True Story!

[Zivouhr]

The Skyscraper Building in the game looks cool.

Thanks! It's also very big.
You're seeing seven floors in the preview, but the entire building is 46 floors high.

Nice. That would be cool if there was an elevator up to the roof of the skyscraper, though that might not be the intent of the game.

[Turon]

This looks like a very interesting game! You say the Battle System is one of the things that defines
True Story from Earthound? What sort of weapons does the Player use against foes? Is it a stick/bat like in Earthbound? Or is it a Gun like in GTA? at least I think GTA has Guns (Never Played it).

[MrJolteon]

What sort of weapons does the Player use against foes? Is it a stick/bat like in Earthbound? Or is it a Gun like in GTA?

[gamemakerdude]

^Definitely. Characters will be able to choose from different class types. These classes will be able to use different weapons or fighting styles. The story will blend sci-fi and fantasy themes, so there may be weapons like swords, or even laser guns! Magic will also be included, though I have an interesting take on it that will remain classified until the demo hits.

Things are going well with the editor, I still have a lot of implementation to do and bugs to work out but I think it maybe functional enough to start designing levels and such by the end of this month given that I actually have some time to work with it a bit being out of school. So yea, after that probably going to spend at least two or three months working on art before I even launch the Kickstarter, perhaps a little longer. I want to tease some of the actual gameplay as well as at least three or four different maps in the trailer video I will post on the Kickstarter page.Things have to be done right, it may take a little while so be patient with me. If I were to guess, I would say a playable demo will likely happen by the end of 2015! Though it will most likely contain only a few towns and areas to fight enemies in, it will definitely be a solid indicator of what you can expect in the final release at least in terms of gameplay.

[gamemakerdude]

Well, unfortunately, I have come across some annoying Zdepth issues I couldn't have foreseen. Nothing I can't work out, but I do think it may take a while, plus it involves reworking some of the design concepts of my tile editor. Fortunately, I did design the editor with the idea of having the ability to easily alter these types of design elements later on. Bottom line = Nothing game breaking, but another month or so of programming and implementation required at the least before I can really start making levels and making things happen. I know, I know, I am bad at estimating deadlines but I really think that is a realistic timeline. Trust me, if I could make the process any faster, I would.

In other news, I will soon be starting a new project with a friend of mine based on tower defense games that pits the biological defenses of an entire planet (things like fungi, plants, trees etc, possibly even things like gnomes, fairies, and elves) against alien invaders. I don't have all the details on it yet, so I didn't want to do a formal post about it or anything but it is going to happen and will most likely be much smaller in scope than my own project and will probably also come together much quicker as well (hopefully).

I will try to make as much happen in the next couple of weeks while I am still out of school, at that time I will release another version of the tile editor and update on the project as a whole here in the thread, as well as more information on the new project I am involved in (though it is not my idea to be clear). Ill be hard at work in the mean time.

[DeltaLeeds]

How's the project going? I'm not rushing or anything, just wanted to know if there was any progress coming along.

[gamemakerdude]

Unfortunately, I have decided it will be best to move the True Story project to another game engine actually... I apologize to the entire community, and I really love GE too which made this a really hard decision especially since I have spent so much time learning and being a part of the GE community (even if I am MIA sometimes) who has always been really generous (especially Skydereign) but ultimately it all boils down to what I really think is best for the project. There are just some pretty technical issues regarding the zdepth and objects in the game world that make what I want to do really tricky and it is something I have managed to achieve in another engine relatively easy (using one line of code even). Also, ideally I would like to be able to port to ps4 and xbox one which is just let's face it, something GE is not going to be capable of anytime soon, if ever... I realize this is probably disappointing for most of you who have been following the status of the project, perhaps since its' inception, but again it is what I feel will ultimately be best for the project in the long run and it was not a decision I made lightly.

Yet I really feel I have learned a lot in that time, I don't think becoming familiar with the engine I am now using shouldn't take very long, in fact I would say I'm already well on my way. That being said, I am aiming to launch our Kickstart the project around May or so, which was what I was aiming for when the it was still entirely in GE. So hopefully, the time frame won't be affected too much. I will definitely not forget how great GE and its community is though, and may use for other projects in the future or for prototype/ testing purposes and eventually, I may even contribute to the source for GE as well. I have taken a look at it once or twice but it is kind of a mess and my C++ isn't so great yet (I am however pretty familiar with both Java and C# now as well, in addition to C thanks to GE). Anyway, of course when I am ready to launch, I will definitely still free release for a testing period here on the GE forums so everyone can see how it came out and give feedback, and I will link you to where you will be able to find out about the project updates and such when the time comes.

[DeltaLeeds]

I totally understand. gE's support is pretty much on a standstill and there's not much we can do about it... (Though Skydereign is still making new features for gE. He is really awesome for that.) You're right about how hard it is to fix issues in gE, and yes, making serious (or good) projects in gE is almost impossible due to the limited features of gE (Tons of possibilities if you're a beast C programmer, but if you're not a good C programmer, it's hard to make good games.), so I respect your choice on using another engine that is easier to use... Well, hopefully you could complete your project and show it to us, I really love Mother based games, so I believe I'd love your game too. Releasing it here is a good idea as we can see the work of 2 game making engines making a single project. (Your engine and gE)

I hope you'll release your game, and I hope you'll try using gE for making simple games if you have the time.

