[From hack to indie] Path of the Midnight Sun

[ryan5152001]

1.2 isn't compatible with 1.5, but will the 1.5 save be compatible with 2.0?

[Alfred Kamon]

1.2 isn't compatible with 1.5, but will the 1.5 save be compatible with 2.0?

Yeah, of course.

Pic of the day:

[TheMoniker]

Oh crap, is this to hint at PERMANENT STAT LOSS?

[Alfred Kamon]

Oh crap, is this to hint at PERMANENT STAT LOSS?

Who knows~

How do you think this will play out?

[ErrantDShepherd]

;_;

...but I like drawing out that chapter for max exp. DX

Cool that armor knights will now be a Lil easier to tell apart at a glance now. Stupid archer armors always mess up my day otherwise. XD

Cool that 1.5 should be compatible.

[ryan5152001]

Hmm... I think that Fa is a green unit on that chapter, giving her predetermined stats, thus making her weaker. Maybe instead of a turn limit, Fa is poisoned a few turns in, so that she eventually dies, causing a game over, but not right when the chapter starts.

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Yeah, there are different knights.

Hmh, no... actually Schwarz can still use only swords. Unless L95 updates the map sprite, I will keep it as it is.

/makes a note to do black sword peg

[noitanaperT]

Where is the response you promised me

[Book of Ereshkigal]

2 lazy 2 falcoknight right now

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

cool sprite!

[Alfred Kamon]

Hmm... I think that Fa is a green unit on that chapter, giving her predetermined stats, thus making her weaker. Maybe instead of a turn limit, Fa is poisoned a few turns in, so that she eventually dies, causing a game over, but not right when the chapter starts.

Interesting concept, I also had thought of something similar, but no... way too complicated and a simple turn limit does its work.

See today's pic and guess again.

Where is the response you promised me

Oh right. Totally forgot, it's down here.

2 lazy 2 falcoknight right now

Omg u so good lindsy

Thankies!! ^^

Gonna insert this asap

Finished. Thoughts:

*Thank you for the hack.

*Thank you again, because I don't want the following criticism to be confused for ungratefulness.

*Scarcity of some basic weapons like Heal staff and Iron lance. I don't know if this is intentional, but it's strange.

You can buy those whenever you want from the prep screen shop! And also you're given a lot of money (especially by selling the numerous gems I throw at players)

*Red text for important clues is a smart touch and well-implemented.

Thanks! ^^

*The writing is pretty dumb most of the time.

Uh oh, that's... not really nice. I know most people liked the writing too.

The characters lack a lot of personality. It's hard to give out a lot of personality traits with just a few lines per character. Most characters will be developed better in supports. But to do that in the main story? That would just slow down the narration. In the end, I did what some FEs like Awakening did-- stereotyping the character presentation. Which, by any way, isn't so strange in videogames.

Markedly, the Demon King, whose lines in fe8 were some of the best, here seems like an easily surmounted pushover rather than some age-old monster of myth to be feared.

That may be true, I admittedly have to better His lines.

Most of the characters have thin and uninteresting personalities and dialogue, even by fe standards.

That's a personal statement.

*Main lord not being a sword user is a welcome change from the formula.

Thanks. I liked the idea of having a dark-user main character. And a female too!

*Hellios should not scale as well. If he's going to have a strong start, for balance' sake, he should have his growths and potential scaled back, especially if you're going to get him back at some point in the game.

That's pretty much intentional to give people more reasons to use Hellios... It's a really good unit, so if players want to abuse it, they can, but everything at its cost.

*A tank or two (besides Hellios) would be nice. Most if not all of the units are weighted towards balanced stats, or offensive ones. Very few are defensive in the traditional sense. Having the option for a reliable, defensive frontliner would be good.

Yeah, that's really true. Good one. In fact, the first units you'll get in the new chapters will have very high def.

As of now they aren't -that- needed because there aren't specifically defensive maps. So, there isn't the specific need for a tank guarding some entrances unless you want to turtle (which is something I want the players to avoid in most of my maps).

