PlanetSeva T.A.G.

[cajones]

Where "TAG"=Text/audio game, so that we're all on the same page.

I've been working on designs for this since like the beginning of 2005, but didn't actually get around to working on a good test version until I think last week, or the week before... I forget.

Anyway, it's got lots of potential if I can get the colors to work and all of the sounds that will be necessary. Nonetheless, it's still looking pretty good for a text+audio game at the moment!

- The display is much prettier than prompts or the status bar. Though both are used at various points.
- The display has 4 parts: A header, a footer, the status bar, and a main screen composed of buttons that are basically touching.
This display method allows you to customize display settings (if say the window size is a problem, you can change which part of the display certain information appears to manage the space. Or if you just like having things in certain places. .)
And I can change the color of the buttons, so the menus look a lot more like a real game (Granted most of them have a small amount of virticle space because of the .... fluidity? But it's still a lot cooler than a prompt...).
And this should give some freedom in the color of different areas, although I haven't been able to do much with that yet. (Well, so far I've got a total of one stage that has a unique color scheme.)

After the to-be-expected gettingstufftoworkandthenbreakingitbyaddingsomethingelseandhavingtodebuglikecrazyoveronetinydetail mess, the controls appear to be working beautifully for players 1 and 2. The only real issue I'm seeing right now is the way aerial commands are handled, and the amount of airtime you get from jumping (It takes a whole 2 seconds to reach the ground, I think... I'm not sure, but gravity is way too weak).
I've got the major interactive elements put in, and they seem to work perfectly. Well, other than the whole only taking damage from fire when you walk on it rather than by standing on it continuously... *ahem*.

There's only one set of character abilities installed right now, and only four areas... but they seem to be working rather well. Ok, so a couple special effects with certain moves don't want to work right... -.-. And there are a couple of glitches in the dashing engine (though these kind of force you to have variety in your strategy, which is a plus).

And it appears that, so far, Co-op mode works... yay!

But there's still a lot to be done. Like...

Sound! So far I've just taken sounds from other TAGs and thrown them in to keep the program from crashing. Though I might keep the Mario jumping sound if I can get away with it...
Cutscenes... I think I'm going to use confirms and any audio clips I can find for those. For the stages that I have, I can use the clips that are in the members' area (And the server infected... >.<), but it won't be long before I have to resort to new ones... so we're going to need to complete the audio project before the game can be completed!
No, the audio project isn't for the game, but if we could use the same recordings, it'd be much more economical, yes?

And of course I need to fill in the abilities for all items and characters and fill in the 275 stages that remain (Yes, I calculated around 270 stages, + a few that i forgot, so about 275! Granted this counts a scene change as a stage, but it's still pretty big considering the story...).

And a couple other things that I don't want to reveal just yet. .

So far, it's off to a pretty decent start! With school ending in 2 weeks, I should have more than enough time to work on this over the summer, meaning that it might be finished before fall. Yay!

And of course, I want sound! LOL.


So... urm... we have something to look forward to? Maybe I'll put a demo online when I fill in some more stuff. .

[cajones]

Game completion: 23%.
Which is not an accurate estimate, but eh.

I've completed the main Royce/Uasho storylines and added more movelists and the AI for the computer characters.
The stunning engine is waay too effective, and I have some more important effects to add... but otherwise it seems to work, it's just too good...

I've got a grand total of 3.5 unique sounds (One of them is one I recorded while working to prevent one of the others from being over used).

And the colors work! Meaning we can have some rather cool effects sometimes... yay! Granted certain colorarrangements get kind of old... So there are a couple of areas that are overly colorful... . But for the most part it works out very well.

There ire still a few glitches, mainly with motion in certain stages. >.<. The save file has been cleaned up a little, but there's still an issue with saving items.
Oh, and there aren't any cutscenes; there are alerts telling where they should be, but I haven't filled those in yet.

And I'm seeing weird glitches in what is effected by actions... o.o.

And the AI is a little too good, so I've only managed to beat what I have with Royce (though I've got Uasho on the last stage).

There's still a lot of work to be done, but it's going relatively smoothly. Granted that might change once I fix this useful motion glitch...

[cajones]

Fixed the interactivity problem. The thing about that is, now it's _too_ easy.
Added several more stages... finally did something with switches (Yay puzzle-ness!)
And added most of the major characters' abilities. Though there are a few weapons I don't have my notes on. -.-. Hopefully I can get those back soon, but in the mean time, I can improve the ones I've already got. Something tells me that one of these is waaaay too powerful...

Oh, and I tend to forget when testing that ... urm... everyone might not understand the gameplay. . It's got three triggers: keydown, keyup, and the third is more a combination (time-based things). I'll ... urm... have to come up with a good instructions guide that isn't time-wasting.

*off to make more maps*

[cajones]

Though there's a chance I could retrieve those missing notes, the chances are slim. Oh well.

The save file for the psTAG and the DBZ RPG don't like each other. -.-.

All I did today (besides play through it and use a new debug feature too much) was change a part of the motion engine so that you can move k.o.ed enemies that block your path. Granted I added that because I was blocked in a stage where they should have disappeared in the first place... go figure.

*likes puzzle-ish stage*
And the progress slowed down because I made a halfway decent map for the next stage, and then between all the copying and pasting it was lost, and I don't like to reinvent things. (Hence why I'm not happy about losing the notes. -.-. Of most interest on there were four complete movelists for the sequel... that took a lot of work to create... and I didn't back them up... *sigh*.).

I might add the music soon. So I should probably add controls for sfx and music ... hehehe...
No, no,... how about. BGM volume! . Granted I'm not sure that all browsers would support it (And while we're at it, having sound on as a default might be dangerous), but it's probably not a bad idea... .
I could add that to the DBZ RPG. Yay!