Announcement

[Obrusnine]

Now, as I've been here for a while now, I've decided to do my own RPG Maker VX project using all of the resources available to me on this site, and a few off-site ones to shape a thrilling game and narrative. The story takes place completely on the continent of Larencia.

Originally, this was intended to be a single-person job, but after actually getting into the game building, I have noticed that this project is just to massive to handle on my own. So, I added a composer and a mapper (to edit the maps I make). I am actively seeking more composers and artists!

Currently, my plan is to implement voice-acting after the games release. Version 2.0 will carry it. But the originally released title will not.

Current Team

Spoiler:

Project Lead: Obrusnine

Writers

Lead: Obrusnine

1.

2.

3.

Artists

Lead: None

1.

2.

3.

Composers

Lead: None

1. goregrith666

2.

3.

Eventers

Lead: None

1.

2.

3.

Mappers

Lead: Felexmatt

1.

2.

3.

Scripters

Lead: None

1.

2.

3.

Story

Spoiler:

The tag-line quote for this game is: I believe that this life is not all; neither the beginning nor
the end. I believe while I tremble; I trust while I weep.
Charlotte Bront

The story is one of a thrilling and emotional adventure, told through the eyes of a man named Clark.

Here is the preface shown in the introduction:

A long time ago.
In a land where sunshine and peace once was spread
throughout the land.
A day suddenly came, where darkness came forth.

When the darkness came, all of humanity also fell
into darkness. Not a glimmer of hope shined on the
horizon. As time went on, the darkness extinguished
almost all. Until Humans were living in small camps.

They had lost the will to fight back, and had all but
surrendered to the darkness. For surrender meant death.
Hope was gone, but suddenly, a light shined in the
darkness.

A man from seemingly nowhere came, and
extinguished the darkness. He was a hero to all
but he soon disappeared, never to be seen again.

Unfortunately, the man did not complete his job, and
the darkness lives on... In all men's hearts.
The darkness continues to grow...
But will they emerge to besiege humanity again?

Or will humanities hope rise to the forefront?
Will some hero be born, to fight the darkness before
it destroys all that we hold dear?

Or will darkness take us all?

Clark is unknowingly chosen to fight the darkness, and save the world before all of the worlds light is extinguished. Alongside him, friends will fight at his side as he battles the darkness for the hope of the entire world.

World:

Spoiler:

In the early days of the Larencian Continent, there were no countries or governments, but wandering peoples. Eventually, this changed, and the people came together and formed states. From states to nations, from nations to empires. Eventually, when the Larencian's were at the apex of their technological advancement, one Larencian accidentally created a weapon of great power... and great destruction.

Apparently, the Larencian's were at war with people from another continent who wished to rule the entire world. The war was brutal, and this Larencian scientist just wanted it to end. So, he created this weapon of mass destruction. It would eventually be called the darkness. No one knows exactly what the darkness is, but according to history, it swept over the entire continent, destroying everything. When people were once again reduced to wandering people again, a man finally came and bought the darkness to a halt.

The man went across Larencia, cleansing it with a sword of pure light. When the world was finally cleansed, they came to a final confrontation over the waters of Lake Valkyrie. Using a powerful spell, the man finally abolished the darkness... or so he thought. The darkness took up residence in the hearts of men, yet it seemed to not effect them at all, so the man never noticed that the darkness had retreated to seclusion in the hearts of all of them... including himself.

After the grand battle, he disappeared, never to be seen again. After he left, the now again wandering peoples of Larencia noticed that there science and most of their history had been lost in the war... not with the other people, but with the darkness. So, soon after, they began to rebuild. Four countries formed in the next 100 years.

One was the United States of Larencia in the Northwestern section of the continent. Which formed because of one mans desire for people to unite together to rebuild the world they had lost. They formed under an constitutional monarchy government.

Another was the Union of Avaron, which was formed because of a hero who had managed to preserve the branch of humanity from his section of the world. Since he was so revered, no one opposed him, and he became the king of an absolutist government.

Another was the Country of Prestentia, a large chunk of land directly south of Lake Valkyrie. It was formed when the peoples who lived in the area wanted to be ruled under a democratic government. There was no king, but their president stood for them all.

Finally was the Coalition of Darius, which was formed by the brutal magician Darius, which originally, the country was kept under an absolutist rule. This man had the men under his control wage war with other countries from resources. As such, the rest of the countries allied themselves together and abolished Darius, who was killed in the fighting. From then on, the Coalition has been ruled by a council of three.

