The Lore of Lorewyn, 20-30 hours of gameplay, all original music Options

[bastian]

October 1 2011
Brand new revamped version now available!
What's new?

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Quite a lot!
-custom sprites/faces for the seven main characters (some are just recolorings, some are more dramatic changes)
-mapping has been redone in several areas
-Animated battlebacks
-Animated battlers
-multiple fogs
-new battle menu
-new general menu
-new cutscenes and additional dialogue
-a brand new dungeon-puzzle thing
-encounter rates are more reasonable
-enemies (including bosses) are more ballanced
-twice as many enemytypes and twice as many troups in a given area
-two songs have been updated slightly
-four new superbosses hidden in the secret dungeons (the four towers) which can be accessed after that fateful wish.

This game features 100% original music (including Victory, Battle, Item, and Inn themes) written by me and my band done in an Indie Rock style.
And an extremely unique and unconventional story (once you get into it).


Story

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With several major plot twists occurring throughout the progression of the 25+ hour story, what at first seems like a cliche good vs. evil quest unfolds into something much more unique. You will have to play the game to discover its surprising ending.

You are your ordinary self from our ordinary world, but one morning you awaken in a tower in a magical pre-Renaissance island kingdom. You discover you are part of an ancient prophecy and must help the recently returned prince conquer the source of evil that has overrun the land.

But all is not as it seems...

On your journey you will discover bit by bit that the quest you were sent on is more complicated and more full of intrigue than you could have imagined.

Characters

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Tyrin: You. Not some pre-existing character, but actually you, the person reading this now. Tyrin is not your real name of course, but that's what people call you in this new Land of Lorewyn. Of course, you had little if any experience in swordplay in our world, but on waking in Lorewyn you find yourself exceedingly skilled. Mia says that this is because you've been magically blessed with a magical Ability called Swordplay within Lorewyn. As you level up, you will learn "skills" related to Swordplay.

Mia: an Elemantal Mage who was assigned to Tyrin Tower. She's bubbly and nice and fresh from training, so is eager to prove herself and her magic.

Baeon: the prince of Lorewyn. There are several strange facts about him. Firstly, no one knew Lorewyn had a prince. But the king reveals that Baeon's mother had concealed her pregnancy and ran away to birth him in secrecy. Unfortunately, Baeon was found unconscious today, remembering nothing of his past. His Ability is vast Strength. But this is useless to him as he is completely unskilled in weaponry. He's much more interested in spell casting, but lacks proficiency in anything but curative magic.

Sylar: a young man from a noble family. His sister Sylea is thought to have been abducted by Radasol. Sylar was too lazy and disinterested in training in weaponry or magic, so his quest in finding and freeing his sister is proving difficult.

Yasian: an old, forgetful mage who might turn out to be none of those things.

Sylea: a very skilled archer from a noble family with super eyesight as her Ability. She and her brother have more in common than either knew and will enjoy.

Screen Shots

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Features
* This game features 100% original music (yes, including Victory, Battle, Item, and Inn themes) written by me and my band in an Indie Rock style. And an extremely unique and unconventional story (once you get into it).
* Over 20 hours of gameplay!

Download[/u]
NEW Download of the Complete Game! (08.16.11):
Complete Game

Credits
* Enu and Mr. Bubbles for the Tankentai Sideview Battle System
* Star for ATB
* 2Chan for Mode7 VX
* Kylock for Light Effects VX
* And many, many more all listed in the opening credits.

Have fun!

This post has been edited by bastian: Oct 9 2011, 08:12 PM

[Otaku Son]

First and foremost, don't force full-screen. I've noticed this often with RM games, but fullscreen usually results in bars phasing through the image at times, and your game is no exception to this. If people want to play full screen, they can hit Alt+Enter.

Secondly, the BGM is too loud; it's drowning out the sound effects. There's also some clipping where the song hits a its high peak. Either adjust the volume in your audio editing program, or—if that clipping is intentional—lower the volume when setting the BGM.

No introduction? Just BAM! thrown right into the game? At least some kind of introduction—like about this prophoecy that someone will appear during the hour of need—would be nice.

