Housepets! Tails of Babylon! * Developer's Thread *

[Saturn381]

Nice job, D-Rock and Chaoko.

[D-Rock]

Before I start putting this onto my book template, what do you guys think? I managed to "Frankenstein" Max's hand onto Parnoks, change the color to match, and added in the rest of the spear. Not as easy as I would have liked.

And yes, he's not completely holding the spear. My justification? He's simply fiddling with it in his hand. I do that a lot, too, pencils, pens, brooms, mops, knives, pretty much anything I'm holding.

So, any final suggestions at all before this gets pasted onto the book (besides the last letters in the title)?

[Amazee Dayzee]

It actually has come out very nicely I have to admit! but now I do wanna see a scene from valero's fan fiction play out...

[SuperStar]

Looks okay. Obviously a bit off, but I don't it'll be noticeable when it's shrunk a bit.

[Saturn381]

Nice job, D-Rock.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Here, I cleaned the book up and rounded the ball out for ya! No major changes, but it makes it look a bit better.

It actually has come out very nicely I have to admit! but now I do wanna see a scene from valero's fan fiction play out...

...wait what??

[D-Rock]

...tsk.

Welp, there goes three hours of work.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Well now it looks even better!
There goes 5 minutes of work on my end

[D-Rock]

This wouldn't have been so tedious if my art program had a type of "free-form" drag feature. I did manage to find a plug-in that allows an image to be manipulated obliquely. Finding the right angle was the long part. Getting it to look good was another challenge.

At least now I have a better understanding of the tool. Let's see how long it takes me again.

EDIT: I DID IT!!

A lot easier the second time around. This time, instead of matching the poster to the book, I matched the book to the poster. Shrunk it down and even cut off a lot, but it looks significantly better. Thanks!

[CHAOKOCartoons]

No prob dude!
Also, finally finished the angry fan mob... mob:

This took quite a while to do, trying to find the right size was also a bit of a pickle. I just kinda drew random cats (plus out of place dog and human) and made sure I had the book tearing fan that someone had mentioned when we first came up with the idea.

[SuperStar]

That looks great! Beautiful even!
Though I'm curious... is that one big picture? Or are there different layers for each person?

[D-Rock]

Looks great, but I was thinking what Star was. Be weird for that to be just one health bar.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Though I'm curious... is that one big picture? Or are there different layers for each person?

Looks great, but I was thinking what Star was. Be weird for that to be just one health bar.

...what-- wait, HOW would that even be possible in this scenario? It's a Mob of people, and was previously referred to in the plural. If every single character, or even chunks of them had their own health bar, that would take A LOT more detail and drawing. Plus, it would be too much of a cluster, both visually and game play wise. Doing this would also make it harder for me to take visual shortcuts to create the illusion of "many people". On top of this, it would require us to create AI for every single angry fan, so balancing out when the enemy does a certain move would be far more complicated (this would also take up unnecessary memory space).
Having layered enemies best works when it's two or four pieces. It's incredibly difficult on both the artist and the programmer to make an enemy with 5+ bodies, especially a mob's worth.

[SuperStar]

Nah, I wasn't thinking it as they each have their own health bar, I was just wondering if you could maybe make a second variant that includes less people. So I was wondering if they were layered so that you could easily re-arrange them. It's just an afterthought though.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Oh well making one with less people wouldn't be hard, though the only ones that could be arranged are the ones in the front. The image itself is layered in terms of lines, color, sketch, ect. but not the characters. That would also be very difficult and tedious. It can be edited, but only in a PNG form.

I'll see if I can figure that out, if not then eh...

[SuperStar]

Well, don't hurt yourself. We don't NEED another form of mob, it just would be a bit more convenient.

Also, I'm currently working out some kinks with enemy sizes, and I found that my CityFeralA was shrunken too small, and trying to increase it in size makes it look blurry. I was going through old pages of this thread, but I couldn't find when it was posted. If someone has easy access to it, could you repost it please?

[GameCobra]

Really nice fan riot there. Nice touch with the human in there, too.

It occurred to me that too much random monster humor mightbe bad, but since it's the mall, this is a perfect time to go nuts on it :3

EDIT: And awesome finish on the Pridelands book, too. looks much better compressed like that. :3

[Obbl]

Also, I'm currently working out some kinks with enemy sizes, and I found that my CityFeralA was shrunken too small, and trying to increase it in size makes it look blurry. I was going through old pages of this thread, but I couldn't find when it was posted. If someone has easy access to it, could you repost it please?

This guy?

[SuperStar]

Thank you so much!

[Amazee Dayzee]

He really looks very menacing! Here is hoping he doesn't have rabies!

[Saturn381]

Nice job, Chaoko.

[GameCobra]

Nearly done with The Last Dream. reaching the end now. I been thinking of adding Undead killing spells on Tarot and Sabrina after forgetting they are good ghost busters

[D-Rock]

Not a bad idea, in my opinion. From what I've seen, directing a healing spell to an undead enemy would cause damage. Is it possible to direct healing spells to enemies in RPG Maker?

