Beta for the battle system out now!: Click Here.

Hello! I'm excited to create this new amazing project. If you read the title, you'll know that this game takes inspiration from Buckshot Roulette and Undertale. 

The reason I want to make this game:

The reason I want to do this is because the problem with a lot of  "RPG Horror" is that it's either not really that scary or it DOESNT EVEN HAVE ACTUAL RPG ELEMENTS! (Or who knows, I haven't played a lot of RPG horror like "Parasite Eve" or "Koudelka." so maybe I shouldn't talk so negatively). Basically, I wanna create an RPG horror game that has a unique take on "Choose your own adventure stories" and "RPG battle systems." Which is why I chose Buckshot Roulette as my choice for the battle system and why I chose Undertale for the "Choose your own adventure" part of the game. I liked how in Undertale your choices mattered (for example a Pacifist or Genocide run), because a lot of the RPG's that I played don't even have "Role Playing", and that's one of the reasons why I'm motivated to make this game so I can create a unique experience for RPG's. It's come to the point that it feels like RPG's are only known for battle systems and leveling up, which kind of sucks, because I would really like an RPG that has your choice matter.

More Detailed talk, on what I want to take from "Buckshot Roulette":

If you read the paragraph above, you'll know that I'm taking the battle system of Buckshot roulette and applying it to my game. This also applies for the items in that game. However, I do plan to change some things to make the battle system more interesting, like different guns, new items, and new enemies with unique choices to kill you.

More Detailed talk, on what I want to take from "Undertale":

I plan to take the "Pacifism/Genocide" route system into the game. However, I don't want that to be the only way to get endings so I can give this game a different "Choose Your Own Adventure" style to the game. For example, lets say you can pacify everyone, but you chose not to eat the "legendary cookie" in the snow world, and lets say that if you didnt eat that cookie, a meteor would crash land on all the people you pacified, giving you the "Uno Reverse Card Ending." Not a "Pacifist ending", not a "Genocide ending", nor a "Neutral Ending"... just an "Uno Reverse Card Ending," congrats... You played yourself. I really do plan to make a unique "Choose Your Own Adventure" style to this game.

Not sure what else I would like to take from Undertale other than that, but I've been thinking if I should have a more linear style to map making like Undertale, or a more open world map. The reason being that linearity is easier for storytelling, while open world is easier for exploring. I'm leaning more on the open world idea because I want people to choose what they want to experience and it helps with my "Choose Your Own Adventure" style to story telling so I might pick that instead. But who knows, I might change my mind.

Conclusion:

I'm really excited about making this game. There's so many ideas flooding through my brain and I cant wait to put them out. Of course if you feel the need to ask questions about this project, by all means ask me :)

I plan to make an update about this topic everyday, detailing what I'm doing with the game or maybe other stuff I'm considering of adding.

Update on the battle system:

Ok so i got all the basic stuff done with the battle system, so I'm gonna work on items. I'll focus more on making the enemy AI better later. Well... calling it AI is kind of stretching it. it's just basic code that makes the Enemy act. Although I still have some ideas to make it harder >:)

IF you guys have any ideas to give me for what type of items should be in the game, please by all means reply to this post :)

EDIT: also when i get the battle system done, ill hopefully have a playable test demo of the battle system on my account.

Update on what I’m working on:

ok I finished the most important items. I plan to add more items, but right now I want to work a little bit on the characters in my game.

DONT WORRY. I’m still making that battle system and hopefully release a test demo on MARCH. It’s just that… my battle system is technically almost done for a test demo. I just plan to add one more gun and new art. Now my test demo won’t have everything right off the bat though, I want 2 other guns and more items in the full game. It’s so I can keep the full game a different experience.

Update on my characters:

The approach I want to write with my characters is in a serious approach. I want every character to be “flawed.” However, I also want every character to have some sympathetic traits to make you feel bad for them. I feel that would best fit my game :)

as of right now I already pre planned some major characters, so I don’t need to work too much. I have 10 major characters haha.

To help me, I plan to make them based off the Enneagram personality traits. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a psychology tool to help find your personality. Kind of like “Myers Briggs” or “the big 5”

 ( some people who are apart of the Enneagram community don’t like calling it a personality typing system because it’s technically a lot more than that)

Quick Update: 

I didnt really do anything today unfortunately. It's just that i had a lot to do. Also I said in the previous post that I was working on the characters, but to be honest I only worked a little on the characters, and went right back to working on the battle system. It's just so fun working on it.     :D

I'll see what I'll post tomorrow, but anyways as of writing this post I'm going back to working.

