IGMC and November Goals and Progress Thread

So far today, got a big mountain map done. These particular mountains are infested with littering Trolls apparently.

I couldn't agree with this idea more!
500-1000 + donation pool sounds doable. Why hasn't anyone, especially degica, run this? Degica, out of everyone, should have wanted their products (the game making engines) to stand out more, and supporting RTP would be beneficial to this front.
How this IGMC2018 allows entries made by non Degica engines to participate is beyond me....

@Jesse - PVGames Love the maps, man!
No Quidget this time, but a quite similar game experience. And an engine change to Unity!

I've started painting the character busts. Meet Grrracelyn :)
Next step: Animation!



Keep up the good work, everybody!

Entire second fully arted cutscene done, can't show it all as it would give away the whole main plot point of the story but have a single screen!

Dunno yet if I'll be participating, but decided to cook up a test map on an idea I got for a game :)

Looking good, @huubz ! You have my curiosity piqued.

Hello everyone! It's so crazy, I'm gone for a few months and come back about a week ago to find out the IGMC is back! Talk about good timing! This forum was so amazingly positive last year I'm excited to jump back in again this year. I haven't had time to go over all the pages in the forum yet but from what I have seen everyone is doing such a lovely job! It's great to see old faces returning for the contest. Also, @Dezue, @Jesse - PVGames you guys make me nervous! With such great talent and completed games under you belts how can I not be?

I'm going to throw my hat in and try and get a prototype game in this year. There was a mess up last year. I had no idea how *long* it takes a game to format and then upload! Never again will I wait for the last minute. (sigh) Lesson learned. Anyway! Goals!

I plan to take this opportunity to focus and piece together a game I've been wanting to do for years. I have messed with tons of scripts, fiddled with this and that, and through it all I think I have a pretty good idea for what mechanics I want in the game and what scripts work with what (mostly.) I always got hung up over what graphics to use, agonized even. My friends just rolled their eyes and told me to commit and go for it. Well, perfect opportunity! So I'm going to dust off some old graphics I did and never used and throw myself right in!

Project

I am going to be using VX Ace engine. That's the engine I'm most comfortable with, know which scripts I plan to use and...well, maybe also I can't get MV to open in Steam. (grumble)

The project is a classic fantasy adventure with a large cast of characters to recruit to go fight evil monsters, win treasure, and generally be a pretty awesome adventurer. You know, classic do-gooder stuff. For the last few days I've been working on maps and graphics for the game. I have two maps completed and more to do! Still have to build the Market District, all the shops, finish the tavern and a few levels of the dungeon. I haven't even started on dialogue or anything like that. (sigh)

One of my largest problems is deciding on the graphic busts for the characters. Should I stick with RTP style or my own? It's a question I always stressed over because most people love the RTP style, but I feel I should be true to myself and try to stand out like @Dezue.
I have examples uploaded of both. The RTP's are all edits of the existing busts or elements taken from originals with permission given for use.

Maps- the maps still require work. The lodge is mostly complete with minor graphics needing fixing. The mountain stairway needs more work. I started that one today. Got the basics done. Just need to edit graphics for my purpose and polish it up.

Art Style Divergence

Cast of Characters- The Character Busts require some additional cleaning or modifying.

I actually got time to work on my game project today, hooray! :kaojoy:

Things I did today:

• Started writing a script for cutscenes and events
• Created s action for main character
• Started eventing opening cutscene
• Got an idea for sprites I'll need for minimum presentation

A quick sneak peek from my upcoming IGMC18 entry... I spent most of yesterday's working hours on textures and figuring out some technical stuff, but if all goes according to plan the alpha version should release mid-november (I'm still planning to polish the entry up to the final hour)


P.S. I'm not sure why but forum image uploads do not seem to work for me, for some reason. If the image fails to load, you can view the screenshot here.

@Zelgadis85
With imgur you have to use the direct link. Or it won't work properly here. (And it doesn't even show up in the window you get when you first upload it, think it's the second option when you open it through your images.)

I made some more edits, and made this carriage interor map. I dunno if I should zoom in or not, since there's gonna be a conversation with busts taking up room. And going double size makes it pretty big...
I also wasted some time trying to make a carriage from scratch, before giving up and just editing PandaMarus Gypsy Wagon a bit.

@Elissiaro If there's going to be busts, I'd say the size is fine, but otherwise with little to no movement on a map that small a scene would drive me crazy as a player with no way to tell who was talking. That and zooming in on a map that size can make it look somewhat distorted. That's just my thoughts on it, though.

Didn't really post an update about yesterday so I'll do it really quickly right now; I managed to get the equip screen done (a bit differently than I wanted to, but it fits in better with what I have going on) I also at least managed to get the title screen started (I haven't decided on music, and there are a few details I'm not fully settled on. I am slightly partial to the logo I made for it, though it's probably not the best work I've ever done)
Today I'm working on the look of the message box since I expect to start implementing the story. I've already decided not to give the main character a bust, though a good portion of the characters will be using them (if I still have time towards the end to create a bust for the main character I'll add one) I also don't expect to get much done since I helped out at a craft fair earlier today, plus it's one of the first nice days in awhile and I'd like to get some fresh air (also my head's been a little weird today, so a walk would do some good)

@lemongreen - Does your title imply that we get to dress up dragons?! Maybe in some sort of stylish hats?

