CryptRat
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According to the last Kickstarter update, the beta phase for Zeboyd Games' next game will begin soon. They're predicting a final release for this summer so maybe we'll get the game this year.
Their site for previous developement updates : Zeboyd Games' site
The premise : Alyssa L'Salle is a top secret agent for the galactic empire. While she's on a mission, she discovers some information that the government doesn't want her to have and so the government reveals her to the world. Will she be able to save the galaxy while everyone is out for her blood?
Some information :
- There are 3 main planets that you'll be adventuring on in Cosmic Star Heroine - Araenu (kind of a cyberpunk vibe), Nuluup (nature & magic), and Rhomu (surface ruined by war with people living in underground cities).
- Similar to the JRPGs of old, there will be linear sections of the game, as well as more non-linear sections where you'll be able to freely explore. We have a number of fun optional quests as well that tie into character & world development and many of which take place in areas you don't visit during the course of the main plot.
- 11 playable characters in total. You'll be able to use 4 characters at a time. Non-active party members will still gain XP. Some sections of the game will mandate the use of certain characters, otherwise, you'll be able to freely pick out of the characters you have available (Alyssa stays in as the leader).
- Combat takes place directly on the exploration maps (no separate battle screen). No random battles; everything is pre-set and some battles can be avoided if you manage to sneak past the enemies. Battles once won tend to stay won, however if you leave a dungeon and return, some battles will respawn (in case you want to get more XP & money).
In combat, there's no MP. Instead, most abilities you have can only be used once until you use a Defend/Recharge move to restore everything. This encourages the player to not just spam the same moves over and over again but instead think on how best to use their whole arsenal.
Two other features closely govern combat. One, as you choose abilities, your character's style score goes up and as that goes up, your abilities become more effective. There are also a few "Burst" abilities that you can use that will spend all of your existing style points for one massive effect. Two, every X turns, your characters will go into Hyper mode and abilities will deal double damage and ailments are more likely to work. Plan in advance to take advantage of hyper & style for combat success.
- Decription of status ailments
I like all their previous games, their combat systems are from the best out there, and this one is more ambitious, their sci-fi setting looks good and everything they've told or showed so far is good. Therefore I expect it to be one of my all time favorites, no pressure.
Their site for previous developement updates : Zeboyd Games' site
(Combat starts at 4:30)
The premise : Alyssa L'Salle is a top secret agent for the galactic empire. While she's on a mission, she discovers some information that the government doesn't want her to have and so the government reveals her to the world. Will she be able to save the galaxy while everyone is out for her blood?
Some information :
- There are 3 main planets that you'll be adventuring on in Cosmic Star Heroine - Araenu (kind of a cyberpunk vibe), Nuluup (nature & magic), and Rhomu (surface ruined by war with people living in underground cities).
- Similar to the JRPGs of old, there will be linear sections of the game, as well as more non-linear sections where you'll be able to freely explore. We have a number of fun optional quests as well that tie into character & world development and many of which take place in areas you don't visit during the course of the main plot.
- No plans for romance in-game.In both the main story & the sidequests, we want to avoid the game just being a series of town, dungeon, boss, repeat, and will have more interesting scenarios. In particular, Final Fantasy VI is a big inspiration as situations like Defending Narshe, the Opera House, the Raft Escape, frequently changing party lineups, and more helped to add a lot of variety to the traditional RPG format. And yes, we're planning on having at least one multi-party dungeon as well as a turn-based hacking mini-game.
- 11 playable characters in total. You'll be able to use 4 characters at a time. Non-active party members will still gain XP. Some sections of the game will mandate the use of certain characters, otherwise, you'll be able to freely pick out of the characters you have available (Alyssa stays in as the leader).
- Combat takes place directly on the exploration maps (no separate battle screen). No random battles; everything is pre-set and some battles can be avoided if you manage to sneak past the enemies. Battles once won tend to stay won, however if you leave a dungeon and return, some battles will respawn (in case you want to get more XP & money).
In combat, there's no MP. Instead, most abilities you have can only be used once until you use a Defend/Recharge move to restore everything. This encourages the player to not just spam the same moves over and over again but instead think on how best to use their whole arsenal.
Two other features closely govern combat. One, as you choose abilities, your character's style score goes up and as that goes up, your abilities become more effective. There are also a few "Burst" abilities that you can use that will spend all of your existing style points for one massive effect. Two, every X turns, your characters will go into Hyper mode and abilities will deal double damage and ailments are more likely to work. Plan in advance to take advantage of hyper & style for combat success.
- Decription of status ailments
We posted an article last year about some ideas we had for making ailments more useful in combat. We thought we'd share an update there on what we're working with now since there have been some changes.
