The Church of Sheval's law is absolute in the Northern Lands, and their law has forbidden those who are not part of their order from using magic. Because of this, those without magic have been left to live a simple life in their tiny, scattered villages, while those who do benefit from its powers live in the capital city, where magic has been used to help the city thrive without the sin of technology. The centre of this capital is the Staff of Sheval, a mystical object said to have been granted to the Church by the god Sheval himself, and is thought to draw directly from his power.
And yet, in the world of Arum, the use of magic draws on the power of the rifts, and drawing from them too much weakens their barriers, allowing demons to spill into the real world from other realms. And, more frightening still, there are whispers of one who travels these rifts: whispers of a demon called the Riftwalker...
--
Riftwalker is set in the collective universe Arum, and follows the journey of a young adventurer. The purpose is to create a simple game, to be released episodically (or all in one go? It's split into chapters, that's for sure. OTL) with a strong focus on fun, traditional gameplay and a character-based plot. It's created using mostly pre-existing resources with minor edits to some scripts and graphics -- basically, it's a major break from the Herculean task that is Origin that also lets me get some REAL LIFE GAM MAK~ exp under my belt.
It was created as a contest entry for RMW's 'Set the Setting!' Contest in Spring 2012, and is currently in production. The demo is slated to land on either April 30th or May 1st, depending on when I get the link up. XD (...also if I can actually finish everything by then; if not, it'll come a few days later BUT IT WILL COME. OTL)
Characters
Spoiler
Piper Weapon: Boots Special Commands: Aura, Brawl A wandering martial artist from the south that has been touched by the darkness of the rifts. Piper rarely shares personal details and is something of an enigma, but is apparently on a journey of some kind. Piper’s mysterious and boisterous companion, Nereza, is always nearby, and they seem to share a friendly (albeit slightly antagonistic) relationship.
Rue Weapon: Sword Special Command: Magic Kindhearted and clever, Rue was once a paladin to the Church of Sheval. However, after learning of the damage caused by their excess magic use, she fled the capital city, and committed the ultimate act of treason... She is determined and thoughtful, traits instilled in her from her past life as a paladin, and is a fierce fighter, using her magic to both aid and ruin.
The Automaton Weapon: Fist Special Command: Guardian A giant golem created long ago to guard the Forest Shrine. Although it is a hulking creature with fearsome strength, it possesses the gentle and curious nature of a child. Its primary function is to protect those that created it, but it wishes to experience life on its own and see the world. Prefers to go by its nickname, “Auto”, as it gives it some feeling of humanity.
Tanis Weapon: Lance Special Skill: Dragon A knight from the capital. She is stubborn, but strong, and a highly respected soldier. While she is somewhat hot tempered, she is a keen strategist and a cunning warrior. She is extremely loyal to the capital, and will stop at nothing to crush its enemies...including any vagrant paladins or wandering martial artists that stand in her way.
Setting
Spoiler
Riftwalker takes place in two countries on the eastern most continent of Arum.
The red is the Northern Lands. It's a sparsely populated theocracy, with one capital city surrounded by lots of little villages and towns. It's forested near the northern coast, but the western boarder is plains. There's also a volcano in the east, but it's been dormant for a long time. There are lots of temples and what not devoted to the worship of their god, Sheval. Magic use is forbidden except for those who are part of the clergy, as everyone else is unworthy of "communicating with the astral realms", regardless of whether or not they were born with the gift. If someone unworthy is caught using magic, they'll be arrested, or even executed.
As for the races who live there: Humans rule, primarily. They're darker skinned, resembling those of Indian descent. Hair colour, however, varies greatly, mostly coming in either very dark or very pale. There's also a race of draconian people -- they behave similarly to humans, and coexist with them peacefully.
The Northern Lands are home to a plethora of magitech, such as the golems that guard shrines. This magitech is only really used by the church, and regular technological advancement is discouraged.
The green blob down south is an empire and Piper's Homeland, but we won't be seeing it much! It's a rich and mighty empire that's technologically advanced, with lots of magic and a reknowned navy fleet. Naturally, there are a few areas that have some pretty major stresses in rifts. The humans here are all black, and there are groups of furred humans that resemble big cats. It's ruled by a fairly benevolent empress, and the main religion is based less on deities, but more of a spiritual ideal.
For more information on Arum, the collective setting, and how you can be a part of it, visit the main thread on RMW!
Screenshots **please note that a lot of the graphics in here are placeholders, so expect these to be updated!
Spoiler
I can just hear it now RUE TAKE THOSE EARS OFF -- oh wait, that's mine and Photoshop's job. OTL
Vat a sexy party~
lol Piper how do you fail at roundhousing a carrot (Also THALZON MAKES GREAT BATTLERS, AUGH
Ah, so this is what you have been working on all this time, eh? Looks great though. I'll be keeping an eye on this. ^^ Wish my Arum entry would be finished on time, but no. Not going to happen. Also, that dragon... she reminds of a certain Fire Emblem character who has the same Japanese name, but maybe that's just me. Only a dragon version. lol
Oooooh looks spiffy! Been wondering what you've been working on. Don't have Ace yet so I'll just need to watch it go along D: looks pretty cool though!
