- Border - The game you`ll never play!

[Grayborders]

                                             We are now on Kickstarter, please take a look.

                                                             https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1832653738/border

                                                                     Play the Demo now!

Spoiler

Well here it is the demo is "finished" its time to share it!

Before download, tough... I could not finish the Manual for the combat, so a very quick lesson here so to avoid a lot of swearing, and unnecessary deaths.

Your top gauge is GP, also known as Guard Points, this is your first line of defense, all damage received will be deducted from this.

Upon reaching 0 your Guard is broken, and all damage received will be delivered to your actual HP.

ALL SKILLS,MAGIC,ETC USE GP!

everything you do cost GP, which leaves you more vulnerable, so compensate if you Guard, it recovers a lot of GP.

In each turn you automatically receive GP too, thanks to the Auto Guard state.

Once your GP is 0 and your guard is broken you wont be able to preform any actions aside from the Regain Balance skill which is ONLY available during this state!

Keep in mind Regain balance is not a 100% effective skill! so you can end up being left open for several turns!

So TRY AND KEEP YOU GP UP!

There is NO HEALS during battle!!!!

And even outisde battle you can only use a Regen over time.

If you end a battle with a Broken Guard you need to enter the menu and use regain balance until you have GP again, well unless you want to die in the next fight

You have 4 revive items, but it can only be used outside battle as well.

So basically get used to not healing and try to keep your guard up!

The more powerful a skill is the more GP it will cost, the exception is the Critical skills and RED skills those require much less GP but CP(critical points,TP)

In the Demo you are free to use Red skills as much as you want but in the main game there will be a very huge effect of how much of these skills you use.

If you skipped that, you have fun figuring it out

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbvtwti4syo1tkr/Border%20Alpha%20DemoV3.exe

134MB

Hope you enjoy the Demo, and despite what the credits will say the after demo content is not ready yet... that's for later.

                                                                                     DEMO GAMEPLAY CLIPS

                              http://youtu.be/DdLaqOLirGg

                              http://youtu.be/32fX586vEjo

We are now on Steam Greenlight, please support us by voting.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=243049592

[SIZE=22pt]Border – Chapter I[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Border takes place on the human realm of Nimlod, one of the three planets of the known world. The story picks up only a few years prior to the prophesied return of Ragnarok, The King of all Dragons who managed to nearly eradicate all of the Gods.[/SIZE]

What we don`t have, and never will!

-No nonsense! (the world have its rules and laws and everything works accordingly)

-No hand holding! (no quest makers, no heavy handed directions, etc.)

-No treasure chests. (no treasure chests in forests or places anyone could have gotten them.)

-No fetch quests. (no kill x amount, get x amount, take this there.)

-No nonsensical puzzles in dungeons. (no complex block pushing or pulling levers, who resets these anyway?)

-No money on monsters. (why would monsters carry money?)

-No nonsensical loot. (potions they never use? weapons they never use? plus where do they keep them?)

-No childish sexism! (no weak, damsels in distress, overly sexualised female characters.)

-No R.O.U.S. (rodents of unusual size, no rats, slimes, etc.)

-No cheap bosses. (no bosses with 20 times the maximum hp parameter.)

-No heals/revives (someone is wounded in battle or knocked out? too bad.)

-No silly weapons (no whips, boomerangs, toys, etc)

​-No elementals! (no fire,earth,water, holy, dark etc)

-No binary choices (no black and white morality with colour coded choices.)

-No stereotypical villains. (No emo mommas boys, no "the world is sad so I just destroy it" motives, etc)

-No 4th wall breaking.

-No killing 200.000 humans by the end of the story. (by the end of most rpg games you have committed mass genocide)

What we do have instead!

-A huge living breathing world. (a world with years of work behind it, not just copy paste fiction)

-A battle system designed to simulate real life fights. (centred around guarding, evading, etc)

-Side quests that compliment the story and the characters. (you find these yourself and decide what to do about them.)

-A realistic team relationship system. (don't be shy to express what you really think, one character not liking you might open up something with another.)

-A dark realistic fantasy.

-A new take on races. (dragons, demons, gods all very different with their own motives)

-7.000 pages of comic turned game. (a very long and complex story.)

