Malkin

Discuss user created adventure modules
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slowdive
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Re: Malkin

Post by slowdive »

Sounds like some excellent progress there! The areas and tiles are fantastic, they look really good! The new version of the song is also well done and has that extra benefit of being quickly recognizable for me and pleasant to the ear.
zach_holbrook
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Re: Malkin

Post by zach_holbrook »

Thanks! Glad you liked the new/old song -- I was struck when I was mixing it to how the tone of the banjo seems identical to the tone in the H&C track. I set up a new little studio which has made recording things a lot easier -- I don't have to get everything out and plugged in etc., and the noise from the nearby road isn't as bad. It is, however, very mildewy, so I have to have a dehumidifier constantly running.

Glad you like the mountain tiles too. I've been using some photos from recent hikes as inspiration.
zach_holbrook
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Re: Malkin

Post by zach_holbrook »

Hey all! I've made a website for Malkin. Here it is!

https://thewitchgame.info
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slowdive
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Re: Malkin

Post by slowdive »

The website is coming together nicely so far!
zach_holbrook
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Re: Malkin

Post by zach_holbrook »

Thanks Jer!

AUGUST UPDATE...
Edit: Here's a video of the map in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RADSukQ2PLI


I'm making a lot of progress and still feel on track to finish this year, depending on what the fall brings.

Major features I've brought into the game over the last few weeks:

A map

Accessible via the inventory, the map allows the player to a) fast travel to certain locations discovered over the course of the game and b) have a bird's-eye, accurate view of the world at large. This was important (and challenging!) for me to implement, because Malkin has a lot of small areas that make intuitive navigation really difficult. I made the map by taking screenshots of individual areas and mockups of areas yet to be made, stitched them together in GIMP (see below), and traced the PC's main routes in white.

Then, I hid the map layers and transferred the routes an image of graph paper, which allowed me to copy the route to scale to paper and produce the watercolor rendering, with most of the map (except the special mountain area) represented in full.

I had some intense scripting to do to make the map work as I wanted it to. These are the map's final features, as well as things I need to keep track of as I proceed:

1. If you're underground, indoors, in combat, or having certain plot interactions, the map can't work.
2. You can fast travel to certain locations in the forest (landmarks) that you discover as you travel, but you can't travel to those locations if you're at those locations or merely one area away from those locations.
3. When you're on the map, you appear as a pointer. (And when you're not using the map, you appear as normal.)
4. You can't use the map right after transitioning from one area to another. I found that this broke the map script I was relying on.
5. When you're on the map, time freezes.
6. The world map is broken into different zones, and traveling from one zone to another takes a certain amount of game time. But if your character has the Woodcraft trait, fast traveling takes less time. So I needed all fast travel transitions from the map to calculate the travel time between the starting zone and the destination zone.
7. Meanwhile, global ints were needed in the game world to keep track of characters' zones.
8. You have to be able to put the map away.

Combat triggers

I've made combat more interactive by including triggers for things like high grass (+2 AC, -50% Fire Resistance), higher ground (+2 Attack Bonus), and swamp (-2 AC, -50% Cold/Electricity Resistance) in battle. I've also added tons of items to the game, and most of the game's battles have a treasure trigger that gives randomized treasure across several different tiers of treasure tables.

More spells

The witch now has a wide variety of spells to choose from (currently 17) -- the goal is 20, so all the rows are filled!

Main quest

Most of the dialogs for the main story are in the game. This week I intend to finish them.
Attachments
three spells to go
three spells to go
spells.png (338.82 KiB) Viewed 8957 times
some of the new items
some of the new items
new items.png (549.5 KiB) Viewed 8957 times
terrain features visible (exclamation marks)
terrain features visible (exclamation marks)
combaterrain.png (1.23 MiB) Viewed 8957 times
in-game map
in-game map
malkinmap.png (2.13 MiB) Viewed 8957 times
stitched together areas
stitched together areas
gimpmap.png (550.8 KiB) Viewed 8957 times
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Dorateen
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Re: Malkin

Post by Dorateen »

I like the map, and how it translates from the art to the in-game area.
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slowdive
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Re: Malkin

Post by slowdive »

That's quite a bit of work you have done to implement the map and provide functionality that makes sense. I think it will definitely pay off. You always have a great amount of detail to your work and that is why it turns out so well and is memorable. The video shows off the map and its use well.
zach_holbrook
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Re: Malkin

Post by zach_holbrook »

Thanks guys. I've been writing all week and am making good progress. Lots of variables to keep track of, so 3/4 of my time is writing and 1/4 is scripting it/revising scripts I've made. Shaping up, though! Wish I had about ten more weeks of summer, but I'm going to try to do all I can in the two weeks left.
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slowdive
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Re: Malkin

Post by slowdive »

Making the best of summer like Phineas and Ferb :P
zach_holbrook
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Re: Malkin

Post by zach_holbrook »

Gameplay update...

I originally designed five different "paths" (traits) for Malkin (Woodcraft, Swordplay, Folk Magic, Natural Philosophy, and Warding). You could only choose two for your character at character creation. These traits had unique powers attached to them and a number of campaign-related benefits as well.

This system is still fundamentally intact, but in order to make Malkin more replayable, the main character more customizable, and leveling up more fun, I've dramatically expanded the list of traits available via trees for each of the five paths. Furthermore, the player doesn't choose the paths explicitly at the beginning of the game- -- I've instead made ten different witch classes, and each witch class has a unique combination of the five traits. Here are a few examples:

Witch of the Circle: Warding and Folk Magic
Witch of the Casque: Warding and Swordplay
Witch of the Heath: Woodcraft and Folk Magic

Now, to make these classes even more distinct, each also comes with a unique hex that suits its playstyle/flavor. A hex is a swift action spell that costs a little HP to use and debuffs enemies. So the Witch of the Circle gets the Hex of the Circle:
hex.png
hex.png (384.72 KiB) Viewed 8903 times
Finally, instead of different fantasy races to choose from, Malkin has five seasons (the four you know and then one that's called "Cycle" -- instead of being attuned to one season, the witch is attuned to the seasonal cycle). Each of these seasons also has a trait tree, like the paths. At each level up to and including Level 4, a new tier in each trait tree is unlocked.

In the picture below, the witch has just advanced to third level. You can see by the Roman numerals on the flowering plum that he chose Winter Attunement II last time. Now he has the option of continuing on the Winter Attunement tree or choosing one of the class trees, Warding or Folk Magic.
traits.png
traits.png (326.92 KiB) Viewed 8903 times

TL;DR: Malkin has fifty class/season combinations, each of which gives a unique set of level up options. :)
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