Following on from my last post, I was working on a dream diary Jan entry over May and July but didn't get it to a decent playable state. I did get enough of the main systems done that I can likely use a copy of the game whenever I start up a new ynfg project in mv which will save some time at least instead of forgetting how the same systems work each time.
I started making a proper document to plan the progress of the game, like I should have at the beginning, so I don't have anything particularly interesting to post visually.
I will post the protagonist though- Pipistrello, or Pippin (formerly known as Dracutsuki)
So it's about time I updated this blog and as I'm terrible at keeping on track for any project, I'm going to (attempt) to work on a set project for a week so I don't lose interest.
Courtesy of a picker wheel to select one of my many unfinished (or unstarted) projects, I'm beginning with:
-my yume nikki fangame I was working on for this years Dream Diary Jam that wasn't finished in time, much to the surprise of no-one.
I didn’t post an update last week as I don’t think I had much to show of anything.
Left:New Right: Old
Updated Fio’s “awake” sprite to reduce the number of colours used. I’m planning the same with the “sleeping” version too, so I can add more animations to them. Speaking of which...
Shift performs special actions depending on Fio’s state. I’d like to have most effects have a special action, but we’ll see.
Fio’s room has also been re-done. I can’t show the outer areas yet but they’re also being updated.
I’m hoping to get an update out for Halcyon, because damn does it need it!
Here’s the current state of it since Jam ‘17.
After working on Plume Chickee, I started using Yanfly’s Parallax Lock script for Halcyon’s maps. This is me marking off which tiles the player can go through.
Not that that matters much now, because the entire nexus is getting redone! There should be more of an area to explore outside of Fio’s bedroom too (within limits).
This is both a tileset and the parallax together, which makes a pretty disorienting effect. I might use it for another map.
The windy beach area has a little more detail added, but that’s it.
Basically, the game has gone backwards since the last update as I’ve taken bits out and tried different things so I wouldn’t consider it even playable currently. I’m changing Fio’s sprite slightly too, to make animating it a little easier so my next update should include the updated character sprite and more progress on the bedroom.
My game never reached a stage where I felt it was worth submitting but I’m ok with that. After submitting Halcyon last year I saw a lot of parts I was unhappy with (and still have to change) and I think I’d prefer at least two complete worlds with interactions and effects before submitting, otherwise everything feels too empty.
Still, I can show off what I was working on.
Plumé Chickee (pronounced ploom-ay to keep the crappy joke intact) has you play as a pigeon with a broken wing living on a rooftop, who sleeps for lack of anything better to do.
The title screen has an animated background- I can add more frames to it now!
The goal of the game is to collect special feathers (the plumes) that transform the pigeon into different birds to help traverse the different worlds in the dream.
Pigeon starts with the homing skill already available, which lets you return to the hub world.
It’s a side on perspective with some basic platforming in the vein of Lisa: The Painful (or I guess Yume Nikki Dream Diary? I haven’t played it yet.)
The plan is to have 8 effects in total with 4 hub doors. No mazes.
So...things I learnt from this jam.
sound effects add a lot of personality and stop the game feeling flat.
VX Ace’s tileset system is an unintuitive mess and if it wasn’t for the higher graphic capabilities I’d have given up and used RPG 2003 instead. Same for transitions.
Terrain tags are pretty useful!
Scripts are a life saver.
Adding to the last point, sometimes engine limits force developers to be creative in really interesting and innovative ways (the original Yume Nikki is a testament to this) but other times the amount of time spent trying to force the engine kicking and screaming to do what you want is better spent elsewhere, especially in a deadline situation like a jam.
I’m not suggesting making a game using nothing but scripts (although that’s up to the developer) but scripts that improve basic functions and QoL help so, so much. If I’d used Hime’s Map Screenshot earlier I’d have saved so much time that could be spent solving other problems I’d probably have a demo out now.
I’ll try to cram towards the finish to get something approaching playable, but I am going to try to submit something.
That something is Plumé Chickee, an idea too stupid to pass up from last year!
This is the main character, Gideon. His name never comes up in the game, so enjoy this useless behind-the-scenes fact.
Well it’s been long enough now that I should probably do a write up post on the game now it’s officially out there- it’s on the yume nikki fangame wikia too! And I didn’t write the entry myself!
So time for a little retrospective.
This was really my first proper use of VX Ace for making a game and compared to 2003 I’m still kind of iffy on it. I miss little things like the choice of transitions or tile sounds but I gather most of this stuff is covered in scripts.I really picked it for the improved graphical capabilities so I should have a pretty strong focus on visuals for Halcyon to really get the most out of it.
I never planned on getting a completed game out for the end of the month. I’ve been planning Halcyon for a while and taking part in the game jam gave me the push to get started but there was never any way I was going to manage to get everything into it in a month, so the “demo” is really a loose collection of concepts, if even that.
I may have been planning Halcyon for a while but trying to structure events and environments really highlighted how nebulous most of the ideas are and how much planning there still is to do. It’s like trying to carve something out of a cloud, if that makes sense (it doesn’t make sense).
I relied too heavily on parallax mapping to make maps as quickly as possible. The layer system of Vx Ace seemed pretty daunting so it was an easy cop out, but I need to up my sprite game anyway. Making pathways more visible is important too, I know I don’t like fangames with too much guesswork of what part of the map is interact-able.
Ultimately, the Halcyon that exists now isn’t going to resemble the planned version much at all, but that’s why its a demo!
I’ll try to have some new content for the next post.
My hideous child now exists in the world-
https://pion-pi.itch.io/halcyon
It’s so bare bones its practically skeletal, but I wanted to get something out. Late.
I’m committing to getting something put out this month! I’ll get the updates for the most recent deadlines up soon(ish), but for now I’m starting work on Halcyon.
