Housepets! Tails of Babylon! * Developer's Thread *

[D-Rock]

It's been almost two days since my internet went out, but now it's back. Hey guys! Rocky, that's funny.
Anyway, I'm glad to be back, and I see some interesting developments have occurred.

SUPERSTAR IS BACK! HIDE THE SUPER SPECIAL AMAZINGLY AWESOME EPIC STORY WE MADE!

Nothing is safe, I'm gonna kill ALL the fun in this thread,

Not today, SuperStar

...okay, that was a bit too dark.

Anyway, here is Overwhelming Strength! I'm really liking how this ended up! Also learned the benefit of disabling anti-aliasing my lines. Does a much better job when it comes to filling in the colors. Enabling anti-aliasing gave me smoother lines, but it often left empty pixels when it came time to color due to the magic wand tool not always grabbing to the edges due to the "smooth" effects.

Song used; "Blow Me Away" by Breaking Benjamin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svdR8_w1N0Y

...yeah, I wanted something akin to the plasma weapons in Halo. Side note, as much as I enjoyed Halo 4, I was a bit upset that the plasma rifle was absent, and the Storm rifle just didn't feel like an improvement. Oh, well, the Forerunner weapons were pretty fun to use.

Also, Buster, what is your icon from? Freaked me out when I first saw it and what I'm guessing is the first form.

And, the profile does seem much better to me. Looks like it would work perfectly for the wolves as well. Which reminds me, Boris hasn't been seen in the current style. Last we saw him was 2012.

[Saturn381]

Nice job, D-Rock.

[Buster]

Also, Buster, what is your icon from? Freaked me out when I first saw it and what I'm guessing is the first form.

And, the profile does seem much better to me. Looks like it would work perfectly for the wolves as well. Which reminds me, Boris hasn't been seen in the current style. Last we saw him was 2012.

Watch this video. Admittedly most of those clips use her season 1 design, with a few shots from season 4, while my icon is her season 3 design... but it's harder to find that one, she's not in as many episodes in that season of ReBoot.

[SuperStar]

Darnit, you got to the gun before me,
Very well, I'll allow you to keep some of your fun... for now

[D-Rock]

Ah, I've only heard of Reboot in passing once, and it was to compare how bad the CG-animation in a certain Mortal Kombat special was.

And SuperStar, I am the Keeper of the Armory. I will always have a weapon at my disposal.

[Buster]

yeah, well, Mainframe Entertainment (now called Rainmaker for some reason) were working on ReBoot, about the same time Pixar were making the original Toy Story. You can't expect much from first-gen, still they did a decent job.

[D-Rock]

Of course, these things take a bit of practice to get down. Everything starts somewhere.

...Still better than this, but hey, this was Midway's first steps as well.

[Buster]

Oh dear...That's... wow. And here I thought you were talking about the Mortal Kombat Episode in Reboot's third season. (S3E04: Game Over) which was okay for it's time but didn't age well. But that is... uh... hmm... I've seen better CG on the Sega 32x.

[SuperStar]

Back on topic people! Remember, no fun, game development only,

[D-Rock]

Alright, but what if the game development itself is fun? A bit of a paradox.

[SuperStar]

Don't question me, I have control over your fun!

[Invisan]

And i have control over your fun Super So go tag along with the guys and girls in the Thread and play nice.

[SuperStar]

And i have control over your fun Super So go tag along with the guys and girls in the Thread and play nice.

Oh do you?!

Anyway, I seem to recall earlier someone(I forget who) said they'd try and help me with creating the Three Squares Mall map, and I haven't gotten anything like that. Sorry if I sound bossy, but I'd like to have a grasp on the Mall soon, considering it'll be coming up.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Oh, that was me... hence why you haven't gotten it yet . Just really busy with some school projects at the moment, I've hardly had time to do my usual cycle of work. I'll try to work it up when i can, unless someone does it before me.

[SuperStar]

Yeah, okay, take it easy then. Though, I hate to keep piling stuff on, but we'll also need faces for Falstaff and Truck. They should probably share a sheet, 4 for each.

