I'm working on a bite-sized RPG you can play in your web browser. the first step was implementing the mechanics. In my second part i want to focus on story, how to bring an interesting bite-sized story to a game like this.

I appreciate any feedback - or just take a look:)

http://nimianlegends.com

Would you like this moved to the RPG Gaming section? The game looks really cool by the way, I will be sure to check out your site.

Anorak wrote:

Would you like this moved to the RPG Gaming section? The game looks really cool by the way, I will be sure to check out your site.

Thanks Anorak, that sounds great. i'm still looking my way around the forum and i wasnt sure where's best to post it. If you can move it and think it'll be more relevant there I'm all for it:)

Thanks for the compliment too. You know, ive worked on this for three years if you can believe it. Now i want to refine and expand it so if you have any feedback, or just share the URL, that would be great.

I was just playing the game and it is awesome! If you want, you can shoot me a PM and we can discussing some advertising deals. I can help you advertise your game.

Looks like a good game, I wish you luck with it.

I'm really liking this game. I love the genders you have. All genders have the same general attire, and you have an androgynous gender, as well, which I love. The music is pretty nice, as is the general game play. It's a tad bit confusing, though. I felt as if there were some mechanics I was missing because I didn't know the game, such as the battles. There was this bar where if you kept clicking the weapon, the green bar would change positions? I wasn't exactly sure what that did. The quest reminder on the top of the screen overlapped some text boxes, making them impossible to read.

You may also consider getting a proof reader. There were many grammatical errors that stood out. I'd be willing to help out with that, if you'd like.

For a beta game, this is very nice! It seems to have a lot of content and a very solid gameplay structure. It doesn't seem to be very resource intensive, either, which is a great plus. I'd love to see updates posted here.

P.S. I've bookmarked your game for later play :)

Demon_skeith wrote:

Looks like a good game, I wish you luck with it.

Thanks Demon_skeith, I'll need it:) It is a lot of work and I'm one guy so your encouragement is apreciated

dscyrux wrote:

I'm really liking this game. I love the genders you have. All genders have the same general attire, and you have an androgynous gender, as well, which I love. The music is pretty nice, as is the general game play. It's a tad bit confusing, though. I felt as if there were some mechanics I was missing because I didn't know the game, such as the battles. There was this bar where if you kept clicking the weapon, the green bar would change positions? I wasn't exactly sure what that did. The quest reminder on the top of the screen overlapped some text boxes, making them impossible to read.

You may also consider getting a proof reader. There were many grammatical errors that stood out. I'd be willing to help out with that, if you'd like.

For a beta game, this is very nice! It seems to have a lot of content and a very solid gameplay structure. It doesn't seem to be very resource intensive, either, which is a great plus. I'd love to see updates posted here.

P.S. I've bookmarked your game for later play

Great feedback dscyrux - thank you!

I like the multiple genders too - i feel it's more inclusive and a bit different.

Some other people are confused by some of the gameplay too. I'm collecting everyones feedback and will use it to make improvements in the next update, so im happy you have some feedback. For the green bar changing when you click on a weapon multiple times, originally the more you clicked the more powerful your weapon became and the slower its speed got. I should take it out for now until i integrate it properly. im trying to figure out the best way to show the numbers and the mechanics behind the battles without interfering with the gameplay. It will come to me eventually:)

You're right about that quest reminder. Either i'll give it its own box, or make sure that it is always superimposed above the content with a slight backing to make it more legible.

About the grammer and spelling any help you can offer is welcome:) - if you come across any errors and have the time or interest please copy paste and send me it and i will make the fix.

Thanks for bookmarking it too - the more i can share this with people the more chance i have of being able to make games full time.

BTW i just uploaded the first trailer for Nimian Battles TombRidge - its a 3d boss-battle app set near tombwood in the map. You can see it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiAMQoJ6sJ4

With your feedback bar on the game, you may want to get that fixed. It is overlapped by other buttons.

What I mean:



That's the only problem I have picked out as of yet. The game looks really nice and I will be playing more of it later.

Anorak wrote:

With your feedback bar on the game, you may want to get that fixed. It is overlapped by other buttons.

