Overall, great fun, I really like the atmosphere with it's humor, and nice details, things like -
Spoiler: show
-"Hold on jeeves" "soldier: aaaagh!" "he he okay we can continue"
-"things that sparkle. vampires are not listed"
-"rat unmentionables"
-what Lilah's cat drinks in the camp. Also - "albino black cat" XD
-rock paper scissors.. XD
-the whole 'gork the orc' thing
-"things that sparkle. vampires are not listed"
-"rat unmentionables"
-what Lilah's cat drinks in the camp. Also - "albino black cat" XD
-rock paper scissors.. XD
-the whole 'gork the orc' thing
Also, the rewards during the game -
Spoiler: show
Feeding on the defeating enemies (yum, gives extras on skills), or alternatively harassing them. And yes, of course, upgrading the camp from a simple tent to an impressive castle. Not only do we complete quests and have characters grow in level, we also build up an entire empire. Yay!
..Well, maybe not that big yet, but maybe some day..
..Well, maybe not that big yet, but maybe some day..
Combat stuff:
Spoiler: show
The enemies throughout the game are well balanced - not boringly easy but not frustratingly difficult either. The only thing I can complain about here is minor - Vlad's castle is placed as 'next' area on the map, but is way harder to manage compared to the other places further away. I would suggest, put Vlad further away from the staring point, or make a warning that this area is particularly dangerous (for instance, Jeeves could say this when the area is entered, which would make sense since he already knows Vlad). While I agree with Garz that this should not be a 'holding hands' game, I think some hint would be great.
I like it that different opponents require different fighting skills or strategies. For example the beetle where standard fighting doesn't do much (you have to use special skill or magic) or the lich boss where you have to go for the orbs first.
The combat flair text adds nicely to the fighting experience. Like for instance -"Minotaur swings his axe around" (Uh-oh ..). Or the lich boss crying about his damaged orbs. Makes a fight feel more special, not just 'another enemy to slay'. I would love to see more of that.
I like it that different opponents require different fighting skills or strategies. For example the beetle where standard fighting doesn't do much (you have to use special skill or magic) or the lich boss where you have to go for the orbs first.
The combat flair text adds nicely to the fighting experience. Like for instance -"Minotaur swings his axe around" (Uh-oh ..). Or the lich boss crying about his damaged orbs. Makes a fight feel more special, not just 'another enemy to slay'. I would love to see more of that.
Characters:
I always kept Jeeves, and Heir of course, while varying the characters in the other two slots.
Spoiler: show
The three characters Lilah, Elea and Sirrta worked great for me, perhaps a small preference for Sirrta since she has good fighter skills too. I also liked Gusto, but he could use some more additional skills, how about making him harder to hit? As already mentioned, thieving skills such a detecting traps or picking locks would fit him well, should it match in this game. I really liked Taila too but think her level should be higher when she eventually joins the group. Sheesa looks promising as well but I added her relatively late, so her level was pretty low compared to the others I already got.
As for temporary characters - Hermit is good as a walking medkit but that's all. In contrast, Stu and Hassad make good fighters. I never used Chuck, Ooluuf or the Dryad however because of their low levels when they joined.
As for temporary characters - Hermit is good as a walking medkit but that's all. In contrast, Stu and Hassad make good fighters. I never used Chuck, Ooluuf or the Dryad however because of their low levels when they joined.
Thoughts and suggestions:
Spoiler: show
Random encounters:
This is in the end a matter of taste, some people enjoy a lot of random encounters (yay more fighting) while for others it can quickly become too much. I'm sort of middle ground here. At the one side, random encounters are good for exp and gold farming, and also for testing out new abilities from leveling up or newly added characters. And, should I want to explore an area completely unbothered, there is always the scare skill..
At the other side, a number of such random encounters are needed in order to level up sufficiently, so there aren't any way around them in the long run. I think what makes some players dislike random encounters is when they are predictable in what is encountered, while pretty unpredictable in when it happens (anytime, anywhere within the area). Of course, you can add more non-random encounters to make it more special (not "just random"), but that's a whole lot of extra work to do, and there are also other and less work-intensive ways around this.