-A game using a world and story 8 years in the making.

[SIZE=20pt]Setting[/SIZE]

EDIT:So I totally forgot to link the comic version of Border

Its the first 3 chapters which is about 10% of the first game

You can read it here: http://www.mangamagazine.net/read-manga/Border-Chapter-1-Sealed-past/3442/0/0?lang=en

The first portion of the game will be very close to what you can read here, with a few adjustments to fit the media better.

From this much you might pick up a bit more on the world and the kind of storytelling I am going for, although please keep in mind I will use very different methods with the game, since I can make parts playable, and I can add details I had no time to in the comic.

Think of this as a tiny demo of the world Border is set in.

[SIZE=16pt]Quick history lesson.[/SIZE]

Spoiler

[SIZE=12pt]            The known world is made up of three planets linked by a polar belt of light, which serves as a gateway between these worlds. This light belt that stretches around all three planets north to south is known as the Border.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            The world were created after the old world burned and the only three surviving Gods used the Stones of Creation to from the new worlds, but decided to separate Humans, Spirits and Gods from one another and thus the three planets were made.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            First was the Realm of the Gods, second the small planet for the Spirits that was placed inside the Border to ensure the calm flow of Mana for all realms. Last was the Human realm, where the Humans would live.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]After this the three creators lead the world for 800 years before disappearing without a trace.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]For thousands of years Humans lived under the guidance of Gods achieving amazing floating cities and mastering magic, but with the arrival of Ragnarok in the form of a red star that slowly approached the planet of Gods, Dragons started pouring down from space and quickly infested all three realms. In a desperate attempt to minimize damage the gods closed off the Border for nearly 1500 years not knowing Dragons have made nests on the Humans realm already. After the Border was reopened they found Humans were able to adopt and survive the Dragons, but they became distant from the Gods.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]In the following 4000 years Dragons slowly eaten away at the strength of the Gods, while Humans formed strong alliances. So it came to the final battle where the red star Ragnarok reached the realm of Gods, by this time the Gods could barely muster 400 strong, so they prepared for the worst and moved the last 6 young Gods to the Border, and gave them the mission to seal off the Gods along with Ragnarok with one of the Stones of Creation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Meanwhile in Nimlod Humans have formed their greatest alliance blessed by another Stone of Creation they founded the mega nation Midgar, and managed to destroy almost every single Dragon left on Nimlod. However the Gods have fallen, and their world was sealed off along with Ragnarok.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Rise, and fall of Midgar.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]So began the age of Midgar and Empire of Man that lasted more than 6000 years. This Empire ruled almost the whole continent and it had only one enemy the Nation of Turenn to the south. At 2103 of the Empire calendar the Gods re-emerged and the 6 survivors faced off against the empire destroying half of its military power accusing it of breaking the laws of nature and using magic that will eventually doom the world. This a the time when Demons started appearing as a result of Spirits getting killed or drove to madness, around this time rumours began that Midgar have found the magic that allows Humans to be immortal, and that the Core, the founding members of the Empire still live through this magic.  And in the year 6397 of the Midgar calendar the Gods executed the current Emperor of Midgar and declared war on anyone who stands with the Empire.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The Demon war.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The following 500 year was later dubbed the Demon war during which the Empire fell apart new nations emerged and a warrior Seeress predicted that the Ragnarok will eventually break through the seal placed on the Border and consume the remaining two planets. She predicted that the seal will break in the year 1875. The war ended in the event known as the Cataclysm when a 700 mile portion of the continent was destroyed, however the reason, or the way it happened are not clear.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]After Midgar.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Following the Cataclysm Humanity became more fragmented than ever, Followers a group living the Gods instructions faced off against the mainstream religion of Angelus, while post Midgar states made several attempts at the revival of the Empire, each time stopped by the Gods. Rumours spread that the Core if still pulling the strings of these Nations and stop at nothing to get rid of the Gods. As the return of Ragnarok drew closer tensions rose and the search began for new magical weapons that could stand against the King of Dragons, and Gods alike, as nations take side with wither the Gods or against them…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Races:[/SIZE]

Spoiler

[SIZE=16pt]Humans-[/SIZE]

