MV - Yggdrasil Chronicles - A Record of Valkadia (Demo, In-Development)

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Started by JamesRyan 209 posts Page 5 of 11 View original ↗
  1. Lady_JJ
    #81 Source
    JamesRyan said:
    I suggest that you save at least one file before reaching the three new maps. I haven't added drops to the latest boss in this build yet (will add it soon), and there will be an interesting item from it.

    And how was your experience with the latest boss?
    Not a piece of cake for sure, but definitely more manageable than the Awakening battles. I've fought it a couple of times trying to find a decent strategy. I can prevail, but not without a handful of Yggdrasil Berries. I'm going to try again with both Lucas (for poison) and Leonardo (for fire) in the party. I tried being greedy and keeping all the potions, but the Ryan Karma got me! Haha. Nice touch. I'm glad there's going to be a nice reward. Seems like I've earned it. And I definitely have a save file prior to the encounter. Thanks for the nudge.
  2. JamesRyan
    #82 Source
    Lady_JJ said:
    Not a piece of cake for sure, but definitely more manageable than the Awakening battles. I've fought it a couple of times trying to find a decent strategy. I can prevail, but not without a handful of Yggdrasil Berries. I'm going to try again with both Lucas (for poison) and Leonardo (for fire) in the party. I tried being greedy and keeping all the potions, but the Ryan Karma got me! Haha. Nice touch. I'm glad there's going to be a nice reward. Seems like I've earned it. And I definitely have a save file prior to the encounter. Thanks for the nudge.
    I'm still working on the story, but I have just released a new build (25090201) that includes drops for Subject A as well. If you would love to try, just download it again from the download link :wink:
    Also, after receiving some feedback about the "Voodoo" thing of Lilith, I adjusted some skills' names:
    - Voodoo Cure -> Juju Balance
    - Voodoo Restoration -> Ritual of Renewal
    - Voodoo Evasion -> Ethereal Shroud
  3. JamesRyan
    #83 Source
    Dev's update: Not much for the past few days. I have just finished designing the new equipment for Shiroyuki Town. Now it is time to design the interiors of some buildings to serve the main story again.

    @Lady_JJ Pardon me to ask, but have you tried the new tutorials in the latest build? Especially some tutorials at the beginning of the game. I have received feedback that the tutorials are quite long, and that's a real pain point for the players. If you have already tried it, please let me know your opinion. Thank you!
  4. Lady_JJ
    #84 Source
    I hadn't gone back to the beginning but I just did so now. I've only just completed rescuing Lilith so I can only comment on the tutorials in the very first map.

    I think a player should absolutely be given some clue as to how the game is played. Not all players will be seasoned rpg players and even fewer will be repeat players of this game, so I do feel it's important to have some explanations. This game does use more than the traditional action (go forward) / escape (go back) keys, so I do like that you state that up front. There's no immediate tool to use, but when the first tool does show, at least the player can think 'Oh, yeah, there was something about this in the very beginning and there's a menu item that tells me exactly what to do if I want to read it.' However, I will say, some readers read more quickly than others. It was a minor annoyance to me that there was a hard delay on the displays of the keys before I could advance through them all. Not enough of an annoyance to color my initial response to the game, but an annoyance nonetheless.

    I liked that there was an option to skip the battle tutorial. Yes, that first battle was entirely scripted, but it only lasted 3 rounds tops, so no big deal. Again, something that seasoned or repeat players might not enjoy but definitely valuable for the player who is playing this game for the first time.

    I'll continue playing from the beginning for a bit, but, right now, I'm wondering why the complaints. I'll get back to you after I reach Regalia and see what I find there.
  5. JamesRyan
    #85 Source
    @Lady_JJ Thank you for sharing your valuable experience. The noticeable delay you mentioned was indeed true, as I had disabled the fast-forward function during tutorials, so players were less likely to miss the important information. I will re-enable that feature in the next build for faster readers, and also add a skip option to the first battle for experienced players.

