💖🥰💞😘

Today I have a nice screen to show ! As I said last week, I spent some time reworking the “Move” option to have the player feel like they’re really exploring a map, instead of just selecting the locations from an abstract list.

This was one of the things that bothered me the most, and one I really wanted to change. Some feedbacks from the very first version also pointed toward the need of a rework.

So here it is !

For anyone familiar with Ren’Py, I used imagemaps and hotspots, something I hadn’t used until then but will definitely add to my personal toolkit.

For anyone unfamiliar with Ren’Py, here’s a little explanation. There are three distinct versions of the map : one with all the locations greyed-out (ground), one with all the locations highlighted (hover) and one where they’re normal (idle). 

Every button on the map is tied to a “hotspot”, a rectangle that has x/y positions and specific width and height. Each of these invisible shapes will show the “insensitive” version of the map if the conditions aren’t met (the player doesn’t have the required level), the “hover” when they’re clicked, and display the “idle” version otherwise. Clicking them triggers their action, which in our case is travelling from one location to another.

I think it looks pretty neat, and I recreated the original map by tracing over it on Photoshop. It’s a bit tedious but surprisingly chill when you do it while having your second screen show a podcast or your friend streaming Valkyrie Profile on Discord after you spent literal years pestering them to play it.

The UI isn’t all finished, to be honest. Having the Exit cross so far on the right is a temporary solution, and I’d like to have the region’s name displayed too. Ideally, when I have enough money to afford it, I’d love to have Michelle draw little bits of landscape to enliven the map (little tents around Saint Coinach’s Find, a smol Crystal Tower, etc.), but for now I’ll stick to what I’ve scheduled with my current budget.

XOXO