You can select "Nevermind" from the list of choices right away, rather than having to go through the questions first. Which leads to Tyrin remarking if he got here while sleeping, he must still be sleeping. Howm does he know he arrived while sleeping if he never asked how he got here? Change it up somehow so you have to ask the questions before getting the forth option.

"I have something to show you. Not THAT you perv." Yeah, I wasn't thinking about that, and I highly doubt Tyrin was, either; he seems too concerned trying to figure out where he is.

Not to mention I was able to go downstairs and continue on with the game (didn't even need to talk to Mia) before going upstairs to get my equipment. And even when I did go to the third floor, I went straight to the fouth floor before being told to. And then I restarted the game and discovered I didn't even need to talk to Mia on the second floor where I started. It's funny to have Mia in my party from the fouth floor and then talk to her on the second.

Do something about those stairs teleporting you face-first into walls, please. You've left directional facing on RETAIN rather than facing away from the walls. Not to mention on the lower levels, they're leading into the walls, while the upper levels are facing away from the walls (in other words, the staircase-in and staircase-out are facing opposite directions).

Losing to Mia results in a Game Over? What the hell? Pretty harsh for a tutorial boss, don't you think?

So, I finally get to the castle, and I enter it sideways. And I'm teleported into the entrance, sideways. You really need to work on the transfer points. And on that note, you should also place the transfer-to location one tile in front of another transfer-from location. So that way people can just turn around and go back if they don't want to be here, instead of having to move forward and then turn around.

While I was in the castle, a ghost treasure chest started stalking me.



And then some ghost lamps started following me.



And then all sorts of ghosts started chasing me!



Typing of the lamps, when I hit the action button when facing a one, it sorta dances. I'm thinking you don't have the "Direction Fix" enabled, and so the lamp is trying to turn to face me whenever I hit the action button, but you don't have anything programmed for it to do. So it just dances and stuff.

I noticed the ghost phenomenon is somehow linked to events, and for whatever reason, the events begin chasing me at the edges of the screen (they disappear after a battle, though). And then I also noticed that the ghost events will also sort "jump into place" when their location comes into frame. Really bizarre stuff.

By the way, you're trying to make a vertical pillar using the top halves of pillars. That doesn't work, because they have a passability.



You have two locked doors. One reads "Locked" and the other reads "LOCKED." Please have some consistency.

If I was the Slime Lord, I would be very pissed off if my underlings ran away from me.

I'm interested to know what dirty magazines from our world are doing in this alternative world, and why Mia knows what Playboy is and/or why she would be interested in Playgirl if she's got a problem with perverts. I'm starting to get the idea that "Familiar of Zero" has influenced this game (as if the earlier part about a hero with no prior training of swords would be able to freely wield weapons wasn't already a hint).

I can talk to the Prince before talking to his father. I guess that's not necessarily wrong... though it is strange.

Your rounded doors open up into tunnels. I mean, they have the little side-bricks around the arch of the tunnel. So, your door is opening up into a hole that's smaller than the door size.

Your little girl who wants to go see the treasure mountain seems to be playing a game of red light/green light. And I applaud her to be keeping balance on one foot.

I can walk all over the upper half of Grune Town on the overworld map? Must make the peasants in that part of the town frightened to have their homes stomped on by a giant.

The girl explaining Grune Day and free Grunes loses her face.

And the game froze when I went into the Granny's house with a bunch of flowers. And I decided that was enough of the game for now.

[bastian]

Otaku Son: Thanks so much for your bug catches and stuff!

Because of how I set up an anti-lag script, it caused a whole bunch of weird issues with events going to strange places on maps. I'll get a new demo up with that fixed. But first I'll take care of some of those stupid things you found. Good point about talking to Mia on each floor. I'll simplify it and put all her stuff in one place.

First and foremost, don't force full-screen.

I can see how that would be annoying. I'll remove it.

"Secondly, the BGM is too loud; it's drowning out the sound effects."
Really? I find the oposite to be the case on my end. I find that the sound effects are usually too loud and grating and the music seems too quiet. Any songs in particular that struck you as overly loud? Especially, which song had clipping? That's no good.

"No introduction? Just BAM! thrown right into the game? At least some kind of introduction—like about this prophoecy that someone will appear during the hour of need—would be nice."
There is a title song where I plan on fading in and out still shots from the game with simple sentences setting up the mood . . . but no actual introduction per se. The Prophecy of the Prince doesn't really have much to do with the game (despite how it seems in the first part of the game).