- How about not having random encounters happen "anywhere", but instead preferably only within specific parts of the areas, where it would make most sense? Like for instance, in a dungeon rats or bats would be more likely to appear in dark corners than in a fully lit up corridor. Snakes are more likely to appear where the forest is particularly thick, rather than on an open field. Slimes more likely where the ground is particularly moist. Such an 'not-entirely-random' aspect would give the game a more realistic feel, with the surprise effect not entirely gone. It may even add a hunting feel, when the "prey" is not popping up right before you anytime, but you'll have to seek it. Damn, rats, where are you hiding now? It gives the player more agency. And yes, sure, I enjoy being pred.
-Some areas could benefit from varying the encounters more, not always the same creatures. For instance, the dungeon below the Dysart city has good variation (rats, caterpillars, beetle, etc) but the Volcano is pretty monotoneous (hellhound, hellhound, hellhound.. ).
Character level issues:
Characters encountered later in the game may not be attractive to use because of their low levels. Sure, they'll be leveled up when you use them in combat (and yes, infinite amounts of random encounters), but late in the game this will take time and require many encounters before they have caught up. And, why shall I spend time on leveling up a weak character when I can further level up an already strong character?
Since active combat is necessary for a character to get experience points, it's less attractive to use temporary characters - why waste experience points on them when they will soon leave the party again anyway?
Group experience instead of character experience has already been suggested. I don't need to worry about when I have a character join the party, or about the non-fighting characters remaining at low levels just because they are not fighting. I think this solution is sort of boring though, since it takes away the reward for 'investing' in a particular character. But in the end that's a matter of taste. Maybe a compromise would be the best - the fighting characters get full experience, while the non-fighting ones get partial experince, like 50%?
You can have new characters start at higher levels than they currently do. For instance, when the characters I already have are at level 10+, then level 4 for the new character is low, someplace around level 8 would be more fit. Since it may be hard to predict at which time point the player picks up a character, the level could be made dynamic instead of pre-defined by programming (I have seen that in other rpgs). For instance, the new character's level could be Heir's current level minus two? Or the party's average level minus one? Or something similar?
Is there any chance to make temporary characters not 'steal away' experience points from permanent characters? How about an additional slot number 5 to be used for temporary characters only, so that the four regular slots are always available for permanent characters. But this may be a real pain to program (?)
Defeated cities:
I couldn't see any advantage in pillaging the city versus sparing it. This is again a matter of taste of course, but one idea would be to let both actions have their consequences for further game play, with both options having their own advantages as well as penalties.
Pillaging could for instance have short term advantages such as finding a lot of gold and treasure, as well as the experience of actually playing it - fighting off inhabitants, eating them (gives stats bonus), looting, etc. The disadvantage, obviously, is that the city is pretty much useless afterwards. On the plus side, doing this particular evil could also increase the morals of your allies, they get happier and with that give you more benefits. Like, NPCs - stuff in their stores gets cheaper, you can stay over in inn for free, etc. Player's characters may get better stats or skills.
In contrast, sparing the city and its inhabitants can give you a useful source of supplies throughout the game (including goodies you'll not be able to buy in any other store). On the minus side, there may also the risk that they turn hostile at some point, or even rebel or attack you (or your stronghold) at some point.
Continuation of the game:
You wrote somewhere that you weren't quite sure how to go om with this game. I'll not suggest anything specific here, after all this is your game, but a general idea, how I would *expect* the game to go on would be -
One major quest at the end, such as taking over a particularly powerful city. Kill the King. All other quests before build up to this, where you increase your power, as in personal power as well as your army and equipment.
Alternatively, or additionally - Surprises are great. Maybe something entirely else and totally unexpected happens.. *grins*
Another thought - In general, I'm very fond of the concept of multiple options, such as 'different ways of evil', where there is no 'right' solution vs. the 'wrong' solution. Therefore I like your idea of feeding on defeated enemies vs. keeping them. This is something you can build further on. What will be the consequences of keeping defeated enemies? They may turn into useful allies..? Or they may betray you..? This may also depend on how you actually treat them. Similarly, you could build on the fate of the defeated cities (see above), with various outcomes depending on whether or not they are spared and how you go along with the bosses there.
This is in the end a matter of taste, some people enjoy a lot of random encounters (yay more fighting) while for others it can quickly become too much. I'm sort of middle ground here. At the one side, random encounters are good for exp and gold farming, and also for testing out new abilities from leveling up or newly added characters. And, should I want to explore an area completely unbothered, there is always the scare skill..
At the other side, a number of such random encounters are needed in order to level up sufficiently, so there aren't any way around them in the long run. I think what makes some players dislike random encounters is when they are predictable in what is encountered, while pretty unpredictable in when it happens (anytime, anywhere within the area). Of course, you can add more non-random encounters to make it more special (not "just random"), but that's a whole lot of extra work to do, and there are also other and less work-intensive ways around this.
