Lunar Lotus Festival [GXB][Fantasy][RPG][Otome]

[Kingv]

GENRE: Fantasy Romance RPG
TYPE: Flash Stat Raising Date Sim
RATING: Appropriate for Ages 13+. Contains mild fantasy violence and suggestive themes
Playable demo is located here http://fav.me/d33fxtx.

Change Log http://fav.me/d4jtuka
GAME STATUS- In progress
SPRITES: 90% Missing date outfit variations for one character
CODING: 60% 3/4 bachelors done
MUSIC: 100%
BACKGROUNDS: 75%
CGs: 65% Date, ending, and bonus events left for 2 characters
DEV TEAM: I'm a team of one so I do all the art and coding myself. Music is gathered from free resources.

SYNOPSIS
Everyday is the same for Rhea. She wakes up. Spends her day stealing from anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path and then returns home only to do it all again the next day. She relocated to Haventhorn with the hope that her future would be brighter but now she's stuck in a loop. The death of her mother and the war between Liore and Houjin still haunt her and all she wants is closure. With the Lunar Lotus Festival fast approaching Rhea makes a desperate bid for a better life. She decides to tackle self improvement head on and gives herself 30 days to make a change.

GAME FEATURES
☆ Over 22 Different Endings! 5 per bachelor plus 2 secret ones
☆ Four dateable characters to choose from, plus one secret bachelor
☆ Fun mini games like cooking, cleaning and training to raise skills and earn money
☆ Engaging RPG battle system
☆ Go on quest to unlock rare items and gain experience points
☆ Buy and create over 45 different items
☆ Use magic to make items not found in stores
☆ Alternative ways to build stats like Fortune Telling and prayer
☆ Interactive dates with multiple locations for each character
☆ Multiple outfits for each character
☆ Jealousy scenes when you go after rival bachelors
☆ Branching character story lines depending on the choices you make
☆ Story driven game play

CAST
RHEA

Rhea is the character you play the game with. As a member of a local gang of displaced street kids it's her job to help take care of everyone by bringing food or anything else of value home. Life on the streets can be dangerous so although she is still learning to defend herself properly, Rhea always carries a small dagger for protection. She tries hard to be useful to the gang but can sometimes act very impulsively without thinking things through.
------BACHELORS------
MOUSE

A young man who has lived on the streets for most of his life, Mouse is the leader and founder of a gang made up of street kids like him. No one knows if mouse is his real name or just an alias. Because of his upbringing he's quite pessimistic and doesn't trust others easily. But he is fiercely loyal to anyone in his gang. Due to financial issues Mouse got a job as a Boarder Guard in the ruins of Old Haventhrorn.

LUCKY

Considerate and kind, he wants the best for anyone he considers his friends. Although Lucky can often be found smiling he harbors much regret about the past and longs for a way to make things right. His most notable feature is a heart shaped mark on his forehead.

OKAMI

Okami is a guardian from another realm sent to Iasion on a secret mission. He is a very analytical and detailed oriented guy. But due to this fact and his limited knowledge of human behavior he has a hard time relating to people.

RYU

Ryu Yosai is a well learned man who has seen much of the continent on his various travels. Many years ago he settled down in Houjin and now calls it his home. Ryu is well respected by many of the citizens as a skilled tactician and warrior. He lives a very luxurious and privileged life but he is hiding a dark secret from those that claim to know him best...

More Screenshots

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I'm a little over halfway done with the demo and am basically looking for a little feedback regarding bugs,difficulty, impression or anything else that may be helpful. I have it posted on DA but I'm not really getting as much help as I need over there so I though having other game developer input would help out alot as I wrap of development. This is the first game like this I've ever made and I'm learning as I go along. Feel free to check out my Change Log with detailed information about all the updates and changes I've made so far http://fav.me/d4jtuka. I know dating sims aren't everyone's cup of tea but any help would be greatly appreciated.

[chocojax]

Just notes I made as I went through the demo.

- The logo is really cool. 0:
- Include an options menu. :v Sometimes I wanna lower the music, rather than turning it off.
- The purple on the GUI is a bit overwhelming.
- In the opening scene, you could do fade-ins for each change in BG/CG scene, since it kinda shows up abruptly atm.
- The backgrounds for the CGs look lazy, but everything else is nice. Especially the animations!
- Rhea is really cute.
- In the opening scene, the sudden change from "two orphan kids surrounded by muddy colors" to "very bright, saturated colors of two well-off people" is strange. You could try to change the purple-striped background in the latter. Or, try to stick to one or the other, saturated(which it seems to be right now, and imo, would be better) or unsaturated colors. :v
- This is just my opinion, but I like left-aligned text rather than centered.
- After getting "help" from Jade, I was suddenly thrown into the map, and had no idea where to go and it was a little bit overwhelming, lol. Would be nicer if there was a small scene where someone would tell you about the basics, or something. Had no idea where to go for stat raising and stuff.
- Usually in games like this(with a map system), my very first play is just experimentation and learning which place is what, then I have to do a second play. You may want to at least include a help guide somewhere.
- When I consulted with Jade(actually, all of the NPCs), the text suddenly changed to Times New Roman.
- Got 0% HP, but I had no idea where home/my room was. x: (Got up to the second day and stopped because of this.)
- Game is 2hard because I have no idea what to do, lol. Tried to go to Haventhorne, didn't know where to find my room.

