New Voremon (Chapter 6 Available)

[foxyumbreon]

THEN WHATS THE POINT OF HAVING THE HP BAR??? I can't hurt them - dropping them to 0 doesn't kill them and they kill me because they take infinite damage - what gives?

The point is that the HP bar shows how much damage you have to do before you can begin blocking every turn.

Additionally, the HP Bar script allows the display of buffs, debuffs, and status effects applied to enemies, which can prove useful so the player doesn't need to keep track of that information themselves.

[foxyumbreon]

I finally got around to addressing the three glitches that were reported in Voremon V4. Fixing those involving Dragonair's failure against Snorlax, and Charizard eating enemies after battle were easy enough to fix, but from what I was able to find I won't be able to fix the sliding puzzle glitch. From what I experienced though, it only happens if you try to move a tile without an empty space adjacent, which generally wouldn't serve a purpose anyway so I can't imagine for what purpose the player would have to do that in the first place. With that in mind, and the fact that it can be undone by using Celebi's Reset, I've opted to leave it as is to avoid a possible fix from actually breaking the puzzle.

[Alastor]

After playing through version 4, Dragonair's new level design has become my favorite out of all of the characters. It blends in the turn based combat from Charizard's levels with puzzle elements which creates an interesting take on turn based fighting with mechanics that work well with the vore focused setting.

Charizard's latest levels come close to this level of vore-to-gameplay integration, but to a lesser degree. I think the key to creating interesting gameplay is to think of how it is integrated to the setting and how it relates back to the core theme: vore. Let's examine Lucario's levels, which in my opinion have the least integration with the vore theme/setting. At their core, like all the other stages in voremon, Lucario's stages focus on puzzle solving. Lucario's levels center around circumventing obstacles while conserving energy use from the movement of obstacles and Lucario's own movements. Having Lucario run out of action points or run out of time results in Mew's protective barrier disappearing and Lucario being transported to a pit inhabited by a gigantic hungry Ekans. While failure results in vore, I don't feel that the gameplay integrates with the vore theme very effectively. Moving crates and boulders do not relate to vore as much as situations like devouring fallen enemies to gain their abilities/buffs in the case of Charizard or damaging enemies and then enduring long enough for Manaphy's Heart Swap ability to properly affect them rather than Dragonair itself do.

These scenarios integrate the particular setting (Charizard is fighting through a tower and is growing stronger after each victory; rescued Pokemon assist Dragonair directly in battle), as well the core theme of vore very well. I enjoy Dragonair's stages partly because they have the most interesting integration of vore and gameplay mechanics in relation to the setting/story. I think Dragonair's newest stages along with the latest Charizard stages serve as examples for how gameplay can be well integrated with the setting and theme.

As far as an alternative or possible change, perhaps having Lucario move unconscious enemy Pokemon who have been knocked out by a psychic blast sent out by Mew would be a stronger integration between gameplay and setting. The mechanics would be identical (moving objects while conserving AP and moving quickly), but the implications different. Running out of time could result in Lucario being discovered by a room full of waking enemy Pokemon, which could lead to it being fed to the Ekans, if you still wanted that vore animation to be a part of the fail scene. Running out of Action points could result in Lucario not having the strength to lift any more unconscious Pokemon resulting in it's subsequent capture. It's fairly plausible for Mew to be able to emit such a powerful move sparingly as its effects are not long lasting and would only be used for a few levels at most, similarly to how Manaphy's Heart Swap ability is handled. I think illustrating the strain on Mew will be essential to showing the player why Mew couldn't use the move haphazardly or even to a very great effect as the Pokemon would be unconscious for a very short period of time. Lucario's Pokemon type helps solidify this scenario, as it is a fighting type, the likes of which are generally shown as using brute physical strength as their specialty. Food for thought.

[Chendron]

I'm having trouble figuring out the Lucario Raichu puzzle. In the last room I always seem to run out of steps just before the exit.

[Tastyboi]

I'm having trouble figuring out the Lucario Raichu puzzle. In the last room I always seem to run out of steps just before the exit.

You're step count carries over through all the rooms in the Raichu battle thing, so if you run out of steps in the final room, there might be a way to save steps in one of the earlier rooms.