You can select "Nevermind" from the list of choices right away, rather than having to go through the questions first. Which leads to Tyrin remarking if he got here while sleeping, he must still be sleeping. Howm does he know he arrived while sleeping if he never asked how he got here? Change it up somehow so you have to ask the questions before getting the forth option.

Yikes. I'll tinker with it so that even if you don't ask the questions and say "Nevermind" it will still make sense.

"I have something to show you. Not THAT you perv." Yeah, I wasn't thinking about that, and I highly doubt Tyrin was, either; he seems too concerned trying to figure out where he is.

A very good point, but maybe Mia just assumed that Tyrin was having dirty thoughts.

"Not to mention I was able to go downstairs and continue on with the game (didn't even need to talk to Mia) before going upstairs to get my equipment."

It's funny to have Mia in my party from the fouth floor and then talk to her on the second.

Very good point. Instead I'll have the dialogue start immediately on Tyrin's awaking

"Do something about those stairs teleporting you face-first into walls, please."
Very good point. I was VERY sloppy with that in the beginning of the game and forgot. Thanks for reminding me. I'll fix all those.

"Not to mention on the lower levels, they're leading into the walls, while the upper levels are facing away from the walls (in other words, the staircase-in and staircase-out are facing opposite directions)."
I get what you're saying, but to do it otherwise would look weird to me. If a stair's first step was on the other side (not next to you, but up against a wall) . . . that would just be weird.

"Losing to Mia results in a Game Over? What the hell? Pretty harsh for a tutorial boss, don't you think?"
Good point. I'll make it continuable even if defeated.

"While I was in the castle, a ghost treasure chest started stalking me."
Eek! Scary! I think I just fixed that with how I changed the anti-lag script to work. I'll make sure before posting my next demo.

"Typing of the lamps, when I hit the action button when facing a one, it sorta dances. I'm thinking you don't have the "Direction Fix" enabled,"
Ah! Nope! I didn't know about that. I'm still fairly n00bish at RPGMaker on some things. I'll fix those. Yikes . . . so many lamps in the game to fix.

"By the way, you're trying to make a vertical pillar using the top halves of pillars. That doesn't work, because they have a passability."
Would you believe they're secret passages? Nope? Damn. I'll have to fix them. Duh, why I didn't realize that astounds me.

"You have two locked doors. One reads "Locked" and the other reads "LOCKED." Please have some consistency."
That's the exact sort of nitpick-y stuff I love! I'll fix it.

"I'm interested to know what dirty magazines from our world are doing in this alternative world, and why Mia knows what Playboy is and/or why she would be interested in Playgirl if she's got a problem with perverts."
Very good questions. And, actually, the answers are forthcoming (about two thirds into the game). And that's not all. Wait until Baeon starts talking about cars and light bulbs . . .

I'm starting to get the idea that "Familiar of Zero" has influenced this game

I've never heard of it. But you made me curious and I googled it. It looks interesting. But I'm not really a fan of much Anime (except Ghibli/Miyazaki). The only influence I can think of would maybe be Piers Anthony's Xanth books . . . but only very, very vaguely.

"I can talk to the Prince before talking to his father. I guess that's not necessarily wrong... though it is strange."
I like to give players the options to NOT do stuff. I don't like forcing players into having to do simple stuff . . . so long as the fact that they haven't done said thing or spoken to said person doesn't contradict anything later.

"Your rounded doors open up into tunnels."
Wow, I totally forgot about that. Day one of my RPG Maker mistakes I STILL haven't fixed. Time to fix time.

"Your little girl who wants to go see the treasure mountain seems to be playing a game of red light/green light. And I applaud her to be keeping balance on one foot."
Haha, funny! Gotta fix that!

The girl explaining Grune Day and free Grunes loses her face.

Scary! But I see what ya mean. Fixed it. Thanks!

And the game froze when I went into the Granny's house with a bunch of flowers.

Yes, sorry. There's an Auto-Run in there I had forgotten to turn off. I've fixed it since, but haven't posted a new demo with the fix.

Thanks so, so much! I'll have a new demo up within a week with all those fixes.