Monster Breeding Database Overhaul

Now that breeding is an important part of the Monster Tamers series, I realize that I need to do some work on on the database before I can continue with the main game. As it is now, everything about the breeding process is complete, from the visual frills down to the code. However, the breeding database (that tells you what two things equal what) has only the very basic combinations for most monster families.

I spent the morning giving both the Slime and Beast families all of their possible combinations, meaning there is code to produce every Slime type monster there is and Every Beast type monster. That was about 700 lines of code, so I expect the entire breeding script to be over 3,500 lines of code. It seems a bit daunting a first, but in all honesty its really just busywork. I've gotten adding mosnters down to a science as far as the breeding list goes. If I keep it up, the Mosnter Breeding Database will be done in a month.

Super Pocket RPG: Monster Tamers Breeding

(This is an excpert from a post I made on GamingW forums concerning improvements to my project. I'm no longer using the alchemy system, and instead, I've developed a breeding system akin to the Dragon Quest Mosnters games from which Monster Tamers is inspired)

Dragon Quest Monsters: Monster Recruiting/Breeding Script Project

U Division Style

Features:
*Recruit Monsters that you fight
*Add those Monsters to your team
*Breed those Monsters to make new ones
*Monster Genders (+ and -)
*Nicknames for monsters

Not Implemented:
*Wildness/Tameness Stat (I haven't figured out how this would help.)

Background:

This is something I'm working on for, what is essentially, a Dragon Quest Monsters (or Dragon Warrior Monsters) remake. Initially, I had no clue how to make such a thing so I used a different method of getting monsters. However, after learning of the powers of Arrays and the ".push" function (yes, laugh at my mishmash scripting knowledge) I realized I had a chance at doing this. Maybe because of years of RM2k/3, I've been taught to jump of the hurdle of insufficient knowledge by trying what you know, I've been able to produce a system that ignores my scripting inexperience. A prime example of this inexperience is that of which was mentioned before, and in addition some of the programming (mostly of the Battle Scene) is actually eventing using the "Call Script" command.

Despite all of this, I've come up with a product imitates the famed Mosnter System from the DQM series as much as I could. There are differences (mostly out of my own lack of knowhow and few for personal taste) and they do change things up a bit. Eventually, I would like to release this, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about doing it. Some of this is eventing, and others of it scripting, but none of it was created with the initial intention of making it public. Common Events are used, Game Switches, and lots of Global Variables show that I'm still new at this. At the least, I'll produce a demo of the game for which it is crafted but a standalone release of the script is still up in the air.

How Offspring Is Decided:

Ped1 = "First Monster's Name"
Ped2 = "Second Monster's Name"
Fam1 = "First Monster's Family"
Fam2 = "Second Monster's Family"

The game checks a predetermined array of monster combinations for a key that matches any of the following, and in the following order.

*Ped1, Ped2 (As specific as it gets. The unique result of two monsters)
*Fam1, Ped2 (Less specific. The result of the pedigree and the mate)
*Ped1, Fam2 (Reverse of previous. Specific monster with general family)
*Fam1, Fam2 (The least specific. The result of any monster from either family.)

I'm not sure if this is the best way I should set up the priorities, but it does follow the rules of breeding that the series put in place.

Walk Through: (Click pics for full size)


First you use the "Recruit" Skill during battle. The ease in which you recruit a Monster is based on your "Tamer Level" and their current HP. Much like Pokemon, whittling down an opponent's HP is to your advantage. Unlike DQM, you can't use an item to make your enemies like you more, but this is still a suitable substitute.

If luck is on your side, then monsters will join your party after battle. Unlike DQM, more than one monster can join you.

In the Monster Farm you can change your party, adding up to three monsters to your team. You do fight with your monsters, FYI.

And best of all, their is the Starry Shrine thing. The place where you can breed your monsters. Choose any two monsters (the first being a pedigree and the second the mate.) to breed from your farm and party. The parents of the monsters will run away, but the child will be at the level of the pedigree and will know both parents skills. This is a sizable change from the original games. Partly to get rid of having to grind a level one monster up later in the game, and partly because your loosing two monsters to gain one.