[Lugiavore96]

I've gotten an really really Bad Bug
I acctualy Always SAVE the game when it says "Do you want to save" but... Yesterday as i Streamed this game.... I got an Error as i lost In the room with Protagonist Charizard with the enmies Pikachum scyther and Caterpie... and after that i got an Error it says "Script' Scene_File' Line 215: TypeError Occurred. no marshal_dump is defined for the class Proc."
it happens in the Old versions too....but....in the NEW VERSION V4.... after is restared....all Save slots are agone.....it wa like the game never saved.....the slots are all empty...i was Freaking out alot...

~Lppassy96/PassyVoreX

[foxyumbreon]

After playing through version 4, Dragonair's new level design has become my favorite out of all of the characters. It blends in the turn based combat from Charizard's levels with puzzle elements which creates an interesting take on turn based fighting with mechanics that work well with the vore focused setting.

Charizard's latest levels come close to this level of vore-to-gameplay integration, but to a lesser degree. I think the key to creating interesting gameplay is to think of how it is integrated to the setting and how it relates back to the core theme: vore. Let's examine Lucario's levels, which in my opinion have the least integration with the vore theme/setting. At their core, like all the other stages in voremon, Lucario's stages focus on puzzle solving. Lucario's levels center around circumventing obstacles while conserving energy use from the movement of obstacles and Lucario's own movements. Having Lucario run out of action points or run out of time results in Mew's protective barrier disappearing and Lucario being transported to a pit inhabited by a gigantic hungry Ekans. While failure results in vore, I don't feel that the gameplay integrates with the vore theme very effectively. Moving crates and boulders do not relate to vore as much as situations like devouring fallen enemies to gain their abilities/buffs in the case of Charizard or damaging enemies and then enduring long enough for Manaphy's Heart Swap ability to properly affect them rather than Dragonair itself do.

These scenarios integrate the particular setting (Charizard is fighting through a tower and is growing stronger after each victory; rescued Pokemon assist Dragonair directly in battle), as well the core theme of vore very well. I enjoy Dragonair's stages partly because they have the most interesting integration of vore and gameplay mechanics in relation to the setting/story. I think Dragonair's newest stages along with the latest Charizard stages serve as examples for how gameplay can be well integrated with the setting and theme.

As far as an alternative or possible change, perhaps having Lucario move unconscious enemy Pokemon who have been knocked out by a psychic blast sent out by Mew would be a stronger integration between gameplay and setting. The mechanics would be identical (moving objects while conserving AP and moving quickly), but the implications different. Running out of time could result in Lucario being discovered by a room full of waking enemy Pokemon, which could lead to it being fed to the Ekans, if you still wanted that vore animation to be a part of the fail scene. Running out of Action points could result in Lucario not having the strength to lift any more unconscious Pokemon resulting in it's subsequent capture. It's fairly plausible for Mew to be able to emit such a powerful move sparingly as its effects are not long lasting and would only be used for a few levels at most, similarly to how Manaphy's Heart Swap ability is handled. I think illustrating the strain on Mew will be essential to showing the player why Mew couldn't use the move haphazardly or even to a very great effect as the Pokemon would be unconscious for a very short period of time. Lucario's Pokemon type helps solidify this scenario, as it is a fighting type, the likes of which are generally shown as using brute physical strength as their specialty. Food for thought.

Nice analysis, but I really don't see myself making such a drastic change at this time. The integration difference is deliberate to stick with the Ekans trap theme from the original version of the game, which in turn also helps give Lucario's stages a bit of a different overall feel than the others.

I've gotten an really really Bad Bug
I acctualy Always SAVE the game when it says "Do you want to save" but... Yesterday as i Streamed this game.... I got an Error as i lost In the room with Protagonist Charizard with the enmies Pikachum scyther and Caterpie... and after that i got an Error it says "Script' Scene_File' Line 215: TypeError Occurred. no marshal_dump is defined for the class Proc."
it happens in the Old versions too....but....in the NEW VERSION V4.... after is restared....all Save slots are agone.....it wa like the game never saved.....the slots are all empty...i was Freaking out alot...

~Lppassy96/PassyVoreX

Pretty sure I've managed to fix it, so hopefully it won't be a problem anymore with the next release.

