just to let everyone know this game has zero random battles. i never liked them in any other game so i eliminated them all together. you will get boss battles and player controlled battles but they will be minimal. i prefer exploration over level grinding.

ill post some pictures of what i have done so far. here is a sprite i finished, its of misty's character. ive made a lot more since then so ill post them when i feel up to it.

http://www.pavilionboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14320


im currently working on a ff7 inspired mountain climbing part but it will be climbing into a cragg, birds will be protecting their nests by attacking you which makes you slip and fall down to a ledge. lots of treasures to get and no battles.


i took some pictures of random pieces of the game. quality sucks but what can ya do.


card game of matching stuff.

end of time - hope chooses a destiny.

court yard - jordan joins

farrie village - recruiting goldwin

ziko's intro (his appartment)


ive had a big boost in energy to keep my game going so ive been putting all i can into it.


i also had an epiphany while i was looking up reviews at the mag. i remembered something someone said about not having dead pathways or anything that doesnt directly move the game, so while i was checking reviews i noticed that length was a problem for some games. i have since gone over my game and reduced the filler and shrunk some areas that where needlessly long in an effort to maximize the fun and reduce the choir of going through useless areas that wernt fun or doing quests that subtracted from the story rather then progressed it. i additionally wanted to lower the cleche of doing fetch quests and kept the game more realistic rather then go the route most games have gone.

also changed is the level of player interaction with the game. i dont want my game to just be driven by the plot where you move from place to place listening to a block of text but i want the player to feel like they are involved in the process. this creates more work but also makes the game more enjoyable since many of the answers are anything but serious. i use a reward system to keep the player focused and allow for crazy answers to not totally derail the plot. interaction with the environment is also key, which means regular objects produce a blurb, and towns folks have random insight into the plot or describing something important to the game that is both realistic, and relevant (not filler).

i am also trying to avoid the whole save the world bs. though my game seams to be pointed in that direction, i am instead trying to focus more on character development, putting myself in their shoes and see what decisions i would then make. would i want to try to do something larger then life or would i want to instead focus on my own tangible reality?

the central theme of crystal shores is dealing with regrets. each character has their own personal trauma that is creeping through their subconscious. through the course of the game they will learn to accept the past. perhaps even a perceived humanity crisis will not be seen as the catastrophe people think? wrongful perception of an issue can be just as dangerous as ignorant intervention.

perhaps my game will have a twist no other game i know has had before? i suppose i will have to finish the game first.

ive been away a week so i havent worked on my game but prior to my vacation i was working on my game for days at a time. i have reached a point where i have nearly the whole demo hammered out, i just have to add details, fix spelling and other errors and of course create a few animated scenes to cover the progression of the characters. i am quite pleased with what i have so far which is a huge step for me considering past games ive started left me wanting for something better.

even though i havent worked on my game i have continued to think about it and ive decided to add a few mini games with the space i have saved up. if i can get it just right i will have a mini castlevania, dating sim, racing and a few other mini games that will make a nice diversion from the plot. since space is always an issue with a game as large as mine i have decided to show each game only once and then feature a new game on each card i develop. this way i can try a whole bunch of fun things and have space to make it innovative without being repetitive. this will also limit the chance to go cheap rather then take the time to make something truly inspiring. perhaps when its all finished ill release an arcade version of my game with the best hits of mini games that appeared in my game.

i really want to make a game people will acually play and enjoy. this task is hard since 8 years have passed on this rpg maker.
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progress report!

despite having no computer access beyond the labtop ive managed to get a little bit farther in my game. though i must admit that i havent touched it for a good while until today, i still feel that ive made progress.

ive gone over the story and plot development and am now happy with most of the second card. all i have left to do is flesh out a retardedly complex racing mini game, finish the tekken style mini game and of course add equipment and such and it will be a done card.

though its taken more time then id of liked i now have a sequince of events for the 3rd card planned so i can finish some of the story arcs in preperation for the 4th card which will be liner rather then the choose-your-story-arc that ive done for the last 3 cards. ive decided on liner because i dont want to do too many overlaps of the story and want to control it now that im getting more into the main plot.