The way I've scripted breeding is as close to the DQM as it can be. It does matter who the pedigree is and who the mate is, because reversing the order will produce a different monster. For every combination of monster, there is an offspring. The only exception being monsters from the Boss Family. They will be a little more selective in that area.

And finally, you have your offspring. There will be no eggs to pay to hatch, you simply receive the monster and are ready to go. All new monsters are sent to the farm first, so you'll have to pick them up there.

Now you can fight with your new monsters.

If you have any questions or comments about this, please respond. If you'd like me to go into detail on any part of this, I'd be glad to do it.

SPRGP: New Features (Plus Improved Old Ones)

Ever since I made a breakthrough in RGSS scripting (a personal one, nothing compared to the average scripter) I've had a renewed interest in scripting. Not only this, I was able to figure out how to do more things. You may not think any of them are advanced, and most likely they are not. Nevertheless, I was able to improve the quality of the game by adding new scripting enhanced features.

(Scripts I made are bold)

Script Based:
-Monster Beastiary
-Quest Objectives/Journal
-Books

Event Based:
-Monster Loot
-Monster Alchemization

Monster Tamers: Monster Roster [Update #3]

Super Pocket RPG: Monster Tamers
Monster Roster Page

(This post is where the entire roster of the monsters you can make in this game. Frequent monster updates will be done. Eventually each monster will have its own post.)

Total roster so far: 16

SLIME FAMILY
#1-Slime

#2-SpotSlime
#3-WingSlime
#4-RockSlime

BEAST FAMILY
#1-Antbear
#2-Almiraj
#3-CatFly
#2-IronTurt

BIRD FAMILY
#1-Dracky

PLANT FAMILY
#1- Mad Plant

INSECT FAMILY
#1- Catapila
#2- Armorpede
#3- GiantWorm

MATERIAL FAMILY
#1- Goopi
#2- CoilBird

Monster Profiles "AntBear"

Name: AntBear
Family: Beast
Number: 1


Being a beast, the AntBear has a high STR power and HP in comparison to other lower grade monsters. You may think of him as a powerhouse because of this, but one of its best attributes is that it starts off with the command "OFFENSE: Attack Lv 2" that gives him a ATK power of 20 instead of the normal 10. However, you'll quickly discover that his lack of good moves and increasing uselessness too much of a trade off as your game progresses. The random "Berserker All" he learns at his max level isn't worth the time put into raising him up that high.

• Max Level - 40
• Level Up Ease - B-25, C-20
• HP Rank - 300
• MP Rank- 280
• STR Rank - 225
• DEX Rank- 150
• AGI Rank - 140
• INT Rank- 160

Moveset:

• LV 5: Bash
• LV 10: Leg Sweep
• LV 15: TwinHits
• LV 20: LushLicks
• LV 25: MetalCut
• LV 30: Big Trip
• LV 35: KissFest
• LV 40: Berserker All
  

Monster Profiles "Dracky"

Name: Dracky
Family: Dracky
Number: 1


Dracky are speedy and weak and overall simple. You can find them very early on in the game, which is actually a good thing because the max level of a Dracky is high (LV 50). The vareity of interesting and potentially powerful moves may be ignored by the unintimidating look and lack of rarity.

• Max Level - 50
• Level Up Ease - B-15, C-20
• HP Rank - 150
• MP Rank- 320
• STR Rank - 140
• DEX Rank- 90
• AGI Rank - 200
• INT Rank- 80

Moveset:

• LV 5: Bite
• LV 10: Antidote
• LV 15: Fury Flight
• LV 20: Tail Wind
• LV 25: AntidoteAll
• LV 30: Feather Fest
• LV 35: Charge Up
• LV 40: WindBeast
• LV 50: Fierce Chrage Up

Monster Profiles "Slime"

Name: Slime
Family: Slime
Number: 1

As you would expect, Slime is the most basic of basic when it comes to the monsters in Monster Tamers. At least at first glance he is. Small, weak, and frankly unintimidating, Slime doesn't get much love from serious Monster Tamers. However, the small guy has some tricks up his sleeve that may keep you from just giving it to your little sister. If you can endure having a weakling in your party for long enough to get him to his highest level, you'll be rewarded with one of the most powerful moves in the game. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it or not.

