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Seline and the Tower of Strength

A lone tower stands on the border of two nations, with a mad, bloodthirsty villain awaiting atop it's many monster-filled floors. You, Seline, are the daughter of the same villain, and destined to ascend the tower, learning of your father's past, and of your own future along the way.

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Seline and the Tower of Strength is still mostly prototype. I've looked a bit at some RPG-style combat systems programmed through ren'py, and attempted to make my own from scratch. I'm trying to make it unique in a bunch of ways, but I think I need some outside views on it right now before I go about making an entire game based off this concept.

Current Game features:

- 10~20 minutes of WIP gameplay
- Battle system using variables of HP, MP, attack, defence, agility, and so forth.
- basic attack, defending, and 3 spells, one of which is unlocked at level 5
- 3 enemy types, each with unique flavor text, and a unique system for determining moves
- The battle system, and the way enemies work are going to be a bit less random than most games, to promote player strategy, planning, and the use of commands besides your attacks.
- prototype map screen, with a few unused variables (This will get worked on after I get combat more solid)
- no gold drops, and none planned for the future. Instead, you siphon enemy souls into MP when you beat them. MP is now precious, because it will only be obtainable by killing enemies, and (for now) the heal spell is your only recovery method.
- Some exposition to hint at the storyline I'm looking to pursue to accompany the game
- All resources used besides Ren'py's engine and sample interface were made in-house, made just by me. Of course, that means the artwork is either photo backgrounds, or horribly drawn using a mouse, and the sounds were recorded with various objects I had on hand with a less-than-professional mic, but it's all genuine. Music is mine too, but they are placeholders taken from other projects I've helped with, so will need to be replaced with originals later.

Planned/Desired Game features for later versions:

- A story, of course. Hoping for 4~5 main characters, including the protagonist.
- Map exploration, with semi-random events for finding chests, enemies, traps, and reaching new areas beyond.
- More unique enemies, with their own movesets and move determining systems. Also, variants of each enemy at various levels and stat sets, so the game isn't boring.
- a tutorial battle at the beginning to explain how this battle system works differently from others.
- Bosses that will challenge you to rethink your entire gameplay strategy.
- BETTER VISUALS. Seriously, I readily admit my artwork stinks, so I will likely try to find an artist to help me if I want to seriously make this into a game worth pushing out.
- Original music score, made by me



If anyone is nice enough to play my current version, and would like to help me out, I'd love your criticism, opinions, and no-holds-barred feedback on the following topics:

- Disregarding the lazy and amateur images themselves, do you think there is enough visual imagery in the battle sequences that you can always tell what is going on? Do you like the current usage of the graphics to show the combat?
- Do you feel like the enemy levels as displayed fit well with how powerful they are? If not, what levels would you assign the enemies as they are right now?
- I've tried to add variety to the game, so players strategically can't just attack attack attack and heal when they have low HP. The biggest manifest of that is the "charged strike" unlocked at level 5 (the biggest damage attack you can do for now, but you need to set up for it), the Pixie's ultimate technique, and the Golem's charged attack (both of which are made to force the player into defending, and deal significantly less damage when defended. Thus, predicting when the strong attacks come and when to defend becomes a part of the strategy.) Would you say that these mechanics are too complicated, or hard to work with as the player? Even if not, are they fun?
- Of the three enemies, which do you like the best? Which is the most challenging, taking the level into account? Which moveset do you think could be best explored for more enemies later in the game? (The bandit randomly decides his moves, the pixie gives visual cues to her next move, which need to be watched, or else risk her ultimate technique hitting, and the Golem acts on a 5-move rotation, always giving a turn to prepare before his biggest attack.)
- Is the game too difficult or too easy? Does the player level up or progress too slowly, or do you think more grinding should be necessary?
- What is your opinion on the lack of item and currency micromanaging in favor of MP-on-kill? I decided on this system to try and take number crunching and hard shopping decisions out of the game, and focus more on the combat and storyline. Do you think this works towards that goal well, or does it sacrifice too much from the gameplay?
- You may have noticed, but there are 10 unique descriptions of the player's basic attack that randomly cycle. Do you like having variety and flavor text like this, or would you prefer a single statement there that is more easily recognizable?
- Do the sound effects in the game work well with the gameplay? Is there any given sound that is annoying, or noticeably low quality?
- Do you like the font used for the game? If not, what kind of font would you prefer?
- Do you like the 1024 x 600 default resolution for the game? If not, what would you prefer?
- Given all of the planned features above, and the direction this game is going, would you play a finished version of this game? Would you prefer a more traditional take on the RPG combat system, or would you prefer that I keep trying to push in new directions, and make a completely unique combat system?

Thanks in advance for lending your ears, eyes, and time. I want to make something people will enjoy, and I'm only going to get there if I take steps from the beginning to ensure the experience is enjoyable. I'll try to update this thread with updates, and notes on the development when I make breakthroughs.