But after the great battle for the Coalition, a festering hate of those who used magic rested in the hearts of the many, and the magicians were cast out into the great north eastern lands. They formed their own government their, and as the hate of their kind melted in the next 200 years, people came to respect those who used magic again. The magicians kept their land, but the people of magic were let out into the world again, treated as equals again.

Today, it is 1000 years from the incident that destroyed Larencia, and the darkness has grown. It is ready to yet again release itself from the hearts of the many, and destroy the world again... will Clark be able to stop it?

This is a map of the Larencian Continent, and where the entire story will take place. This is the final version of the map (but is still due to change in-case of future plot decisions).



In case some of you get confused by which capitals are where (it was a little difficult to get all the text to fit and still be visible), here is a list of the names of each of the capitals.

Forkers: Capital of Prestentia
Darian: Capital of the Coalition of Darius
Korkan: Capital of the Union of Avaron
Seron: Capital of the United States of Larencia
Castellian: The Center (Capital if you will) of all the magic in the Magic Peoples Lands (it is what all magicians must answer to).

Here we have the Prestentia Zoom Map, as in a zoomed in view of The Country of Prestentia.


Here we have the Coalition of Darius Zoom map.


The Union of Avaron Zoom Map



The Magic Peoples Lands Zoom Map


The United States of Larencia Zoom Map

Screenshots:

Spoiler:

Game's Main Theme

Spoiler:

Morning Remembrance, from the Bleach Original Soundtrack (Track 17)

Resources Used so Far:

Spoiler:

Mog Hunter's Location Name Script
Woratana's Minimap Script
Tankentai SBS
A Title Screen I Made
Morning Remembrance: From the Bleach OST
Donnie's Chair Sprites
Various Tilesets Created by Aindra
Mudduckie's Iconset
Various Monsters by BloodSugar and Milano Cat
Will of the Heart Bleach OST (Track 10)
Omegas 7's Simple Readbook Script
Day of War by MaestroRage
World at War by MaestroRage
Cloak of Wonderment by MaestroRage
The World's Truth by MaestroRage
Rage of the Champions by MaestroRage
Simplified DNS Script by KonO
Night Battle Script by Clarabel

Characters so far:

Spoiler:

Clark


Bio: Clark is a 20 year old exploring the worlds great historical sites with a girl named Larina. He first wanted to do this when he was fifteen, but his father would not let him leave until he was of age. So, when Clark was 18, he departed with Larina to explore.

Because of his travels, Clark has basic fighting skills (from fighting bandits), can control a boat with ease, and is a well versed historian.

Clark gets caught up in history quite often. As he is very interested in it.

He is interested in History, books, and exploration. Clark's current site is Lake Valkyrie in Central Prestentia. Which is located off of Tyransia Village. It was where the epic battle between the darkness and the man who saved the world took place.

Clark has no idea what he is destined to do. Or that his heart is the purest of all.

Personality: Clark is brooding and sometimes serious. He also has a great sense of humor, and is easygoing most of the time. But that background personality of always thinking hard about everything he says is still there.

Larina


Bio: Larina has been Clark's friend since he was little. Larina feels for Clark more then he knows, and feels that revealing her feelings would result in destroying their friendship.

Larina, like Clark has basic fighting skills, can also control boats with eased, and is also a well versed historian.

She is interested in the same things that Clark is, but in addition, she enjoys art. She travels together with Clark, so they are always in the same place.

She is always willing to help, and would give her life for others if it was necessary.

Personality: Easy going, Virtuous, and interested in the arts. Larina is a very social person.

Gameplay:

Spoiler:

While I am using SBS, I am thinking up some gameplay twists to go along with the games theme. Like, an hour into the game, when night falls, monsters are more powerful then usual. They will also take on different forms, possessed by the darkness.

Features:

Spoiler:

Tankentai SBS
Thrilling Narrative
Excellent Music
Great fights
Bonus Feature Library!
World Map!
The Dark System

Link to Current Version (v0.2a):

Spoiler:

Changes in v0.2a

No longer features RTP version, RTP's take far to long to upload, there will be no further RTP demos. You can download RTP at this link: http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/download-rtp.html
Dark System added, whenever it gets dark you better run for cover, cause these monsters will kick your ass!
Black Background Monsters Fixed, Assassins no longer have black backgrounds, backgrounds are now transparent.

