Announcement

[esperhunter]

Hello community!

This is the long-awaited demo of my game, Shadow Saga (the first installment, I may plan on making more...). Before I go on, let me
give a brief intro and the history of my game.

Spoiler:

Back in 2005 (when I was 10), I was absolutely obsessed with Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, well, any JRPG really. I think we all were at some
point. Anyways, I thoroughly wrote, drew and thought up a game like these JRPGs that I always hoped would come into reality. As expected, I was
overjoyed when I stumbled upon RPG Maker XP, and went to work immediately. As a newb, I found many of the gameplay features I dreamed of didn't
really come included with XP (I didn't even know what a script was... ) such as sideview, ATB, and a party larger than four. I made do with what I
had, the RTP and DBS. I worked, and worked, and worked... and.... the result was terrible. I was a newb so it was understandable, but nonetheless it
was really fun to make.

That brings me to the present, seven years later, where now I have nearly mastered VX and Ace and can actually build a game around my ideas. I've made
a lot of 'scrap games' (aka 'filler games'), but I decided to settle down and work on finishing one. Then I thought of the reason I found Maker in the first place,
and thought it would be appropriate to remake my old dream! So that's what I'm doing!

The time I made this I was obsessed with all JRPGs, so don't expect the story to be too original as well as the combat system and the dialogue. Anyways, even if
this game is terrible it was lots of fun to make and a bit nostalgic, too, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Now, onto business.

Story

Spoiler:

As time goes on, civilization itself changes. People grow meaner, stingier, and greedier. It never ends. As time passes, light deteriorates and evil expands. That's what
the game revolves around. A thousand years before, the population of Earth grew this mentality, and not only did it affect the people, but it also affected the balance of
light and darkness. Therefore, (brace yourself) four crystals were created and sent to Earth in order to act as catalysts for light to spread throughout Earth abundantly once
more. Of course, they are not self-producing, they only act as catalysts. One known as the Crystal Champion, one pure of light, must travel and amplify his light through
the power of the crystals. And so he did. People understood the symbolic significance of the crystals and worshiped the objects as holy idols. But like all good things, they
vanished once their job was fulfilled. That is, until a century later, where they are once more unveiled by a timid swordsman known as Skye. And that's where the story begins.

Characters

Spoiler:

Skye Grand
Skye Grand is an orphan found in the village of Arven and raised in the nearby village of Vale. Alongside his brother, he was found as an orphan
and was raised by Elder Raio of Arven. During this time, he befriended two other orphans at the same orphanage, Blare and Jewel. Once fighting age,
his brother took him (against his will) to solace in Vale to train Skye in the art of the sword, although in the many years they have lived there, Skye
has learned little beyond swinging it at an enemy.

Bresh Grand
Bresh is Skye's older brother and somewhat of a father figure to him as well. Bresh has little memory of his father except for the training he gave him
in the way of the sword. At 5, Bresh and his baby brother were left outside of the small village of Arven when his father vanished. While Skye spent his
preschool years playing with Blare and Jewel, Bresh was off in the near woods perfecting his sword technique. By the age of 20 (current age in the game),
he had mastered it.

Jewel Magi
Jewel is a Mage as well as one of Skye's best friends since childhood. They still stay in touch despite being separated, but seeing Skye for
the first time in a while reminds her of a time when the world wasn't spiraling into chaos. Her main role is often keeping Skye and Blare in
perspective.

Blare Gavot
Blare is a hot-headed fighter and like Jewel, one of Skye's best friends. He stayed behind to train in the wilderness around Arven while Skye went
off to train with Bresh. He is undoubtedly the most experienced of the three and also the most prepared for the journey they have in store. His
only downfall is his unrelenting lack of intelligence.

There are many other characters in the game, but the short beginning focuses mainly on these characters.

Screenshots

Spoiler:

Download
Version 2.0

Changelog

Spoiler:

Version 1.2 - Fixed many eventing and grammatical errors as well as encrypted the file
Version 2.0 - Huge revamp. Tone change as well as demo extension. Est. 2+ hours.

Before you start, there are a few notes I should mention.

Spoiler:

***The escape command does not work. Instead press 'B' and select escape that way.

***I do realize Skye looks nothing like Bresh, I used the same characters that I did in my XP game.

***You can press Shift and Q to change the range of magic.

If you play it, I would love some helpful feedback! It's the worst feeling when you spend a long time on a
game to realize it sucks.