Update listing:

9/10 - added a healing spell for the pixie, and a new font for names and levels in the stats panels.

9/11 - made a bunch of adjustments and additions, mainly in response to Dovahkitteh's feedback.
New fireball pose for Seline, more EXP is required for leveling up, Golem has more HP, made a limit and context for HP and MP restore, exploration variable test for unwritten events made, added tutorial character Maggie who will gain more dialogue and scenes through development, fixed some bugs in combat system, deleted/edited some unfitting attack flavor text.

9/14: made punchier hitsounds, added some more GUI customization, added new placeholder backgrounds more reminiscent of an indoor environment. Assets are in place for another character, Castor, who will be your opponent in the tutorial battle. More on that in the next few updates.

In appreciation for your thorough feedback on my own thread, I thought I'd try to repay the favor.

Disregarding the lazy and amateur images themselves, do you think there is enough visual imagery in the battle sequences that you can always tell what is going on? Do you like the current usage of the graphics to show the combat?

I think there's sufficient imagery, but it seems like the attack image is the same every time, which doesn't really match with the varying "flavor text" that you have randomized for attacking. Also, when casting a fireball, I think it might be better to actually have Seline holding a fireball in her hands rather than simply glowing - as it is, it almost looks more like some sort of fire shield than an offensive casting.

Do you feel like the enemy levels as displayed fit well with how powerful they are? If not, what levels would you assign the enemies as they are right now?

For the most part, yeah. I don't feel like there's that much of a power spike between the pixie and the golem though.

I've tried to add variety to the game... Would you say that these mechanics are too complicated, or hard to work with as the player? Even if not, are they fun?

I see what you're trying to do and it makes sense, but I would actually get rid of the text that tells the player a powerful attack is coming. Because otherwise, the player seems to be able to predict it every time and can just block it, no sweat. But if you take away the tell that lets them know they're about to be screwed, then that encourages the player to defend more regularly after the first attack. You could make the likelihood of the powerful attack random, but increase in probability every round, so after attacking a few times the player starts defending more. Just a thought.

Of the three enemies, which do you like the best?

I like the pixie, and I think there's a lot of potential in her. I also like the idea of visual cues determining her next attack. I think you could do something cool with that by making the visual cues only accurate about, say, 75% of the time - if she's a trickster, it fits lore-wise! You could also do something similar for the bandit; him trying to fake you out on occasion could be a fun technique. I found the pixie the most challenging, though, and she actually almost killed me twice (before I figured out I could block her big attack).

Is the game too difficult or too easy? Does the player level up or progress too slowly, or do you think more grinding should be necessary?

I think the progression from level 1 to level 2 is good. Level 2 to level 3 should probably take a little longer, and level 3 to level 4 longer still. There's also not much incentive right now to go back and fight lower level enemies when I can take on enemies of the same level easily. I think enemies of the same level should actually be a little stronger than you, so it's difficult (but possible) to beat them until you become a level higher or figure out their techniques well.

I also think that being able to rest after every fight makes it a bit too easy. Maybe after every couple of fights, once you reach a "safe zone" or something? Otherwise there's not much need to worry about your HP or MP during the fight - you can blow everything because you know you're going to be able to regain them after you finish.

What is your opinion on the lack of item and currency micromanaging in favor of MP-on-kill?

I don't mind it, and it's definitely something different. I think to compensate for the lack of choice given in this regard, I'd try to give the player a lot of choices in regard to abilities/passives they can choose when leveling up.

Do you like having variety and flavor text like this, or would you prefer a single statement there that is more easily recognizable?

As I mentioned earlier, I do like the flavor text, but it doesn't always match the image. You could make new images to match the different text options, which would be pretty cool.

Do the sound effects in the game work well with the gameplay? Is there any given sound that is annoying, or noticeably low quality?

The only comment I have here is that the sounds feel a little... underwhelming. It sounds a bit like I'm hitting my enemy with a wet sock. XD I'd also make the fireball sound more... fiery and roaring.

Do you like the font used for the game? If not, what kind of font would you prefer?

I think the font works well. I like the font you used for the player/enemy names.

Do you like the 1024 x 600 default resolution for the game? If not, what would you prefer?

Seems fine to me. A wider resolution means you have more visual space between the player and the enemy, which feels more comfortable than I think 800x600 would.

Given all of the planned features above, and the direction this game is going, would you play a finished version of this game? Would you prefer a more traditional take on the RPG combat system, or would you prefer that I keep trying to push in new directions, and make a completely unique combat system?

I would indeed. Normally I'm not into combat RPGs of this fashion, but the combat is quick and clean and doesn't feel overly cluttered like a lot of games made in this fashion. As I said, I think it's fine to take out the micromanagement of supplies, but I would compensate with ability choices in order to have a less linear experience.

