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It was coded with FlashDevelop and Flixel along with BannedStory for monster & skill sprites and tiles. I also used TexturePacker to consolidate all the individual sprites from BannedStory into a usable spritesheet. Not all the art assets are from the actual MapleStory.

More Changes from 11 to 15 Jan
I started updating the game with more stuff because of positive comments and decided to invest more time into making this an actual game than just something nostalgic for myself and friends.

Much like many people, I wanted more high-level content and end-game content. Previously, the game pretty much ends at Level 200, but there is no reward or any sort of Congratulatory message to tell you that you beat the game.

Now, I added a new map, new monsters, as well as Level 200+ skills and unlockables. Now, level 200 is just the beginning of the most exciting part of the game, and I find the Level 200~250 journey of the game incredibly fun.

To make the new map more interesting, I coded in a simple feature, which functions sort of like Quests, giving you a reward for killing 200 monsters.

You also can get a new skill as a drop from monsters in the new map:

Look at the number of buffs I have activated on the character.

I also added a tutorial, with classic MapleStory slimes to help those who don’t play MapleStory and to introduce properly the mechanics of the game, especially Flash Jump, a new skill I coded, and is also a skill that can easily go unnoticed.

When you reach Level 250 in the game, you unlock New Game Plus, which resets your level back to 1 and resets all your money and equipment. However, you gain additional rewards like more skills.

I added new equipment, the belt, shield, ring and pendant that each give different stats to the player. They can be enhanced. What’s interesting is that the maximum enhancement level increases with every New Game Plus, so this game can basically go on infinitely. You also gain passive bonuses, such as inheriting skills at Level 1 without needing to unlock them at their respective levels (eg Level 100 for berserk, level 200 for Beholder)

A new item drop was added, the Fire Gem.

It is a rare drop from monsters and when looted, gives you a permanent stat boost to your character until the next New Game Plus.

I also added skills that would add value to the game. Skills that are situation-specific are what make Dragon Knights interesting. Although I could add many skills into this game, I didn’t want to add obsolete skills which the player rarely use. So I tweaked some skills to fit the game.

I made Sacrifice a very powerful bossing skill, but it is costly and weak in training.
I made Dragon Roar a very good AoE skill for training, but has a long cast time.
I also added a bonus skill called Dragon Strike which deals high damage and has high range, but has long cooldown, as opposed to Dragon Crusher which has shorter range and lower damage but can be spammed. Both skills can be intermittently used for maximum damage output.

Additionally, I drew a popup which appears when you get a new skill. Previously, my friend wasn’t aware he got a new skill, even though I added a message saying so at the top of the screen. But I don’t want to rely on players having to read messages to be informed of important events.

Notes
Just some notes of some of the changes I made to the game over the past few days. I kept these so that I know the significant changes to the game versions I am sending to my friends. These changes were all made after the basic game has been completed, which basically means that the game was sort of ‘finished’ before I added these, which are additional stuff to make the game more fun and playable.

Changes 11 Jan Part 1:
1) Manon boss now drops a skill book when killed for the first time, giving u a new skill
2) Flash jump given at Level 1
3) You now get stance at Level 110
4) You get a new skill at Level 200
5) You unlock a new map at Level 210
6) You unlock a new skill in the new Level 210 map
7) You get a new skill at Level 220

– Added tutorial: New ellinia map and slime monsters
– First time players will be asked to play tutorial. No longer brings up keyboard settings page
– Tutorial now introduces Flash Jump properly
– New boss and map: Balrog / Cursed Sanctuary replaces Manon
– Manon moved to Level 250 boss
– Final boss map now unlocked at Level 240
– New Game Plus option added (but not working)
– Meso graphics now change based on how much mesos are dropped
– Roar now displays damage with a 1 second delay like the real Maple
– Using roar now shakes the screen when the damage appears like the real Maple
– Bosses now have attack animations when aggro-ed and can cast magic attacks onto player. However, magic attacks have infinite range currently.
– Monster AI improved: They now move toward you when aggro-ed
– Mixed Golems now cast attack up buffs when provoked
– Fixed Bug where non-critical hits appeared red if the first line is red
– Fixed bug where goby houses could spawn on top of each other

12 Jan changes
– New feature: New Game Plus (NGP), unlocked at Level 250
– New weapon graphic in Shop
–  added tutorial transition from login
– UI changes to golden at level 250 (super cool)
– Added the HS as a 1% drop rate from mobs
– Monsters now move back smoothly when knockd back, no longer has jerky movement
– New equipment: Ring (dropped from Manon)
– New equipment: Pendant (obtained on NGP)
– Enhancement prices have been adjusted:
     – Weapon is now 2x more expensive to enhance

13 Jan changes:
– You now spawn at the correct portals when traversing through maps
– New Game Plus(NGP) now supports infinite New Game Pluses. Previously capped at 6 and had no rewards thereafter.
– Added new skill: Mesos UP (awarded upon 2nd time reaching lv 250)
– Added new equipment: Shield
– Updated info panel with new stat: Defense
– Finally added Music
– Added Menu button
– Monster knock-back distance has been lowered
– Enhancing has been sped up at lower levels
– Fixed display bug in Shop (for new equipment)
– Lowered KB value on slimes
– When knocked back, monsters now turn to face you
– OldStory completed.