• Max Level - 40
• Level Up Ease - B-10, C-20
• HP Rank - 200
• MP Rank- 270
• STR Rank - 120
• DEX Rank- 100
  
• AGI Rank - 150
  
• INT Rank- 90

Moveset:

• LV 5: Gelly Glob
  
• LV 10: Firebal
  
• LV 15: Gel spell
• LV 20: Buck Up
  
• LV 25: Firebane
  
• LV 35: Radiant
  
• LV 40: MegaMagic
  

SPRG: Monster Tamers -Map Systems-

As stated in a previous post, the Dungeons will be divided into three parts: the Garden (as pictured) the Castle, and the Boss Room. The Garden will be maze focused as opposed to the puzzle oriented Castle. In order to facilitate you're trek to finding that portal, certian features are available to the player.

Guidance Arrow: (Only appears in "Garden")
This arrow points the player in the right direction towards the portal. Most useful when you want to speed through a dungeon. However, if you go the "right way" you will surely miss out on treasure, other Monster Tamers, and possibly side-quests.

Blue Screen Map: (Appears in "Garden" and "Castle")
The Blue Screen Map pretty much shows where you are in relation to the screen, and not the entire map. In it's basic form, it's quite useless. It'll show you where important characters or other things are on the map. However, you can upgrade it to the point where it shows invisible items, ghosts, and even hidden portals.

Overlay Map: (Only appears in "Garden")
This on-screen map is incredibly useful when finding the right way to go. Because the Gardens are often filled with twists and turns, the overlay map, combined with he aide of the pointer arrow, can really make things easier. That is why you must find the dungeon map before you can use it, unlike the other two. Each dungeon has its own map, so you'll have to get used to finding them.

SPRG: Monster Tamers Customizable Room

Customization has always been a way to give the player more say in the game. That's one of the reasons why having the ability to choose and create whichever monster you please is an attractive feature of the game. On a smaller scale, the player will also be given the same freedom in deciding what his or her room will look like. You start off with this gray slab with limited allure and limitless potential. As you progress through the game, you can unlock trophies and other decorations for your room. Or, if you manage to make a surplus of money, you can spend it on special items found in a Decor Store.

Obviously, none of these things will affect the over all game, but that doesn't mean you won't find your fair share of secrets through decoration. Secret portals are unpredictable things, and sprucing up your place my land one in your midst... Rare recipes can also be found on parchments that happened to be hidden in a doll... In other words, there are some benefits to buying the decorations aside from aesthetics.

Gee, doesn't that look (slightly) better?

SPRG: Monster Tamers Dungeons

It seems like more and more that Dragon Quest Monsters is influencing my own game as I continue to work on this project. To put it simply, the guys at Square-Enix got it right. Of course, I have made enough of my own modifications to their formula to give SPRPG: MT enough of its own feel to be unique. That being said, I'd like to establish a post dedicated to how the Dungeons will be set up in this game.

• There will be 3 types of Dungeons in this game: Boss, Secondary, and Extra
• There are 2 parts to a Dungeon
• Boss and Secondary Dungeons will have 2 parts most of the time, Extra will only have one

Dungeon Types

Boss Dungeons will primarily focus on developing the story. The name of this type comes from each of these having a "boss" or powerful monster at the end of it that must be defeated. All boss dungeons have bosses, but that does not meant Secondary or Extra ones do not. In order to beat the game, all boss dungeons must be finished. For the sake of the story, this is pretty much a given.
Secondary Dungeons are dungeons that correspond with a side quest. They are not important to completing the game and do not necessarily effect the story. However, some secondary dungeons will be used to continue a "branch" of the story that may no longer be important. In addition to involving side quests, secondary dungeons are a good way to find more monsters and monster recipes.