- How about not having random encounters happen "anywhere", but instead preferably only within specific parts of the areas, where it would make most sense? Like for instance, in a dungeon rats or bats would be more likely to appear in dark corners than in a fully lit up corridor. Snakes are more likely to appear where the forest is particularly thick, rather than on an open field. Slimes more likely where the ground is particularly moist. Such an 'not-entirely-random' aspect would give the game a more realistic feel, with the surprise effect not entirely gone. It may even add a hunting feel, when the "prey" is not popping up right before you anytime, but you'll have to seek it. Damn, rats, where are you hiding now? It gives the player more agency. And yes, sure, I enjoy being pred.
-Some areas could benefit from varying the encounters more, not always the same creatures. For instance, the dungeon below the Dysart city has good variation (rats, caterpillars, beetle, etc) but the Volcano is pretty monotoneous (hellhound, hellhound, hellhound.. ).
Character level issues:
Characters encountered later in the game may not be attractive to use because of their low levels. Sure, they'll be leveled up when you use them in combat (and yes, infinite amounts of random encounters), but late in the game this will take time and require many encounters before they have caught up. And, why shall I spend time on leveling up a weak character when I can further level up an already strong character?
Since active combat is necessary for a character to get experience points, it's less attractive to use temporary characters - why waste experience points on them when they will soon leave the party again anyway?
Group experience instead of character experience has already been suggested. I don't need to worry about when I have a character join the party, or about the non-fighting characters remaining at low levels just because they are not fighting. I think this solution is sort of boring though, since it takes away the reward for 'investing' in a particular character. But in the end that's a matter of taste. Maybe a compromise would be the best - the fighting characters get full experience, while the non-fighting ones get partial experince, like 50%?
You can have new characters start at higher levels than they currently do. For instance, when the characters I already have are at level 10+, then level 4 for the new character is low, someplace around level 8 would be more fit. Since it may be hard to predict at which time point the player picks up a character, the level could be made dynamic instead of pre-defined by programming (I have seen that in other rpgs). For instance, the new character's level could be Heir's current level minus two? Or the party's average level minus one? Or something similar?
Is there any chance to make temporary characters not 'steal away' experience points from permanent characters? How about an additional slot number 5 to be used for temporary characters only, so that the four regular slots are always available for permanent characters. But this may be a real pain to program (?)
Defeated cities:
I couldn't see any advantage in pillaging the city versus sparing it. This is again a matter of taste of course, but one idea would be to let both actions have their consequences for further game play, with both options having their own advantages as well as penalties.
Pillaging could for instance have short term advantages such as finding a lot of gold and treasure, as well as the experience of actually playing it - fighting off inhabitants, eating them (gives stats bonus), looting, etc. The disadvantage, obviously, is that the city is pretty much useless afterwards. On the plus side, doing this particular evil could also increase the morals of your allies, they get happier and with that give you more benefits. Like, NPCs - stuff in their stores gets cheaper, you can stay over in inn for free, etc. Player's characters may get better stats or skills.
In contrast, sparing the city and its inhabitants can give you a useful source of supplies throughout the game (including goodies you'll not be able to buy in any other store). On the minus side, there may also the risk that they turn hostile at some point, or even rebel or attack you (or your stronghold) at some point.
Continuation of the game:
You wrote somewhere that you weren't quite sure how to go om with this game. I'll not suggest anything specific here, after all this is your game, but a general idea, how I would *expect* the game to go on would be -
One major quest at the end, such as taking over a particularly powerful city. Kill the King. All other quests before build up to this, where you increase your power, as in personal power as well as your army and equipment.
Alternatively, or additionally - Surprises are great. Maybe something entirely else and totally unexpected happens.. *grins*
Another thought - In general, I'm very fond of the concept of multiple options, such as 'different ways of evil', where there is no 'right' solution vs. the 'wrong' solution. Therefore I like your idea of feeding on defeated enemies vs. keeping them. This is something you can build further on. What will be the consequences of keeping defeated enemies? They may turn into useful allies..? Or they may betray you..? This may also depend on how you actually treat them. Similarly, you could build on the fate of the defeated cities (see above), with various outcomes depending on whether or not they are spared and how you go along with the bosses there.