Thanks Anorak - I'm really lucky that people like you are being so helpful with feedback. I cant afford professional beta testing so taking the time to send feedback like this really helps me out. Ive noted it in my bug list and will make the change next update. I might even try having a 'control panel' that slides out from the side containing everything so that i can better organize all those buttons:)

Okay, I have decided to give you a thorough review of sorts, hoping to help you with updating the game. The game has started and I must admit, that start screen is visually beautiful. I love the way the leaves fold out of the logo and a thin mist moves at the bottom. I can feel that this game is going to be great, just by judging from that very first screen. Good job.

I have opened my local save to see an update screen with some weird name - Koldermarsh - above it. Instantly, I see a couple of flaws on the page.

Firstly:



I can already see the bottom of the text. It isn't a big thing, but it isn't appealing. When I click the cross, I am not sure what 'The Old Empyre' quote is for or what it's purpose is. Getting past that, I journey onward.

I was playing this game recently and... I have been stuck on the second set of quest. This is why:



I certainly am not good with puzzles like this and never have been. It's only the second set of quests and I am presented with something difficult. :(Is supposed to be some kind of incentive to buy one of these mysterious 'rune crackers?'

Oh well, I suck at these puzzles. :/:Moving away from the puzzles, I ditch that quest and move onto a different one, dreading my return to that sliding puzzle. Time to confront a Wytch!

I like the option system which you have implemented into the game, where you can choose between, "Burning the village," or "Keeping the village" for instance, which came as a hard decision for me. (I ended up burning the village. No one likes a plague. )

My option in burning the village seems to of 'paved' my adventure. This is a feature I really like.

The battle system is nice, but I did find myself dying a lot and running out of those mushroom potions.

After finishing the 'Wytch' quest, I need to return to the puzzle.

-20 minutes later-

I finally completed the puzzle and I feel on top of the world. Continuing with the review, I encounter another battle. Looks like I need to stock up on those magical mushrooms.

I find another flaw within the interface, the quest text overlaps most of the writing which annoying. What I mean:



Maybe you could have a quest log with current quests and past quests. It might take a while to create, but it'd be worth it.

I am currently looking at the shops, and I see no field which shows how much gold I currently have, so I have to continuously exit the shop.

Time to move away from the game play and towards the interface, buttons, settings and features. First off, I shall be looking at:



First off, I click the 'Battles' icon and another screen pops up. Instantly, I notice a flaw.



Really does not look nice, it may be something small but it looks ugly. I would suggest you using something like http://goo.gl/ With that, you can shorten http://www.protopop.com/games/nimianhuntersalvation.htm to http://goo.gl/kO6DqY

The 'News' button pops up a document of updates, I find no flaws there, along with the other two buttons.

That's all from me for now, I wish you the best of luck with the game and I really hope this short review helps you out with some of the aspects within the world of Nimian.

This game looks great, im sure this is what ima be playing in my spare time just out of interest how long did this take to code?

Anorak wrote:

That's all from me for now, I wish you the best of luck with the game and I really hope this short review helps you out with some of the aspects within the world of Nimian.

Wow - Thanks for the review and feedback Anorak - this is a goldmine of great advice.

For the Rune cracker puzzle, i think i will add in a few ways to more easily skip them because they arent for everyone. Ill make the rune crackers cheaper and maybe offer a fast travel link on the puzzle page to buy one. And/or add a small quest and someone will give you a runecracker free.

Im thinking ill re purpose the "quote" screen too to promote things that are new with the game. The region quotes that are there now are o add flavor, but i think that its too valuable real estate in the game and is the perfect place to point out whats new in a better looking way.

Many people have mentioned how the quest instructions are hard to read overlapping things at the top. Your suggestion for a quest log is a good idea. After reading the thinvs you wrote im more convinced than ever that i will replace the buttons with a sliding out control panel that will offer more options in a cleaner way. It could include your current quest and a link to the quest log at top.

Good point about the mushroom potions, i think that in general you need to start with mre or have them be more powerful because i agree that they always seem to run out, and its a bit of a hassle to travel to town and buy more - i need to streamline that part.

