RPGM Star Knightess Aura [v0.50.1] [aura-dev]

[Zarkhy]

Do I need to read Luck is a Skill book? That takes so many days.

There is a minor sidequest that has alternative text/solution if you've actually read the book.

So it most definitely is *not* worth reading.

However, owning the book is one way you can avoid a corruption scene at Arwin's mansion. When spying at the mansion, you can waltz upstairs and hand the book to the maid that's preventing you passage there. Otherwise you'd have to go through a corruption scene involving taking drugs or hand the maid a valuable luck-enhancing item.

As for your earlier question about mental changes, in the OP there's a link to a maximum lewdness walkthrough, which you don't need to follow, but it does contain a somewhat thought out order for doing the mental changes, which avoids you bottlenecks in real world events that open up further mental changes. IIRC removing one of the books in particular was important to do ASAP, because there was a long delay after removing the book, until the event caused by it's removal fires in the real world.

 

[desmosome]

Any thoughts on what is good to feed to slime? How do I turn him into red slime? Weakness to all magic is a big handicap in some areas.

Old posts seem to say feeding increase MP cost by 1, but I guess they nerfed it to +2 per feeding? So I'm thinking we should feed it expensive materials right?

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

How do I turn him into red slime?

Go to the slime summoner in the refugee camp without your slime summoned. Once you get to Nephlune, there's a trainer in the Adventurer Guild who can teach wind and thunder forms. There may also be further training in the academy in Verdeaux, but I don't think it's been implemented yet.

As to what to feed it, on Hard I don't have second thoughts about feeding it any excess materials except the ones I use in crafting (Ether, Pyro, Spores, Emerald Leaf). It's worth the small increase in mana cost.

 

[Zarkhy]

Any thoughts on what is good to feed to slime?

One of the best things to feed the slime is the Maleficum, because the Slime does not get the corruption that comes along with using that material.

 

[desmosome]

One of the best things to feed the slime is the Maleficum, because the Slime does not get the corruption that comes along with using that material.

What about the consideration of giving aura a material enhancement or feeding it to the slime? What's more important?

 

[Zarkhy]

What about the consideration of giving aura a material enhancement or feeding it to the slime? What's more important?

Well, I used to reserve all the best stuff for myself and feed everything else to the Slime, but this was on a save before the 2nd "nerf" increasing the summoning cost by 2 instead of just 1.

If I was to start a fresh playthrough, which I will sooner or later, I'm still gonna keep all the best stuff for Aura, and will have to see how much stuff I actually feed the Slime.

 

[desmosome]

I'm starting to wonder if going too heavy into slime feeding is worthwhile. I only have the phy and fire slimes, but I'm guessing the other colors work the same way? The fact that it has a weakness to everything except its own element is looking like a handicap in tough fights.

I do think giving Aura the best materials is the correct move since the slime can be rather unreliable depending on the enemies you are fighting.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

I do think giving Aura the best materials is the correct move since the slime can be rather unreliable depending on the enemies you are fighting.

On Normal, there's merit to that plan. On Hard, you pay out the ass for enhancements to Aura. My thinking is, if you have to take on a boss that the slime has no counter for (e.g. ones that use Darkness attacks), and that makes the fight very hard/impossible (which is rarely the case) there's always Star Knightess. And those Darkness bosses can be Blessed Bomb+'d to oblivion.

Also, different slime forms each automatically get an additional spell/ability at lvl7, I believe.

 

[Zarkhy]

Also, different slime forms each automatically get an additional spell/ability at lvl7, I believe.

Don't remember the exact level they got those skills at, but the easiest way to do the new underwater stuff is to have the Air form Slime with the bubble ability, certainly.

And that means feeding the smile stuff until it reaches that level.

 

[Trihan]

I'm starting to wonder if going too heavy into slime feeding is worthwhile. I only have the phy and fire slimes, but I'm guessing the other colors work the same way? The fact that it has a weakness to everything except its own element is looking like a handicap in tough fights.

I do think giving Aura the best materials is the correct move since the slime can be rather unreliable depending on the enemies you are fighting.

The Slime can become an absolute beast if you feed it enough. Even with the MP cost nerf it's usually worth doing.

 

[desmosome]

On a lewd run, how important is unlocking "vice" before festival of greed? Looking at some guides, it seems like there is 1 event during the festival where vice leads to some reward. My corruption spending was suboptimal I guess. A lot of Earth days passed without anything happening until I managed to sort things out. My Rosa is at 71 relationship points on day 47, and I'm not sure how long I would have to wait until I can get into the next chamber.

