Story
"I died once."

Vacant Sky is a modern fantasy RPG which follows the death and rebirth of Auria Edith, a small-town girl whose violent and unexpected death turns her world upside down. After her equally unexpected resurrection, Auria finds herself drawn into the heart of a mystery involving a cult of masked cultists who will stop at nothing to make her their goddess.


Characters

Auria is the story's protagonist. A passive-aggressive small town girl with a big mouth, Auria has the misfortune of being unceremoniously murdered. As the player, you will at times direct her decision-making and influence the relationship she has with her companions. Vacant Sky is ultimately about her path of self-discovery and your role is to nudge her in a certain direction. The way you direct her will control her characterization and change the outcome of the story.


Seri is a refugee from the war-torn overseas nation of Alibaas. She is currently seeking political asylum in the impoverished nation of Banivia. A kind-hearted and empathetic person, she supports Auria as she undergoes the at times grueling challenges laid out before her.


A childhood friend of Seri's, Zaqris is a quiet and polite young man who is escorting her on her exile from her homeland. He is more pragmatic than his counterpart and frequently butts heads with Auria over whether to do the easy thing or whether to do the right thing.


A self-proclaimed demon slayer in training, Rayonne encounters Auria and company on their trek through the Banivian countryside. He aspires to become a hero revered across the land and divides the world up into evil-doers and evil-fighters. His encounters with Auria and the strange events surrounding her lead him to question his convictions.


Features

• Branching story and characterization
• Significantly alter the course of the story with your choices - including six endings
• Original soundtrack composed by Tarranon, featuring vocal tracks by Melody Yoo and Melanie Ehrlich
• 8 playable characters (along with up to 6 guests)
• Customize Auria's stats and growth
• Select your own progression of skills to learn
• Interact with your party members to strengthen your relationship with them
• Unlock guest art title screens through sidequests

Screenshots


Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?gdkjjtubmedd8e2

I think it looks interesting. I like the mapping and the story, although the town looked a bit square.

The only thing that bugged me is the characters age. I can't see a bunch of teenagers save the world. That's just wrong.

Other from that, good luck with your game.

Sweet, this is released.

Hold on a few hours, I'll mirror the file for you.

Yeah, yeah. XD Just wait until Act II, when the second half of the cast is released. The mean age of the party rises about 6-7 years. You just happen to meet the youngsters first.


Much appreciated! Thanks for the responses.

Your game presentation is one of the best Ive seen around in a while. Characters are interesting, and enough of the story to start things rolling. Nice artwork, infact it all gels together well so far. Ill play this
demo too. Im not sure bout the lockpicking (Shadow Madness the RPG) sent me loopy doing this.

Wow. This game looks really interesting. The graphics and storyline are also wonderful.

Downloading the demo.

http://ccoa.pcis-studios.com/EPIC%20Contention%20Demo.rar

There you go. Faster download and less annoyance than Megaupload.

I've tried out the demo.

Here's my comments so far:
- The music is great. Kudos for not putting RTP music.
- I like your custom sprites. They blend quite well with the tilesets and they seem original.
- The mapping of the game is quite decent. Things are placed appropriately. It is obvious that there has been thought in the process of map making.
- ONce again, Kudos for modified RTP tilesets.
- I was a bit shock when there were DUB voices for the characters. I was impressed actually since it was pulled of very well.
- The battle system is quite confusing. Although it seems turn based, it acts as if it's an active time battle. That's not the bad part. The worse part is that when the enemy gets a chance to attack, my command window gets interrupted and I have to re-select my command. Eg: Say for example I'm using Actor 3's command window. Once of of the enemy attacks, the command window gets disrupted and i return to Actor 1's command window.
- Comment on battle system again: I didn't like how skills were overpowered while the regular attack of the actors were very much inferior.
Nevertheless, excluding the battle system, I'm very impressed with your game. The presentation, mapping, scripting, graphics are all superb.

On a side note: I'm a bit stuck. Once you use the girl actor. Auria is her name I think. I can't find the next place to go! I tried searching the whole town but failed. The doors keep on saying either "Not on Demo" or some weird storY that she remembers. (SOme of the stories were quite funny though). Care to help out?

Thanks for your response, and for the compliments. If you liked the voice acting thus far, you're in for a treat in the full version when you meet the whole cast.

