Stuff Under the Header

3/25/2010

Where Have I Been?

Edit: (Apr. 5, 2010) The next demo will be released today, there will be a new post when I do.

Edit: (Apr. 2, 2010) It's not fake, I swear!

















Edit: (Mar. 30, 2010) The collision point for the character has been refined again. It is smaller for a few frames. And fixed up the running while shooting frame (the collision point) for Metropolis. (It was kinda off.) The new area will be done soon. Yay!
Likewise, the collision point for enemy projectiles originally was the entire sprite. All of them have been shrunk down a pixel or 2 within the sprite. The game plays a lot better this way, before this, it looked like you would be getting hit when you really weren't. That wasn't the case, but regardless, you can now graze by projectiles. Enemy collision points are the entire sprite still, this is partially due to that being their hitbox for your attacks too.

Hey look, a post! I know I said the next update would be tomorrow, but that goal is impossible right now. Gonna have to delay it a bit. Real life is calming down again and I have more time for this now, so it will be soon. Also I've been playing games more. FF13 has taken up a good chunk of time. (Even though I said I wasn't going to play through it.) Having fun with it though and getting kinda close to the end... I think. o_O Done over half the hunts. There's so many of them.

Game Changes
- The sound effects for hitting an enemy in Metropolis aren't so loud now. (An issue that came up from the sound volume control.)

There's not too much to say right now. Not wanting to spoil anything. Overall though, I don't think the Windy Slopes are quite as hard as Black Rock. There are a few rough points though, multiple boss fights as well. Everyone will enjoy the second boss fight there, which I definitely can't spoil that.

3/11/2010

Wolves and Apples

Edit: (Mar. 16, 2010) Noticed that the first time you save after starting a new game, you will get a crash error. It still saves and won't crash anymore afterward, but still very bad. This has been fixed. 0.0.9.5 will have that fix as well as:

The Shrouds will now scout for you. The system is complete and has been fully implemented. This only takes effect after Black Rock of course. A new entry in the records sub-menu will tell you your threat level. There are different warnings:
None: They are not scouting your current area.
Minimal: Some Shrouds are around, but the likelihood of running into them is low.
Low: Same as above, but the you may run into them if you are unlucky.
Moderate: They have started scouting a bit more thoroughly.
High: The Shrouds know you are in the area, it is only a matter of time before they pinpoint your exact location. They may follow you if you run from them on this warn level.
Critical: The Shrouds are on high alert and have probably already seen you. If you run from them, there is a slightly higher chance that they will follow you.
Imminent: You would have to either be lucky or have run from the scouts a lot to see this threat level, and even luckier if they don't find you at all on this. If you run from them on this warn level, there is a very high probability that they will follow you.

As noted above, on a warn level of High or above, the Shrouds may follow you if decide to leave the map without defeating them. If they do follow you, that group will continue to pursue until you either defeat them or leave the area altogether. (Exit to world map) Running from them will almost always increase the warn level up a notch.
A few rules that Shrouds must follow however. They will never scout for you in the Data Center, towns, and areas marked as "Extra". They will also not scout in the Spire of Forgotten Souls and a few select maps. They may scout in some boss rooms, but only if the boss has been defeated. If you exit to the World Map and your warn level is Imminent, it will drop back down to Moderate. If it is High or Critical, it may drop a bit.
Added rule: Jaffe suggested a great idea, if your warn level is High or higher, you cannot use the teleport ability.
--------------------------------------------------

My roommates and I have been watching Spice & Wolf, hence the title. Now we're just waiting for the English release of Season 2. Watching that gave me a craving for apples though... so now I have some.

I usually stay away from TV Tropes, when I do go on there, I have a self-imposed 3 link rule. It keeps me from staying on there forever, same with wikipedia. But there are 2 tropes I found relevant to Distorted Travesty, I think you will all find most of this very familiar.

Platform Hell
Classic Video Game Screw Yous

Game Stuff
Windy Slopes should be available in 2 weeks. It is taking some time as real life has demanded a bit more of my attention this last month and Windy Slopes has a lot of stuff involved. Testing it has become quite a task. A new thing will show up, there are hidden maps in this area so keep a look out for that. Some of the pick ups will take some out of the box thinking.

Here's a little video showing what I call the Blazing Fire Spam.
This is part of the Windy Slopes, there's more to it than the upper field.
You get a new ability here which most of you will like, I won't reveal what it is though. There's not too much to report on the game except that it is taking awhile to finish this place up. :P

Game Changes
- You will slide farther now when you kneel after running. If you used it as a way to dodge before this, note that it is even more helpful now and gives a bigger boost of speed, just be sure to accommodate for this. 0.0.9.4 has this change already
- You can no longer swap spells while in the casting animation. Try this before the next update. Cast a spell with a noticeable casting time and change it out from the menu. It should crash the game.
- The Up Arrow key now works with everything. Map doors and npcs did not respond to it before this.

Other Games
Final Fantasy 13 was released this week. I've decided the game could have been a 2D side scroller and it wouldn't have changed a thing. Battles are fun and the system is very simplistic, however it gets very repetitive and sometimes time consuming starting every battle with buffing first. I'll give them props for keeping the pace of the game moving forward at all times. I think the Star Ocean team could take some design lessons from Square in how not to make an easily broken game. Star Ocean 3 just chain moves until enemy dies, they can't counter, it works every time. Star Ocean 4, just use Meracle once she joins as she's even more broken than Ike was in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, actually he was broken in Radiant Dawn too. Hell, he's broken in Smash Bros. but so are all the characters in that game.

I started playing Ninja Gaiden 2 (360) again. I haven't played it in about 2 years. I only played through the first level of it back then. I died in the first 5 seconds of it due to not remembering anything about the game. (Holding block does nothing for you) O_O Then blazed through the first 2 levels, it was all coming back. I stopped there, may play more later today. The camera is really REALLY bad. Multiple times I was attacking off-screen enemies, not able to see the ground, or it just refused to respond to me. Using spells puts the camera right at your back most of the time so finding a new target is pointless to try. At one point, one of those mages situated himself directly in front of the camera and followed it as I moved. So for roughly 10 seconds, I was almost literally fighting blindfolded and for some reason, I wasn't able to recenter the camera. Luckily boss fights give you the option of keeping the camera focused on the boss while trying to keep you in view too. Other than that, it flows really well, once I learned a few combos, I blew through most things. Oh, and I hate archers, take them out first. >_<