Lightgeist Mountain - Dungeon - Demo - Work In Progress (XP)

[Heretic86 25]

This is Lightgeist Mountain.

 

Download and Play here. There are two demos wrapped in that file so run the 2nd one.

http://www.775.net/~...downloads/rmvx/

 

Screenshots

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, it isnt just the outside of the Mountain you will have to contend with. The whole thing is a Maze linked all over the place by a complex network of Caves...

 

 

Now, I dont want to give away too much, so here is a screenshot of the better part of the map scaled down so you can see. It doesnt help much.

 

 

 

 

 

Just looking for feedback on the structure of the 2nd map...

Edited November 19, 2011 by Heretic86

[Ecowolfsteen 14]

Cool. I'll have to check this out once I'm not on my iPhone. Quite nice mapping on the other hand. Impressive :)

[Heretic86 25]

No one even downloaded this in the last two days, Im kinda hurt! Of course, forum upgrades and not that active of a community either. I'd really like someone to give me a little feedback on it at least please!

 

---

 

Edit: Make that 4 days! /cry

Edited November 17, 2011 by Heretic86

[Heretic86 25]

I am really hurt that not a single person commented on the map in roughly a week. If I were to actually finish this game, I almost get the feeling not a single person would even play it. I know it is an inactive community, but still...

[Jon Bon 43]

 

 

I am going to be perfectly honest with you. You have a bad habit of bombarding your post with too many words and paragraphs, I personally find it overwhelming and rarely read your whole posts. I also do the same thing in my posts, if you check any of my content you will see I also add a lot of text when replying. However I always edit and remove tons of stuff before posting, ensuring what I typed was entirely on topic.

 

Near everything you typed was irrelevant to your demo. The only paragraph that people should bother reading is the second last one that talks about going behind or underneath things if lost/stuck. I understand you are proud and most likely excited about your map creation, but I am still not entirely sure what your demo is showing. Is this simply a demonstration of one map? You said there is no encounters or story or treasure, so you want people to download your game and walk aimlessly and pointlessly through a map that has no content other than visual?

 

I am really hurt that not a single person commented on the map in roughly a week. If I were to actually finish this game, I almost get the feeling not a single person would even play it. I know it is an inactive community, but still...

I definitely wouldn't relate the lack of activity on this thread to NO ONE playing your game, that is a bit far of a stretch. However this thread gives practically no information regarding your game. No basic plot explanation, no character names given, nothing to get the thread reader excited enough to play a map with no point to it(yet).

In any event, I think if you make a format for your threads, and keep them small, clean and concise then you will get better results.

Tips:

-Create sections in your thread with headers(titles), IE Intro, Game Info, Screenshots, Demo, etc.

-Have all pictures in a 'screenshots' section and hidden with spoilers so they dont dominate the page

-Start one main thread for your project, have all your important information there, and when you create a demo thread, link to your main thread.

-Keep threads like this small, only adding exactly what you want them to test/what you are demonstrating.

-If you feel the need to give background information such as how your games future game dynamics will relate to the demo(even if your demo has no dynamics in it) then fine, add a title header like "background info", and put it ALL it's content in a spoiler so it's nice and hidden.

 

I read your entire post twice, and I am still not entirely sure what you are trying to show/test with this demo, that screenshots don't already demonstrate. Also, you will NEVER get good results by shaming people.

 

I hope I have been helpful as that was my only intent.

 

 

 

Your map looks nice, you appear to have used the layering to its utmost potential. My personal opinion is that it looks cluttered(but realistic). Just based on screenshots, I would rate it at least a 6/10.

 

EDIT: Cleaned the post.

Edited November 19, 2011 by Jon Bon

[Heretic86 25]

Edited. Is that short enough? THere is no story, encounters, or treasure yet, just want some feedback on the structure of the 2nd map.

[Jon Bon 43]

Just got to the top, took about 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Got 'stuck' before the first 'hidden' path, had to back track twice, but found it eventually (perfect imo).

Found the entire thing more or less instinctual. Felt like it was in two sections, definitely need a save half way up, before the paths split again.

I definitely felt like I was climbing a mountain, and could more or less ascertain my whereabouts by the direction I was heading, the layout seemed realistic.

I was not able to memorize the route my first time through(which is good), but I was able to go through and systematically check each path without getting confused(also good).

It was a little frustrating to stop dead on flowers, mushrooms, and leaves.

The music was way too loud and over ran the sound effects/background music.

I would definitely consider that map complete.

Great job mate, keep it up!

[Heretic86 25]

Thank you so much for the feedback! Still looking for bugs, and I think I need an Anti Lag script. Two of which that I've tried dont work with the scripts I have installed.

 

Fixed the music volume. I wouldnt have noticed it as I have my volume on my computer way down. Found a couple other places I need to fix the volume for the interior falls sounds.

 

I added one of those Recovery Spring type graphics (need to event it out still) about half way through before the 2nd branch, like you suggested, in lieu of a save point. I already had intended to put a Save Point at the top as there will be a Boss Battle there.

 

Getting stopped on stuff, I thought the caves should feel a little claustrophobic and a tight squeeze, but I definitely underestimated how much space I thought I would have on the outdoor part. I wanted those paths to be much much bigger, but I'll chalk that up to a learning experience.

 

Lantern Effect: I'm still messing with that, trying to find a good balance between all players brightness on their monitors (hence needing feedback from different players), and mostly obscuring the stuff in the distance. It also provides a chance for me to try to show off all the cracks in the cave walls, I thought those looked rather realistic(ish). Was the Lantern Brightness ok for you, or do you think it would benefit from tweaking a bit?

 

Oh, last bit, I know I am talking too much again, but one of the caves, I tried something off the wall and totally changed the structure of the cave itself, sort of creating an endless loop. Did you happen to notice that? Hopefully slightly confusing but not to the point of being frustrating.

