Game Info
Start Date: 4/27/2011
End Date: TBA
Game Genre: Tactical Action/Adventure
Development Team Name: Vision Studios
Profit/Non-Profit?: Non-Profit Game
�Teaser Demo� Release Date: 06/13/12





The game takes place on the super continent of Gai. Due to the connection of all land there is a World Order and therefore one political government. In the game, this government is referred to simply as “The Government� and is headed by six prominent figures. Their politically correct name, however, is the UGC which stands for the United Government of the Coasts. Gai is divided into twelve Districts, each containing its own central town and other sites within it. Each District is grouped into an imaginary social sect. There are four sects in total with three districts belonging to one sect. The smaller numbered Districts (District 1 for example) belong to smaller numbered Sects (Sect 1). Those Districts belonging to Sect 1 or 2 receive more attention from The Government and generally live in better conditions versus that of the higher Sects. Due to this, in Sects 3 and mainly 4, there is a lot of Hunter Group activity. The main character resides in the Tenth District and lives in Rockdale Town. Most of everything outside the central storyline takes place in this town where the character can talk to people, take missions from the pub, recruit people, and more.








868 years before the start of the story, a World Order had just formed. It was lead by six prominent figures known as The Council. 20 years after this government was formed, a powerful man created an energy and released it into the world. This energy was known as Bane. This mysterious energy entered into all the people on the planet, and as time went on, people learned to control this energy and use it to their benefit. With the energy, the man had also created a powerful weapon and gave clues to finding it by putting codes in five scattered stone tablets that were immovable and indestructible due to being infused with Bane. However, the man was killed by this World Order for unknown reasons before he could release to the public that he had given clues to finding the great weapon. The unstable World Order thought it best to keep this all hidden. Later on, a revolutionary man told the public that there were five scattered tablets, which the government was hiding. The rewards were a great weapon. The government quickly assassinated him. During this time, the World Order was still lacking powerful leadership and their control was still wavering. They took this opportunity and claimed that they found and decoded all the stone tablets and were able to find the Weapon. They used their claim of having this destructive weapon to instill fear into all the citizens of the super continent. They grew in power due their ability to control over all people. From then on out, they were referred to as “The Government�.

Several decades later, people began to doubt. Intellects of the time realized that The Government finding The Weapon was an absurd lie just to grow in power. As the realization took hold of vast numbers of people, citizens of Gai began to look for The Tablets and The Weapon, themselves. The Government quickly outlawed looking for The Tablets and problems began to rise. Citizens that didn’t participate in the illegal search for The Tablets believed that the Government was corrupt and that the people searching for the tablets only wanted power. Most people looking for The Tablets simply did it to obtain the position of great power. These people were known as Hunters and The Government labeled all such people as criminals. Hunters usually grouped themselves together and battled against other Hunter Groups. The hunt for the “Forbidden Tablets� was on.





21 year old Damien Levy is ready to start his life as an independent adult. He’s finally graduated from boarding school and has learned a lot, including manipulating Bane, the ancient energy that has lurked around since ancient times. After Damien misses the Bane-powered train from his boarding school in the outskirts of the Tenth District going to the central town: Rockdale Town, Damien has to walk the whole way there, a three to four day long trek. Before he can reach his destination though, he runs into trouble, consisting of a band of Hunters that aren’t looking for friendship. Damien, ready to take on the weakling group of Hunters by himself; is backed up by another group of Hunters, despite Damien insisting he could handle it himself. After disposing of the Hunters, the new group of Hunters formally introduce themselves to Damien; eventually persuading him to join their small group of Hunters. Damien and his new friends now search for the Tablets with similar objectives. On their journey they’ll need to fight off other Hunter groups, Government Officials, and get acquainted with Rockdale Town if they want to become a bigger group. And eventually, the truth will be revealed about the tablets, the secret weapon, and the motives of the man who created Bane…


 


Main Characters

(From left to right: Damien, Heather, Anito, Bryce)

Damien Levy
The main character of the story. Damien was raised by his mother in a small village called Bern in the Tenth District. His mother home schooled him until she had enough money to send him to a ten-year program at a local boarding school when Damien turned ten. One summer while Damien was on summer vacation at home, he and his mother were attacked by a group of Government Agents lead by Agent B who had been searching for them for the past 12 years. They kill Damien’s mother and capture Damien, but before they can inform The Council of their success they are all attacked and killed by two masked men. Damien is set free and the masked men depart. Soon after the incident, Damien was found and forced to live in the bounds of the boarding school he attended because he had no adult watching over him. At that boarding school, Damien’s want for revenge only grew the more he thought of his mother’s murder, thus creating his hatred for The Government. He’s determined to find the Tablets to show the Government’s corruption and get his revenge. He’s dark humored, hot-headed, and arrogant.

Bryce Gordon
The first person Damien meets on his journey to find the Forbidden Tablets. Bryce grew up in a small apartment in Damp City of the Eleventh District. He lived with his older brother, Seth, and his uncle on his mom’s side. His mother was one of the greatest Hunters of that time and rarely had time to visit her two sons. On the other hand, her brother, who was supposed to look after the two, always stayed up late at the Pub getting drunk. Bryce and his brother basically fended for themselves. When Bryce was around ten, however, news came in that his mother was executed by The Government. From then on out, Bryce and his brother, Seth, abandoned their house and uncle and went to train in the Whinide Rainforest where they also stayed to live. This was in order to become strong Hunters to get revenge on The Government. Five years later, they started their own separate lives and moved off onto different paths. Bryce headed to the Hollow Woods of the Tenth District to train even further. It is here that he eventually met Anito, Heather, and their grandparents. Bryce carries a calm demeanor and can be sarcastic at times. He’s also very wise and secretive.