[GameCobra]

So, you're thinking of fighting each shadow multiple times or what? I thought they would be encountered once and that was it for each of them.

I can't see why not, but it's up to you guys and how the plot flows. I'm just messing with some ideas for the future :3

I'm also trying to see if it's possible to have a 4v4 with them somehow as a bonus boss battle. that would be awesome.

[KingFan202]

Yeah, okay, take it easy then. Though, I hate to keep piling stuff on, but we'll also need faces for Falstaff and Truck. They should probably share a sheet, 4 for each.

accidentially pushes superstar into a pit of foam cubes.

Well then. Back to work everyone.

[D-Rock]

So, you're thinking of fighting each shadow multiple times or what? I thought they would be encountered once and that was it for each of them.

I can't see why not, but it's up to you guys and how the plot flows. I'm just messing with some ideas for the future :3

I'm also trying to see if it's possible to have a 4v4 with them somehow as a bonus boss battle. that would be awesome.

Not sure. First off,

I originally thought that these shadow clones should be fought one on one, then quickly realized that doing so and making the user uncontrollable would make it a luck-based fight, and who wants that? Also originally thought of fighting some of them in sets, such as dark Sabrina and Tarot, and dark Fido, Joey, and Bino. Again, though, having limited controllable characters would make that set-up problematic as well.

I don't like saying this, but I feel that doing that would diminish their importance to the characters. While it could be rather cool, it would also make them more like regular enemies instead of the inner darkness of their hearts that they have to face.

But what does everyone else think?

[GameCobra]

That depends on how deep you want to get into the character.

If you are trying to make them main story-line material, that depends. Kingdom Hearts had people fight Cloud and Squall and had them return as tournament material. Although they are not exactly main characters, they are important support characters. something like that could happen to certain characters here as well.

From a battle and gameplay point of view, fighting the shadows and having them grow stronger along with you would be just as entertaining. Think of Pokémon and your rivals and how fun it was seeing them get stronger and stronger with you. This could be the same way and I like that potential with the shadows.

A one-on-one battle is actually something I would love to see. I would love to pit a level 50 Tarot vs. a level 50 Dark Tarot. :3

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Further use of Kingdom Hearts as an example: In KH2 Final Mix, there are fights against the defeated Organization members spread in specific areas throughout the game. However, there is a secret area where you can fight them again along with the members you defeated in the main story, just WAY more difficult.

The same COULD be done for this game, in a way where after defeating Barghest in his shadow dimension you can go to a room where you can choose to fight a shadow (*or a different version of the shadow) one on one in a stronger form.

Now keeping in mind the logic of the shadows; They exist when a character is in mental/emotional dismay. By this logic, even if a character is fully confident the moment they defeat the shadow, it will always eventually come back since negative emotions are natural. However, if they are banished along with Barghest after the after game, they could still be fightable in the shadow dimension.

And when I say "different version", there are multiple palette designs that I've found over the course of working on the shadows. Some of them looked pretty nifty, so I saved them as seprate files:

[D-Rock]

Alright, I think I see what you mean.

True, even if you get the resolve, negative thoughts still exist. Similar in Persona. The Shadow becomes a Persona upon the person accepting the fact of this part of themselves. However, an optional thing to do is to help them grow more as a person, after which completing their bond allows them to gain a stronger resolve, and allowing their Persona to evolve into a more powerful form.

I guess you two are beginning to talk me into this idea. Also, those alternate palettes are giving me more ideas. I don't mind them being "post" post game deals, being found in a new area after banishing Barghest.

However, here's an idea inspired by the Persona thing. After gaining their resolve after beating the Shadow, it becomes one with the Monster weapon. Because of the strength of their heart, it, along with the weapon, become the divine weapon.

Chaoko, those "Anti" Shadows could be the enemies in the special area after Barghest is beaten, as they are now less than the entirety of the darkness of their heart, and more like the shards that will always exist.

