The Hero Arrives in 35 Minutes

[Human Bolt Diary]

A while ago I was on a podcast to discuss failed game ideas and why they never went anywhere. Specifically, an idea for a game called "The Heroes Arrive in 35 Minutes". The podcast itself goes into more detail about why we thought the game could be interesting, and why it probably wouldn't have ever worked.

The idea was thought up years before I knew how to write any code or had any idea how to manage a project, so I'd long since thrown it in the dustbin. However, after recording I went and made a small prototype. Mostly out of curiosity to see if there really was any potential out of it, and a bit because I'm stubborn. Over a month or so I smoothed it out a bit more because I've wanted to make a simple turn based battle system and now had a decent enough excuse. The name has been changed slightly, but most of the original game idea has been implemented in some form or another.

The prototype is available for download at: https://jsfehler.itch.io/the-hero-arrives-in-35-minutes

I'm interested in people's feedback on what's there. It's obviously very rough, but I'd like to know if people found anything promising. At first I was completely in the camp of this not being a great idea. As it slowly turned into a bit more than a character creator, I've warmed up to it. It takes about 4 playthroughs (each about 5 minutes) to unlock more robust options for combat, and I think that if things were fleshed out and balanced a bit better it could be fun.

Although I have no real plans, or time, to complete the game, I do plan on releasing the battle system as an open source package in the next week or two. Just after I've done a bit more testing and documenting.

[ComputerArt.Club]

I just gave it a go, so right now I get to the part where it says "your name is: blahblahblah" and then it freezes or stops. It does not return to the main menu, though the Esc menu will still open. I tried twice with two different sets of choices and the same thing happened both times. I am not sure if that is as far as it goes or if there is more coded that is currently inaccessible due to some issue with the code.

Also, music or sound effects would make a huge difference, even for a demo.

I vaguely remember that you helped me out a few times before a long time ago. Thanks for that!

[Human Bolt Diary]

I just gave it a go, so right now I get to the part where it says "your name is: blahblahblah" and then it freezes or stops. It does not return to the main menu, though the Esc menu will still open. I tried twice with two different sets of choices and the same thing happened both times. I am not sure if that is as far as it goes or if there is more coded that is currently inaccessible due to some issue with the code.

Also, music or sound effects would make a huge difference, even for a demo.

I vaguely remember that you helped me out a few times before a long time ago. Thanks for that!

Did you try hitting the enter key? Or did it completely freeze, including the text input?

[ComputerArt.Club]

Thanks, hitting enter worked, I was also unaware that you could change your name. Perhaps add a prompt that lets the player know that they should press enter to continue. Up until that point I had been left clicking. Looks interesting, so far. I like the style, though, like I said, I think sound would make a big difference.

Will give it more of a go another day.

[YuukiCrossPudding]

I've tried the game and it's great!

I love the idea of picking the appearances and expressions then it shows in the story, also those options are unique which give me the sense of understanding this character that I played. I was sad that it ended quickly but it makes me replay the game again and again to see the story of this character.

I only wish that it's longer or there's more of this (like the story of the characters and the hero-- and that person in the end).

The only downside is the battle options that I actually didn't understand that well-- (but that's probably just because me being me haha)
Currently I've only tried the options that I can do for now, I love the clown one and the photo album one. I'll try to see if changing the battle options affects anything and try to do variations of the options.

I'm fondly reminded of half minute hero combined with-- games similar with princess maker..? or this one game that I forgot the name. Personally I'd love to see more of VN like these

[Human Bolt Diary]

I've tried the game and it's great!

I love the idea of picking the appearances and expressions then it shows in the story, also those options are unique which give me the sense of understanding this character that I played. I was sad that it ended quickly but it makes me replay the game again and again to see the story of this character.

I only wish that it's longer or there's more of this (like the story of the characters and the hero-- and that person in the end).

The only downside is the battle options that I actually didn't understand that well-- (but that's probably just because me being me haha)
Currently I've only tried the options that I can do for now, I love the clown one and the photo album one. I'll try to see if changing the battle options affects anything and try to do variations of the options.

I'm fondly reminded of half minute hero combined with-- games similar with princess maker..? or this one game that I forgot the name. Personally I'd love to see more of VN like these

Thanks for the feedback. Something on my mind while writing out the dialogue was to make sure that no matter what the scenario ended up being, the player should feel the villain's personality is consistent. Adding the emotion choices creates a lot of extra writing work, but helps to form a baseline for how the villain should act.

I sort of like how short each playthrough is. I don't want players getting too anxious over which choices to make or getting attached to a specific option..

I kept details on the heroes vague on purpose. I hope that by building a villain, you'll get an idea for what's motivating the heroes. However, I do want to improve the option to observe the heroes. At the very least, the villain will have opinions on his foes.

The battle system is a bit too complicated, but it's essentially just a GUI for programming an enemy AI script. You have a set of Rules, and they get scanned in order. The first Rule whose condition is met gets used. ie: If your first Rule is "Self HP less than 20%, Kick enemy" but your HP is greater than 20%, it doesn't do the action and checks the next rule.

Things like setting the chance of a skill being used are sort of useless for a player (ie: Why introduce randomness to your strategy?) but are necessary for a good enemy AI script. (ie: Keeps battles from getting stale). Some combinations aren't very useful, which is why something like Final Fantasy XII's Gambit System simplified things even further for players.