Heather Stone
One of the two members under Bryce before Damien joins. She grew up with her mother until the age of five in the slums of the Twelfth District. The area became too unsafe so they decided to move to Rockdale Town of the Tenth District. However, they took a wrong turn on the way there and found themselves in the dangerous Hollow Woods. Immediately in, they were attacked by one of the inhabiting monsters within the area. Heather became completely immobilized with fear and watched in horror as her mother died trying to protect her. Before the monster could attack her too, Mr. and Mrs. Stone, who were nearby at the time, came and saved her. From then on out, Heather becomes adopted by them and becomes the step sister to Anito. She also knew Damien for a short period time after that. Additionally, she vows to never again allow herself to watch a loved one die while doing nothing. This contributes to Heather’s personality, being a caring, protective, and strong-minded person.

Anito
The other member under Bryce before Damien joins. Anito lived all his life, before the start of the story, with his grandparents in a little house at the edge of Bern. There he was trained and home schooled by his experienced grandparents. His grandparents were retired Hunters who had found one Forbidden Tablet. Due to this, Anito wanted to be a Hunter from day one. When he was eight, his grandparents adopted Heather after finding her getting attacked by a monster. Anito and Heather eventually became really close, like that of a true brother and sister. When Anito was thirteen, his friendship with Damien, who he knew since he was five years old, ceased due to Damien being forced to live in his boarding school after his mother’s murder. Additionally, Anito’s father, Jonathan Stone, was a Hunter acting as a Government Official. Unfortunately, his actions were found out and he was executed when Anito was fourteen. When Anito learned of this, his true hatred of The Government grew out and he wanted to become a Hunter no matter what. Heather followed his lead. Anito is outgoing, friendly, loving, but quick-tempered.


Support Characters

Mr. and Mrs. Stone
The grandparents of Anito and Heather. They know a lot about Bane and Hunters as they, themselves, were former Hunters. They had found one Forbidden Tablet during their time as Hunters. However, when they tried finding a Forbidden Tablet in Mount Gai of the First District, their whole Hunter Group got killed while they narrowly escaped. They help the main group in the beginning of the story by letting them meet a geologist who would ultimately help them in studying some old artifacts.

Noah
A historian, researcher, and scientist. The group meets him while in the Twelfth District which is where his main base of operations is located. He soon becomes a great help to the team from providing information on helpful people to giving them useful items to even upgrading their vehicle. He also knew Damien’s father as they apparently traveled a lot of Gai together researching the origins of Bane and other things.

Jasmine Brown
Holds the fifth largest Hunter bounty and is an expert at using Guns, the newest technology created in Gai. At first, she’s an enemy to Damien and his friends, but their forced to cooperate later on due to circumstances that occur within Act Three. She’s extremely powerful, but listens to no one except for herself. Her job is the Hunter Class and her Hunter Group’s name is The Assassins.





The Government

The Government is a major enemy within the game. There are specific characters that will consistently battle with you from The Government, but as a whole, The Government is after you. The Government is branched into three different parts each containing their own responsibilities. As a whole, they are referred to as The Government. The specific names of these branches, however, are the Agency Division, the Guard Division, and the Council.


Agency Division: This division is made up of 99 Agents and seven Special Agents. Agents are responsibly for specifically assassinating criminals that pose threats. Special Agents are responsible for completing certain difficult tasks. For example, Agent C is responsible for tracking mad scientists who are trying to recreate Bane.

Guard Division: The main bulk of The Government. This division is divided into four rankings: Junior, Captain, Major, and General, Junior being the weakest and General being the strongest. The Guard Division is responsible for basic internal security within Gai. The leader of this division is General Major Dane Faymord.

The Council: The six most important members of Gai. Each one of them is a Spellbladist, the strongest Job Class in Gai. They are responsible for governing Gai, and if need be, eliminate a Hunter Group that has become too powerful. The leader of The Council is referred to as The High Leader.

Agent G: One of the seven Special Agents of the Government’s Agency Division. His responsibility as a Special Agent is unclear, but it seems to revolve around Bryce and other people with the Gordon last name. He encounters the group a few times and proves to be a formidable threat.

Matthew James: A cocky Government Official who thinks he’s the best. He constantly tries to take down Damien and his friends in hopes of raising his rank in the Guard Division.


Hunters

There are several Hunter Groups that you will encounter and battle throughout Gai, however the most prominent and recurring characters are as follows:

Cain Noron: The main recurring antagonist throughout the story. He has the second highest bounty and leads the largest clan out of the Super Six. He’s a dangerous enemy, being both extremely powerful and very smart. His job is the Rogue Class and his Hunter Group’s name is The Predators.

Don Mays: The Hunter with the highest bounty in all of Gai. Since he has the highest bounty, that naturally makes him a part of the Super Six, which is a term used by the Government for the top six Hunter bounties in Gai. At the start of the story, he’s already found three Forbidden Tablets. However, where he excels in massive strength and power, he isn’t too smart and can make unwise decisions. His job is the Tumbler Class which is why his Hunter Group is named The Wrestlers.


Monsters

Monster is the term used for animals that reacted significantly to the release of Bane. Over the years after Bane was released, these animals continued to mutate and turn hostile. Currently, there are six well known dangerous Monster races or species: Goblins, Rodents, Fairies, Ogres, Mammoths, and Dragons. Each race has its own inner variations as some portions of each race were affected differently.

Goblin: The weakest of the well known Monster races. They are humanoid creatures with a grey skin tone. They usually try to steal items and deal small damage. There are four variations of the Goblin race. From weakest to strongest: Goblin, Blue Goblin, Giant Goblin, and Gobbler.

Rodent: Generally a weak monster race, only stronger than that of the Goblin race on most occasions. They’re big furry monsters that deal most of their damage with their powerful jaws. There are three variations of the Rodent race: Mouse, Rat, and Black Rat.

