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Post by Yän on Mar 28, 2017 17:13:50 GMT -6
Great update all around. I'm quite interested in the dual-shopkeeper thing. Will we get certain discounts or different stuff to buy when Anne does the shopkeeping? When will that be? What will Dominique do during such times? Seems like it could weave the shop into the story in a pretty neat way so I'm looking forward to that. Alfred's appearance sort of looked like a very grim version of Nikolai from OoE to me. Just sort of my first impression though. So now there's a Baldwin in this universe too - I know IGA didn't make CotM but still... ^^
The updated stage... I wonder if that'll be another take on the village, making use of some of the feedback and concerns some folks were having.
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Post by Yän on Mar 25, 2017 22:54:13 GMT -6
I'm gonna respond to the things I care about most. Copy/Paste - I have no problem with repetition BUT there's a pretty big difference between the repetition of something like SOTN and something like Portrait of Ruin/Order of Ecclesia. When you get the same exact layout regurgitated but this time with different colors. That's not enough for me and it really makes it feel like quite the rush job and more like extra padding. Just a quick question regarding this... could you fill me in on where PoR or OoE reused entire level layouts? I never noticed that. I know HoD did that because that was its "gimmick" but didn't PoR and OoE have completely new Layouts with reused and colourswapped assets?
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Post by Yän on Mar 25, 2017 15:45:17 GMT -6
1. I don't mind reused assets throughout the game - if done well this can enhance the cohesive experience. If done badly / without variation this can however become too obvious and boring. However, since they're using Unreal's procedural capabilities, I don't believe that the reused Assets will look too repetitive. I'm working on a project in Unreal right now in which I'm building the game world out of only 7 different models and I can still avoid a repetitive look by making good use of some of the tools of Unreal's material editor and Blueprint-Systems. I believe that their techniques to generate variations are more sophisticated than mine so I'm not too worried about a too repetitive look.
2. While it can make the game- and level design quite a bit harder I do think that cleverly designed possibilities to use sequence breaks can enhance the feeling of adventure and free choice. I like the Idea of creating super difficult sections that are made easier by using certain items or abilities. However, this can also lead to problems with the story since if there would be scripted events and story moments during the sequence-breakable part, they'd potentially have to tinker with branching storylines which can be cool but will also afford to create more content than you'll ever see in your first playthrough. Still, I think that there's a lot of untapped potential in this one and I'd be interested to see their take on it if they decided to go this route.
3. I never used backtracking as a dirty / negative word. To me that was always part of a free, nonlinear gameplay and part of the fun. Sometimes, going through levels from the other direction can make for some quite interesting situations due to the change of perspective. I'm thinking that there will still be warp rooms as always to minimize any backtracking that would get too tedious - so again I'm not worried about this at all.
4. To me, it was always an amazing moment just to sort of see how far I had come since I first struggled with a boss that I can now defeat in a few hits. It's often a fun touch of realization: "Wow, this gave me trouble earlier and now I'm so badass, I'm just mowing through these guys!". However, this can be taken a bit too far and we get something like Aria of Sorrow with very few original and memorable bosses (for the record, I love that game but the bosses weren't quite my favourite part about it). It also has to be noted that some of the most interesting bosses simply cannot reappear outside of their respective context. Examples of this include Order of Ecclesia's Brachyura or Eligor, Dawn of Sorrow's Paranoia or Gergoth (I know Gergoth was reused in PoR but to me the fight didn't have even half of its power without the falling-sequence.), basically all Legion-Bosses and also all Story-Bosses. In conclusion I'd say, keep it at a fair balance, don't overdo it and it will be a nice touch.