@Guardinthena - Regarding your bust decision, it is just my humble opinion that you go with your own. Your own style is unique and interesting and, most importantly, it represents you. Many people around here do like the RTP busts, but a part of that is because they come with the software and most people do not or can not make their own. The RTP stuff is good for what it is - free* resources that come with the engine that everyone can utilize.

*Purchase required, may not actually be free.

@Dezue - Do you think maybe... juuuuust maybe, if we ask real nicely... we can get a cameo by Quidget? I remembered that you guys were going to make a full version of the game and last year's IGMC entry was sort of like a demo for it. I just noticed that it is now an adult game - was that always the plan or did someone take a wrong turn on the way to church? :)

@Zelgadis85 - Right now, it reminds me of the old Windows 95 "Walls" screensaver! But I am sure once you are through, it will be something really neat! What is the plan, a first-person dungeon roamer like the old PC games of yore (the original Ultimas, Underworld, etc) or something else? Either way, interesting to see a first-person perspective entry!


I am almost done with the preliminary maps for my IGMC entry. Managed to keep their file size pretty small with a good use of indexed color palettes, taking most larger maps from like 14MB to 3MBs without much in the way of quality loss and not sacrificing alpha transparency. I'll probably end up making a few more maps later into the contest to flesh out side-areas, but I want to make sure I have everything for the main story done before week 1 is finished (of which there is only one day left!)

Testing out my new lightning setup.

Update 6

Ok, so I worked hard last night, and had my second full art cut scene done! So proud of myself! So today I focused on the two things.

The Database.

I hate data basing! So very much! I hate trying to figure out how to balance enemies, make skills, items, armour and weapons that work! I really, truly hate it. But I knuckled down, and I think I did it! All my items, armours, weapons, enemies and troops.

I’m not 100% sure what else I need to do database. So I’m going to leave it for a while, and go back to it the second last week and hope there’s not much else to do!

The Second Cut scene

Ii set up my second cut scene! So the only really big cut scene left is the last one, and it’s not going to be fully arted, just eventing, and I will hope for the best!


Future goals

Ok, so as tonight is the night my husband is away, I can lie in my bed with my laptop on my knee, working away at the game! So I am either going to get loads done, or I’m going to fall asleep. Lol. So we’ll see!

When posting image links on forums, I've generally found that adding ".png" or ".jpg" at the end of the link is the simple solution if it doesn't show up.

Had some work to do, but managed to sneak in some time for game making! :kaoblush:

Today I did:

• Tweaks to opening cutscene
• Basic bust for MC
• Walk and actions for SC
• plans for the gameplay systems

@Tuomo L
Ooh, kinda spooky.

Totally didn't get as much done today as I wanted (I'm blaming the hubby) but I did get a few maps started/finished and chose some music for both the start of the game and the village. Using default RTP sprites for the moment and tiles from FSM with my own edits in places. Might end up tweaking further but wanted to have something that I can at least start eventing and storytelling on. I gotta fix the first map as the inner pool of water doesn't quite look above everything else aside from the bottom part of it.

I've written up an outline of the story for my prototype demo, with tutorial combat scenes included in the planning. Imagining the dialogues and cutscenes, it might actually come out to one hour or more.

I'm hoping that the plugins I downloaded from different people's sites affecting animations don't conflict with each other. Crossing my fingers for the test that I'll be doing soon. If the combo I'm looking at works, I might have a pretty cool opening for the demo.

Yesterday wasn't that productive for me. I mostly managed to sort out the required materials I'll be using and planned a rough outline for the game's first dungeon (out of three).


@Elissiaro Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in my mind.

@lemongreen The idea of not having the bust for the main character is the exact opposite of what I'll probably end up doing. I'm thinking of having the main character (or the two of them, as it stands) have a bust and all the other characters will probably end up with a generic face.

@Jesse - PVGames That's a pretty flush forest you have there :) Almost like nature here in the summer... Maybe it's inhabited by goblins or other small(ish creatures)? That's the vibe I got from it. And your cave... Seems like a natural inhabit for carrion crawlers. I'm eagerly awaiting your entry.

@Paladin-Cleric of Awesome Databasing can be pretty aggravating, but doing it in small bursts is what works for me.

@l8rose I guess you are still adding NPCs to the village? It looks good but empty at the moment.

@Storyteller-Hero Having the game last longer than an hour isn't bad, but remember that it should be the first hour that draws people in (and grants your game the points it deserves). Right now I'm probably looking for around 45 to 60 minutes length in my game, if the player doesn't take too long battling enemies. My last game took me about 15 minutes to complete, but it was a completely different genre, so I'm not counting that. And what comes to your plugin issue, that's one reason I try to be as minimalistic as I can (mostly using Yanfly plugins, a couple of Hime's and then several of my own) to avoid the issue of incompatibility.

Sorry for not posting a new screenshot this time, I really have nothing new to show. :kaosigh:

@Zelgadis85 I am but it'll still look a little "empty" in the finished map as most of the NPCs will be off preparing for a celebration starting off. =]