Sientir's Blog

I recently released the final update video for Astral Collision  where I discussed why I wasn't going to be continuing to work on it. However, a conversation with  HuntingSwan , a fellow game creator who'd been following the project , has made it clear to me that I failed to put that decision into its proper context, as Astral Collision itself was just a snapshot of my efforts to create a game with RPG Maker MV. The purpose of this article is to give that fuller context. Before I do, however, I want to make sure people who are unfamiliar with RPG Maker MV have some basic knowledge of that program. If you are already familiar with it, please feel free to skip the next section. What Is RPG Maker MV? Part of the RPG Maker series by Kadokawa, RPG Maker MV is a game creation tool that was released in 2015. The RPG Maker tools are aimed at creators new to game development, though a flexible plugin system makes them suitable for more experienced developers as well. As the game engine...

I've got an announcement for today, which is that I'm going to be taking a few weeks off from working on Astral Collision. Nothing major, I just need a break, is all! I also have a couple of maps to show off, but nothing major.

Having finally overcome my writer's block for Kendran quests (of which I explain the source in this video), I discuss plans going forward and playtest a few encounters related to these plans!

Today is all about food! Specifically, I go over the few food effects I'd already set up, then spend the rest of the episode setting up the effects on the rest of the player-made meals!

Today is mostly about food (with a side of thinking about possible quest objectives for Kendra)! That is, I figured out the recipes and resulting cuisines crafted through the cooking system. Not that they actually do anything yet...

I have at long last finished the lore about Kendran rulers! Hurray! Prepare for a lot of reading, though first, I go over a small UI fix that I implemented.

I spend a lot of the first part of today's episode discussing the way I'm approaching the design and the reasons I have for doing it the way I am. I also go over some interiors I've put together, read more lore I've written, and test a new quest I've added.

I've worked on a bit more lore, but a lot of this week has been spent working on maps and implementing a Majora's Mask inspired day/night cycle transition effect!

I've finished naming all of the Kendran rulers and have begun writing lore about them. This process has also inspired some place names in Kendra. Prepare for some lore reading!

I've begun writing journal entries (so bits of lore) when I realize I need to actually finish figuring out who all of the rulers of Kendra were. So I start that process, which involves a lot of assisting programs and coming up with a lot of names. After all, I've got 3000 years worth of rulers to figure out!

In today's video, I extensively go over the various skills I've added to complete the Divine skill sets and Guardian Artifacts (both of which are obtained during the tutorial and can be upgraded, hence why there is so much to do), cover food ingredients (which now all have effects), and discuss my approach to adding NPCs (which is a work-in-progress) as well as a problem relating to NPCs and my time of day system (do I go with the Ocarina of Time solution or the Majora's Mask solution?)—overall, a LOT to talk about, as it turns out!

The major addition to the game this week has been a system for better handling attack animations, especially for making sure that they represent the element type of the damage they are dealing properly. I go over this system in immense detail, but first, I cover a few other things I've done, such as a couple of new skills and Monument poems, as well as the bug fix for last week's Journal bug.

I've continued to work on the lore for the game, and done some additional work, most of which is inspired by the lore.

I've spent most of this week working on the lore for Astral Collision, so prepare for a lore dump! Though I start with some thoughts about developing lore that have guided and inspired this process. Timeline tool creation playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZWuCP6Z8YzG5CceddnuxQ9ojPmRrI20O

There's a lot to talk about here, including many adjustments and addressing a lot of the things on my playtest notes list (from weeks ago, now...). Some highlights include: updated status screens, dark areas, and more maps.

I've heavily reworked the introduction to the game, so I play through it to show it off! I even find a bug along the way. I also prepare for some weather.

In this episode, I go over the new Quest system I've implemented, new damage effectiveness icons, and several miscellaneous changes, along with going over the playtest notes from the most recent playtest. The most recent playtest VOD at the time of this recording: https://youtu.be/vLzE_Q2V__M Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sientir

I go over the updates to my enemy stats tool, now that I've finally gotten it into a solid place. I also go over some further new skills and other adjustments to the code, including a new preemptive/surprise attack formula. Finally, I go through the playtest notes, and talk about the many points I'd finished, as well as the new ones added from the most recent playtest. The most recent playtest VOD at the time of this recording: https://youtu.be/3spbJ2oHQJ8 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sientir

I've finished updating enemies following all of the balance updates I'd done...only to realize that I still have more balancing to do to make things feel like they're in the right place! Lot's of discussion from the results of my most recent playtest, so you might want to check that out, too. The most recent playtest VOD at the time of this recording: https://youtu.be/KjVfDQFgO9o Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sientir

I was unsatisfied with many of my skills, so instead of updating them, I've started replaced them (except for all of the skills I'm keeping and thus updating—I'm not changing all of them)! Alas, this process started too late to be able to run a playtest this week. Oh, and I updated my menus and several other bits and bobs!