Extra Dungeons can also be called "Secret Dungeons." These dungeons are short, boss-less, and only have one part to them. They end with finding a rare treasure or recipe. Access to an extra dungeon is a reward in of itself. However, although there may be a pot of gold at the ends of these rainbows, getting there may not be a walk in the park. Some of the common monsters you find in random battles may be "boss level" in other dungeons. Although you may be at a point in the game to unlock an Extra Dungeon, it is not a guarantee that you will survive in it.

Dungeon Parts

Dungeons are taken in two parts: the Garden and the Castle. Mind you, these are figurative terms not literally. Not every dungeon is castle. It is important to know the differences in these two to better understand the game.

The Garden tends to be the easier of the two but not by much. The focus of the Garden part of a Dungeon is to find a portal to get to the Castle part. Dragon Quest Monsters fans will be familiar with this type of layout although it is not completely the same. This part is a compilation of a bunch of mini-maps with simple shapes. This results in a slight maze like experience because finding the portal may boil down to guessing the right path.

The Castle is the more traditional type of dungeon, complete with it's own fair share of obstacles to slow you down on the quest to face your doom with a boss. They will be pretty standard for RPG fans, but what makes them special is the focus on the Field Magic System. The Field Magic system is basically the eqivilent to using the tools in Zelda to solve a dungeon. However, Field Magic is not used in battle, limitless in uses, and leveled up through story progress. Basic Field Magic will open doors, push rocks, lift boulders, and blow up stuff. The more advanced kind do some pretty interesting tings as well. Golden Sun fans will find this system familiar.

Dungeon Features

• Current Area Map
• Toggle ON/OFF
• 100% accurate placement of Hero and other events, updated to the game tick
• Upgradeable through Add-Ons
• Treasure Box Detector
• Ghost Detector
• Invisible Treasure Detector
• Field Magic System
• Interact with the dungeon to progress
• Lift, Push, Pull, Explode and more to objects in your way.
• Hold down "Shift" to utilize the magic quickly
  

Super Pocket RPG: Game Update Log [#2]

As promised, this will be the log to log all updates, specifically and informatively. Whenever I update Monster Tamers, this post will be moved to the top of the page for easier access.

Update #2: 10/24/07
It's been too long, and I wish I had more to say. However, some big changes are happening with Monster Tamers. First of all, and probably most importantly, the current story will be removed. This may seem a bit odd to get rid of the story, but I think overall this will be better for the game. Instead of going for a story-driven game, I have opted out for a mechanic-driven game. As much as I would have liked to have made this a deep game, I don't see myself getting too far in game like that. For completion's sake, it's better that I stick with something simple. That new simple plot is yet to be decided on, but it shouldn't be too hard to think up.

This simplification of Monster Tamers also applies to dungeons. For those of you who have played the original Dragon Warrior Monsters, you'll know what I mean by "simple dungeons." Without pictures, this is a bit hard to explain. Basically, you get to the dungeon by going through a portal. All of the portals are found in the main castle, which is your HQ, and more portals are unlocked through story progression and secrets. This way you can focus more and amassing your horde of monsters both rare and powerful without being bogged down with story elements.

Update #1: 9/9/07
So far, we are looking at exactly 16 Monsters that are possible to make, and about 14 of those you can fight. Generally, the number of monsters you can make will be higher that those you actually fight. That is because of the "Monster Essence" system. In other words, I may never fight a SpotSlime but if I use extract essences from a Slime and an Antbear I can make one, providing I have the recipe.

I've also been fooling around the difficulty of the enemies. I've realized that once you get four monsters in your party (I was able to do so in about one hour of playing) the battle get rather easy. This is because the max number of monsters you can fight is 3, so when you have 3 monsters plus yourself, you have the speed advantage. I decided to combat this with simply raising the enemies hit points, in stead of fooling around with ATK and PDEF. Of course, I also adjusted the speed to make sure they get to attack before they die.