@Luchi: Thanks! And awwww, that's too bad. OTL At least you made something, though! I mean, I dunno if I'll finish a solid demo by tomorrow, but pffft I WILL HAVE A COMPLETE THING and that is great. ;w;
Oh, really? D: Hahahaha, I've not kept up on Fire Emblem, unfortunately. ;__; I'm pretty stoked on Tanis, though -- actually, I'm stoked on this party as a whole. They have a vibe that I adore and hnnggh I'm excited to work with them. <3333
@Keichy: INDEED. <3 I wrote about it more on the RM profile for this, but Origin has been inextricably laced with emotional baggage for me and I'm gonna have to strip that away before I get back into working on it! NOT TO SAY I WON'T, because I certainly will -- I have far too much love for it and I really want to make it. This is just a nice way for me to prove I can complete something, and complete something that's good. If I keep pace, I'm thiiiiinking this is the kind of thing that I'd be able to complete by the end of summer? NO PROMISES because ahahahaha have I learned not to promise things or have I learned not to promise things OTL
Basically this is my GAM MAK BRAK that will hopefully result in something I can be proud of and throw at people whenever I claim to be a game developer. OTL
ALSO THAT LINK IS UP IF YOU GUYS FEEL LIKE SHARING MY BANNER EVERYWHERE~~~
Emmmmmmmmooch.. so this is what's up huh? I'm curious to see where this one goes, it certainly looks interesting as far as what you have up here and the mapping is pretty good-looking. (Watch-list-yeah!)
@Ronnie: THANKS <3
It FEELS spiffy, which is awesome. I'm feeling the same HNNGGHH I feel with Origin, so YAY <3
@EZ: Thanks, man! As to where it goes: NO WHERE COMPLEX, I HOPE. OTL The goal is to make something simple and sweet... let's hope I can stick to that, eh? XD
Well, your battlers are amazing, Thalzon! ;w;
I have another project that is DEFINITELY on the backburner until I have this and my other project finished, but it is also front view and it will also be using your battlers.
th-there are just so many and they're nicely done and and and ;w; <3
ORIGIN IS FULL OF MY DARK AND TRAGIC PAST AND CURRENT BEING STRIPPED OF A FUCKTON OF EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE. </3
...I mean ehhhh I'm working on it too. OTL
AND HELL NO PIPER IS BLACK
...like I wouldn't be able to use that face because Piper is black in my headcanon and thus must remain so. OTL
(Although I may edit that face to use...? WHO KNOWS)
black people typically have black hair. if he's actually intended to be black, the hair color that you are using on the sprite looks a bit too light to be natural. it looks like a mid-light brown and it wouldn't fit very well.
the waviness of it makes sense if he's intended to be more middle-eastern/indian.
there's something goofy going on with the tree layering in the "Vat a sexy party~" pic.
are the sprites for the automaton and tanis original? they look pretty sick. great job with the shoulders and muscles on the automaton's arms. looks great and very readable for being on a small sprite.
Piper's sprite is, uhhh... VERY VERY TEMP? I only had the top and bottom views laid out for that sprite, too -- the side view one is totally different. OTL Basically it's going to take a lot of kerfiddling before I get the sprite right. (Probably shoulda done a character design before trying to make a sprite but AHAHAHAHAHAHA like I would actually think to do something logical like that OTL) ...so yes short version is PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE SPRITE BEHIND THE CURTAIN -- it's gettin' axed. IB I'll keep your advice in mind, though! :3
I explained this over on the RMN page, buuuuut I'll quote myself here again because I feel the need to point out how inept I am a second time:
...AH-HAHAHAHAHHAA I TOOK A PICTURE WITH THE WRONG OVERLAY ON THIS MAP LOLOLOLOLOL I AM SUCH A LOSER
I'm just gonna leave this up here as a testament to my overwhelming incompetence.
I wish I could say they were, but nope! Not my work. They are super wicked, though -- haha, I ended up using them as characters just because I liked the sprites/faces so much! (Also because NON-HUMAN CHARACTERS ARE AWESOME) I think I linked the blog in my credits list up there; defs check it out, even if you browse! There're a lot of awesome resources there. <3
In other news, I hit an UNEXPECTED SNAG IN PROGRESS today -- my laptop's power cord slot thing finally died on me, and my battery has also perished miserably.
Meaning... yeah I have no idea when I'm gonna be able to fix that, if I'll be able to repair it, if it'll cost me a million smackaroos... YEAH BASICALLY I AM MUCHOS PEEVED
So stay tuned, folks! I'll let you know when I'm back in business. OTL
![[WIP] In the Níght - last post by SeanCarrion](http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/uploads/profile/photo-14945.png?_r=1369059063)