          [SIZE=12pt]Humans in this world are almost the same as us, main difference being is the presence of Mana a material that can manipulate matter itself when interacting with souls and thoughts. Every human can wield magic, but it requires high concentration and sharp memory. Thanks to the presence of spirits Humans generally live past their 110th birthday.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Spirits-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Spirits are the second main race, they are less present on the physical plane, but have a higher influence on the spiritual plane, the physical vessel of a spirit is much more fluid than any animal, they resemble animals but always appear somewhat transparent and glow. Spirits survive by eating Raw Mana, and “calm it” and therefore an absolute necessity for all realms under the Border. Spirits are more resistant to magic than humans, but less than Gods. Higher type Spirits can talk.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Gods-[/SIZE]

          [SIZE=12pt]Gods are entirely Humanlike in appearance, they are born and grow just like humans do, however their age stops at around 25-30 years. Gods are much more present on the spiritual lace, able to wield magic much easier, have a perfect memory, can survive on Mana alone, and are extremely strong. They were created by the three Creators in order to watch over the worlds. Gods are not omnipotent, and cannot create like the three Creators could.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Demons-[/SIZE]

          [SIZE=12pt]Demons are the result of the unnatural effect of the Dragons, and Humans abusing magic. While Demons did exist from the moment Dragons appeared, their numbers change drastically over the aeons. They treat themselves as an entirely different race than the Spirits, even though they were born from Spirits. They call Dragons their main enemy but they won’t stop from killing Humans when they threaten spirits. Demons can fuse with a variety of organic and non-organic matter. Demons can see an entirely different layer of the spiritual plane than the Spirits and the Gods. Higher type Demons can talk.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Dragons-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Dragons all originate from Ragnarok. Dragons are surviving by burning Mana, each Dragon have a Flare burning at their core, Flare that for all other forms of life is lethal, even for Gods. Dragons hatch from eggs laid by higher Dragons. They reach their full size in less than a year. Dragons have many forms and sizes, from snakelike to 2 legged winged ones all the way to the Dragon Lord type that have 4 legs 2 arms and a pair of wings. Higher type Dragons can talk.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Ragnarok-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            There is only 1 Gods left who saw the real body of Ragnarok before he was sealed away, according to him Ragnarok is so long and huge that it spiralled 40 times around the planet it used as its vessel to travel around in space. Ragnarok is the source of all Dragons, and even though it was cut off from the two remaining realms it can still communicate with the Dragons somehow. In the few records of Dragons speaking they describe Ragnarok as the true God who owns all three realms. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Angelus-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            An omnipotent God who might or might not exist, accrding to the teachings of Angelus he was the true God but his creation was spoiled by his strongest immortal warriors who attempted to overthrow him and misleading humans by calling themselves Gods. He then created Ragnarok to kill these traitors, they believe Angelus was the one who lead the Core to victory when Ragnarok`s Dragons became greedy and wanted to kill the Humans too.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=20pt]Main Story[/SIZE]

Spoiler

        [SIZE=12pt]The story starts in the year 1866 of the After MIdgar calendar.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The leader of Gods attacks the city of Shaard for seaming no reason slaughtering everyone but Saragat one of the main characters, who somehow manages to survive and escapes north where he lives for the following 4 years.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]When he recovers from the physical and mental trauma he decides to travel back to his country but almost immediately attacked by trained soldiers,  he meets his friend Gray who assumed he was dead following the destruction of Shaard. Gray reveals to him that he became a wanted individual since he is one of the few Humans to ever survive a fight with a God. He also reveals he is hunting the shadow group Core who also happens to be his attackers, and he asks for Saragat`s help to draw them out of hiding. Saragat agrees and they set out to meet one of Gray`s contacts. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]From this point on they quickly become mixed up in a complicated plot between Gods, the organisation of Core, and the coming war between Mirholl and Turenn.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Without spoiling anything they join up with the Goddess Len, and the Solider Hito who clearly have ties with the Core. They Travel to almost every part of the World as they hunt the Core and try to discover their plans to kill the Gods and Ragnarok.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The main themes of the game`s story is responsibility, dealing with the true drives of human nature, and truly facing ourselves and taking blame for our actions rather than looking for escape routes. Dealing with the real reasons for anger, greed, lust.I draw heavily upon the belief of lower and higher human drives and true perspective to see one`s own image.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=18pt]Characters-[/SIZE]