Those "Beta" Shadows could be encountered as regular enemies in the area where Barghest is found, as he's quickly trying to bring out what little of the darkness he can in a short time to stop the heroes. These would be weaker than the regular Shadows and Anti Shadows.

As for the "Pure" Shadows, maybe we can make the Shadow fights as two-parters. First part is regular and difficult, but after taking its health down to zero, it goes all out and becomes a Pure Shadow, extending the fight. We could even try to add a warped background when this happens.

Thoughts?

Also, a thought on Shadow Joey to put the mech sprites to use. Different from the others, Shadow Joey shows up to fight as soon as you appear in the area it's found in, different from the other shadows. It then turns into the mech, leading to a fight, which is surprisingly easy. Beating it destroys the mech, only for Shadow Joey to run, leading to the regular way of finding it. Along the way, it would taunt Joey for using such flimsy disguises to hide himself. Then we hit the Shadow boss as normal.

[SuperStar]

Hrm... I think it might be over necessary to have all these different styles of Shadows. I mean, what's the point other than having more Shadows? Though I really like the Shadows, I think we're already pushing it as is.

As for the Shadow Joey idea, I like that one. Makes sense.

[GameCobra]

I think Joey should be accompanied by his creepy friends, but I like the mech idea, too.

And yes, just one shadow per character is fine. @_@

[Saturn381]

I think Joey should be accompanied by his creepy friends, but I like the mech idea, too.

I can't imagine what shadow Dallas and Lester would be like.

[Buster]

Joey, sure, two-part boss, sure but only if they're immediately back to back. The rest of it, I dunno. Having Barghest's generic enemies being darkness themed I can get behind, but having them be knockoffs of the shadows, not so much. It cheapens their uniqueness as foes, and makes them seem more like Elite Mooks which just feels wrong. and do we really need two after the end plot lines?

[D-Rock]

I'm sure that Dallas and Lester will be NPCs, so really no reason to give them a Shadow.

And alright, "extra" Shadows negated.

Also, I still remember GreatKitsune mentioning DLC. Yes, I said we should focus on the actual game first and foremost at the time, and still do, but I still got ideas. Just so I don't forget, how about possible DLC being based on storylines from different fan fics?

[SuperStar]

LET US NOT WORRY OF THE DOWNLOAD OF CONTENT AT THIS MOMENT.

Let us worry about the tasks at hand. BTW, maybe for the funnies Shadow Joey's mecha armor is known as the "Dallester"?

[Buster]

DAY ONE DLC BAD! DON'T EVEN TALK ABOUT DLC TILL THE MAIN GAME IS DONE!

*cough* *cough*
*wheeze*
ow...

[D-Rock]

Calm down, people

Simply putting it out there so I don't forget (again). And really, Day One? Might as well make it part of the original package. I don't get some company's policy's regarding DLC. At least wait a few months before releasing, companies!

[GameCobra]

Expansion. Nuff said =P

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Guys guys guys, we need to step quite a few takes back. DLC is not something we want to even think about at the moment, we've only made one chapter. If we can't focus on making a second chapter we have no right as a dev team to discuss extra content.

The shadows will only have one form (though I'm still confused about the whole shadow joey thing since he's not a main party member). We will discuss their battles later, that is not important to the story at the moment.

We currently need to design the mall layout and make the sprites for the neighborhood dogs and Truck and Falstaff. I need to get off my tail and finish the facesets and the rest of the needed enemies. Only then will Super be able to continue programing the second chapter. We aren't a big team, so we shouldn't stray too far from the current goal or get overzealoused. We need to focus, we won't get anywhere if we only think of what COULD be. We have to make sure we can even get there first.
Sorry to be a buzzkill but we really have been a bit too spread out with what we're trying to do.

[D-Rock]

*sigh*

Yeah, this is what, the third time this has happened?

...doubt it will be the last, too.

But good point, Chaoko.

By the way, Star, if there are any immediate weapon needs, like with Bino, let me know. I'm actually surprised that it's taking me so long to finish Fido's set. Probably because I got so used to batch submissions. I'll try to work up the energy to finish after I get off of work.

