Dragonfaith (Safari 9.0)

This milestone has been looming on the horizon for a while now (I recall teasing it for Memorial Day last year, even if that was an optimistic projection), so I think I'm a little bit in disbelief that it's actually here. Anyway, there's always time to patch holes and make adjustments going forward (especially for proper balancing, once I start testing combat). The main addition to this new release - the "Safari Edition" of my game - is the implementation of enemy encounters (both of the random and scripted boss varieties). Granted, there's not any combat yet - each battle is aborted as soon as it begins. But you can at least get a look at the enemies (featuring a pool of over 150, including palette swaps). There is a full complement of what usually comes out to 8 "troops" (weighted for common, uncommon, rare, and ultra rare encounters) for each of nearly 64 regions spread throughout the game - overworld and dungeon maps combined.

Naturally, I've also implemented functionality for some things related to encounter behavior. In a similar way as to how the Backtrack and Retrace skills supplement exploration of the maps, I have now also made available the Hunt and Bait skills. The former forces a random encounter (to let the player take control and gain a leg up in battle, or else to facilitate the process of grinding - if the player feels it necessary), and the latter is a gem I coded which reverses the weights of troops so as to coax rare enemies out of hiding. I love the idea of having super rare enemies (often with special drops), but I hate not giving the player a tool (even if they have to earn it) to offset the soul-destroying tedium of relying on the excruciatingly dull mechanic of luck. Take the Pink Puffs (or Flan Princesses, depending on the translation) from Final Fantasy IV. It's bad enough that you have a 1 in 64 chance of encountering them (some versions of the game have a Siren item, which works very much like my Bait skill), but then you also have a 1 in 64 chance of pulling a rare drop. Instead of forcing the player to waste hours on repetition, I put in a fun little side quest where the player will be rewarded this ability to force rare encounters, by exercising their critical thinking skills in tracking down a special enemy that wanders my game world.

Additionally, I've restored an updated version of a feature that has under-pinned the concept for this game for a very long time. It's a sort of "monster radar", or what I call Hunting Instinct, in the form of an unobtrusive graphical indicator in the corner of the screen which gives the player a rough (which is to say, inexact) idea of when the next random encounter is going to occur. I thought it would be a nice way to soften the blow of random encounters - which can be a frustratingly jarring experience - without having to get rid of them (because, for what it's worth, they're an integral element of these kinds of games). I've agonized for years over how best to integrate this feature, or whether I should bother with it at all, but I've ultimately decided to make it an option the player can toggle on or off (in case they don't like it) at any point while playing. Also, while teaching myself how to manipulate the Options menu (by consolidating the disparate volume options into a single slider), I decided to add the X-Ray Scope I described in my last update as a "Show Hidden Paths" option, so the player will have free reign to decide how much they want to cheat in that respect. :-p

Alright! We've come a long way from Solipsism 2.0. The next step in getting the combat working will probably be to fill out the database with regard to items and equipment, as well as skills and states, and to populate the shops. (Numbers and animations will come after that). I'm thinking that I might spend some time fleshing out the ending, though. Because even though it seems appropriate to do that last, I was thinking that I should probably get it roughed out at least, while I still have time to mull it over and make changes. (And anyway, I should get it done before it comes to testing combat, after all). Stay tuned. In the meantime, there's still a lot left to do. But... though there are still some big holes left to fill, this project is beginning to feel like a real game!

Dragonfaith (Safari 9.0)
Download (440 MB): Windows

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 8.5) Distant Shores

It's been about two months since my last update. You can probably imagine why the final segment of the game - the run-up to the final battle - would require some special work. I had to make sure everything was being tied together, and the narrative was sufficiently driving the player toward the climax I wanted (although without being too heavy-handed). Most of the groundwork had been done, but there was some dialogue that needed to be polished. And one of the difficulties was a result of my decision to give the player more freedom in this final portion of the game, to choose who among the playable characters to recruit (including any combination from all seven of them to none but the main protagonist) for the final challenge.

On top of that, I also spent a good bit of time developing a little further one early section of the final dungeon - adding in as many as six new maps - to make it a little more complex and less straightforward. I think it will be a lot more fun to explore now. Anyway, it's more in line with my original concept, which was loosely inspired by the archetypal Death Mountain sequence from early Zelda games. Additionally, while procrastinating on doing some of the above, I've already started some preliminary work for the next phase of my game, and also spent a lot of time implementing an optional device that will allow the player to see hidden passages (a classic mechanic for this style of game, which I have not over-used, but am happy to include as part of the overall experience). I'm undecided yet as to whether to provide it to the player as a sort of handicap, or else to withhold it until such time as the player has earned it as a reward. But either way, it works like a charm. (I just wish RPG Maker had better functionality of this kind for equippable items)...

Finally, I've begun the very early stages of working on the ending (it kind of flows organically from fleshing out the dramatic elements of the final battle), but that's definitely something that's going to require a LOT of work. I think what makes the most sense is for me to continue chipping away at it even as I move on to the next phase - which is getting battle encounters to work. Ultimately, that will culminate in a game with working combat (and between that and the ending, that's really all that's left for me to do - but both of those are huge undertakings). But the first step will be the superficial skeleton of having encounters with actual enemies, even if you can't truly fight them properly. Who knows, I might even reach that milestone by this Memorial Day! No promises - sometimes things just take more time than you expect them to; and besides, life is still happening all the while. But as time keeps on slipping into the future, mortality has a way of impressing itself upon you with ever greater urgency, as you get older and more and more people you know head for the great beyond. I've worked too hard and too long not to have something to show for it (whatever that amounts to in the end), and I'm as committed as ever to reaching the finishing line. Hopefully sooner rather than later (whatever that means, 12+ years into this journey).

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 8.5) - Distant Shores
Download (433 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 8.0) Distant Shores

By now it must be obvious that I didn't meet my deadline of finishing the Pacifist version of Dragonfaith by Memorial Day. Summer took over, and I pushed the project to the back burner. (My resolution last year was to get my runaway picture-taking hobby under control - and I made strides toward that goal. This year, whatever I accomplish by the spring, my resolution is not to put down this project just because the weather is nice, and not even touch it for 6-9 months of the year. I'm close enough now to the finish line that I need to stop pacing myself and start picking up speed again). Anyway, winter is here again, so I'm back at work, picking up right where I left off in May.

