[b]Hey look, another TOTS devlog! jswessler keeping a schedule???[/b] Today, I want to talk about one of my main philosophies while making this game, and three results from it that I'm currently working on in the game. [b]Main Philosophy:[/b] Implementing cool mechanics in RPGMaker's limited scope. Note: This doesn't mean "I'm going to do features that have never been done before!" because RPGMaker (while I enjoy it) isn't exactly ideal for that (as in you definitely shouldn't be making cutting-edge features in RPGMaker). Instead, I'm looking at other games for cool features, visual designs, and mechanics. RPGMaker games have a tendency to look pretty old-school. While this isn't a bad thing, It contradicts the theme of TOTS. Today, I'll show off three results from this to try to modernize RPGMaker into something cool and fun. [b]Heads Up Display[/b] [i]Something else to look at besides mouse-drawn pixel art.[/i] Tale of Two Sardines will have a persistent HUD. Unlike AATAG, which just only had a HUD in specific areas, TOTS's HUD will appear throughout the game. It is interactive, too! It shows current information regarding collectibles and other game mechanics. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42950179/d2e2654db3057b54e0e7e0161c578011468bf2f7.png[/img] [i]So what if I play Overwatch? Like, way too much. Please help me...[/i] Hopefully, this will increase the clarity of certain mechanics, when you pick up important items, and more! [b]Interesting mechanics[/b] [i]As opposed to non-interesting mechanics... Like in Phasmophobia.[/i] Another thing I'm focusing on is having mechanics beyond just "move around and interact with stuff". AATAG did this in two areas, the strobe light puzzle and the audio puzzle, and it seems like those two areas were many people's favorite parts. TOTS will have a game-wide mechanic of alternating between two dimensions. This will be on a simple button press and will be related to almost every puzzle and story beat. There will also be more puzzles in TOTS. Here's some teasers of what I have now: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42950179/120374bef344512642c8a0975f3e8eed330d6f2d.png[/img] [i]Big Sardine, little Sardine. They're Miko's favorite food![/i] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42950179/15f5d13e166213a22021c12a71465eeb94e2972b.png[/img] [i]The audio meter returns!!![/i] [b]Character Portraits[/b] [i]Now in Full HD 816x624 Quality (tm)![/i] Back in 2022, when I was riding the high after AATAG's release thinking "There's nothing I can't do in game development anymore!", I decided that TOTS would have animated character portraits. Two years later, I finally realized that that was way too ambitious. TOTS will have static, detailed character portraits instead of the faces in AATAG. I feel that this is a better approach in TOTS for two reasons. Firstly, TOTS doesn't have as many characters as AATAG: 95% of the portraits are going to be of Miko, unlike AATAG's pretty even 40/20/20/20 split between its characters. Secondly, I mostly used faces in AATAG because I wasn't yet comfortable with drawing full-body shots, but I'm much better at that now. Drawing more allows me to convey hand gestures and body language without completely relying on facial expressions. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42950179/3d1072cc424b02fc241a6cb4a6d1e085784d307b.png[/img] [i]Lookin at you like AUUUUUUGGHGHH[/i] And here's what it looks like in game. There will also be slide in/out animations that go along with every picture! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42950179/255f03ce1c88020a290449d78c2c3021baab510a.png[/img] [i]Wow Miko, those blue empty picture frames do look really cool! You're such a talented pixel artist![/i] Thanks for reading and sticking around! I'm going to try to post every week or two here and mirror them onto my discord server (you should join that, by the way! [url=https://discord.gg/ssJhqeZbDC]https://discord.gg/ssJhqeZbDC[/url]) - jswessler