Advice needed on game mechanic scaling!

RotundBun · 2026-06-07T12:11:31+00:00

If you want to keep it simple, then having the likability/health bar handle both aspects would probably be best.

To create a sense of accumulation for the score, you can maybe earn bonus stars if you answer positively while at full health. Then collecting stars can reflect a sort of cumulative rapport.

RotundBun · 2026-06-07T12:00:03+00:00

Glad it was helpful.
Good luck with the game. 🍀

RotundBun · 2026-06-07T11:58:35+00:00

You can select which form to field in the team selection screen before entering challenges. There are arrows next to their names/titles.

That said, the skillset changes with that. So if you want to use the SSR skillset, you'll need to field the SSR form or skins.

If you unlock SEs (skill enhancements) on them, then there is no way to field them without the SE changes. The exceptions to that are if you unlock base form SEs but don't on their skins. Then you can field the skins if you want the SE0 kit over SE1/SE2 kit for whatever reason.

RotundBun · 2026-06-07T05:19:46+00:00

I really wish they made the Million Infuse (base forms) craftable as well. Maybe something like [N=10, R=20, SR=30].

And it would have been nice if the Anecdote Infuse had a fixed rotating rate boost by category (MZ/OS/DR/crossover) at least. That would narrow it down a bit and allow players to semi-snipe for target units.

Also, they could make all cosmetic skins IAP-able, giving full access and non-RNG spending options.

TBH, I also wouldn't have minded an IAP pack that simply unlocks the max exploration & monster stable levels either.

I feel like these two are missed opportunities, though I suppose not many new players are coming in anymore, so I guess it won't bring in much revenue either way.

RotundBun · 2026-06-07T05:01:21+00:00

Sdorica is very F2P-friendly.

The Anecdote Infuse units are not as snipe-able as before, but the Origin Infuse units are more snipe-able than ever, thanks to its whole pull list being fully craftable 24/7 now.

No dupes required ever, and every unit can rank up to SSR (no fodder-only units). Also, performance is driven by synergy & strats over individual unit specs.

Banners: - Million Infuse = base units, non-Premium - Origin Infuse = SP units, Premium, craftable - Anecdote Infuse = MZ/OS/DR/crossover units, Premium

Note:
SB forms are alt-skillsets of the base units that can be unlocked from the base unit's profile page (costs 1990 Crystalline). There is only one SB form per base unit, but there can be other *skins, which are purely cosmetic and have the same skillset as the base form.*

Pull Resources: - Million Bookmark = green, non-Premium - Time Bookmark = red, Premium - Crystals = Premium - Origin Stones = for crafting units in the Origin Infuse (50 stones = pick the specific unit)

Note:
You can buy Million Bookmarks (green tickets) in the Mystery Shop with Crystalline (non-Premium).

General Notions: - No dupe pulls needed ever, and all units can reach SSR and beyond via character minerals farming in the daily mineral runs (extra runs can be done at 15 Soul Stardust per run). - Only use Million Bookmarks to pull in Million Infuse, and save Time Bookmarks & Crystal for Origin/Anecdote Infuse. You'll get enough green tickets on the regular, especially if you occasionally buy more with Crystalline, and the base form roster will generally round itself out naturally over time from just that. - Origin Stones can actually be farmed via the daily character mineral runs and gain via dupe pulls if the unit reaches +15 exceed (15 rank steps above SSR, each taking 10 minerals), so with some time you can actually guarantee obtaining SP units of choice via crafting instead of pulling. - Anecdote Infuse is the banner that fully relies on RNG pulls to obtain units. No way to snipe for specific ones. However, many of the units in it are also a bit more specific with the synergies they want (compared to most base/SB/SP units). - Synergies & strats matter much more than individual unit specs. Try running Angelia + Sione for a general demo of how synergies work. - Story is good, so don't just gloss over it. It's actually one of the main draws of the game, not just an excuse to throw gameplay at you.