[foxyumbreon]

There's a very strong possibility at this point that I'll be removing the autosaving from Voremon. That script has always been a ton of trouble, from causing a troublesome glitch back during the scrolling Dragonair stages that could make them more challenging if you died too many times, to more recent complications of deleting save files. It's convenient to have the ease when a loss occurs, but it's gotten to the point where the feature is severely holding the project back to the point of discouraging frustration, so it's gotta go. It'll likely be replaced with a brief opportunity to save manually between each screen.

[MirceaKitsune]

Hmmm... it's been about 4 years since I last played this game. Since I dove into 2D RPG's during the last weeks, now would certainly be a good time to try the latest version again!

I only use Linux nowadays however, and last time I played this was back in my Windows days. Anyone know if I can expect this game to run on WINE, in case there are other Linux users around?

[foxyumbreon]

Still struggling to get any work done on Voremon (Freedom Planet releasing on the Wii U so I can finally play it has been the bane of my free time recently), but I do have some small things to mention so everybody knows what to expect with the next release.

The main thing is that, as mentioned before, I've removed auto saving from the game (although I'm still working on testing some things related to that removal). With that gone, there's also no longer an option to retry when you lose. Fortunately most game over sequences are rather short, and you're given the option to reload your last save from the game over screen. However, to keep this from being too much of an issue, I've been working on adding a couple other new features instead. The first is the game letting you perform a standard save by opening the save menu automatically every time you clear an area, so you never have to backtrack too far when you lose. Secondly, because of their design, you're given three lives per area in the Charizard and Dragonair stages. That way if you slip up in one battle, or fight the wrong enemies first, you don't have to do the entire room all over again without first running out of lives. This should help make them a bit more fair, and less tedious (unless you're trying to kill yourself). The reasons I'm not applying lives to Umbreon and Lucario as well are A: it would be too hard to do, and B: because of their design extra lives would need to restart the current screen to the starting point anyway.

Lastly, on a smaller note, I've removed the game asking if you want to save with simply opening the save menu since it can be canceled out from, and also trashed the outdated follow-up question of whether or not you want to continue playing. The latter of those two was removed because it lost its relevance several years ago. It was originally input into the game because back around when the project was first started, I had a script that let the player switch to full screen mode during the start up. Since you can't conventionally exit out of the game like that without the Quit option in the menu, which I removed from Voremon, I gave the player the option to quit after every save point. When I removed that full screen script, I for some reason kept the "continue playing" question in the game just because.

That's all for now. Let's hope the next demo isn't too far off.

[foxyumbreon]

Recently, I've been thinking about adapting the mini games into mini bosses of sorts that'll appear halfway through certain stages to briefly mix things up a bit. I think this'll be suiting since many of them result in the player being devoured by the encounter's adversary should they fail, much like a standard boss.

While some of the mini games should be fine as they are, others will obviously need to be expanded upon a bit to make them better fit the new role. Naturally, one of those that needs to be expanded upon is the Sharpedo game. I'm presently at the point where I need to insert that into the stage, but am unsure about exactly what I should do with it. I'd like to keep the premise similar, but perhaps make it a bit more challenging or deeper in execution. Any ideas or suggestions? I may not use them precisely, but I hope chatting about it a bit might help get the creative juices flowing.

[Pachirisu_And_Asmodeus]

Recently, I've been thinking about adapting the mini games into mini bosses of sorts that'll appear halfway through certain stages to briefly mix things up a bit. I think this'll be suiting since many of them result in the player being devoured by the encounter's adversary should they fail, much like a standard boss.

While some of the mini games should be fine as they are, others will obviously need to be expanded upon a bit to make them better fit the new role. Naturally, one of those that needs to be expanded upon is the Sharpedo game. I'm presently at the point where I need to insert that into the stage, but am unsure about exactly what I should do with it. I'd like to keep the premise similar, but perhaps make it a bit more challenging or deeper in execution. Any ideas or suggestions? I may not use them precisely, but I hope chatting about it a bit might help get the creative juices flowing.

I like that idea and maybe make the Sharpedo a bit faster?

[foxyumbreon]

I like that idea and maybe make the Sharpedo a bit faster?