[SuperStar]

Not a bad idea, in my opinion. From what I've seen, directing a healing spell to an undead enemy would cause damage. Is it possible to direct healing spells to enemies in RPG Maker?

I think it's possible, we just need to add some sort of a "note" to undead enemies.
Which brings the question. What types of undead enemies shall we face? Simply just ghosts? What will these ghosts look like? Bedsheets ghosts are like animals? Will there be zombies? This opens up many existential questions.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Having bed sheets on ghost animals would make it a lot easier to re-use them in multiple scenarios (and would certainly make drawing them easier ). It's also a good way to avoid the whole "why are there only X species of ghosts and no Y species?!" question; the vaguer, the better.
Unless we can think of a scenario in which zombies are used, I don't think they will be in the game. We should keep in mind that there are multiple types of zombies too. There's the undead kind, the mind control kind, and the magic(k) possession kind. If there are mind controlled enemies, they would count as "zombies" as well, and I believe we've mentioned the possibility of Nue and Olde controlling people before.

Also, on the topic of undead things, maybe a rare enemy in areas with undead could be spooky scary skeletons of sorts! (I'm joking of course, but it would be pretty funny.)

[SuperStar]

Having bed sheets on ghost animals would make it a lot easier to re-use them in multiple scenarios (and would certainly make drawing them easier ). It's also a good way to avoid the whole "why are there only X species of ghosts and no Y species?!" question; the vaguer, the better.

Right, makes sense.

Unless we can think of a scenario in which zombies are used, I don't think they will be in the game. We should keep in mind that there are multiple types of zombies too. There's the undead kind, the mind control kind, and the magic(k) possession kind. If there are mind controlled enemies, they would count as "zombies" as well, and I believe we've mentioned the possibility of Nue and Olde controlling people before.

Uhuh, right.

Also, on the topic of undead things, maybe a rare enemy in areas with undead could be spooky scary skeletons of sorts! (I'm joking of course, but it would be pretty funny.)

2Spooky4Me.

[D-Rock]

Having bed sheets on ghost animals would make it a lot easier to re-use them in multiple scenarios (and would certainly make drawing them easier ). It's also a good way to avoid the whole "why are there only X species of ghosts and no Y species?!" question; the vaguer, the better.

Really? Dang, and I thought I thought about things too much. While I will cast my vote for bedsheet ghosts, how many players would ask that question? If you want vague, we could go the Hell Valley Sky Tree approach.

Unless we can think of a scenario in which zombies are used, I don't think they will be in the game. We should keep in mind that there are multiple types of zombies too. There's the undead kind, the mind control kind, and the magic(k) possession kind. If there are mind controlled enemies, they would count as "zombies" as well, and I believe we've mentioned the possibility of Nue and Olde controlling people before.

I can dig the mind control kind. Though wow, Nue and Olde going the direct route. Interesting to think of those that would fully devote themselves to them. I kind of see Blu-e and Jenny simply going with a deal instead of complete devotion.

Also, on the topic of undead things, maybe a rare enemy in areas with undead could be spooky scary skeletons of sorts! (I'm joking of course, but it would be pretty funny.)

And this is their battle theme! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6-ZGAGcJrk

... it'sajooooke!

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Having bed sheets on ghost animals would make it a lot easier to re-use them in multiple scenarios (and would certainly make drawing them easier ). It's also a good way to avoid the whole "why are there only X species of ghosts and no Y species?!" question; the vaguer, the better.

Really? Dang, and I thought I thought about things too much. While I will cast my vote for bedsheet ghosts, how many players would ask that question? If you want vague, we could go the Hell Valley Sky Tree approach.

Unless we can think of a scenario in which zombies are used, I don't think they will be in the game. We should keep in mind that there are multiple types of zombies too. There's the undead kind, the mind control kind, and the magic(k) possession kind. If there are mind controlled enemies, they would count as "zombies" as well, and I believe we've mentioned the possibility of Nue and Olde controlling people before.

I can dig the mind control kind. Though wow, Nue and Olde going the direct route. Interesting to think of those that would fully devote themselves to them. I kind of see Blu-e and Jenny simply going with a deal instead of complete devotion.

Also, on the topic of undead things, maybe a rare enemy in areas with undead could be spooky scary skeletons of sorts! (I'm joking of course, but it would be pretty funny.)

And this is their battle theme! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6-ZGAGcJrk

... it'sajooooke!

Yep! I've learned to plan ahead of things as I do them to prevent any complaints or satisfy the target audience as much as I can! It may seem a bit too paranoid, but as a creator with different audiences in mind I find it smart for business/projects.

Also, I had no idea those things existed until you showed them to me. WHAT THE HECK NINTENDO?! That's some freaky stuff to put in a Mario game... I like it . Though it may be too vague/creepy to stylize into the game for a common enemy. We wouldn't want to elude that there will be some creepy stuff in the game before the player encounters the shadows .