Link
http://www.4shared.com/file/97JgrkvC/AtD_v02a__2_.html

Announcement: Version 0.3a will hopefully be released at the end of next week (or the week after if were not lucky). It will include several upgrades, including a full patching system (once we can solve the error that occurs when you combine it with Woratana's Minimap). You will no longer have to successively constantly download the full game over and over again. Other then that, it will also include several new maps and updated versions of the current ones. It will also (Finally!) mark our advancement out of the alpha stage of the demo! Version 0.1b will be announced soon after and will include the first glimpse of the world map system, and any new bug fixes that are needed for the 0.2a version of the demo. Thank you for your patience and support!

v0.2a released, these are the links to the old versions of the demo.

Spoiler:

v0.1a (with RTP): http://www.4shared.com/file/R-ynK-uJ/Again...s_with_RTP.html
v0.1a (without RTP): http://www.4shared.com/file/zixvYc3M/Project1.html

Any advice on how to build this game, any resources you think would be good to use, pretty much anything, tell me. I would very much appreciate it.

Help me out! Put this in your signature so I can draw some more help for this game!

CODE

[url="http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=37228"][img]http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad260/Obrusnine/AtDUserbar.jpg[/img][/url]

This post has been edited by Obrusnine: Apr 8 2011, 09:45 PM

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Obrusnine]

I am releasing the Alpha Stage demo! Be aware that there are still problems with it, but I'm releasing it to get feedback on what I've done so far. It's not a complete demo, but don't worry, it just has some things that need to be edited.

Check back at the main post in like 15 minutes to download the Alpha Stage Demo of Against the Darkness.

EDIT: Sorry guys, I'm having problems with my up-loader. Your going to have to wait a little longer.

EDIT 2: OK, problem solved. Link for version without RTP is now up and ready to go.

EDIT 3: RTP version is also now up and ready to go. Can't wait to hear your feedback!

This post has been edited by Obrusnine: Mar 26 2011, 08:40 PM

[Lady Atlas]

I haven't played your demo, but your maps don't look very appealing. Why are there trees lined up all in a row? Is it a tree farm?

[Riokogen]

I haven't played your demo, but your maps don't look very appealing. Why are there trees lined up all in a row? Is it a tree farm?

I concur. Try spreading out the trees more so that it feels more "life like".

[Obrusnine]

I concur. Try spreading out the trees more so that it feels more "life like".

i will definitely try tht 1ce my computer is working again. it went down round 2 weeks ago when i was supposed to come back. besides,this demo wasn't supposed 2 showcase maps, but the story and music used in the game.

[BaBoomzor]

Downloading Right Now!

Ill give you some helpful tips of my knowledge + a rating once i get back
EDIT:
(FIRST LOOK) I read the story, and felt, wow this reminds me of many games... The Somewhat chosen man VS darkness, not the most original game out there
,but execptional, although, and yes i agree about the tree part, make them life-like.

(REVIEW) WARING SPOILS MANY OF THE GAMES DO NOT READ IF YOU DO PLAN TO PLAY IT

Spoiler:

So, i played the game, the first sight of the title screen was a shock as was shown on the screenshot just 3 words and pure darkness, its fine, the title music was okay, but can get boring after a few times, not a big fan of that type of music but execptional to others, the introduction sceen was okay, not the best as it was only about 45 seconds of words without any movie-based intro. so finally i was playing, and the first thing that struck me was the mapping... the repetive lined up trees... and flowers and bushed made the game...well dull...then soon i total got lost the direction this game has to offer is poor, as the character is told to meet the girl at the inn, oh and before i go into detail about the direction, as i went into the inn it was filled with nothing, it was blanks... so i was saying i was walking around...the inn not know where to go... before i finally find the girl at the last door in the last floor of the inn...then SHE GETS KIDNAPPED!!! i felt a sense of...wdf...all the way here for nothing, then the battle system came up i was impressed it was the side view with i loved indeed, but the battler graphics were poor, but execpiontal, then outta now where these people tell me that she went that way and they went this way....
WHICH WAY? idk got lost again then questioned, why is the game put in a happy, light atmosphere with nice looking buildings while the story happens to add darkness attacking and stuff, so i finally find where to go, it was a long walk, with battles and cool cutscenes, the fighting was easy as you kill some slimes
and once you end the road, you fight a boss whitch leveled me like 3 times lvl3-lvl6. then the demo stopped...it was a short 10 minutes...should be longer before IT IS a demo...

