While we are at the topic! One reason why Shadow Dragon is one of the best games in the series is that (on top of being very Ironman Friendly with the third largest cast in the series, generic replacement units, dynamic growths and reclassing options that make it possible to fill roles that died such as healers...) while the maps are pretty big: The game is very simple and straight forward. EVERY unit even Knights have pretty high movement. Whenever I pick this game up I can play a chapter (or even two (early game) chapters while I'm at it) in a session without a problem because it's just the perfect length. The finale is (ironically) a bit eh because the group is split up for some stupid reason. But in general I think that is prolly one of, if not the, smoothest experience you have in the Main Series.
I think Smoothness is a really important concept to understand specifically when designing difficult challenges. Thracia is talked up as this hard as nails game when in reality it's a game that is purposely as not-Smooth (or, 'Bumpy') as possible. It preys on players who don't know it's systems well enough to exploit them, or that don't know what dangers lurk around corners to sucker punch them. Thracia uses its Bumpiness to accomplish a lot in terms of the player's narrative, but displaced from that context, it's nearly a perfect example of what not to do.
I love watching these presentations because there's information that's really relevant to game development in general. When I finish arranging a good amount of FE orchestral covers for practice, I can put more work into my own FE-like game with knowledge like this in mind
While it is still a hack in development I can definitely recommend to check out "The White Feather" from Pent. When I tested it, it had a really good flow to it. And I think the focus on it's gameplay and this flow is a good thing to look out for in a project.
I read the thread in FEU and was totally hooked by the story and cool names of the characters, I was waiting to be finished, but I think that’s a sign to play the game
Interesting concept and not one that only applies to Fire Emblem. I think this is the reason why many people don't finish games in general - myself included.
Pacing, or "Smoothness" are so overlooked in hackrom design. I unironically think Gaiden/Sov is one of the most "smooth" games in the franchise, with smaller, quicker map with not many enemies and lots of tools for playing quickly. It's not always smooth; sometimes you get a desert or swamp map that slogs, although even then with animations off or fast forwarded those maps still aren't very long, just tedious due to the terrain. Anyway Gaiden epic.
Exactly. All that crap about "You HAVE to grind in Sov because blah blah blah" is made up by those who are insecure about checking stats. And prolly a reason why Grinding is more in focus for the current titles... Although I've got to admit that it's easier for the Developers to make sure that a player has the ability to get on the same level as enemy units. However it should not allow you, or better said, it should punish you for overdoing it. So limiting your ability to grind on the harder difficulties and setting all that to a time limit was a good step forward in Three Houses imo. To get back to the topic - You can get through SOV pretty quickly indeed. You don't even need to know what you're doing. As long as you're not playing on Lunatic or so it is pretty easy to get through the majority of Fire Emblem Games.
Question: Would chapter objectives affect smoothness? I know having more varied chapter objectives (seize, escape, route, etc...) can be a good thing. But would too much variety feel less smooth? Maybe when going from one specific objective on one chapter to a drastically different one in the next one?
Depends on execution and length. For example, if you have too many chapters that have long enemy phases in a row, regardless of objective, it could feel drawn out.
I suspect that smoothness is a huge problem with SRPGs in general, I keep dropping them halfway through even though conceptually they're my favorite genre and I spent more time voraciously consuming content about them than playing them :\
turning all of the pixels into circles >:]
While we are at the topic! One reason why Shadow Dragon is one of the best games in the series is that (on top of being very Ironman Friendly with the third largest cast in the series, generic replacement units, dynamic growths and reclassing options that make it possible to fill roles that died such as healers...) while the maps are pretty big: The game is very simple and straight forward. EVERY unit even Knights have pretty high movement. Whenever I pick this game up I can play a chapter (or even two (early game) chapters while I'm at it) in a session without a problem because it's just the perfect length. The finale is (ironically) a bit eh because the group is split up for some stupid reason. But in general I think that is prolly one of, if not the, smoothest experience you have in the Main Series.
I think Smoothness is a really important concept to understand specifically when designing difficult challenges. Thracia is talked up as this hard as nails game when in reality it's a game that is purposely as not-Smooth (or, 'Bumpy') as possible. It preys on players who don't know it's systems well enough to exploit them, or that don't know what dangers lurk around corners to sucker punch them. Thracia uses its Bumpiness to accomplish a lot in terms of the player's narrative, but displaced from that context, it's nearly a perfect example of what not to do.
I love watching these presentations because there's information that's really relevant to game development in general. When I finish arranging a good amount of FE orchestral covers for practice, I can put more work into my own FE-like game with knowledge like this in mind
While it is still a hack in development I can definitely recommend to check out "The White Feather" from Pent. When I tested it, it had a really good flow to it. And I think the focus on it's gameplay and this flow is a good thing to look out for in a project.
I’m planning on playing this one! Nice to see it in a comment section
@@nanotec97 I'm looking forward to newer versions. I did playtesting earlier and I'll probably return to it soon. Have fun.
I read the thread in FEU and was totally hooked by the story and cool names of the characters, I was waiting to be finished, but I think that’s a sign to play the game
Interesting concept and not one that only applies to Fire Emblem. I think this is the reason why many people don't finish games in general - myself included.
Pacing, or "Smoothness" are so overlooked in hackrom design. I unironically think Gaiden/Sov is one of the most "smooth" games in the franchise, with smaller, quicker map with not many enemies and lots of tools for playing quickly. It's not always smooth; sometimes you get a desert or swamp map that slogs, although even then with animations off or fast forwarded those maps still aren't very long, just tedious due to the terrain.
Anyway Gaiden epic.
Exactly. All that crap about "You HAVE to grind in Sov because blah blah blah" is made up by those who are insecure about checking stats. And prolly a reason why Grinding is more in focus for the current titles... Although I've got to admit that it's easier for the Developers to make sure that a player has the ability to get on the same level as enemy units. However it should not allow you, or better said, it should punish you for overdoing it. So limiting your ability to grind on the harder difficulties and setting all that to a time limit was a good step forward in Three Houses imo.
To get back to the topic - You can get through SOV pretty quickly indeed. You don't even need to know what you're doing. As long as you're not playing on Lunatic or so it is pretty easy to get through the majority of Fire Emblem Games.
Question: Would chapter objectives affect smoothness? I know having more varied chapter objectives (seize, escape, route, etc...) can be a good thing. But would too much variety feel less smooth? Maybe when going from one specific objective on one chapter to a drastically different one in the next one?
Depends on execution and length. For example, if you have too many chapters that have long enemy phases in a row, regardless of objective, it could feel drawn out.
Why this is describing what my private hack lacks?
I suspect that smoothness is a huge problem with SRPGs in general, I keep dropping them halfway through even though conceptually they're my favorite genre and I spent more time voraciously consuming content about them than playing them :\
Disgae 1 is NOT smooth; basic nonboss enemy 2 levels lower than party members just 1 shotting all of them in a starting zone map lol