KickStarter Himeko Sutori, tactical JRPG, 100+ unit armies

[4249]

Congrats on the release . Looks like a bit of a bumpy start based on the Steam page, so good luck with polishing everything up.

 

[thesecret1]

Those portraits are just

 

[AdamReith]

Speech text is fine, I was thinking of this screen in particular for forcing me to squint a bit.

Also, forum text is scalable via browser settings.

Maybe, but I've never felt the urge to do so, so I'm speaking of comparison to default.

Sir, that text is huge, and I'm 84. You need to go get your eyes checked, stat. If you can't read that, something is very wrong with your eyes.

I didn't say I couldn't read it, just that I'd prefer it to be scalable. Also it's huge because the screen shot is from a 1440p render and...

Yeah, okay buddy, I'm really sorry for asking for larger text, sorry for offending you.

 

[thesecret1]

Is there a way to autolevel up your troops? Levelling up all those characters after each fight gets very tedious very fast

 

[AdamReith]

Is there a way to autolevel up your troops? Levelling up all those characters after each fight gets very tedious very fast

I guess you could just ignore the card stuff until they've mastered the job and do them all at once.

 

[Zanzoken]

I saw your thread on r/gamedev and the Imgur post you linked explaining why you made the game. Just wanted to say congrats on the release man. You've made something cool and different, and that's something to be proud of.

Also I saw where you said you're not sure if you'll keep making games. Obviously it's up to you where you go from here, but I think feeling burnt out around release time is something all devs go through, just because making a game is such a long and arduous process. And even if financially your first game doesn't make you rich, remember that you've built a tremendous wealth of assets and experience that could be a huge benefit to you in subsequent games.

I guess what I'm saying is, although gamedev is never easy it seems like you've made it through the hardest part, because (a) you've released your first game and (b) it seems to have found a decent-sized audience, even without much in the way of marketing. To me that seems like a tremendous success, and puts you in a great position to keep moving forward as an indie dev if you so choose.

 

[Ninjerk]

Since I for some reason decided to read through the thread again, I thought I'd give Nathaniel3W an artist bookmark if you decide to make another game and end up with a budget for an artist. https://sonech.artstation.com/ posts what seems like every day on Twitter and the style falls into the realm of FFT. Congrats on the release, I'm sure I'll buy it before the year is over.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

I want to hug you through my screen for making such lovely gaming goodness. After having played through many Langrisser games recently, this is probably the next best thing in the modern era.

I love hearing feedback like that! I think this genre is seriously underserved. There are plenty of small-scale tactical RPGs, but so few where you're actually in control of an army.

Is there a way to autolevel up your troops? Levelling up all those characters after each fight gets very tedious very fast

Auto-level-up is one of the most requested features. With all of the worst bugs and easiest-to-fix bugs out of the way for now, I was going to start working on that next.

Since I for some reason decided to read through the thread again, I thought I'd give Nathaniel3W an artist bookmark if you decide to make another game and end up with a budget for an artist. https://sonech.artstation.com/ posts what seems like every day on Twitter and the style falls into the realm of FFT. Congrats on the release, I'm sure I'll buy it before the year is over.

Thanks! I'm always bookmarking artists and other resources. Maybe subconsciously I know I'm going to make another game. I hadn't seen this guy before. I really like his style. It's a lot more subdued than what I usually find. If I make another game, his style would be perfect for me.

 

[rohand]

Nathaniel3W congrats on this path, I remember the day you first started the thread announcing this game and soldiering through the Codex's sharp feedback

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Nathaniel3W congrats on this path, I remember the day you first started the thread announcing this game and soldiering through the Codex's sharp feedback

Thanks! And although the Codex is kind of a rowdy place, I've actually found it a lot more open, free, and refreshing than most other places on the internet. And a few of you guys have been extremely helpful, giving me feedback and pointers throughout development.

 

[Norfleet]

I think "rowdy" and "open and free" are the same thing.

 

[Thac0]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/669500/view/3007816130302685813

Nathaniel3W, saw your Steam announcement and wanted to ask this question less public:
Do you plan on doing old fasioned expansion packs?
Because the base game with the combat system, the classes, the gear and the map movement is rad as hell, but the campaign itself is kind of mid. Often you just enter a new zone, start to grind up by predating small packs on the map, then as soon as you become powerfull enough you do 4-5 consecutive story battles and move on to the next zone.

I'd pay 5€ to 10€ for an in client expansion that just adds a new campaign and a few new classes, and it would be much less work than programming a new game I think.
Maybe also some sort of improvised kingmaker/skirmish freeplay map to breach the line between SRPG and strategy game.

 

[Empary]

Is leveling up still a pain in the ass

 

[AdamReith]

Is leveling up still a pain in the ass

I would also like to know this. Would be up for giving it another whack if they fixed the stability stuff and made levelling up less tortuous/pointless.

 

[thesecret1]

Yeah, I actually dropped the playthrough because of the levelling system. It was insane tedium.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Is leveling up still a pain in the ass

Is leveling up still a pain in the ass

I would also like to know this. Would be up for giving it another whack if they fixed the stability stuff and made levelling up less tortuous/pointless.

Yeah, I actually dropped the playthrough because of the levelling system. It was insane tedium.

