Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

A place where you can keep others updated about your SNES-related projects through screenshots, videos or information in general.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
olddb
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:29 pm
Contact:

Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by olddb »

So I been working on this game for a very looooooooooooooog time. It used to me a GBA game. I converted it to a SNES, as the latter is my true love.

I think it's a good to show it in its current state, as I have in high regards to the opinions of the members here. You can help me steer the wheel in the right direction.

What's done:
1. Characters with different states (not all graphics animations completed)
2. Ringmenu system
3. Menus for status check, sorting items, save/load, etc.
4. Tilemap and map transitions
5. Script system for "scenes"
6. Weapons with different effects (e.g. boomerang stuns enemies, etc)
7. AI system similar to Final Fantasy XII's Gambit System
8. Healing items (not all graphics animations completed)
9. Different monsters with different AIs (need more).
10. Npcs with random movement and dialogue (place holder graphics as in now)
11. Save/Load system

What needs to be done:
1. Day/Night system
2. Magic System (I'm thinking of only a few spells)
3. Map creation
4. 2 player mode
5. Completed sound engine, as the current one is very limited
5. Debugging
6. Debugging
7. Debugging
8. Debugging
9. Debugging
Also, more debugging.

Some screenshots from bsnes

Image

Image

I paid various artist for most of the graphics you see here. The rest are "free to used kind" found in sites like itch.io.

My brother and I plan to compose the music. Simple tunes.

My plan is to release it on Steam this year, as it had been already been greenlit.
I also would like to release it in catridge form if possible.
I would like to make a Kickstarter for this regard, but I need the proper advice and connections first.

I will release a video and later a demo later this month.

I REALLY wan to release the game in some form this year, as I been working on this for too long.

Any question(s)?
Please, advice me.

EDIT0:
Video capture software (Icecream) caused some lag.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CSLIY_EkVg
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XEHw88WqrK4

EDIT1:
Added demo file!
https://github.com/kaffeeware/hello-wor ... _v1_03.smc
Last edited by olddb on Fri Apr 06, 2018 8:20 pm, edited 8 times in total.
...
lidnariq
Posts: 11432
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by lidnariq »

Maybe make the "R" bigger in the title screen or move the sword to the other side? I misread it as "Trodas Cross" on first pass.
User avatar
koitsu
Posts: 4201
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 9:28 pm
Location: A world gone mad

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by koitsu »

Merge the sword with the "R" in "Rodas", and make the sword/R take up the entire height of the text (both lines). I'm not an artist, but this is what I'm referring to:
Untitled.png
Untitled.png (8.92 KiB) Viewed 8385 times
You might also experiment with the "C" in Cross being somehow merged with the lower curve of the sword/R, but that might look tacky. From a graphic design/signage standpoint (I worked at an engraving company for some time, and my mother owned one for 30+ years), it would probably be hard to read.
User avatar
Sumez
Posts: 919
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:29 am
Location: Denmark (PAL)

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by Sumez »

Great to finally see some more good looking SNES homebrew in the works! Really enjoying the pixel artwork.
User avatar
Fisher
Posts: 1249
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:58 am
Location: -29.794229 -55.795374

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by Fisher »

That's great!!
Seems like a very nice RPG game.
olddb wrote:You can help me steer the wheel in the right direction.
Because of this phrase and the fact that rodas means wheels on my native language (Portuguese), I tought it would be a racing related ARPG. :oops:
I don't think you should care about this, just move forward and keep us updated about your progress.
A gameplay video (of the SNES version) would be nice, if possible.
Last edited by Fisher on Tue Mar 13, 2018 5:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
calima
Posts: 1745
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:16 am

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by calima »

I watched the trailer, and the ingame graphics and ringmenu look very good. What makes any RPG is the story, but can't comment on that yet.

I didn't like the font, or the text UI colors. Black/white is harsh, and the font wasn't that easy to read. It had too big distances between letters, making some parts look like bad kerning.

On your screenshots, the status screen's background is bad. It makes it almost impossible to read anything. I would also use a different color than light blue for the text. In the ingame shot, I would also adjust the HP/MP bar colors.
drludos
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:01 pm

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by drludos »

Woaw, this project looks amazing!