For starters, we're going to be aiming for Cosmic Star Heroine to have fewer, but more meaningful battles than many RPGs. In an RPG where combat is always over quickly, direct damage is always the correct choice (defeat the enemy as quickly as possible) but when you have battles that may last longer, then more interesting strategies become viable.
With the exception of ailments that are specific to a certain type of enemy (like Rust on a robotic enemy), enemies are not immune to ailments.
Ailment success is not random. Essentially each enemy has a separate hidden ailment HP for each ailment type. For example, an enemy might have 40 "Stun HP." If you used a Stun ability that dealt 40 Stun damage, then the enemy would be successfully stunned. Alternatively, if you used a Stun ability that only dealt 20 Stun damage, then the enemy would only be stunned after you used that ability twice on them (or combined it with another stun ability that dealt 20 or more stun damage).
Trying to Stack or repeat the same ailment on the same enemy becomes more and more difficult with each stack.
Some abilities will not just inflict ailments. For example, Alyssa's basic "Bash" attack will deal damage and also has a small stun effect as well.
Some characters will have powerful ailment abilities that are more effective against certain enemy types. For example, Dave's "Hack" ability is more effective at charming robotic enemies than organic or astral enemies.
Here are the ailments we're currently planning to use. As usual, the specifics are subject to change between now and the game's release.
General Ailments:
Enemy Type Specific:
These are ailments that only work on specific classes of enemies. All of these ailments last for the entire battle once they're inflicted.
Special Ailments:
We're hopeful that by increasing the length of the average battle, removing the random aspect of inflicting ailments, designing useful ailments & abilities that inflict them, ailments will become an important and interesting part of combat in Cosmic Star Heroine and not the afterthought that they are in many RPGs.
For starters, we're going to be aiming for Cosmic Star Heroine to have fewer, but more meaningful battles than many RPGs. In an RPG where combat is always over quickly, direct damage is always the correct choice (defeat the enemy as quickly as possible) but when you have battles that may last longer, then more interesting strategies become viable.
With the exception of ailments that are specific to a certain type of enemy (like Rust on a robotic enemy), enemies are not immune to ailments.
Ailment success is not random. Essentially each enemy has a separate hidden ailment HP for each ailment type. For example, an enemy might have 40 "Stun HP." If you used a Stun ability that dealt 40 Stun damage, then the enemy would be successfully stunned. Alternatively, if you used a Stun ability that only dealt 20 Stun damage, then the enemy would only be stunned after you used that ability twice on them (or combined it with another stun ability that dealt 20 or more stun damage).
Trying to Stack or repeat the same ailment on the same enemy becomes more and more difficult with each stack.
Some abilities will not just inflict ailments. For example, Alyssa's basic "Bash" attack will deal damage and also has a small stun effect as well.
Some characters will have powerful ailment abilities that are more effective against certain enemy types. For example, Dave's "Hack" ability is more effective at charming robotic enemies than organic or astral enemies.
Here are the ailments we're currently planning to use. As usual, the specifics are subject to change between now and the game's release.
General Ailments:
- Stun - Skip a turn. Does not stack.
- Charm - Will hurt allies or help enemies. Can stack additional turns.
- Confuse - Has a chance to act regularly (34%), do nothing (33%), or act charmed (33%). Can stack for additional turns.
- Disarm - 30% damage penalty to next attack. Cancels 1 buff. Does not stack.
- Vulnerable - Takes double damage on the next hit. Does not stack.
- Enraged - Will target the most recent enemy that targeted it. Reduces damage of multi-target abilities by 20% but increases the damage of single-target abilities by 30%. Can stack for additional turns.
Enemy Type Specific:
These are ailments that only work on specific classes of enemies. All of these ailments last for the entire battle once they're inflicted.
- Poison - Takes damage at the end of each turn. Organic enemies only. Can stack for additional damage.
- Rust - Takes damage at the end of each turn. Lowers speed by 20%. Robotic enemies only. Does not stack.
- Curse - Lowers attack, defense, and speed by 20%. Astral enemies only. Does not stack.
Special Ailments:
- Fatigue - Reduces Max HP by 10% for the rest of the battle. Stacks up to 5 times.
- Desperate - Automatically inflicted if HP goes below 0. Dies at the end of the next turn if HP is not positive.
- Hypochondria - Lowers resistance to damage & ailments for the rest of the battle. Does not stack.
We're hopeful that by increasing the length of the average battle, removing the random aspect of inflicting ailments, designing useful ailments & abilities that inflict them, ailments will become an important and interesting part of combat in Cosmic Star Heroine and not the afterthought that they are in many RPGs.
I like all their previous games, their combat systems are from the best out there, and this one is more ambitious, their sci-fi setting looks good and everything they've told or showed so far is good. Therefore I expect it to be one of my all time favorites, no pressure.
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