Spoiler

          [SIZE=12pt]Saragat:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Normal build, blonde mid length hair, blue eyes. Saragat is 21 years old at the beginning of the story, he lived the majority of his life in Shaard and worked as a guard there when the Leader of the Gods Hao attacked and killed everyone, he almost died but managed to escape north where he slowly recovered but the mental scar never really healed, he appears light hearted and takes things lightly, but is very skilled with the sword and appears to have no real regard for anyone willing to draw a sword at him. He never knew his mother and his father died when he was 14 years old. Sargat uses a 1 handed sword and have a unique self-thought fighting style. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Gray:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Tall build, long brown hair, grey eyes. Gray is 32 years old and a trained Demon Hunter, he became friends with Sargat during his many visits to Shaard. He can be distant and calculating, but a good leader, Saragat thinks of him as a brother. According to him he is hunting down the memebers of Core looking for a certain item, but wont let on what the item is. Gray is incredibly skilled with his straight katana, and decent with magic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Hito:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Short build, black mid length hair. Green eyes. Hito is a trained self proclaimed solider, tough he won`t say which country. He looks a lot like the current king of Firan. He is very stern and easy to anger, but clearly cares a lot for others. He clearly have ties with the Core since he carries a gun and a gunblade, weapons that are not accessible to anyone outside the Midgar Special Forces. He owns his own airship he nicknames Spear, he is a talented tactician and a pilot. His guns and Magiteck gear lets him face up to almost anything, but he almost entirely useless with magic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Len:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Normal build, silver long hair, brown eyes. Len is a Goddess who left the Gods and acts separately from them for almost 6200 years  why she did this is unknown, she is a well known travelling warrior who fights Dragons and Demons, and mostly accepted even by the Angelus church. Being a Goddess she is extremely powerful and have insight on the larger on goings of the world. Her travelling companion is an Arc Spirit called Seifer, one of the last Arc Spirits from before Midgar. She is older than the MIdgar empire, extremely powerful both physically and magically, only Flare can harm her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Noah:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            Short build, mid length brown hair, blue eyes. Noah is an Arc Mage, and a General in the Midgar army, he is a descendant of the  Allvise family and openly admits being a member of the Core, he appears playful and harmless but incredibly sharp and cunning. He prefers not to demonstrate his skills, and dyes his true haircolor, which is like all other mage is blue. Physically weak, but one of the best mages in history, can dual and triple cast, an ability only mastered by few among the old Arcane Mages.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            The Gods:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            The remaining five Gods not counting Len ,  Haru is Len`s brother and second in charge who is well known to be the ambassador of Gods. Eir, the Goddess who specializes in infiltration, and Crystallisation magic. Hachi, a mage with the other remaining Arc Spirit at his side. Regis, the God`s main contact with the followers a great strategist.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]And Hao the leader of Gods who was the oldest God at the time Ragnarok consumed the God`s realm, he sealed the Border with the use of a Creation Stone. He and the Gods are motivated to destroy the Core and prevent the return of Ragnarok.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=20pt]Gameplay[/SIZE]

Spoiler

[SIZE=12pt]            The game is mainly focuses on its story, the first  third of the game is mostly restricting exploration, however later the whole world opens up, and many of the side quests become available.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]The story[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] have some choices available in it but don’t expect entirely different endings, however the party dynamic can be influenced a lot.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Relationships system: each party member have their own views and morals and interacting them will either bring you closer to them or make them your rivals. They won`t leave, but will express their dislike with your approach and views, the game will feature a friend/rival system which will play in very closely with the games skill system, however conflict with someone and becoming rivals will not have a negative effect since a different set of skills will unlock. NO punishing players for not liking someone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]Side quests[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt], or rather side stories. My mentality is NO FETCH QUESTS. No meaningless quests, interaction with party members will bring up side quests that make sense for the setting and the story, they are all the parts that would pad out the pacing to much if they were the main story. These include personal quests like looking into an old friend in the town they pass by, or looking for a clue on something the character struggles to cope with, etc. The longest most complex ones are the ones that unlock after reaching a certain relation with the characters.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]This does not mean I’m no including some more light hearted quests. One example would be the “stop knocking” one in the game you cant just barge into every house, but you can knock on the doors, and if you are persistent and annoy the citizens enough something might happen [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]J[/SIZE]

