FMP 20 - 22nd August

Done with the 'Forefront'-posts for now, I have been able to focus a bit more on the game, though it did bite into it a bit anyway.

I spent some time finishing up the event-system (and by 'event', I mean a little cut-scene of sorts) - it's a little bit messy, but I cannot see how else to make it without having an obscene number of scripts or script-to-script interaction. It is definitely possible to add more events to it, but if that gets too messy then I can just make a new script for that scene and so on - the ground-functions are there, and it works, so.

I spent the last of the week researching- and drawing different versions of the players partner for the game - where did they meet, how (which is why I planned the event-system for here), and of course, what would the character look like.

I like the Paper-Mario approach of none of the partners being human, so, beyond the Parrot-partner you get in this demo, I also had plans for a type of sophisticated Monkey, maybe a stowaway Sea-rat, an ensorcelled Cannon maybe even - stuff like that.
For this version, only the Parrot will be included - simply because there needs to be a reason and a story behind why the characters are introduced, and that does not take place in this demo.

One thing I haven't really talked about yet, is the difference in dialogue between Paper Mario and Curse of Monkey Island, example. In Monkey Island, the main character, Guybrush, and his interactions and dialogue with different characters is one of the main parts of the game, and all of the dialogue is recorded by actors. In contrast, in Paper Mario, Mario doesn't say a thing (he sometimes shakes his head and stuff like that) - instead, all of the dialogue is handled by the partners. This makes sense in the Mario-games-universe, because Mario never actually has lines, and it is a cool approach, because it means the player can put themselves in Marios stead more easily.

For this demo I have planned for the partner to handle the speaking, but I have yet to decide if the main character will talk in future versions of the game.

Till next!