though i had origonally planned to have everyone meet up on the 4th card i am now going to have one last card of semi seperate story arcs since i havent covered everything that is needed prior to at-will time travel. some of my plot devices have gotten larger then intended though i think they will be crucial to the sucess of this game.

though ive known the ending since the begining, i havent given enough thought to the events inbetween since i did a huge story revamp. i know the "whats" that must happen, but not the how. im sure ill figure it all out as i get there.

as of this second ive decided that my game will be released in card stages rather then a set demo. when my computer is back working ill release the first card then the second shortly there after. ill keep doing that till i finish the game. i am starving for feedback which will help me develop the game further.

im not overly impressed with the first card so id like to follow it up with the second. i contemplated redoing it (and may yet) but i relise that if im going to finish this game i best be moving forward and not back. the first impression is going to be key and the shortness of the first card may help me get over its general dated feel but i may end up revamping some of the begining to reduce the shortfall. the second card and third so far are king sh*t as far as i can tell.

update:

im one playtest away from releasing the first card. ive been polishing it too much, i need to move forward with this project. i cant do anything else with this card since i have no space left. i should be releasing it today (if my dex cooperates).

the second card is shaping up nicely. i just have to finish one minigame and a bit of extra polish left on this card. im hoping for a december release on this one.

the third card is half way done. ive ironed out everything i want to do and am a good ways into it. the minigames and most of the plot still needs to be created though the direction is where i want it to go.

the fourth card is where the 4 different parties meet up, that will be an exciting card, though it will take sometime to figure out what direction id like to go.


overall im pleased with how far ive come in the 10 years ive been working on this game. i really need to focus on going forward rather then trying to make every peice of my game match my current skill level. ill be happy to take any suggestions and revamp as need be based on those. i cant wait till the entire project is finished.

here we go an update as to the progress thus far:

the first card was released, and after some very helpful feedback from lantis, i was able to ascertain that my play testing skills need more work. unfortunately i made the most noobish mistake of placing the start point in a place i didnt want it which made for an interesting turn of events. never the less this hickup still made the game playable and i was able to correct 3 of the story arcs that lantis was able to test.

since then ive released a fixed version of the first card (version 1.2), though no ps3 version has been released for this fix. ive been working mainly on card 2 and a little bit on card 3 since then.


card 2 is very close to being finished. ive completed everything i wanted story wise, i just need to polish up the big mini game thats this cards main feature and flesh out the battles. from this point onward the battles will mean more advancement, so i must flesh out the magic system farther in advance then i have. ive planed the armor and weapons ahead of my development, but ive yet to set the stats of this and next cards battles, thus consuming more time then ive previously spent on them. as the last card suffered from space issues, so too this card seems to suffer. i will need to trim excessive wording and economize events if i am to complete this card, but i am better off this time around.


the 3rd card is planned, and ive worked out the events that will be the backbone of it. this card will be shorter then the others as far as visiting places is concerned, but thats mainly due to the story which will be more concentrated. additionally there will be more mini games though this could change if space becomes a serious issue.


so with these three out of the way, its time to talk about the 4th card. since i began this game i had depicted the 4 main arcs meeting up on the 4th card. ive come to realize that this couldnt happen as it would be awkward and the story wouldnt make a lot of sense. in order to fully make the meeting of the characters less awkward, each would have to be accustomed to time travel itself (thus removing this new element from the meeting). as such, the party will be dropped into another time period and become accustomed to time travel prior to meeting up. i am striking for a meeting in card 5 but i may have to push it to the 6th depending on space and where i decide to flesh out certain story arcs.


other story elements come into place as the game progresses. in card 2 there will be a proposition element in the 1000 time line. these will add short fun quests that the player can choose from, as well as give their arsenal a bit of a boost. lighthearted, these quests wont be involved, may share some extra story elements, and be dropped at any point should the player choose to move on with the story.


another possible element id like to introduce would be a fishing mini quest. i originally intended to produce this from the very start, but space requirements cut it out of the game. as my game has a lot of complexity to it, i also wished to give the player a chance to learn the basics before tackling other added elements.

