[WIP] LCDS : Sacrifice

[X-NL]

Hey guys!

i just finish programing the battle system of my VN (The nearly famous X-NL Battle System XD) and i want you to test it.

So please go on and report any problem you meet during playing my VN. ^^

Title : "Le Cimetière des Songes"
Genre : Fantasy/RPG.
PlayingTime : around 10 minutes for the demo.
synopsis: The Nigra Empire began an all-out invasion and spread war and destruction on the world of Haitare. The legend says that, in this darkfull time, the Maiden of Aurarche will incarnate the fallen goddess of gold and flammes to bring back harmony to the world...
Download links:
Windows

I m uploading mac et linux version

Screenshot:






I forget to say that the main problem you would meet it s that all the dialogue is in french. X_X

So here is a little walkthrough:

1/ Title screen is showing. Obviously, click on "Start game ! ^^
2/ Title scene screen : Prologue - The Twillight of a World.
3/ A girl is appearing. She is the holy maiden of the Aurarche and she is fleeing from soldiers.
4/ A brute appears. He is a legionnaire of the Black Empire. The maiden must defend herself.
5/ Bars appear at the top. The Maiden says that she must gather something called "Encaustique" for summoning the goddess of the Aurarche.
6/ Wait for your bar to reach 1000.
7/ The Maiden tolds you to push "P" for releasing her power. Press "P" for attacking.
8/ Once you push "P", the maiden use his magic but it s not very effective... (What ? He is a rock-type pokemon ?!!!)
9/ The maiden is weakened by her use of magic and nearly collapse. The legionnaire comes to catch her and she calls for help.
10/ Suddenly, a swordman man appears. His name is Lans and he is the protector of the Maiden.
11/ Lans : Bla...bla... you should run while you're still able to...
Legionnaire : Bla...bla... I'll kick your ass, you little *******...
12/ Lans notices that the legionnaire is ready to attack. He says you should push "M" to switch to a defensive stance.
13/ If you push "M", your bar will drop but the legionnaire will miss his attack. If u don t, Lans' head will be crushed by the legionnaire. (Poor Lans... T_T)
14/ Now Lans told you to switch down the defensive stance with "M" and to retaliate with "P" once you get enough "encaustique".
15/ Fight the legionnaire and hit him twice.
16/ New title scene screen : Acte 1 - Initiates of Dawn.
17/ Now the screen is displaying many complicate french words that even google translate would hardly translate. Pass the text as fast as you can.
18/ Black screen. Credits. Claiming that i m looking for help for the graphics... The Duel Mode is now open.

Edit :
Some explanations about the X-NL Battle System:
Your white bar is not HP but "Encaustique Point" and act like action point too. When you get 1000 "EP" you can attack by pressing P. If you press "M", your EP will start dropping but you will dodge any attack until you deplete your EP. When you are hit, your bar turns red and instantly fullfills : you are in "merci status", you can t attack anymore and you ll die if you are hit a new time. You have to defend yourself, until the red bar drops out his 2000 EP and becomes white again.

[Chansel]

Just did a quick play through of the game, and I must say that the battle system looks interesting ^^
There was one small 'error' though...
You said that after playing through it, you'd get a new title screen. But it didn't change!
I'm not sure, but I think the opening title screen is in fact the second one (the dual option was available).

The main menu music was nice and calming, and the first battle song was cool as well. But... lady Gaga? Lolz XD

Also, perhaps you could consider making the default text speed a little faster. It's really, really slow right now. I was basically reading the words letter by letter *.* So I just ended up changing the speed. It's not really a big deal though (since you can set it to your personal preference in the preference screen). Just something you might want to consider ^^

All in all, it looks like a pretty cool battle system ^^
And who knows, maybe you'll release an English version of the game someday so that folk like myself can understand more than just a few words
Xx

[SaMeino]

I just tried the battle system but in the dual battles the hp for both people keeps randomly going up and down for a reason i dont know of also i couldnt tell if it was my turn or not

[X-NL]

I just tried the battle system but in the dual battles the hp for both people keeps randomly going up and down for a reason i dont know of also i couldnt tell if it was my turn or not

In fact, it's always and never your turn. ^^,

Your white bar is not HP but "Encaustique Point" and act like action point too. When you get 1000 "EP" you can attack by pressing P. If you press "M", your EP will start dropping but you will dodge any attack until you deplete your EP. When you are hit, your bar turns red and instantly fullfills : you are in "merci status", you can t attack anymore and you ll die if you are hit a new time. You have to defend yourself, until the red bar drops out his 2000 EP and becomes white again.