The demo is roughly an hour long. Thank you all for playing and I hope you enjoy it.

Wanna support my game? Put this code into your signature!

CODE

[url=http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=57373&st=0&start=0][img]http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y539/Esperhunter/Userbar_New_zps2d57fffd.png[/img][/url]

And here's what it looks like...


This post has been edited by esperhunter: Mar 31 2013, 05:44 PM

[Johnny0798]

So...

Spoiler:

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Checks DEMO*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4shared!!!!!!!

But, about the game itself, I don't know what to say... It's...

Spoiler:

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Wants a support bar*

[esperhunter]

Haha. Thanks.

4shared is my go-to file sharing site. I tried MediaFire, but I got a nice error since I'm not premium...

Could you suggest one to me?

(Oh, and I'm going to add a Support Bar to my OP, so you can check that out soon.)

[Johnny0798]

Dropbox.
Akod says it's the best.
And I agree with him. It's even better than MediaFire, because it gives you more space.

[esperhunter]

Oh, that one went right over my head. Totally forgot about DropBox.

Okay, uploading it now.

[Nong97]

Hey! This is a pretty good game!
It's been a while since i got so addicted to any games on this site

[esperhunter]

Hey! This is a pretty good game!
It's been a while since i got so addicted to any games on this site

Thanks, glad that you enjoyed it!

@Johnny - I added a DL from Dropbox so check it out when you have the time.

[esperhunter]

~Bump~



This post has been edited by esperhunter: Apr 13 2013, 01:32 PM

[Johnny0798]

That was so cool!

*Wants, wants, WANTS!!!!!*

BUT (There's always a but):

Spoiler:

1 - There are four saved games in the DEMO. This means I can load each one of them!
2 - The title screen says "Tales of Mana";
3 - The save window has the word Gen and the amount of Gen exactly on the same place;
4 - I can see Skye for a brief moment in the beginning. This can be fixed by creating an empty actor;
5 - In the beginning, I can see multiple Skyes;
6 - Most of the questions don't end with a question mark. Example: "Why are you saying "your world".";
7 - I don't think you need to say "Blah was found!" after the item popping up;
8 - The item pop-up window is too small that some icons are cut-off. This can be fixed by modifying the script a little;
9 - I was playing for a short moment, when suddendly the timer was saying I've been playing for over an hour!
10 - In the reordering option, in the upper window, the text is cut-off;
11 - TYPO!!!!!! The "adult" says "if THEIR worthy" instead of "if they're worthy";
12 - The "adult" says "posess" instead of "possess". I also found it strange that Skye said "Lol.";
13 - In Skye's house, it looks like that vase is falling off the table;
14 - It is difficult to read Bresh's letter with the white table. It would be better if the text was on the top or the bottom of the window;
15 - The books in the shrine say "Hmyns" instead of "Hymns". The timer was at 2:15:03 when I saw this, and I've been playing for only 10 minutes!
16 - I shouldn't have kicked that boy... He is still standing there... And the timer is at 3:19:05...
17 - When Bresh says "Speak Elder!", it looks like that "Elder" is another language;
18 - The Elder stays looking upwards after he tells them the story (4:26:17);
19 - The bookcase returns to the place it was before moving it after exiting the map and reentering;
20 - One of the enemies is called "Giest" instead of "Geist";
21 - There is a way of removing the "Enemy emerged!" and "EnemyA" things. I don't know if you want to remove them, but if you want...
22 - When I got to the healing point in the shrine, the timer was at 5:30:53!!!
23 - The Elder says "All of Elders know." instead of "All of the Elders know.";
24 - When Skye learns to use magic, only Cure and Fire are in the menu. I guess you can see something wrong with the waterfalls there too;
25 - The BGMs don't loop, what results in the music fading out and restarting instead of looping indefinitely. That certainly eats a lot of space... My game had over 100mb before I discovered I could loop BGMs, but now it has only 61mb!
26 - When the title shows, it just appears and then disappears extremely fast;
27 - "Aren't you the item shop in our village?" Well, you know what's wrong with this one;
28 - "Anyways" doesn't exist! It's just a popular way of saying "anyway"!
29 - No sound is played when you push the rocks (6:40:37);
30 - The butterflies stop Skye. They should be set to "Above Characters" or whatever it's called there (7:43:56);
31 - "Somebody scribbled BLAER on this door." Blaer instead of Blare;
32 - When Raio is speaking about Bresh, "below" is cut-off. At least I think it's below... "By" and "be" are also cut-off;
33 - Mr. Mufure says "plataeu" instead of "plateau";
34 - The evil man says "limbs was broken" instead of "limbs were broken" (11:56:21);
35 - Mr. Mufure says "just how I tought you" instead of "just how I taught you";
36 - After Jewel prepares the potion, we play with her;
37 - The description of the Grand Mead says "The legendary potion that can fully rejouvinate anyone" instead of "rejuvenate";
38 - When we cure the man with the Cherub Poison, it looks like he's walking, not standing;
39 - There's a problem with the waterfall near the equipment shop in Arven Village;
40 - When we read the sign in Ore, the word "it" is cut-off;
41 - When we enter a building in Ore, we can see the rain. When we get out, we can't see it;
42 - In the Blackbeard's Inn, the default inn ME plays;
43 - If you want the whole inn ME to play, wait 425 frames when make an inn. How do I know this? Well...
44 - The save menu only shows 4 members. I don't know how to fix this...
45 - Bolof appears after Ox joins the party. Since you said the DEMO ended there, I guess you didn't want that...
46 - In a battle with five members, the fifth member's status are cut-off. I don't know how to fix this either.
47 - I don't know if you know this, so I'll write it here. You can change the game's icon. It's good to get rid of that unicorn!
48 - In the end, the timer said 15:33:48...