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Post by Yän on Feb 9, 2017 14:32:04 GMT -6
Pure Miriam Let's hope you're right. In that aspect, Order of Ecclesia was very challenging (and I felt that Shanoa was quite squishy). It was a difficulty level many enjoyed, nonetheless. I felt many times it ended being a survival game set in a Castlevania world. In CSOTN, I never used potions. I relied on trying my best to not get hit at all, plus you needed jewels or money bags to buy what you needed (and I only aimed for the obligatory items like the Jewel of Open or Castle Map) some equips to gain advantage, such as accessories and cloaks and of course the Duplicator. I only bought the other pieces of equipment for my collection when I needed nothing else. Using food was awkward too (Ticket meal? Drop food on the floor and walk to it?* Really?), so I didn't use them either. Then there was this hidden trick. Overusing it meant a zero challenge game. In Portrait of Ruin, Vincent was selling potions. That said, Jonathan and Charlotte were the squishy duo too. Wasn't the cap at 9 for items there? I felt overwhelmed by some bosses in there too (yet way less than in OoE) 99 would totally kill the game too. The only moment of overkill healing was that Skull Bartender. You still had to know what to expect and do to not die from his "attacks", though. He was at a very specific room anyway.** Overall, healing self is indeed tricky in the Castlevania series, far from the convenience found in Final Fantasy games. If the cap of potions is maintained at 99, I picture people like Astaroth and @goobsausage trying to max it out (hey to you two!). Frankly, I wouldn't do that. Maybe Nightmare mode would be more manageable... but then it wouldn't be a nightmare, just some disturbing little dream (I just hope I will be able to handle that mode a little). And yes, the demo was pretty lenient in handing recovery items. You wouldn't even need them if you control Miriam correctly. Of course it shouldn't be that easy in the final version. *Then there were peanuts. Cool but totally ineffective during battle. Total madness. **"This one's for YOU!". You'd smack him and he'd slide all the way then crash on the floor. Good fun times. I agree with what you said but I don't get what you mean by "squishy". Care to elaborate?
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Post by Yän on Feb 8, 2017 19:14:31 GMT -6
i decidet to test the demo, as Yän proposed and, by farming Ethers from Amy, the game indeed has a 99 cap, it seems. I was able to get 10 Ethers. So, it may be lower but, the demo, at least, have 99 item cap. Thank you for testing! I'd say this settles this discussion for now. Maybe there will be some counter-balance in place such as potions being hard to aquire. We'll see. I'll trust IGA's instinct to make a game that plays and feels balanced until then.
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Post by Yän on Feb 5, 2017 14:46:55 GMT -6
I didn't like the level up system in Symphony of the Night. While it is probably more realistic, that doesn't automatically make it better. So I'd rather the standard system. As for inventory space, I'll be fine with it as long as there's no cap on the inventory itself. One of the most annoying occurrences in games is finding out my inventory is full and that I'll have to sell/drop some of my items. This wasn't an issue in any of the previous games, so I'm not worried about it, but it happens often enough in games now that I just had to mention it. I agree with all you said - good point about the global inventory cap. That would indeed be very annoying. Caps should of course be per item and not global.