Bugs:
You may be aware of many of these already, I mention them just in case -
Spoiler: show
Group formation changes after entering then exiting the camp bulding (tent, house, castle). If Elea or Gusto is not among the four selected characters, they nevertheless appear in one of the four slots when leaving the tent/house/castle again.
Vlad's castle:
The two mimic doors respawn when that area is revisited (or is this intentional?).
When revisiting the overlord castle, it "repairs itself" to its original state when the party leaves Jeeves' room through the door.
When the robber king is defeated and disappeared, it's still not possible to walk over the tiles where he was. Same thing with fluffy.
When the mimic king is killed, the party can walk on the tile where the new, smaller chest is placed. It looks like they walk right through it.
The draw bridge in the Dysart city bug is sometimes down when it should not.
Prison under Dysart city: When I talk to prisoners they say 'thanks for letting me out' and leave, even though I didn't get the prison key yet.
The earth gem (green) turns red (looks like a fire gem) when you click on it to pick it up
When the three ships are defeated at sea, the game sometimes (not always) crashes: your ship cannot be moved, and even though that wirly thing reaches the ship, nothing happens.
Inside the sea monster:
After hitting the first organic mass - the area changes to less acid but the image still shows the full acid version (so that the party walks on the acid). The image then alters into the right one when I leave the area and then return to it. This only happened first time I played, but not the second time.
When I go back to the start image inside the monster, I see a second sprite of Heir in the start position, saying the same stuff ("what happened.. etc"). Then this second Heir sprite disappears.
Vlad's castle:
The two mimic doors respawn when that area is revisited (or is this intentional?).
When revisiting the overlord castle, it "repairs itself" to its original state when the party leaves Jeeves' room through the door.
When the robber king is defeated and disappeared, it's still not possible to walk over the tiles where he was. Same thing with fluffy.
When the mimic king is killed, the party can walk on the tile where the new, smaller chest is placed. It looks like they walk right through it.
The draw bridge in the Dysart city bug is sometimes down when it should not.
Prison under Dysart city: When I talk to prisoners they say 'thanks for letting me out' and leave, even though I didn't get the prison key yet.
The earth gem (green) turns red (looks like a fire gem) when you click on it to pick it up
When the three ships are defeated at sea, the game sometimes (not always) crashes: your ship cannot be moved, and even though that wirly thing reaches the ship, nothing happens.
Inside the sea monster:
After hitting the first organic mass - the area changes to less acid but the image still shows the full acid version (so that the party walks on the acid). The image then alters into the right one when I leave the area and then return to it. This only happened first time I played, but not the second time.
When I go back to the start image inside the monster, I see a second sprite of Heir in the start position, saying the same stuff ("what happened.. etc"). Then this second Heir sprite disappears.
Various minor stuff:
Spoiler: show
Overlord castle: I cannot walk over wine bottles on the floor, but still over bar stools. Odd.
Snuffles is just adorable. So how about a reappearance later in the game? Like - finding him among the mess in the damaged castle and picking him up? "ohhh old dear friend snuffles!" --> Legion of terror +1.
There is very little exp for slimes (only 3) as compared to rats. Is this intentional?
How about making Elea poison resistant, sinse she's a ghost ?
When the orcs say they'll build the bridge- How about adding some animation here, that they walk away (to build the bridge), instead of them sitting around the camp fire and somehow build the bridge per telekinesis remote control..?
After sea monster:
The harpy's image is blurred, probably because an image with too low resolution is used.
Typo: In Lilah's status: "..fooling aroudn"
I cannot read the sign at the blue city entrance after the take over.
The symbols in the volcano area are hexagrams, while the text says they are pentagrams. Pentagrams (magic, occult) seem better fitting than hexagrams (judaism), so I would change the graphics and not the text. For devil or demon stuff (such as the volcano) I would use the 'one point down'-pentagram, while for general magic stuff (such as potion stores) the 'one point up'-pentagram.
The orc interactive story book was great fun, and great vore too. But how about making the text stationary instead of scrolling on its own? More convenient to read text which doesn't move. Continuation could be done by hitting space bar. That also has the advantage of not having to wait till the text has scrolled all way up.
The orientations of city maps are mismatching. This makes it harder to navigate through the city, which exit leads to which map. Any chance to fix this? Like, exiting on the left side on one map makes you appear on the right side on the next?
Not sure if bug:
In the blue city, inn, I can enter the rat hole even though Lilah is not added to the group yet.
Taila's gunshots hit the pirate guys right in their balls...