    I think they were complaining because the number and frequency of tutorials early in the game were too dense and continuous, while there was no option to skip them. For experienced players, this can feel unnecessary. I feel a bit sad that they dropped the game after 3 sessions of streaming and reviewing without exploring late features due to overwhelming tutorials and unpolished early features, UI, and gameplay in the early-access build. But still, I received valuable feedback from them to keep improving the game.
  6. Lady_JJ
    #86 Source
    JamesRyan said:
    @Lady_JJ Thank you for sharing your valuable experience. The noticeable delay you mentioned was indeed true, as I had disabled the fast-forward function during tutorials, so players were less likely to miss the important information. I will re-enable that feature in the next build for faster readers, and also add a skip option to the first battle for experienced players.

    I think they were complaining because the number and frequency of tutorials early in the game were too dense and continuous, while there was no option to skip them. For experienced players, this can feel unnecessary. I feel a bit sad that they dropped the game after 3 sessions of streaming and reviewing without exploring late features due toI overwhelming tutorials and unpolished early features, UI, and gameplay in the early-access build. But still, I received valuable feedback from them to keep improving the game.
    It's entirely possible they'll attempt another review with the changes you've mentioned. I can see why streamers would be annoyed with tutorial after tutorial after tutorial, they're interested in viewers and need to keep their audience engaged in game action. I'm glad they were able to give you good feedback, though.
  7. Lady_JJ
    #87 Source
    JamesRyan said:
    I'm still working on the story, but I have just released a new build (25090201) that includes drops for Subject A as well.
    I found an earlier save just prior to that Subject A battle. Leonardo was very excited for that drop, he kept screaming "I want it! I want it!" I had to disappoint him, though, as there were just too many hours to repeat to rebuild my characters from that point. I then did a trial battle on easiest level just to see what the Fencer Moth would drop. Leonardo wasn't too interested in that spoil, but Morrigan is anxious to try it. Lucas offered, but by vote of the party as a whole, it was decided Lucas should continue concentrating on his status afflicting attacks and Morrigan would be the 'lab rat,' her words (by proxy of the dev), not mine. :) If the crystal doesn't seem a good fit for Morrigan, Blanc is next in line. :)

    The signpost from Seishan Wood to Seshan Cave has the 'Spirit Well' label, most likely a copy/paste that you forgot to edit.
  8. JamesRyan
    #88 Source
    Lady_JJ said:
    I found an earlier save just prior to that Subject A battle. Leonardo was very excited for that drop, he kept screaming "I want it! I want it!" I had to disappoint him, though, as there were just too many hours to repeat to rebuild my characters from that point. I then did a trial battle on easiest level just to see what the Fencer Moth would drop. Leonardo wasn't too interested in that spoil, but Morrigan is anxious to try it. Lucas offered, but by vote of the party as a whole, it was decided Lucas should continue concentrating on his status afflicting attacks and Morrigan would be the 'lab rat,' her words (by proxy of the dev), not mine. :) If the crystal doesn't seem a good fit for Morrigan, Blanc is next in line. :)

    The signpost from Seishan Wood to Seshan Cave has the 'Spirit Well' label, most likely a copy/paste that you forgot to edit.
    That's a very interesting story between the members in your team. I'm looking forward to your feedback about those two new crystals to see if they are good for the party :stickytongue:

    And thanks for pointing the bug out. I will get it fixed too. Currently, I'm working on some new reinforcement crystals for the new town, but haven't got any good ideas yet, so it might take a while for me to finish the upcoming event in the new town.

    One more thing I want to ask is about the complexity of some skills. I received feedback from the streamer that some skills are unnecessarily complicating and not worth the effort when being used. For example, Lilith's very first skill "Voodoo Cure" (or Juju Balance in the new build).

    He said it was not worth the extra healing when target's HP was below 50%, because extra MP would be spent unwillingly. That's why he usually hesitates when healing an ally with less than 50% of HP. The reason I did it was to prevent players from spamming healing skills without thinking of other strategies.

    Or other case is Lucia's Nether Flame skill, which damages ally first before healing them overtime, and requiring to make a combo with other skills to maximze the effects. This might increase the chance of getting eliminated before the healing effects take place.

    What is your experience about them? And how do you feel when using them?
  9. JamesRyan
    #89 Source
    Dev's update: I have been working on the new Reinforcement Crystals for the new town. Here is the preview of an interesting crystal, which provides different stats based on the equipped weapon
    1758981868554.png
  10. JamesRyan
    #90 Source
    Dev's update: Now that the Trading Hall is done, we can continue with the story. It's time to meet Blanc's sister again. There will be a small surprise for the whole party about that.
    20.2.Trading Hall.png
  11. JamesRyan
    #91 Source
    JamesRyan said:
    One more thing I want to ask is about the complexity of some skills. I received feedback from the streamer that some skills are unnecessarily complicating and not worth the effort when being used. For example, Lilith's very first skill "Voodoo Cure" (or Juju Balance in the new build).