The GBA version video trailer looks really nice - do you plan to release both the SNES and GBA version, or only the SNES one?

Regarding the SNES version, the screenshots looks great, but I'm really looking forward a gameplay video to see the game in action.

The characters graphics are really beautiful, I love them. The only thing I'm not very fond of are the "cross" on the character sheet background: The black & white BG has too much contrast, and it make it harder to read the actual numbers on the foreground. Maybe try a "black and soft grey" pattern?

Anyway, good luck with the project, and I'm eager to see the next screenshot / devlog / video here!
Download ROMs of my games: https://drludos.itch.io/
Support my work and get access to beta and prototypes: https://www.patreon.com/drludos
User avatar
olddb
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:29 pm
Contact:

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by olddb »

Maybe make the "R" bigger in the title screen or move the sword to the other side? I misread it as "Trodas Cross" on first pass.
Ah. That makes sense. I will try moving it to the right. Now that I think about it, the font logo is too small. I need to change it too.
Merge the sword with the "R" in "Rodas", and make the sword/R take up the entire height of the text (both lines). I'm not an artist, but this is what I'm referring to:
I will try it. But doing so requires a skill I don't have. :P
Great to finally see some more good looking SNES homebrew in the works! Really enjoying the pixel artwork.
Thank you.

Because of this phrase and the fact that rodas means wheels on my native language (Portuguese), I tought it would be a racing related ARPG. :oops:
I don't think you should care about this, just move forward and keep us updated about your progress.
A gameplay video (of the SNES version) would be nice, if possible.
Ah. "Wheel" kind of goes with the theme of the game. Just a coincidence though. :P

On your screenshots, the status screen's background is bad. It makes it almost impossible to read anything. I would also use a different color than light blue for the text. In the ingame shot, I would also adjust the HP/MP bar colors.
Thank you for the feedback. I kind of like the bg cross pattern though. It looks like a designer purse. :P Weird looking for a game.
I will try to do what drludos suggested and lower the contrast. See how it goes.
I would also adjust the HP/MP bar colors
Can you be more specific? My initial idea was to have a color gradient using hdma for the bars, but it complicates the code for such a small detail. Will see...

The GBA version video trailer looks really nice - do you plan to release both the SNES and GBA version, or only the SNES one?
No. I only plan to do the SNES version now.

The black & white BG has too much contrast, and it make it harder to read the actual numbers on the foreground. Maybe try a "black and soft grey" pattern?
This is a great idea! :idea: Thank you.

Thank you everyone! Hopefully I can finish this.
...
User avatar
rainwarrior
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:03 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by rainwarrior »

Ha ha sorry to dogpile on the name / title screen, but when my eyes initially parsed it they ended up reading the two lines reversed and mangled as "Cross Roads".

Anyhow, looks nice. Will the music from the trailer appear in game?
calima
Posts: 1745
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:16 am

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by calima »

The HP/MP bar colors poke my eyes. Making them gradients based on the same colors would have the same issue. I'm not sure what's the official term for that, too much contrast? Jumping out too much?
User avatar
Fisher
Posts: 1249
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:58 am
Location: -29.794229 -55.795374

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by Fisher »

Although I've liked the crosses pattern on the 1st screenshot, depending on the way you look at them, it can be seen as swastikas.
I know that it just sounds completely ridiculous, (and I'm pretty sure your intention is not that) but be careful since (as far as I remember) some countries had banned the use of this symbol and are "anal" about things that even remotelly resembles it! :shock:

Please, can someone else confirm (or deny) if I'm just "being paranoid" about that or this can be really a problem?
User avatar
koitsu
Posts: 4201
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 9:28 pm
Location: A world gone mad

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by koitsu »

Fisher wrote:Please, can someone else confirm (or deny) if I'm just "being paranoid" about that or this can be really a problem?
You -- the individual Fisher on this forum -- are seeing swastikas in something that was obviously not designed to contain swastikas (rephrased: there are no intended swastikas by the author(s)). Mazes have been part of human games for thousands of years.