For at least a month now, there has been an auto level-up button. Click once and it picks all your cards for you. It takes like a second to level up a character now if you're not picking your cards manually. You should give it another try.

Edit: As for stability, the biggest problem was AoE attacks that spam a bunch of status effects, like when illusionists attack. That problem is now fixed. I moved a bunch of the UI stuff into pure code so the touchy Flash player doesn't choke on it.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/669500/view/3007816130302685813

Nathaniel3W, saw your Steam announcement and wanted to ask this question less public:
Do you plan on doing old fasioned expansion packs?
Because the base game with the combat system, the classes, the gear and the map movement is rad as hell, but the campaign itself is kind of mid. Often you just enter a new zone, start to grind up by predating small packs on the map, then as soon as you become powerfull enough you do 4-5 consecutive story battles and move on to the next zone.

I'd pay 5€ to 10€ for an in client expansion that just adds a new campaign and a few new classes, and it would be much less work than programming a new game I think.
Maybe also some sort of improvised kingmaker/skirmish freeplay map to breach the line between SRPG and strategy game.

I was kind of thinking about moving on to my next project, but the game is set up perfectly for me to do expansion packs exactly how you describe. I could crank out new content for the game relatively quickly/cheaply. The big hurdle for me was that I wasn't sure if the base game was popular enough for me to do new campaigns and stuff. Maybe I should give an expansion a try and see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Thac0]

leveling

levelling

levelling

The levelling becomes a lot better as soon as you realise that long term it does not matter. Level up cards draw from a physical deck. That deck can be emptied. A mastered class has emptied the deck. So maxing out a class while carefully selecting boons gives exactly the same stat upgrades as randomly mashing cards or autoselecting long term. Carefully selecting cards only gives you a short term powerboost over autoleveling, and with how fast you can max out even last tier classes it really does not matter much.
The strategy is more in which classes you choose to mix.
The game could do a better job of telling you this I think, I found it out from the steam forums.

 

[AdamReith]

leveling

levelling

levelling

The levelling becomes a lot better as soon as you realise that long term it does not matter. Level up cards draw from a physical deck. That deck can be emptied. A mastered class has emptied the deck. So maxing out a class while carefully selecting boons gives exactly the same stat upgrades as randomly mashing cards or autoselecting long term. Carefully selecting cards only gives you a short term powerboost over autoleveling, and with how fast you can max out even last tier classes it really does not matter much.
The strategy is more in which classes you choose to mix.
The game could do a better job of telling you this I think, I found it out from the steam forums.

Yes but even when I did this you might have ten or fifteen peeps that just mastered their job and you have to click through every card for every peep.

I really don't think much would be lost by ditching the card thing entirely and just linking each job level with a specific bonus.

 

[Empary]

Or cards only on certain levels (lkie choose one at 1-4-7 etc.), but more impactful

 

[Nathaniel3W]

If there is one aspect of game development that I suck at more than anything else, it is marketing. Pretty much anything related to marketing, like making trailers, or even more importantly, making trailers in a timely manner.

Here we are two months after the game's release and today I am replacing the over-2-years-old trailer I made for Early Access. The new trailer is pretty similar, but it includes a lot of new content, and not just the same few battlefields and cutscenes repeated throughout.



Better late then never, I guess? Maybe if any prospective customers see the game's trailer now, they might be slightly more inclined to buy it.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Hey, anyone want to write an official Codex review of the game? I wrote to the site's Contact Us page and the great Infinitron said I should just ask around and see who wants to write a review.

Thac0 Humanity has risen! AdamReith You seemed to really like the game and I wouldn't mind getting a positive review.
Mr. Pink where did you go? I used to see you pretty often around here.
CryptRat you seem to like unknown indie gems. I'll send you a key if you think you might want to write about Himeko Sutori.
Darth Roxor any chance I could interest you in taking a look? It seems you've looked at niche indie games and Asian-themed RPGs before.
Deuce Traveler how about you? Asian-themed strategy seems to be within your bailiwick.

Despite being active on the Codex, I'm going to try staying classy, so I won't offer you anything besides a review key and my gratitude. But still, I would be seriously grateful to anyone who reviewed the game. A little publicity can go a long way for small-timers like me.

And is there a better way to beg for a review than to tag everyone who might be able to write one?

 

[Darth Roxor]

I'm going to try staying classy, so I won't offer you anything besides a review key and my gratitude.

is this a jrpg or does it only look like weebshit

because if it's an actual jrpg, i don't play those, so it's probably a bad idea to give it to me

 

[ERYFKRAD]

And is there a better way to beg for a review than to tag everyone who might be able to write one?

felipepepe might be interested.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

I'm going to try staying classy, so I won't offer you anything besides a review key and my gratitude.

is this a jrpg or does it only look like weebshit

because if it's an actual jrpg, i don't play those, so it's probably a bad idea to give it to me

Yes, actual weeb JRPG. Thanks anyway for taking a look. It seems rusty_shackleford doesn't like JRPGs either. Is there anyone in admin who owns a waifu-pillow or something? I want that guy to review my game.

Thanks ERYFKRAD hopefully we can get felipepepe 's attention if I just spam his name here enough.

Oh, while I'm spamming everyone's names, happy Kruno day everyone.