I was recently replaying Final Fantasy Legend III for GameBoy, and one thing that struck me as odd is how your party appears to be at a low level toward the end of the game. In preparation for the final battle, you only need to be level 35-40. Trying to grind beyond that point is time-consuming, as the enemies you encounter in this area give you the most experience out of any enemy in the game -- which isn't a lot. Most character statistics seem to max-out around level 50 or so, but you can apparently level as high as 99. My question is: What is the incentive? Why even permit the player to raise their level to such extremes when both: A) It's not necessary, and B) There is nothing left to challenge you. (such as an optional super boss) This is something that irks me about some RPGs, as I tend to be a perfectionist. I just have to complete everything, raise every character to max level, etc. before I can be done with the game.

I did some more research and experimentation, and as it turns out, your statistics actually increase beyond the max values that are displayed on the status screen. Character HP and MP are indicated as high as 999, while base statistics are indicated as high as 99. After raising my level to 70 and taking substantial damage from enemies, I noticed my HP wasn't decreasing. Apparently, it's somewhere around 2,000 at this point. I'm guessing there's a global 16-bit integer for both character and enemy HP / MP, and an 8-bit integer for base statistics.

I've noticed other RPGs will have similar leveling patterns. The party might be around level 50 by the end of the game, but there is no incentive to push yourself any further than that; and trying to do so would require a ridiculous amount of grinding. Makes you wonder why the developers didn't just cap the experience level max at a lower number. At least the player could feel like they've accomplished something by hitting the maximum.

Oh, well. Guess I'll have to set my emulation speed to +1,000% and auto-battle everything in sight. I may reach level 99... eventually.

Unfortunately, luminescent materials aren't that strong. They wouldn't produce a suitable amount of light to view a screen image in the dark. (especially considering the material would be located behind the screen, reducing the amount of light it might capture)

Your best bet is to use the same kind of principle found in watch backlights:

"In an Indiglo watch, a very thin panel uses high voltage to energize phosphor atoms that produce light. The panel itself is extremely simple. As described in the Timex patent, you take a thin glass or plastic layer, coat it with a clear conductor, coat that with a very thin layer of phosphor, coat the phosphor with a thin plastic and then add another electrode. Essentially, what you have is two conductors (a capacitor) with phosphor in between. When you apply 100 to 200 volts AC (alternating current) to the conductors, the phosphor energizes and begins emitting photons."

Remember that any patented device must provide instructions for how the device is assembled, so the general public can reproduce the device for themselves. You can find detailed instructions for this sort of thing online.

Having four AAA batteris to power it, this kind of lighting would probably work well without diverting much power from the calculator itself. In fact, you could shunt it over to the back-up battery, and probably operate off it for a good two hours.

If you create the expectation to fail, then you'll only hinder your ability to advance in this life.

In logic, there is a fallacy called perfect solution. "The perfect solution fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when an argument assumes that a perfect solution exists and/or that a solution should be rejected because some part of the problem would still exist after it were implemented. This is a classic example of black and white thinking, in which a person fails to see the complex interplay between things, and as a result, reduces complex problems to a pair of binary extremes."

In other words, don't look at things in black-and-white extremes. Your experience may vary significantly from the expectations you've set. Are you wagering any losses? Not at all. Limiting yourself isn't going to spare you from anything; but you're creating the illusion that it is either hopeless, or will spare you from the disappointment of failure. This, in itself, is a concession to negative emotion.

Don't read into this the wrong way, as I do mean well...