Some other notes:
-The fireball seems crazy powerful. I didn't really ever feel the need to attack normally because my fireball seemed to hit about as much (and cost very few MP relative to that damage), and did way more damage. Until I got the charged attack, that is.
-Why is there the option to cast minor heal in the camp when I can just automatically rest to restore my HP and MP?
-It would be nice to have an autosave when I go to the camp, just because I sort of assumed it was automatically there and was a bit ticked off when I died after resting and realized I hadn't saved at all during the course of the game. XD This isn't a necessary feature, but it's nice for forgetful people like me.

Thanks a lot! I really needed this.

I think there's sufficient imagery, but it seems like the attack image is the same every time, which doesn't really match with the varying "flavor text" that you have randomized for attacking. Also, when casting a fireball, I think it might be better to actually have Seline holding a fireball in her hands rather than simply glowing - as it is, it almost looks more like some sort of fire shield than an offensive casting.

I'll consider adding another player image for the fireball attack when I get the time, but if I wanted to get an attack image for each variant of the basic attack, that'd take a lot of work. Mybe I'll try to cut down on the number of variants, but I think the attack image works as it is now, and taking into account that I'd need to pay a bunch of money for 10 attack poses, I don't know if that's really reasonable for the game scale I'm planning.

I would actually get rid of the text that tells the player a powerful attack is coming. Because otherwise, the player seems to be able to predict it every time and can just block it, no sweat. But if you take away the tell that lets them know they're about to be screwed, then that encourages the player to defend more regularly after the first attack. You could make the likelihood of the powerful attack random, but increase in probability every round, so after attacking a few times the player starts defending more. Just a thought.

While that is a good idea for an enemy, I think one that doesn't have definite tells would have to be one that comes later on in the game, after the player has gotten used to the fact that the enemies have patterns, and that you need to defend at times. These first three enemies are relatively simple, and designed to be the first few enemies in the game that show the player a simple version of what's coming later. These enemies aren't really difficult to figure out, and that's what I think makes them good for the first part of the game. The more complex head-games and poker faces will come later, after the player has warmed up to the ideas behind the combat system.

I like the pixie, and I think there's a lot of potential in her. I also like the idea of visual cues determining her next attack. I think you could do something cool with that by making the visual cues only accurate about, say, 75% of the time - if she's a trickster, it fits lore-wise! You could also do something similar for the bandit; him trying to fake you out on occasion could be a fun technique. I found the pixie the most challenging, though, and she actually almost killed me twice (before I figured out I could block her big attack).

Same as above. The pixie's visual cues are simple, and easy giveaways that a player can probably figure out in the first encounter, so she makes for a good early enemy. I like your suggestion, and maybe I'll make a pallette-swap "Dark Pixie" for later in the game that messes with the player's head more in the ways you describe, but I like how the pixie works for now.

I also think that being able to rest after every fight makes it a bit too easy. Maybe after every couple of fights, once you reach a "safe zone" or something? Otherwise there's not much need to worry about your HP or MP during the fight - you can blow everything because you know you're going to be able to regain them after you finish.

This is close to the plan I have. Right now, that "Restore HP and MP" option is indeed broken as heck in terms of balance, but it's made for helping test the battle system, not for abusing. Perhaps I'll have a way to recover HP and MP on the map, and maybe it'll affect the gameplay strategy, but it won't be so reliably abuse-able. Perhaps by setting a limit on the number of uses, or by determining what ending you get by how much it's used. For now, though, it's just a tool for testing. Try taking a run through to level five without using it at all. That would be closer to what I'm going for, and it definitely takes some strategy.

I think to compensate for the lack of choice given in this regard, I'd try to give the player a lot of choices in regard to abilities/passives they can choose when leveling up.

I'm planning for more spells and player abilities, yes, but giving the ability to chose which ones you get when you level up is also an interesting idea. Perhaps I'll use it at some points.

The only comment I have here is that the sounds feel a little... underwhelming. It sounds a bit like I'm hitting my enemy with a wet sock. XD I'd also make the fireball sound more... fiery and roaring.

Your guess is actually not that far off... -_-' I don't happen to have a full sword and shield lying around to record sounds with, but I'll try to make something a little punchier.

The fireball seems crazy powerful. I didn't really ever feel the need to attack normally because my fireball seemed to hit about as much (and cost very few MP relative to that damage), and did way more damage. Until I got the charged attack, that is.

I think you'll find MP a little less expendable if you're not abusing the HP and MP restore button.

Why is there the option to cast minor heal in the camp when I can just automatically rest to restore my HP and MP?

Because one is a planned feature for normal play, while the other is just for testing, and will likely be replaced or reworked with further development into the map system.

It would be nice to have an autosave when I go to the camp, just because I sort of assumed it was automatically there and was a bit ticked off when I died after resting and realized I hadn't saved at all during the course of the game. XD This isn't a necessary feature, but it's nice for forgetful people like me.

Ren'py actually does have an auto-save, right next to the quick-save slots in the load menu.