This was really, really cool!
No... Cool is a little word...
This was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

(Sorry for tooking so long to reply... I was writing as I was playing the DEMO)

This post has been edited by Johnny0798: Dec 28 2012, 08:55 PM

[esperhunter]

Wow. Thanks! That'll sure keep me busy for a while!

Yeah I realize I have a lot of grammatical errors, I tend to rush dialogue. There are many things I don't know how to fix, including
the time (just ignore the first number and that's your play time), the battle status, most of the things that are cut off. Also, where
did it say Tales of Mana? That was the original name of my game but I changed it to match the protagonist. I also didn't understand
what you meant at #17...

(LoL at #43, the Final Fantasy III inn ME was the first one that came to mind when I thought of changing it. I assume you're using it, too?)

I'm going to play through the game and pick out all the things you mentioned, but thanks for the compliments. Also, a few notes
for people who play this in the future.

~The save files were on accident. I forgot to delete them when I encrypted the game.

~BLAER was on purpose to poke fun at the fact that he's all muscle and no brains.

~I think "Anyways" is common enough that it can be implemented into our daily vernacular. Well, I'm really
just using that as an excuse so I don't have to change all of times I say it!

I don't really consider the BGM thing to be a major problem. It would be a crap load of Audaciting and I'm more concerned about
progressing my game.

But wow, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the game, not as much the grammar, but that will be fixed in due time!

(EDIT: Already fixed the menu time. LoL, within a code in the script, I found (hr=sec/360). Derp. It should be (hr=sec/3600). Sorry about that.)

This post has been edited by esperhunter: Dec 28 2012, 10:01 PM

[Johnny0798]

Spoiler:

In number 17 I meant that without a comma, the meaning of the phrase is completely different.
An example:

Let's say I have a dog, and his name is English. I'm training him...

"Speak English!" I'm telling him to speak something in English.

"Speak, English!" I'm telling him to speak.

That's what I meant. "Speak Elder" makes it look like that Elder in another language, so it should be fixed to "Speak, Elder!".


I have another game time script (One that works!), but I don't know it this menu script of yours already has the timer implemented. If you give the script to me, I can find a way to remove it, since I'm getting better at Ruby.


For the things that are cut-off, it's simple:

Press Enter on the word that is cut-off when you show a message.


But making BGMs loop can reduce the size dramatically. I could have downloaded it before if they were OGGs.


I was sure Blaer was another typo... Oh, well...


About "anyways", I think it's said only twice in the DEMO, but I'm not sure...


I have NOTHING to say about the inn ME!

Well, that's all for now!

This post has been edited by Johnny0798: Dec 28 2012, 10:09 PM

[esperhunter]

Thanks, but can you tell me where you saw Tales of Mana? That seems to be a pretty high-priority problem...