First off all, this is nothing to worry about. You haven't done anything illegal. On the Internet, you're are liberty to express whatever you like -- whether that be offensive or pornopgraphic. It only crosses the border of legality when you're making serious threats against someone's life or well-being -- and there is reasonable belief that you may act upon it -- or you are posting or exchanging illegal materials; (child pornography, warez, and so forth) or you are hacking the site and causing serious damage. Any given site is going to have its own rules, just as a private home or business-owner would have their own rules when it comes to their own property. Legally, you can't be obligated to abide by those rules -- only to acknowledge that you *must* leave someone's property when they tell you to do so, for whatever reason they deem appropriate. Within reason, you can only be expected to follow national laws, and whatever sort of legal contract you might have with your ISP. ISPs commonly don't care what you express, as long as you aren't using their services to spam advertisements or exchange anything illegal that might get them in trouble. Just imagine all these political hate-mongers who make a living blogging some Neo-Nazi nonsense every single day. Obviously, their ISPs don't care. Most don't. I'm sure they're in much deeper water than you, as far as libel and harassment goes. You should see some of the things *I've* posted in my bitter and spiteful campaigns against Wikipedia. I admit I'm not perfect.

Just remember that the Internet is mostly a disorganized and lawless zone. There's no central guiding oversight that maintains a harmonious order, or imposes consistent restrictions about what may be expressed or shared therein. Just obey your national laws, and don't violate whatever contract you might have with your ISP. The rest is of no consequence.

Secondly, you are a prisoner to your own emotions. Whatever you feel may be responsible for the existence of these emotions, or what might be the driving catalyst behind your inability to control them, is very likely beyond your direct influence. Because we cannot reasonably control or influence the actions of other people, it is futile to take offense to anything they express, or allow ourselves to react to things that are negative or intended to harm us -- we can only control ourselves, and what we feel. Emotions and things that are external to you (coming from other people, for instance) cannot touch you in any way, or influence your own thoughts and feelings. By willfully internalizing these things, you are shaping yourself in their image.

Imagine for a moment that your mind is your own universe, where you formally exist. Your eyes are a mirror, which reflect the limitations of your own knowledge, experience and emotion within this universe. The world you are observing outside of you takes its shape from these reflections. We can only see things from a biased perspective. If I'm a generally negative person, then I am going to find negative conclusions in most situations -- just as a generally positive person would do the converse. It all depends on what I am on the inside; but it always comes back to me. I am not necessarily being negative because something unfair is actually being done to me -- it may be entirely my doing if I create negative emotions about a situation that isn't negative to begin with. If negativity is all I know, then negativity is the only perspective my eyes will ever reflect as I am observing this world; but even if something blatantly hateful and negative is being directed at you by another person, you don't have to internalize it and allow it to control you. You have the choice to actively reject such emotions and perceptions, and prevent them from polluting your universe. It starts with awareness of these emotions.

Think about this: I am a victim to my own emotions. I am surrendering my will to these emotions. Anger, frustration, negavitiy, sorrow and regret have consumed my life. Why? What is the benefit of harboring such emotions? Each is necessary to our survival, to divert us from harmful situations, or to allow us to reflect on mistakes and change our behavior to avoid repeating them; but when these emotions are so constant that they feel more like an affliction, then you need to separate yourself from them to avoid causing internal harm.

Here is something for you to consider, Kevin. This is the first step in taking control of your emotions and finding your own peace in this life.

I can't even count the amount of time I've put into map design. This design spans several weeks.

I also wanted to share some more info on the Guardians found in the game. As I mentioned earlier, each character can "equip" a Guardian in order to use a selection of spells. Guardians are proxies between mortals and magic.

Each Guardian will automatically be summoned when specific conditions are met; such as party HP reaching critical. There are two different techniques a Guardian can unleash, depending on the conditions of its summoning.

Monocerus
The Eternal Lamenter



Feat 1: Maiden's Cry - removes curse and hold status, and restores HP to the entire party.
Feat 2: Aurora - removes all negative status effects, and restores HP to the entire party.

Spell Inventory:

Vigora, -duas, -omnis
Panasil
Inviea
Bara
Visect
Viea

Zhar-Ptitsa
The Emissary of Purgation



Feat 1: Fires of Purgatory - minor, fire-elemental damage against all foes, and resurrects fallen allies.
Feat 2: Flames of Rebirth - resurrects fallen allies.