Changes 14 Jan:
– Added new item drop: Fire Gem
– Added mute button
– Oblivion guardian HP has been increased (420,000 -> 450,000)
– Monster stats now start to increase from 7th NGP (new Game plus) onward
– You now get a permanent 20% HP bonus from 7th NGP onward
– When hit by magic attacks, the effect now shows on the player
– Shield is now required to be re-obtained every NGP, and it only adds to player’s stats only when the shield is in possession
– Added new equip: Belt (buff duration +3s / level)
– Added new stat: Buff duration
– Camera bounds is finally working properly
– Monsters hit by skills with delay (eg Roar) no longer freeze at their HIT frame but their STAND frame (like the real Maple)
– Monsters’ magic attacks previously had infinite range. But not anymore.
– Exitting to Menu now saves the map you were previously on
– Manon EXP and Meso reward has been increased by ~20%
– Damage displayed over Manon now does not exceed the height of the screen (for tall monsters)
– Player HP bonus per NGP decreased: 20% -> 10%
– Pendant and Shields have their enhancements capped at 28 + 2*NGP
– All equipment’s max enhancement level now increase with every NGP
– Added two new levels of equipment graphic sprites (+16 and +17 enhancement graphic)
– Added 200ms delay to rush to simulate real maple’s rush
– The delay for buffing on ropes has been reduced to 200ms
– Fixed various bugs and issues:
   – On NGP, SE and HS no longer drop when u have it
   – Fixed max enhancement display error in Shop
   – On NGP, some messages were changed / removed
   – On NGP, you can no longer re-obtain holy symbol if u have it
   – on NGP, messages telling you to unlock a new skill do not display if you own that skill
   – On NGP, bosses no longer drop skills that you own
   – Some messages now only appear once in a lifetime
   – First message now changes based on your NGP count
   – Fixed 0% success rate on 16+ enhancements
   – Fixed bug: Your health got reset to base max health if you switched states instead of your real max health (if HB is on)
   – Fixed a minor display bug with buffs that overlapped each other in the UI
   – The login page now saves your username
   – Entering different states in Lobby reset your map to mixed golem
   – null success rates and upgrade costs for equipment past 15 enhancements

15 Jan:
– Belt has been buffed (buff duration per level: 3s -> 5s)
– Added Dragon Blood char animation effect (super cool)
– Added new skill: Sacrifice (320% damage to one target)
– A popup now appears every time you gain a new skill
– Added a new equipment graphic at +18 enhancements

 

The shop screen as of 15 Jan, which looks more awesome than it was at first.

16 Jan:
– Added new skill: Demolition
– Added new Map: Someone else’s House
– Added new monster: Mushmom
– Added hit animations for Crusher, Roar, Demolition, Dragon Strike
– Manon’s damage has been doubled
– Spawn rate in Goby Dungeon greatly increased:
     – Spawn limit is now determined by num of enemies alive rather than total enemies in map

– Fixed bugs:
  – Dragon Blood effect did not wear off even after end of buff
  – Closing skill popups now cancels immovable status caused b skills
  – There was no return portal from Mushmom map if level is below 15

17 Jan:
– Added F1 shortcut key to shop
– Deactivated buffs now have their shortcut keys colored red and to make it more obvious, a ‘!” icon will appear over expired buffs
– Username now saves across newGamePlus
– added double confirm before deleting save
– When u reach the top of the rope, there used to be a bug where u jump. This bug is minimized, but not fixed completely.
– Added mushmom spores
– Shop mesos text size is now adjusted if u have too much mesos
– Added commas to shop meso text
– Updated the mushmom spore display in shop.
– Spores now carry over New Game Plus
– OCD: Centralized hidden portal in ‘Forest of Golems’ to map’s symmetry
– Rolling over shop button and New Game plus now displays tooltip for shortcut key
– Sacrifice popup only appears on the 1st and 2nd NGP
– Demo popup only appears when below 5 New Game Pluses
– Zombie Mushmom has been added
– Reduced font size of stat description in Shop (16 –> 13)
– Updated stance description “99.99% to prevent KB” instead of “90%”
– Level font size decreased if level is above 1000
– New Item drop: Poisonous Mushroom
– Added poison status effect
– Messages added for collecting 120, 150, 170, and 200 spores
– Added small bonus for getting 100, 150 and 200 spores
– Item drops do not fall through the floor anymore
– Zombie mushmom can now be damaged by Heal
– Fireworks fx appear over a successful item enhancement
– Getting Holy Symbol as an item drop now saves when u change map
– Added shortcut key to toggle music: M
– Added 2x EXP and Meso coupons
– Insufficient mesos buying coupons will cause meso text to flash red
– Fixed a bug where cancelling Beholder didn’t cause Beholder to disappear