[SIZE=18pt]Progression[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt], I have the mentality of realistic fantasy(I know contradiction) I love when things make sense and follow a certain set of rules, I spent a lot of time creating the rules of this world, and skill tomes, or just levelling up won`t cut it for me. Skills are closely related to the relationship system where the other characters teach you the ins and outs of battle sometimes by duelling you, since everyone aside from Saragat is a combat veteran they will teach him as much as they can. This goes for magic to.[/SIZE]

Music.

Music is handled by my friend and gaming buddy Jam, who believe it or not never played an rpg! while some will instantly argue than he should not make music for an rpg game, i say the opposite, its exactly because he never played them that he can escape the general trappings of the genre. We all know of rpg games with generic music.

He have full acces to the story and characters, since the story and world is all done he can clal upon anything and i can elaborate, and since he did not play rpgs he wont be burdened by the greats, instead music can be exactly what it have to be, representing the surroundings and the scene! And from what he managed to do so far makes me absolutely positive he is the right choice! Have a taste of his music here:




[SIZE=18pt]Battle.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]This is a section I could spend weeks on. My focus is on less battles more depth and strategy. No random encounter for one. I made my battle system that I honestly never seen before through the hundreds of RPG games I played.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]This battle system attempts to break away from the usual endgame of all big RPG games(even the biggest and best ones) so we all know that in the best known jrpg and arpg games endgame comes down to 1 thing alone. Attack/heal attack/heal attack/heal. FF games Diablo, Tales games, all the biggest names have this “problem” where hard bosses have 100 times more max hp than you and you are constantly healing, over and over and over again. I`m not saying it’s a bad thing, I love those games, but its been the same since the dawn of rpg games (even Ultima) [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]How am I trying to break this? Well I will elaborate later with a demo, the battle system is one thing I am very proud of and will show in working asap.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]I can give a hint tough, a combination of stamina, guard and evasion, and stances, everything a real life swordfight consists of. Another would be NO heals, in or out of battle that heal you instantly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]There are no “monsters” no big rats, no ROUS in the game, your opponents will be humans, demons, dragons, gods and spirits. Each with their very different ways of breaking.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]No random loot, no demon will drop money, cool loot will come from meaningful enemies Demons fused with weapons will give you weapons, and Dragons will leave material behind that can be sold, spirits can revert to crystals, etc.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Later in the game All characters can use different sets of weapons, which will change their effectiveness.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Another extension of the Relationship system is the “Unity Stance” which can be formed with another character adding their defensive power together and boosting their attack stats, unlocking a combined skillset.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]World.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            The world and the game genre could be referred as “Mana punk” following the steam punk logic, where as this world is entirely focused around Mana and magic, Mana is infinitely available it is flowing from the Border in its raw form wich is than “calmed” by the spirits, which is used for magic, glyphs, mira, and magiteck. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]From the world map you can see the world is BIG, it’s the maximum size rpg maker allows me to use on one map.  There are 40+ cities in the game all ranging from 100x100 to 500x500(about 4 of these) in the 3 weeks since I picked up rpg maker I finished 2 cities 200x200 and 300x300. All cities have at least 10 enterable buildings and all doors can be knocked on(for lolz) each city have at least 40 day and 40 night npcs.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]All cities are logically built, thanks to the years I spent on my comic these places are all flushed out already I just have to transfer them here. IMay aim here is to make each city believable and easy to read what is used for what, and let you feel the history of a place. Every poster, sign, open book can be read. Yes I am megalomaniac thank you very much [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]J[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]As you can see the world have a long history and I plan to use the material well, books, ruins, and current events will all be padded out over the game, all optional to read and find.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]There are no common dungeons, there are a few Demon infestations, there are laboratories, weapon facilities, and ruins, but I use the less enemies but harder approach. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Still there are a LOT of secrets to discover, big secrets come form the game`s very own goddess who is very old so who know maybe if you bother her enough she might tell you some of the legends and myths, that might or might not be true.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]And the game will feature 1 non canon extra dungeon. One with extremely hard bosses, and rewards, but NO “heheh look at me I made the game how funny is that” moments…. Instead fight the fairytails and legends of the games universe, recruiting a few bosses.[/SIZE]