Bottom left side of map, just above the river, middle cave from that far bottom left path. That cave loops your vertical path over your horizontal path, but I tried to make it look like a totally different section of the cave, like you are going over or under that path...

 

[Jon Bon 43]

I found zero bugs, and had zero lag in it's current format.

Since it took me 20 minutes and I didn't even take every route after the second split, I guess it will take minimum an hour to complete this map when it has monsters, provided the player tries every route. An hour is an awfully long time to not allow the player to save. If you have no item that brings you to the entrance of a dungeon, I suggest a save half way up, or some way to leave the dungeon half way up. No player should ever have to go back and play more than a 1/2 hour if they die.

 

Understood about tight quarters in cave, to me it just feels like I should be able to walk over the flowers and mushrooms, so I was forcefully walking into them and had to train myself to avoid them(not instinctual). It definitely achieved your effect.

I see what you mean about the outside, yeah, live and learn for sure, but I never would have thought it needed to be bigger outside until you said it.

 

Don't worry about setting your effects to match random brightnesses, if you feel it will be an issue, begin a new game with a quick setup function. You know one of those screens with dark and light spots and it says on it "adjust your screen until you can't read this" Then at the top it says "If this is the only writing you see your brightness is fine". This way you just make them set it to your game specifics(within reason), rather than trying to make it optimal for everyone (impossible). I have my brightness slightly down from stock levels, and the whole game seemed perfect in light levels.

The Lantern effect itself was awesome, worked exactly as intended. Yeah those walls look amazing man, I definitely learned that technique from you now, felt very very realistic, like randomly formed caves, rather than a carved out box.

 

I did not notice that loop, It was most likely in one of the sections I skipped, I passed at least 6 intersections in which I did not travel every route, and only came to one dead end after the second split. If you really need feed back on that one part, place the starting spot there, and send me a new copy, I definitely don't want to run through the maze again lol.

 

Side Note: You definitely were not talking too much(this time, wink), it's not about the amount, it's about the content. Just read what you type and think, "Do they NEED this information?". The only thing in that whole post you didn't need to tell me was that the spring is not evented yet, very on topic. Time is valuable.

 

I am definitely willing to test near completed stuff for you in the future.

[Heretic86 25]

Ok, PM'd you with the link. I hope you're impressed!

 

I do have a bad habit of trying way too hard. Its great for mapping put bores people with posts, just cant help it...

 

(Damn Verbal Diahhrea...)

[Jon Bon 43]

Wow, that is actually very impressive, I have a few ideas how, but I definitely don't know 100% how ya did that, great stuff.

That was seamless and reminded me of a 'lost forest' type idea. I would definitely like to see that same effect in a wooded area.

 

P.S. You inspired me to start a game testing store, so people will never have an issue getting their stuff tested.

Link here.

[Heretic86 25]

It was just a couple of touch events and graphic events that got moved around. Lot of work but not difficult. Hmm, I really like that idea of the classical Zelda Lost Woods! Thats inspired me now!

 

On the Game Testing, yeah, I totally agree there are others in my same situation. Gotta figure out what the points are and how to use em. One thing I did notice that will twist your nipples in a bind was that our points are based on how many characters each post is worth, and obviously I like my oral laxatives! :P I think it is a great idea. People do need feedback, not just for the technical aspects of their games, but for the psychological ramifications that really working hard only to have no one to impress. I tried really really hard on that map, tried to set a very high standard of quality for myself, and above all, make it enjoyable for others to even try out. So when it takes a week and a person tries everything short of spamming to get someone to check out something they are very proud of, it hurts.

 

Offering feedback I think should be a more active topic by everyone.

[Jon Bon 43]

Hmm, yeah that was one of the methods I thought you may of used.

The other method I thought was just linking each event to switch, and have page two to a different switch with the new graphic that would be on the floor. In theory using that method you cold make a path change to more than two types.

 

Ha ha, aye, points are quite easy to make if your active and add a lot to posts as we normally do.

Yeah I hear ya, it sucks to create art just to have no one to appreciate it. That is definitely one of the main reasons I started the testing shop.

Keep up the good work, I look forward to testing some of your stuff in the future.

[Heretic86 25]

So, I was checking out more on the shop, and I think the shop system might be broken ATM...

 

Rereading previous post, I did take a crack at teleporting items. Probably a little buggy right now, but they are there, in your inventory, just didnt put any chests in yet to tell players "hey, you got a new thing-a-ma-doo-hickey", so you should check your inventory and check out what it does. It was there, just residing in the players inventory...

[Jon Bon 43]

I don't know about other aspects of the shop system, but the donate function is currently working.

I tested it by donating one RMXPU point to you(Heretic86).

The donation system is how you pay for stuff that costs points, simply type the name of the person you wish to give points to, search, then type the amount of points in and voila!(all in the donate section, located at the top of the shop window).

[Heretic86 25]

Ok, Shop is working now, even with latest Site Maintenance.

[Heretic86 25]

What else do you think I could do in order to persuade more people to try out this latest map? I am really proud of it!

[Jon Bon 43]

What else do you think I could do in order to persuade more people to try out this latest map? I am really proud of it!

 

-Post it in your status update.

-Add a poll

-Add more content to it

[Heretic86 25]

Status updated. Content is somewhat updated. I want to add Active Battle to it, (not where you run around and do combat, like with Wait Gauges between fight actions), story, I have in my head, but been busy with Family for Thanksgiving. Not ready for another version of public release until battles, balancing, and story events are written in.

 

Can / Should I turn this thread into a poll? I want to promote, but I dont want to spam...

[Jon Bon 43]

If you need feedback, then yes, turn it into a poll. If you don't need feedback, then people won't try the map.