The battle system is going good :)

Ok, as of right now, I'm working more on the battle system and the AI for the enemy.

Specifically I'm creating a NEW item. The Swap Card.

if you use the swap card, you can swap one of your items with the enemy's items. But I'm not exactly sure if I should have that. I'm thinking I should just call it "steal card" and change it to where you don't need to swap one of your items so you can just take the enemy's item freely. Not sure if that idea makes it too OP, either way I'll let you guys know if I change my mind about it.

AI is going good. In the test build, he wont be the smartest thing on the planet, but that's not a bad thing, because in the full game, I want every enemy you encounter to have a different set of difficulty (so expect harder AI in the future.). So for now, the enemy's AI is kind of the same as Buckshot roulettes Dealer. I have a lot planned for the AI   :D

OK wow, the Ai took some time haha. I cant really say much today because I didnt get to do a lot. Unfortunately i had to help my Grandpa with his pickup truck, so not much i could do today. But I will list off some of the things i got to do. First of all I renamed the swap card. yep I've decided on calling it "steal card" now. also I did a little bit of AI work. Sorry, had a tough day today DX

But just to let you know I'm thinking about making a partner/party system. I mean, what's an RPG without a party member :D

However... don't count on it being in the game, because I'm not sure if I should implement it. Sorry if that sounds weird, I'll probably explain the hurdles of developing it when I upload the battle test demo.

SO KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED, because I'll see if I can add party members in the Battle test demo.

Update on the items and AI:

Hey guys, everything's going great right now. I'm still focusing on the AI and items, though. I'm actually almost done with the items, I just need to work on the steal card... Well, ok I actually have another item planned. THE TARP. 

The Tarp item is used to cover your items so the opponent cant see them, also the enemy has its own set of items so it can use the tarp too. The only problem with that, is the "steal card." If you cant see the enemies items, then how can you steal them? I've been thinking if the tarp should restrict the steal card (but I kind of hate restricting game mechanics -_-) or maybe the steal card can be used to see the enemies items even with the tarp (but I don't know if that's too OP). I'm trying to find a balance /:

Also I'm going to have to go back and help my Grandpa today. So I might as well make this update post right now before I get a call from him.

Update on the art style for the game:

I'm just testing out certain styles, that I want for my game. I've been thinking of doing pixel art, but I really wanna do a crayon art style. I know that doesn't scream horror but I took some examples from Walten Files.

The character art in my game probably wont be as uncanny as the images below, but i might take some inspiration.

(if the images don't appear let me know with a reply.)

But yeah, I was inspired by Yoshi's island's art style (weird, i know)

I'll get back into making the AI and Items, I just wanna do some art experiments. Oh yeah! also about the whole "Steal Card vs Tarp" fiasco in the update above. I've decide on just making the steal card able to see the items. After all, you have only a limited set of some.

Short Update: 

sorry for such a late post. not much I could add today, other than I've been really loving the crayon  art style for my game. I really want it in the game, I Hope everyone else likes it too.

Now that it is March, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what day on March, as I did say I would probably release the battle test demo around that month. So when will it be released?  I'm hoping around March 22 - 31. But anyways I still wanna test out some art designs for my "dealer"... Yeah that's it, not much I could say ):

Don't worry I'm gonna get back into coding, I'm just still working on the art designs. I'll see if I can show some artwork tomorrow.    :3

Update on the artwork:

Hey guys, I'm still working on the art design for my "dealer." So I unfortunately wont show his design, but I will show 1 cut design.

So yeah this design wont appear in the final game. The reason being that I thought that it would be too cliché for an analog horror inspired design, so I chose to do something a little more original. Also I remember it was based of a analog horror series, but I cant remember what it was. STILL LOVING THAT CRAYON ART STYLE THOUGH.  Especially with the scribbly outline, I think it looks cool, so ill probably use that for every character :D

(If your wondering what art program I use, it's "Krita")

EDIT: I found the analog horror series that this image was based on. 

Items and Ai update:

Sorry guys, another mini update. I only got to do a little coding. I’ll see if I can do a little more. just taking a break.

I finished the “tarp” item. Just need to focus on some things in the enemy AI

I’ll see what I can post tomorrow.

Update on the AI:

IM ABOUT TO FINISH THE AI. I remember on one of the early post I said "all i need to do is add a new gun and some artwork and I'm finished". APARENTLY NOT LOL, the Ai and items made me realize I had a lot to do. But now... all I need to do, is add a new gun and some artwork. Unless I'm missing something or I find a bug, but I've been testing the AI out, its good enough for the beta test. 

for now on I'm going to call my "dealer" the "Opponent"

If you wanna know the differences between buckshot roulettes Dealer and the Opponent, then there's little to go over.