[Johnny0798]

It was on the title screen.

And what about #21 and #47? I don't know if you know about those ones, so I wrote them there. I guess it's good for people to know those things...

This post has been edited by Johnny0798: Dec 29 2012, 05:11 PM

[esperhunter]

Oh wow, I feel like a pants-on-head dumbass now. In my game folder it has the Shadow Saga logo, but in the demo (which is the
same game folder, just encrypetd), it has my old logo. Ugh. I think I might know how to fix this though. Anyways, thanks for your
help. Here I was thinking I had the perfect game, but looks like I've got some renovating to do.

I don't see the benefits of excluding the "% emerged!" thing, but I will find out how to change the logo. Thanks for bringing that to
my attention!

[Johnny0798]

If you still want to remove the "EnemyA", "EnemyB", you can come here.

To change the icon, come here.

EDIT: More little errors!

48 - The Cherub Root isn't removed from the inventory after healing the man in the mine;
49 - Raio returns to bed after exiting the room and returning;
50 - The man in the left in front of the Arven Church says "Ease can return to Arven once more!" What does this mean?
51 - The man in the right says that Mr. Mufure has "passed" instead of "passed away".
52 - The fifth party member is cut-off in the shop.

This post has been edited by Johnny0798: Dec 30 2012, 01:48 AM

[esperhunter]

Alright! I uploaded a completely revised version that has fixed all of the grammatical errors and
most of the graphical errors!

To anyone who hasn't tried it out yet, I implore you to do so! I'd love to get your feedback!

(NOTE: I removed the Overdrive system for many reasons that I'm sure you can figure out on your own. Please
report any errors that may have spawned from this deletion. There shouldn't be any script clashes, but I haven't thoroughly
tested it.)

This post has been edited by esperhunter: Jan 2 2013, 03:59 AM

[Johnny0798]

53 - I downloaded the new DEMO, and when I play it, I started in a place called The Frigate and play with an invisible person;
54 - I see you changed the icon. But don't worry about it not showing in the folder. It takes some time. At least, it did with my game;
55 - One of the trees near Joroco Mine doesn't have the bottom part;
56 - The description of the Leather Glove says "puching" instead of "punching";
57 - The man near the equipment shop in Arven Village says "plataeu" instead of "plateau";
58 - After 57, Skye says "Uhh_ no_ not really";
59 - After 58, the man says "extict" instead of "extinct". Jewel also says it;
60 - When arriving in Ore, Blare is set to a frame where he is walking, just like the man in the mine;
61 - Ox is also set to a frame where he is walking inside Everett's house;
62 - Skye says "were" instead of "we're" in Everett's house.

Also, numbers 5, 6, 12, 17, 18, 35, 37, 40, 41, 48, 49, 50 and 51 still happen.

This post has been edited by Johnny0798: Jan 4 2013, 09:03 PM

[esperhunter]

I'm not very good at this, am I? Ok, thanks so much for pointing that out. I'm pretty sure everybody on this forum by now
thinks I'm a complete dumbass... -.-

Where you started was the airship of my game, and at the final phase of the game. There was a part in my game that was hard to event, so in one foul
swoop I did that, the airship, and some of the other stuff. That's why you started there, I forgot to change the position. (facespike)

*Sigh*, I'm just gonna upload the changed version with no adjustments, but I will work on the few other things you pointed out. I seriously cannot thank
you enough.

Lucky for you, those are all the characters of my game. Most of them have default stats, but I am working on that. Also, talking to Bolof will prompt you
to see every single place you go to throughout the game. So... there went the surprise. Oh, and don't ask why Bresh isn't there...

This post has been edited by esperhunter: Jan 4 2013, 09:05 PM

[Johnny0798]

You're welcome!
And I thought I was being annoying!

(I CAN'T believe you're using more scripts than me! I'm using 42 and you're using 58! But most of them are for Tankentai... That's why I don't like it...)

[esperhunter]

Aw man, I unencrypted it, too?

EDIT: Annoying? If it weren't for you, my game would be the most imperfect, ungrammatically correct n00b fest this forum has ever
seen. You've saved my ass, not once, but TWICE? I praise you for your consistent criticism and brilliant observant skills! Thanks!

This post has been edited by esperhunter: Jan 4 2013, 09:29 PM