Oracle of Askigaga

Aside from whatever still might need to happen in regards to the Temple of the Spirit, and Castle Gojo, I've given a bit of thought to the puzzle in the Temple of the Mind.

Players will meet eight people, and one of them is an assassin in disguise! The object of the puzzle is to figure out which one of the people is the assassin before he/she kills off the others. I wish to note that failure does not mean needing to re-do the puzzle from scratch. It means facing a boss.

Anyway, the gameplay loop involved is that players will talk to a spirit of some kind. It will produce a list of suspects. Making a selection will indicate that you think that person is the assassin, and summarily dies. If you are wrong, the assassin kills a person at random, and you'll have to try again. However, there are a few things you can do before talking to the spirit. Such as speaking to each person that's still alive. Some folks won't have anything special to say, but there's some that can help you with your goal.

• The Diviner

This person can delve into a person's heart, and tell you if that person has good intentions.

• The Mercenary

This person doesn't have too many morals, and will kill anyone you point him/her towards.

• The Gambler

This person has a 50% chance of evading any action that targets him/her. This ability is neither removed after it is successful, nor if it fails. This evasion does not come into play if this person is chosen via the spirit.

• The Persistent

This person has an 100% chance to evade death. This ability becomes no longer in play after it is used. This evasion does not come into play if this person is chosen via the spirit.


The theory might sound familiar to some. However, the big question in my mind is how this is going to actually work? At the moment, I'm figuring the best way to do it is to a set of eight game-variables to keep track of which event_id is which role, and make damn sure there's only one copy of the unique roles. Perhaps an array can help do that? Maybe I could link the game-variables to the spirit's choice-command so that the already-dead would produce a "nope, try again" deal? I'm thinking commentary would depend on role, and I could use my Myriad Cypher experience generating those.



So, uh, yeah, that's the extent of my grand plan for this temple. Don't lynch meeeee! *hides*

I'm not sure what spawned this idea, other than the talk of Wild Arms in the random encounter thread, but, I've been giving some thought into what the Temple of the Spirit would involve. I'm mostly thinking about Wild Arms 2's Heimdal Gazzo, but, the idea of having a dungeon where the party has to split up and flick switches in order for a different party to proceed is what I'm aiming for. I'm not sure if encounters are going to be a thing, but, I'm figuring there's going to be a boss-thing after the party reconnects with each other.

Also, the idea of the trial being full of illusions that trick our heroes in some way, but, I'm not quite sure what, exactly, that will mean in the context of the dungeon. Maybe I'm thinking about the Rakshasa episode of Kolchak, but, it could mean seeing a loved one, or somebody one knows or trusts that is actually a nasty-in-disguise luring one to one's untimely death. Though, perhaps, in the case of Kenshin, they are there to further torture his regrets? On the other hand, maybe it just means that there's hidden paths that takes a keen eye to see? How would I even pull something like that off in RPG Maker? I have no idea!

I may not yet have any solid ideas for the Trial of the Spirit that occurs in Gojo, but, I can still make maps of Castle Gojo, and make a transition area between Gojo and Askigaga! As far as Castle Gojo is concerned, I'll be using unity's excellent map of Castle Hachisuka as a base, and thoughts of re-doing Castle Askigaga in that style have also passed through my head.

Another thought I've had is to have each of the nations castle have it's own theme, rather than using the same one each time. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before in a previous blog, but, I've a few ideas of what I want to use, even if they are all rips.

Thoughts of adding playable content for Ryusaki Kenshin have surfaced yet again. For a bit of background, the game's plan was to have him be the main protagonist, rather than Hiroji and his company. The game was to start with Ryusaki arriving at the Temple of the Oracle, and doing various tasks for her, meeting the other characters that you see in this game, and giving players options of how to interact with them. If certain options were chosen, the game would become either a story of redemption, or a story of self-destruction.

So, why the chance in focus to Hiroji in the first place? I guess the best answer I was afraid that Ryusaki's generally depressive personalty would be too overbearing, and get in the way. I mean, yeah, I would, eventually, want players to understand why he's like that, but, still, the worry is that the reasons would not be understood at all.



Sorry, I didn't mean to get on that tangent. After all, the only thing I'm really thinking of doing with this game at this moment is making a few maps.

The demo is shaping up! However, it could still use a bit of work. Some observations that were made by my testers (you guys are awesome, by the way) were things I sorta already knew about. Such as various NPCs not having dialog at all. However, the most striking comment that was made was the ability to move during cut-scenes? They should be Parallel Processes, which usually prevents player movement, however, I'll have to double-check that.

One thing I wanted to experiment with was having actions use Stamina. Perhaps a bit of Soul Sunder influence with this train of thought, but, I wanted the Guard command to be more than what it typically is. Now, as this stands, maybe players use Guard, but I never saw an enemy do it. Which puts a damper on the plan of Oharu's "Puncture" skill, and it's evolutions, applying a status that reduces the amount of damage Guard absorbs. If enemies don't guard, the status is useless!

Okay, well, maybe I'll need to change what gets debuffed with "Puncture", and what-not. Or change the Stamina cost of stuff in general so that enemies would guard more. I dunno where my thoughts are on this right now.

Anyway, I sorta want to concentrate on the NPCs that don't have dialog yet, and getting in more character-defining moments through them. Ironically enough, the biggest issue that one tester has in regards to character development is the Oracle, herself! I mean, sure, there are things about the Oracle that I want to keep hidden for a while. However, players should have some sense of what kind of person she is!

Aside from that, I really need to set up the Temple of the Body with some freaking treasure already! Geeze! My thoughts concerning this usually drift to Ethers (High Ethers?), as the assumption is that players would go through MP Stamina like a fiend. Also, I think I need to do something about that odd door in the puzzle room. Like, either remove it entirely, or... I dunno, something.

I'm not sure what to make of the enemies in the Askigagan-Hachisukan border. They're pretty weak, thus don't provide much in the way of rewards. Yet, maybe I want to "upgrade" them after clearing the Temple of the Body? I dunno. It's a thought.

Before I experiment with a level 1 party against boss-like enemies found within the Temple of the Body, or much of anything else, a very important question that has been raised in my mind: "Is this even the story this game wants to tell?"

I've probably mentioned several times at this point about how dealing with regret is a main theme of this game. I'm looking over this demo, and the direction for where the game seems to be going, and, to be honest, I'm not seeing it. For a supposedly "main theme", this is a craptastrophe naming land. So, of course, thoughts have turned to scrapping everything, and doing a game reset. Well, okay, I don't have to scrap everything, but a re-assessment of the game is certainly in order.

Though, to link this with my previous blog, I have no idea what game balance issues this might create. If I go with my original-original idea, players would only have one character to control. Which might, ultimately, be a bad idea. So, maybe he would join the others along their journey? No, maybe it would be visa-versa. Players would still start with Hiroji and gang, and this other character would meet up with them somewhere before the Temple of the Body. Or maybe even in the Temple of the Body!

Oh. Riiiiiight. I mean, story-wise, this could work, but, yeah, game balance. With four characters in the party, this brings ability-sets back into question. The logical question to ask is if there is something this character does that Hiroji's party doesn't already do? Or, maybe, he can be a non-combatant that adds additional gameplay? Wait, synthesis? Ehhhh, I dunno about that. Darigaaz, WAND OF BLASTING VARIANT? No, Marrend. Let's try to keep that gameplay mechnanic to the true apprentice professional.