I'm aware of the issue about the battle system interrupting your commands, which I'm trying to work on. I used Minkoff's sideview battler system and have been using my limited scripting knowledge to edit it into what I want, so it's been a struggle.

Regarding the power of skills, you won't see that past the intro in Kinthrope. Since you can't access the menu, you don't realize that Vastale is level 25. The guards are level 5. The maximum level in the game is 30. The intro was designed to throw you into the battle system so you get a feel for it before you get to the real battles later on.

Once you get Auria, you need to go to the neighborhood of Fallston to go shopping. Go to the cemetary, which is along the northernmost street, and take the left path up. There's a sign there that says 'Fallston.' Hope that helps. ^^

Oh that's amazing! I can't wait to hear other people's voices. ;-]

I may be able to help out since I use minkoff's side view battle system. May I ask though. Are you using RTAB? It seems like it. If you are, try switching around the scripts. Ie: Put Minkoff's script before RTAB or RTAB before Minkoff's script. I know it sounds crazy but it actually helps since XP has a way when processing the script editor.
If this still doesn't help, I'll try to figure out other solutions for you. Meaning I would need to know the current battle system you are using. If you made a custom battle system(Which might be exclusive for your own game), I might not be able to help. However, if you are using RTAB and minkoff, I might offer some assistance.


Ah, I see. I knew that they were supposed to be over powered. What I just want to comment on was that each actor's attack is as weak as the guards. I'm not entirely sure if that was your motive.

I'll try this out right now.

Oh I noticed a passability mapping error: The chimneys of the houses blocks the player's path. So everytime there's a small chimney, I go around to avoid it.

You've got a very nice presentation here, your main post shows that too.
The voice acting isn't too bad, I liked most of it. Some of it, they just seemed to be emotionless, though it could be me being too picky.

The command interruption has already been touched on. I hope you find a solution to that. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the beginning and gave me a nice idea of how that place felt. Your effects were nice too.

My only real complaints is the text appears too slow, I dreaded checking anything like a door for it seemed to take forever. It's fine during cut-scenes and especially when you've got voice acting going on. I would suggest speeding up the text for normal npcs, signs, and various things that you can check. Also I noticed I could walk through benches in the town.

Keep it going, it's going great, I look forward to more from you.

I'm not using the RTAB, actually. I'm using the Fomar Action Cost Battle version, which allows you to attack indefinitely as long as you have enough SP to do so. I'll give your suggestion a try and see what happens.


Thanks! It was actually my intention that text skip was enabled outside of cutscenes, but I forgot to do that. >_< I'm actually finding a few bugs like that (including the aforementioned battle problems) so I might have to release a revised demo.

We got a lovely new piece of fanart, this one of Serijala.

Nice artwork! Who drew it? (Just wondering since it said fanart)

Her deviantart page is here:
http://lucygray.deviantart.com

hey gratz for ur great work.
I cant wit for see ur project complete.
plz sent my ur game when u complete it...

Wow, you must be put lots of time & effort in this. ... I'm interested with the teaser... I'm downloading it.

Just wanted to let you know I really enjoyed this demo. ^^
It shows that you've put lots of time and effort effort into this, and I like your ability to pay attention to details.
I agree with some on the fact that the battle system can be a bit confusing at first, but it didn't really bug me.
And I must admit that I might be developing some fangirl-ism for Weapon ^^;
I'm really looking for ward to any future releases!

Thanks for the kind words! The 'finalized' demo is still under development but should be out within the month (or so I hope!). As I might have mentioned before, the battle system is seeing a complete overhaul and should be a lot more newbie-friendly this time around. And don't worry, Weapon isn't going anywhere... or maybe that means you should worry.

Wow. It looks great so far. I've only gotten to the part where you first take control of Auria(?). Mostly cause it's 4:30 AM and I want to sleep.
But everything I've seen is great so far, except, of course, for the battle system. And, I'm not sure if this is actually a problem or not, but I could only seem to control Vastale(?) in battle. Maybe I just didn't scroll down to the others or what. Not that I needed them, considering Vastale was able to handle everything.
On another note, I forgot to install the font, so all the dialog was confusing for awhile. Until I finally remembered I had to install it... >>

EDIT: Well, I got a bit further, but I'm not really sure where to go next, or if there even is a place to go next. I got the groceries and her dad's gift, but can you even go to the cafe yet? It doesn't look like it. Also, is there anything else you have to do? I can't remember all the things Auria listed at the beginning...
Also, I like how she reacts to the "Not in Demo" signs. And the voice acting sounded okay, but kinda...erm... like it was coming through a radio. Might've just been my headphone jack. I've been having problems with it.
Anyways, it was fun. And it was a nice touch adding the street signs. I haven't seen a lot of those in RPGs. Along with how all the people know Auria's supposed to be in school. Heh.