I'm just lazy, so these are just my first play-through thoughts. Hope these help you in some way. c:

Also, I like Okami, I just didn't find him in the demo, loool.

[Kingv]

Just notes I made as I went through the demo.

- The logo is really cool. 0:
- Include an options menu. :v Sometimes I wanna lower the music, rather than turning it off.
- The purple on the GUI is a bit overwhelming.
- In the opening scene, you could do fade-ins for each change in BG/CG scene, since it kinda shows up abruptly atm.
- The backgrounds for the CGs look lazy, but everything else is nice. Especially the animations!
- Rhea is really cute.
- In the opening scene, the sudden change from "two orphan kids surrounded by muddy colors" to "very bright, saturated colors of two well-off people" is strange. You could try to change the purple-striped background in the latter. Or, try to stick to one or the other, saturated(which it seems to be right now, and imo, would be better) or unsaturated colors. :v
- This is just my opinion, but I like left-aligned text rather than centered.
- After getting "help" from Jade, I was suddenly thrown into the map, and had no idea where to go and it was a little bit overwhelming, lol. Would be nicer if there was a small scene where someone would tell you about the basics, or something. Had no idea where to go for stat raising and stuff.
- Usually in games like this(with a map system), my very first play is just experimentation and learning which place is what, then I have to do a second play. You may want to at least include a help guide somewhere.
- When I consulted with Jade(actually, all of the NPCs), the text suddenly changed to Times New Roman.
- Got 0% HP, but I had no idea where home/my room was. x: (Got up to the second day and stopped because of this.)
- Game is 2hard because I have no idea what to do, lol. Tried to go to Haventhorne, didn't know where to find my room.

I'm just lazy, so these are just my first play-through thoughts. Hope these help you in some way. c:

Also, I like Okami, I just didn't find him in the demo, loool.

Thanks for giving it a play through! I went back and made some adjustments based on your observations.

-I'm glad you think Rhea is cute! I made some adjustments to the into, mainly getting rid of that one bright scene. It's not really needed anyway so no harm in cutting it out. Some of the CGs were done quickly and a few years ago so they need to be changed. I'm in the process of redrawing all the BGs done in Photoshop in Flash so they'll be vector based and cut down the games' file size. So the intro will be different once those are done and I'll add in transitions. I'm not very familiar with coding but I'll look into adding come sort of config menu for the sound.

-When you meet Jade I added in a tutorial system that teaches you about how to navigate the map and access areas, your stats, how to raise bachelor affection and another section of miscellaneous info. So hopefully that will lower the difficulty a bit.

-Since I used Flash as the game engine I'll have to embed the font i'm using (Anime Ace) into the game so that it will appear consistently. When you don't have that font installed it defaults to another one. Embedding fonts makes everything uniform, but it also increases the games file size so I'm holding off on doing it until everything else is done.

-All the characters mentioned in the first post are in the game. Okami's not available at the start so you'll have to do a few things to unlock him. He's by far one of my favorites too. ^^

-I'm also thinking of having a intro type event the first time you enter Rheas' hose to explain how you can mouse over certain areas, like a door, to open it or even pick up items you find in the game. Do you think that'd be helpful? I'm not very familiar with these types of games so I don't know if I need more or less instruction...

Phew! I think that's it....If you come across anything else please let me know.

[chocojax]

You're welcome! I'll try to play it again later if I have time. c:

"Okami's not available at the start so you'll have to do a few things to unlock him."
Aww. What's your goal for the finished product?

"I'm also thinking of having a intro type event the first time you enter Rheas' hose to explain how you can mouse over certain areas, like a door, to open it or even pick up items you find in the game. Do you think that'd be helpful? I'm not very familiar with these types of games so I don't know if I need more or less instruction..."
Well, that'd be helpful for people who've never played these types of games. You should include a skip button for that too, because some people may have already played and understand how to do things etc.
The main problem was that I had no idea where Rheas's house was, haha.

"I'm in the process of redrawing all the BGs done in Photoshop in Flash so they'll be vector based and cut down the games' file size."
Oh, alright! It'll also make everything match each other, sprites to CG scenes to backgrounds wise.

"Since I used Flash as the game engine I'll have to embed the font i'm using (Anime Ace) into the game so that it will appear consistently. When you don't have that font installed it defaults to another one."
Oooh, I just thought that you didn't know, haha. Yeah, okay!

Good luck with finishing this project! :v

[Kingv]

You're welcome! I'll try to play it again later if I have time. c:

"Okami's not available at the start so you'll have to do a few things to unlock him."
Aww. What's your goal for the finished product?