    He said it was not worth the extra healing when target's HP was below 50%, because extra MP would be spent unwillingly. That's why he usually hesitates when healing an ally with less than 50% of HP. The reason I did it was to prevent players from spamming healing skills without thinking of other strategies.

    Or other case is Lucia's Nether Flame skill, which damages ally first before healing them overtime, and requiring to make a combo with other skills to maximze the effects. This might increase the chance of getting eliminated before the healing effects take place.

    What is your experience about them? And how do you feel when using them?
    @Lady_JJ In case you missed this, I would love to bring it back again, and I am looking forward to your feedback about this :biggrin:
  12. Lady_JJ
    #92 Source
    I can't speak to Lucia's Nether Flame Skill as I don't have that character. Maybe an earlier character I've forgotten? As for Lilith's Voodoo Cure (Juju Balance), I use it quite a bit. I tend to use it when a player's HP is nearing 50%, not wait for it to get below 50%. That's probably going against the grain of your desire (to prevent players from spamming healing skills without thinking of other strategies), but I am not a very complex game player. My warriors fight, my healers heal, and my mages spew magic. I've never had a problem with either Lilith or Leonardo running out of MP. HP and MP are regenerated a bit each turn during battle and fully restored upon level up. The drops are very generous, so between blue potions (50 MP) early on and cyan potions (300 MP) later, MP has never been a problem.

    Edit- found Lucia, she was an earlier character at the Ice Temple. I remember that I had to be careful not to wait too long before healing because of the initial drop in HP, but it didn't prevent me from using that skill. I don't remember having an issue with her MP running out, though.

    In general, I will admit that trying to understand what each skill/spell does can be quite daunting, but I usually just dumb it down to something like 'okay, this is a fire spell that may or may not cause a lingering burn state.' There is a bit of a learning curve to using an aid skill before the active spell/skill, but once you get the feel of it, I believe it adds to the battle experience.

    That said, I am probably not the best person to critique battle play because I'm just not the best tactical battler.

    -----------

    On another subject, I just restarted the game and I'd like to make a request. In that opening scene where Morrigan is rescuing Lilith, there is quite a bit of tutorial text. I don't mind that, especially since there seems to be a way to skip it if desired, however, when you do choose to read it, the last dialogue is the 'Do you want to read this again?" choice. Unfortunately, the default choice is 'yes' so if you're just quickly reading and spacing your way through the textboxes, you've all of a sudden found yourself being forced to read all that text again. Is there a way that you could reverse that so that the 'Thanks, I've read it and I'm good to go' could be the default?
  13. JamesRyan
    #93 Source
    Lady_JJ said:
    I can't speak to Lucia's Nether Flame Skill as I don't have that character. Maybe an earlier character I've forgotten? As for Lilith's Voodoo Cure (Juju Balance), I use it quite a bit. I tend to use it when a player's HP is nearing 50%, not wait for it to get below 50%. That's probably going against the grain of your desire (to prevent players from spamming healing skills without thinking of other strategies), but I am not a very complex game player. My warriors fight, my healers heal, and my mages spew magic. I've never had a problem with either Lilith or Leonardo running out of MP. HP and MP are regenerated a bit each turn during battle and fully restored upon level up. The drops are very generous, so between blue potions (50 MP) early on and cyan potions (300 MP) later, MP has never been a problem.

    Edit- found Lucia, she was an earlier character at the Ice Temple. I remember that I had to be careful not to wait too long before healing because of the initial drop in HP, but it didn't prevent me from using that skill. I don't remember having an issue with her MP running out, though.

    In general, I will admit that trying to understand what each skill/spell does can be quite daunting, but I usually just dumb it down to something like 'okay, this is a fire spell that may or may not cause a lingering burn state.' There is a bit of a learning curve to using an aid skill before the active spell/skill, but once you get the feel of it, I believe it adds to the battle experience.