each fish will have its likes and dislikes for lure type. catching fish will grant benefits specific to each type as well as be part of a grander scheme of the mini game. the difficulty of the quest will be dependent on the characteristics of the lure, the rod type, or the condition of the fishing spot. i may use a character slot for this as i will have an extra.


i have to focus and not introduce too many extras or i'll never be able to finish this game or get far enough in each card to make it worthwhile for the player. space is ever my concern as is time - its taken many years and 500 hours to get to card 3. part of this problem is getting started with a plot that worked and one i liked, another was to stop nitpicking every damn thing and go with what i deemed the best direction. i will need to plan ahead more if i am to keep pace as i have of late. ive been given more free time due to drastic hour cuts at work, so "economy" time usage is a prime issue.

hopefully now that i have something released and a definite schedule, i will be able to attract more players to my game and illicit more feedback from them. so far only lantis has been brave enough to play my game and provide feedback. as the card is fixed, now would be a good time to check it out (cough).

i havent worked on my game this last while up until today. i didnt do much of anything in february because i was sick and when i did get over my sickness i just didnt feel creative. today i decided to give it another go after checking out lantis' game update.

today i fleshed out two scenes a little bit and started to think of ideas to improve some of the other sections. im also trying to arrange it so the game moves along faster and is a bit more exciting then the last cards have lent themselves to be. im trying to refrain from back editing so ill kept building forward rather then stalling progress.

card 3 is where most of the cast will meet up or be at least at the stage where they will meet up in the beginning of card 4. much of the characters backgrounds should be known by this point and though none of their inherent problems should be solved, the player should have an idea on what is afflicting each.

in keeping with my faster story line, ive begun introducing the main story elements as "gate travel" will be a main part of the story. also introduced will be the first arc of main enemies.

i have around 60k mem to play with which means i have room for some nice puzzle oriented dungeons, and perhaps a few extra story sequences. going forward ill be trying to make lengthy scenes more interesting to the player. this also means im going to eliminate anything that forces a road block on my creativity. this game has to move forward and anything that doesnt lend itself to that must be axed.

picked up the game a few days ago and began balancing what i have and tweaking the game to meet some of the last minute changes i made. im very close to completion of the 3rd card still which is nice because ive got about 10k sys and 10k scen data left to play with.

for the 4th card im going to be using a whole new sys card. ive decided that im going to build this entirely from scratch to reset the time counter and to clear up some of the mess that the game has become. the hardest part will be transferring everything to where its supposed to go so it doesnt goof up, but this shouldnt be too hard. the map maybe the hardest part of the whole thing considering its size.

with power progress month i think i can get a lot done and make enough progress to want to push beyond that. id like to get two cards worth of data out, but we will see.

You're not going to beat my Acre-age progress, Karr!

your game will be fully out before mine, i still have a massive amount left to go. when finished my game will most likely be the biggest game on rpg maker for size. ive put far too much into the early stages to have it do less. hell, even soe will be out before i finish.

been working on my game steadily the last month or so and have quite a lot of progress done.

on the 3rd card ive finished the story bits. all i have left to do is balance out my battles and finish the extra story bits (3 soldiers, small 12 council event). i had run out of space but ive shrunk and axed a few things so i should have what i need to keep the game consistent and moving forward. i still need to craft 3 sprites which i will do this weekend. the hardest sprite ive been having trouble with is the one ill use to unveil why my game is called crystal shores (a sprite in the form of a flickering city scape).

i have also gone back and began tightening less then perfect parts of the story. mainly adding some depth to my characters. i have a lot of extra space on the first card so im going to use it to the fullest in fleshing out some characters that didnt get enough love. also i am constantly making sure that a huge portion of the game is interactive. i had started that but ran out of space in some places which made them fairly bland. im now freeing up space to keep them consistent. this means that many bookshelves will have two events rather then one duplicated one.

as i now have enough cards to move on with my game i will also start the long process of remaking the system card from scratch so i can reset the time counter. im almost at the maximum time and i really want to keep tract of how long its taking so ill begin remaking item names and spells on the new system card datas (its about maxed now anyway).