Fairy: Monsters of the Fairy race specialize in using various magical attacks. They’re very frail when it comes to physical attacks so they try their best to keep their distance and fight from long range. Fairies have four small wings and have blue skin. There are only two variations of the Fairy race: Blue Fairy and Red Fairy.

Ogre: Monsters of the Ogre race are big green beasts and have sharp horns protruding from the tops of their heads. They use an iron club to smack down their foes. There are three variations of the Ogre race: Ogre, Troll, and Stalker.

Mammoth: Enormous beasts that can trample down their foes with their large tree-trunk sized legs. Their covered in thick fur and have a long and powerful tail with a pointed edge. There are two variations of the Mammoth race: Mammoth and White Mammoth.

Dragon: The most powerful monster race as well as the rarest race. They attack by breathing out different elemental attacks. There are four variations of the Dragon race: Blue Dragon, Red Dragon, Yellow Dragon, and Pearl Dragon.













(21)Swords – Swords are physical weapons that excel prominently in attack. They can only be equipped by physical Job Classes.
(9)Sabres – Sabres are wielded with great elegance and aren’t thrashed around like swords. Due to this, the pool of available Job Classes that can equip this weapon set is small: Vagrants, Soldiers, Fencers, Dragoons, and Spellbladists.
(7)Axes – Axes require strength, but are lethal weapons. They reveal the wielder’s brute strength in combat. Vagrants, Soldiers, Fighters, Swordsmen, Knights, and Spellbladists may equip this weapon set.
(14)Knuckles – Knuckles grant the user great strength bonuses. They also allow the user much flexibility in their fighting style. This weapon set, however, may only be used by Vagrants, Soldiers, Monks, and Tumblers.
(20)Staffs – Staffs are basic magical tools used by the majority of the magically competent Job Classes.
(23)Rods – Rods are the counterparts to staffs, and may also be used by a large portion of the magical Job Classes.
(16)Bows – Bows are long range deadly weapons that can only be equipped by sniper-type Job Classes.
(18)Knives – Knives are the trademark weapons of Theives and Mechanics. They grant the user great agility and a decent amount of attack.
(12)Guns – Guns are the most recently developed weapons made by the weapon specialists in High Machine City of the Third District. The Hunter Job Class and Mechanics work well with this weapon set.
(16)Lances – Lances are the weapons of Dragoons. Using these long spears, they fly high in the air to strike down their foes. Lances greatly enhance the user’s dexterity.
(10)Katanas – Katanas are the main weapons of Ninja. They bestow upon the user superior agility and magical potency.

(15) Helms – Helms are one of the three types of headgear. The physical Job Classes usually equip Helms.
(15) Hats/Veils – Hats and Veils are the other two types of headgear. All the non-physical Job Classes use these types of headgear.
(15)Shields – Shields are defensive equipment used by the physical Job Classes.
(20)Armors – Armor is one of the three types of Body Armor. It is used by the physical Job Classes.
(20)Robes – Robes are the second type of Body Armor and are used primarily by the magical Job Classes.
(20)Clothes – Clothes are the last type of Body Armor and are utilized by all the non-physical Job Classes.
(20)Accessories – Accessories grant various positive effects on the user. They can be equipped by all Job Classes.














Ability System– In this game, a different outlook is taken into learning skills. By buying new weapons, you will be able to able to learn the skill or skills attached to them. However, you can only permanently learn the skill by getting enough Ability Points (AP). Ability Points are recieved based on the mission that was completed. Additionally, you are not completely restricted to your current class' skill set. You will be allowed to set a "Secondary Skill Slot' in the abilities portion of the Custom Menu System. This will transfer over to battle in which you will now of the skills of this secondary skill slot available to your disposal. However, the max number of skill slots is only two, your class skill slot and the skill slot of your choice. Just be sure that you've learned some skills of your secondary skill slot!

Job System – There several different jobs within the game. Additionally, other jobs can only be reached or "unlocked" if you’ve had some experience in other jobs (learning enough skills). Finally, players need to be careful with what jobs they choose, as staying with one job for a while will affect the stats of that character to either the player’s liking or disliking.

FFT Shop – For one, you have the buying section where you can buy armors, weapons, and items and they are all separated into categories. Your relationship with the shopkeeper can allow lower prices. Additionally, based on how powerful you are, the more available items there will be. Finally, there will be a pop up window of the available skills that the weapons/armors can teach you. There is a shop in each major city or town.

Recruitment and Relationship System (RRS) – Within Rockdale Town there is a unique system in building a relationship with an interactable NPC which will ultimately affect your chances of getting them to join your Hunter Group. When you talk to someone, you'll have the option of interacting with them where a new scene will appear allowing you to talk to them, give them an item, or recruit them. When you affect the relationship at all, an animation will appear over the relationship value similar to that in battle when you lose health, damage will pop out. However not every civilian in Rockdale Town is interactable, only those that are actually Hunters.

Clan Style Custom Menu – A clan style menu that is based off of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is implemented. The menu has three main sections: equipping items, setting/viewing abilities, and changing jobs. In the equipment section, there is new interface for equipping items. Not only is it more graphically appealing by adding face graphics and having the numbers values be red or green when changing equipment, but also a small animated window will appear showing the abilities attached to the piece of equipment. You can easily toggle ON and OFF this window. Next, in the Abilities Window, you can view the current skill(s) you are learning, you also have to option to view all permanently learned skills, and finally, you can set a secondary skill slot to use in battle. For the job changing scene, you can choose between unlocked jobs to change to that class. This window will also show how your stats will be affected by the change. Finally, one last feature within the menu system is the ability you have to boot off clan members. However, you are not allowed to kick off main characters.

