I remember the old Mysteed design, I agree the new one looks much more like a knight! Collie hanging on the back makes me worry she'll fall of though, like her whole head is hanging over the chair!
Mysteed made me thin it was Myseed at first, which is certainly an interesting name. It also makes me think of Mist, or the game Myst!
The world map makes me wonder whether Mysteed can fly? If so, they could surely just use it to fly over everything and circumvent the plot! Then again, I guess it's not like that's ever an issue in something like FF with airships.
It also does rather look like they're flying in the foreground, maybe they could instead be little face icons hovering above the Mysteed icon on the map, with dialogue taking place using the usual dialogue system with them appearing at the bottom of the screen?
I do like the world map idea, it serves as a good way to get an easy impression of how every stage of the game actually connects. The one you posted here reminds me of the one from Sindrel song, though obviously still very much WIP.
My understanding of games that release and see continued development are either cases where the game releases in early access and isn't finished yet, so the developer is pretty much bound to finish the game or suffer heavy reputation damage, or they do have a full release but the developer keeps updating the game as more of a part-time thing, often while starting on their next project unless the release rakes in enough money that they don't need to.
My understanding of mobile games is you have tiers of investment, ranging from pure free2play who never make in-app purchases, people who make a single purchase, people who spend irregularly or regularly spend a little, and finally the big and regular spenders. Every tier is progressively smaller in quantity, but also more lucrative, and the key to financial success is getting the biggest spenders hooked and all that. It's as predatory as it sounds, of course.
I didn't read much of the stuff about the virtual pet idea, it's not my kind of thing.
I do think however that a different idea that fits your criteria as a side project you can keep adding content to as you wish would be something like Alora Fane: Creation. New props, tilesets, special effects and entities can all be content you can keep adding on the side, with some being locked behind paywalls if need be. You've done it before and got it to an almost release-ready state, so I know it's something you're very much capable of.
1
Tobias 1104~2Y
It is flying! I could just have the characters riding the Mysteed appear as some dialogue thing when necessary but otherwise they're just shown as an icon, but it'd require coding some special case to show the Mysteed and its riders... though I suppose I'll be coding some special case to get the dialogue working anyway, ehh. This just seemed the least convoluted, plus I liked the idea that the characters' faces there could change based on the plot state or something. This is brand new though so chances are it'll change into something else over time anyway!
I'm basing what I said about indie devs intending to work on their games in the long term on posts I've seen in the various relevant subreddits, though it's been a while and I didn't delve too deeply so I could have been mistaken. Do Minecraft and Stardew Valley do that kind of thing, where they're always getting new updates? I don't know, but if they do then that might be the kind of thing that could have inspired other devs to see their games as ongoing 'games as a service'.
I've seen the terms 'minnow' and 'dolphin' to refer to the ranks of whales!
AFC was another idea that I've explored a few different ideas for. I got as far as starting a Unity file for it and everything. But something I remember about people's usage of it back in the day was that they didn't really seem to make use of battles except for (often silly) plot reasons, and my attempts to make quests like I'd make an RPG with plotless obstacle battles were seen as tedious? So I was playing around with ideas for how to use some variant of the sentiments-based 'social interactions' system, where you could use battles in a much more narrative way... though I got discouraged for various reasons. I can't remember if I ever wrote about it?
I'd likely make that for PC/Steam, but adding new content would have to take the form of big DLCs or something to be worthwhile, otherwise I'd be facing that issue of spending time on something which isn't actually leading to increased income.
1
Maniafig219~2Y
It's true that in the quests of most people combat was mostly limited to either quick jokes or ways to advance the plot, so only really battles against plot-related bosses and such. I think having the engine be social instead would fit much better for what most people use the engine for.
The fact that you could make custom spells actually did mean you could make battles be non-combat. I did make one quest where the battles were kind of social encounters (physical attacks just did 0 damage I think), and another where your spells are paint and your physical attack actually heals, so you can only progress by painting the 'enemy'.
A totally different way to do combat is to resolve it automatically through the use of dialogue boxes, spell flashes, movement/spawning/despawning and taking/giving items to imply actions. Items in particular are super versatile, you can give and take a custom item to do all kind of things, like have a fancy key act as a telephone, or use gemstones to simulate dice rolls.
