Castle Paradox

[MenosTorpe]

The initial version is complete (expect 4-8 hours of game time). It's almost entirely built with the graphics from Vikings of Midgard, but I hope that the gameplay will be enjoyable and I feel that it carries the story I wanted to tell. I can't personally accept it as anything more than a prototype of a game, but I present it for your comments nonetheless.

Download

A few notes:
- Some people have complained that the first boss is too hard. Provided you don't enter that scenario at level one before doing anything else, you should be fine. When I redesign, I will force this.
- If anyone gives me comments about the plot after playing five minutes, I give up. Once you understand the plot I welcome discussion or criticism, however.
- There shouldn't be any game-ending errors, but it isn't perfect. Please mention any bugs you find.

[NeoSpade]

can't wait to give this a try! I'm downloading it now!

[NeoSpade]

sorry for double posting but...
I'm reworking a tile set that I got from FF4 (to make it 20 by 20) and I've got a base for some walk abouts. Want them?

Edit:
PM me if you want em, also I'll give you a good site for game music, its called: http://www.rpgamer.com/games/games.html
hope this helps, the plot is origional, can't wait to get deeper into it!

Edit2:
Oh and don't MSN me or e-mail me...I'm not on my best computer.

[JSH357]

Hi, I've started playing this. I'm keeping notes as I go on what I perceive as problems or things I like. Take them for what they are.

- Like the humor, but the intro seems kind of off-putting to me. Is this a joke game? I'm not sure if it should be taken seriously or not.
- Sound effects and weapon graphics need to be placed properly--especially the weapon graphics. They shouldn't be too hard to fix.
- I love starting the game out with legendary equips (and the fact that they barely raise stats). Makes me wonder where this is all going.
- The first boss battle is absolutely raping me. (3 tries so far) Leveled up until I learned a Skill. At this point, Abel seems to be a much better character than Chris in battle.
- Due to the fast nature of the battles, I would probably recommend turning on "Pause on battle menus" bitset if it isn't already on.
- The game could really use an introduction to inform me of what's going on here, preferably with dialogue and characters involved. I feel pretty confused. I know you said not to talk about the intro, but come on man, the beginning is one of the most important parts of a story. If there are lots of complaints, you should really think about what is and isn't wrong with it.
- Chris's walkabout graphic looks funny when he's facing downward. In particular, the arm animation looks incorrect.
- When Apostle Joe heals the party, it would be really cool if you used a sound effect and a screen flash. It's not hard to add; just link to a script from the text box.
- The map design in the first area is very good overall. I wouldn't change it a bit.
- If you wanted to, you could make the Sennin Shinobi more interesting. Maybe give them an Evasion-raising spell or the ability to throw Shuriken?
- The plot seems pretty generic, even though the equipment and characters are different than in the usual OHR game
- I honestly think I would prefer original graphics even if they don't look that fantastic. This game even uses VoM's cutscenes. I'm glad that you were able to complete so much of the game this way, of course, but I hate that it isn't as original as it could be because the graphics follow another game's so closely.
- You misspelled 'ultimately' as 'ultiately' in one box. In the same box, you might want to make sure to capitalize "Himself" since it refers to the Christian God, yes?
- The Tanis battle is very well-balanced. Gives a great illusion of possibility to win, but is still meant to be lost.
- The teleportation could have looked snazzier.
- Are you using the latest OHR Version? I don't see any "who can equip what" boxes in the shop. :/ If not, I would suggest updating.

I'll try and play more later. So far I like it, but there are definitely some flaws that can and should be addressed.

[MenosTorpe]

JSH357, thank you for your response. It is good to hear from someone who liked it in general but has suggestions for improvement. However, it is difficult to answer a number of the points you made because it seems clear we are not on even close to the same page as far as the philosophy of the game. For example:

[Chenzi]

[JSH357]

Updating to the latest stable version won't create any compatibility issues unless there's some unknown bug I'm not aware of. You might shy off of the nightlies if you are worried about stability. though.

I really don't mean to beat this into the ground, but I think there's a difference between making the player confused or alienated and making the beginning of a story mysterious. There's nothing wrong with starting a game in the middle of the action (it's preferable), but this game doesn't start in the middle of any action. My character just appears in a field. I know lots of older RPGs do this, but to put it simply, I've never seen it as a high point in any of those games.

I totally understand about not wanting to put lots of effort into graphics. Was just offering my two cents on that one.

To find the spelling error I mentioned, use the text box search function and search for "ultiately." (It's right under all the other options in the text box editor)

Using some colored fade outs or panning the camera out (not to mention adding a sound effect) would make the teleportation sequence look cooler.

To clarify, I didn't have a problem with the first boss battle really. I had forgotten that there was a healing pool below in case I needed to level up.

What I mean by the intro sounding like a joke is the fact that it sounds like two teenagers bantering back and forth ("Shut up!", all caps repetition of lines, "..."). If you meant for it to sound serious, then it didn't. I wasn't commenting on the absolutism, which is not as deep as you seem to be implying in my mind.

[JSH357]

OK, I played a little more:

- When the priest sends me to the dungeon, it would be nice to have a yes/no option instead of having to warp back every time. I wasn't done exploring the house (monastery?).
- In the text box that starts out "Beyond this point are the Apostles private airships" you are missing an apostrophe.
- Again, adding a sound effect/animation for the healers would make them look a lot better.
- Thank you for allowing saving everywhere. Not enough OHR games do this.
- Got an Aegis shield. No one can equip it, so I'm assuming I'll be getting a character who can soon.
- Kind of confused about what Ishmael is supposed to be. His command set is called "Music" but the spell names and animations don't really match up with that. (Edit: just noticed the guitar in his weakness frame)
- On that note, you might consider adding some spell captions for flavor, even if they only displays the names of the spells. (In case you don't know how to do this: in the Attack menu, go to Appearance and write the text in the Caption section. It can take some testing to determine how long it needs to be displayed) The reason I mention this is I like putting the full names of spells in these captions in case I had to abbreviate them due to the character limit on spell names.
- Again, the enemies in this area seem well-balanced. Good work.

The story's a little more interesting at this point, but I'm still enjoying the battles a lot more. I like the challenge level in this game, actually. Not too hard, not too easy.

[LeRoy_Leo]

[MenosTorpe]

[JSH357]

The "so be it" line made it seem like a conversation between two people joking around, one of them probably demonic or evil in some form.

[Bob the Hamster]

no need to include g_debug.txt in your zip file.

As far as I know, this is the first game I have seen that uses Vikings of Midgard Graphics. I am really please to see that VoM provides such a solid base for, as you say, "prototype" a game.

Also, regarding the lack of weapon alignment; you inspired me to improve on that feature. See here

[NeoSpade]

I'm about at the same point as JHS in the game, and I have an idea abouts whats going on, so the openning seems to make more sence now, but I'm not sure.

[MenosTorpe]

Thanks for all the interest/feedback; I'm compiling a list of changes for the theoretical 1.1 release of the game. Perhaps after Xocolatl is released that would be a good time, as I could take advantage of new features as well as make various fixes. Plus by that time I should be able to clear away enough work to focus seriously on a game.

[Newbie_Power]