#Turn based

[massgalaxy]

Time to announce our next project!

ARC SEED is a turn-based tactics roguelite game with Mechs! You can already wishlist it on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2332970/ARC_SEED/

[dynamite-derek]

Sea of Stars: The best game you played as a child that released in 2023

When I was in middle school, I have vivid memories of playing Chrono Trigger. I rented it from my local video store, a poor man's family video. It even had a tanning bed, as was the style at the time. I sat in front of my grandmother's mid-size CRT television and was amazed at just about everything I saw. The beautiful pixel art, the various set pieces, the story, the music. Everything. My inner monologue for about a month after experiencing Chrono Trigger for the first time was using "thees" and "thous" a lot like Frog did in that localization. He was the best character so the way he spoke was the best way to speak. Simple as that.

Often times games try to ape Chrono Trigger because my experience with it is hardly a unique one. Most of the time, I feel these games miss the mark or fall short of it. They tease you with the "Chrono Trigger" but it more hits on some highlights that Chrono Trigger had instead of making an actual good game that can stand on its own merits. The example that comes most prominently to mind is "I Am Setsuna," a game I once wrote about on this blog. It's a game that mindlessly tries to take what makes Chrono Trigger a good game and slaps it onto something else. A soulless product developed by a company with a soulless name (Tokyo RPG Factory.)

My brother has been pestering me to play Sea of Stars for months now. Yet the specter of products like "I Am Setsuna" prevented me from making the jump for a long time. Yes, aesthetically, it played the part...but if I were to go back in time and rent this game from the fake Hollywood Video and play this on the mid-size CRT at my grandmother's house, would it capture my imagination? Would it stand on its own?

Yes.

On the surface, Sea of Stars looks like it's trying to be Chrono Trigger. They have the combo attacks, they have the wacky cast of characters from a variety of different backgrounds, the overworld and spritework looks pretty close and the music...well, the music can often feel like it was lifted straight from that very SNES game. But there's more to it than that. Quite literally. Sea of Stars doesn't just try to mimic the style of one beloved RPG, it lifts from several and becomes something of a Jack of all retro turn based trades.

The combat uses timed hits like Super Mario RPG - a system that's extremely easy to wrap your mind around but is extremely adept at keeping the player's attention. You can't just take your mind off of the game once you hit 'attack.' It also has the ability to change your characters in combat, which gives the game something of a Final Fantasy X (it's odd that a 20+ year old game is the 'newest' thing mentioned here) feeling. Sometimes a spot will call for a poison user, sometimes it will call for your warrior cook, sometimes it will call for your moon user. It's simple, but it makes each encounter feel unique and engaging. It also uses something akin to a limit break system, as seen in various Final Fantasy titles. Everybody gets an elaborate ultimate attack. When is the right time to use it? Even more variables tossed into a fairly easy-to-use system.

It's not just in the gameplay either. One of the big mistakes video game companies make when making 'new' retro games is that they cram too much story into the game. Don't get me wrong, stuff like Final Fantasy IV, Lunar Silver Star Story and Chrono Trigger have plenty of story, but go back and play those games and then go play Final Fantasy VII. The amount of dialogue and dedication to storytelling is next level compared to what you get in SNES games. Older RPGs have a smattering of world building and story but that is bolstered by the gameplay. Sea of Stars is similar in this regard. It does not have 'too much' story, it has about as much as you would see in an SNES RPG. It leaves something to the imagination. Not every last detail of the world is explained, you're left with a sense of wonder.

When I first heard the term 'solstice warrior,' I grimaced. It sounded so lame, like something out of a kid's cartoon. And yet, it is tackled with sincerity. They don't go out of their way to tell you every aspect of what goes into making these warriors, they keep things very simple and straight forward. It just feels authentic. By the end of the game I wanted to learn more about this world and these characters, I did not feel like everything had been spelled out in game and there was something left to discover. Even a post-game twist felt like something a kid would tell you at school and you'd just roll your eyes and say 'yeah fucking right Ned, I'm sure collecting all 60 conch shells will do that.'

My discovery with this game is that in order to create a 'love letter' to a genre, you need to focus on more than one game. It needs to just focus on lots of things. I am Setsuna feels like a shallow clone of Chrono Trigger. Sea of Stars feels like a game that saw great elements from a lot of other great games and came to its own conclusions by throwing those things together. I fully believe a middle school aged Derek would have been glued to his Grandma's CRT for a month straight playing this game. It's the highest compliment that I can pay this game. It's not better than Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI or Earthbound. But it still stands on its own and it is fantastic.

[nerdypunkdev]

Learn how to build a turn based combat system (like in Pokemon games) in this FREE tutorial series I just finished posting on Youtube. It has all kinds of cool coding insights on to build a very fun and modular turn based system in over 6 hours of rich content.

I just pushed the last part of this series, check out it out here:

[smallgraygames]

Upcoming Game Announcement: South of the March

It's finally time to announce my next game in development! South of the March is a fantasy/horror RPG featuring a hybrid of JRPG-style turn-based combat and semi-open world visual novel exploration. It's set in the same medieval setting as The Salt Keep.

The current plan for the full version of South of the March is a free release sometime in spring of 2024. It's planned for release on Itch.io and Steam, and will run on PC and Mac. It's also intended to function as a prototype and companion game for a larger upcoming project, so keep an eye out and follow for updates!

[dimalink]

Techniks 16 bit

Pixel art for today based on videogame Advanced Daisenryaku for game console Super Nintendo. Power of 16 bit in in that point that it has a difference videogames. Also, a wargames. Strategies.