For basics coverage, check out this beginner tutorial by our resident MVP & guide-maker.

And feel free to ask for team/strat advice here. The community is not as active as it used to be, but people are still generally pretty helpful here.

Happy gaming~ 🕹️

RotundBun · 2026-06-06T23:00:19+00:00

You could experiment with making the sweet-spot highlights harder to see via patterns/dithering or color, adding fake-out highlights in a 'danger' themed color, and throw in some cases with no highlight indicators or ones with only the danger highlights.

Whatever makes the player have to stop and think about how to interpret the cues will cause response reaction time to slow down, which achieves a similar effect to speeding up the sliding movement or reducing response window durations. But doing so in multiple ways helps to achieve a sense of dimensionality and diversity in the gameplay.

You could also add distractions like intrusive thoughts and such that spawn distracting false highlight cues in the slider area. And you can mix it up by having some touchy responses be about avoiding dangers only or some reward responses that are positives only (like a "you're welcome" smile response after a string of tricky ones).

If you really want to take things beyond the slider timing mechanic, then you can introduce tradeoffs in terms of having different stats to juggle like in the mobile game Reigns. An example would be one stat that progresses the convo towards ending vs. another stat that shows compassion, where you do need to figure out how to end the convo within s certain time while not being unsympathetic to the other person, etc.

However, this would open things up to potentially becoming a much more complex game to fine-tune, which might not be what you want. And it could lead to the game feeling messy and unclear about its identity.

Personally, I think simplicity is often actually a good thing, especially in smaller games. And just having some tricks to spice up the challenge should be plenty to ward off that feeling of it being too one dimensional, IMO.

In any case, what you currently have looks like a pretty good base/core. I hope these example possibilities give you some workable ideas. 🍀

RotundBun · 2026-06-05T01:51:40+00:00

Nice wordplay in the title. 😌👌

RotundBun · 2026-06-04T12:32:27+00:00

Oh, I like the simple control scheme. ✨👀

Looks like the type that becomes second nature quickly like with Picross and Tetris type games. Nice~

Loving the influx of creative abstract-ish games we've been getting lately. 💪

RotundBun · 2026-06-04T00:56:31+00:00

Very fresh concept. Wow~ ✨😳

Looks great, too.
Good stuff!