– Fixed bug:
  – Level 200 text no longer repeats after every level
  – Ring enhancement cost was 0 past Level 16
  – Demolition no longer drops from Mushmom wheen you possess the skill
  – Slightly increased Manon’s mesos reward (40000 -> 50000)
  – Relic can no longer be summoned out of level bounds

18 Jan
– You now get popup if u loot shield, ring, belt and cape (only on first 3 games)
– Added new equipment Graphic at E21, E25, E30 and E40.
Additionally, sparkles will appear on E41+ equipment
– Weapon cost now increases by 50k per Enhancement after E15
– Armor cost now increases by 25k per Enhancement after E15
– Added new equip: Cape *unlocked after 2nd new game plus
– Added new equip: Earring *unlocked under secret requirement: when all equipment reach E20 (cannot be enhanced or obtained yet)
– Demolition now gives you invisibility and invulnerability
– Spores’ damage cap boost now only take effect from 1st NGP onward
– Added new skill: Booster (to be unlocked after 5th NGP)
– Added new skill: Shadow Partner (to be unlocked via secret)
– Cooldowns are unfortunately saved
– Added ability to jump to platform below  (DOWN + Jump key)
– Added hyper jump (shortcut: jump while pressing UP midaire)
– Increased gravity (800 -> 900)
– Increased jump power (400 -> 500)
– Increased flash jump power (400 -> 450)
– When in air, hold down to fall faster
– Added popups when choosing New game plus skills to carry over
– Updated New Game Plus screen with the advantages of NGP.
– Removed the “U gain meso UP at lvl 250” message at every NGP screen
– 1st, 2nd NGP will have rewards displayed on NGP screen.
– Miss rate has been doubled (1% per level below mob lv -> 2%)
– Goby level increased to be in line with Bone fish (55 –> 60)
– Manon level increased (200 -> 210)
– Buff exclamation mark does not appear if skill is still on Cooldown
– Buff durations no longer reset when entering Shop or entering portals only for Booster & Shadow partner 🙂

– Fixed bugs:
  -Fixed major exploit where you could spam skills
  – Your hp could become 0 if ur HP was at the exact Hp requirement of roar
  – You could previously use the shortcut key F2 to start a new game plus even at Level 1

19 ~ 20Jan
– Belt and Shield popup now indicates they need to be recollected every NGP
– NGP level requirement increases by 20 from 10th NGP onward.
– Increased earrings to max 15 enhancements
– Keyboard settings now only allows alphabets, and supports the same special characters that maple supports
– You can now customize all the new skills (except Sac and Demo)
– Added new map: Shadow’s Lair
– Added new boss fight at NGP10 (is it too early?)
   – New boss drops special equipment and skill
– Added Stats Window
– Updated tutorial with the new abilities
– Added new map: Pianus’ Cave (unlocked at NGP20)
– Added new boss: Pianus
– Added new skill: Maple Warrior
– Game now saves your mute preferences, and your current map
– Added messages for first time purchasing 2x EXP/ mesos
– Added buff overlays (timer) for certain important buffs
– Added shortcut key to enhance eqp: ENTER
– ATk bonus per NGP decreased (25 -> 20)
– Shoes now give up to 75 move speed (but player base speed decreased by 20)
– You can no longer push stationary monsters (pianus, goby houses) sadly, it was fun watching pianus get pushed across the map
Bug fixes:
– Booster and SP durations were 4x longer than expected
– Black overlay inaccurately conveyed buffs’ time before expiring
– Added messages for first time buying 2x meso/exp. Buff descriptions are now more informative and reflect durations accurately.

Balancing:
– EXP tnl formula revised for Level 251+ onward
   – It is now much harder to level up from 250 onward. This is because new update made it too easy to reach Lv 4k, and level accounted for 90% of player’s damage (my normal att was hitting max dmg) *see screenshot*
– Excess crit rate over 100% now adds to Crit Dmg
– New stat: Crit Dmg
– Ring now gives 1% crit rate per level after E15
– Damage formula revision scrapped
  – Each level was going to give 2% ATT instead of 4% (but made early game too difficult)
– New Game Plus no longer gives 10% HP bonus each (pianus needs to do 400k dmg to be of a challenge and that is too high)

This nostalgia is indescribable. It makes you want to go back, back to when monsters took 6 or 7 hits to kill, back to when doing 5000 damage made you a pro, back to when Level 100 actually meant something, back to when you’d loot everything on the floor, back to when partying with your friends and having fun formed the main purpose of the game.

I remember wanting MapleStory to be a single-playing game because I didn’t like the multiplayer aspect, but I have come to realize that it’s not just the game that made it memorable, but the friends I made in the game.