This release covers the first half of the final "act" of my game. I know I said this part of the game wouldn't be a problem, but it turned out to be a little more involved than I anticipated. It includes a pivotal confrontation with a major antagonist, and basically tees you up for the endgame - which will be covered in the next release. I'm thinking now that I am definitely going to leave the actual ending (the epilogue) for a separate release. Whether I dive into that right away, or leave it as a brainstorming activity while I work on the next version of my game (I think that's more likely), I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I can't wait to get Pacifism finished, and I'm really excited to put together everything I have for that next version! I could say more about that, but I'll wait 'til I get there.

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 8.0) - Distant Shores
Download (427 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 7.5) A World In Peril

As promised, here's the second half of the fourth act of my game. I have no good excuses this time; it wasn't all that involved. But since the action is opening up, it's a little harder to keep track of everything that needs to be kept track of (including, at this point, variable party formations). This is, however, the most nonlinear portion of the whole game, so it should, theoretically, get better from here on out.

That said, I think part of the delay (and lack of focus) is that I've got too many projects going on at the moment. I'm not good at multi-tasking - I prefer serial commitments. It's easier in the winter when I'm holed up indoors with less to do. Now, with the summer looming, there's a lot on my mind. Getting outdoors, shooting photography; and on top of that, I've got my music log which I've been actively working on for over a year now, plus a gig I'm looking forward to which has me spending a lot of time practicing guitar; and then there's the second round of Tomb Raider Remasters, which are always an effortless time sink. Not to mention daily chores and keeping up with family, and the pressures of modern life...

But I'm still here. As I said, the next part should be more contained. We're on to the final act now, although I think it makes a lot of sense to split it in half again. The first half shouldn't be a problem. The second takes us to the ending, which I'm still a little bit intimidated by. But it's not too late to complete the Pacifist version of my game by Memorial Day! It's not quite the progress I was hoping for, but it's progress nonetheless.

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 7.5) - A World In Peril
Download (426 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 7.0) A World In Peril

I realize the duration between releases is getting longer and longer, but that's to be expected, after all. The delay this time was the result of a confluence of factors - including a variety of health issues; the advent of spring which accompanies the changing of the clocks, coupled with a few early summer-like days that already have my mind wandering away from the computer and toward the great outdoors; and a domestic battle with ants which has caused me to (at least for the time being) relocate my bedroom and study. It's a flurry of distractions amidst a change of scenery, and I'm trying hard to recover my focus.

On top of all that is the dramatic scene at the start of the fourth act of my game, to which I've had to devote a lot of attention. I want to do justice to the emotional weight of the scene, while still efficiently moving the plot along, and not getting bogged down in melodrama. It's a delicate balance, but if you don't get it right, the narrative suffers. I keep going back and forth in my head, telling myself that I'm not an experienced novelist, and that one of the appeals of the old school VG RPG format is that you can create a good gameplaying experience without a super sophisticated narrative. But on the other hand, I don't want to use that as an excuse, and cop out of trying to tell a good story. After all, some of my favorite moments in my favorite RPGs are character-based story moments.

All I can do is try my best. And not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I was finally able to tie up those loose ends with regards to weather effects I mentioned several updates ago, but we're far enough into the story now that you won't be able to experience them unless you really dig into the game progression - and I'm still maintaining that these releases aren't meant for you to do that. So at this point, they're really just checkpoints to back up my work. Which is fine. It means progress!

I actually didn't get the full act completed for this release, as I was intending to. With everything slowing my progress down this time, I reached a good point where I felt I wanted to hit the proverbial "save" button, before diving into the last portion of the act. If progress continues to be sluggish, I might very well follow up with another release when I get the act completed, before starting on the final act (which itself may ultimately involve more than one release). I know it seems like every step we take is smaller than the last one, but it still gets us closer to the finish line!

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 7.0) - A World In Peril
Download (426 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 6.0) Ice & Fire

You know, there are so many moving parts that go into creating an RPG like the one I'm developing, I'm finding it very helpful to focus on pretty much one aspect at a time (first it was the maps, now it's the narrative, after that it will be the combat), and polishing it up until it's pretty much finished, before moving on to something else. Of course, that's only possible after all the groundwork I've put in up to this point. I know I have a tendency to want to switch gears any time I come up against a difficult obstacle, and that invariably leaves me with a bunch of loose ends, that only serve to frazzle my focus further. So I think this strategy is working well. Finishing that world map was a major turning point in the development process - as I knew it would be.

Anyway, this release is exciting because it covers the mid-game climax of my RPG. Although like last time, there were a number of scripted scenes to polish, the reason it took so long is actually because I decided to redo one of the maps from scratch. It's certainly not something I intend to make a habit of doing, although I did fix up one other map earlier on (it was one of the first I ever did, and it looks much better now - I used the experience I gained from making a more elaborate but similarly-themed map you reach much later in the game). I just couldn't look at that map without thinking how plain it was. It wasn't a map I felt like I could be proud of. So I redid it, and it looks much better now. It's also more intricate, so it should be a lot more fun to explore. It was just what this particular dungeon needed to get up to snuff.

Also, because this part of the game introduces the player to the Fashion Boutique - where they get to have their first taste of playing around with alternate outfits - I spent some time deciding on and standardizing the mechanism by which the player will unlock these alternate outfits (which they will have more freedom to play with on subsequent playthroughs, after beating the game the first time). Each playable character has 8 different outfits, and they all satisfy particular functions - like sleepwear, their "job" clothes, a casual outfit, winter jacket, formal clothes, etc.

The way it works now (this is kinda spoiler-ish, but it's fine) is that the first time a character joins your team, their "job" outfit is unlocked - which is pretty much their default outfit. Each of these characters has a home in one of the towns in the game. In their personal bedroom, they have a bed that you can use for free in lieu of the inn (but only if they're currently in your party). Using that bed unlocks their sleepwear outfit. They also have a dresser or a hamper or a vanity or what have you, which you can use (once the feature has been unlocked) to change that character's clothes. Accessing it the first time (for each character) unlocks their "casual" outfit.