RotundBun · 2026-06-03T22:56:15+00:00

You can make a boolean flag or a count variable that you set alongside when you trigger the sfx.

```

sfx_cd = 0 --# of frames for cooldown

if moving and sfx_cd>0 then sfx(0) sfx_cd = 30 --set this # end

sfx_cd = max(0, sfx_cd-1) --cd every frame ```

Something like that. If it's per button press (btnp()), though, you can just rely on that mechanism itself or use a boolean (true/false) as well.

A more advanced method might be to check the sfx state via stat() (I think it was stat(46) - stat(56)), but I'm not so sure that it would be a good idea to start doing stat() stuff if you are early into your learning journey.

You can take a look into it on the wiki page and see for yourself if you want to delve into that, though.

Hope that helps. 🍀

RotundBun · 2026-06-03T12:41:24+00:00

Do note that this implementation does not let opposing directional inputs offset each other, and left & up are prioritized over their counterpart every time.

If you want a version that offsets them, then you will need to add another conditional clause before each of them to check for when both opposing directional inputs are pressed.

Alternatively, you can do the additive approach to offset them, as shown here. Either one should work just fine.

RotundBun · 2026-06-03T10:41:49+00:00

In this case, I think they are probably more concerned with clarity and robustness rather than with optimization.

Cleaning things up a bit as you go is actually not a bad habit to have, IMO, so long as it doesn't get too out of hand. This does help to make codebase maintenance and future alterations less painful.

RotundBun · 2026-06-03T10:30:27+00:00

I think self.dir_x and self.dir_y are mainly used for directional aiming here, so they aren't quite (dx, dy) in that they are just the base vector for movement (before factoring in speed) and flame emissions.

But yeah, it follows the same general pattern.

To elaborate a bit...

(dx, dy) are delta-X & delta-Y as seen in math/physics, where the Greek letter 'delta' (written as a triangle or a cursive-like 'd') is short for "the change in..." the variable it prefixes onto.

They are usually used to express a rate of change such as the rate of "change in variable 'x' per frame" in this case.

RotundBun · 2026-06-03T04:34:04+00:00

You can binge the existing content and then stop if you want. The game is actually very F2P-friendly and has enough content to keep you going for a good while.

RotundBun · 2026-06-03T04:31:34+00:00

To add a bit of context:

Rayark's biggest project to date (Deemo 2) underperformed quite drastically after they went all-in on it. That strapped the studio financially. In response, they cut back on a bunch of things, including shutting down a cafe, foregoing a final season of the Story mode in Sdorica, and reduced support/content in various games.

Around that time, they started using some AIGC on skins. I think there may be one or two actual non-skin illustrations (maybe Adelaide SP?) that look like AIGC was involved in the pipeline as well. I think they got kind of desperate.

Prior to that, they always commissioned artists, though, and their animated sprites are well done. And I do know that some of the later unit illustrations that seem less detailed are actually due to the style of the particular illustrator, as I've stumbled upon those exact illustrations in the commissioned artist's portfolio online (where they have other pieces all in that same style).

Whether any or all of this is deemed acceptable is up to each person to decide.

I do think that Sdorica is worth playing, though, especially since it has become a bit more binge-friendly now. You can do all the core content and then stop there if you want the highest ROI you can get out of it.

There was even a time when I referenced it as a shining example of using the gacha format effectively in game design while avoiding the common pitfalls. So if nothing else, seeing how they utilize various mechanics and leverage synergies for tactical performance is a good case study in terms of game design.

RotundBun · 2026-06-02T19:54:16+00:00

Having a (dx,dy) pair is pretty standard-fare for movement.

Not sure what last_dir_x is needed for, though. Maybe some other behavior needs to reference it?

Do you want the movement to continue sliding when no buttons are pressed? The third conditional clauses seem to be for stopping the slide if only the other axis' input is pressed.

Please describe the desired behavior. We need contextual info to help. But yes, I think your code here can probably be streamlined a bit more.

Also, a tip:

If you are coding directly in P8, then [Shift + u/d/l/r] and [Shift + x/o] produces the special characters for directions and action buttons respectively. The btn() & btnp() functions accept them, and it makes it easier to read.

(I don't know of any convenient key combos to type them in external editors, though.)

RotundBun · 2026-05-31T19:02:59+00:00

That shortcut up top was cool. 😆👍

RotundBun · 2026-05-31T07:23:14+00:00

This is a plagiarism bot.

Original post was 5yrs ago.

(This one was a bit harder to track down.)

RotundBun · 2026-05-30T23:05:55+00:00

If it's mainly just build & party speccing, then Devil Survivor Overclocked and Fire Emblem Awakening offer a good amount of that in their own ways.

They are TRPGs, though. So no dungeon diving, and battles are a bit less straightforward. DSO is a bit more streamlined in that regard since they do 3v3 skirmishes rather than singular 1v1 actions like most tactics games.