Tactical Battle System - There will also be a tactical battle system which was engineered by gubiD and heavily edited by me. In this battle system exp is gained in a way that grinding is pointless, and leveling up is not a burden due to a formula that allows exp to be gained by any action as long as it makes contact, and all levels only require 100 experience points to move on. I’ve added in a part that makes it so that EXP does not go over to the next level as well, to not make it so simple to level up. Next, I've designed "Special Enemies" or enemies that have levels, jobs, dynamic stats, skills, and equipment. All these attributes correlate to the strength of the actor's party. There are nearly 200 unique skills, over 160 weapons, and over 125 pieces of armor all that provide plenty of variety in battle

Quest System – In the pub of Rockdale Town there will be a quest board where all missions will be taken. Storyline missions will be accepted here as well. There are several quests that don’t follow the storyline, but some may only be available after beating certain story quests.

Original Sound Track An original soundtrack is being produced by the musician of the team (Turkwise), several tracks have already been produced. (Current Progress of OST)





Leader – The Law G14/TheScripter: Responsible for scripting the systems needed for the game or editing pre-existing systems to fit the needs of the game. Mapping every “Battle Map� where the player can battle enemies as well as mapping all of Rockdale Town. Finally, eventing every cut scene and every recruitable NPC in which you could hold a conversation with. Developing the plot and fleshing out characters.

Musician - Turkwise. Responsible for creating an Original Soundtrack specifically for this game.

Artist - Mahomagic: Responsible for creating semi-realistic face graphics and main character portraits.

Character Spriter - silverskystrike. Responsible for creating unique characters and battlers as well as a few icons.

Graphical Artist – Xach-Crisis: Responsible with aesthetical design of the game, like the battle HUDs, Quest Screen Interface, etc.


Usebar – Show Your Support!





�Teaser Demo�—THE DEMO IS FINALLY HERE, PICK UP YOUR COPY NOW!






Inspirations



Graphics Credits


Script Credits


Music Credits
Turkwise

(Please forgive me if I forgot anyone, this is still a WIP)

I'm really surprised that this hasn't gotten any replies yet, brilliant background and the setting is a nice touch.

I do think the job list needs a little tweaking and possibly some extensions, but I'm sure that comes with development.

As said when I first heard of this...it looks brilliant and I can't believe the amount of work you have put into this, I will be following this ( one of the few RM games il ever try to follow )

didn't get to read everything, but will try to read later on, peace out brotha!

PS: it seems we have the same inspiration source Valkyre Chronicles ftw!

Thanks guys

@Holder: Thanks Holder, I spent a lot of time developing the setting and mostly the background. And you're right, I still need to add more content to the jobs, I haven't done too much of that.

@Sicon/Xach-Crisis: Thanks for the comments, man And yea I found out about Valkyre Stories through your sig actually and it really inspired to keep pushing through with this project, which is probably why if been working so much on it

Im glad Hanzo could help (ehmm and myself for promoting it), to be totally honost this makes me want to work even more on my game so it is kinda of a circle...but on to the question: are you making the battle system from scratch?, are the Ragnarok characters only for battle? or another purpose too?, any mini games being planned?, puzzles?, just wanted to know, so I can get an overview of it

No, the battle system's not from scratch lol But it's from a really flexible Tactical Battle System from Gubid and I'm editing it alot and adding extra stuff. For example, I was just working on the skills not to long and ago some skills needed to be scripted. Scripted skills will have a better effect in battle as they go past the default RPG Maker XP limits. For example, having an attack that hurts your MP instead of your HP. Also, the Ragnarok characters are only temporary as we realized it became a problem of consistency between the RTP and the Ragnarok, so I believe we're going to make (Holder since he's awesome), custom grpahics to fit both battle and outside battle. Also, we don't have any mini-games planned, but plenty of quests that don't have to do with the main storyline. You can get them all at the pub, I planning 25 story quests and over 100 non-storyline quests

That answers my question lol thanks for clearing those things up, any idea when we might see a demo?

Well, I've made a lot of progress in the last two months of development, and right now I'm getting all the promised features in place and finishing the database, so when that's done I'll make a teaser demo of the first act of the game which will include the first five story missions and some non-storyline missions. So it should be available in a couple months (hopefully lol).

UPDATE ONE (07/14/2011)


Hey, everybody, this post contains the first update of the project thread. I’ll be posting an update either every week or every other week, depends :/


Scripting
There have been a few major updates in terms of scripting. First of all, I’m trying to finish scripting all the features I promised in the Features Section by the end of the week. Firstly I completely finished the Shop Scene. The window skins are all the same now and the layout is exactly how I wanted it:




Next, in the past two days I’ve been working my but off in making the Recruitment and Relationship System. It should be finished, I just need to do some editing:



Finally, the last update in terms of features/scripting is that I’m nearly done with all the configurations needed for the tactical battle system, I’ve also got a pretty good understanding now of how the whole thing works.



Database
The database is nearly finished. I also want this completed by the end of this week or early next week. Weapons and Armors have been done totaling to nearly 300. Enemies, I’ve been working on also, are going to be different from the normal enemies. They will be equipped with weapons and armor, and they will have levels. This is because most of your enemies will be the jobs that you can become. For example, in one battle you might battle against three Soldiers and two Fencers. How I will make each battle different in terms of difficulty is have these enemies at certain levels and the higher the levels, the stronger they will be. I’m also planning on making it so that their levels are around the average level of your clan so that each battle will be tough. Skills still need some work though. I’ve finished most of them, but some need to be scripted and all of them still need an animation. So basically, for the database, I just need to get the enemies right and finish the skills. After that I might test everything to make sure there is a proper balance and then the database will be essentially done.



Artwork
Holder showed me the new graphic style we’ll be using that will fit both battlers and characters so that everything will be consistent. I don’t want to show any pictures yet, but this is just to say that the consistency issue is being worked on and the Ragnarok charsets will likely be dropped.