There are others. A winter outfit that can be unlocked in the snowy town. Formal wear which is unlocked the first time a character uses the fitting room in the Fashion Boutique. And there is a nude "outfit" for each character - not for lewd reasons, I assure you. It's partly because I'm a nudist, and I like the idea of this being an option in games. But also - as you'll see when you play the game - nudism actually plays a meaningful role in the storyline. So it makes sense, and it's not coming out of left field.

That just leaves a couple of alternate outfits I threw in just for fun, and to give the player more options. I'm still debating on how to let the player access them. I might offer some for sale at the Fashion Boutique, that you can unlock by purchasing in-game (to give you something to do with all that money you earn late game, when there's not much of value left for you to buy), and I think I might also have some of them unlock automatically the first time the player beats the game, as a kind of reward.

Okay, then. I'm looking forward to plunging forward and getting to work on the next section. It starts with a bang, which marks a major turning point in the narrative. And then I'll be able to tie up a few loose ends. We're not at the end of the game yet, but we're definitely into the second half now. Onward and upward!

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 6.0) - Ice & Fire
Download (426 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 5.0) Earth & Sea

With this release, what I'm calling the second of five acts in the narrative progression of my game has been re-implemented. Earth was pretty much already done, but the sea portion is very elaborate, with multiple scripted scenes (including the most complex one up to this point in the game), as well as the introduction of another playable character. So I'm happy to get it finished, and to get this release out so that the work will be backed up. In order to even things up, since the next act has another big dramatic setpiece, I already started working a little bit on the next section, just like last time. I expect that it should all even out by the next release.

I've also put a little bit of work into adding something I toyed with early on, which involves giving the player a small number of choices throughout the game, in order to guide and prioritize the relationships the protagonist forms with the other playable characters. I want to keep it minor - don't think for a second that this is anything remotely close to a "dating sim" element - because I know what kind of chaos multiple paths can introduce into a project in a short amount of time. (And, it goes without saying, this is an action/adventure RPG, not a dating simulator). So it's not going to majorly affect the course of the narrative, but I like the idea of giving the player just a little bit of power to indulge their preferences for some characters over others, which will ultimately manifest in how the ending plays out. Which gives me the opportunity to explore different outcomes for the story I'm creating, as well as boost replayability a little bit (along with being able to keep the alternate outfits you collect, and use them in subsequent playthroughs). As I said, I'm trying to keep it small, and I don't know yet if it'll actually work out in the end, but it's something I'm working on.

On to the download! I fully intend to be back again in yet another week or so, with the next release. My goal is to finish not just the Pacifism version of my game, but ideally the next form of it after that, before the weather turns nice and I get the urge to step away from my computer and spend more time outdoors. I think I can do it - although it may take longer if I decide to script the ending, while I'm working on all these narrative elements. But maybe by next fall, I'll be ready to get serious about making the combat work. I'm not gonna say the ending is in sight just yet, but a shape is beginning to form on the horizon!

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 5.0) - Earth & Sea
Download (426 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 4.0) - The Fertile Valley

Once again, this is another intermediary release. I could have waited until I completed the next big objective, but since these releases also act as a backup (which really saved my skin once when I was working on Ascension, and my project file got corrupted), I want to save my progress periodically. I'm in the process of restoring narrative progression to my game - which means adding in dialogue, dramatic cutscenes, and all the triggers that gate your progress through the game (and also give meaning to your journey through the world). At the end, it should mean an otherwise complete game from start to finish, that just doesn't have any combat elements whatsoever. (One possible exception is that I haven't scripted the ending yet - I feel like that's the thing I should do last, before the game is done; but I might change my mind).

Anyway, speaking in terms of both dramatic and geographic progression, my game can logically be split up into five "acts" (or chapters). This release has completed all the dramatic elements from the first act (and a tiny bit from the second), which is enough to really get the game underway. I'm pausing here to post a release before moving on, because there is some pretty involved choreography in the second and third acts, and I want to save what I have before I dive in to that. I don't know exactly how I'm gonna divide up the rest of the acts in terms of releases yet, but you can expect another two or three releases before the Pacifist version of my game is done.

After that, I'm going to enjoy bringing the monsters back in (I've already laid most of the groundwork), and set up encounter behavior. That will encompass one last unfinished release before I sink my teeth into the numbers (for combat), after which I'll need to do heavy testing for proper balance. Oh, and the skill animations. I keep trying to block that part out of my mind (lol). I'm still not officially recommending you play these versions of my game - you should wait for that ultimate combat-ready release (or, barring that, the one before it, so you can at least see the monsters), but as before, I can't stop you if you just want to take a peek. I decided to keep the open world option available, with all the narrative stuff stripped out (but more NPCs now) - you just have to make a one time choice when you start the game.

That's it! See you, hopefully, in another week or two!

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 4.0) - The Fertile Valley
Download (427 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith 3.0 (Between Solipsism and Pacifism)

This is another intermediary release, before the next big one. I'm sticking with the same numbering convention, because it feels like a natural continuation from the last one. However, I can no longer call these versions "solipsist" anymore, as I've begun (slowly, at first) adding more people into the world. The next subtitle I have picked out is Pacifism, because the idea is to build up a version of the game that's more or less complete, minus the (admittedly significant) inclusion of combat. As of now, it's still largely an open world, but for the next update, I'm going to work on returning the spine of narrative progression to my game. Indeed, many of the changes in this version, while significant, may be only minimally noticeable to the player, as a lot of it is back-end infrastructure that will provide a lot of support as I move forward. Nevertheless, here's what's been added to this latest release:

*The Developer's Studio has returned, and the prologue is back up and running again!
*Warp skills are fully implemented.
*Torchlight has been added to more dungeons.
*I've worked out a lot of the atmospherics and weather effects, which look great. - though many of them are, unfortunately, hidden by triggers I've not implemented yet.
*Although it's still a work in progress, I have a fully functional debug menu. Not designed for player use, but it'll help me enormously (indeed, it already has), as I continue to build and test my game.
*Name change has been implemented.
*Clerks have been hired for the shops (but they don't have anything to sell yet).
*All playable characters are now recruitable (not that it makes any more than a superficial difference in this version of the game).
*The wardrobe manager is fully functional - so you can change your characters' outfits. (Although, again, many of them are as yet inaccessible - at least without the debug menu).
*You can take in a stage show at the lounge (if you can find a ticket) - now with improved choreography!