"I'm also thinking of having a intro type event the first time you enter Rheas' hose to explain how you can mouse over certain areas, like a door, to open it or even pick up items you find in the game. Do you think that'd be helpful? I'm not very familiar with these types of games so I don't know if I need more or less instruction..."
Well, that'd be helpful for people who've never played these types of games. You should include a skip button for that too, because some people may have already played and understand how to do things etc.
The main problem was that I had no idea where Rheas's house was, haha.

"I'm in the process of redrawing all the BGs done in Photoshop in Flash so they'll be vector based and cut down the games' file size."
Oh, alright! It'll also make everything match each other, sprites to CG scenes to backgrounds wise.

"Since I used Flash as the game engine I'll have to embed the font i'm using (Anime Ace) into the game so that it will appear consistently. When you don't have that font installed it defaults to another one."
Oooh, I just thought that you didn't know, haha. Yeah, okay!

Good luck with finishing this project! :v

"Aww. What's your goal for the finished product?"
-He's not too hard to get actually...just keep talking to Mouse and then you'll see an event that leads to him. For me personally the main goal is to brush up on coding skills and put my original characters to use somewhere. So making a game like this is a good test of my skills and forces me to use Flash for things other than simple games.

"Well, that'd be helpful for people who've never played these types of games. You should include a skip button for that too, because some people may have already played and understand how to do things etc.
The main problem was that I had no idea where Rheas's house was, haha."
- That's a good suggestion. I think I'll add that in since you have the ability to skip the other scenes that pop up while playing.

"Oh, alright! It'll also make everything match each other, sprites to CG scenes to backgrounds wise."
-That's true I'd like everything to make in the game as much as possible.

"Oooh, I just thought that you didn't know, haha. Yeah, okay!"
-Lol no worries. I knew about it but I appreciate the reminder nonetheless.

Thanks, I need the extra luck! Next game I will definitely try to make it a team effort. It's hard to do everything on your own.

[FatUnicornGames]

This looks really cute! I do agree that the pink on the menus might be a bit distracting from all the pretty art you got going on. Good luck! I look forward to the completed product.

[Kingv]

This looks really cute! I do agree that the pink on the menus might be a bit distracting from all the pretty art you got going on. Good luck! I look forward to the completed product.

Thank you! I messed around with the menus some. Do you think the blue looks better? Or should I try out some more color schemes?

[Moon20]

When can we play the complete version? And this game so awsome out.

[Auro-Cyanide]

I remember playing the demo for this way back on DA I'm super glad you are still working on it. I'll have to give it another test run to check it all out. Good luck with all the work!

[Daistarir]

Oh, I love this game. I remembered I haved play the demo long time ago. I was only play Mouse's route because it's the only full one. My fav is Ryu-sama!

[Nuxill]

What if you made the color of the gui the color of the logo you have? That desaturated purple would look nice I think.

[FatUnicornGames]

What if you made the color of the gui the color of the logo you have? That desaturated purple would look nice I think.

Oh this. I think it is just the saturation is awfully high, so it makes me want to stare at it. Maybe even a lighter shade of that desaturated purple. Then it would be tied into the other graphic design.

[Kingv]

When can we play the complete version? And this game so awsome out.

I'm going to try really hard and get this out early next year. I've been working on it way longer than anticipated. But i'm glad you're enjoying it!

I remember playing the demo for this way back on DA I'm super glad you are still working on it. I'll have to give it another test run to check it all out. Good luck with all the work!

It has been on up for quite a while, I'm glad you remember it! I haven't given up yet. It just takes time with trying to figure out the code and working on everything else. I'm steadily making updates so i'd love to hear what you think if you find the time to play it.

Oh, I love this game. I remembered I haved play the demo long time ago. I was only play Mouse's route because it's the only full one. My fav is Ryu-sama!

Thank you very much! Mouses' route is totally done but now you can play Okamis' and Luckys' pretty far as well. Ryu is pretty neat, I think his storyline is one of my favorites.

What if you made the color of the gui the color of the logo you have? That desaturated purple would look nice I think.

You know, that's a good idea. I'll have to try that out. When I do I'll post another screenshot so I can ask for opinions on it.

[Moon20]

Oh okey, im going to play it When the complete version is coming out

[Kingv]

What if you made the color of the gui the color of the logo you have? That desaturated purple would look nice I think.

Oh this. I think it is just the saturation is awfully high, so it makes me want to stare at it. Maybe even a lighter shade of that desaturated purple. Then it would be tied into the other graphic design.

I tried it out with the desaturated purple from the logo. Do you guys think this would work better? I have to admit it definitely not as loud. But it seems to darken everything as well. I think I'll play with it some more and see what would mix. But I think the purple is a step in the right direction.

Oh okey, im going to play it When the complete version is coming out

Great! Looking forward to your review when it's done.