7-09-20117-09-2011
Vael Victus 
"See you, fantasy monster game."
Posts: 2200
07/09/2011 19:36 | Hello, friends.  I come bearing some news.
A while ago, I went through some of the code when I remembered just how great MonBre was.
I knew it was bad, but I also felt like the game deserved a proper ending for all the dedicated players out there. I thought of all it took - and it's not much. All I would have to do is finish some tiles, add a quest or two, put in two gods and give it a proper ending. Unfortunately it would not be the original ending I had planned, which really sucks, because it carried over right into MonBre's second campaign. Still, the game would have an ending, and I'd feel satisfied with it.
I tested the waters, looked at the code, and attempted to play again. Attempt being the key word here...
The game is a mess. Battle itself is slow, ugly, hardly engaging, and full of bugs. What should have happened with MonBre is that the battles were uncommon, very rewarding, and each battle took a small amount of strategy. What we have now is that people get strong enough to own all the mobs in an area, then farm that area, and go to another area they're already overpowered for. During battle they hit the 1 key until they win. The worst part is that this is the best way to play, because sometimes you'll just get bullshit in battles where you're spiked for lots of damage, or the mob gets a "5" (vs. 1) for their difficulty randomizer, and they hit off their ability. The "job selection" we have is unprofessional, amateur, unnecessary... I don't even know what I was thinking, it's just awful. And finally, it actually took a while to post this because of our errors with sleeping connections. I couldn't log in, ridiculous. (that being said, I quickly improved our login script)
Between what I've learned of web and game development, and time constraints, I am unable to give MonBre the proper ending it deserves in many aspects. Financially, it just isn't plausible right now. Personally, I've taken on many responsibilities including a professional job, a family with two kids, (the second, my own) and am focusing on something far greater than MonBre.
I cannot go into it at this time, but I can tell you that beyond MurCity, for my third project (and all future projects) I am going to be creating a game engine. I'm not sure if I'll open-source it, but my abilities as a coder have grown and I'm at the point where I no longer want, for example, monsters and NPCs in MonBre to be static pieces of code. I want them to be dynamic entities in the database that are easily added through a user interface. The quest system in MonBre is so difficult to work with that I'd spend twice as long to develop a quest than I should have had to.
I make no promises, but recently in the design of my engine, I came to the realization that I could rather easily create... well, MonBre. And without much difficulty at all. So, during the creation of this game engine, I will be keeping MonBre in mind. The engine should be made with support for blind players, but I can make no guarantees.
If you're interested in what MonBre would be like on this engine, I can tell you already that: we will have no pictures for monsters, everything will be described and monsters will get bigger/more body parts/whatever with each splicing. All monsters will be able to fight when exploring, and you can face multiple enemies. How many monsters you take onto the field will be relative to how good your "logistics" skill is. Combat will be simplified, a bit automated, and much more visually pleasing. Breeding will be done through splicing, but to obtain new monsters, you'll have to catch them via things like nets, and traps, and whatever.
So there's some info on where the game is. Don't expect MonBre to be complete any time soon, and it won't be - I'm talking, at least two years until you could potentially even see plans for MonBre. I am completely focused on the game that's being deployed on the engine itself, rather than MonBre. Just some hope for you guys. I still love MonBre and I still love this awesome community.
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MonBre is an unlisted game of Tinydark Studio.
Personal Website: vaelvict.us
Edited twice, with the latest on Saturday, Jul 9th 19:38:37 2011 by Vael Victus |
Garr Slayer 
"It's a good day."
Posts: 702
07/28/2011 18:18 | Hey, I'm glad to hear anything and that you're still kicking.
It would be nice to have even a bad ending to the game.
The idea for a better monbre sounds good but that would be a whole new monster.
I just remembered Dragon Warrior IV with automatic statistical battles which was my least favorite for that reason.
I loved this game the way it is but I would try a new version.
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When life hands you a lemon, it's up to you what to do with it.
Half of anything is better then a whole of nothing. |
Vael Victus
"See you, fantasy monster game."
Posts: 2200
07/30/2011 14:30 | Thanks, Garr. You've been one of my most supportive players. This community definitely plays a part in how MonBre 2 will play out, if it does.
I can tell you that with this engine, I'm attempting to make my games as accesible as possible. This means easily porting to phones, facebook, and the possibility for blind people to play, in spite of the rich content. I believe you may like my third game, also, because it will be story/narrative heavy.
Thanks for supporting monbre all this time. <3
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MonBre is an unlisted game of Tinydark Studio.
Personal Website: vaelvict.us |
Luke Leiby
"Hello, everyone!"
Posts: 2
12/14/2011 13:45 | Do you or have you produced games that are of this type? I find your design fabulous, especially for those who are visually impaired. I myself am visually impaired, and it is very accomidative of you to make this game accessible for those who have little to no sight. And in response to the upgrade, I believe it is quite easy to win battles, especially in the training arenas. However, this game is rather interesting, and fun to play!
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Vael Victus
"See you, fantasy monster game."
Posts: 2200
12/19/2011 00:40 | I'm sorry, Luke, I haven't. I'm even sad to admit that my next released game, MurCity, may not handle screen readers very well. I'd actually like to connect with a blind player if you're available. You can find my contact information at http://www.Vaelvictus.com under the biography.
The problem with screen readers is only that they have poor support, as far as I can remember, for AJAX. AJAX is some nice visual stuff that makes playing these games quite fashionable.
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MonBre is an unlisted game of Tinydark Studio.
Personal Website: vaelvict.us |
Luke Leiby
"Hello, everyone!"
Posts: 2
12/19/2011 08:02 | Completely understandable. And I would be more than happy to oblige. I will contact you in the near future, thanks!
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