    That said, I am probably not the best person to critique battle play because I'm just not the best tactical battler.

    -----------

    On another subject, I just restarted the game and I'd like to make a request. In that opening scene where Morrigan is rescuing Lilith, there is quite a bit of tutorial text. I don't mind that, especially since there seems to be a way to skip it if desired, however, when you do choose to read it, the last dialogue is the 'Do you want to read this again?" choice. Unfortunately, the default choice is 'yes' so if you're just quickly reading and spacing your way through the textboxes, you've all of a sudden found yourself being forced to read all that text again. Is there a way that you could reverse that so that the 'Thanks, I've read it and I'm good to go' could be the default?
    Thanks for your valuable feedback about those skills. I have also been thinking of making them more effective for players, while still prevent them from being too powerful. I will find a way to balance it later in future builds. Some other skills might need to be reworked too.

    And about your request, I will definitely do that in the next build. Thanks for being patient with the tutorials :biggrin:
  14. JamesRyan
    #94 Source
    Dev's update: I have been tweaking the Tutorials as requested above, changing the default choice to prevent accidental tutorial repetition. Also, the main event in the latest town (Shiroyuki) has been finished. A new build will be uploaded soon to incorporate these new changes.
  15. JamesRyan
    #95 Source
    Dev's update: I have delayed the release of the new build. This is because I have been working on the story again and want to extend it a bit more before releasing the build.

    P/s: I have also been thinking of revamping some skills too.
  16. JamesRyan
    #96 Source
    Dev's update: Before continuing with the story, I would like to show some new changes for some skills that will be available in the next build:

    1. Lilith - Juju Balance (Revamped):
      • Recovers HP of an ally by an amount of 50 + 2x MAT. Add 01 Juju Balance instance to the target for 5 turns. When the target's HP drops below 50%, the next heal from Juju Balance consumes all instances to recover their HP equal to 2% of their max HP per instance. Maximum of 5 instances. Costs extra 0-10 MP randomly per Juju Balance instance the target possesses. If the extra cost cannot be paid, the extra healing effect will not happen.
    2. Leonardo - Magic Amplification (Revamped):
      • Cost an extra of 15% of Current HP
      • Now simply double the damage of all magical or certain damage for a turn
    3. Leonardo - Spell Shell (Rebalanced):
      • Reduce the duration from 5 to 4 turns
      • During the effect, reduce mana cost by 20% of all skills.
    4. Leonardo - Spirit Conversion (Revamped):
      • Name's changed from Spirit Conversion to Mystic Overdrive
      • During Magic Amplification duration, raise your CRI by 25% and CRIT DMG by 50%.
    There might be even more changes to the skills in the future.
  17. JamesRyan
    #97 Source
    Dev's update: For those who have met the NPC named Kaoru Tsukishiro in Seishin Cave, I have updated their sprite with a new one, including the face assets. This is due to the old one did not quite fit their character well. The new build should be available at the end of next week, featuring new changes above, as well as the continuation of the story.
  18. JamesRyan
    #98 Source
    Dev's update: The new build (25111501) has been updated to the download link. Highlighted changes:

    - Revamped/Rebalanced some skills (as mentioned above)
    - Changing the default choices for tutorials to prevent accidental repetition
    - Continuation of the story. Although it is not much, it still provides some additional insights about what the party will do in Shiroyuki Town. The story for this build temporarily ends after talking to Albanus Wyrmwood
    - Introducing a new story boss, new equipment, and new reinforcement crystals

    As usual, you can continue with your old save files without any issues. Please download the build HERE, or revisit the download link from the first page. Thank you!
  19. Lady_JJ
    #99 Source
    I've only spent a few minutes with the new built but wanted to report that the mage (forgot his name) in Seishin Cave has a new face, but during battle, when using one of the potions he gives and he says 'Noted...', the text box is still using his old face. Will update when I get through this battle with the fencer moth.
  20. JamesRyan
    #100 Source
    Lady_JJ said:
    I've only spent a few minutes with the new built but wanted to report that the mage (forgot his name) in Seishin Cave has a new face, but during battle, when using one of the potions he gives and he says 'Noted...', the text box is still using his old face. Will update when I get through this battle with the fencer moth.
    Ah, yes. I forgot that. Thank you for your report. I will get it fixed in the next build :stickytongue: