Untitled Project

[Aleister]

"When the world was still young, our ancestors clung to life.  The world was barren and fruitless.  As they struggled for life, they witnessed a great battle in the skies above.  Two celestial warriors waged war against each other, Aria, the Goddess of Light, and Nihil, the Ruler of Darkness.  After millenia of battle, Aria struck a mortal blow, and Nihil's body fell to this world.  Aria stood over Nihil, cascading her light upon him.  She expected her light would banish her eternal enemy forever.  Instead, life sprung from Nihil's body.  The once barren world became lush and green.  Crystalline waters filled the scars left upon this world by the great celestial battle.  Aria took a throne in the heavens above this world, watching her creation thrive in new found prosperity.  Aria bathed the world in her light, waiting for her eternal enemy to stir once more..."

This is the mythology that forms the basis for an untitled project I've been working on for a couple years now, when time allows it.  It is finally to the point where I feel comfortable offering a brief preview of the game itself.  The game is approximately 50-60% complete.  I have always intented on releasing it as a full complete game, but if there is enough interest I would consider releasing it as two episodes, with the first being released relatively soon.  That being said, here's some of the game info.


Story:  Nihil has been imprisoned at the center of the planet, forever guarded by the Church of Aria and the Goddess herself.  The world is becoming sick though.  Drought, storms, floods, earthquakes are ravaging the planet with increasing frequency.  The Church has stumbled upon a plot to free Nihil from his prison, and must make every effort to prevent that from happening.  Should Nihil be freed and Aria defeated, the world would fade away, reverting back to it's barren, fruitess state.  Who is responsible for this plot?  What are their motives?  Will the world survive?   

I am guarding the story fairly closely, but I will say that while this may appear at first glance to be just another "save the world from destruction" story filled with RPG cliches, I can promise that it is anything but.  I have taken great efforts to craft a story that is unique and something I have never seen in my many, many years of playing RPGs.   


The World:

The world is largely a series of islands and small continents.  Three great powers have developed.  Romelle is battling a great drought that is turning it's island nation to desert.  It still maintains a powerful navy and it's central location makes it a major player in the global trade business.  Denai is largely a mountain nation.  It's mines produce only the rarest and most precious of ores.  Denai's large military and the King's devotion to the Church of Aria make it the Church's greatest ally.  Valoria is surrounded by dense forest and sits upon an ancient lake.  Valoria is largely isolated from the world's political issues, instead using it's vast resources to develop new technologies. 

There is no world map.  Instead, all areas are connected to one another via field areas and dungeons.  To avoid needless repetition, connecting areas have been kept to a modest length and difficulty, while those areas directly related to the story are certainly more substantial in both length and difficulty.


Characters:  There will be eight main playable characters.

Name:  Baron
Weapon: Sword
Baron is one of two main story characters.  He is a soldier in Romelle, who rather reluctantly is pulled into the rising conflict between the Church and the unknown supporters of darkness.

Name: Allastor
Weapon: Sword
Allastor is a former soldier of Romelle and childhood friend of Baron.  While on a mission, he becomes involved with a strange mystic who calls himself "Prophet."

Name:  Roald
Weapon: Dagger, Gun
Roald is another of Baron's childhood friends.  His desertion from the Romelle military leads to his imprisonment.

Name:  Tulia
Weapon Dagger
Tulia works for the man calling himself "Prophet."  She is in essence a spy.

Name: Euros
Weapon:  Runic Cannon
Euros is a gadgeteer.  Originally from Valoria, Euros is Tulia's sidekick and assistant. 

Name:  Max
Weapon: Axe
Max calls the town of Nazria home.  He will protect his town with all his might.

Name:  Serene
Weapon: Staff
Serene is Max's sister.  She is almost always silent, perpetually haunted by childhood trauma.

Name:  Sophia
Weapon:  Katana
Sophia is a powerful knight dedicated to the Church of Aria.  It is her duty to investigate the present happenings.


Gameplay:  I have decided that the DBS would suit this game just fine.  I had developed a CBS for a previous game that I considered modifying for this one, but in the end decided that I would rather focus on other elements of the game instead.  As stated previously, there is no world map.  Every area is connected by a series of field areas, dungeons, and in some instances ferries. 

There is a custom magic learning system that will require careful use of rare items found throughout the world.  Essentially, there are 4 types of Magic, White, Black, Red, and Time.  For each of those types a character may attain one of 3 levels for using that magic, Apprentice, Mage, or Wizard.  Each level will make newer and more powerful spells available to a character.  The items required to learn magic are somewhat rare, and as such, care must be taken when determining which character will advance to which level of magic use.  For example, if you insist that all 8 main characters are capable of using Apprentice level Red Magic, you may find that at the end of the game you have no characters capable of using Wizard level Red Magic.  So while there is a great deal of room for customization, you must also take caution and carefully plan the use of these rare items.