I assume the mind control thing would be around the end game portion (the last few chapters). By that time, Nue and Olde probably will be running out of willing avatars to stop the party with, so they just decide to control people instead.

Now I'm really tempted to actually suggest adding a spooky scary skeleton to the game.

[SuperStar]

I think making ghosts look inhuman like that may be a good idea!
And I'm totally up for making Spooky Scary Skeletons as enemies. And having classic(and by that I mean mindcontroled) Zombies towards the end of the game sound good. Like, since Nue has technically complete control over that area, towards the end of the game he puts all the background characters under his control. It could even be lampshaded where the main team is like "Why is it that everyone who helps us and supplies us with items weren't put under his spell?"

Also, I forget, did we agree on the idea that Nue rearranged the world to better suit an RPG, to explain why things in game won't match up with the comic?

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Also, I forget, did we agree on the idea that Nue rearranged the world to better suit an RPG, to explain why things in game won't match up with the comic?

I remember that that's how you pitched the idea for the game way back when, but I don't believe we ever went too in depth about what that entails. When you say that, do you mean he moved places around? I think that's a good idea, as it gives us some leeway as to how the characters get to some places by moving one screen, or why dungeons exist in certain areas. It also gives us a bit more creative freedom to the appearances and layout of some places. And if Rick where to ever make a map in the future (which I doubt), our map wouldn't be inaccurate because we established that the world had changed.

[KingFan202]

flops into the thread

Hows it going everyone?

[D-Rock]

Well, things seem to be going at an okay pace right now, Kingfan.

And about Nue rearranging the world, I'm just going to say it, I don't like it. Do we really have to worry about that kind of justification? Going up a screen to, say, the mall, is not a big deal. Think of it as "cutting out the actual trip." Easy fix is have Grape mention the length of the trip when she first gets there.

As for dungeons, also easy fix. The temple was intentionally made to be a dungeon, while the storage rooms at the mall are already cluttered, not hard to justify them being arranged like that already.

Only possible issue is if we want the farm to be explorable, as that was stated to be a few hours trip. That could be a "locked" chapter, then when more magical options are available, a type of warp could be established. Remember, Tarot and Sabrina are getting stronger as well as the adventure goes on, so that could justify them getting more useful spells.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I think the idea about Tarot and Sabrina making he farm accessible is a wonderful idea!

[GameCobra]

I assume you guys got the ways to the malls and farms covered, but I should suggest that was one of the reasons i began thinking of transport: a over-world map for Babylon Garden, but it's very small. In the overworld, you drive around in the Sandwich car. Earl and Jill drive the crew around. up to you guys.

And while i also don't agree with Nue rearranging the world, what about him having his own world for the final dungeon?

[D-Rock]

Not sure on Earl and Jill doing the driving, unless we want them to be the humans that are aware of what's going on. There hasn't been much mention of that outside of when Pete first escaped the temple, and he was seen by a lot of people.

I still hold that we don't let the distance bother us too much, but that overworld thing did pique my interest. Not sure about that idea, but not a bad one, either.

I do agree that Nue and Olde would have their own little world, though it would just be like their own little area in space-time. Sort of like how Pete and Dragon had their own rooms, Nue could have one that's just rather big, and he decorated it to look like a boss room for the game. Or he could be fought on the game map table, like was shown in the game over screen.

[SuperStar]

I don't understand what you mean by having Babylon Gardens with an overworld. We already have a version of the town as an explorable area.

[D-Rock]

Let's see if I understand Cobra correctly.

Once you leave a certain boundary, a big map is pulled up where you could select a destination. Think of Fly in the Pokémon games. Use it, and it gives you a big map to choose where you want to go. Say, if we head to the most extreme North/South/East/West of Babylon Gardens, it would pull up this map.

While I'm not entirely behind the idea, again, it's not a bad one.

[GameCobra]

If you ever played Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, you'd be familiar with it, but basically you use one map to travel to different areas while the other map is inside the town/zone/dungeon/etc.

Granted, I don't think we need a big overworld, but for places that are clearly long distance (Austrailia? =P), it could work.

[SuperStar]

Oh, I understand that, it's just that you said Babylon Gardens.

[CHAOKOCartoons]

Granted, I don't think we need a big overworld, but for places that are clearly long distance (Austrailia? =P), it could work.

Oh wow, I hadn't even thought about Australia being an area! Pretty foolish on my end.

By the by, I just want to make a list of all the places we've come up with for the game. Both confirmed and still on the fence (not in any particular order):

-Babylon Gardens (Town)
-The Milton Manner
-The Forest
-The Temple
-The Feral Home (Town?)
-Deeper Into The Forest
-The City (Town)
-The Mall
-The Zoo
-Theme Park World (Town?)
-The Farm???
-The Cave (from The Case of The Aztec Gold)
-Heaven???
-Australia??? (Town?)
-Nue & Olde's Realm A.K.A their room
-The Shadow Dimension

I believe that's all the areas so far, unless I am forgetting something. Personally I can't think of many more areas, feel free to call out any others if you can think of em!