1. The Dealer uses items ASAP. The Opponent might do that but he sometimes doesn't.

2. considering the fact that i have more items in my game then buckshot roulette, the Opponent will see that you have a healing item, so if he has a "steal card", he might use that to help him heal.

3. continuing #2, this applies to knifes. if the Opponent uses the "magnifying glass" and sees a live round, then he'll use a "steal card" and take your "knife" so he can do double damage.

4. The Opponent has favorites compared to the Dealer. What do I mean by that? lets go back to steal cards for a moment. If the Opponents favorite item is a healing item and he has a steal card, he will most likely take the healing item than any other item.

But yeah anyways, I'm really close to finishing the AI. Still not exactly sure on the art design I wanna give him though. still testing that.

Edit: gonna take a break for right now.

Update on the bugs: 

So apparently the Opponent could use items he didnt even have... oops. 

Also when the Opponent used handcuffs, I would be cuffed for longer then usual due to a bug.

The only bug with the player is that he would do 19 damage when he shouldn't be able to. 

Update on AI:

The only thing I plan on doing is making the AI know what the last round will be in the gun (just like the Dealer from Buck shot roulette). Everything is finished with him unless you count his bugs.

 I'll see what I can do tomorrow, I have a plan for what i want to do with battle animations.

What about items?

I like where i am right now, i think all the items I have are where i should stop, so don't expect any more items unless anyone else has a good idea.

EDIT: I forgot to mention there will be two new items in the test build. But I'm not gonna talk about them >:3

Any news about art?

Im probably gonna do art tomorrow but i really wanna focus on the coding.

He's hiding in the Shadows.

Art Update:

I finished doing some art for the items.

Also i redid the the Opponents artwork (kind of).

It looks like the post I made above, but i did some slight features to make it look more like a crayon art style (also it wont have the black background so you can see his design). Basically,  I looked back at the opponents artwork and though it could use some tweaking to make it look better. Anyways cant wait for you guys to see all the artwork i did. I don't wanna show you a lot of the artwork until the battle test demo comes out.

ill probably do both art and coding tommorow, haha.

Update on bugs:

I almost forgot to make a post today. sorry i was trying to fix bugs all day lol. I wanted to do some more art but i was taking the longest time with bugs. I think everything is working now, im still gonna do some test to find some bugs though lol.

i hate to give you all another mini update, but hey, at least im getting closer to my march 22 deadline (i hope i make it)

Update on the story and full game:

since i didnt get to say a lot today, i thought maybe i can spill a bit of story. I'm not talking about the story in the battle test demo, i mean the FULL GAME.  

Basically, its a second person perspective story where you're trapped in a music box world (think of Wario land 3). Then you meet this guy whos body got fused to a mountain and now all you can see is his stone face (if that's confusing, think of Mount Rushmore) and he basically tells you go around and do whatever you want. since its an open world and a choose your own adventure game, there's many ways the story can unfold. However if you want a brief introduction to how the story is in this music box world... basically everyone is a bad person. Everyone seems to have an addiction problem, so they all do Russian Roulette to gain money, and its up to you to save everyone or join the world in their conquest for addiction... and of course many other different endings you could get, but that's besides the point.

Art Update:

I've been doing some battle animations. it was a little hard to get them working but i got some done. I'm very proud of them even if they're a bit simple. Gonna finish the rest in a little. 

Bug Update:

fixed some of the Opponent AI (so glad I got this done.) still need to make him a bit smarter though.

I'm honestly so glad to be almost done with the battle test demo, as theirs also other things i want to focus on... Like scorespace #29 jam, BUT DONT WORRY, I plan to still make some updates about ideas I plan on doing when I'm making a game for the jam. :3

I'll try to see if i can add a partner system in the battle test demo, but I'm not sure if it'll have time. by all means I'll let you guys know.

Ideas about the ACT system:

Yeah, just like Undertale i plan on making an ACT system so you can pacify people. However it's different from Undertale. You have to deploy certain strategies for each character, but anything you say can make them happy, scared, sad, or angry. Also a bit of randomization can dictate their attitude sometimes. 

A cool thing about the ACT system is that you can find about a persons life to make pacification easier. I didnt like how Deltarune used a lot of gimmicks for its ACT system, while it was fun, I wanted a more complex and interactive way to pacify people. 

don't expect the act system to be in the battle test demo though.