Spell Inventory:

Visrieon, -duas, -omnis, -ultimare
Vigora, -duas, -omnis, -ultimare
Visect, -ultimare
Panacil
Osma

Vildegraas
The Consignor of Fate



Feat 1: Scathing Breath - moderate, non-elemental damage against all enemies.
Feat 2: Bolide Airburst - major, non-elemental damage against all enemies.

Spell Inventory:

Visrieon, -duas, -omnis
Algara, -duas, -omnis
Helieon, -duas, -omnis
Ragnare
Tempre
Osma

Hajduk
The Unspoken



Feat 1: Silent Blade - deals a swift death to all vulnerable enemies. Inflicts non-elemental damage against enemies that can't be slain.
Feat 2: Cruciform Cut - deals a switch death to all vulnerable enemies. (effective against stronger enemies, as well) Inflicts non-elemental damage against enemies that can't be slain.

Spell Inventory:

Algara, -duas, -omnis
Tempre
Necrosisect
Inviea
Bara
Viea

Solomon
The Bearer of Attrition



Feat 1: Seal of Solomon - boosts attack, defense and resistances of all allies, and restores MP.
Feat 2: Dark Precepts - boosts attack, defense and resistances of all allies, and restores MP. (more effective)

Spell Inventory:

Toxisect, -ultimare
Inviea, -omnis
Bara, -omnis
Tempre
Viea
Osma
Necrosisect
Visrieon
Algara

Prima Orsa
The Demiurge



Feat 1: God's Left Hand - ends the game.
Feat 2: God's Right Hand - three successive, non-elemental attacks against all enemies.

Spell Inventory:

Visrieon-ultimare
Algara-ultimare
Helieon-ultimare
Vigora-ultimare
Toxisect-ultimare
Visect-ultimare
Invia-ultimare
Bara-ultimare
Necrosisect
Tempre
Osma
Ragnare-ultimare

------------------------------

Here is a brief run-down of spell effects:

"-sect" is suffixed to spells related to status

-duas : second level of power
-ultimare : highest level of power; usually with accompanying effect
-omnis : affects an entire group at once

Visrieon - Visrieon-duas - Visrieon-omnis - Visrieon-ultimare
Minor to major fire-elemental damage; add blindness

Algara - Algara-duas - Algara-omnis - Algara-ultimare
Minor to major ice-elemental damage; hold target

Helieon - Helieon-duas - Helieon-omnis - Helieon-ultimare
Minor to major lightning-elemental damage; hold target

Vigora - Vigora-duas - Vigora-omnis - Vigora-ultimare
Restore HP; cure poisoning

Toxisect - Toxisect-ultimare
Minor to moderate non-elemental damage and incur poisoning

Inviea - Inviea-omnis
Raises evade; raises party evade

Bara - Bara-omnis - Bara-ultimare
Raises defense; raises party defense; raises defense and resistance

Tempre
Temporarily raises a single ally's attack power

Panasil
Recovers status (poisoning, blindness)

Visect - Visect-ultimare
Resurrects a single ally

Necrosisect
Incurs instant death

Viea
Transports back to previous save-point

Osma
Drains target MP

Ragnare - Ragnare-omnis
Major, non-elemental damage

I, personally, like when text instantly appears. When I'm playing an RPG, I always adjust the text speed to the fastest setting. That isn't to say that I'm necessarily opposed to a typwriter effect, though. The only time it bugs me is when it's ultra-slow. (Final Fantasy Legend comes to mind...)

If you end up going with the typewritter effect, maybe you could implement a configuration menut that includes a speed adjustment option. (perhaps pressing a specifc button while on the map will bring you straight to this menu) I wonder what other settings could appear in that menu, though...

They are my favourite so far, it reminds me so much FFIV final dungeon areas

The Lunar substrata was the inspiration behind this dungeon. I didn't want to produce a carbon-copy, though, so there are some distinct differences. Here are some more shots:



The whole dungeon is four levels long. (descending) Some of the toughest monsters in the game appear here -- including the various dragons that are otherwise rarely encountered in other parts of the game world. There's also a number of rare equipment to be found, in preparation for the final battle.

I like how the text is rendered so far. Looks great.