O.o Looks brilliant! Imma download it now

One of many problems in the battle system... it doesn't mention that you press right/left to control your other party members.


Cell phone shop. It's on the left. You take the bottom entrance.

Thanks for your comments.

Ah, I see. I did see the sign before, I just assumed it was closed, for some weird reason.
I finally made it to the end, and now I have even more questions. Like, why Weapon did what
he did (I won't mention it, since it's kind of a spoiler. I guess) , and that "police man." I'm not
sure, but from what I saw oh that "Unknown" at the end of the part with the Virad (his hair, for one),
I think they might be the same person. Except, of course, that they seem to be acting differently.
Hrmm... I guess I'll just have to wait until the next part. Argh! (patience is not my strong suit)

On another note, I noticed what may be some mistakes. The old man in cellphone shop seems to
make a grammatical error. He says "We was" instead of "We were." Also, the placement of the
lamp post along the short street leading to the cemetery seems to break up the flow of the street.
Maybe id you made it wider or put them both on the same side. The sign in front of the cellphone
store also seems to fall into this. Maybe if you had some sort of sideways facing sign or placed it
somewhere that didn't block the steps in front of the house.
Whatever, just some things I noticed.

Regarding the old man, that was intentional. And thanks for the advice about the placement, I'll take that into consideration for the next demo, which I hope to put out this month.

Added several new pieces of fanart. The second (and final) demo is in progress and might be done by the end of the month. Expect new screenshots soon.

Please finish it....I would love to continue this...

anyway, does Auria really Die in the story? I mean she was killed in the last part of the Demo...

I really loved the story plot, and I love the town mapping..nice work!

It is also full of action!

Don't worry, I hope to have another demo out by the end of the month. ^^ And I'd love to tell you, but I'd hate to ruin the surprise. Stick around a couple more weeks and find out!

hmm, this game has lot of mysteries unrevealed..hehe.

anyway I will wait for the next demo you will have..

First of all, I'd like to show off an awesome new piece of fanart by ebenaventa:


And also, a screenshot showing the revamped battle system:

Expect the new demo by early to mid April!

Wow! Beautiful fanarts! and Nice new battle system! I can't wait for the next demo. Goodluck!

oh and anyway, is the story going to be extended a little bit in the next demo?

Yup! There'll be quite a few new scenes added in, as well as a new town.

Cool, a new in by April, huh? I'm looking forward to it.
I've seen that battle script around the forums before. Never tested it though. It'll be fun to see what it's like.
And that fan art looks awesome.

Cool! I can't wait for this, By Mid April would be nice! I really liked how the new battle system fits your game Salerius

Oh and Ankh, I think your'e talking about Charlie Lee's CTB right?

Yeah, it's Charlee Lee's with some small modifications, such as the reaction system. Additionally, I'm making it so that each skill has at least one use.

Couple of updates. First of all, I'd like to announce the opening of EPIC: Contention's official site: http://projectbc.wordpress.com

Secondly, two new pieces of fanart.


The second one is too big to paste directly in here:
http://www.deviantart.com/download/8116182...Captainalan.jpg

Two new screenshots to show off! They're of May Hill, East Naven's third and final neighborhood.


Resting after a long day of shopping.


The fence that kept the world out.

Cool, more art. I don't really like the first one, but the second one... whoa. It's awesome. The watercolor-like coloring was done really well. Not only that, but the lighting adds a certain feeling to the piece. The way half is in light and the other half is shadowy and her expression makes it seem sort of... not sad really, but definitely emotional.

The screen shots are also nice. Thought they don't really seem to show off anything really different. Of course, they're in that first town, so that makes since. Anyways, good luck with the work.

EDIT: *face palm* Dur, I forgot to check out the website. I feel like an idiot. Anywho, not really anything new on it that I can see, but it looks nice and organized. I noticed the user bars, though. I'll put one in my sig.