[SuperStar]

Don't worry Rocky, I don't think we need any weapons right now, or anytime soon considering that the next portion is Grape and Max; who already have all the weapons they need. But this brings me to the question. How should we pace the weapons? Like, how often are characters in need of upgrading? Like, when would you get to second tier weapons?

[CHAOKOCartoons]

That's a good point, we never did establish when and how the weapons will be obtained. Well, there's 10 chapters so maybe we can try to do the math based on that?

Edit: Actually, some chapters feature different sets of characters so maybe each character will be able to obtain a new weapon every chapter they are in to balance out the times they aren't there.

[D-Rock]

Well, carp.

I was honestly dreading that question, as I have no idea. I was thinking finding one per chapter for each character, but that would be one LONG chapter, and the fact that we're staggering who's available when.

I was honestly hoping you would have thought of something.

Maybe it could vary by character? Sort of? Maybe Grape just finds the Scrub, Peanut could be given a ball no one plays with, but the problem is that those would make sense, but how would Grape find a halberd? Or Peanut get a frost giant's marble?

...This is why I left the story to you guys.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Hmm, well considering Nue has made Babylon gardens some items may be found in chests or dropped by bosses/enemies (despite it being ilogical for them to appear normally). Though if we make them story/ boss based, we may want to wait until we finish the writing or at least the outline of what happens in the story.

[SuperStar]

Wait, first of there's something I'd like to note. Everyone is throwing around "10 chapters", but we never actually agreed on that, I've been meaning to address it, but something else always comes up that drags my attention away. To be honest, I think 10 chapters seems to small actually... Considering I'm the developer it'll be me who gets effected the most by making it longer, but I'm perfectly willing to make the game longer.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Wait, we didn't??? But we had a whole discussion about it! I was talking about it when I was writing chapter 2's outline, I talked about how having it be 7-15 chapters would make the game around 12-25 hours. A good chunk of a page was that discussion, and in the end we said 10 chapters would be enough. The estimation of playtime was 14 hours not including the side quests.(most of that time is spent in the dungeons). You may not have been very active in that discussion though, I think it was mainly me'n Game Cobra talking about it/

How long did you want the game to be???

EDIT: Plus we have to consider the after game as well. I assume it won't be more than 1-3 hours but still that's quite a bit of content.

[SuperStar]

It was a very one-sided conversation, I don't remember why I didn't partake in it. But anyway, I believe maybe not the game length needs to be changed, but I think what we each perceive as a chapter is different. We seem to be grouping the Peanut-Fido-Bino quest and the Grape-Max-Res quest Chapter 2, however I would group those as 2 different chapters considering they're massively different directions. You know,

[GameCobra]

Alright, we shouldn't have to worry about weapons. I see things are perfectly fine for them.

The way it is right now from what I tested, I think the game's weapons should be designed to be found and not bought, while the armor will be purchasable with a few rare armor being hidden like the weapons. With that being said, i'll decide the stats for them. The script writers will have to do the fun job of deciding where to hide them :3

While you guys do that, another idea I like to throw in is if players can't find the weapons or discover them in the chapter they were in, they could be purchased in later chapters... for a hefty price. The armor and all other accessories will be purchasable.

In the meantime, I haven't touched the weapons and armor yet, but i'll give some input on what i'm planning for their strengths: the weapons I plan on giving them major buffs and upgrades since it looks like everyone will get an average of 10 weapons. the F-Class weapons give about 5-8 attack, but the C class stuff will be where things jump. They cause status effects, or extra parameters. The game has a nice array of modifications that can be done for the weapons. I'm expecting the A+ weapons to have powerful and unique stats. For example: Bailey's weapons will have 100+ Attack and protect her from Death/Knockout while Maxwell's A+ weapon gives double gold/item drops along with paralysys with +50 attack. Peanut will have +50 to all his stats and Fox will have +60 attack and agility with a double strike included.

With that being said, i'm sure we don't need anymore weapons. We just need to figure out where to hide them. The shops do all the rest.