Snuffles is just adorable. So how about a reappearance later in the game? Like - finding him among the mess in the damaged castle and picking him up? "ohhh old dear friend snuffles!" --> Legion of terror +1.
There is very little exp for slimes (only 3) as compared to rats. Is this intentional?
How about making Elea poison resistant, sinse she's a ghost ?
When the orcs say they'll build the bridge- How about adding some animation here, that they walk away (to build the bridge), instead of them sitting around the camp fire and somehow build the bridge per telekinesis remote control..?
After sea monster:
The harpy's image is blurred, probably because an image with too low resolution is used.
Typo: In Lilah's status: "..fooling aroudn"
I cannot read the sign at the blue city entrance after the take over.
The symbols in the volcano area are hexagrams, while the text says they are pentagrams. Pentagrams (magic, occult) seem better fitting than hexagrams (judaism), so I would change the graphics and not the text. For devil or demon stuff (such as the volcano) I would use the 'one point down'-pentagram, while for general magic stuff (such as potion stores) the 'one point up'-pentagram.
The orc interactive story book was great fun, and great vore too. But how about making the text stationary instead of scrolling on its own? More convenient to read text which doesn't move. Continuation could be done by hitting space bar. That also has the advantage of not having to wait till the text has scrolled all way up.
The orientations of city maps are mismatching. This makes it harder to navigate through the city, which exit leads to which map. Any chance to fix this? Like, exiting on the left side on one map makes you appear on the right side on the next?
Not sure if bug:
In the blue city, inn, I can enter the rat hole even though Lilah is not added to the group yet.
Taila's gunshots hit the pirate guys right in their balls..
.Questions:
Spoiler: show
What does hermit's 'revive potion' (in skills, not in the store) do?
The four mimics in the treasure room were way harder to defeat than the mimic king as well as vlad. But maybe there is some sort of strategy to easily defeat them which I haven't noticed?
Just out of curiosity - TP increase when fighting, but is there any specific pattern how much? or is it random?
I hardly get a chance to use the more TP expensive special skills, those which cost many such as 100 TP (the fight is over long before that amount of TPs is reached). So how about lowering TP costs for specials when the character's level increases? Or alternatively, have TP grow faster in combat when the character has reached higher levels?
Some skills (specials or magic) require TP as well as MP. Would it be possible to show TP as well as MP costs?
Suggestion: Give save games custom names? That makes it easier to keep track of them.
How about adding a 'buy' function to Chuck, when he's still in the party (like Hermit)?
In the 'dragon slayer' dungeon, I find a glowing sword, I take it but it doesn't show up in the inventory. Is this intentional?
I feel kind of stupid now, but- I still have no idea when to use 'Pokestick'. I hoped it would work against sleep in combat, but I cannot access it from the item list then. Maybe it works for "revival" when a character is "dead" (only 1 HP and fainted)?
I read about 'legion punch' in this thread, but couldn't see any in the game. Is this a skill Heir gets at a higher level?
I read somewhere that "she had turned into a naga". But I couldn't see that happen anytime with anyone.
The four mimics in the treasure room were way harder to defeat than the mimic king as well as vlad. But maybe there is some sort of strategy to easily defeat them which I haven't noticed?
Just out of curiosity - TP increase when fighting, but is there any specific pattern how much? or is it random?
I hardly get a chance to use the more TP expensive special skills, those which cost many such as 100 TP (the fight is over long before that amount of TPs is reached). So how about lowering TP costs for specials when the character's level increases? Or alternatively, have TP grow faster in combat when the character has reached higher levels?
Some skills (specials or magic) require TP as well as MP. Would it be possible to show TP as well as MP costs?
Suggestion: Give save games custom names? That makes it easier to keep track of them.
How about adding a 'buy' function to Chuck, when he's still in the party (like Hermit)?
In the 'dragon slayer' dungeon, I find a glowing sword, I take it but it doesn't show up in the inventory. Is this intentional?
I feel kind of stupid now, but- I still have no idea when to use 'Pokestick'. I hoped it would work against sleep in combat, but I cannot access it from the item list then. Maybe it works for "revival" when a character is "dead" (only 1 HP and fainted)?
I read about 'legion punch' in this thread, but couldn't see any in the game. Is this a skill Heir gets at a higher level?
I read somewhere that "she had turned into a naga". But I couldn't see that happen anytime with anyone.
Final comment: I think I'll play this game again. After a major update, I'm sure I'll play it again.