Sceenshots:

Spoiler

World map:

[SIZE=20pt]Overall.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]            I am no scripter, I am fairly good with events, but really good with finding ghetto ways around problems [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]I am mainly graphical “artist” and writer(even with my horrid spelling, and grammar) Throughout the development I will try to replace as much of the rtp as possible the game WILL feature hand drawn animated battle sprites, hi-oughi cut ins,  hand drawn faces ( hopefully later turned busts) customised sprites, hand drawn battle backs, parallax mapping on the important or impossible to do parts, a world map with hand drawn cities. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]My only other partner in crime is a friend who is making music for me, he is extremely talented and super quick, so expect a LOT of music.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]I expect this project to take a year, I have a full time job so my time is limited, but I find rpg maker to be a very pleasant experience so far, and managed to get the majority of the games mechanics in already (thanks to the wonderful scripters around this forum)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]I am currently drawing up the animated battlers, in a way that I can add them different sets of clothes later with no problem, and planning to make a demo within 2 months.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]If you read all of this congrats, and thank you for your attention.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Scripts you can see ATM so the credits for them:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Mode7 is by MGC on RGSS FACTORY.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Lights by Victor Sant[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Game time(clock too) and weather by Vlue (the wonderful)[/SIZE]

If you have any questions just ask away, every kind of feedback is appreciated.

 

[TheFroMofo]

That world map is just incredible...wow......did you make that yourself?

 

[cabfe]

Funny that the southern part of the world map looks a little like mine .

I can see my countries in your game !

Your city is really big. Making it feel alive should be a real challenge. I only did a small one for now and it is a nightmare.

Good luck on your project !

 

[Grayborders]

That world map is just incredible...wow......did you make that yourself?

Yes all mapping is me, took a day but i already had the map for my comic.

 

[Grayborders]

Your city is really big. Making it feel alive should be a real challenge. I only did a small one for now and it is a nightmare.
Good luck on your project !

That IS indeed the "hardest" part, or rather the part that takes the most time, setting the mood of the npcs filler dialoge so it fits. Plus the night and day difference makes it a long process, but its all at the altar of authenticity.

 

[Grayborders]

Here is an update on the progress i made this weekend:

The general groundwork for the battle system is DONE, this means the basic logic of the Active Guard System is working and tested out nicely.

The first animated battler is finished, i used a similar format to Holders, but wil expand on frame numbers and use additional rows for the more complex animations(Duo skils,Critical skills)

The end result of the battle system should not have a single RTP asset. The main thing is the Guard based battle system is tested and works as intended, all thats left is balancing, and the menu system rework.

Here is a screenshot, and the quick peek at the battler sheet.

Spoiler

 

[kerbonklin]

Just wanna point out that you might want to find some right-side-looking battlers if you want it to make sense with your custom Battler.

 

[Grayborders]

Just wanna point out that you might want to find some right-side-looking battlers if you want it to make sense with your custom Battler.

All batlers will be handmade, including all enemies, and all of them animated, that thing is just a very quick thrown in rtp. I`m working on one of the animated enemies atm.

 

[Grayborders]

Hi from now on i`m planning to update this every Monday with my progress.

The biggest news are that i decided to give free permission to anyone to use my animated battelers they work a bit different than Holders so i`ll provide the scheme i`m using for them.

I was able to finish 3 of them this last week and here they are.

Spoiler

The one named Hao is an odd one since it was made with Spriter and its not the best since the method was made for more frame animations, so if his armor looks wierd its because of that, i`ll redo him anyways it was just a test to see if i can use the leftover from my Spriter time.

So the format is as follows, the numbers represent the rows.