Music
Turkwise has been working really hard and he’s nearly done with his second piece, which is the “Basic Music� for the game. Or just generarl music (I/he will try to post it if possible).



Recruitment Status
A new job is also needed: Graphic Artists. Please join, if you're interested, as we need someone that can make this thread look cleaner for better presentation as well as make a logo for the game. Also, Pixel artists, Artists, and Musicians spots are still available.

Recruitment topic link: http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....showtopic=51545


That's all for now!

Dude I am not the best Graphics Designer, but I could do some basic things, I would rather you consider me a helper untill you get an Graphics Designer, so what I am saying is that I am willing to help, just don't expect top notch stuff, cause I can only do so...so much work ( I am already working on my own game too lol ) so I will try to help as a helper for you're team, just say if you want me to help lol , if not just tell

Oh, that would be awesome! (Didn't you design the logo for Luster, and I remember it being amazing ) And, yea I won't be asking much (if you're ok with doing graphic design), probably just a logo and some stuff for the thread and that's abou it lol. If you're not to confident in Graphic Design, then I could always use a beta tester for the teaser demo I'll just PM you to see what you'd like to do.

Just send me a PM, and yes I am the one who did the Luster Logo, was quite fun and I do like to work on Thread Designs they are also fun to work with, so you can PM ME some details, but I can't promise much lol and as far as the beta tester position; I am always up to it as long as the game is fun and intriguing

Quick update to say that I'll be gone starting this Saturday for two weeks so the project will be on a relative hold for that time. I'll have another update this week as I'm trying to finish all the features and the database before I leave. After that, progress should go by at lightning speed. Also, here are some screens from the menu:




Also, we're still in desperate need of an Artist who can draw a world map, make character portraits, along with face graphics! Thanks!
Recruitment Topic: http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....showtopic=51545

UPDATE TWO (07/21/2011)

Scripting
A lot has happened over the past week in the scripting department. The Custom Menu System is near completion and the Job System is finally working how I want it to. How it works is that you need a specific amount of skills from any number of other Jobs to “unlock� a new Job. This ties in perfectly with the other system we’re using (Equipment Skills). This is because you need a certain amount of AP (Ability Points) to permanently learn a skill while a weapon is equipped. It’s only these permanently learned skills that determine if you can unlock other Jobs. The last system that needs to completed is just the Quest System.
Screenshot of Job System:


Additionally, here is the new Job List and a temporary Job Tree. Holder is working on the design of the character sets:







Music
Turkwise has made two songs for the Original Sound Track so far and he’s given me the link to show you guys how they sound! Both songs are untitled as of now, but they will be soon enough. The first song is the Title Screen Song, and the next song is the basic game music. Hope you guys like them!

http://soundcloud.com/turkwise/sets/gais-hunters/


Pixel Art
Holder has been doing a lot of work in terms of the design of the jobs. He told me that he plans on making the parts he’ll need for all the jobs, and then after that, he’ll put them all together. This will make things a lot faster. Also, a while back, Holder showed me some experimenting on the tile set style. This is what he showed me:




Just so you all know the type of graphical style we’ll be implementing in the game.

Also, our new Artist and part-time Pixel Artist has started work on our full custom icon group. Here is a sample of his work for a few of the basic icons:




Artwork
Ghalleon, our new Artist (and part-time Pixel Artist), has also started working on concept art for the Main Characters. He will also be making custom face graphics for each character set, and finally, he’ll be making revamped World Map, which you’ll be able to travel on (Much like that of Final Fantasy Tactics).

Database
The Database is nearly complete. I have a Target Animation for each skill except for the skills of the Mechanic (but it will likely not be included within the upcoming Teaser Demo). All that’s left to be complete in The Database is simply configuration of the enemies and me scripting them so that they can equip weapons/armors, have classes, and have levels.


Last Notes

IMPORTANT NOTICE: I’ll be out for the following two weeks for a trip, so I won’t be able to work on the project during that time. Holder will also be mostly busy during this time as well. Turkwise however, will be working on a bunch of songs while I’m away and Ghalleon might be working on completing the custom icon database. So the project will still be running, just much slower.

Also, feedback is appreciated! I’d really like to know other peoples thoughts on this Thanks for reading and see you all later in two weeks!

Every one of those changes sounds incredible, I love the title music turkwise produced and the other one was quite the treat too Nice to see your going to have custom tilesets, seriously you manage to always make you're game great, which is incredible...I will be following this ( soon bookmarking I guess )

Thanks man Yea were working on getting a custom tilesets but our first priority is to get the character sets all made and done. The tileset image was just to make sure the custom character sets wouldn't clash with them. But regardless, we will be having custom tilesets so that should be nice when complete

Just wanted to say that I’m back from my 2-week trip so the project will be back on full steam. However, I was able to work on the project while I was out lol I wrote everything in a notebook I brang, copied it into a computer when I had access to one, and then emailed it to myself. The things I wrote down included: A completely planned out plot including how many story missions there will be, making a timeline, adding depth to character descriptions, making all the map locations (45 in total), adding all the characters that will be present in-game, figuring out the structure of The Government (the different parts, main characters of The Government, etc.), and making all the Monster races and an explanation behind them. I’ve added all of this to the main thread and Sicon was grateful enough to add more thread headers for me to make this thread look nicer.

Also, Ghalleon was still making icons while I was gone and Turkwise was making the intro music. It sounds amazing so far, but it’s not fully complete yet, but when it is, I’ll post it up.

Finally, I really need feedback for this project! Anything you like? Anything you don’t like? I’d really appreciate some comments on it, thanks!