I think that covers the main highlights. Still very few people, and almost no dialogue - but that'll be the focus of my next update. Back to the grindstone! (It feels great to actually have tangible progress I can show off when I say that now).

Dragonfaith (Pacifism) 3.0
Download (427 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Solipsism 2.0)

This isn't the next big update I promised, but it's still a significant revision to my last release. I'm calling it Solipsism 2.0, as it follows the same philosophy as the last one - open world - but with some considerable improvements. Here's what's changed:

*More interactive objects, including signs (but no people yet).
*The canoe is now working, which opens up two more dungeons.
*In select areas, you can now go swimming, and walk behind waterfalls.
*Fog and weather effects have been implemented.
*Dark areas now feature torch light.
*You can now go ice skating, and visit the hot springs.
*Spike traps are functional.
*The custom balloon vehicle is operational.
*I've implemented some fairly complex behavior involving the airship.
*The modular world map item is fully functional, complete with compass and landmarks.

I wanted to do everything I reasonably could in this solipsistic version of my RPG, before I move on to the next stage, and add in a lot more functionality with more switches and variables and common events and items, etc. The next major milestone will be a version of this game that's less an open world, with regular progression restored. Also, people - dialogue, dramatic events. Basically everything except combat-related functions. As I said before, that will take a little more time, but stay tuned! We're taking this one step at a time, and each step gets us closer to the finish line!

Dragonfaith (Solipsism) 2.0
Download (427 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

Dragonfaith (Solipsism)

I'm very excited to announce my first Dragonfaith release in - what, eight years? I want to temper your expectations, though. It's not a full game. It's not even really a partial game. This is just the first step in the process of creating a fresh project, so I can tidy things up a bit, and eliminate some of the waste that's collected over the years. Think of it as a disk defrag for my project file. Anyway, as I slowly build my game back up from an empty file (by selectively copying all the work I've already done - not redoing it), I'm getting closer and closer to having a finished product. And that, alone, is exciting!

So, what this release is - it's an open world. All the maps in my game, freely explorable. No combat. No NPCs. Nothing really to interact with. You can just walk around and check out the world I've created. Now, there are a couple of maps that are partly or wholly inaccessible, just because they require functionality that I haven't added back in yet (e.g., the canoe). I'm going to work on doing that for the next release. Officially, I don't actually recommend you play this version of the game. I just want to make it available as a backup, in case I drop dead tomorrow. But I can't stop you from downloading it and taking a peek. :-p

Do look forward to the next release, though. It'll probably take a little longer, as the process becomes more complex. My vision is to add a lot of that functionality back in - like getting the canoe working, and activating all the atmospherics. Ultimately, I want to have a game that's otherwise complete, start to finish, minus all the combat mechanics - which is the next thing that I'll have to hammer out before the game is done. I've already got the enemies, troops, and equipment mostly worked out, so it'll be a lot of tweaking numbers. Oh, and also designing animations for the battle skills. Not looking forward to that, but it's gotta be done. Stay tuned!

Dragonfaith (Solipsism) 1.0
Download (426 MB): Windows [see sidebar for latest release]

World Map Progress

Would you believe it if I said my New Year's resolution for 2025 was to finally finish my world map?

What if I told you I'd been working on it extensively over the past month, and that it's already finished? Would you believe it?

Well, it's true. I mean, I could still decide to make modifications in the future, but the important thing is that it's functional, it's complete, and it looks great!

Unfortunately, you'll have to take my word for it, because I don't want to spoil the sense of discovery you'll get from exploring it when you finally get to play my game.

So, what's next? Now that the mapping for my game is officially complete, the next step will be to start a fresh project (which I haven't done in five years) to clean things up - with the hope that this will be the last time.

I still have a lot of tinkering to do with the combat mechanics and mathematics, which will require a lot of testing. But I want to put out a combat-free version of my game, so that if I drop dead and never make it to the finish line, there will at least be a version of my game out there that people can play - to explore the extensive work I've put into mapping this game over the last too many years. So all that work won't have been for naught.

I'm looking forward to getting the combat functioning properly, but it's a big job, and even without it, I've created this exciting world that you can just get lost in. And I want to be able to feature that, regardless of what happens from here on out.

Update: It's only been two days, but now that I actually have a world map, I spent some time implementing a map function in my game. I added a compass and beacons that flash to show where you're at, and where all the important landmarks are - which I designed after the way the map functions in Final Fantasy 1 (Tceles B Hsup).

Except that my map is an item you can pick up and select from the inventory menu. The unique part is that it's modular. I split it up so that you can pick up pieces of the map to gradually fill in the whole picture. That way, the player still has the advantage of having a guide on where to go, without spoiling the entire adventure right from the start. It's working great, and I'm really excited about it!

Ten Years Gone (& Dragon Island)

On this day ten years ago, I published my first post on this blog - a short introduction to Dragonfaith - followed less than a week later by the first ever demo release (which was basically a way of showing off my excitement after creating my very first town). I had only just started developing in RPG Maker, which I had asked for the previous Christmas, in anticipation of finally putting my plans of constructing my own RPG (based on the Final Fantasy games I had loved in my youth) into action. Truth be told, I had been brainstorming concepts for an RPG going back to the turn of the millennium (if you can believe some of the earliest time stamps I'm looking at), but not all of those ideas have survived the refinement process. A lot of it is lore (especially creation myths) and game mechanics (specifically outlining the magic system), little of which resembles the game in its current form. Suffice to say, it's hard to pin a date on when this game first formulated out of the jumble of thoughts I've been carrying around in my head for the majority (entirety?) of my adult life (although further searching reveals a document titled "dragonfaith.txt" dated 7/16/2005 that lays out much of the conceptual groundwork for the game), but the day I created the project file in RPG Maker marks a significant milestone early in the development (as opposed to conceptual) phase of the process.

It's humbling to acknowledge that ten years have passed since that day, but these things take time, and I'm just one amateur working on a pet project in my free time. And you can rest assured that I am still working on it. I could stand to spend more time in front of the screen during the summer, when other activities (like getting fresh air and sunshine while exercising outdoors) take priority, but I do enjoy coming back to this world every winter when I'm stuck inside at my desk anyway. In fact, after posting my latest Cacowards update just before the New Year, I made a conscious decision to put the series on temporary hiatus (though I look forward to getting back to it at some unspecified point in the future), because I realized that's time I could be spending in RPG Maker. And though it's a mammoth of a project, every little step I take gets me closer to the finish line.

