doing "plot flashback"

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jack1974
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doing "plot flashback"

Post by jack1974 »

I'm at scene 08 right now, which is one of the first "flashback personal quest" of the plot.
In practice, one character (Riley in this case) will tell a story about his past, fight several battles, etc. Like Loren's personal quests but with just one character.
Now in this case is even more complex because they're flashbacks, so they can't have the current items :) I have already asked Anima to make me some functions, I can strip a character of the current possession, give some new ones (you can imagine as that character's possessions at the time of the quest/story) and then once the flashback is over, he'll get back his current stuff.
The problem is another one. What should I do with skills ? in theory, the character should be weaker or different from now. However I'm not sure if is possible to just create a "temporary Riley" (to keep the current example) and then switch back to the regular one.
This way though, the XP earned through the flashback is also lost.

I was thinking, even if is unrealistic, to keep the current character skills/attributes and even add XP at the end of it. Or it sounds really a TERRIBLE thing to do? :mrgreen:
renke_
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by renke_ »

it will not break the suspension of disbelief if the flashbacks are done with the current attributes. - after all, the complete Act 1 is a flashback and no one expects to be downgraded to level 1 again for the following parts in the arena :)
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yayswords
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by yayswords »

I think renke made an excellent point there.

Alternatively though, you could use a temporary Riley and just give quest exp at the end. Then Mr. Temp Riley could have a skillbuild designed for the flashback, and you could design the encounters so that you need to use that set of abilities right, instead of worrying that they have to be beatable however you built your Riley.
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Miakoda
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by Miakoda »

I vote for keeping the same stats, if for no other reason than it would save on extra coding on your part.
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jack1974
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by jack1974 »

Miakoda wrote:I vote for keeping the same stats, if for no other reason than it would save on extra coding on your part.
That's sure :)
Also since all quests happens time ago, you can always use the excuse that time has passed and they're not in shape, etc :mrgreen: OK will do that then, thanks

I wrote this explanation, is clear enough:

"{i}Please note: the following quest is a flashback, and will feature one character only. The shared inventory and his/her possession will be temporarily emptied, but you'll get back your items and the equipment at the end of it{/i}"
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fabulaparva
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by fabulaparva »

yayswords wrote:I think renke made an excellent point there.
Alternatively though, you could use a temporary Riley and just give quest exp at the end. Then Mr. Temp Riley could have a skillbuild designed for the flashback, and you could design the encounters so that you need to use that set of abilities right, instead of worrying that they have to be beatable however you built your Riley.
Admittedly, I don't know anything about the inner workings of RenPy, but I do like yayswords' suggestion on Mr Temp Riley.

I guess it would depend on the specifics of the flashback story whether or not having the current attributes would be completely unrealistic or not. So, it might very well be okay to keep the current build and only limit access to their weapons and whatever else items they would've accumulated during the main storyline. Some RPGs make the skill learning a definitive part of the story, eg. it is stated out loud character is suffering from amnesia and as the story progresses from day one, they reacquire their magic spells as they fight in battles. From what I've seen, in SotW, this has not been the case, i.e. you level up your character and gain new abilities, but it's not pinpointed in the dialogue between the fights. Hence leaving the current build is less of an issue here. But it would be odd if during the flashback Riley would have access to, for example, all scrolls Althea/Shea bought in Act I/II.
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Franka
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by Franka »

If I was coding the game, I would create a new character, TempRiley, give him a couple of skills and his own inventory, leaving RealRiley untouched. I don't see the problem with TempRiley's XP being lost. If they're that important, just add a fixed amount to RealRiley's XP upon completion of the flashback.
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jack1974
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by jack1974 »

I am trying, but I think might break all the old saves. Because of how it was coded, adding a new temporary character is not a problem but when you access the character selection screen before the battles it crashes :oops:
renke_
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by renke_ »

skip the pre-battle screen? party positioning is rather boring with only one party member ;)
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jack1974
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Re: doing "plot flashback"

Post by jack1974 »

Yes will be only shown the first battle :)
In other news, I'm at scene 09, with some cool arena fights against beastmasters. Still about halfway coding the NORMAL PLOT. Then I'll have to add the tileset and random encounters/small sidequests/shops etc. But I shouldn't be too much behind in the schedule after all!
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