I'm actually doing a collaborative quest right now with some people from the old AF site, and so far we've had characters do a dance battle, warp into other dimensions, smash enemies with giant pillars and use a different character as a bowling ball. All without any actual combat, of course. It's surprising how versatile the engine can be if you use what's available!
1
MontyCallay99~2Y
I actually really liked the battles as social interactions idea that you've played around with in the past (the last project was called Belief, right?) precisely because you have the potential for silly and/or narratively coherent situations to develop even in regular battles. Also may be an approachable way to convey your "elements" system.
Mysteed made me thin it was Myseed at first, which is certainly an interesting name. It also makes me think of Mist, or the game Myst!
The world map makes me wonder whether Mysteed can fly? If so, they could surely just use it to fly over everything and circumvent the plot! Then again, I guess it's not like that's ever an issue in something like FF with airships.
It also does rather look like they're flying in the foreground, maybe they could instead be little face icons hovering above the Mysteed icon on the map, with dialogue taking place using the usual dialogue system with them appearing at the bottom of the screen?
I do like the world map idea, it serves as a good way to get an easy impression of how every stage of the game actually connects. The one you posted here reminds me of the one from Sindrel song, though obviously still very much WIP.
My understanding of games that release and see continued development are either cases where the game releases in early access and isn't finished yet, so the developer is pretty much bound to finish the game or suffer heavy reputation damage, or they do have a full release but the developer keeps updating the game as more of a part-time thing, often while starting on their next project unless the release rakes in enough money that they don't need to.
My understanding of mobile games is you have tiers of investment, ranging from pure free2play who never make in-app purchases, people who make a single purchase, people who spend irregularly or regularly spend a little, and finally the big and regular spenders. Every tier is progressively smaller in quantity, but also more lucrative, and the key to financial success is getting the biggest spenders hooked and all that. It's as predatory as it sounds, of course.
I didn't read much of the stuff about the virtual pet idea, it's not my kind of thing.
I do think however that a different idea that fits your criteria as a side project you can keep adding content to as you wish would be something like Alora Fane: Creation. New props, tilesets, special effects and entities can all be content you can keep adding on the side, with some being locked behind paywalls if need be. You've done it before and got it to an almost release-ready state, so I know it's something you're very much capable of.
I'm basing what I said about indie devs intending to work on their games in the long term on posts I've seen in the various relevant subreddits, though it's been a while and I didn't delve too deeply so I could have been mistaken. Do Minecraft and Stardew Valley do that kind of thing, where they're always getting new updates? I don't know, but if they do then that might be the kind of thing that could have inspired other devs to see their games as ongoing 'games as a service'.
I've seen the terms 'minnow' and 'dolphin' to refer to the ranks of whales!
AFC was another idea that I've explored a few different ideas for. I got as far as starting a Unity file for it and everything. But something I remember about people's usage of it back in the day was that they didn't really seem to make use of battles except for (often silly) plot reasons, and my attempts to make quests like I'd make an RPG with plotless obstacle battles were seen as tedious? So I was playing around with ideas for how to use some variant of the sentiments-based 'social interactions' system, where you could use battles in a much more narrative way... though I got discouraged for various reasons. I can't remember if I ever wrote about it?
I'd likely make that for PC/Steam, but adding new content would have to take the form of big DLCs or something to be worthwhile, otherwise I'd be facing that issue of spending time on something which isn't actually leading to increased income.
The fact that you could make custom spells actually did mean you could make battles be non-combat. I did make one quest where the battles were kind of social encounters (physical attacks just did 0 damage I think), and another where your spells are paint and your physical attack actually heals, so you can only progress by painting the 'enemy'.
A totally different way to do combat is to resolve it automatically through the use of dialogue boxes, spell flashes, movement/spawning/despawning and taking/giving items to imply actions. Items in particular are super versatile, you can give and take a custom item to do all kind of things, like have a fancy key act as a telephone, or use gemstones to simulate dice rolls.
I'm actually doing a collaborative quest right now with some people from the old AF site, and so far we've had characters do a dance battle, warp into other dimensions, smash enemies with giant pillars and use a different character as a bowling ball. All without any actual combat, of course. It's surprising how versatile the engine can be if you use what's available!