dreamlink3d - Tumblr blog

[dreamlink3d]

Just came across this and I gotta say

This is EXACTLY the type of gaming niche I've been trying to find for ages

Really excited to see the final product :D

aw thank you! hopefully it'll come sooner rather than later lmfao

[dreamlink3d]

What plug-in do you use for the filters you use

this filter controller a lot of times over LMAO -- i don't remember the exact settings but they're in a previous ask of mine

[dreamlink3d]

hii small update

i'm going to be restructuring as i think i've gotten burnt out on just how big and unsustainably complex this project is to work on by myself.

most of what you expect to be in it will be staying, some things are changing priority or focus, but the core of the game is staying the same.

i'll try to keep this blog updated as i get through the rough parts lol

[dreamlink3d]

every time i get pics for this i swear i find new bugs.  the player just stopped rendering here again??  😭  no idea what even causes it either LMAO

[dreamlink3d]

been finishing up some changes to the Manifest magic system and the cape handler so that i can feature new cape trims on every existing cape color!!  originally there were only red, green, or blue for certain spells, but now there’ll be 9 total colors of trim depending on what kind of magic you use ✨

[dreamlink3d]

this Pier version isn’t done, but when it is, it’ll be all red with this apocalyptic-looking sun.  it adds such a desolate vibe imo

[dreamlink3d]

it’s getting late… i should head home soon…

[dreamlink3d]

reading Everybody’s Secrets is just too enticing for you to ignore it seems… hope you find one that resonates with you…?

[dreamlink3d]

finalized roster and roster order tonight. 222 wisps and i'm very happy with all of them. will talk more about it when i can 🙏

[dreamlink3d]

been working hard on doing a final pass on most visual designs just to give everything a cohesion to it all, unfortunately while the background here is rather old (drawn by the lovely @sillyzowie btw,) the logo is fully new!  i felt a new, more stylized logo was appropriate to match the overall aesthetic i’m aiming for, and to make it more visually cohesive with a handful of other changes to key game visuals you can see over in this post – one day i’d really like to have a fully custom title screen with unique buttons and layout, but for now i think i’m just happy to finally have a logo i feel fully fits the game :)

[dreamlink3d]

i wish the stuff i'm working on rn was like. in any way, shape,or form presentable yet cuz like it is all just a lot of spreadsheet work and planning documents, but things are moving! i'm finishing a lot of work to get wisps set up properly this time. you know what actually i'll talk a little bit about it in the read more bc it's all infodump and really technically overbearing but for the nerds who keep up with this blog a lot it might be interesting so 👀

update: oh this is LONG long. whatever i'm keeping it read if you want like peak infodump abt the recruitable characters' role in the game atm.

ok ok ok so like as of the last time i worked on this (like last year i mean) the battling and wisp uniqueness were both really understated and this was on purpose! i wanted battling to be something the player is introduced to later than usual and it's not required at all, bc it's not even your intended goal -- this much is still true, but i wanted it to have more prominence and depth, so i'm elaborating on team building now.

the main thing i'm working out now is that i want each individual wisp (the animal recruitable characters) to function almost like a miniature pokemon and be used to do little roguelike deck-building activities to clear the main progression story thing of the game. before, each wisp technically had a species and catalog wing + 2 abilities, but none of those did anything for battling. my long term idea was that the abilities would have in-battle functionality, but at most that's still like 20ish moves across an at-the-time 400 character roster-- not good enough imo.

so! now what i've been mainly doing is finally embracing the battle system and leaning in on it more. each wisp now is gonna get a couple of things that'll modify each of their stats a little and give them each a couple of "moves." that way every character IN THEORY should play differently in some way.

first up is species, which i actually did the full stat spread for already. it's just simple single-digit buff/nerfs to individual rpg maker stats (hp, mp, atk, def, so on and so forth) but it gives each one a base layer of uniqueness. i want to give each species a dedicated move that is thus attached to each wisp.

second up is catalog wing, this follows the same rule but i haven't done stat changes yet. i also have a little list of like parameters / etc. that i can assign, and i definitely want to give some of those to each of these groups, so that wisps can be even more specific. catalog wing is just colors, and as such i think it makes sense for each to get an associated move as well.

third up are the big new thing. i've been kinda inspired by a video i saw recently of a "pokemon but i added 50 types" mod and i kinda wondered about adding small modifier labels to wisps. almost like pokemon types, but not as type-intensive, and originally i wanted them to be cosmetic. however, i'm realizing i can give them small tweaks as well (literally like +1 something and -1 something else, and that's it) and it'll still have a pretty notable impact on wisp variety. each wisp gets 3 types and i'm currently sorting out the list but it's a little silly, i want to keep it lighthearted and not do it completely seriously in the way pokemon does. you'll see when it comes out but i think it's rather fun. these i would also like to make moves for, but we'll see.

last up are the abilities. i don't think these are gonna have any stat changes, but will have the passive parameters in some cases (double currency/item drops comes to mind.) these already have existed in the game for a long time, and each wisp gets 2. they're how you interact with the dreamscape overworld itself, and solve puzzles in the main progression story thing (which i am referring to this way bc i don't wanna reveal it completely yet!) they're obviously gonna have moves associated with them.

i'm kinda worried abt doing stat stuff bc like obviously an unbalanced game can be a complete mess, but i also think having a wide variety of options that range in power levels (and combine to get even crazier) is like half of the appeal of these teambuilders? like taking the worst possible team and sweeping, or doing the opposite and watching the carnage. i honestly just wanna have fun with it bc i think this is the thing this project really needs to be entertaining in long stretches. the game currently is about gathering wisps and using them to progress but like, without battling it's kinda very thin gameplay wise? dream exploration is still like the big essential part-- i want battling to stay optional and available to be underexplored as each player decides-- but i do think that at least giving players the tools to explore further in that way will go a long way.

i don't know how to end this other than to say i'll probably make more of these kinds of posts in the future? i'm making a lot of scattered smaller progress on this in various areas, mostly working on dreamscape overhauls and wisp categorization but like. i've been retooling the game to have a bit more characters and story than originally intended. finally leaving my burnout phase has led me to really retool this project from the inside out, and i can't wait to share more honestly. i won't be speaking on a release date or even a window, because i don't think it'll be ready before like 2025 at this rate. sucks bc it means 5 year dev cycle (on top of aspects of this going back as far as 2016, or 2012 depending on what you count) but like hey! it's still churning and i'm still chipping away at it. thank you for reading <3

[dreamlink3d]

having to make the world's funniest spreadsheet to organize some changes to wisp traits and jesus christ how do people do this for fun

[dreamlink3d]

figuring out gameplay loop and core features is fun bc like yes i will put roguelike elements in my game. not too many but like a little bit for fun you know?

[dreamlink3d]

Hi again

How do you make it 3D? Do you use MZ3D?

yes! started with mv3d and now use mz3d. really good compromise if you want to play with very rigid limitations

[dreamlink3d]

Hi!

What do you use to make your games?

rpg maker mz :)

[dreamlink3d]

the foliage here mostly looks alien, but there’s this really enticing lily pad in the center… i almost want to jump in…

[dreamlink3d]

spent like 3 hours earlier trying to formulate a solid list of areas to keep vs areas to cut. starting to think i need to reconsider how i'm organizing the damn things