I like the battles and the choices too - in the next chapter that im working on im trying ti create more dramatic choices (as opposed to the start which spends a lot of 'quests' teaching you the basics) - it's helpful to hear what you like because it helps me focus what to prioritize and develop next:)

You have really helped me out here not only with great advice, but it's encouraging when people take the time to write about the game. Pointing out some of the things you dont like helps me see the game with fresh eyes too. I'm going to put all of these into my next update.

You have a good eye for detail, maybe you'll have a career as an Art Director:)

_______________________________________________________________________

Oxycide wrote:

This game looks great, im sure this is what ima be playing in my spare time :)just out of interest how long did this take to code?

Thanks Oxycide:)

I dont have hour figures, but It took about 3 years working in my spare time.

The world map was something ive been building in one form or another for almost ten years. It was in the last 3 or so years that i got serious about making it into the interactive form you see today.

I've tried to build it so that i can add updates relatively easily. Thats also part of the reason i used HTML5. I can continue to add to it and refine it over the next while more easily than i could with flash or a coding language that is less open.

What really helped me get this out the door was 1)dropping complicated things and replacing them with simpler versions. For example, the dungeon is now a three card choice, but before it was this whole click the environment thing that looked neat but was too unweildly. And 2) using stock art whenever it was more beautiful than what i could create or if i didn't have the time. Using frameworks like Leaflet.js for the map and jquery helped with a development that would have overwhelmend me as a single indie:)

Protopop wrote:

Anorak wrote:

That's all from me for now, I wish you the best of luck with the game and I really hope this short review helps you out with some of the aspects within the world of Nimian.

Wow - Thanks for the review and feedback Anorak - this is a goldmine of great advice.

For the Rune cracker puzzle, i think i will add in a few ways to more easily skip them because they arent for everyone. Ill make the rune crackers cheaper and maybe offer a fast travel link on the puzzle page to buy one. And/or add a small quest and someone will give you a runecracker free.

Im thinking ill re purpose the "quote" screen too to promote things that are new with the game. The region quotes that are there now are o add flavor, but i think that its too valuable real estate in the game and is the perfect place to point out whats new in a better looking way.

Many people have mentioned how the quest instructions are hard to read overlapping things at the top. Your suggestion for a quest log is a good idea. After reading the thinvs you wrote im more convinced than ever that i will replace the buttons with a sliding out control panel that will offer more options in a cleaner way. It could include your current quest and a link to the quest log at top.

Good point about the mushroom potions, i think that in general you need to start with mre or have them be more powerful because i agree that they always seem to run out, and its a bit of a hassle to travel to town and buy more - i need to streamline that part.

I like the battles and the choices too - in the next chapter that im working on im trying ti create more dramatic choices (as opposed to the start which spends a lot of 'quests' teaching you the basics) - it's helpful to hear what you like because it helps me focus what to prioritize and develop next:)

You have really helped me out here not only with great advice, but it's encouraging when people take the time to write about the game. Pointing out some of the things you dont like helps me see the game with fresh eyes too. I'm going to put all of these into my next update.

You have a good eye for detail, maybe you'll have a career as an Art Director:)

_______________________________________________________________________

Oxycide wrote:

This game looks great, im sure this is what ima be playing in my spare time :)just out of interest how long did this take to code?

Thanks Oxycide:)

I dont have hour figures, but It took about 3 years working in my spare time.

The world map was something ive been building in one form or another for almost ten years. It was in the last 3 or so years that i got serious about making it into the interactive form you see today.

I've tried to build it so that i can add updates relatively easily. Thats also part of the reason i used HTML5. I can continue to add to it and refine it over the next while more easily than i could with flash or a coding language that is less open.

What really helped me get this out the door was 1)dropping complicated things and replacing them with simpler versions. For example, the dungeon is now a three card choice, but before it was this whole click the environment thing that looked neat but was too unweildly. And 2) using stock art whenever it was more beautiful than what i could create or if i didn't have the time. Using frameworks like Leaflet.js for the map and jquery helped with a development that would have overwhelmend me as a single indie:)

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