Here's a short update on my progress since the last report. I mentioned working on some of the game mechanics; one problem in particular laid me flat (I still have tabs related to it open in my browser, even though I haven't worked on it for months), involving a superficial modification to the status icon display during battle. It's just another in a long line of issues that demonstrates two things: 1) that although RPG Maker claims to give you the power to, well... make RPGs right out of the box, there are a lot of functional and stylistic limitations that you have to deal with, and 2) the program seems to be more inspired by Dragon Quest than Final Fantasy, causing me to frequently have to bend the engine in pretzels (if I can even figure out how to do that) just to get the game to run smoothly in a way that feels familiar and like the experience that I want to give the player. It's frustrating.

In any case, although I said I was going to set it aside for the time being, I have instead re-dedicated myself to completing the all-important world map. (At the very least, I will someday have a project that you can explore from start to finish, even if there are no combat mechanics). Barring later revisions, everything else in the game is mapped out, so it's do or die. At least as far as mapping goes, I have nothing left to turn to as a distraction from the thing I should be working on. It's an enormous task encompassing an unprecedented level of challenge, but it has to get done. And I'm going to sit with it until it is. I hope. I've tried lots of methods to help me carve out these landmasses and coastlines, and right now I'm working on magnifying a smaller, simplified version of the map in increments, fleshing out the details before advancing to the next scale. It shows some promise. Meanwhile, I have framed prints of the world maps from the first six Final Fantasy games propped up beside me, so I can stare at them all day long in search of inspiration, and motivation.

I really wanted to have it finished in time for the tenth anniversary, but I forgot that was coming up (as I've alluded to before, my side hustle in photography keeps me insanely busy), and I've been dragging my butt. Still, I don't want to leave you empty-handed. So here's something I don't think I've shared yet (although in the past ten years, I could have forgotten). It's a bit of a spoiler, as it relates to the endgame - but it's not the final dungeon. It's actually part of the world map. So, to give you some context, I wanted to send the player through a variety of terrains leading up to the climax of the game (e.g., forest, desert, underground, volcano, mountain peak), as a sort of review or "final tour" of what the rest of the game has thrown at you - not unlike the Interdimensional Rift in Final Fantasy V - and related to the themes and pantheon of bosses in my game, which revolve around the elements. So, before I ever started working in RPG Maker, I pieced together a map of an island (or small continent), using individual tiles copied and pasted from Final Fantasy [1]. The original bitmap is dated back to 2006 (18 years ago!). I've already long since copied it into RPG Maker, but the final version will probably look a little different (it's one of the things I'm working on now). But here's the original:

Dragon Island

It's a proof of concept! Now, you'll have to excuse me. I've still got a lot of work left to do...

Completing the Final Dungeon

I was thinking that my last Dragonfaith update was last year around Memorial Day, but it turns out that was two years ago. The update I was actually thinking about was from February of last year. In any case, I wanted to check in again and report that I've finished mapping out the final dungeon. It was a monumental effort - I'm not sure whether I should be proud or embarrassed that it took me a year to complete, but it's not like I've been working on it every day (this past summer was another busy photography season).

Now all that's left in the mapping department is an even more monumental effort - the world map. I've reconstructed overworld maps from the first six Final Fantasy games in RPG Maker as practice (do you recognize them?), but I still find the mechanics of the process of structuring landmasses (and the terrain they contain) to be intimidatingly inscrutable (oh, if I could pick the brains of the team members who developed these maps). There's just such a large canvas to work with. But I'll keep trying.

And anyway, in the meantime, I just might start working on hammering out the combat elements as a distraction (I'm never so productive as when I'm performing a task in order to avoid working on a different task), and slowly piecing together everything else in this game beyond the maps. I know how the world map is generally going to function, and I know every important element that will be in it, so I don't think I need it to be completed to work on the other stuff. This is where I've really gotta start making decisions and laying out a plan for progression re:items and weapons and growth and things like that.

I'm ruing the day I ever decided to take on this project singlehandedly - although truthfully, I enjoy working on it. I like going into my own little world; it's a pleasant escape from reality. But the pressure of needing to eventually end up with a completed game just builds and builds with every passing year. However, thinking of the alternative - spending all this time and work and never having anything to show for it - is no less dreadful. (And I'd love to show you more of what I have completed, but I'm always torn because I don't want to spoil the experience of playing the game). So I'll keep chugging along.

I can but hope that I'll have something more substantial to report next year on the 10th anniversary of starting this voyage (at least in RPG Maker - I brainstormed it even before that). Don't expect a completed game - but maybe by the 15th anniversary? I don't want to spend the rest of my life working on it, and I want at least someone to be able to test it (at the very least) before we're all resting in our graves...

Welcome to the Endgame

As predicted, my productivity (working on Dragonfaith) waned over the summer, after leaving COVID lockdown (before Delta and then Omicron started making waves). But then, around the time of New Year's, in the dead of winter, progress picked back up, as it tends to do. I've completed mapping a major dungeon, the last two towns, and a couple of outposts since my last update. Do you know what that means? It's on to the endgame dungeons! I don't want to overstate my progress - there is still a lot of work to do outside of the mapping department (particularly with combat), and the world map is still a hurdle in my path - but I have a game that's almost completely mapped out!

Granted, the final dungeon is going to be a behemoth. There are multiple stages, that the player will be able to tackle progressively (because I want it to feel monolithic, while still being manageable). As always, I don't want to spoil too much, but the initial stage involves three floors, the intermediate section will be a tower with several [smaller] floors, and then the final section leading to the climax will be a sprawling labyrinth ("labyrinth" may be an exaggeration, in case you were getting worried; I just wanted it to sound dramatic). I'm quite excited to finally get started on it after all these years.

Return to Dragonfaith (with Progress!)

Although this blog has been silent for the past year (since my beta release of Ascension), that does not mean that I haven't been busy. I've just been following the philosophy of working more and talking about working less. Moving on from Ascension was a perfect opportunity to return with full focus to Dragonfaith, aided by the longterm stability of my schedule during COVID lockdown (without the ever-present distraction of the outside world intruding into my life). That is now changing (for better and worse), since I have received the vaccine and am re-entering society. Which means this would be a good point to document the progress I've made in the past year.

