I've been around for a short while now, and I've had a good look at the various games created by many users here on RRR. While many are exceptional and well worth their merit, a great deal are also low quality with no distinguishing features. Lullaby of the Wind aims to step away from the conception that a fanmade game has to be bland, unimaginative and boring. How exactly does it do this? By creating a story-based game that doesn't revolve around the ever popular scripts such as the Tankentai Battle System. It's not uncommon to find a game with a wide array of scripts as their 'features' when they cannot even use the correctly!
Story
The story revolves around a young girl named Amelia Rose and her life in Zederon's slums with her older brother, Owen. Life is difficult within Zederon, not only for Amelia and her brother. Financial strain is faced across all households and making a living is growing increasingly difficult. As a consequence, it comes as no surprise that their parents, with a heavy sense of guilt, had to abandon both Amelia and Owen to the streets to fend for themselves.
Having only themselves to keep comfort, Amelia naturally feels an incredible bond with Owen - the older of the two. Often times she thinks to herself what life would be like without him and whether she would even still be alive had he not sheltered her from various dangers that the slums wrought. It's undeniable that life is difficult for the siblings yet they hold onto a sense of unwavering hope that they'll one day be free from the plague-ridden city. It then comes as a shock to the young girl when she soon realises that the hope she had clung on to, would soon shatter.
After a restless night in the harshness of the cold, Amelia awakens to find her brother, missing. Unbeknownst to her, he was snatched away from the dark of night, not to be seen again. Despair, panic and sadness are just a few of the multitude of feelings that engulfed Amelia. Wiping her eyes of tears and following a bravery she had not known she possessed, Amelia leaves the slums of Zederon to find her only family and reclaim the hope that she had so desperately held on to.
Lullaby is a re-imagining of a classic fairytale and one that many know of. As mentioned previously, this game hopes to provide an interesting experience for the player and one that'll make them realise that not all games must abide by the typical style of a fantasy RPG.
Characters
Amelia Rose
Young and "too beautiful for rags", Amelia lives with her brother in the slums of Zederon after being abandoned by her parents. Despite her timid nature she develops a sense of bravery after her brother's kidnapping. Bare-footed and dirty, Amelia traipses Zederon in hopes of finding her brother.
Owen Rose
Owen lives with his sister, Amelia. Although friendly, he has no qualms over showing hostility to those that threaten either him or Amelia. Knowing it's a dog-eat-dog city he understands a defensive nature must be taken in order to survive. His sudden disappearence is left without reason.
Victoria Wood
Bearing a baby and living together with her husband and father, Victoria is a teacher at the local school. Contrary to her spouse's conventional opinion of women, Victoria does not agree, nor abide by, the legal expectancies of a female. Perhaps it's her nature that will soon aid Amelia.
Alfred Layton (Yes, a homage to Professor Layton!)
A general store owner who sells a variety of goods. Chivalrous and well mannered, he's more than happy to lend a hand to Amelia. Close friends with Harvey Daniels, a tailor, he sends her to him to seek his help.
Harvey Daniels
Well spoken and often interruptive, it's no surprise that Harvey can appear rude. He holds best intentions at heart but he can't help but aggravate Amelia. Although not able to freely offer his services as a tailor, he does provide help for her; at a price, of course.
[More to be added at a later time]
Features
Lullaby is set in the industrial city of Zederon. Amelia does not once set foot out of the city's walls leaving just the expanse of Zederon to explore. Don't fret however as there will be various locations within it such as manors, shops, slums and sewers. Zederon is divided into three main regions:- Industrial Slums, Lower District, Upper District.
To retain the integrity of the storyline as well as the gameplay, Lullaby will not have a battle system. Instead, a 'Traits System' will be adopted in which players can Level Up Amelia's personality traits. These enable her to perform various functions such as the ability to influence others to reveal information which will then progress the story. (How the points will be awarded to level up these traits is unknown as of yet)
The player will take on the role of various people across Zederon. Some friendly, some not so much. This journey is not just Amelia's but those around her, too. Her personality will influence the decisions that others make such as whether they wish to help the her or not.
Music
I'm looking for classical style music to give an authentic, natural feel to the city. (You know how hard it is to find Victorian/steampunk music on the web?) An example of style I'm looking to achieve is similar to that of the brilliant puzzle game, Braid.
Another style I am particularly fond of is that from the Professor Layton games. Something about the mixture of an accordion and violin really gives it a robust feel; a style similar to what I'm looking for in Lullaby
As you can see, there is a lot to be refined here. Not only that, but the story needs certain events to take place that have not yet been decided yet. The main storyline is there, as well as the twists, but more content has to be included. I have most of the game mapped out in my mind, as well as how it'll look. I just need to gather a small team that can make this happen!
Due to wanting to keep the story interesting and gameplay fresh, I am hoping to have this game reach around 5-6 hours long. Of course, if the game naturally exceeds that length then so be it. I don't want to be forcing extra playtime out of it.
I've yet to even begin developing this game in RMXP as necessary resources are needed such as sprites and music, but over time I should hopefully get those on board to lend a hand and become part of the team.
Lullaby of the Wind is featured in the steampunk city of Zederon. This is an environment which I feel is neglected in the gaming world and I think that if done well, it can really give a feel of how dangerous it is for Amelia and those in the slums. From a personal standpoint, I've always loved the appearance of a dystopian future, especially the kind you often see in a steampunk setting. The player will control Amelia as she walks barefoot around Zederon in search for her brother.
I've tried my best to keep it as fresh as possible. 'Originality' doesn't exist. It's a point that is argued continuously but my opinion stands that there is no longer anything new that can be brought to the table. Instead, I've decided not to pretend it's something new and original, but have it's nature of being a copy of a fairytale its main strength.
As you can see this is quite an undertaking. At this moment in time I'm hoping to finalise some ideas within my mind, and maybe then I'll post in the recruitment subforum for help in creating my game. If you're at all interested then feel free to either PM me or post a message in this thread. Note however that I can only recruit those with exceptional skills. I'm (we're) creating a high quality project here. I absolutely cannot have time wasters or those who lack the necessary skills. My apologies.
Anyway, please tell me what you think! I may not be able to answer all questions, nor explain certain aspects however I'll do my best to take on board criticism which is constructive. There's nothing worse than an illiterate insult with no solid meaning behind it.
(I wish to apologise to those who were able to withstand the cumbersome text! I know pictures attract the reader however it's simply not possible in my case. I also wish to apologise for any grammatical errors whether it be in the form of spelling mistakes or poor sentence structure. If anything needs clarification then I'd happily provide it.)
EDITS:
Edited some details, fixed some sentences and replaced various words. Added a userbar if anybody wishes to support. (first ever userbar I've created, too!) Edited a lot of information and included some more, too. Extended information into a 'music' section. Added three more examples. Added character subheading. Added five main characters.
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Lullaby of the Wind, A re-imagining of a classic fairytale in a steampunk era.
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Jun 28 2010, 01:45 PM