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Post by Yän on Feb 5, 2017 14:44:45 GMT -6
@yän -Warning: Heavy Text Wall. Take your time decrypting it. Thanks- I have to admit I am still lost but I am slowly grasping what you mean here. Are you talking about intentionally inserted cheat codes by developers in their own game? If it is so, it is entirely up to the player to do it or not. It is not like if the character was force-blessed by a NPC to enter God Mode or so, or then it would be a parody of the genre (for it to be successful or not after is another question). Grinding, doing trial and error many times, checking on the Net for walkthroughs, FAQs and/or codes and using them in game, save scumming, exploit-farming, tool-assisted speedruns and use of cheating devices (I am sure I am missing some) are used to attain a goal in game, generally about finishing it. What would you consider legitimate or outright cheating a method in these cited? Personally, I don't bother too much about it, I would resort to the more basic techniques if I tend to be stuck (grinding, trial and error and at worst net-searching). For me, cheat codes are only for extending a game replayability. After that, would I brag if I finished a game using God Mode or so? I wouldn't. The same goes for using a cheating device or coding so much the game plays itself... I am a retro gamer, I could tell you like a passionate grandfather about stories of games of the past, some that have been sometimes exaggerated, engrossed by excessive nostalgia, hated like if it came from the bowels of Hell or plain forsaken/ignored by the masses, how one technique in game made a seemingly invincible boss finally beatable, how the Game Genie and codes in magazines then the internet changed things a lot, how game company hot-lines amassed tons of money from kids that were stuck in a game and felt blessed when they got their answer, etc. 99 potions? You are not forced to collect or use them. It's all to the developer to define a fair-balanced game. 99 is a big number by the way, but how much HP each of them would restore? That is the question. What's more, using a code for an extremely favorable outcome is something you do choose. Bragging afterwards on how easy it is after all or saying developers should not have implemented such broken ways should not matter. If people want to spoil you the ending of a game or a crucial moment of it, ask them to kindly keep it for themselves. Troll them in turn. Unfriend them even, if you so desire. The experience of the game should be yours alone. If you begin to look at others' impression on it or "how the game sucks because it's too easy to be Ruler of All there" and focus on that only, you're missing something. If you paid a lot for it and don't find it enjoyable even if it's well-made or just look at the ending without reflecting on the journey you've went through for it, I am sorry for you. And I got to thank you for making some old memories of a gamer flow back. A lot of time sure passed since then. Hey, it's not about cheat codes, TAS, walkthroughs or any of that matter. I'm fine with all of these because they're not a necessary part of the experience. They feel much more like an option because they're so far removed from the actual game system itself. However, a potion cap is an integral part of the game system and should be balanced so that the tension, the possibility of losing, stays present. None of this is about bragging either. I mostly don't care much about how good others are at the single player games that I enjoy. It's just about the feeling of tension and about knowing that I couldn't just do something within the base game to make myself immortal. Think of it like this: They could also equip Miriam with a button that one-hit-kills everything on the screen. And map that to one of the controller inputs, maybe even make it part of the lore. That wouldn't be very compelling to most people. And so I think that carrying 99 full health potions wouldn't be a good idea either. It could ruin the feeling of danger that I'd expect from a demon-filled castle. I have used cheats in many games as well and I do think that the right cheat codes can make for some interesting changes in gameplay, challenge and game feel. I'm all for that. Cheats are not the base game after all. How much will potions heal? I'm not entirely sure but based on the demo we can conclude that it's not too different from past Igavanias in which case 99 of them would basically render you immortal to any threat. By the way, has anyone checked how many potions you could farm in the demo? That might just clarify this question. I don't see how you came to the conclusion that I'm somehow not going to find Bloodstained enjoyable or how I'm only going to look at the ending...? These are highly unlikely as everything we've seen and played so far has been very appealing to me. As for bringing back memories... you're welcome of course
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Post by Yän on Feb 5, 2017 4:53:09 GMT -6
"Trusting" your players to not use the exploits that you put in your game rather than preventing the exploits in the first place doesn't sound like good game design to me. However, I can get behind the idea of wanting to collect items indefinitely which is why I'm quite fond of the storage-box idea pitched earlier in this thread. Loopholes implemented in the game (even if they are not intended in the first place)? Player abuse of such mechanisms? It is hard to balance a game properly, you know. Some find it too easy, that is why they choose to create self-handicaps for themselves, in the name of "challenge" and that adds to replayability. It's strange to me,but it's interesting. I would not do it, though. There is another factor to take into consideration. Do developers want to cater to only a few gamers that enjoy the hardest difficulty around? Bullet Hell shooters, unforgiving platforming games like Super Meat Boy or I Wanna Be the Guy do cater to such groups. On the other hand, there are games that are truly a breeze. They try to get the most accessible and enjoyable possible for everyone. I would say a good bunch of Nintendo games are concerned, especially the Mario and Kirby franchises. The majority of games fall between these two extremes. It's tough to please everyone, like the adage goes. As for cheats and exploits (do you put mods there too?), I guess it's inevitable. The first ones did appear long ago (the story of cheat codes is fascinating!) and there is no way to prevent it. Calling it bad design is quite unfair, in my opinion. Now, if you were to obtain 99 of a potion in normal play from a treasure chest and that was neither planned nor corrected, I would say you are right, as the programmer should not do such a basic mistake. Glitches and bugs are the same, this is why there are alpha/beta/pre-release test players and critical game updates. In sum, exploiting is a very voluntary action from gamers and hackers alike. Does it make a game bad and developers lame? I am not positive on this. Never did I say "I want this game to be as hard as possible". I just want it to be fair and balanced without the ability to have infinite health at your disposal which would frankly take any tension out of the game and make it quite uninteresting. You don't need to implement infinite health potions to make it an accessable game. I believe that game designers shouldn't design with self handycaps in mind. Most people will exploit any loop hole they find, even if it actually ruins the tension. Especially on the first run. Don't you know the tense feeling of "am I going to be able to beat that boss?" or "will I make it to the next save point with what I have in my inventory?"? You won't get any of that with 99 potions at your disposal. The entire castle would just be a safe-space which is not my idea of a dungeon.
