Oh lunch time how I love thee! So I spoke with my partner last night and after much debate we've come up with a way to work a light story into Vilotto. The story is a very stripped down version of what we originally had planned but I think it's going to work. The game flow is going to remain pretty much the same as I described here. The only difference being that the God battles will now serve as a check point. While there may now be an ultimate ending (we're not certain yet) the game will continue far beyond the end. I'll give a brief introduction to what we've come up with. Keep in mind that the story is very light and serves only as a driving force for your character and also to help work in some of the game play elements. I'm not going to go into much detail on the story (it's not finalized yet) but I will talk about the overall theme and how it works into some of the game play features. To answer your question specifically Maxime - The original plan was to have Gods and Bosses scale along with the players. That's changed, slightly. Bosses will scale along with players but Gods do not. Gods will be extremely powerful and will usually take a few tries to defeat. It will be possible for you to face a god who's 100+ levels higher than your party if you do not take the time needed to level up. That's not to say you and your party can't defeat a +100 monster, it will just be difficult. God battles consist of just your party and the god, there is never outside interference. I should also note that Vilos aren't your average gods. They are cruel and ill tempered. They take pleasure in your pain. They enjoy toying with mortals like a cat enjoys toying with a mouse. They are also not these huge demon looking things with big muscles and large horns. Instead Vilos are small, quick, cuddly looking creatures. Think Nibbler from Futurama.
I'm all for that, sounds great. And just seeing what you can come up with and write down in a single day of work... I'm not worried that this is going to keep evolving into a really original setting. Great. If you can find the right balance so that you can overcome bosses with a good strategy instead of over-levelling, even better! You should watch some old movies like Gremlins and Critters... those really scared me when I was younger!
The story elements sound interesting. Really, you don't need any sort of deep story, rivetting plot points, or amazing dialogue. But at least a basic backstory will get (and keep) players invested in the game. It's all about the emotional "buy-in".
Thanks! To be fair we had a lot more complex version of this story already created. We just trimmed out a lot of the dialog elements and cut scenes and stayed with the over arching theme. We hope to make it as original as possible. I'm already certain the view it's played from and the hit animations will set it apart. Our secondary goal is to make the game as simple yet as deep as possible. I'm shooting for simplistic only because I'm the sole developer and I want to see the game done as quickly as possible =D
So I have a VERY early screenshot of the tutorial map working. It's the map and two guys. The HUD is not shown here as it's not ready to show yet Please ignore the art, it's just prototyping stuff. And I know, my art skills are hands-down the best around =) Also ignore the grid, just there for testing reasons. I should add, this is running on an iPad. I'm building the game for the iPad out of the box and will work "down" to the iPhone and iPod. It will be universal when all is said and done.
Thanks for the screenshot. It makes the 2D strategy part of the game a lot easier to visualize. Will the 2D strategy gameplay be "Worms" style?
The game is going to play a lot like your typical TBS. Think Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, Fire Emblem, etc. The difference being the vantage point it's played from. Instead of the typical top-down / isometric view you'll be playing from the side view. Sure, you lose some strategic elements but gain some in return, mainly top and bottom attack directions.
Sad news and some happy news - Due to recent life altering events the Vilotto project has been put on hold. I have recently received word that my fiancée is pregnant and it's been decided that there is not enough time between now and her due date to finish the project. This is sad for me as I've been really looking forward to seeing Vilotto come to life. It's also happy because, well, I'm going to be a daddy =) With that said, all is not lost. I have decided to tackle my second, easier, and shorter development time, game idea. The game is a mismash of genres, including crafting sim and RPG. It also has some Battleheart-like elements to it. The development of the new game is currently underway. I will be making a post in the next few hours/days outlining what the new game entails and when we can except the first preview of it. I'm targeting a December 1st release date =P
Thank you!! I have made a new post outlining my new project. Please take a moment to read it over and provide some feedback http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?p=1682073