i finally split the intro from the first card to a new card and began the long process of adding extras. once i complete the new intro screen and flesh out a proper introduction using what i originally had then i can move on without worry as i do not need to finish this card to release it. so far the extras will comprise of 7 features, some of which ive decided on, some of which i havent. here are the ones ive confirmed:

there will be a battle arena using all the monsters in the game. its like true final fantasy where you get handicaps and can bail at certain points. i havent figured out how i will do the prize system, but it will most likely involve complete keys.

there is a swap room in order to juggle characters that you may not currently be using and swap their equipment. in this same room is a section of shops so that you can purchase current equipment without trying to remember if another of your characters needed the equipment.

there is a return function to all missed guided falcons, stardusts, and athena statues. not sure how im going to work this but it will be something released deeper into the completion of the game where it maters that you had to gather all missing items and statues.

there is a room of ultimate weapons and equip that are unlockable with complete keys, the games reward for doing something amazing or beating an optional mini game for the first time.


i havent settled on the rest so ill withhold them for now. how you will access these will depend on how far you are in the game. at each save point you will have the option of going to the extra screen which will be a secondary scenario transfer. i am going to have to choose where i offer this option so the player doesnt get to reopen any really good chests. i may even restrict it to midpoints in the game where the story goes back to the hub. i am hoping this extra bit will add replay value to my game as well as provide an avenue for features that are just too much to add to the main game.

so as you see ive been hard at work to release the next damn card. i really want to move forward with this major project and im finally seeing an end to farting around with the game dynamics. once the game is out everything i could tinker with will be set and all that remains will be to push the story forward.

just had an inkling to pick up my game again so ive started the slow process of familiarizing myself with my game again. its something i do want to finish as i hate leaving anything undone. this card doesnt have much that needs to be finished but it looks like space was an issue before i stopped working on it so im going to have to evaluate whats left and focus on finishing the card first then filling out any extras.

this will be a slower process this time as i have tons of other obligations this holiday. i do want to work on my game, and so i will hopefully be able to release this card in not too long.

been working on my game the last few days and i have made significant progress, more progress then i have for a very long time.

i had to backtrack to my first two cards and re fix much of the dialogue for keli's story arc. with the realization that her story seams bla i just had to go in there and clarify some things. i was quite satisfied with my changes.

i also tightened my game yet again so everything is constant and whats in my game is what i want to be in my game. i found nothing in the second card that i felt needed changing, which makes me very happy.

ive decided to make each card a chapter rather then keep calling them cards. this will make the game slightly more official feeling.

additionally, as mentioned elsewhere, the party will no longer meet up as i thought it would and as a creative result to this i can now axe the "hope" arc that has bothered me since i made the game. gone will be father time and the stupid blurbs i added to the game to try to make it fit in. in its place will be the same room but perhaps slightly more believable. you will always get to choose which arc you play with first. what order you play with sometimes is important so ive kept it.

the 3rd card has been where all the problems have been but ive broken that impasse today by getting a huge pile of work down. all i have left to do is as follows:

-3 solider story line has dialogue but needs event creation. also missing the damn custom graphic i never seam to get around to finishing. ups!

-end clip from the council needs their custom sprites too. i cant remember if i ever did finish making these or got half way through and stopped. im going to have to spend some time in anime maker it seams.

-most story arcs are finished and too my liking. just making sure the events line up the way they should and to ensure i didnt miss anything. some of the dialogue is crap, so these ones need to be brought up to speed.

-whole game has to be retested and the 3rd card has to be balanced. ive neglected to add stats to any monsters this time around as i havent a clue where to begin for them. once i finish off everything else ill do this part last.

-intro card has nearly no work done on it. im not overly worried about this card as this will change throughout the whole game anyway. as long as the intro plays out in its basic sense, then i can worry about improving it down the road as more plot comes to me.

wow i guess this means im getting very close to releasing this whole thing. i cant wait to strike out on a new 4rd card. i will be cracking open a fresh brand new save for this so i can return the timer to zero. i will be using two tvs and systems to make sure the important stuff carries over without problems.