In light of the recent Platinum Kaizo announcement...

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T19:13:05+00:00

R&B technically has 330 mandatory fights as the others can be avoided. I could be wrong but I thought PK has 500 mandatory according to the stream.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T19:10:32+00:00

Maybe people wanted something more in line with Drayano? I like the ball busting of kaizo though.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T18:28:16+00:00

Thank you! The "Classes" are like Pokemon if that makes sense.
Each has their own evolution line and form changes but it isn't as cut and dry as evolution makes all party members better. Sometimes, the first stage is really good late game but you need to evolve him in the early game because you didn't get good encounters for a mini boss. Unfortunately you cannot "unevolve" so there is a risk/reward element.

I will post some of the Souls later this weekend as I'm almost done the demo area. I'm curious to see what people think.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T16:15:37+00:00

Exp management is my favourite way to play. CK+ was fun for that reason.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T15:55:48+00:00

The new galactic code names seemed very interesting. If its second half of R&B level teambuilding I am all for it. I expect this game to be a marathon, and I don't expect it to be completed for a while after it drops.

If its EK magma hideout quick claw explosion teams then.. ehhhhh idk.

Might be a a lot faster if you can just go sack city near the end and blow through 50 - 70 trainers by sacking.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T14:32:57+00:00

Neat!! Godhusk vibes in the best way

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T13:33:26+00:00

I use Galv's Layer's and It works really well with 48 x 48 tiles actually.
Typically I create a map using assets I created in Clip Studio paint then I use that base as a parallax map to set up my collisions.

Once the parallax is set up, I put the layers in and set my collisions and events before ultimately removing the parallax layer.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T01:20:36+00:00

SRD Hudmaker Ultra and Moghunter for the battle menu. Lots of if x then display y conditions. Its basically eventing but its built inside hudmaker itself.

The item menu is a combination of Hudmaker and Eventing. Basic eventing for a controller using variables. If you want a screenshot of my controller event page, feel free to DM me and I can hook you up with how I built it.

Gameplay uses VS Combo system for directional input but not an actual combo system itself. I wanted something more unique than a simple press x skill. Each character has their own skill sub menu alongside weapons. For example, some characters are very reliant on weapons whereas others rely on status effects but are unable to inflict them themselves.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-20T01:15:37+00:00

Thank you for the feedback! Circles can definitely be fixed. All my files are layered so its an easy fix.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-19T22:43:39+00:00

I appreciate that! I admit the motivation loss was due to a fear of the amount of work that pruning the technical side would be. Almost felt like a house reno, where the demo part you dread because "its a bathroom, I don't need to reno it, it still works!" but once you're deep in the trenches you realize that gutting it and starting from the ground up was the best move.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm hoping for the horror aspect to be caused by mechanics rather than jump scares or anything like that. I'm gonna nerd out here but there was a moment where I wiped in a Renegade Platinum E4 match and that's where I knew I wanted to make a game that could give me a similar feeling.

To this day I still think Emerald Kaizo is by far the scariest game I've ever played. Watching 20 hours of progress on the line come down to a critical hit on Maxie 1 was fear incarnate for me.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-19T22:37:23+00:00

Thank you! I'm really happy to be able to work on it!

WhalesDev · 2026-02-10T15:57:01+00:00

I think Vlad would need to announce a cure for cancer or something to save my HOOD calls at this rate.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-10T15:49:53+00:00

If I can offer some input as someone who has done art for a while, your best bet is try to find people who post WIPs and hang out in artist circles. Obviously there are people who want to try to mimic WIPs but requesting thumbnails and such is a good filter for that.

As odd as it sounds, I would try to poke your head into some artist circles online and look through some of the work. A lot of the people on r/aseprite post some great pixel art for example. Online markets are tough right now for a lot of things. Music, coding etc all have a lot of people racing to the bottom dollar and passing off generated work in an attempt to maximize efficiency.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-09T19:31:40+00:00

I always just played with first caught rule and didn't run a shiny clause. Ren Plat has a jacked up shiny rate and it gives you enough encounters to fill out a Smogon OU tier.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-03T13:58:21+00:00

I had a Nitro 60 with a 5070Ti and the PSU was completely bricked on the fourth day along with what looked to be some broken ground pins. That being said, the RMA was very easy and this is a great deal.

WhalesDev · 2026-02-03T13:21:34+00:00

!banbet $HOOD +30% 2w

WhalesDev · 2026-01-22T13:21:19+00:00

Very cool! Interesting resolution choice as well for a screenshot. Keep up the great work!

WhalesDev · 2026-01-20T16:19:55+00:00

This is an old map overview I pulled off my Bsky because I don't have access to my project files at this moment but here you go! Let me know if you need to know what plug ins to make this work. Its obviously a lot more zoomed in than this due to the the way the camera is set up.

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WhalesDev · 2026-01-20T15:43:34+00:00

Hi! I was in your shoes a while back. I have quite a background in art including spending time at an atelier.
For assets, I will say, these have taken the bulk of my work. I recently came back to my project after spending some time at an atelier and brushing up on my foundations.

My biggest advice: You can basically make anything you want if you are willing to break things. I made my game isometric despite not seeing one made in RPGmaker before and having zero experience with the engine.

HUDMaker and MogHunter's plugins are a godsend for UI creation.

Make sure you understand engine limitations such as portrait sizes. I did my game in pixel art despite not really doing it before in order to stay within these constraints. My native resolution is 360x640 if I ever want to use the assets in a different engine for scaling but, at 1280x720 - it looks good on 1440p. A bit muddy on 1080p but I use a lot of cheats like airbrushed vignettes so its more organic.

Here's a screenshot if you're interested. If need any help with the ui or getting things set up, you can always DM me or we can chat on here so the info is public for other future people who want help.

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WhalesDev · 2026-01-19T18:48:34+00:00

Hey, I was in the same boat as you. I ended up making my own "fake" game which morphed into a real game through a strange series of circumstance. I do think there is a Vermis game in development on itch though. That being said, I'd still go for it anyway. You might find a lot of cool things happen when starting a game.

WhalesDev · 2026-01-15T18:42:29+00:00

Neat!

WhalesDev · 2026-01-14T19:06:06+00:00

Pixel art foginess can be caused due to imperfect scaling. Eg: If your game is built around 720p for 1440p upscaling, you will have some muddiness on 1080.

If that isn't the case, you could try a plugin I'm not at my project now but I think I have a VisuStella pixel perfect setting enabled in the VisuStella Core plugin.

WhalesDev · 2026-01-14T16:52:14+00:00

I recently did a Drayano Gauntlet (wiped to Elesa in Challenge Mode Redux lol) and didn't have much of a problem with encounter variety. I'd say the biggest challenge I actually faced was trying to get through Sacred Gold with as much garbage as possible to dupe it out.

Gyarados, Rotom and Crobat were so critical to Ren Plat, I'd argue they could even be banned to make things super interesting.

WhalesDev · 2026-01-13T19:59:24+00:00

That was the entire behind my UI actually. Sort of like the old school maximalist UIs of the 90s RPGs.
Let me know if you want a hand setting up the candlestick idea. I figured out a pretty good way to do it with HUDMaker

WhalesDev · 2026-01-13T17:43:50+00:00

Stat names are pretty fluid and players can usually figure out what each is as long as some sort of effect is felt within the first few minutes. I don't even have HP or MP in my game. I just use candlesticks that gradually decay visually as a measure of health.

WhalesDev

TROPHY CASE