I've decided to share the list of Crystal Shards and Magical Abilities that I've came up with so far. Note that some of these might change, but seeing as how long it took me, I don't think I will bother. I will however, be adding a few more at a later time. I need to move away from skills and work on the equipment.
Since I feel like this might actually become very long, I'll add a line break.
The battle system that I was using, had a lot of little bugs that I couldn't figure out how to fix. I spent an entire day messing with it, before I just ended up deleting it in hopes of finding something better.
On the other hand, I've added a "History" option that will display the past in-game battle information. Things like who attack who, and how much damage they did.
This is script that I found, that allows you to equip magical crystals that provide different magical types and skills. Each character has an Orb Level, and as you progress through the game, you gain levels, which allow you to equip more crystals.
When you place two crystals next to each other, there's a chance that the magic will combine and give the character access to a duel-type magic skill. I originally got really excited over this feature and based nearly every skill off of placing certain crystals next to each other. I later decided to not do this. I think I'll use this feature by creating an "amplifying" crystal, which will enhance the abilities of the crystals that it is next to.
I've spent the better part of today coming up with different shards and the abilities that go with them. I also came up with the rarity of each shard, the price, shard type, and magic type of the abilities themselves. This took me a lot longer than I thought it would, but I finally worked out enough to allow the player to have fun in customizing their character. I can always add more at a later time, if need be.
The shard rarities go like this: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Legendary. Common shards can be found in chests and bought in stores. Uncommon shards can sometimes be found in chests and perhaps bought in stores at a later point in the game. Rare shards can only be found in chests, and will never appear in a store, unless it's part of a plot device. Sometimes you might be rewarded one by defeating a boss. Legendary shards are one of a kind, and can only be acquired through the completion of special jobs.
Now that I've recovered from being sick, and the family drama has settled down; I can go back to working on projects.
The first thing I did was add magic abilities. It was something that needed to be added, so that I can balance out the monster and character stats correctly. There's no sense in adding special skills and magic attacks that don't do enough damage to justify using them. I also, didn't want them to do too much damage. Finding the right balance is quite the hard thing to do. There has been a lot of trial and error, but I'm slowly getting everything worked out.
So, how do you acquire magic abilities? Well, originally I made a skill tree, but it only had three types of magics to choose from. A few people who played through the Alpha release wanted more to choose from. I actually had a few people put in the suggestion for Lightning abilities. I took this into consideration when I redid the magic and skill system. Currently, the skill tree is for physical based skills only. The magic abilities will be acquired by equipping magical shards that can be found throughout the world. This system is similar to Final Fantasy 7's materia system, but not as complex. I did break up the magical shards by magic types though.
As of now, there are the following shard types; Magic, Support, Summon, and Skill. There's a chance this will change before the final release, but I like what I have so far. There's also different magic types. I know I originally said I didn't want to go overboard, but I had a lot of fun trying to come up with different magic abilities for players to find.
Quite a bit, right? Though, not all of them have their own elemental damage. I kept that part pretty simple. You either deal damage through physical or through one of the main elements (fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water). I'm planning on adding a few more magic types. Cure, Poison, and Time magic will be added before the final release.
After I released the Alpha version of Timmy's Adventure, I got so excited that people were playing the game, I went ahead and added in all sorts of monsters and enemies to fight. I even pulled an all nighter to get multiple types and a monster level system.
As of right now, there's just under 50 different types of enemies. All have stats that are setup based on their type. Some of the monsters have multiple types and will be harder to defeat, but the rewards are multiplied for each sub-type. They also have a level system that goes from level 1 to level 99. Sadly, I'm not too sure on how well it balances out later in the game, because I haven't test played it that far. I just don't have the time at the moment to grind levels for a game that isn't finished. However, after the next release, if you guys feel the need to do so, please let me know how everything works out.
Alright, so I made a very "ugly" swampland that will be unlocked when the player starts the Goo Hunt job. I made specific location for two reasons. The first being that the swamp region on the world map is quite small. Running around trying to get into fights with Slimes wasn't the easiest thing to do. With having an actual swamp that you can visit, getting in fights with them has become much more easier.
The second, was I wanted to add all these extra places for people to explore. I want the world to feel larger than what it appears to be and I wanted to add little mini-quests or character development scenes in these areas. The problem is that I'm still unsure how to go about doing that, as Timmy's Adventure, doesn't really have much of a story and I'm trying to keep it semi-short, so that I can finally finish it.
If I ever get a game company that's interested in making Timmy's Adventure into an actual game for Steam or like the Nintendo DS, I would totally add more things like this into it. I would also make sure that I flush out the characters a bit more, so that there is some sort of development and actual cutscenes.
You can now download and play the very early Alpha version of Timmy's Adventure! Please keep in mind that this is an ALPHA release, which means there are a lot of things still missing, and I know they are missing, so no need to report that they are missing. The main structure is there and you can run around and get the idea of what to expect from a more finished release.
Click the link above to be taken to the download page on MediaFire. Currently, it's the only place I have it uploaded. If you have trouble let me know, and I'll see if I can't post a mirror link.
Port Dayton, a fishing town located along the Southern coast. People here are always happy and quite friendly. It's one of the few places that haven't been overrun by hostile creatures, and so there's been an increase in tourists.
Since Port Dayton is a fishing town, it will only make sense to learn how to fish here. Perhaps an entire mini-game based around fishing? The possibilities are endless.
Alright, because I had to convert the old job quest script over to a message system, I spent an entire day hunting down a new job quest script that would work with the other one. I finally found one and to my joyfulness, it's way better.
So, the setup is basically the same. You receive jobs via messages and from talking to people around town (not yet in the game). Your "Tasks" menu will pull up your current jobs and give you all sorts of information on them.
Job Type: There are different types of jobs throughout the game. Item Pickup, Item Delivery, Escort Missions, Monster Hunting, and Special Requests. Each of these will have their own set of tasks for you to do. If the job is broken up into multiple mini-jobs, a child list will appear below the job title. Sadly, I haven't made one like that yet, so the screen shot doesn't show what I mean by this.
Location: This is pretty self-explanatory. It just tells you where the person who is requesting the job is located. Due to the lack of sprites, some of the people may look similar, so pay attention to the location.
Picture: This is a picture of the client. If you are having trouble finding the person to talk to about the job, try to look for small details in the picture. They will always match the sprite used in the actual game.
Job Details: This part is my only complaint. The details for the job show up before you actually talk to the client. I could fix this, but it would take longer to do and right now I'm just trying to get the main structure of the game done. Knowing the details doesn't change much, though. You can actually complete the job before you talk to the client. You just have to sit through the explanation and then talk to them again for the reward.
Difficulty: This will tell you how much you get paid as well how hard the quest is expected to be. I haven't fully figured out a good method in gauging the amount of stars yet, but what I have works. This may change before the final release, so don't read too much into it.
Currently the payout is:
1 Star = 50G
2 Star = 100G
3 Star = 250G
4 Star = 500G
5 Star = 1,000G
Reward: Besides getting paid by the GCS, you'll also get a bonus reward from the client. This will differ depending on the job and the client. Sometimes you will get items, and other times you will get some sort of equipment. I may put in other rewards such as a special skill or even a character, but for now nothing like that exists.