For many years now, since I upgraded from RPG Maker VX Ace to the new version RPG Maker MV (which by now has already been replaced with RPG Maker MZ - but I'm not upgrading again), I've been locked into the process of transferring everything I'd already completed in VX Ace over to MV. Well, I'm happy to report that I am finally finished with that phase and am developing new areas of my game again. I've completed five new dungeons in the past year (I take pride in my level design, and a lot of time and effort goes into creating a dungeon from a blank page), and I spent over a month last holiday season compiling combat-related graphics, which also means that I have my full enemy roster (including bosses) pretty much picked out.

What's next? Lifting quarantine restrictions (and more trips and social visits) means I will unfortunately be more distracted and less focused, but I'm going to continue on the path I'm walking - finishing up the mapping (I'm getting towards the endgame now). I've also been drafting scenario as I go (which means writing dialogue and also choreographing cutscenes). When I'm finished with the adventure and dramatic aspects of my game, then I can turn my full focus to the action - engineering the combat and tweaking numbers until I have a functional RPG on my hands. That's the part when you'll be able to start testing it.

For the first time since I started developing this game (a sobering seven years ago), before I knew how much work went into making an RPG (especially all by one's self), I can envision a day when it's complete in a playable format, from start to finish (with the same disclaimers I gave for Ascension - it will never be perfect, but at some point you have to put the brush down). I've taken to updating a checklist to give me a [very] rough idea of how far through the development process I am, to inspire me to keep working toward that goal. And also to show that I haven't just been sitting on my hands these past seven years, since I've taken on this mammoth project (to be completed in my free time). Without spoling too many details of the game, here's a chart of my progress:

Mapping:

World Map............................................ incomplete*
Towns/Outposts....................................... 11/13 complete
Dungeons............................................. 13/17 complete

*I know where all the important stuff goes, but filling out a 256x256 tile grid is proving to be a monumental challenge.

Writing:

Scenario/Choreography................................ ~25/32 scenes drafted*
NPC Dialogue......................................... on the light side**
Menu Captions........................................ on the light side**

*This category is approximate since I may feel it necessary to add/remove (more likely add) dramatic moments to the game as I go along.

**This is largely flavor text that I can fill in once the world (and combat mechanics) are more fully realized.

Graphics:

Enemies.............................................. pretty much complete
Battle Backgrounds................................... pretty much complete
Tilesets/Characters.................................. pretty much complete
Skill Animations..................................... indeterminate*

*Animations can be a lot of work, but it depends on how much customization I opt for (which I won't know until I dive more deeply into the combat).

Combat:

Equipment (Items/Weapons/Armor)...................... partially implemented
Skills/States........................................ partially implemented
Enemies/Troops....................................... partially implemented
Math (Growth Curves/Damage Formulas)................. ???

This last category is going to take a lot of work (and may require some coding for unique effects). I've been putting it aside while working on the mapping (although I have a rough outline for much of it, and have worked on bits and pieces of it here and there), but it represents the final hurdle between me and completion. Add to that the world map, and the endgame maps/scenario (which is next on my plate), and that's mainly what I have left to do. So now I'm going to get back to work!

World Map Analysis

It occurs to me that perhaps instead of just reconstructing these world maps, it might do to analyze them in some detail. If you haven't guessed yet, the first one is the world map from the original Final Fantasy, and the second one (hereafter referred to as "Alefgard") is the world map from the very first Dragon Quest/Warrior game. It's not entirely fair to compare these two games side by side, as Final Fantasy came after Dragon Quest, and represents a slight evolution over the earlier game (and is more comparable to Dragon Quest II), but that doesn't mean I can't discuss their differences.

Firstly, the FF world map is twice as large as Alefgard (256 pixels square vs. 128). But this is forgivable because in DQ, you have to walk everywhere, and you have to start from the same central location every single time (it's the only place you can save your game). Final Fantasy, on the other hand, features a ship for sea travel, and also an airship. As a result, Alefgard is a lot more "landlocked" than the world of Final Fantasy, where you can fly around and sail the high seas.

This distinction is relevant to my own RPG, because I've been debating whether to make my world map more landlocked (which is my first instinct, given how I envision the world in my head - and is more like the world we live in, I think - or at least the part of it I'm familiar with), or to mimic the style of the Final Fantasy games I am most heavily inspired by, with lots of wispy peninsulas and the like. I think that ultimately the decision will come down to what works best for my game, and I think that it will most likely turn out to be more landlocked than the FF map I've reproduced, but not quite so landlocked as Alefgard, since sea and air travel are still major elements of my game.

This may be headed slightly into off-topic territory, but another distinction my game has from the Final Fantasies I am inspired by is the fact that in those games, typically the world map represents the whole world (albeit sometimes with room in the game for other worlds, like underworlds and alternate dimensions and such). In my game, I want to give the player the sense that they may only be exploring part of the world they're in - just the part they have access to - since the plot is about rediscovering the world after the collapse of civilization. Also, I've reserved a whole separate "continent" (though maybe more of a large island) for the final stages of the game, and I want to keep it hidden and off limits until the player gets to a certain point. As such, though I may grant them versions of sea and air travel earlier, I have to contain their voyaging to a point so as to prevent them from entirely getting the sensation, as you do in Final Fantasy games, of sailing around the world and coming back to where you started. Yet, I still want to maintain that sense of heading out to sea, getting disoriented, and not knowing where you are. I had a great idea for a "deep sea" zone that's actually separate from the main world map, but the loss of the instantaneous map transfer ability in RPG Maker MV would make it clunky and dispel the illusion of sailing in a world that's much bigger than the actual map you're exploring.

Sigh, I don't have a solution to this problem as of yet, and it's something I'll have to figure out before the game is done. Ah well. I think that's enough analysis for now. I've already gone into depth about how much I love the game flow (which relates, in part, to how the world is set up) in the original Final Fantasy. Until next time!