Wow a Web!

and Nice new screenies! although the first art of Auria edith makes her look kinda old woman, but it's nice!
and the second is promising!

Looking forward on the next demo!

Thanks for the kind posts, everyone. ^^ I was hoping to have the new demo out Saturday, but it just couldn't be done. Expect it either tomorrow night or Tuesday afternoon.

I wish it was tomorrow night, .hehe.

As you probably noticed, the new demo's not out yet. Atop some offline issues, there were some pretty nasty bugs that are still getting fixed. I'm hoping for a release of sometime this week. In the meantime, show your support by Digging Contention's official site:
http://digg.com/pc_games/EPIC_Contention_Official_Site

The new demo has been released!

Additionally, as you've doubtlessly noticed, I've officially changed the title from EPIC: Contention to Vacant Sky Vol. I: Contention. I've updated the main post to reflect the new title, some new images, as well as the new download link.

Added an alternate download link in case you don't like Megaupload:
http://www.mediafire.com/?hkqtzcudtxg

Dude, holy freak'n moly. That demo was well worth the wait. And I only just finished the prolog part. I was debating whether I should try importing the old save file, but I'm glad I didn't, cause then I would've missed the updated level. The voice acting was removed, but that was never really important to my gaming experience anyway. What I really liked was the new spell animations. Where did you get them? They looked fantastic.
One thing I did notice though was the dead bodies. Are you going to change the sprites into ones fitting the general sort of spriting theme for the game? Or at least for that level? Because right now they look kind of out of place. Well, except for the copious amounts of blood (Oh those wacky Virad. What will they do next?).

Anyways, I've got to get some sleep now. I promised myself I'd go to sleep about... 12 minutes ago. But I can't wait to play the rest of the demo. Great job.

EDIT: Oh, one more thing. I think the mediafire download is broken. When I tried to download it from there, the file wasn't working properly. Not sure if it's just me or not, but I thought I'd let you know.

I haven't tried the demo but I have to say it looks very promising. Looking forward to the final release!


Just 1 thing about the 4th party member, his face is quite old for a 16 year old. Just my opinion though.

I played this game before, and I think it was pretty decent. One thing I really liked was the fact that you use voices in some of the dialogues. A turn down was when I got into the town with the girl... everything was unavailable pretty much. Character artwork and presentation of the topic is well done. props for that. There was a bug in the battle that made it crash most of the time, so I had to select the commands really fast in order to avoid this... aside from that the game was fun.

I haven't downloaded this new demo, but I'll try to give it a try and see how things are being developed so far...

Thanks so much. XD The animations are actually custom; they aren't ripped or found online. I'll let the artist know you liked them. Yeah, in the final version, the bodies will be more custom-ized instead of stock. And if you're just done with the prologue, then you've still got quite a ways to go. XD I hope you enjoy. Also, thanks for the heads up about Mediafire, I'll look into reuploading.


Thank you. You should check out the demo and let me know what you think! And as for Rayonne, that's just sort of the artist's style. A lot of anime/manga styles usually portray people as younger than they really are, whereas our artist's style is a bit more realistic.


Well, I'm happy to say you'll find two of your complaints have been resolved in the new demo. For one, all the places that said "NOT IN DEMO" are now available for exploration. Furthermore, the battle system has been completely redone and is now a lot more forgiving, as well as not crashing anymore. I hope you choose to check out the new demo.

I've tried out the new demo and I am liking it a lot!

Great job with the pacing of the game. The story builds up as the players play on. I love the battle system, you've got an awesome scripter there. Everything in the game is very polished, even though it's just a demo and I like that. One thing though, when you reach the village near the end of the demo, there is actually a bug.

When Auria wakes up, there's a scene with Zaqris and when that ended, she decides to explore the village. But before the scene in the cave with Serijala, I re-entered the hut and the same scene with Zaqris happened again. Perhaps you forgot to turn off that Autorun event. Anyway hope that helped!

Hey it's great to know you fixed those technical issues. I will deffinitely be downloading the new demo, and by the way, good thing that you are hosting it on mediafire, cause rapidshare annoys me with the cat things which not all the time works in my browser lol. Well like I said, one of the things that most caught my attention was the voice acting, I had this idea and always wondered how much fun it will be to work with a team for voice acting. I'll give you feedback later on as I progress with the game.

Aw, crap! I thought I fixed that. Thanks for the report. >_<