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Post by Yän on Feb 5, 2017 4:44:04 GMT -6
"Trusting" your players to not use the exploits that you put in your game rather than preventing the exploits in the first place doesn't sound like good game design to me. However, I can get behind the idea of wanting to collect items indefinitely which is why I'm quite fond of the storage-box idea pitched earlier in this thread. So you're calling SOTN bad. I guess you didn't like it. Wow... Way to misinterpret everything I said. I didn't even say anything about SOTN. I think it is a great game but aspects of it were improved upon and refined in later Igavanias. Such as: difficulty curve, game balancing, user interface, voice acting, storylines, leveling systems, questing, systems for additional modes and so on. For every one of these points I think there are Igavanias that improved upon what SotN did. I get the feeling that sometimes "but Symphony did it too" is the be all end all argument on these forums which to me just doesn't seem fair at all. I know first hand that balancing can be a difficult and sometimes even impossible task. However, I also believe that developers should try to crack down on exploits and loop holes such as farming infinite potions just because they didn't implement a balanced cap or a storage system.
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Post by Yän on Feb 4, 2017 18:39:37 GMT -6
99 or no cap on items is fine with me. I loved collecting food items in SOTN. I never allowed myself to spam heal Alucard to the point of ruining the game. I rarely even used postions. I hope they trust us again with a high cap rather than high restrictions. "Trusting" your players to not use the exploits that you put in your game rather than preventing the exploits in the first place doesn't sound like good game design to me. However, I can get behind the idea of wanting to collect items indefinitely which is why I'm quite fond of the storage-box idea pitched earlier in this thread.
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Post by Yän on Feb 4, 2017 11:17:09 GMT -6
1. I think that every Item should have a balanced cap limit that could decrease depending on the difficulty mode. 9 for weak, 5 dor high and 3 for max potions sounds pretty good to me but that would vary by how it is balanced. I also like the idea of having an item storage at every safe room or so, kind of like the boxes in Undertale. That way you wouldn't need to go back to a shop every time you're low on items. To store them, you'd still need to obtain them first, of course. Maybe they could automatically be transported to your storage when collecting an item that you already have capped.
2. Please no EXP degradation! Nonononono! That issue was fixed since AoS, I believe, and it should definitely stay that way. I actually levelled to lvl 99 in HoD back in the day and it was awful since EVERY DAMN ENEMY would just give me the same amount of EXP (1) so I just left on the GBA over night, leaving something pressing down on the attack-button in a room with medusa-heads since that was the fastest way of doing it. At the end Juste was practically immortal but I think that players really shouldn't have to implement crazy workarounds like that just to optimize the stats. That was much better in following games where the EXP in the bestiary would actually be what you got when you beat the enemy.
3. I think such an ability should be implemented in the game. It should only be obtainable very late in the game and should itself be hidden very well so you don't stumble upon it too soon, reducing the sense of discovery throughout the rest of the game.
