Summoning for help

I'm planning on putting a Dark Souls twist on things. Where as you play the game on your own and any companions you do get, are removed once they die and can be brought back, if of course you walk back to where you got them from.  It's an ABS (the one where battles are event driven as opposed to actual encounters if you know what I mean) so there's more chance of being 'tactical' let's say, especially when you have someone helping you. 

 

 

I'm also having a 'Hub' area where the player can go back to where they can talk to all the NPC's and such that have made their home there over time, that including some of the people you can summon.

 

 

Although, I might end up doing it that you can find people around, like Mercenaries inside Inns and such and hire them for a fee. But obviously, if they die, they're removed from your party and can be hired again if you wish to go all the way back. 

 

 

Does anyone think this is a good idea? Or have any way they can think of to improve it? :)

I think its a good idea. I would certainly play it.

Are you making this via script or by common events?

I'll probably do it through common events if i'm honest. Unless there's a script out there that would do it perfectly..?

Do you know of something? :o

I think the idea is very good, in concept at least, especially if it's an appropriate setting where the characters are "transported back" somehow instead of actually dying.

But you mentioned this is an Action Battle System.  Are your AI compatriots going to be simultaneously fighting alongside you using their own decision-making?  Because I think it could be frustrating (perhaps not a dealbreaker, but definitely annoying) if your AI ally does something stupid to get himself killed and then you can't use him anymore for the rest of your run, until you go all the way back and pay to recruit him again.

The battle system I am using allows you to select what skills they use. And obviously, if you select a bunch of healing spells in their action bar, they're just going to sit around and heal you. While giving them aggressive spells will cause them to fight more. Or at the very least, that is my plan.  There is also the option to actually take control of the summon. So you can use them instead, and if your player dies BUT you defeat the boss. They will be revived before the summon disappears.  While if your companion dies too and is un-summoned you will lose some of your money as a... 'payment' to not die. While if you have no money it will start to drain your EXP instead which of course, makes the player want to be more careful and play better than being foolhardy since the more they die, obviously the harder it's going to get.

The summons on a whole are there to help you kill the boss at the end, and come with their own weapons and abilities and also scale with the player. As in, when they are summoned the player's level will be put into a variable and added to the summon, then through common events, will be given level appropriate equipment so that in New Game + you wont be having a level 40 summon using a basic sword.

And what my plan is with the summons 'dying' is to have an animation play over them of them being transported back and a message telling the player that the summon has died, like in a Dark Souls fashion of the person your summoning is more of an... apparition than the actual person. While maybe hiring a mercenary from an inn or a bandit den will cause them to actually die, and not respawn, either at all or not for awhile which makes me think that paid followers should be stronger than the free ones since the consequence of them dying is more severe. 

Hope that answers your question. 

If not, 

Basically, there will be companions that you meet around and go to your hub they will be FREE to use but only near the boss. So you'd have to fight your way through to the boss to get them, while mercenaries and other such companions that you PAY for will be available much sooner, usually near the start of an area or even within a town and such near by, thus can help you a lot more on your way through and since they're stronger (obviously since you're paying them so they MUST be able to afford more expensive gear, right?) they wont die as easily (easily used loosely, since all I mean is they are less likely to die due to being stronger). 

Both can be left to their own devices and maybe with the PAID companions you have a certain amount of time to revive them before they stay dead. 

Are you asking for comments and opinions, or help to implement it?

A bit of both tbh. I want to know what people think about it, however i know fairly clear on how to do it. But if anyone knew an easy way, then it wouldnt fall on deaf ears.

Then I'll move it to the correct forum. Are you doing this via events or scripts, and have you actually tried to do it and are sure it works (if you're using events)?

Oh yes. It all works. What kind of person do you take me for? 

I wouldn't ask if it was a good game mechanic if it didn't even work.

I'm not asking if it's a good mechanic or if the idea is sound - I'm asking if you've tried to do it with events to prove that you CAN do it all with events. If you have, and you're certain that it will work with events alone, I plan to move it to the VX Ace Support forum, where event help belongs. If you haven't, or it hasn't worked properly with events, I plan to move it to the Script Support or Request forum, where scripting requests belong. So don't get your knickers in a twist - I'm just trying to find out how much you've actually implemented so I know where to move the thread.


But to answer your question, the kind of person I take you for is the kind who has a great idea about a game mechanic and says it seems like it should work easily, but then discovers when they actually try that it's a "bit" (understatement) more difficult than they anticipated, and realises they might not be able to do it with events after all. Which covers about 95% of us on this forum ;)

On a whole, there's only been 1 hiccup with the entire thing. It is relatively easy, but I am using a script which is the only thing that is causing said hiccup. So, I guess script support would be the best, unless someone would be planning to make ANOTHER script that would allow me to do what I want or provide some kind of fix for the one I have current. Because if they can't/won't I'll just have to butcher the script until it works.  

So what is it that you need help with in regards to the script problem? Is it a problem with the script itself? Or is it that it clashes with some other battle script you're using?

It crashes the game when I remove someone from the party. A huge flaw in my eyes. 

Ok so what script? Can you give link? Does it happen when you remove them through an event? During battle?

Did you try to replicate the problem in a new project with only that script?

It's the battle script itself 

http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/8809-falcao-pearl-abs-liquid-v3-update/

The sprites script that defines whether they're dead or not to display the down sprite refuses to let me remove anyone. Even if I revive them before i remove them.

Edit: I can technically get it to work but you have to enter the leave and re-enter the area for it to revive and remove them. But that wouldn't look how i'd want it to, since if the follower died in the middle of a huge area, they'd have to travel for miles just to reset them.

Edit 2: Nevermind, i've got it to work.