Quick Update. Firstly, Here's the nearly completed CMS. I put it in a video instead to truly show all the features it offers (The captions didn't appear for some reason but you get the idea):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFmudtDgV24

Next, the new awesome looking team logo made by Axerax:




That's all for now. Oh, actually, one last thing. I REALLY need some feedback, party because it drives me to continue making this and also because I really want the community's honest opinion on this. Thanks everyone

Small update to show the completion of the Abilities System.

Quote from thread: "In this game, a different outlook is taken into learning skills. By buying new weapons, you will be able to able to learn the skill or skills attached to them. However, you can only permanently learn the skill by getting enough Ability Points (AP). Ability Points are recieved based on the mission that was completed. Additionally, you are not completely restricted to your current class' skill set. You will be allowed to set a "Secondary Skill Slot' in the abilities portion of the Custom Menu System. This will transfer over to battle in which you will now of the skills of this secondary skill slot available to your disposal. However, the max number of skill slots is only two, your class skill slot and the skill slot of your choice. Just be sure that you've learned some skills of your secondary skill slot!"

Essentially, you'll be allowed to "equip" a second job's skill as long as you've learned those skills. For exmple, let's say you learned "Throw Potion" as a Chemist and then decided to switch to the White Mage class. You'd then be able to equip the Chemist's skills from the abilities menu and then you'd have the option of using "Throw Potion" in battle.


Also, if you'd like to see how tileset is going, Holder made a thread for the WIP of it and he'd greatly appreciate and constructive criticism. Thread: http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....showtopic=52342


Finally, I think I'm begging now lol, I really need some feedback. The next major update will be held next thursday, which will be the last major update before school starts for me. I'm working on a custom quest system right now which is the last major thing I need to script. I want to finish it before school starts. When school starts, progress might go a little slower as I'll need to keep my grades up and stuff, but obviosuly I'll fit in time to work on this. A teaser demo is slated for around the end of the year. But until now and next week, I'd really appreciate just one peice of feedback. That'd make my day Thanks!

The game as a whole looks very nice. It should be very enjoyable.

The recruitment and relationship system in particular catch my eye. I love games where you have to work for party members. It gives you a sense of controlling your own destiny.

I have a similar system in my game, but to a much lesser degree. They're very enjoyable. The menu looks a little vanilla, but the options of what you can do are nice features.

I don't really get the battle system though. The picture doesn't say much, and the battle system description says little except that it's a tactical system and the leveling is unique. I'm not quiet getting a sense of how a typical battle plays out.

It sounds like you have a very FF/FFT styled system here, which is a good thing. Many people, including myself, liked those games. I'm curious to see if and how you'll make them your own.

I'm not sure if caught the update on this but you can use out newest tag to show youtube clips, like this:



I can't wait till you start balancing the classes and things like that, I'd love to assist with that. I've got some icon ideas for equipment that I'll compile and send over to you as soon as I've got a few hours spare.

Definatley plan to check this game out when it's got a demo out I love the Final Fantasy Tactics influence, should make for an interesting game.

There's really only one thing that kind of irks me - the two classes "White Mage" and "Black Mage". I really believe that those names are purely for Final Fantasy, and perhaps a different name would work better. Healer/Cleric/Shaman/Wizard/Sorcerer ... something, but not WHM and BLM.

@Titanhex: Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it I'm glad you like the recruitment and relationship system I wasn't too sure if that would appeal too many people that you had to talk to people to get them to join, but I guess it seems fine Additionally, I'm too sure what you mean by the menu being a little "vanilla". Do you mean it's a little too plain? As for the battle system, it's still a work in progress as I'm still editing the core foundation of the script by GubiD. And the screenshot doesn't tell much as it's a test map, but I'll definitely update after the next Major Update and give a more thorough description. And yes, I have been deeply inspired by FFT. FFTA was actually one of my favorite handheld games ever. Thanks again for your thoughts

@Holder: Thanks Holder! I didn't see it when I was typing my post, but I tried to find the option (because I did notice it on HBG), but that clears things up. As for the icons, I don't know if I told you about it (I should of if I didn't lol), but Ghalleon started working on a few custom icons for all the equipment, items, and skills. If you want though, you can definitely help him out with it because he told me how progress will be slow since he's gone back to school, I believe. So if you want, I'll just send you over some of the icons he's already made so you know what style it's in.

@OranGemeo: Thanks for your comments And thanks for the heads up, I'll see out for a better name for those two classes.

Update Three(09/18/2011)


Introduction
Hey, it’s definitely been a while everyone since the last update on this thread. Well anyway, this is Major Update #3. We have to talk about today including, awesome new music, a developed quest system, interactive world maps and more. Hope you like it


Music
The music for the menu has been decided on and this is what will be used while in the menu (changing jobs, abilities, etc.)

The intro for the game has been synced with the customized intro music. All the graphics in the intro, however, are placeholder (except for the credits). Once we get some custom sprites and tiles into the game, the intro will be updated accordingly. However, for now, we have awesome music made by our musician to go along with the introduction for our game. Hope you like it (I couldn’t make a video because it lags a lot with my screen recorder).

Both songs can be found here (The menu music is called GH-Basic1):
http://soundcloud.com/turkwise/sets/gais-hunters/


Plot Structure Complete
The plot has finally been completely planned out. All plot holes have been taken care of and story is ready to be evented into actual gameplay.


Map Descriptions
Each Map has already been planned out and I’ve now just added information in the “Setting� subtitle that gives a brief description on each location. There are over 40 locations in total. Here’s an example of one of the descriptions:

"Mount Gai Temple:“ A temple located at the base of Mount Gai. This location has the tightest security in all of Gai. The reason for this is due to it being the only place where it is a well known fact that a Forbidden Tablet resides within. No Hunter has ever been able to read the Tablet and get out alive"€�


Quest System
I’ve essentially finished coding the quest system. All I need to do is add quests to the Quest Database and then find a way to add the quests at specific times during gameplay. Here’s a video of how the quest interface looks like and how everything runs, I’d really like opinions on this:




Interactive World Map
Finally, we have the last feature I’m still trying to implement. Traveling will take place on an interactive world map where you go from location to location. I’m still trying to get someone to make a map for me and I still need to code in paths for the map.