4. I love funny moments in Igavanias, especially if they're not part of every playthrough but are actually something that you have to discover first. From then on, I'd say: the more absurd the better. I think the game that did this best was Curse of Darkness - the weird middle-aged-man-fairy that would open a door in the ruins for you, the amazingly bizarre chair room, the pumpkin familiar... They were all really funny to me and they didn't ruin the immersion because they weren't part of the main story.
5. Such an ability should be equally as hard to get as it would be to finish the game without it so it doesn't feel like cheating if you're gonna go down that road since you'd first have to earn it. If it's implemented like that, I'd be for it.
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Post by Yän on Feb 4, 2017 10:49:15 GMT -6
...so what? If you die, you die - no matter if you killed the boss first. I'd say it'd only make sense to just be back at your last save point and having to beat the boss again but properly this time. Since beating a boss in Igavanias doesn't constitute as a save point, I don't see why it should make any difference.
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Post by Yän on Jan 3, 2017 21:25:47 GMT -6
She's so awesome lol Sounds like the staff roll will have vocals to it, and she's not used to having to compose pieces like that. True, not many songs of hers have had lyrics to them like that. I'm pretty sure she's nailed it however haha Curse of Darkness had a song with vocals and lyrics for the credits. I think it worked out quite beautifully. Looking forward to it!
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Post by Yän on Jan 1, 2017 19:53:48 GMT -6
Back when I was younger I used to draw levels for an imagined plattformer on huge sheets of paper. I had lots of cool ideas for bosses actually but one that immediately came to mind was this...
The boss is a huge cube/square with holes which can be entered by the player. Entering is however challenging as the boss has the ability to block entrances by having giant spikes coming out of them. Also there are other traps that hinder the player from entering easily and plattforming is involved in the process. Once the player manages to get inside there will be a power source to be turned off by the player by attacking it a few times. In my version this had a timer running down and the player would be kicked back out once the timer would have run out. After turning off the power source the player will be transported outside again. Now they have to enter again but this time the hole through which they first entered will be permanently blocked so they'll have to find another entry. Once that is done, another more challenging power source segment will appear, this time involving plattforming. In my version the boss had six such phases progressively getting more challenging as more entries would be permanently blocked and each power source section would get more difficult (for example, enemies would be added and the timer would get more punishing). Once the sixth power source would be turned off, the player would get out of the bosses' corpse and be allowed to continue to the next level / world.
In Bloodstained something similar could be done as well, maybe focusing more on combat instead of plattforming. Maybe it should also be toned down a bit and only have three phases.
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Post by Yän on Dec 18, 2016 18:10:52 GMT -6
Fantastic episode as always. Thank you Mike and Mana and a beautiful christmas season to you!
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Post by Yän on Dec 18, 2016 5:24:56 GMT -6
Hey, Vepar, how about just talking out ouf differences? No? Very well...
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Post by Yän on Dec 14, 2016 18:47:31 GMT -6
They're letting people switch to another console I like your wording here
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Post by Yän on Nov 23, 2016 15:55:09 GMT -6
Well at least we now know who the new devs are that Iga's been talking about. I couldn't find much about them online though. Don't quite understand why it took so long to get confirmed but they probably have their reasons. So... see y'all next month?
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Post by Yän on Nov 6, 2016 11:44:33 GMT -6
Except they're not "their" characters - only legally. In truth they are IGA's characters. Anyway, some more content for Fuckonami News... yay -.-
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Post by Yän on Oct 21, 2016 16:04:03 GMT -6
I think the best way to do this is to cancel the physical copy for Wii U version. Deliver only digital version. This will minimize the losses and Iga'll be able to keep his promise. That's something I didn't even consider. If those of us here that do want a Wii U copy are ok with strictly digital then that's a good compromise. Physical Wii U backers would then get less than their other-device-counterparts though which would be just as wrong in my opinion.
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