Next Demo Update

At this time, I'm still waiting for one last animation for William to be made, but in the meantime I am going to make some changes/additions to the Arena demo. Now that I'm at a point in the main story where combat is introduced, that means I'll really have to work on getting proper balance. I haven't had any feedback as of late, so what I'm doing is just strictly based on what I applied with the main story onto the Arena Demo.

Character Changes

As the first two characters to be playable, Aki and Piper will have some of their abilities touched up and added to their natural level-up table rather than rely on having them learn through titles. I am still considering making artes available through there, such as by having them use a base-arte enough times that they can obtain a title that will let them learn like a variant or advanced arte with enough AP. Of course, this might lead to titles having only one thing to get from that title. Of course, if I can figure out how to make it so that equipping titles changes a character's current "Class" (according to how MZ's setup), and use one of the Skill Learn plugins, I can make better use of the AP since that still uses a different set of plugins. I will explore my options as I go along.

William Joins the Party

My plan for the next update is to allow William to join, after Aki and Piper reach level 5 or 6 (depending on which is more optimal). I will be working on figuring out the best setup for him since he will be a caster, but will make some of the harder fights a bit easier. Though, this will cause me to update the Wicked Tree boss to reflect the addition of a third party member.

Monster Book

One of the most recent plugins to be made by VisuTella is for making a Bestiary. This was present in their MV plugins, but now they finally made a dedicated plugin for MZ. Like many menu-based plugins, I would like to have custom backgrounds used, but until then I have the default settings. This bestiary (in the form of the Tales' Monster Book item) will let you see all the enemies you've fought and learn more about them. Since you can only read it outside of battle, the Magic Lens item will still be used for like a quick-reference on certain details (like HP or TP). I was hoping that they would be a more mandatory item to add entries to the book that way, instead of just seeing the enemy once, but maybe that will be added down the line.

Text Box Touch-Ups

Now that I have a better understanding on how textboxes can be placed, I will be updating all the dialogue instances to where they automatically set the width and height of what is inside; while also making sure they are placed just above the NPC they are referring to. Of course, during story bits, the textbox may be placed in places to allow for other characters to be seen. It's something that I will have to play around with but can be done.

Plugin Fixes

One of the more recent updates from VisuTella seems to have fixed an issue I had where actor animations wouldn't properly play, and it was due to a plugin meant to add more status ailments. From what I've seen, it appears to be fixed and so I can remove a certain command to have to force animations to play manually. I'll be keeping an eye out for other issues with them.

Battle UI Update?

There were also some new plugins that add some options for battle portraits and the like. I will see if I can make use of them so they aren't just the default setup.

Other

The more I learn about how all these plugins work, the more I can make other changes if able. If they are noteworthy, they will be brought up when I do eventually update the Arena demo.

Wrap-Up

Luck permitting, I hope to release the updated demo at the end of the month. From there, I will continue working on the main game so that a "Story Demo" can be made available before this year is over. It's one thing to be able to test the battle system, I want to at least have a story be made available, even if it's just an introductory piece. Otherwise, I hope you look forward to what comes next.