Also, perhaps you could consider making the default text speed a little faster. It's really, really slow right now. I was basically reading the words letter by letter *.* So I just ended up changing the speed. It's not really a big deal though (since you can set it to your personal preference in the preference screen). Just something you might want to consider ^^

Understood. It will be done ! ^^
For lady Gaga, it s indeed a joke... lol
About title screen, i was just talking about a transition screen that shows that we change of scene. (but if you keep skipping the text you wont see it. I guess I should disable skip function at this moment ^^,

Thanks to you two !

[Another]

I must admit I had also some troubles with dialogues, until I changed the settings for Text Speed and Auto-Forward Time. Maybe you would consider increasing the default value for the second too?

The Battle System is a fine feature, although it needs to be improved:

• On Mac OS X 10.5.6, the game froze twice during battle (in the demo and in the duel mode). I don't know if there's a link, but I noticed in both cases that Lans' encaustique was at zero.
• It's not always obvious that Lans is on the defensive. Maybe he should keep the defensive posture until the player pushes "M" again.
• It would be worth preventing the right bar and the two counters shaking like this.

I wonder how many battles you have planned for the whole game. Anyway, implementing a special duel mode is a very good idea. But do you see it like a training, or like a reward? In the first case, it should be enabled from start. In the second case, opponents should be much tougher in duel mode. Instead of unlocking the duel mode once the player has finished the whole story, you may also unlock foes progressively, each time an enemy has been killed in the main story.

Mmmmm... So many possibilities... I just can't wait to see what's coming next! Nice demo!

[X-NL]

I must admit I had also some troubles with dialogues, until I changed the settings for Text Speed and Auto-Forward Time. Maybe you would consider increasing the default value for the second too?

The Battle System is a fine feature, although it needs to be improved:

• On Mac OS X 10.5.6, the game froze twice during battle (in the demo and in the duel mode). I don't know if there's a link, but I noticed in both cases that Lans' encaustique was at zero.
• It's not always obvious that Lans is on the defensive. Maybe he should keep the defensive posture until the player pushes "M" again.
• It would be worth preventing the right bar and the two counters shaking like this.

I wonder how many battles you have planned for the whole game. Anyway, implementing a special duel mode is a very good idea. But do you see it like a training, or like a reward? In the first case, it should be enabled from start. In the second case, opponents should be much tougher in duel mode. Instead of unlocking the duel mode once the player has finished the whole story, you may also unlock foes progressively, each time an enemy has been killed in the main story.

Mmmmm... So many possibilities... I just can't wait to see what's coming next! Nice demo!

Thanks for playing ! ^^

*For the text speed, the incriminated line code is :

config.default_text_cps = 10

I ll remove this line and if it s not fine i ll fix it to 20.


*I have no idea why it froze when Lans is to 0. I play windows version and it never happens to me. What brings his bar to 0 ? The defensive stance or the depletion of the red "encaustique"?

* For the graphics, it s all good ideas !

* Less than 5-6 battles. Initialy, I planed to add the prototype XNL battle-system which provides the control of the two character to the keyboard, in order to make a Versus mode. But the prototype was too far away of the new version which have more animations and sound effects. The final version of the duel mode will indeed include the features you describe.

Im glad you ll follow my work ! ^^

Maybe i should try an english translation but it ll be so much more work... X_X

[Another]

Thanks for playing !

Thank YOU for making this game!

What brings his bar to 0 ? The defensive stance or the depletion of the red "encaustique"?

I think I was pressing "M", but I don't know if I was entering or leaving Defense Mode. I can't help you more for this, sorry (I have absolutely no skill in the Ren'Py API or Python).

Maybe i should try an english translation but it ll be so much more work... X_X

The best thing to do is to stay concentrate on the french version first. Until the final release, who knows if you won't have more ideas about the plot? Moreover, with a complete release, you'll have more luck to find help for the translation (that's not something you should try alone, no matter your skills in English).
I guess someone who's mother language is english would probably be most useful (especially for translating some self-made words that won't be found in a dictionary). And of course, the best place to find such a person is this forum!

[X-NL]

I find and solved the problem !

The game freezes when Lans avoid an attack and his bar deplete while the legionnaire is still "paying" his attack.

The "conditions strainer" i made didn't treat the situation correctly and jump to a label where the current conditions of the game provoke an infinite loop.


Thanks for reporting the bug !