I'm thinking something along those lines, but I of course don't want to make Sharpedo too fast. Nothing's more annoying that being stuck in a game because it demands you to mindlessly mash a button faster than one can physically manage. That's not fun, and no amount of trial-and-error experimentation or skill can really compensate for it after multiple attempts. I know because I've been stuck in games with segments like that before because I simply couldn't move my fingers/hand fast enough.

I've been most recently thinking of something along the lines of after you race from left to right, you then have to race Sharpedo back with it moving a little bit faster, and starting from where it already stands. That way you need to not just beat Sharpedo on the first (and maybe second) stretch, but also risk baiting it as close as possible to triggering a game over before completing the lap so Sharpedo doesn't start the next one with a huge head start.

[Alastor]

I have an idea for how to expand the sharkpedo room into more of a mini boss. You could make a room (picture included) which serves as the first phase of the fight. The player would walk onto the thin bridge like walk way and halfway through gates would appear at both the front and back of the bridge, trapping them (gates are represented by the two black lines). The first part of the fight would consist of dodging waterballs/waterfall waves fired by the sharkpedo. (waterfalls affect more blocks than water balls, but are slower moving. Once hit, the player is knocked into the water and has to swim back to the bridge and climb up before the sharkpedo catches up (the mini game can be used here to represent the race back to the bridge). Each time the player is hit by a water attack, they are knocked further away from the bridge, increasing the likelyhood of being swallowed before making it back onto the bridge. Eventually the sharkpedo will "run out of PP" and be unable to keep attacking and/or the gaurdian pokemon will have enough time to charge a powerful enough attack to incapacitate it, allowing the player to eat the sharkpedo before continuing to the boss.

[Chaos199416]

This would be amazing but unfortunately eating the shark pokemon would not be able to happen otherwise it would interfere with the first reason umbreon doesn't just vore every pokemon she comes across

[foxyumbreon]

I have an idea for how to expand the sharkpedo room into more of a mini boss. You could make a room (picture included) which serves as the first phase of the fight. The player would walk onto the thin bridge like walk way and halfway through gates would appear at both the front and back of the bridge, trapping them (gates are represented by the two black lines). The first part of the fight would consist of dodging waterballs/waterfall waves fired by the sharkpedo. (waterfalls affect more blocks than water balls, but are slower moving. Once hit, the player is knocked into the water and has to swim back to the bridge and climb up before the sharkpedo catches up (the mini game can be used here to represent the race back to the bridge). Each time the player is hit by a water attack, they are knocked further away from the bridge, increasing the likelyhood of being swallowed before making it back onto the bridge. Eventually the sharkpedo will "run out of PP" and be unable to keep attacking and/or the gaurdian pokemon will have enough time to charge a powerful enough attack to incapacitate it, allowing the player to eat the sharkpedo before continuing to the boss.

That sounds like an interesting idea, although it does conflict a bit with my intentions of making the game more RPG Maker friendly than it was before by adding in an action segment where the player has to avoid projectiles. Perhaps if the dodging segment could be made into some sort of mini game of its own so things like hit detection aren't an issue. Also, like Chaos said, the player won't be eating anybody in the end. More likely, Celebi would use its powers to open the gates so Umbreon can escape.

[Alastor]

Sound's good, I didn't know whether or not sharkpedo would need to be eaten plot wise so I wanted it to go either way with what Celebi's power is used on. I'd imagine there would be a cutscene triggered when walking to the gate that would transition into the dodging mini game. Afterwards, if hit, a short cut scene showing umbreon being knocked into the water would play, transitioning to the swimming mini game.

Lol what a dramatic mini boss, I actually got the idea from this boss fight on Resident Evil 4 https://youtu.be/VYH8qtNpg4o

[foxyumbreon]

Of course, it presents its own problem of actually coming up with a dodging mini game.

[Reikasuya]

Shouldn't be too hard. Dodging is as simple as inputting button sequences. Only difference is that's there's three and you have to input the right one depending on the attack being thrown at you.

[foxyumbreon]

Shouldn't be too hard. Dodging is as simple as inputting button sequences. Only difference is that's there's three and you have to input the right one depending on the attack being thrown at you.

Don't worry. I've since gotten it roughly figured out. Now if only I could get off this spit, or out of that sandwich, I may get some work done.