Super Pocket RPG: Monster Tamers Overview

(Click for full sized image)

(This post will change frequently as more information is revealed. Updates will be noted and a permanent link to this post can be found on the left frame. This will be were most general info on the game can be found.)

Title: Super Pocket RPG: Monster Tamers
Author: U Division Games
Genre: RPG
Date Started: June 10th, 2007
Players: 1 Player

GENERAL PLOT:

"In the center of the continent of Arpsi, there has always been a land referred to as the Promised Land. However, like an oasis in the middle of a desert, the Promised Land has always been surrounded by the most powerful monsters. The closer to the Promised Land, the more fearsome the creatures of the wild. The kingdoms of the continent have always lived in fear of the great power. That was, until now. Thanks to the much advancement in Magic, Alchemy, and increasing military strength, it will not be long before each kingdom tries its hand at claiming the place first. However, simply having the forces of the entire continent rush into a bloody fight would make it necessary for the Promised Land to be divvied up accordingly. So, eliminating the threat beforehand has become the new plan of action. The East and West sides of Arpsi have forged their own alliances and it is only a matter of time before war between the kingdoms, and eventually war for the Promised Land."

"In order to fight that war, the Kingdoms need warriors. Only humans with special blood can use Alchemy, and therefore, can tame Monsters. You are part of one such family, the Makyar Clan. With your father already a General in the Dalmoss army and the first draft wave already happening, it will not be soon before you must be drafted into the war yourself. But thanks to your Makyar Blood, you will join the ranks of the most powerful military unit, the Monster Tamers."

FEATURES:
(These will get their own separate pages but for now their info can be found here.)

• A lot of different monsters to fight and tame. 90+!
  
• The ability to roam the world from the beginning of the game, giving access to hard monster early on
• Your monster can learn moves during battle by getting hit by the given move. This is decided by monster family.
• A journal that keeps track of you Main Quest, Secondary Quest, and all of the Side-Quests making it easy to figure out exactly how much of the game you've beaten.
• The player can trade monsters with other tamers in the game to diversify the line-up.
• The hero fights side by side with his monsters in order to tame them.
• Bestiary add-on that you can download from the site.
  

Taming – Despite what you’d think, you don’t actually tame wild monsters. You only tame the monsters you create from their Essence. These are taken from the monster during battle, by using the technique of Extracting. There are many different ways to tame a monster, but as a Warrior Tamer your expertise lies in raising them for battle. A fully tamed monster is one at its’ highest level possible.

Extracting – During Battle, attack a monster with the skill “Extract” and it will begin flashing purple if the skill is successful. Once it is in that condition, the monster will continue to drop Essences until it either is killed or if the Extract wears off. NOTICE: You can Extract from just about any monster, but you can only create those whose recipe have.. However, you can still sell the Essences of monsters you cannot create.

Monster Essences – Monster Essences are material that can be Extracted from a Monster. These are used in order to create new monsters. In addition to this, Monster Essences can also be used as healing items, trade goods, quest items, and in rare cases, equipment.

Monster Material – In addition to monster Essences, certain Materials are needed to create certain monsters. Unlike Essences, these can be purchased from stores.

Monstrous Alchemy – In order to create a monster from its Essences, Monstrous Alchemy is used by the top Monster Alchemist. Depending on which monster, multiple Essences may be needed or different.

Monstrous Alchemy – Tools – There is special tools needed in order to perform Monstrous Alchemy. They are not used up in the process and can be purchased as well. They are the "Transmutation Stone" and "Transmutation Shard."

Super Pocket RPG: Monster Tamers announced

Finally, after too long of a wait, the newest entry into the U Division line-up has been revealed. However, it may have to be done in bits and pieces. I've decided that rather then make new pages using the old U Division template, it would be better and more accessible to just post them instead, and then just update the frame on the left with the most useful links. The first of these updates along with more information on Super Pocket RPG: Monster Tamers should be up soon.