mission to find his teammates and assemble the Toa team to battle the darkness that is on its way. Time is against the heroes, though, and many secrets lurk on the island. The Toa will soon find out that there is no one left they can truly trust.

Screenshots
Please note that all screenshots are from older versions and are in some cases completely outdated.

 

Spoiler

Biokau about to use his elemental powers


On a path


Meeting Maa


The Toa fighting hypnotized Matoran

Please, feel free to play the game, enjoy, and tell me what you think of it. Don't hesitate to give me any kind of criticism and ideas for improvement.

 

An even newer version (possibly version 3?) is possible in the future, depending on how much things come across that could be improved and developed.

Edited by Toatapio Nuva, Jan 25 2013 - 05:28 AM.

[Katuko]

I haven't had time to play very much yet, but it seems like a nice game so far. Combat and general gameplay reminds me of classic RPGs, and I like that. I look forward to gaining new characters and abilities and see the story unfold.

On the bad side, I see that a lot of your graphics suffer from compression, at least in the color department. Some colors get muddled or look off. You might want to look into that, unless it's a file size limit of the game engine which I am not aware of.

Also, I managed to get rather lost in the area where a Matoran asks you to deal with a lightning bug in a cave. I went straight upwards from his hut, wandering on a featureless plain until I reached a small river and a bush. Thinking I was getting somewhere because I could seemingly loot the bush, I kept going until I reached the map edge. Then I went to the left until I reached another river, and followed it downwards. After that I have found a ledge and a river and some rocks, but I seem to have lost the path completely. Whoops.

[Toatapio Nuva]

I haven't had time to play very much yet, but it seems like a nice game so far. Combat and general gameplay reminds me of classic RPGs, and I like that. I look forward to gaining new characters and abilities and see the story unfold.

On the bad side, I see that a lot of your graphics suffer from compression, at least in the color department. Some colors get muddled or look off. You might want to look into that, unless it's a file size limit of the game engine which I am not aware of.

Also, I managed to get rather lost in the area where a Matoran asks you to deal with a lightning bug in a cave. I went straight upwards from his hut, wandering on a featureless plain until I reached a small river and a bush. Thinking I was getting somewhere because I could seemingly loot the bush, I kept going until I reached the map edge. Then I went to the left until I reached another river, and followed it downwards. After that I have found a ledge and a river and some rocks, but I seem to have lost the path completely. Whoops.

Hmm, do you mean the colors of the battle sprites? Cause there I had some serious problems making them. The RPG Maker program doesn't accept any kind of images and I had problems making things work...

Also, you certainly got lost, lol. The problem with the plains was that the map is huge in size and there was a lot of ground to cover. There are some surprises here and there across the map, but you're supposed to mainly stay on the path. I'm sure you'll find your way out of there... eventually...

Thanks!

[Katuko]

Yeah, I looked over the sprites and stuff, and saw a lot of weird colors. That surprised me, since they all have the PNG ending, and PNGs usually do not use compression. Did you go via GIF first, perhaps? Because that could mess up your images without causing the typical JPG/JPEG artifacts.

And yeah, I'm gonna get back on the road pretty quickly, I'm sure.

[Toatapio Nuva]

The RPG Maker supports only certain types of PNG-files, not just any PNG's. I made those pictures by pasting images on already existing images to make sure they were compatible with the RPG Maker. Sometimes that changed the colors. I became better at that near the end, so the graphics will improve during the course of the game, I'm pretty sure. I just don't know how else to make the files compatible...

[Katoris]

Really neat! I started it and it's pretty cool! Good job on your work.
But, could you possibly make a windowed version, though?
It doesn't look so great when it's in full screen mode on a big desktop, which I happen to have the game on.

[Toatapio Nuva]

I can make a windowed version in Christmas time, I think, at the same time I update the whole game. Thanks!

[Matt5327]

Looks really cool! I don't have time to play version 2 through right now, but I definitely will soon. By the way, is it MAC inclusive?

[Toatapio Nuva]

I think it should work, but not sure.

[NatureDruid]

So far great! It really emulates those classic rpgs from our childhood. I was also wondering if there was an option to switch movement keys? The down key on my computer is broken.

[Toatapio Nuva]

I'll see what I can do. And thanks!

[Katuko]

EDIT: Apparently smileys kill my post now, by removing paragraphs and putting gibberish HTML code in them. I'll have to do without them.


I've finally continued playing this, after it's been sitting on my hard drive for weeks while I've played Mass Effect 3 instead.

I got back on the road very quickly, and I hired a Gukko to explore some more of that same area. Major props for letting me keep the Gukko even after entering a hut, unlike Final Fantasy where hired Chocobo rides run off as soon as you dismount. With the Gukko I found the remote hut where I could get some Madu fruit, and it was nice to be able to hike back on the bird as well. Endless Challenge (aka the Mute City theme) was a nice surprise too.

One thing I'd like to have is an "item get" pop-up outside of battle. Sometimes NPCs would give me something (like rewards for the lightning bug quest or the Take Aback spell in Jikalma) without me realizing what it was until I checked my inventory. The library where you can pick up some background info and the Sleep skill also has only the middle part of about half of the bookshelves "readable", and as such I almost missed the Sleep skill because I thought the entire shelf was one "thing" to check and I only examined the right edge of it.