[bat78]

I totally understand. gE's support is pretty much on a standstill and there's not much we can do about it... (Though Skydereign is still making new features for gE. He is really awesome for that.) You're right about how hard it is to fix issues in gE, and yes, making serious (or good) projects in gE is almost impossible due to the limited features of gE (Tons of possibilities if you're a beast C programmer, but if you're not a good C programmer, it's hard to make good games.), so I respect your choice on using another engine that is easier to use... Well, hopefully you could complete your project and show it to us, I really love Mother based games, so I believe I'd love your game too. Releasing it here is a good idea as we can see the work of 2 game making engines making a single project. (Your engine and gE)

I hope you'll release your game, and I hope you'll try using gE for making simple games if you have the time.

Easier than gE? You must be just really really bad in game development to say gE isn't easy to use enough. As he said, he still learns this new engine he found. When I was 8 I could create a game after the first run of gE.
And is really fun how you people prefer the "easy" then everything else. If your game will be developed on "the easiest for use engine" then it is a hard for convincing that you are good developer and your game is special. Efforts are the key of everything.. if you are unable to handle something as easy as gE.. then you must be more then just a lazy joker. I am sorry if it sounds rude, but I am tired of people's justifications when they're quitting gE. Why don't they leave with the words "I am leaving, because gE's support is missing"... otherwise this is just highly unacceptable whether they are trying to excuse or not.

[skydereign]

Easier than gE? You must be just really really bad in game development to say gE isn't easy to use enough.

I don't feel like that is what is meant by easy. There are many reasons why gE makes game development harder than most engines. Yeah gE is easy to start making simple games, but to overcome certain problems takes more work than it is worth. I also stopped using gE because writing my own engine to make games was easier to do the things I wanted. Other engines like Unity make a lot of things much easier than gE ever did. If the goal is to make an awesome game, why reinvent the wheel? There is little reason to spend more time implementing features that other engines have by default.

[gamemakerdude]

I don't feel like that is what is meant by easy. There are many reasons why gE makes game development harder than most engines. Yeah gE is easy to start making simple games, but to overcome certain problems takes more work than it is worth. I also stopped using gE because writing my own engine to make games was easier to do the things I wanted... Other engines like Unity make a lot of things much easier than gE ever did. If the goal is to make an awesome game, why reinvent the wheel? There is little reason to spend more time implementing features that other engines have by default.

Exactly. Thanks again Skydereign. It's not that it's not possible in GE, I COULD do it, but it WOULD involve a lot of unnecessary work in my opinion, and again, GE will probably never be able to port to PS4 or Xbox One (and definitely not anytime soon) which was a huge factor when making my choice. I know the ins and outs of GE pretty well and I tried many, many ways of approaching this problem.

The engine I am using now isn't "easy" but it definitely makes doing CERTAIN things easier. I am just cutting corners where I can so that when the Kickstarter launches I can focus mostly on art, music and programming, so that I can make my game as big as it can be, and I don't think there's anything wrong with cutting corners as long as it doesn't affect the vision or quality of the project, which to me is always the end result regardless of how much work or programming I have to do.

[DeltaLeeds]

Yep, I knew my post would enrage Bat. Ok now to reply that...

Easier than gE? You must be just really really bad in game development to say gE isn't easy to use enough. As he said, he still learns this new engine he found. When I was 8 I could create a game after the first run of gE.
And is really fun how you people prefer the "easy" then everything else. If your game will be developed on "the easiest for use engine" then it is a hard for convincing that you are good developer and your game is special. Efforts are the key of everything.. if you are unable to handle something as easy as gE.. then you must be more then just a lazy joker. I am sorry if it sounds rude, but I am tired of people's justifications when they're quitting gE. Why don't they leave with the words "I am leaving, because gE's support is missing"... otherwise this is just highly unacceptable whether they are trying to excuse or not.

Well Bat, many engines can make better games than gE, and yet people don't really have to put much effort in it. You are an excellent programmer, which is why you can make games in gE, but really, compare your game with some games people make who couldn't program as much as you using Unity and other stuff. I'm not saying that gE is a bad engine, no... It's just well, it doesn't compare with other engines that have more support and developers... Goals for people are to make huge games, but gE couldn't really do that with its current state. Other game engines have interfaces for doing tons of stuff, gE still needs scripts to do anything.

Easier than gE? You must be just really really bad in game development to say gE isn't easy to use enough.

I don't feel like that is what is meant by easy. There are many reasons why gE makes game development harder than most engines. Yeah gE is easy to start making simple games, but to overcome certain problems takes more work than it is worth. I also stopped using gE because writing my own engine to make games was easier to do the things I wanted. Other engines like Unity make a lot of things much easier than gE ever did. If the goal is to make an awesome game, why reinvent the wheel? There is little reason to spend more time implementing features that other engines have by default.

Yep, Skydereign understands my point. If people want to make harder projects, gE isn't really the best engine they can find. People nowadays want to make 3D games like Portal, Bioshock, Need for Speed, etc etc, and making another Mother series remake like True Story is a lot less time consuming if you'd use another engine. So you shouldn't be that worked up Bat...

EDIT: Let's not make this post go too off-topic. If you want to continue this argument elsewhere, do it in the others section. Peace.

[DeltaLeeds]

Back to the topic:
I'm just curious, what engine are you using to develop True Story? Game Maker? (As it states in your name rofl )

[gamemakerdude]

No Unity actually, haha. Just didn't really wanna mention it since it is a GE forum and all...

[Jagmaster]

Good luck my friend, keep us posted here when you make some progress (or perhaps consider starting a blog! )

GE will probably never be able to port to PS4 or Xbox One (and definitely not anytime soon) which was a huge factor when making my choice.

Just keep in mind that it's pretty tricky and expensive to get a license & development kit from Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo. Last I heard things were in the works to make this easier, for indies. It's really hard to say, or look up information on this, because of non-disclosure agreements and the like.