*Lots of chapters can be taken at a leisurely pace that results in dumb things like: Weiss getting to level 20 in his intro, Ceo to 16. The game gave little reason to use Shiori, and thus waste exp that could be being fed to the stellar unit Weiss.

That's true too. But it's quite intentional as well, since I wanted Weiss to replace Hellios at some point. If you lose such a good unit and you don't have anything to replace it with, the gameplay style changes a bit too much imo.

*Mounteds being able to move twice seems to be a relatively unaccounted-for advantage. It's a strong ability and there should be something to offset it, but mounts and cavs seem to have all the utility and power they've always had.

Skills will be implemented later, so Canto will be a waste of a skill slot.

Also, it makes gameplay funner in the earliest chapters imo.

Chapter 5x would be nearly impossible or boring without Canto, for instance.

*Half of my core force is at 20, the rest are 15. Not a promo item to be seen. A bit frustrating. Perhaps reduce exp (and sandbag potential), and/or give promo items early. Even if you don't use them until 20, having the option between 10-20 is a good thing.

Hrm, the lack of promo items is mostly because promotions aren't supported in v.1.2.

I'll be sure to give out a promo item in ch.8, a couple ones in ch.9, etc.

*Puledra brings staff utility, but low start and low potential means there is only 1 practical option for using him, and it's "sparingly." It's not a difficulty problem, but it would increase the value of choice here if he had, say, a higher start so that players didn't know he was just going to be benched as soon as something better inevitably comes around.

Puledra is still godly in monster maps thanks to his ability!

Benching a prepromote is quite normal in FE, but Puledra also has some of the best growths in the game!

So players that use him a lot will be up for a nice surprise in lategame/postgame! (also reclassing will be a thing later in the game, so having infinite level ups for a unit with such good growths can only be nice). I think Puledra's stats are ok, he also serves as a good magic tank.

More later maybe.

Yup, anytime!

Here I am, answering your comments finally. Replies in bold!

Pic of the day:

This pretty much completes yesterday's pic I guess?

[ErrantDShepherd]

Ah....the healing power of whiskey? ;p

Liking the screens. Nice Lil tidbits/teasers in them. Now gimme more pls right now!?

Very excited to see forging and skills! BTW Alfred, what's your planned release time(in general) for 1.5? (Asking more for a general hopeful date/quarter... Like you hope by summer time, or by the fall... Something like that)

(Guess I should be looking into a male peg sprite too in those redesigns we were talking about to go with that cool map sprite! ;D )

Edited March 23, 2015 by TheErrantShepherd

[Alfred Kamon]

Ah....the healing power of whiskey? ;p

Liking the screens. Nice Lil tidbits/teasers in them. Now gimme more pls right now!?

Very excited to see forging and skills! BTW Alfred, what's your planned release time(in general) for 1.5? (Asking more for a general hopeful date/quarter... Like you hope by summer time, or by the fall... Something like that)

(Guess I should be looking into a male peg sprite too in those redesigns we were talking about to go with that cool map sprite! ;D )

XD that's actually Ceapana's room, not the inn in ch.6.

Hmmm... I think it'll be ready by the end of April without supports or in July/August with supports.

Ashley, if you pass by, please know that I'll need your help with some proofreading!

[Wayward Winds]

XD that's actually Ceapana's room, not the inn in ch.6.

Hmmm... I think it'll be ready by the end of April without supports or in July/August with supports.

Ashley, if you pass by, please know that I'll need your help with some proofreading!

Present whenever you need me!

Just remember I'll have to start from scratch as well, so it may take me a couple of days to get to proofreading the Tower.

Or just pop over an FEeditor text dump file when you're ready.

(Shouldn't you have used spoiler tags for some of your answers to noitanaperT?)

Edited March 23, 2015 by Wayward Winds

[Alfred Kamon]

Present whenever you need me!

