Update

I've made a good deal more progress. I've made several new dungeons, a new town, a few cutscenes, and a handful of puzzles. The part of the game I plan on having ready for the Magcon demo is made.

Everything I have so far is barebones, but as far as story/puzzles go it's made. I just need to add the smaller details.

I'm almost at 10 scenario blocks. I'm right before my planned card swap so things are going good. 5 blocks for details. I still need to make my custom menu, all NPC text and a bunch of other stuff. It will chew up fast. Who knows how long the first card will be. I won't know until the battles are in place. I'm hoping it will be 2-5 hours of play. Probably landing someplace in the middle of that time frame.

Speaking of the custom menu, I made a quick prototype that I really liked. In it you'll be able to switch party members, switch Stat and Special Gambits, read the Travel Log (A breakdown of the recent events that have happened and what you need to do next.) and for a bit of gold heal.

Also, If anybody can convert these sprites into the PS3 format for me that would be awesome. http://www.rpgmmag.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=112&t=8493

right now I'm using placeholder sprites for a couple characters. I would really love to have them before Magcon so the demo doesn't have to use the placeholders.

Just a tip for you Lausen: Even though the game can hold 15 scenario blocks of memory, there's also a total memory cap you can reach before using up those fifteen blocks. Look at the top right of the screen in event edit, and you'll see what I mean. In JA, I have used it all up, and cannot make anything more on the first card, despite being at 12 blocks.

It threw me for a loop. Figured I'd pass the info along.

That's strange. I always assumed it was around 8000 per block. According to my memory that's about right too. I have 45203 left and it's yet to actually say 10 blocks. Divided by 6 that's 7533. Are you sure you don't have sprites or a testplay save file on your card that could be taking up that memory?

It can vary. RPG Maker uses a compression technique with its save files, so how many blocks it takes up depends on how much a mess your events are. It's actually possible to use up all that memory but only take one block. You just have to have every map have the exact same events.

Regardless of how RPGM1 does breaks down the boxes I'm always aware of how much memory I have to work with.

Update:

Progress has slowed a bit with all my friends being home on winterbreak. I've still managed to get a good deal of work done. I have set up the main menu and custom "Party Menu." I''ve also gone through and made the loot system I'm using. I've also done a lot of fine tunning and adding more details. That's more or a less it. Nothing major, but important to the overall game nonetheless. Not to mention time consuming. I'm at 12 Scenario blocks, about 25000 memory left.

I still need to finish the "Travel Log." Also, I plan on going over all of the text and making sure the writing is up to par. The first card is nearing completion. Once it's done I'll be setting up the MagCon demo.

Update:

I haven't been able to give an update in a week or so because my laptops charger decided to die. I still don't have a new one so I won't be around for another week.

Anyways I'm still making good progress. I've done a lot of text editing. I'm also trying to hammer out the details of my crafting system.

My first scenario card is almost done. I have about 9000 data left. I just have some small text tweeks and then it all can go to details. Mostly interactive events. The megcon demo is just about ready as well. A few more days of work and everything should be good to go.

I have come to a bit of a roadblock. Today I was doing some brain storming and thought of a better way to make the begining of the game. This is like the 10th time this has happened. The good news is I won't have to cut anything out to make it work. The bad news is I'll have to change where the card switch is. A couple dungeons on card one will have to be moved to the second one to make the new intro. It won't be hard to do, just a hassle. It should be fairly epic if I can implement it right.

For now I'm going to focus on polishing the hell out of the first card. Once everything is done I'll move the dungeons and add the new intro.

Wow Lausen, it's great to see that your friend got you back and motivated for this game. I admit I was initially unexcited for the game, but seeing you continue to grind away at making this game has gotten me excited to see the game. It seems so few people are actively working on game projects right now, so please keep it up!

Yeah, I'm glad he gave me that push to start up again. Too bad he hasn't helped like he said he was gonna. It's cool to hear your starting to get interested in it. I think people will be pleasantly surprised with the MagCon demo. Hopefully that will put VoC on a few more peoples radar.

I'm down to about 5000 data space on card 1. I need to make a few things, but most of it is free to play with. I can honestly say that's a nice feeling.

Good to see you so motivated. Here's a gift.

Ix, you sir, are the man! This couldn't have come at a better time.

Update

Scenario card 1 is complete. At least for now. I need to cut a large chunk and put it on card 2 and make a whole new begining secion of gameplay. That shouldn't be that big of a problem once I decide to actually sit down and tackle it. Right now I'm turning my attention to finishing/polishing the MagCon demo. There's extra stuff I need to add to the demo and I have under 400 data left on the card. I plan on isolating that section of gameplay and deleting any space not used specifically for the demo. That will give me the needed space and it will fit on one memory card.

Hopefully I'll be able to get the demo totally finished in a week or so. Once that's done I can go back to making the actual game and creating new stuff/areas/story events. Not working within already made locations.

Of course, Mass Effect 2 coming out on PS3 could cause some delays.

Thought I'd drop by to see how things are going. It's great to see that everything seems to be on track. I was kinda worried you'd pull your disappearing act on us again.

If you need someone to test-drive your demo, I'll give it a spin. It's great read about all the stuff you have planned.

Btw, try to make the lighting in your class system brighter. I could hardly see it in your contest game. Just a small tip I wanted to point out.

Thanks, I'll take you up on giving the demo a test. The leveling system in the contest game isn't in VoC. It was experimental just for the contest game. I'll send you a copy of the MagCon demo in a few days. I just need to finish balancing the fights.

Alright then. Looking forward to playing it.

Update:

I took a bit of a break for a while. I've been waiting for Navane too finish playtesting the MagCon demo. I picked it back up a couple days ago. I finished the design of the new opening section I mentioned. I made a good amount of progress as far as scenario work is concerned too. That includes 3 major cutscenes and a few of the minor encounters.

Unfortunetly I ran into a bit of a roadblock. I won't have enough events to finish the Valhunder Highroad. I'll have to break it up into 2 sections at least. It's not a huge problem, but I'll have to go back through and make sure all of the events are working. Just one more limitation that bites me in the ass. It might actually save me some System space since it's such a big dungeon. I should be able to pound that out in the next day or two. Once thats done I can work on the first scenario card switch.

Update:

I haven't done anything substantal on this since I submitted the MagCon demo sometime last month. With the video of the demo up, I've become modivated to start it back up. Everything mentioned in the previous update has been done since before I put it down. The first scenario card switch is done and working good. The transition worked smoother then expected. I also completed the new opening section of the game I mentioned. I replayed through it today and am really happy with it.

As for progress I made today, it's been mostly in the dungeon editor. I finished a town that has been holding me back for quit some time. It's the town immediatly after the Delco Mine. I wanted the town to be centered around a mining theme and was having a hard time pulling it off the way I wanted. I turned on the maker several times the past month with the intent to bust it out, but ended up staring at the screen with no direction, restarting at least 20 times. It feels really good to finally have the design layed out. It turned out completely different then I first envisioned, but I like it. This gives me a whole new map worth of scenario to work with. Overall I put in a couple hours of work in. Getting past this roadblock is a big step in the right direction.

Hey, nice to see an update after awhile. Hope progress will continue to be made.

Update:

I've got some more work done today. A lot of text stuff. Finished up a small cutscene, and a couple other bigger conversations. Used up about 4000 scenario space. I also made the inside of Galhum and connected everything. Text/dialogue work is the bane of my existance though. Progress is starting to move along at a good pace again so I'm happy.

My second scenario card hit 5 blocks. Hopefully this doesn't become a SoE with 15 scenario cards.

BTW, yours was definately Game of the Con.