Conclusion
From here on out, progress will be much slower as I’ll focus on school work starting Monday. I don’t want to make a mistake and prioritize this over school, so I won’t be working on this during the weekdays unless I really have free time to do so. I’ll only be working on this during the weekends. That’s all for now!

Oh actually what I meant by vanilla was more a comment on using the RTP window base. It looks very plain and not very catchy. So, vanilla in both senses of the word, meaning its both plain and like a majority of simple RTP aesthetics.
However this looks like it's still got placeholder graphics in the form of RTP, that or it's simply content with using the RTP graphics in which case it's fine since that is your objective.

Good luck with the project though! The gameplay looks enjoyable.

The window base may change, I'm uncertain as of now, but pretty much all the graphics besides that are placeholder and will definitely change wants our artists finish some custom art. But I will try to do something with the overall feel of the menu however to make it less plain as you said. And thank you again for your comments and support, I really appreciate it

Hey everyone, it has definitely been a while since an update. I wouldn't call this a major update, it's actually a pretty small one. Firstly, I'd like to say I'm really sorry for the lack of updates as of late. I've been busy with school and I have a really tough schedule this year so I'm trying to focus on school so I can keep my grades high.

But anyway, I think I've figured out a way to work on this project while also keeping school as my first priority. This update is to mainly show what I've been working on for a little while which has been reorganizing, cleaning up, and enhancing all the code in the project. Not only has this helped me in terms of understanding all the scripts being used, but it's also made things a lot cleaner in the script editor. Adding new features will become much easier if need be. I still have to clean up all the battle-related scripts, but besides that, it's nearly done. Here's some before and after screenshots (The before picture is actually pretty recent, I wasn't able to get an older version which was even more messy xD):







After this reorganization of all the code is complete, I'll work with Holder on making all the Job Classes more balanced and realistic.

Also, Ghalleon has told me that he's worked out fitting in working for this project while doing other things he needs to do so that's good

That’s all for now!

Wow, very descriptive and looks great! Hope everything turns out exactly as you plan (fans included).

Haha, thanks man I appreciate the comments And yea, hopefully everything does turn out according to plan

very nice..... i sense alot of elements from history, like the illuminati , the nights templar, the lost sea scrolls, economics, like demographics, and physcographics..... i have researched them all from business books, the history channel, as well as wikipedia, the only constructive critisism i have would be the name of " The Government ". I believe you could be more creative than that , as you have shown......THANKS!

Thanks, man, I appreciate the kind words And you're definitely right about "The Government" thing. I was trying to find a better name for it ever since I thought up the concept, so think of "The Government" as just a placeholder name now, I'll try to get a new name by the next Major Update. Thanks again for the feedback

Sorry for the lack of updates people

Anyway, here’s a pretty quick one to summarize what’s been going on of late. First of all, to be honest, progress has definitely been slow due to me spending a lot of time towards school, and the rest of the team members busy in their own rights. I haven’t heard from Ghalleon (our artist) for a while so that’s also been a problem.
So what’s been done is that I’ve reorganized all the code in the project. Just to give some stats or whatever, there will be ten scripted systems in use for the game, and only ten. I’m not planning on adding any more as I don’t want to keep going back to this. There are 15 separate script sections in the script editor due to the battle system being separated into four parts and a script section dedicated to a methods and class library. Next, nearly all the scripts have been properly documented with comments and have been ordered properly in logical sequence. After I finish one last part to the documentation of the battle scene script, I’ll easily be able to add any feature or change anything to fit what I need.

Next, the database is pretty much finished on my side. All I need are the custom icons and portraits being made by our artist and later on the custom sprites being made by Holder.

I’ve also changed “Black Mage� to Wizard and “White Mage� to Healer to not copy directly from Final Fantasy. I’m still looking for a better name of “The Government�, but what I’m thinking is that the improper name (what common people refer to it as) will remain as “The Government�, but a specific and proper name will be developed soon.

Finally, the plot has been completely planned out and all plot holes have been taken care of. From this I’ll begin planning and writing all the dialogue. This will be in order to prevent grammar mistakes as well as have the story even more planned out.

Thanks for your time

Woah, cant believe i haven't noticed this before now. Im really liking the amount of work put into this project, im eager to see more screen-shots, and some more of the pixel artwork.

keeping my eye on this, and keep up the hard work

Hey thanks thanks man, I appreciate it Since all the scripting, story planning, and database stuff is pretty much done, we can now focus more on the visual stuff like mapping, artwork, and pixel art so screenshots will be hopefully be around soon

Time to revive this thread lol, I’ve been working in the battle system lately, mainly the visual aspects of it. Here’s some screen shots, criticism is welcome

nice, ill definitely look out for this when its ready
is it a tactical battle system or a mix of tactical battle system+action (kindda like ff 12) ?
i think the hud behind player faceset is distracting , it covers quite some area and kindda plain looking sorry , oh and the faceset is cutted wouldnt it be better whole?
for me i have a bit of trouble seeing hp/mp in the corner when playing tactical game , maybe have like hp/mp bar on top of player when push some button? , that would be cool

Thanks for the comments man I'm not too sure how FF12 works but this only a tactical battle system. As for the faceset that's just a test face I got from the internet, our artist will be making custom faces that won't be cut off like the above face. As for the HUD, I was trying to get an FFTA2 feel but if it's too distracting I'll try to find another way to represent the information. Thanks again for the comments!

Definitely holds a lot of potential. It seems you have quite a bit covered, including the creation of your own world's government/politics behind the story, which helps to give it life.