I also had to chase a few NPCs around town in order to talk with them, since some barely pause before moving again.

I liked being able to buy useful items already in Jikalma, such as the Poison Shield and the MP-boosting item. Halving MP cost is usually something I expect from late-game Final Fantasy, not so early. It proved immediately useful, when it turned out that my newly bought Firestaff did pitiful damage against Tahnok but my Fire skill still killed them in one hit. A Kofo-Jaga in the mountain cave also turned out to take a lot of damage to kill, especially with a bad element. I was Level 2, that might have been part of the problem. I only got 150 EXP for it too. Seems a bit disproportionate given the amount of MP I had to burn on it. Of course, the sleep skill does both damage and stuns the thing at the cost of 0 MP, so either that is an unbalanced spell or it is why the Rahi gave so little EXP. I dunno.

The cave was also rather big and featureless but with a long looping path, which annoyed me. Without a mini-map, with one character that had to spend lots of MP per fight and which had few healing items since you spend several per healing, I felt like I was being quickly whittled down until I realized I could abuse Sleep. Still, if you hadn't had such low encounter rates compared to for example Pokémon (darn Zubat!) I might have just become bored. As it is, though, the feel of the game is good enough to keep me going. I really like this game so far, and I'm gonna keep playing, but these are my thoughts for now.

Edited by Katuko, Dec 26 2012 - 06:36 PM.

[Toatapio Nuva]

Thank you for the feedback!

 

One thing I'd like to have is an "item get" pop-up outside of battle. Sometimes NPCs would give me something (like rewards for the lightning bug quest or the Take Aback spell in Jikalma) without me realizing what it was until I checked my inventory. The library where you can pick up some background info and the Sleep skill also has only the middle part of about half of the bookshelves "readable", and as such I almost missed the Sleep skill because I thought the entire shelf was one "thing" to check and I only examined the right edge of it.
 

 

Yeah, that's something which is under the works. Newer NPCs already have the item get message. Some NPCs I made long ago (I've been making this game for a couple of years now) and my game-making skills were much more... incomplete back then. But item messages are coming up. Also, the library books are a hidden thing. You found the sleep skill, but it is not necessary and it's a prize for looking around a bit.

 

 

I also had to chase a few NPCs around town in order to talk with them, since some barely pause before moving again.

 

Yeah, I'm aware of that too. Some are very fast on purpose, but I'll slow down the more important characters, at least.

 

I liked being able to buy useful items already in Jikalma, such as the Poison Shield and the MP-boosting item. Halving MP cost is usually something I expect from late-game Final Fantasy, not so early. It proved immediately useful, when it turned out that my newly bought Firestaff did pitiful damage against Tahnok but my Fire skill still killed them in one hit. A Kofo-Jaga in the mountain cave also turned out to take a lot of damage to kill, especially with a bad element. I was Level 2, that might have been part of the problem. I only got 150 EXP for it too. Seems a bit disproportionate given the amount of MP I had to burn on it. Of course, the sleep skill does both damage and stuns the thing at the cost of 0 MP, so either that is an unbalanced spell or it is why the Rahi gave so little EXP. I dunno.

 

 150 EXP is actually quite a lot that early in the game. However, the Kofo-Jaga is a bit difficult, and I've received feedback from that. I'll tune its power down a bit. The sleep skill has nothing to do with this, but it sure helps you win more easily.

 

 

 

The cave was also rather big and featureless but with a long looping path, which annoyed me. Without a mini-map, with one character that had to spend lots of MP per fight and which had few healing items since you spend several per healing, I felt like I was being quickly whittled down until I realized I could abuse Sleep. Still, if you hadn't had such low encounter rates compared to for example Pokémon (darn Zubat!) I might have just become bored. As it is, though, the feel of the game is good enough to keep me going. I really like this game so far, and I'm gonna keep playing, but these are my thoughts for now.

 

The Raak mountains are a project I have undertaken for the next version. As you said, they are quite boring and bland, so I'm spicing them up a bit. Already the journey to find Maa is much more eventful, you'll see it in the update (which should come up in about 3 weeks).

 

Thank you so much for reviewing, it helps me see and understand some of the weak spots of the game so I can improve it.

[maxthethrax]

Realy good game,but i can't beat the two gyus who are going to killl me in the start of the game

 

[Toatapio Nuva]

Really? What kind of equipment do you have? You should use fire at them often, that will beat them fast.

[Katuko]

Focusing all attack power on one of the pair will quickly cut the damage you receive by about half. If you alternate between them they will both fall at about the same time, but then you also get attacked by both for the entire battle. I can't remember exactly right now, but I believe one of them shuts off your elemental power, so I think I used only regular attacks at level 1 or 2 in order to beat them.

It should be an easy fight, but if you're worn down from fighting regular enemies beforehand any such encounter can be fatal. Don't be afraid to chug healing items, you can easily get more as regular drops from other enemies.

Edited by Katuko, Jan 06 2013 - 01:40 PM.

[Toatapio Nuva]

Yes, Saalistaja (the Skakdi) has the power to prevent Biokau from using his elemental power. I forgot about that. But Katuko's instructions should take you far in ANY battle, especially boss battles.

[Toatapio Nuva]

Version 2.5, the Proto release, is finally up! It's got so many improvements it could almost be a version 3, but I'm sticking with 2.5.