Sheri

its worth fighting for ๐ŸŒท

Writer of word both truth and tale. Video producer, editor, artist, still human. Hire me?

Check #writeup for The Good Posts.
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Slowly making a visual novel called We Will Not See Heaven, demo is free. Sometimes I stream, or post adult things. Boys' love novel enthusiast. Take care, yeah?

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TECH CAN ONLY BE AS KIND TO US AS WE ARE TO ONE ANOTHER.


๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ blog
sherishaw.net/blog
๐Ÿ“‰ tips?
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smal
@smal

Current state of the project โ†‘ , most of the graphics are currently based on packs by GibbonGL

Ever since I've first played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (PMD) a couple years ago the idea of making my own take on the concept is one of those things that has been bouncing around my head like a DVD screensaver.

For those unfamiliar, the PMD spin-offs are story driven JRPGs where combat takes the form of short roguelike dungeons, along with nice music and a cute vibe (also you play as talking Pokemon :o). Project Pastel is then, the placeholder name for my attempt at doing my very own (very hobbyist and casually developed) take on the concept, a way to learn more about different areas of gamedev and maybe even make a cool game in the process, this cohost post is an overall introduction at what my current goals and plans are with this silly overambitious thing.

Warning: bunch of text ahead


๐ŸŽฎ Gameplay

Let's start by going clean and admitting that this is my first roguelike, I'm learning and do not know what I'm doing very much :p I'm deviating from what the PMD games (and several other roguelikes) do and have a game that is more focused on positioning and item management rather than sheer character stats and gear, I want to reduce things to a "simple" base with few variables that work in a way that allow for more complex behaviors and dynamics to organically occur, and overall has less variables at play. Hoplite, though a very different style of rogue, is an inspiration for the sort of combat dynamics I hope to have (Pastel will be kind of a middle-point between the 2 styles).

Some of the enemies currently in the demo already demonstrate this, outside of the purple cat guy, which is a standard cannon fodder weaker version of the player that the more gimmicky units synergize with, there are bomb enemies that start counting down when they get near the player, resulting in a area of effect explosion that can damage player and enemies alike (this makes for situations where you are forced to move and also where you can exploit them for free heavy damage to other baddies), there's also an orange bug enemy that can move and jump 2 tiles at a time with strong attacks and low hp, which can destroy your ability to cheese enemies by staying still in safety and mess you up if you don't take them into account (though the exact AI and movement of these bugs are still being figured out).

โ†‘ These orange guys attack you from 2 tiles away, not the best situation to be in

There's also the mechanics for how the line-of-sight works: I am following something inspired by the Mystery Dungeon setup with an approach I hope is both very easy to understand and that also leads to strategic and interesting play: You will have a straightforward circle around your character and, in addition, if you are inside a room, every tile in it will also be visible to you. Enemies share the same line-of-sight as you and you will always be able tell without doubt which floor tiles are tunnel tiles and which are room tiles as the dungeon tilesets clearly distinguish between the two (see graphics in gif above), so its all instantly predictable at a glance. From my limited testing, this fog system actually works pretty well and I'm very happy with it, when playing I'm finding myself often thinking a lot about the line of sight and strategically making myself visible or not to the enemies by stepping on certain tiles, to make the most of each situation and avoid damage (this works especially well because the generator often puts a few loose tunnel tiles/paths inside rooms). For an alpha that is this early in development/balance I feel this is looking very promising. I think it is cool!

In short, enemies, attacks and items will tend to work with more interesting target ranges and effects that go beyond the classic "hit the guy in front of you". The full game will probably also have things like party characters that follow behind the player, but at the moment I'm choosing to focus on other mechanics and developing the "engine" first before tackling these. I want to experiment with mechanics one at a time and observe the effects they have on the game rather than implementing them all at once.

๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ Art

As the above GIF and the Project Pastel name imply, this game will have a look inspired by the style that many GameBoy Color games had (a bit of a mix of the GB zeldas, pokemon and some other things). This choice was the combination of several factors:

  • Its a style that I really appreciate, there's just something about these washed out and oddly applied colors, the low resolution, and the boxy aspect ratio, that makes for an interesting and evocative aesthetic that I'd really like to explore in a game.
  • Its a relatively simple style that (hopefully) will allow for faster production and iteration on art.
  • Its a style for which I can find a plethora of existing references and asset packs (like the ones I've used so far), which I can then use as a reference and base to anchor and guide the rest of the game's art. As someone who isn't a particularly skilled and experienced artist, I can't stress enough how much of a world of difference this makes for me.

So its a sweet spot of both being something that I personally really dig and something that also actually feels somewhat manageable and doable within my limited skills and resources.

Now, how true the game will be to that console is still up in the air, I think I feel more interested in the aesthetic rather than making something that feels like a nostalgic past game from that console (a difference that is maybe minor but still worth noting imo), and also I'm probably gonna be doing things that push beyond what the GameBoy's PPU would realistically achieve within a game.

๐ŸŽต Music

I will be doing all of the music myself, the idea of writing soundtracks really appeals to me and a game where I have full control and no deadlines or pressures seems like the sorta environment I want to comfortably stretch my legs in (in some ways this game is a bit of excuse for me to write a soundtrack). I'm still not sure what to do in regards to instrumentation, mainly, will I go for more accurate GameBoy PSG or will I go anachronistic and use lofi samples?

There will be a lot of iteration and experimentation here and atm I don't have much to show yet. Stay tuned for future updates!

๐Ÿ“– Story

Haha, I know I said I was interested in making a story driven JRPG but I will be honest and say that this is actually by far the aspect that's the least developed right now (even more than the music). I do have quite a few things in mind when it comes to characters, plot points, and the setting, but everything is still not remotely set in stone. Even the overall tone/mood of the thing is undecided. I am not really a "writer" and this aspect of the experience will most likely be something that will be developed as everything around it takes shape, I do care for having interesting and compelling storytelling/setting, but I really can make zero promises on that front at this time.

But doom regarding my current lack of writing experience aside, I am actually very excited to start writing more and this project seems like a cool way to do it. And well, I'm the sorta of weirdo who finds appeal in challenging myself and stubbornly biting more than I can chew* :)

*(when I don't have any deadlines or pressures in place that is lol)

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Current Goals

Finally, my goal for this November is to make a working "engine demo", essentially this means a short game with a single dungeon and maybe a couple cutscenes. Something to develop a code base that can be extended to the eventually full sized game, and to get a better practical visceral understanding of what elements in terms of design/art/architecture go into creating something like this and what I can expect going forward.

Will this November demo be released for other people to play? Will it actually be done by the end of November? No clue! This thing is by far the largest game project I've ever attempted solo, and there are still many features I want to have for the demo that aren't here yet (items, inventory, minimap, etc), I am very very much flying blind and clueless here and going where the project takes me!

Anyways, there is still a ton I haven't talked about here, and I will be posting more (and probably shorter) posts as things that I feel are worth sharing or discussing pop up. With that said, if you've made it all the way down here, thank you for reading my cohost and have a nice day :p


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in reply to @smal's post:

I absolutely adore this project, thank you so much for the long write-up! Your wait-spin animation is so cute and the line-of-sight system is really smart and simplifying the rpg mechanics down to positioning is really cool

Huge props for working toward a playable demo deliverable first to get all your systems in place before starting on the larger thing too!