LAST REVIEW
Story 4/5 - Not orginal, but still includes many different features of story.
Graphics 3/5- The graphic of "Ralph" Doesnt bother me, but is aplied good, and "Use The Animated Battlers its really good"
Mapping2/5-Mapping could be better try harder!
Music 4/5- It gets catch once in awhile
Eventing3/5- the events we're indeed good

Overall 3.2/5

(Info: I based this review on the demo, only i believe you will do alot better in the future, trust me,and do not take this to the heart i still love you (no homo) )

and here is some tips to help you.
-Maybe Use some of the rescources Rpgmakervx.net has to give, its really good
-Find tutorials on maps or play other games to see their type of mapping
-Learn from you mistakes, just like me
-Good luck

This post has been edited by BaBoomzor: Nov 18 2010, 02:29 AM

[Obrusnine]

thx a lot, i will definitely work on it. The battles need to be balanced and everything needs to be re-worked. it was just an early look, you should also check out the bonus feature library, Its my frontlline feature. im workin off my dsi atm, i will start workin on all these things once my stupid computer works again

[Obrusnine]

Okay everyone, I just want everyone who took an interest in this project to know that now that my computer is functioning again, I will continue working on this project. So please, continue to provide me with support and suggestions as I continue my work.

[FelexMatt]

I had a blank notepad docuement up and I took notes of your game. Pro's and cons. This is what I came up with,

+

music(especially tense scene music)
The intro to new areas
Dialog doesn't suck gramatically
(my dialog is terrible lol)
Battle theme is good


_

Poor map design(too open)

Battle animations need work.

You can make the black backgrounds transparent on the assassins

Trees

doors in houses

Minimap could use more event dots
MMEV npc
MMEV object
MMEV move

Normal music plays for a split seconds before tense music in intro tense scene
1 damage slimes?
0 MP duel attack?
Single slash duel attack?
Put doors on a black square so it does not look like clark is walking into a wall.
Dark lord should be to the left of the screen and not centered, and is not a challenge, it is a massicure. Test out that battle.

Overall review:
This game needs alot of work, but it has potential. Maybe use a few tutorials. This game can become alot better if it is polished more. Keep at it though, I hope to see more!

[Obrusnine]

Thanks for the feedback Felix! How do I make those backgrounds on the assassins transparent? That's what I tried to do but I obviously failed.

By the way, I am a terribly bad mapper... I have no IDEA where to begin re-mapping these areas... Could someone please help me out? I can just do the basic version of the map, and then can someone edit it for me? Cause I'm totally un-redeemable in that department.

How did I get the doors inside of the houses wrong? I thought that made walking around inside a little more... realistic.

Oh, and the incredibly basic title screen was done that way ON PURPOSE. It's white letters against a background of DARKNESS, see the point?

*Added Continent Map of Larencia
*Edited World Section with a more robust backstory

NOTE: Rivers look broken up on the map because the camera is drawn back several hundred miles up into the air, so the rivers would of course look miniscule.

This post has been edited by Obrusnine: Mar 24 2011, 02:42 PM

[FelexMatt]

Instead of just placing the file into your battler folder. Go to the resource manager and click on the battler folder, then hit import and import it in that way. Before it is imported a it will show you the picture and asks you which color that you would like to make transparent. Click on any part of that black square and it will make that square transparent.

I can help you out with mapping if you would like. If you wanna see my map design then check out the demo to my game, its on this fourm and in my signature.

The doors in the houses just felt akward. In my opinion I would just scrap them.

What I also meant by doors is on the outside of the buildings, place the quick door event over a black square tile so it does not look like the main character is walking into a wall, but into an opening.

Also what I saw wrong was you do not have the animation for normal hits from your assassins and slimes, but a better idea which you can do with the battle system script you decided to do is to use animated battlers for the assassins. It would give them weapon animations and all, it would make that part look A LOT better, the slimes however it doesn't really make a difference, I prefer the picture for slimes rather than have an animated sprite of it.

There is a tutorial in the SBS script(and demo for the SBS script) on how to animate your battlers.

It takes a little bit of extra time do do so but it is worth it in the end.

[Obrusnine]

Sorry, but I like the doors, I think I'll just leave them alone, thanks anyway.

I'm downloading the demo right now and I'll see that, I don't really care in the end though, no matter what, you can't possibly be worse at mapping then me, XD.

I may try out the animation things, but I think I'll wait until much much MUCH later in development for that. I want to get a basic version of the entire game done first.