World Mapping

I made a breakthrough the other day on some of the background and plot details for a significant dramatic turn in my RPG that occurs later in the game, past where I've done most of my work so far. I got some great dialogue written down for a confrontation that I'm really excited about. I wish I could finish working on this game already so I could show it to you. But it's a behemoth of a project. I'm finding that, as much as I can piece together some pretty neat maps, it's such a task and a chore, and more often than not it's the thing that's holding me back from making faster progress on my game. Simply put, I wish I could hire a mapper - somebody to take leads from me, but with a talent (and more of an enjoyment, rather than dread), for putting together game worlds of this sort. But, there's no point in wasting time complaining - I just gotta get it done, like it or not.

And on that subject, I've been thinking about world maps lately. I really want to put my world map together. I have a pretty strong idea of everything I want to be on there (even if I haven't mapped out the interiors of all the towns and dungeons yet), but it's such a colossal task, putting a whole world together, tile by tile. I can't decide whether it'd be better to work top-down as my instinct suggests (i.e., get a general idea of where everything sits and then fill in the details), or from the bottom up, piecing some tiles together here and there and seeing where they end up fitting together (not really my style). But one of the problems is that I'm not 100% sure where I want everything to go, especially in relation to everything else. I've sketched out the different areas - call them "countries" - on paper several times, and shuffled them around. But some of the game details, like how you get from A to B, and when you need to have access to C, will affect where things should be placed, and I guess I'm still not 100% confident about all of that.

Still, I've come to the realization that you can't expect yourself to be good at something the first time you've ever done it. And mapping is one thing, but creating world maps provides its own unique challenges. So I've decided that I should start out by practicing putting some world maps together, using some of the maps from the very games that serve as my primary inspiration (i.e., classic, 2D VG RPGs such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest/Warrior). At this point, it's just a copy job, so I'm not getting any practice using my creativity and imagination, but it's like starting out learning guitar by playing other people's songs. And copying huge 256 tile square maps is a daunting task (although I find it strangely relaxing - I could go in a trance and map like this for hours). But I think that digging in and getting my hands into the nitty gritty, examining these maps literally tile by tile, and seeing how the experts do it, will help me to build something of a muscle memory, and hone my instincts on what works well and what doesn't. So that when it comes time to design my own world map, it won't feel so much like I'm jumping out of a plane without a parachute.

So here's what I've completed so far, using RPG Maker MV's native tiles. Fans of the real old school RPGs will surely recognize them (hint, they're from games I've already reviewed right here on this blog). I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to do more or leave it at that (it takes a lot of time, but then I've drawn lots of inspiration from the SNES-era Final Fantasies, and they have some great world maps - especially FFV). It's tempting to just copy these games start to finish, because I love them so much, but while that would be good practice for putting an RPG together, it would be kind of pointless, as those games already exist... Ah well. here's this:

Can you name these worlds? :-3

Positive Progress

In keeping with the positive spirit of progress, here are a few more things I've accomplished on my RPG lately:

1) I think I've filled out one of my character's skill lists - with a full window of 16 skills - which is a big (albeit early) step toward conceptual completion (and it's pushing me toward completing the other characters' skill lists). I've also pulled off a neat little trick in the course of implementing some of those skills - using states, and a plugin to change the default Attack command that appears in battle. I'm aiming for some amount of variety across the seven playable characters in my game - I don't want them all to feel the same. I haven't worked out all the details yet - because they're narrative characters (like in FFIV) and not figureheads (like in FFI) - but I'm hoping to give the player some choice in the ultimate lineup of their final team.

This particular character is an archer, and I don't want to spoil all the surprises, but her fighting style is heavily influenced by the Ranger profession in Guild Wars. I've successfully implemented a couple of "stances", and a few "preparations" (e.g., poison arrow, fire arrow). Instead of one-off special attacks, these are technically states that can be applied to temporarily modify this character's regular attack for a limited number of turns. It's a fun way to fight, and it gives her a unique playing style that hasn't been duplicated by any other characters in my game so far.

2) As irreversibly enmeshed into the MV iteration of RPG Maker as I am now, I could still rant at length about the things that irritate me about it, mostly tied to its dedication to mobile gaming - which requires streaming resources, and often results in sloppy gameplay, with the tradeoff of having to live with either a lot of jerkiness or loading screens. Thankfully, the Preload Manager + WebAudioCache combination of plugins has solved (to an acceptable extent) the BGM Delay issue I was having; although there is still no (and will probably never be) a solution to the not-so-"instantaneous" map transfer delay problem that's been particularly hounding progress on my other game, Ascension.

But I was becoming frustrated with even the regular screen fade transitions, when I loaded up VX Ace, and having used MV exclusively for a long time, the consistency and reliability of the smooth transitions in the older program absolutely amazed me. After some testing, I discovered that out of the box, MV's post-transition screen fadeins are often jerky, while using the Preload Manager (which is mandatory for syncing the BGMs in your game) causes the transition to pause a little bit between maps while the game does its loady thing. But what's annoying is that the game doesn't actually pause, it just hangs for about half a second, and then, as if trying to catch up, completely skips the fadein more often than not.

Perhaps a casual player wouldn't even notice it, but as a developer and lead tester, it began to drive me crazy. Is it too much to ask for a program that doesn't look buggy when you play it? Anyway, I found a workaround, even if it meant redoing all the map transfers in my game. In case you're interested, all you have to do is give up on the fade that's built in to the Map Transfer event command. Use a manual Fadeout before the transfer, and a Fadein after, but stick a 30 frame Wait command between the transfer and the Fadein to give the game time to catch up, before it moves on to the fade. Give it a try. The result is consistent and reliable fades. As somebody with OCD, it makes me much happier.

3) In my game, I have two skills planned that are based on the Warp and Exit spells from the first Final Fantasy. The difference between them is that Warp will send you back one floor, while Exit will send you all the way to the start of the dungeon you're in. They're good "quick escape" skills, also useful as a way to transport the player out of a dungeon once it's completed, without having to backtrack all the way to the entrance, and in lieu of thematically-appropriate dungeon-end teleports (as encountered in some dungeons in Final Fantasy). And, in the spirit of Dragon Quest's inclusion of skills that are useful outside of battle, I also want them available as shortcuts for use in towns and potentially on the World Map as well.

