General Update - Future Plans

With this post, I am close to reaching the current goal that I had set for the Prologue Demo; which was the first dungeon and all its associated story segments. There is plenty to do still, such as get the last story section complete and try and get the last boss fight made and (hopefully) with a designed boss. Of course, I have plenty of time this year to actually get it done, which is why I'm going to lay out my plans, that I hope to fulfill before the year is over.

Post-Demo Section

Originally, the demo would have ended after the last story segment in the first dungeon played out. However, I feel I can extend it to the moment when the Prologue 'should' end and before what could be like the first chapter of story begins. This might open up some possible quests that either were available from the start, or after the first dungeon is done. Either way, it would give you a chance to see how things are prior to story advancement aka the end of the demo.

Sorcerer's Ring Refinement

One thing I found when using the Sorcerer's Ring is that it's possible to skip over touch events if you trigger the event for the ring's firing function. I'm going to try something to get around that, like forcing events you might be on top of to activate. The safe method would be to disable the ring in certain places, so you don't try skipping story events.

Grammar Check

While I'll need to come back and fix up any grammar and dialogue to better reflect what I'm doing for the story, I'll especially do it for this portion since it's for the demo.

Character/Enemy Balance

Pretty standard, as this is always one of the hardest things to do for any RPG; making sure it isn't too easy or too difficult.

Arena Demo Update

Since I finished adding animations to the two enemies that lacked them, they will be added in to finish out the enemy line-up. This will include any additions/changes made while working on the prologue. Depending on things, I might be able to include Vera and Corrine, though they will have limited functionality and will be there mostly to test out their basic mechanic.

Re-Organizing the Database

Something I need to do after getting the Arena Demo Update done is re-organize the database for items, weapons, skills, etc. This way, all party member artes, enemy artes, passive skills and more, will be set up so I can properly plan out abilities, equipment, and so on. Doing this will also mean having to go through the entire game (both main game and Arena related stuff) and reroute all events and functions to their new locations. For safety, I'll keep a backup of the old system on standby in case I need to make minor updates to either the Arena Demo, or the Prologue Demo. Again, this is all something I'll do after I'm satisfied with the Arena Demo update, since I know that after this, you won't be able to use the Patch Turtlez anymore. This will result in both having like a Version 2 made to reflect the database change if needed.

Dragonbones

Having learned more about going past the default settings with the plugin, I'm leaning towards moving all battler-based animations back to Dragonbones so I don't have to constantly rely on them fading out, but still leaving evidence that they're there. I'll still be using Effekseer for the ones I absolutely need to use in this manner, but I think it will also help to ensure that I don't overshoot or undershoot the size of battlers when setting up their attack animations. This might even save me space, so it's worth looking into.

Preliminary Work on Skit System

I know it can be done. I know what plugin to use to trigger them, and I might have an idea for how to make them feel animated. But it's one of those things I need to experiment with, so it'll be low on priority until I at least get the Dragonbones transition done or attempted.

Alternate Title Screen

One of the Yanfly plugins allows one to use a map for its title screen, with whatever events needed to properly get into the game. This will have higher priority the closer I get to the deadline for getting the Prologue Demo out.

Opening?

In the past, when I attempted to make a fan-game for Tales, I was so invested at the time that I actually put together an opening of sorts, using recorded footage of the game (mostly unique events for the intro) while playing some song. While this one would be a bit more elaborate (given what I have in mind), it would be about the same sort of thing. I even have a song picked out. Below is the intro for Tales of Eternia Online, which I was able to get ahold of the game-sized version of the song before that disappeared off the web. The one below is the full song, though it's part of someone's attempt to upscale it.

Either way, being this early on, I wouldn't want it to be 'the' only song I would use for my game, even if I end up mimicking some of the visual cues from this one. I would love to commission someone to produce an original song to use instead, but that will probably require a lot more than what I am currently spending for art assets. That's why this is so far low in priority, because there are other important things I can be doing before I get to some of the fancier stuff. Hell, I need to consider custom UI and menus as well, so a proper opening (original song or not) can wait.

Wrap-Up

Even with other projects, I've been making good time with this. I'm glad that I could get on track for once, even with so much happening in life. I hope you look forward to what I have in store, and I hope this is a sign of good things to come as I continue working on what I'm considering my dream project now.