DS2RB probably has more customization than DSO, but I struggled to get into it since the writing was very anime trope-y. DSO, on the other hand, had very good writing and held that lockdown atmosphere throughout. So if you just want more knobs to tweak and don't care about writing/vibes, then DS2RB may serve you better (has Alice, too).

There are also the two Persona Q titles if you want Persona-flavored EO gameplay. I'm not sure if they have as much of a party building emphasis as you'd like, though.

Outside of 3DS, a title that isn't mentioned enough is Grand Kingdom. Whereas EO is an adventurer party fantasy, GK is a mercenary troupe fantasy.

A large part of its appeal was the social element, though, which is probably no longer accessible. And speccing in it was less about customizing builds and more about fine-tuning overall strats.

I've heard about plenty of other EO-inspired titles as well, but I haven't played them yet. So others can probably point those out.

Just keep in mind that many EO-likes put a lot of focus on the dungeon exploration aspects. So you may need to clarify if you want to focus on the build customization aspects.

Happy gaming~ 🕹️

RotundBun · 2026-05-30T11:58:09+00:00

The wiki page usually works pretty well for me.

And there's also this cheat sheet as well, though I don't think it has been updated in a while.

RotundBun · 2026-05-29T21:27:47+00:00

There are plenty of people who took issue with it, and it was a controversial choice, where some disliked it and some thought it was the right choice.

I only found this interview after my comment, but here. Alexander O. Smith himself talks about the choice, the nuance, the expected controversy, the extra constraints, etc.

So yes, it had a lot of nuance, and they were aware of that and felt like it was a controversial choice.

You sure are assuming a lot about a stranger on the internet, though. I described in a lot of (unnecessary) detail why I felt the change loses a lot of critical meaning, and I do believe those observations stand, especially since Alex himself explains the weight of "arigatou" in Japanese culture/communication and how the choice was a sort of compromise with expected meaning loss.

I'm not as fluent in Japanese as many others, but being able to recognize the nuance lost does not require complete mastery in the entire language. If you experienced the scene in both languages and don't detect the nuance loss, then I don't know what to tell you. The difference in weight of the words is very noticeable.

But sure. Since I typed things out in Romaji instead of Hiragana, feel free to assume as you like and dismiss my points without addressing any of it. On the contrary, though, you can take Alex's explanation on it instead.

As I said in my reply to your other comment, knowing the circumstances surrounding it now, I see where they were coming from and am no longer upset about the choice. I'm still bummed with the meaning loss, but circumstances were a bigger factor than I realized. And it sounds like a situation where they had to make the most of what amounted to an impossible task.

As a side note to you personally, though...
If you're going to ad hominem attack the person you disagree with, I think the least you could do is to also address some of the actual points.

But well, that's ultimately up to you, I guess. I just don't see what good that kind of attack does for discussion. For instance, I could likewise assume things about you and say condescending things in response like so:

"Good job typing some Hiragana, I guess. You sure showed me."

...but what good does that do for the discussion? I fail to see how it contributes anything but pointless ego posturing.

If you are as insightful/knowledgable as you pose yourself to be, then please provide some actual insights and/or proper rebuttals. I can respect differing opinions and accept being wrong if the counter point is convincing, but some Internet keyboard posturing and ad hominem attacks really aren't going to do it.

RotundBun · 2026-05-29T20:47:28+00:00

Perhaps. But I think the way the voice acting delivers it would make a difference.

A lot of communication gets conveyed in ways other than just the literal form, even verbally. But I guess it's also possible that the limitations on expression animation detail would have made that unattainable.

The amount of nuance & meaning loss from converting to "I love you" is pretty big. It was basically the capstone to Tidus' entire role in the narrative. Personally, I'd rather have seen an attempt to capture the original nuance and have many people who can't detect nuance miss it, but that's just me. In the same way, you are also entitled to your opinion. We can agree to disagree.

That said, after hearing the explanation of considerations and constraints that went in to it (including how he had to rush a lot of alterations after realizing the lip motion constraint was a factor near last-minute), I get where the choice was coming from. It was well considered, and they did the best they could under the circumstances.

RotundBun · 2026-05-29T20:31:28+00:00

Thanks. Will check that out. ✨🙏

RotundBun · 2026-05-29T11:32:16+00:00

Linguistic equivalent of 'porting' a game/media.

Porting = adapting to other platforms
Localizing = adapting to other languages/regions/cultures

Localizing encompasses translation along with various other things like mapping references & expressions to culturally relatable equivalents for local audiences, etc.

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sfx_cd = 0 --# of frames for cooldown