1 Idle

2 Guard

3 Low HP

4 Hurt

5 Attack 1

6 Attack 2

7 Attack 3

8 Skill

9 Casting

10 Advance

11 Retreat

12 Victory

13 Death(its missing for actors atm because they will just get knocked out of combat for now.)

14^ any rows after this are special rows used for specific animations most of them will be attacks and special skill anims.

You noticed a few things missing like item? that's not a mistake my game have no usable items in battle.

So i don't knwo how useful these are to anyone but if you like them, there are a LOT more to come. and they are free to use in any kind of project as long as you credit me(or claim you drawn them) obviously and the name of my game.

Another update is that the battle system is almost ready for field testing, except a video and possibly a battle system demo in the next 2 weeks! The logic of the battles is done but the UI wont be in the first demo most likely, since that will be commissioned.

That is the update for this week, see you next week.

 

[Grayborders]

Oh looky a new battler (all old ones are finished and will be updated too)

Spoiler

 

[Grayborders]

What we don`t have, and never will!

-No nonsense! (the world have its rules and laws and everything works accordingly)

-No hand holding! (no quest makers, no heavy handed directions, etc.)

-No treasure chests. (no treasure chests in forests or places anyone could have gotten them.)

-No fetch quests. (no kill x amount, get x amount, take this there.)

-No nonsensical puzzles in dungeons. (no complex block pushing or pulling levers, who resets these anyway?)

-No money on monsters. (why would monsters carry money?)

-No nonsensical loot. (potions they never use? weapons they never use? plus where do they keep them?)

-No childish sexism! (no weak, damsels in distress, overly sexualised female characters.)

-No R.O.U.S. (rodents of unusual size, no rats, slimes, etc.)

​-No elementals! (no fire,earth,water, holy, dark etc)

-No cheap bosses. (no bosses with 20 times the maximum hp parameter.)

-No heals/revives (someone is wounded in battle or knocked out? too bad.)

-No silly weapons (no whips, boomerangs, toys, etc)

-No binary choices (no black and white morality with colour coded choices.)

-No stereotypical villains. (No emo mommas boys, no "the world is sad so I just destroy it" motives, etc)

-No 4th wall breaking.

-No killing 200.000 humans by the end of the story. (by the end of most rpg games you have committed mass genocide)

What we do have instead!

-A huge living breathing world. (a world with years of work behind it, not just copy paste fiction)

-A battle system designed to simulate real life fights. (centred around guarding, evading, etc)

-Side quests that compliment the story and the characters. (you find these yourself and decide what to do about them.)

-A realistic team relationship system. (don't be shy to express what you really think, one character not liking you might open up something with another.)

-A dark realistic fantasy.

-A new take on races. (dragons, demons, gods all very different with their own motives)

-7.000 pages of comic turned game. (a very long and complex story.)

-A game using a world and story 8 years in the making.

PS: I`m not saying those things are bad, but they stuck with the rpg genre since its first incarnations!

We are trying to make a new kind of rpg, one lead by the idea of a realistic fantasy world, no "deus-ex machinas" 

Hope you will like it.

 

[waterman]

Looks pretty good overall. I personally like the idea of a RM game that embraces realism above traditionalism.

It's nice to see that the city actually looks like a proper city, which is pretty rare in RM games. Most of them only use some buildings piled up together for gameplay purposes and pretend it's a town/city. Your city seem far more realistic, with the size and detail.

The world map is pretty impressive as well. Seems like exploring could be an important part of the game.

I would however have some minor queries on the 'What we won't have category':

- No bandits? Criminal-type enemies are indeed pretty overused, but with a large fictional world like yours, it would be strange if there was no crime, or if the player never sees/fights any criminals.

- Unarmed combat, whips and boomerang-type throwing weapons aren't 'silly' ways of fighting... Many martial arts originate from unarmed combat, and are far from being ineffective. Whips and throwing weapons are used historically for fighting purposes as well. Of course, you can choose to not include them in your game, but these ways of fighting are legitimate even in the real world.

That's pretty much all I have to say for now. Looking forward to future releases.

 

[Grayborders]

Looks pretty good overall. I personally like the idea of a RM game that embraces realism above traditionalism.

