Artemis RPG (work in progress) - updated June 9th, 2009

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Apr 09, 2009 18:45

Artemis (working title) is a 2d action RPG being made in Freebasic. It's done in 16-bit style (sort of) with lots of inspiration from the Mana and Zelda games. My wife is the pixel artist, and I'm the programmer. It's currently a closed-source project, but we're releasing playable demos to get feedback and suggestions.

Right now, it only has about 15 minutes of gameplay. I've been focusing on the engine, so the story and scenarios haven't been a top priority yet. Still, I think you can see how we'll be able to turn this into a full length game eventually.

The mini-site with download link:
http://www.rhondabowlin.com/artemis/

Let us know what you think! Bugs, ideas, etc. And if you post to the forum on the new project site, it would make my day. :)

Ophelius · Post by **Ophelius** » Apr 09, 2009 19:12

Nice artwork! I can't wait to play the full game. I would get rid of the dotted line that help you aim because it basicaly extends up to the mouse pointer anyways. So I would know where I'm aiming based on where I click. I think it's too distracting. Just a thought.

Rokkuman · Post by **Rokkuman** » Apr 09, 2009 22:22

You should probably try to stick to one topic, not because I actually give a crap as to whether or not you have three separate topics, but because it keeps you from having to re-type information/answered questions, or forgetting anything the second time around. For instance, I'm curious as to whether or not you used OpenGL/SDL or anything, and I'm sure you've answered this in the past.

ANYWAY, the screenshots look great. I don't recognize any of the artwork, so I hope that means it's all original. I'm downloading the demo at this very moment, and I'll definitely let you know what I think.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Apr 09, 2009 23:37

The new development rocks, and I can't remember how much of the menu was there in earlier demos, but I dig it. Thanks for givin' us another teaser. : )

rolliebollocks · Post by **rolliebollocks** » Apr 10, 2009 9:48

Very slick.

rb

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Apr 10, 2009 20:30

Thanks for the comments!-

Ophelius: Thanks for the input. Some people love the dotted line, but some people hate it. I'm definitely going to make it optional as soon as the settings menu is ready.

Rokkuman: Yep, the artwork is all original. The sounds and music are also original, but there's no music in this demo. I'm using FB's built-in graphics libray, because it's what I'm most comfortable with. Since the game is only 2D and there isn't really anything complicated going on, I haven't seen the need to use anything else.

Ryan: The menu is probably the biggest new feature. I've been spending a lot of time on the card dragging and those damn scroll windows! The actual look of the menus is just preliminary, but it's the functionality that I'm trying to focus on.

rolliebollocks: Thanks. :)

Anyone get the game to crash yet?

Rokkuman · Post by **Rokkuman** » Apr 11, 2009 0:00

The game actually did quit on me without me telling it to, but I'll have to play through it once or twice more before I can tell you how to reproduce it or what the circumstances were.

Lachie Dazdarian · Post by **Lachie Dazdarian** » Apr 13, 2009 17:53

Really nice to see this project moving forward. As with the previous version, I love the real time battle engine.

I would personally like for you to list updates from version to version so we can actually take note of changes and new things without having to guess them. It was a while since the last demo.

duke4e · Post by **duke4e** » Apr 14, 2009 2:32

Wow, this really looks, plays and feels awesome!

Artemis_Rhonda · Post by **Artemis_Rhonda** » Apr 16, 2009 13:35

Lachie Dazdarian wrote:Really nice to see this project moving forward. As with the previous version, I love the real time battle engine.

I would personally like for you to list updates from version to version so we can actually take note of changes and new things without having to guess them. It was a while since the last demo.

Hi Lachie, I'm just the art person and horribly ignorant on the coding end ;) - however, here are a few changes that I recall from the previous version. The hubby can update or correct if needed.

-updated to fixed resolution
-entirely new menu system with cards indicating stat comps
-town in place w/ scripts
-no more interpolated option
-save spots
-boss battle
-new enemy (enemies? can't remember if the beetle was in there or not)
-cleaned up the character sprites

Thanks for your input!

~Rhonda

Artemis_Rhonda · Post by **Artemis_Rhonda** » Apr 16, 2009 13:47

Ophelius wrote:Nice artwork! I can't wait to play the full game. I would get rid of the dotted line that help you aim because it basicaly extends up to the mouse pointer anyways. So I would know where I'm aiming based on where I click. I think it's too distracting. Just a thought.

Thanks for the art compliment Ophelius. :) We're waiting to get a big tile sheet finished before getting more in there. Soon, soon!

Re: The aim guide. This may turn out to be more of a preliminary graphics aesthetic issue, but I'm not sure. I'm not a fan either YET, LOL, but I think once we get on the sprites for this i.e. have some nice animation and transparency effects for both the updated line and updated target, it may be better understood and loved by all ;). Even with the mouse pointer (which we will eventually customize), it can be easy to get lost on where you're aiming since you can move and aim in different directions. We shall see. Having the option off by default might be the change for now.

badmrbox · Post by **badmrbox** » Apr 16, 2009 13:48

-new enemy (enemies? can't remember if the beetle was in there or not)

If I remember correctly, which I might not, the only monster I saw in the previous version was the treemonster.

Artemis_Rhonda · Post by **Artemis_Rhonda** » Apr 16, 2009 14:36

badmrbox wrote:
-new enemy (enemies? can't remember if the beetle was in there or not)
If I remember correctly, which I might not, the only monster I saw in the previous version was the treemonster.

That makes me feel at least a little more productive ;) Thanks BadMrBox!!!

~Rhonda

Mysoft · Post by **Mysoft** » Apr 17, 2009 15:16

very good work artemis... i just wonder why you cap the fps to 40? and it seems that you dont even have an sleep 1... to save some cpu, other than that congracts :)

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Apr 17, 2009 16:18

Mysoft wrote:very good work artemis... i just wonder why you cap the fps to 40? and it seems that you dont even have an sleep 1... to save some cpu, other than that congracts :)

Were you on an older system or running other apps which might hinder performance?

I'm not capping the game at 40fps exactly - notice the screenshots are at 60fps. But there is an experimental feature, and I think this is what you are experiencing. For people who can't get 60fps (for whatever reason), the game will determine an optimal framerate and use this as a cap. I'm enforcing this cap because the game looks smoother/better with a steady framerate (40fps, for example), rather than jumping back and forth between the best it can get (between 40-50fps, for example) as Windows does its thing in the background.

I think most people will get a proper 60fps and never experience this cap.

Of course, I also plan to do more optimization eventually. Thanks for reminding me about sleep 1... I will put this in the next version.

Artemis RPG (work in progress) - updated June 9th, 2009

Artemis RPG (work in progress) - updated June 9th, 2009

Updates from previous version.

The Aim Guide.