Last week’s achievements

* Implemented all of the papered-out new moves from last week into the framework except for Defense Command and Neutralize
* Created, papered out, and implemented other new moves: Counter Stance, Dark Flare, Dark Force Horn, Draining Field, Flashy Flips, Piercing Horn, Regenerate, Shadow Beam, Silence, Spirited Steps, Touching Twirls
* Created and papered out other new moves: Binding Blade, Cleanse, Dousing Slash, Energy Slice, Feint Critical, Healing Ebb, Siphoning Edge, Sopor Slice, Teasing Edge, and two more with placeholder names
* Created and haven’t yet papered out one last new move: Compel
* Finished AI for 9 of 13 enemies from last week
* Started “Musical Inspirations” section on the wiki

Current focus

Battle balance followed by the transition to 2D.

Sample stuff

Red = Leaf
Green = Celty
Blue = Recca
Purple = all

♫ No excuses, no regrets, no hesitation ♫
♫ We’ll ride the wind! We’ll live the dream! ♫
♫ Find what we seek! Say what we mean! ♫
♫ No excuses, no regrets, no hesitation ♫

♫ Somewhere out there is the good and right ♫
♫ We’ll pursue that place with all our might ♫
♫ Something more and pure, something real and true ♫
♫ And I’ll chase it forever along with you ♫

♫ With our hopes and prayers, with courage and whim ♫
♫ We’ll find it! For sure! From our fire within ♫
♫ Stretch our legs and run, stretch our wings and soar ♫
♫ Finding wonders we’ve never dreamed of before ♫

♫ No excuses, no regrets, no hesitation ♫
♫ We’ll ride the wind! We’ll live the dream! ♫
♫ Find what we seek! Say what we mean! ♫
♫ No excuses, no regrets, no hesitation ♫

♫ I cast off safety, I shrugged off the bore ♫
♫ Life is nothing if it’s not a thri~~~ll ♫
♫ We flourish in rain and we thrive in the storm ♫
♫ All a matter of spirit and wi~~~ll ♫

♫ Come trouble or delay, come whatever danger may ♫
♫ We’ll face it down and ask for mo~~~re ♫
♫ We won’t find our fill until we’ve climbed every hill ♫
♫ We’ll open each door, we’ll search and explore ♫
♫ We’ll welcome each day and toss the past away ♫
♫ Whatever besets us, we’ll adventure still! ♫

Weekly goals

* Finish the other four enemies’ AIs
* Balance test all 13 of the latest enemies
* If character design rounds resume immediately on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, those become top priority

Comments

Stretched in different directions this week! Stuff to talk about:

Lyrical Considerations

Hearing the title theme for Vanguard Valkyrie inspired me to further flesh out the lyrics of Leaf’s/Celty’s/Recca’s song. Above is what I came up with for the week, although anything from an initial draft is subject to change. =)

I’ve toyed around with the idea of how many lyrical songs I want and whether I want them vocalized or not. Besides the one above, Cotelle, Minori, and Star have three songs conceptualized between them. I’m not a songwriter by trade, though, so I don’t want to fall into a “lyric creep” trap. It might only be two songs in the end.

If I Had A (Hundred) Million Dollars

A common question for indie game developers and designers is what kind of game they’d make if they had a hundred million dollars (or any number meant to be taken as unlimited funds). Honestly, the Dreamblazers I’m making is exactly what I’d make except that:

A) I’d have a five-minute anime intro video if you wait on the New Game screen.
B) I’d have a Musical Mode. Turn it on and all major scenes are fully vocalized songs.

(If I had a hundred billion dollars, I’d pay for every indie RPG that wants one to have a Musical Mode!)

Wiki

I rarely mention the wiki because I rarely update it (except for the Designs in Progress page) due to how time-consuming it can be. I just got in a mood this past week to hunt down video game themes, though, partly because of that Vanguard Valkyrie theme and partly because I might need a composer soon…

Crossroads

Since I accomplished most of what I intended this past week, I’m approaching a major crossroads.

Any indie designer or developer naturally considers how much of the game should be finished before they release a beta into the wild for play testing. I’d always intended to complete one continent, which meant four dungeons, but now that I have two dungeons mostly done at least in terms of enemy stats, moves, and behavior, I’m questioning whether an earlier start would benefit me. If so, then I need to begin looking for a pixel artist and possibly a composer pretty soon.

No matter what I decide, my next major project after balance testing this last batch of enemies is to begin getting everything set up in 2D (with placeholder pixel art for now). That’s uncharted territory for me, so I have no expectations about challenge or difficulty. Still, I’m convinced that I have to do it now rather than later. Adding more enemies and testing battles is wonderful and fun, but it’s also in my comfort zone and—well, my own characters told me this week what they think of comfort zones. =P

The time is nigh to start roaming the land of Miharu! In 2D!