The story seems written well enough to capture my interest, and I particulary liked the character sprites used in the screenshot.

Thanks, I appreciate it! I specifically spent a lot of time creating the world and being very detailed about all the little parts in it like the Government, place locations, etc. Also, the character sprites you're talking about (I believe the Ragnorok ones) unfortunately will most likely not be used. This is because Holder when he gets the time will be making custom sprites or making custom parts that can be built in a character generator that fit the custom tileset he's creating. Anyway, thanks again for the comments, much appreicated

MAJOR UPDATE

Haven’t had one of these in a while but quite a lot has changed recently, largely because I became involved with the National Game Development Month event so I’ve been spending more time with this game over the past month.

Battle Aesthetics
Battle aesthetics have been completed a Little while ago. I was able make background images for all the windows in battle and everything looks pretty nice now.

Organized Game Folders
Game folders have been organized so that I’ll be able to fit my resources in the appropriate places and also allow them to fit the directories I had set in my scripts. I will also be writing up a document with all the resources I’ll need for the game so I don’t waste my time.

Scripts Cleaned
This also happened a while back during this month, I was able to finish cleaning all my scripts, including battle scripts. So now I’ll be able to add features a lot more easily. Right, in fact, I’m working on implementing a battle result screen that will fit the battle system.

New Government Name
I had a critique a while back for this game that the name “The Government� was to plain. So with some careful consideration I found an appropriate name and the thread has been updated with it. The politically correct name for “The Government� is the UGC or the United Government of the Coasts. This has a direct meaning with the past of Gai which will be revealed later on in the game. Additionally, commoners just refer to the Government as “The Government�.

Biographies and Story
I changed the biographies around a little bit. Most notably the fact that Damien knew Anito and Heather when he was a kid. Also, since I’ve been dialogue writing lately, I’ve been doing slight changes to the story, nothing major though. There are still a couple things I need to tweak though to make sure the whole story makes sense.

That’s all for now!

Is there a demo to download?
The project seems interesting and intriguing...
It inspires me:)

It worths a look:)

First of all, all you guys deserve lots of respect for the amount of work and sweat behind the whole thing...

I'm glad to see that RMXP is not dead at all:)

Jens

Thanks a bunch man Sadly there is no demo, the project still hasn't reached the actual construction phase. Right now, everything's just being gathered together and planned (scripts, dialouge, graphics, music, etc.) I haven't mapped or evented anything yet so a demo won't be out for a little while.

And thank you again for the kind words they mean a lot, I didn't expect this would inspire anybody so I really appreciate what you said. Thanks again for the kind comments!

This looks to be a really interesting project. I definitely can't wait for a demo to come out.

The systems look great and there are a lot of concepts involved in the gameplay, which will help to make the game unique.

Definitely gonna keep this forum bookmarked to keep up to date with what's going on

Great work guys

Hey thanks for the nice comments, I really appreciate it

And while I'm posting, I might as well say a couple announcements:

1. Our artist is no longer on the team. Our artist, Ghalleon, who was to draw actor portraits, make icons, and more has been inactive. I've PMed and emailed him and he hasn't responded for about 2 months, I'm assuming he's very busy so until further notice I've taken him off the team So we're looking for another artist currently or else main game construction won't be able to go underway.

2. New scripter. We may be getting a new scripter, a co-scripter alongside me, I won't go into details too much as it isn't 100%, but if this is to happen, expect the systems to be a lot better and maybe even extra systems.

3. I've finished writing dialogue for Act 1. Not too long ago, I finished writing the dialogue for Act 1 of 5 for this game. I've proofread it through only once as of now but I'll be continuing to do so to make it perfect.

Just wanted to say that we have a new artist on board! Her name is Mahomagic and she's very enthusiastic about helping the team fulfill it's face-graphic and character portraits void. She's also really great at drawing and will be drawing Gai's Hunters face graphics and portraits in a semi-realism format, similar to the sample she drew for me in this picture:

http://s1111.photobucket.com/albums/h469/m...BUSTSAMPLES.jpg

That's all for now!

Hey everybody!

A couple new things. First of all, someone has been able to work on the World Map for the game. The World Map is an essential part of the game's construction as it is the way you travel from place to place. Meanwhile, Vergessen from HBGames is helping me finish up the scripting for the Interactive World Map system. By the way here is very early work-in-progress of the World Map (All the little dots are location markings):



Next thing is, since the team has grown since before, we should be moving faster from now. I've set goals for the team this month so by the end of the month, most of rest of things that need to be scripted will be done, the main character face graphics should be done, several icons should be done, and a couple new pieces to the OST will be added. Those are the major goals for January. When January is over, I'll post a major update to show all our progress through the month.

That's all for now!

Wow, that's a very nice map. So, are all those dots places the player will be able to visit? And what's that gold place in the middle?

I'm glad you like it It's being done by someone from the Cartographersguild forums where they take map-making requests. And yes, the dots will be where the player can travel, much like in Final Fantasy Tactics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g93BUfyJE9w

And lol, the gold place in the middle is a desert xD

That is one beautiful world map Law, I'm guessing it will have more of of the usual landmarks such as caves, forests etc
added (or maybe not) but looking very professional so far

The busts look great too btw, very japanese/anime style (bar nose) and the semi-realistic looks by far the best.

Woah thank you for the response DH, I have a lot of respect for you and your games so it's really an honor for you to give such great comments, I really appreciate it As for the World Map, yes, that's a very early WIP, caves, forests, and more will be added like you said. In fact, the rightmost part of the map will have several forests in it actually.

And I'm glad you like the busts, I loved the semi-realistic one too and luckily that's the one she's most comfortable working with. It's going to be long process, but once we get everything together, I'm hoping the final product will be really nice, world map, face graphics, and everything