This psychological phenomenon is called pareidolia, sort of as a form of pattern recognition. Humans on some level are wired to do this, but every person is different (ex. people on the Autism scale tend to notice it easier, bless their hearts). It's a long-standing human behaviour, nothing new. But just because you see something (or "how" your brain interprets it) doesn't mean that was the intended purpose. Differentiating -- and acknowledging -- those two things is very important.

This happens regularly for Europeans and Americans when visiting an Asian country for the first time, and have to look at their maps. Oh my god! There are swastikas everywhere on this map! I'm offended! No, there are not swastikas everywhere; the symbol used represents a worship temple, usually of Buddhist nature. Sadly, Japan gave in to this idiocy with their tourist maps, which just goes to show how overly sensitive people are. Rather than learn about the culture and say "hey, things here are different", they feel the need to impose their own beliefs on that of another culture. I do not agree with this. Education is the solution to this, not changing map symbols.

It could also be a problem that in the title screen, someone sees the sword tip and feels it's extremely phallic, resembling that of a penis. "Don't you see it? It looks phallic! Like a dong! What do you mean you don't see the resemblance? It's right there! How offensive!" I run into this type of thought process multiple times a week now, and it all boils down to the individual seeing what they *want* to see.

This is a very different situation compared to, say, Tepples' game called Concentration Room, which was originally named Concentration Camp. I personally had no problem with the original name, but he changed it because it could be deemed offensive to some. To me, that's a more cut-and-dry case, particularly due to some of the imagery that came with it. (For those wondering: I think he should've kept the original name and imagery, but that's just me)

Could this be a problem? Sure. Should it be something the game developer worries about RIGHT NOW? A very resounding NO!

So, here's what olddb should do about it right now: nothing! Worry about it later if it becomes an actual problem -- say, for example, you do a public beta test and find that a large number of German or Polish players are noticing swastikas and find it "a bit odd/unsettling". You can change your maze algorithm (if randomly-generated) or level layouts (if statically-generated) later on! Maze/map generation is a super neat/cool thing, but very intricate (it's almost an art form, IMO); if you end up having to redo this, you might look at some of the code in Nethack to see how their randomly-generated dungeons are done. Focus on making your game for now. Do not let this hinder your progress! Stay focused on your game and embrace your love/passion of doing it.
User avatar
Bregalad
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:49 pm
Location: Divonne-les-bains, France

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by Bregalad »

I had to look very hard but eventually I noticed where the "swatiskas" are. To be honest, swatiskas are only supposed to be offensive if they are either 45° rotated and/or they are black on a white circle on a red backdrop. If both the color sheme and the orientation has nothing to do with the nazi symbol, it's fine assuming nobody should be offended as koitsu pointed out. So yeah, I +1 what Koitsu said.

As for the game, it looks nice. I'm looking forward to it !
I could be interested about the music driver since doing a SNES music/SFX driver is something I always wanted to do and it seems I lack the time to develop full games anymore.
User avatar
Sumez
Posts: 919
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:29 am
Location: Denmark (PAL)

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by Sumez »

I'm a big proponent of inoffensive swastikas. It's a symbol with a positive meaning, so don't let the nazis have that one. They have had it for long enough already. And unintentional swastikas showing up anywhere really should not be a problem to anyone.
User avatar
Bregalad
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:49 pm
Location: Divonne-les-bains, France

Re: Rodas Cross: ARPG for the SNES

Post by Bregalad »

Sumez wrote:I'm a big proponent of inoffensive swastikas. It's a symbol with a positive meaning, so don't let the nazis have that one. They have had it for long enough already. And unintentional swastikas showing up anywhere really should not be a problem to anyone.
Ideologically, I fully agree, unfortunately it's way too late.

Also I forgot to mention in my previous post, the diabolisation of this symbol is by far not the only major change the "western world" since the second world war ; a lot of other things in today's overall ultra-liberal mentalities are directly connected to over-reaction to the horrors of cancentration camps, gaz chambers and holocaust.
Rather than learn about the culture and say "hey, things here are different", they feel the need to impose their own beliefs on that of another culture. I do not agree with this. Education is the solution to this, not changing map symbols.
That's weird coming from the mouth of an american, considering americans are the worst offenders of this - sometimes even unintentionally, since they don't ask anything but everyone else wants do do everything the american way.
Post Reply