Something strategy about tanks and something about historical or pseudo historical theme.  Wargame. Hex squares. And by them you need to move your resources. And then enemy do the same. As chess. Almost. Also, interesting genre. It adds some variations in a game library. So, I for myself, already want some cartridges for Super Nintendo!

And this is my drawing based on. I dream for a long time about something like wargame. So, it is a picture now, also a wargame it is. I noticed that in origin game it has a date 1939. It should to mean something. But I don’t want to go into a historical moment. And mainly as a base theme. So, age around 1939 or something like that. But a little in a fantastic format.

Pseudohistorical such type. Or maybe even be better no to set with certain historical age at all.

And you it can be easy to see all units – are just silhouettes. And I can draw a lots of them. Very different forms. From different ages. Wargame will be about tech. Vehicles. And it can be a forest, desert. Something not hard pixels landscapes. And it is can be like even arcade format of wargame. But now it is only a drawing.

Game, for example, can goes just one map after another. Map1, map 2. And so on. With different landscapes. Such a simple retro. It can be said it is dedicated to Super Nintendo, 16 bit, IBM PC MS DOS 386SX2, 486 DX2. And I remember for myself I played in videogame Fantasy general, and  I  like it a lot. But I do not play a lot. It is hard. For me it is hard. It is boring. And what if such a type, but not hard to play. And everyone can play it. So, when I played Fantasy general I had this idea. So, such a light format, entertainment. It is only a picture now.

Dima Link is making retro videogames, apps, a little of music, write stories, and some retro more.

WEBSITE: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/home_eng.html ITCHIO: https://dimalink.itch.io/ GAMEJOLT: https://gamejolt.com/@DimaLink/games

BLOGGER: https://dimalinkeng.blogspot.com/

[vermilliongrey]

Looting after a battle in a turn-based RPG:

[blabberf]

I’ve been doing more work on this game lately! Now it’s got passive items, bosses, and weapon evolutions! I’m actually feeling like I’ll probably end up making this my next commercial release, which is pretty exciting:) stay tuned to see if it actually happens though!

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT!

PRELIMINARY #208

Submission 703

I wish final fantasy went back to turn-based combat

I feel like the best final fantasys are the turned-based ones. ff11 is archaic and came out before WoW actually made mmos good, no one remembers ff12, the ff13 trilogy is contentious at best, and ff15 has some of the most bland and mind numbingly easy combat in the franchise. I know ff14 and ff16's gameplay are considered good, but ff14's base game was so bad they had to essentially bomb the whole game and start from the beginning. I don't have too many complaints about ff16 combat and I think it is good but it looses that spirit of final fantasy because it's essentially a dmc clone. But you only get to play as one character and one of the best parts about ff is the diversity of characters in your party.

Final Fantasy started as a turned-based rpg and in this new direction, the series is loosing its roots and it doesn't feel like final fantasy anymore.

Random poll encountered!

Propaganda attack!

Critical damage!

Used reblog spell!

Exposure was raised!

[monochromesong]

Sea of Stars is GOTY and now in my top five games of all time

[dead-byte]

I think… I need new RPG to play

IDK what’s wrong w/ me lately, but I’ve been so uninterested and burnt out on a lot of the RPG franchises I usually obsess about ( Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Persona/SMT, Octopath Traveler, Pokemon, Megaman Battle Network, among others ), but I’ve been trying to play them and I’m just so uninvested in them lately. It feels like nothing new that I’m interested in has come out lately, and I could really use a fresh new RPG title.

And I don’t mean just any title. I need something I can just chew the hell out of. Something I can go absolutely feral for. Not just any cookie-cutter fantasy plot, but characters, stories, and gameplay that will have me frothing at the mouth as I play.

Y’all got any suggestions? Particularly any for the Switch?

I generally mostly enjoy turn-based RPG’s. I’m not opposed to real-time action ( like Nier: Automata ) or a hybrid ( Xenoblade ), but I really prefer turn-based RPG’s. Tactical RPG’s are good too ( Fire Emblem, Valkyria Chronicles, Shining Force ).

[locus-v]

Too much Baldur's Gate and now my brain has endless turn based battles in my sleep (help).

[massgalaxy]

Trading Blows with the enemy From our upcoming game ARC SEED a Mech Tactics Roguelite game.

[phoebe3663]

"Abandoned Settlement"

When the war between Spring and Summer started, the mortal denizens of the Isle of Fate fled, leaving their homes for the time being.

[wormsarmageddon]

Worms Armageddon is on sale right now! It's $2.99 on Steam. Not a bad price!

[wealmostaneckbeard]

[dimalink]

Rifles and Trenches – developers Log – Video 2 ”Final moment”

Hello! This is final video about this development. This videogame is made with QB64. QB64 – it is modern version of QBasic. Now, game is ready.

It is a simple game. All the game is happen with one game screen. And idea is taken from movies about first world war or second world war. In a parts with cinematic action scenes. As videogame Call of Duty. But there is everything with format text and minimum of graphics. Several colors. And turn based game. Local tactics. Also, game is made with simple graphics. With idea to look like old retro computers from 80s. Something like computers from 80s.

Basic Pascal pack - whole pack of games and programes, written with basic and pascal. It is retro. With each game and program there is a page at author`s website. There are aditional information, descriptions, pictures, arts.

Basic Pascal: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/packs/basicpascal/index_eng.html

Itchio: https://dimalink.itch.io/basic-pascal GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/BasicPascal/773385 Website: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/home_eng.html