Just remember I'll have to start from scratch as well, so it may take me a couple of days to get to proofreading the Tower.

Or just pop over an FEeditor text dump file when you're ready.

(Shouldn't you have used spoiler tags for some of your answers to noitanaperT?)

Yup, I will do!

I need about a week too to revamp the rest of the chapters, then I'll write something for the Tower (as of now it only has gameplay in it) and I'll pass everything to you. While you get back to ch.8, I'll try to come up with some other good ideas for the supports.

(Hmh, he should have too. But they're quite ambiguous so it's ok. This page of the topic will be lost quite soon anyway)

[Dandragon]

dont listen to those bad opinions alf, you're fine

[Irony]

Looks fantastic!! :D

[noitanaperT]

*Scarcity of some basic weapons like Heal staff and Iron lance. I don't know if this is intentional, but it's strange.

You can buy those whenever you want from the prep screen shop! And also you're given a lot of money (especially by selling the numerous gems I throw at players)

Isn't that more expensive?

*The writing is pretty dumb most of the time.

Uh oh, that's... not really nice. I know most people liked the writing too.

I don't care who liked the writing. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I am only trying to express my opinion.

The characters lack a lot of personality. It's hard to give out a lot of personality traits with just a few lines per character. Most characters will be developed better in supports. But to do that in the main story? That would just slow down the narration. In the end, I did what some FEs like Awakening did-- stereotyping the character presentation. Which, by any way, isn't so strange in videogames.

It's not the volume of material, it's the content (of the volume you've allotted). Cristoph- and Rya's lines, especially with each other, are really hack and empty writing. I can point to specifics.

Most of the characters have thin and uninteresting personalities and dialogue, even by fe standards.

That's a personal statement.

So you agree?
*Hellios should not scale as well. If he's going to have a strong start, for balance' sake, he should have his growths and potential scaled back, especially if you're going to get him back at some point in the game.

That's pretty much intentional to give people more reasons to use Hellios... It's a really good unit, so if players want to abuse it, they can, but everything at its cost.

Sure, if you're not going to get him back. He still trivializes (or perhaps, makes possible) many sections of the game.
*A tank or two (besides Hellios) would be nice. Most if not all of the units are weighted towards balanced stats, or offensive ones. Very few are defensive in the traditional sense. Having the option for a reliable, defensive frontliner would be good.

Yeah, that's really true. Good one. In fact, the first units you'll get in the new chapters will have very high def.

As of now they aren't -that- needed because there aren't specifically defensive maps. So, there isn't the specific need for a tank guarding some entrances unless you want to turtle (which is something I want the players to avoid in most of my maps).

It's not a matter of "need," and you can turtle anyway. Your design isn't radically different from any other FE, all of which reward this tactic.
*Lots of chapters can be taken at a leisurely pace that results in dumb things like: Weiss getting to level 20 in his intro, Ceo to 16. The game gave little reason to use Shiori, and thus waste exp that could be being fed to the stellar unit Weiss.

That's true too. But it's quite intentional as well, since I wanted Weiss to replace Hellios at some point. If you lose such a good unit and you don't have anything to replace it with, the gameplay style changes a bit too much imo.

You're in no danger of losing the unit because you are given potions, elixirs, and a heal staff with 30 uses. The problem is that you don't put any pressure on the player, and allow efficient players to farm exp. This is boring, bad design.
*Mounteds being able to move twice seems to be a relatively unaccounted-for advantage. It's a strong ability and there should be something to offset it, but mounts and cavs seem to have all the utility and power they've always had.

Skills will be implemented later, so Canto will be a waste of a skill slot.

Also, it makes gameplay funner in the earliest chapters imo.

Chapter 5x would be nearly impossible or boring without Canto, for instance.

"not boring," "fun," imbalanced. I'm not saying to get rid of it, I'm saying that mounteds need to be nerfed in some other area so that the decision on whether or not to use them isn't so trivial. The ability to attack and immediately reposition is extremely beneficial, yet mounteds have as good as or better statistics than any other unit.

