Posted August 21, 2022 by Yozoraki
In other turn-based JRPGs there are two main ways of doing overworld battles- random battles where you don’t see the enemy until the battle starts (Pokemon, OG Final Fantasy), or enemies you can see that chase after you when you get close (Earthbound, Paper Mario). In this devlog, I'm going to explain my choice to go with a mix of these two options, with some inspiration from prop hunt game modes.
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The enemies you fight in Nagayami Nights are ghosts, and these ghosts can hide within objects in the overworld by possessing them. If you get too close to them they will jump out and grab you, triggering a turn-based battle.
As a game developer, this is great because I can add a lot of variety to the overworld without having to create loads of animated sprites for every enemy. I can simply rework sprites of existing overworld objects, and these don’t necessarily correlate to the types of enemies that you’ll face in the turn-based battle.
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When a ghost reacts and jumps out (referred to in-game as a Jumpscare), they’ll hover for a small window of time before grabbing the player. React with the correct timing and you’ll deflect the ghost's grasp and get a boosted SPD stat for the coming battle, and if you miss it then the enemy team has an advantage.
My game isn’t going for horror, but I think this can add some tension to traversing the overworld, especially if the player is on low health and trying their best to avoid any battles. Get flustered by the jumpscare and you’re more likely to miss the deflection timing.
So far, all the hidden ghosts are quite obvious being purple versions of existing sprites, but as you progress further through the game I plan to make the differences smaller and harder to notice. I think there is a lot of room for messing with player expectations too, e.g. a ghost hiding in the slightly defected object next to the ‘obvious’ purple one.
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How does this affect the overall game-loop?
The game works in a ‘run by run’ format similar to a rogue-like game, but the overworld and enemy placement is all handcrafted and persistent with each 'run'. When you exit the dream (aka end a run) your party is fully healed and all the ghosts you defeated will return in the exact same spots.
This is significant because there are no healing items or healing moves (only maxHP healing that reverts after battle), so every battle matters and affects your overall progress in the run; The challenge to traversal is learning where ghosts are hiding and finding ways through the overworld that don’t trigger many battles (unlocking shortcuts, finding blind spots), in addition to the usual way of progressing through growing stronger by levelling up.
I want there to be more to game progress than just grinding and becoming a high enough level to beat a boss, and I hope to do this by focusing on player strategy outside of battles as well as in them.
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Let me know what you think, and if there are any obvious flaws in my design that I'm not seeing (quite likely).
I'm doing my best to write these devlogs weekly from now on, so check back in next week if you're interested. Thanks for reading!