Now I just need feedback on how well I did on the map of Larencia! Believe it or not, with CC3 it only took an hour and a half to make. Now I just need to start on area specific maps, so that way I can get the world map up and running. First is the map of the country your in, then the continent map to switch countries. This is gonna have a lot of locations by the time I'm done.

I'm hoping for a 20-30 hours plus game if I can pull it off.

This post has been edited by Obrusnine: Mar 24 2011, 06:04 PM

[FelexMatt]

Everyone has their own nitches that they want in their game, without those, you couldnt call your game yours.
When I was talking about my maps I was saying I would help you map yours, those are example of my mapping, if you like what you see than recruit me.
I know how to do the animation lol, like I said, I can help if you would like.

Your world map Idea sounds interesting, I like it. I would like to see that taken further. I looked at your world map image, I like it, but you know in the process of making your game some ideas may change, so be prepared to change your world map with it.

Its better to change your map to suit what you believe would be good for your game rather than suit your story around your map.

[Obrusnine]

Everyone has their own nitches that they want in their game, without those, you couldnt call your game yours.
When I was talking about my maps I was saying I would help you map yours, those are example of my mapping, if you like what you see than recruit me.
I know how to do the animation lol, like I said, I can help if you would like.

Your world map Idea sounds interesting, I like it. I would like to see that taken further. I looked at your world map image, I like it, but you know in the process of making your game some ideas may change, so be prepared to change your world map with it.

Its better to change your map to suit what you believe would be good for your game rather than suit your story around your map.

If I have to change the map, so be it, I can do that very easily by just opening CC3 and making the edits I want. This is the base map. I'm going to make all of the villages that aren't connected with the storyline just hubs where you see your player walk into the village and then a menu screen comes up and you can choose from Inn (which will let you rest and heal your party), Store (which will let you buy items with the gold you've collected), and Side-Quests (which will let you choose from a selection of side-quests).

There is also a gameplay system that transforms monsters at night to "Dark" alternate versions when it is night, making them doubly powerful and also making them drop double the loot. I've been working all day on it and I just got it finished!

Yes, I'm still trying to download your demo, but my bro closed firefox and now I need to re-start the download. I also knew that's what you meant, I think you took my reply the wrong way, .

This post has been edited by Obrusnine: Mar 24 2011, 10:28 PM

[FelexMatt]

The dark version ofe enemies sounds neat. I am looking forward to playing a game having that.

[Obrusnine]

Ah, just finished your demo, very nice. Ok, I lied, I only played your demo for 5 minutes... I hate not knowing where to go, some more specific directions would be nice.

Comments toward you demo, liked the music. The minimap looks better in the top-right corner, looking at the bottom right takes my eyes off of the action, I like being able to walk and glance at the minimap at the same time. But I really like the ATB battle system, and your precise adjustable options are awesome! Where would I get a script for that? Anyways, it's nice! Just tell the player where to go...

But, anyways. I love how your mapping actually looks real... while mine... well you know, glad to have you on the team!

This post has been edited by Obrusnine: Mar 24 2011, 10:47 PM

[FelexMatt]

Where are you stuck at? I can help you out, and could we continue this discusson on my topic if we are talking about my game, because it would feel more appropriate on there. Anything about your game I will discuss on here because it partains to this topic.

And I know you didn't beat it lol its a 4 hour demo u downloaded it like 20 mins ago

[Obrusnine]

Where are you stuck at? I can help you out, and could we continue this discusson on my topic if we are talking about my game, because it would feel more appropriate on there. Anything about your game I will discuss on here because it partains to this topic.

And I know you didn't beat it lol its a 4 hour demo u downloaded it like 20 mins ago

Okay, I'll transfer this discussion to your topic. On the subject of my game, I'm going to upload the unlocked project files onto my 4shared.com account right now and let you edit the maps I already have published. Because I really honestly admit that I can not make it any better then it already is.

[FelexMatt]

Ok, I will check it out, do you have any faster form of communication? Facebook, AIM? If I am going to work on this project with you I will need a faster form of communication.

[Obrusnine]

Ok, I will check it out, do you have any faster form of communication? Facebook, AIM? If I am going to work on this project with you I will need a faster form of communication.

Do you have Xfire?

Oh wait, I do have an AIM. But my computer isn't letting me connect to it atm...

This post has been edited by Obrusnine: Mar 24 2011, 11:14 PM