[Untitled RPG] - Update 2

Hello all! Hope you've been enjoying the new year so far... two months down already, even.

So just to prove I haven't ditched this blog already after only two posts, I've come back to give an update on the "Untitled RPG" project.

My laptop has been at the mechanic over December/January, but now that its back I've been more than excited to get back into coding.

For those just joining us, here's the idea:

At a glance
Platform: Game Maker 8 for Windows
Genre: Role Playing Game/Educational
Concept: A partially Scribblenauts-style approach to an RPG, attacks are co-ordinated by using tiles of Japanese kanji.

About the Project

So after a few months, the program has certainly evolved a lot since when you last saw it. Here's the premise:
When a player collects kanji tiles around the environment, they are stored in their dictionary. Their dictionary is a way of seeing which tiles they have in stock, don't have in stock but did previously, and the missing tiles they are yet to discover. Clicking each kanji also gives you the English and Japanese reading of each one. And note that these are real Japanese characters, used in real life; that is, you might just learn something while playing this game! Hey wait, come back!

The tiles are also used as attacks against enemies during battles, so in the dictionary the player can also 'link' tiles to their inventory, so they can use them during an encounter. Eventually there will be lots and lots of kanji, with varying levels and powers, and also a story... but that will be brought up later.

Current Status

Over the last few months I've made quite a lot of changes to the program, and I know I'm going to miss something, but here's a list:

• Bigger window
• Collect 9 different kanji and store them in your dictionary
• You can get random encounters
• Chests that open
• Bigger area to 'explore'
• Earn experience and level up (maximum level is 2)
• More than one kind of enemy

Here's the current build:

>>Version 2<<

How to Play
Keys you can use (and also the mouse):
Arrow Keys - Movement
D - Open/Close Dictionary
I - Open/Close Inventory
H - Shows the HUD boxes
N - ??

There is a tutorial system to be developed at some point in time, but for now I've written a tutorial-like companion to the current version you can view with the link below.

Here's the current tutorial version:

>>Tutorial Version 2<<

Known Issues

• Some tiles appear in the wrong layers and appear on top of the player
• Chest items may spawn unreachable on top of chest
• Player is able to access the dictionary from battle screen
• Player travels in the wrong direction when certain keys are pressed

Screenshots

Now with menus and buttons!

Battle!

Credits

noxaeXXX - For the tutorials that got me started.

Mack - Tile set artwork.

Tekepon - Character artwork.
Game Maker Community Forums - A great group of people consistently getting me unstuck.
Denshi Jisho and Japanese Kanji Dictionary - Reference.

Keeping in Touch
This blog has an RSS feed available of all the posts I publish - if you'd like to keep track of my progress, that is. Like most other blogs I am happy to accept any questions or comments you have. It's great having any positive interaction on the internet these days.