 

[pr5130010]

(I hope dev will see this)
It's really shame that player can't decide how exactly he will corrupt heroine. From point we have now game looks more like VN with combat than RPG. The game itself is pretty good, still there is awkward feeling that everything is already decided by dev, not by player.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

(I hope dev will see this)
It's really shame that player can't decide how exactly he will corrupt heroine. From point we have now game looks more like VN with combat than RPG. The game itself is pretty good, still there is awkward feeling that everything is already decided by dev, not by player.

The idea is that the corruption is mostly-linear to 1.0, but with the possibility of adding more paths/deviations in later versions.

 

[Trihan]

(I hope dev will see this)
It's really shame that player can't decide how exactly he will corrupt heroine. From point we have now game looks more like VN with combat than RPG. The game itself is pretty good, still there is awkward feeling that everything is already decided by dev, not by player.

As Pretentious Goblin said, the goal from now to 1.0 is adding depth; having a game you can play from start to finish with two defined endings (beating the Demon King, and being fully corrupted). Once that is done, we can work on width, giving more options for how paths progress and what options the player has.

I also find this an interesting point: you say it feels like everything is already decided by the dev, but that is the case with more-or-less any game that has a defined story with a concrete ending, and of those there are *many*. Even Telltale games only really have one "end", though the minute details can differ depending on choices made throughout. Games where the player can significantly impact the narrative in meaningful ways beyond a smattering of differing scenes or tweaked dialogue are rarer than you might think.

 

[Zarkhy]

I also find this an interesting point: you say it feels like everything is already decided by the dev, but that is the case with more-or-less any game that has a defined story with a concrete ending, and of those there are *many*. Even Telltale games only really have one "end", though the minute details can differ depending on choices made throughout. Games where the player can significantly impact the narrative in meaningful ways beyond a smattering of differing scenes or tweaked dialogue are rarer than you might think.

Kids these days have been ruined by all the Open-World games that always promise "freedom to choose".

Yet they never realize all those games are the same.

"Liberate" a sector/outpost/whatever, find a random collectible, do a main story quest, rinse and repeat.

 

[Trihan]

Kids these days have been ruined by all the Open-World games that always promise "freedom to choose".

Yet they never realize all those games are the same.

"Liberate" a sector/outpost/whatever, find a random collectible, do a main story quest, rinse and repeat.

I would love, at some point, to make a game where you truly have enormous levels of control over the development of the world and the story that happens within it, but I'd need an absolute metric buttload of dev time and money to pull it off.

 

[Trihan]

Cross-posted from our Discord thread:

Alright people, here's your chance to let us know if there have been user interface elements you wish were different somehow!

When it comes to Star Knightess Aura's user interface, is there anything it lacks that you wish were there? Anything we have currently that you think could be better? If you have any suggestions whatsoever, pile them in here! I can't guarantee we'll implement them all, but we'll give serious consideration to any that will be a net positive for the game experience.

In the case of f95zone feedback, I'd appreciate it if anyone with UI suggestions could send them to me in a PM so I can keep them organised more easily.

 

[negavamas]

I'd rather play whatever a dev has thought and planned since the beginning than something filled with half-baked ideas because they didn't know that to do or because of patron money. It's clear Aura dev has a more or less clear idea for the game, we should just let them finish what they have.

 

[Zarkhy]

I'd rather play whatever a dev has thought and planned since the beginning than something filled with half-baked ideas because they didn't know that to do or because of patron money. It's clear Aura dev has a more or less clear idea for the game, we should just let them finish what they have.

Absolutely.

Reading the project plans for the coming month, I sometimes find myself thinking "is this really necessary" or "sounds weird", but again and again whenever the actual update comes along, it blows me away.

The dev has a clear vision and so far it's been a home run after another.

 

[pr5130010]

As Pretentious Goblin said, the goal from now to 1.0 is adding depth; having a game you can play from start to finish with two defined endings (beating the Demon King, and being fully corrupted). Once that is done, we can work on width, giving more options for how paths progress and what options the player has.

Glad to hear this.

I also find this an interesting point: you say it feels like everything is already decided by the dev, but that is the case with more-or-less any game that has a defined story with a concrete ending, and of those there are *many*. Even Telltale games only really have one "end", though the minute details can differ depending on choices made throughout. Games where the player can significantly impact the narrative in meaningful ways beyond a smattering of differing scenes or tweaked dialogue are rarer than you might think.

It's not exactly what I mean. Dev, surely, defines everything in his game. But, if he leaves more variety to the player, the game becomes better. There is a fresh example - Enicia and the Contract Mark. The goal is pretty defined, but there is numerous ways to achieve it.