[Fateborn]

*snip*

...What?

[ghast]

...What?

What are you confused about?

[Robert Stewart]

What are you confused about?

The post is formatted a bit oddly. It took me a few seconds reading it trying to figure out what was what.

[noitanaperT]

It is odd. I Didn't think it would be unreadable. I don't know a better way to comment parse.

[ghast]

really? I kinda figured it out off the bat. oh well haha /derailing

[eclipse]

Alright, time for me to step in. ;/

*The writing is pretty dumb most of the time.

Uh oh, that's... not really nice. I know most people liked the writing too.

I don't care who liked the writing. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I am only trying to express my opinion.

You need to work on expressing yourself. Here's an example, using this very post:

WRONG: Your posting style is dumb.

RIGHT: I think you'd benefit greatly from turning off WYSIWYG (that switch thingy just above the bold button), and using BBCode to format the quotes. BBCode isn't that hard to pick up. It'll make your posts much clearer, which means that others can weigh in on your suggestions, as opposed to your posting style.

One of these serves only as an insult, and says nothing about what can be improved. The other focuses on what you can do to change. Please follow the latter.

The characters lack a lot of personality. It's hard to give out a lot of personality traits with just a few lines per character. Most characters will be developed better in supports. But to do that in the main story? That would just slow down the narration. In the end, I did what some FEs like Awakening did-- stereotyping the character presentation. Which, by any way, isn't so strange in videogames.

It's not the volume of material, it's the content (of the volume you've allotted). Cristoph- and Rya's lines, especially with each other, are really hack and empty writing. I can point to specifics.

I'd like to see these specifics, so I can see your logic.

Most of the characters have thin and uninteresting personalities and dialogue, even by fe standards.

That's a personal statement.

So you agree?

I think that's a diplomatic way of saying "that's just your opinion".

*A tank or two (besides Hellios) would be nice. Most if not all of the units are weighted towards balanced stats, or offensive ones. Very few are defensive in the traditional sense. Having the option for a reliable, defensive frontliner would be good.

Yeah, that's really true. Good one. In fact, the first units you'll get in the new chapters will have very high def.

As of now they aren't -that- needed because there aren't specifically defensive maps. So, there isn't the specific need for a tank guarding some entrances unless you want to turtle (which is something I want the players to avoid in most of my maps).

It's not a matter of "need," and you can turtle anyway. Your design isn't radically different from any other FE, all of which reward this tactic.

You made a valid suggestion, Alfred agreed, and you don't even say "thank you"? What was the point of that suggestion?

*Lots of chapters can be taken at a leisurely pace that results in dumb things like: Weiss getting to level 20 in his intro, Ceo to 16. The game gave little reason to use Shiori, and thus waste exp that could be being fed to the stellar unit Weiss.

That's true too. But it's quite intentional as well, since I wanted Weiss to replace Hellios at some point. If you lose such a good unit and you don't have anything to replace it with, the gameplay style changes a bit too much imo.

You're in no danger of losing the unit because you are given potions, elixirs, and a heal staff with 30 uses. The problem is that you don't put any pressure on the player, and allow efficient players to farm exp. This is boring, bad design.

If you read backwards, one of the suggestions was "you're in danger of running out of offensive weapons". Then again, I did my run on Difficult, so YMMV. I will have to disagree that you're in "no" danger of losing a unit - poke your head too far out, and you'll have a lot of enemies out for your blood.

(inb4 "but you can turtle", which applies to just about everything, including vanilla FE)

I think that you need to rethink how you express your criticism. Right now, you come across as overly caustic for no good reason. Midnight Sun isn't perfect, but there's ways of detailing your concerns without being insulting.

[noitanaperT]

Crap, one of the mods slipped past my ignore list.

I think that you need to rethink how you express your criticism. Right now, you come across as overly caustic for no good reason.

No I don't.

Edited March 24, 2015 by noitanaperT