The Exit skill was easy enough to implement, by storing map and location info in variables every time the player enters (or exits) a town or dungeon. The Warp skill was a little trickier, however, as it needs to trigger on each floor, and I also want the player to be able to "stack" warps to travel multiple floors (if they have the resource points) - so the game needs to remember where the player has been and in what order. And rather than allocating a specific number of variables, I figured it would be more versatile to resort to storing an array inside a game variable, like I did in the course of implementing my Wardrobe Manager - although it involves more trial and error since I have to access the contents of the variable using script calls. But it's working!

4) On the subject of clever implementations involving skills useful outside of battle (although these ones are directly related to battle), I've just completed another challenge. One of the foundational skills in my game is a skill called Hunt, which gives the player the ability to force a random encounter (provided one is possible on whatever tile the player is standing on). This may not sound like the funnest skill, but I intend for it to dovetail with my game's encounter system - I'm just not sure exactly how...yet. In any case, it can be used to save the ambitious player time and embarrassment walking around in circles, should they want to fight enemies to boost their characters' levels, or collect special item drops.

Anyway, I have a couple of other skills planned that are in that family, one of which is directly inspired by the Repel skill from Dragon Quest, which reduces the random encounter rate (in that game, primarily to avoid wasting time fighting enemies below your level). But the one I'm most excited about is the one I've just programmed, which is a "Bait" skill. In many Final Fantasys, there are certain rare enemy encounters - especially in late-game dungeons - that promise valuable rewards for the persistent adventurer. The prestige awarded by these encounters (going all the way back to WarMech, if not earlier) makes them alluring, but I've never been fond of having to play the odds.

To wit, the best player could walk up and down the bridge in Sky Castle, battle 60 troops of enemies, and not encounter WarMech once, all on account of bad luck. This might be justifiable in a multiplayer online game, where you have a sort of players' economy, but at a certain point you have to just throw your hands up and say, "come on, already!" That's why, although I think these encounters should still be earned (which is why the Bait skill will be a late-game acquisition), I think there should be a point where the game says, "ok, you've earned this." And that's where Bait comes in.

Bait works just like Hunt - by forcefully initiating a random encounter - but not before performing a tricky bit of code math. I already had to add in some new functions related to the game's back-end encounter variables for the Hunt skill, in order to determine when the Hunt skill should be able to be used. But for Bait, I went even further, by taking the list of applicable encounters on any given tile (as determined by the developer on the map properties) and reversing the probability "weights" of each troop, so that when you initiate the next encounter, the common enemies will become rare, and the rare enemies will become common. You'll have to excuse me if I think that's just brilliant! And it works! Hey, I'm pretty excited.

(Now, if I could just pick up the slack in the mapping department...)

On The Bright Side

You'll be pleased to hear that one of my New Year's resolutions is to get back into working on my RPG in earnest. I've been thinking about it a lot. The details of the final dungeon are beginning to form more clearly in my head (which is not to say that everything leading up to it is finished :-p), and it's one of the many things about my game that I'm very excited about. I've been studying some of the more sinister dungeons from Final Fantasy IV - namely the Towers of Zot and Bab-il - for inspiration (I love that the Tower of Bab-il is so tall, that not only does it connect the Underworld to the Overworld, but it actually consists of two major dungeons in the game - one going up from the bottom, and another coming down from the top!). FFVI may be my favorite Final Fantasy, but I've been drawing a lot of inspiration for my RPG from the games that preceded it; especially the first one (because it's always good to start with the basics), and the fourth - which has an appealing balance of simple mechanics and a good, dramatic storyline.

You know, when I started working with RPG Maker, I had thought that more people would be using the program as I assume it was primarily intended - to create Dragon Quest/Final Fantasy-style classic RPGs. I love those old games, and I regret that technology has pushed us forward into the 3-D, polygonal, massively multiplayer paradigm of modern RPGs. I'd rather Square release another SNES-era Final Fantasy - with a new story and characters (not one of those lame-o 3-D portable sequels) - than give us more of the innovation we've been getting since FFVII and onward, that increasingly pushes us away from that classic gameplay style. Now, if Square won't do it, I'd take an amateur substitution. Enter RPG Maker. But it seems to me that most serious developers (i.e., the ones who actually complete their games, and are any good) are interested in using the engine to develop unique gaming experiences (often not even in the RPG format, and with an original graphical style). I mean, in terms of creating original content, and building your brand and reputation as a game designer, this is the way to go. But what I really want to see is a fan community like, say, the one Doom has, which spends its time creating new content entirely in the style of the classics, for all the fans who liked the game just the way it was way back when, but would love to have new things to experience within that realm.

Ah well. If I ever finish my RPG (and I do hope I will), I'll be contributing to that at least. It's easy to get daunted by the task of single-handedly putting together a classic 2-D RPG, not to mention surmounting the many obstacles RPG Maker MV insists on throwing one's way. But I was surprised to remind myself of some of the things I've already accomplished. The Wardrobe Manager is pretty much complete, and working entirely as intended. It's a mainly superficial mod to the game - the ability to give your characters alternate outfits - but one that is nevertheless very important to me, because I think dressing your character up in alternate outfits (and picking the one you like best) is a lot of fun. I was having problems implementing it in VX Ace, if you recall, but I found a plugin for MV that basically single-handedly makes it possible, by using "placeholder" graphics that are replaced on the fly. It's ingenious! Of course, I still had to do a lot of work to get the manager running - including the clever usage of an in-game variable as a multidimensional array (accessed exclusively via script calls). But it's running!

I've done a little coding, too. Nothing on the level of last spring's Peep skill (which was a landmark for me), but in lieu of waiting for a plugin to be ported from VX Ace to MV, I found a far more complex alternative and reverse-engineered it to do just the thing I wanted it to do (which is allow for a conditional check before using items - so that, for example, the game won't let you use a Tent when you're not on the overworld map, or other designated spaces). I've also just completed a new modification to the encounter system, partially inspired by the Repel skill in the original Dragon Quest, which causes the random encounter rate to gradually reduce to zero as your characters level up to a point beyond the local average (determined by my usage of Region ID) - so that you're not constantly being hounded by weaklings (e.g., level 1 Slimes) that aren't even worth spending the time to squash under your boot. I'm still not 100% decided on all the details of how I want the encounter system in my game to run, but having this capability puts me one step closer to figuring it all out. :-)