On the topic of customization, that is at the heart of this game.  Each character's stats are completely customizable.  There are no experience points and no levels will be gained by fighting monsters.  Instead, monsters may drop stat enhancing items upon defeat.  Some monsters will drop items that raise Maximum HP or MP, while others will drop items that increast Attack power or Defense.  You have the freedom to build characters in any way you choose.  You have the freedom to create one all powerful character by giving them all items.  While not recommended, you have that freedom.  You have the freedom to wander the first field areas and dungeons for hours upon hours creating an overpowered character to breeze through the game with if you so choose to do so.  Again, while not recommended, you have that freedom.


Graphics and Screenshots:  The graphics are 95% rips and edits from Rudra, FF6, and SD3.  The facesets are taken from FFT. 

























I will post more details as I can, and I hope you enjoy for the time being.  As I said before, if there is enough interest I will consider releasing a first episode in the near future. 

[nrsisyourbuddy]

Haha, this looks great. I wonder, you know how to script CMS cursor movement? I've been wondering about this for a while, I want a CMS for my game. (O_O seems off-topic, so I shall nibble on toast) I've seen these battle sprites all too often. Which game are they from?

[Aleister]

Thank you.  The battle sprites are from Rudra, but all of them have been edited in major or minor ways from simple recolors to adding different weapons and attack animations than those used in Rudra.  I know they aren't the flashiest ones out there, but I really wanted that old school SNES feel.       

[Moosetroop11]

Looks pretty solid to me. It does sound kinda cliche', but I'll take your word for it that it becomes something more. I like the fact that there's eight playable characters too. That 'twice as many as can fit in your party' thing tends to work pretty well.

Keep it up.

[A Forgotten Legend]

*stares at screenshots in amazement*

[RockJohnAxe]

Looks impressive man. Damn you and getting Secret of Evermore Chipsets *shakes fist*

[lonewolf]

look's like ff6 to me so im all for it love the screenshots
this will be a good game to play

[Muraiko]

Your definatly really good at mapping! I love how you made the water be transparent, and cover only a bit of the mountains and land. It gives a more three deminsional feel to it. And the shadows look pretty cool, and well placed too!

[Fisherson]

Wow,i'm amazed with this games graphics.I lovve the FFT edited face sets!The Rudra deited are spot on as well!
Good job,can't wait for the first demo.

[Aleister]

Thank you all very much for the positive feedback.  I will be working hard to prepare the first episode for release in the coming weeks, time permitting.  Until then, I will continue to update with new information and the most recent screenshots.  Here are two more for now.



This is the entrance to an underground volcano.  The shore line is completey animated.



This is a preview of the aforementioned volcano.  The flames are completely animated as well.

Enjoy.

[Meiscool-2]

Nice volcano.

[Ben]

looks good man. nice mapping

[Hirochi-Zangus]

This is turing out to be a game I'm really looking forward too. Keep up the great work!

[Aleister]

I've been working quite hard to get the first episode prepared for release.  An updated time frame would be a release on or near October 1.  I am currently putting the finishing touches on the magic learning system, testing and debugging it.  I am also working on game balance at the moment, which essentially amounts to playing through the game, and making slight adjustments to weapon and armor stats, monster stats, and drop rate frequencies for the previously discussed Stat boosting items.  As it stands now, the first Episode will be approximately 8-10 hours in length, and represents roughly 1/3 of the total game. 

I also thought I would give a little information on the skill system that stands alone from the magic system.  Each character will have access to skills which I have termed Runics.  These skills are quite varied from character to character, ranging from simple attack skills to magic boosting abilities.  It addition each character will have access to one unique skill called a Desperation Move. 

Examples:

Runics:  Rune Shell
Character: Euros
Description: Euros charges his Runic Cannon with elemental magic to exploit enemy weaknesses. 

Runics:  Meditate
Character: Serene
Description:  While in a state of deep concentration, Serene will recover HP and MP each turn, but is rendered incapable of taking actions. 

Runics:  Martyr
Character: Max
Description:  A Desperation Move, Max sacrifices his HP to restore the HP of all allies. 

Runics:  Focus
Character: Allastor
Description:  By focusing his power, Allastor is able to greatly increase the power of his next attack.

I also have a few more screenshots that I've been holding on to for some time now and finally decided to release them.


This is just a very simple character select screen.  Early on, the game will split into two Scenarios, ala FF6. 


A nice mountain top view at night.  (Replaced another screen with this one)


The obligatory burning town.  I think every game has a burning/destroyed town scene, and mine is no different. lol


Another screen from the same cutscene. 

I will continue to post updated information and release schedules as they become available.  Enjoy.

[Meiscool-2]

I like the burning town. I don't think I've ever seen anyone use those flames like that.