It's nice to see that the city actually looks like a proper city, which is pretty rare in RM games. Most of them only use some buildings piled up together for gameplay purposes and pretend it's a town/city. Your city seem far more realistic, with the size and detail.

The world map is pretty impressive as well. Seems like exploring could be an important part of the game.

I would however have some minor queries on the 'What we won't have category':

- No bandits? Criminal-type enemies are indeed pretty overused, but with a large fictional world like yours, it would be strange if there was no crime, or if the player never sees/fights any criminals.

- Unarmed combat, whips and boomerang-type throwing weapons aren't 'silly' ways of fighting... Many martial arts originate from unarmed combat, and are far from being ineffective. Whips and throwing weapons are used historically for fighting purposes as well. Of course, you can choose to not include them in your game, but these ways of fighting are legitimate even in the real world.

That's pretty much all I have to say for now. Looking forward to future releases.

First thank you!

and yes good points i need to adjust them a bit, bandits exist, and are a part of the world, but the frequency and the fact all of them end up killed in other games is what i don`t want.

For weapons, unarmed combat is a good point, martial art sure, but when up against massive beast, it looks odd, whips and boomerangs are far more weird in the same situation.

Thanks again, and i`ll clear this point up.

 

[Grayborders]

Uhhhh this weeks was a disaster, progress was slow, another battles is almost finished though, so that's nice.

I also realised something nice, i will be able to deliver one part of border i though i cant do.

Airships, by the hundreds, in border airship travel is one of the main ways travel happens, so airships are everywhere, all cities have docks, and i realised i will be able to show this traffic inside the city maps not just out on the world map!

This is really good because in the comic airships are almost always in the background since there are so many of them. I think it will give a LOT to the atmosphere to have the timed delivery airships, the military watchers and other ships fly around.

Also i`m still trying to keep up with my schedule and release the Demo in January, it will be a battle system focused demo, with a NON CANON area and short story designed solely to showcase the battle system.

So expect a new battler on Monday, and maybe some new screens too(since the main party is finished)

 

[Grayborders]

Here is the place to find all my animated battlers:

http://fallenvalkyriestudio.wordpress.com/animated-battlers/

All of these are FREE to use in both commercial and non commercial project, as long as credit is given and i am informed of their use!!!!!

 

[Grayborders]

First unfinished attempt at parallaxing. have a look.

Spoiler

 

[Grayborders]

Here is the first handmade battle back.

 

[Grayborders]

Some Busts i am working on atm.

Its hard to get back to drawing with a tablet, and my wacom is getting OLD (3 years now)

But basically i am making naked busts first most of them bald, since my character have many different sets of clothing throughout the game, so all characters have at least 8 busts for emotions and you can multiply that with each sets of clothes... yeah that will be a LOT of busts. But hey all at the altar of making a quality game.

 

[Alrian]

You're doing such a great job with Border! Almost everyday I'm checking it out just to see if something new has arrived. This topic should have a lot more comments.

Please, keep up with the great work. You can be sure that you have a fan here ^=^

My best regards,

Alrian.

 

[estriole]

nice solid game you have there. solid story, nice mapping, hand drawn potrait, hand drawn animated battler.

will be looking forward for the demo.

btw:

For weapons, unarmed combat is a good point, martial art sure, but when up against massive beast, it looks odd, whips and boomerangs are far more weird in the same situation.

agree with this... whip don't hurt enough... yeah they're flexible. and sting. and could be used to grab feet and make the human fall. also could disarm human weapon easier by latching the whip to a sword and pull it. but most of it won't be fatal.

UNLESS you can make the whip deliver electric shock. . or coat some poison in the whip. it could be deadly... but it won't penetrate beast with thick skins.

so back again it's useless against massive beast.

and boomerang is one time throw in real life... there's something wrong about it in game... the boomerang always comes back EVEN when it hit the enemy. while in real life if it hits then it didn't back to the thrower. since it stuck in the target body. it will only return IF you missed... also in dragon quest game... it hits all enemy??? where's the logic come from... .

for fighting massive beast. real people would prefer to use longer weapon such as spear (or bow and arrow or guns... if they can gain some more range). just getting to close to massive beast sometimes led to death. so unarmed combat will be suicidal.