RMVXA Linus: The Forgotten Days

[Elude]

dksasafdas D:! I need a way to find out how to receive notifications when something as big as a demo being released is happening. Left my thoughts below (I might be slightly biased >>;;;....I really love this game. I probably won't notice anything negative (bc I'm too busy spazzing out about the new demo) so yeah...biased D: .) The demo was awesome! 

Spoiler

The beginning quote "They're making Ismail fight." ...maybe I'm being too sensitive, but is it a reference to "Call me Ishmael"? XD. Otherwise, it serves as a really good way to start the player off, by putting us directly into the middle of action.

I could really immerse myself into the world. The overlays, the lighting, the gentle, soft music really helped set the bleak atmosphere throughout the entire demo. I also remembered a quote near the end with a Lorimoran (spelling?) soldier saying something along the lines of "This place stinks! They leave their dead in their tents."  The decision to use dark, faded colors made the color red more prominent. There are two examples I can think of. One was when Eugene coughed up blood. It was really obvious it was blood and that the situation was dire. But speaking of dire...the releasing of the feywing (I'm assuming it got released by someone based on the video) where the maps became tinted with red is an even better example of how red stands out sooo much. I'm probably going to associate red in your game with death or destruction now XD. Rain is going to be associated with the Lorimorians x-x....They sure are a bloodthirsty bunch. 

Also, halfway through the demo, I had an inkling that Eugene would go back to camp later and probably...die. I just wasn't sure how. I had a feeling he would die for an "honorable" reason, like trying to save people. When his team reached Rousseau and he was getting suspicious due to everybody being so relaxed, I thought for sure he was going to go back to the camp to warn Peter that they were being betrayed. I'm not too sure how obvious it was that Rousseau was betraying them. I played the previous demo so when the name Rousseau popped up, I was immediately alert. Instead, it was for poor Ismail. Ismail and Eugene probably would have been okay if Eugene had chosen to leave with his friends or if they had stayed inside the camp. I do understand why Eugene chose to leave though. It wouldn't have been a good life for either of them if they had stayed, but... The happy music choice at the end (even when it was pretty obvious Eugene wasn't going to make it out alive) just magnified it though D:.

The part where Teign (disguised) shows up....I totally knew it was Teign! XD He feels more broken this time around. I actually like this version more because in the other demo it was only said that he become broken down, but he was still very commander-like and stern. Here, he's more hesitant and distant. I also got a better sense of his character, from both his interactions and what people said about him. I wasn't surprised when the tent people said Teign protected them. It felt in-character because this Teign is depicted to hate war and doesn't seem to like killing more than he has to.

The capes were a nice addition. (well, it made sense because of the weather but it made everyone look more awesome). I also noticed most of the Aternelle soldiers were wearing green capes? I'm guessing its to blend in with the forest.

I was really surprised when I was able to make a decision. I was so afraid I was going to make the wrong one XD. (I chose to give up my supplies). It would be really nice to be able to make decisions more frequently!

The pursuits system is really good too...especially if I have to quit the game and continue at a later point. 

I really like the short preview of Chapter 1. I'm not sure if you remember, but Leigh is my favorite character....That short preview just made him look more awesome ....!!! The conversation about the feywing...and his desire to see his father again really humanized him. The way he answered his mother about slavery made him look pretty smart (or at least someone who can recite textbook answers). He feels like...someone who's actually really warm and child-like, but was forced to grow up into a harsh environment and as a result....isn't the typical kind child. It's a bit saddening to see this (but it makes for an awesome character). 

One thing though. Near the end, it was actually getting hard for me to tell where my character was at X_X. I think the red tint + the dark overlays were making to difficult for me to see. It may have been intentional though...seeing as how there was a forest fire and there was ash everywhere. 

 

[blueperiod]

Yay! I was hoping you'd get around to playing the demo Elude!


Now, I'm going to address a few of your points.

Spoiler

- I like to use colour as a story-telling device, and one of the things that I love most about the RPG Maker engine is the ease of changing screen tints. I swear, so many folks don't even mess around with this setting and it drives me up the wall. A small change of colour balance within a scene can set the mood perfectly.


The use of red to stand out from the more earth-tone colours is something I shamelessly stole from Schindler's List. There's a famous scene in that film in which a little girl walks through a crowd of people, and her red jacket is the only thing that has colour, while everything else is in black and white. It stands out beautifully and I thought I'd use this technique to highlight the bloodshed.


As for the Aternellans wearing green, it's actually not for camouflage . It's a lot more simple than that. The colours of House Solis, the ruling family of Aternelle, are green and yellow, and so all of the soldiers, even the conscripts, have green and yellow on their armour. The crest of House Solis is actually a golden chimera on a field of green, with a bright sun on top of it (to signify the 'To brighter roads' house motto).


- The choral song that plays during Eugene's escape with Ismail has the same lyrics that Ismail was singing when you first talk to him in the hospital tent. The name of the 'pursuit' to save Ismail is also taken from this song, which, as far as I know, is an old British nursery rhyme.


- Yes! Ismail, as a character is a sort of nod to Ishmael. I also just liked the name.


- I do plan on having more decisions in the game, and with far-reaching consequences and results. The choice in the cave doesn't really change what happens, I just thought it a good chance for some character agency from Eugene.


- You've described Leigh's character perfectly.He's supposed to be like one of those children that come from super-super strict families who's parents (in this case, his mom) want nothing less than perfection from him, and this has made him lose a bit of his childlike innocence. There will be times when his less rigid side shines through, especially when faced with the opposite sex, which he is completely clueless about.


At this point in the game, Leigh is eleven years old, but when the story goes through a time skip and Linus is introduced, Leigh will be 23 years old. I'm really looking forward to writing scenes between those two.


- As for the difficulty with the overlays sometimes obscuring your character, I'm definitely going to lower the opaqueness on some of those layers. That last bit of the demo is supposed to be smoky, but not to the point where it interferes with the gameplay.


Thanks again for playing and sharing your thoughts Elude! I always love reading your comments.

 

[luigivampa]

I know I'm a bit late in playing the most recent demo but...wow. How far this game has come since the beginning is just astounding. Even as a standalone work, the prologue is probably the best RPGM game I've ever played. Completely atmospheric and immersive; beautifully selected music that perfectly captures the mood (by-the-by, whatever happened to the original soundtrack that was being worked on? It was great, just wondering what happened to it); wonderfully crafted dialogue, great pacing, and memorable characters which you actually care about. Having played the previous demo, I recognized some of the characters and anticipated the twist, but even so, the emotional impact still hit home in an un-contrived way which is pretty difficult to pull off. With a little bit more player agency and expanded gameplay--which will no doubt come about with the full game--I expect that Linus will be a truly exciting and engrossing work. Keeping fighting the good fight--we know you've been through a lot and are tackling an immensely ambitious project, but you're churning out amazing work and, I think, are truly an inspiration. 

Can't wait to see what's next. 

 

[gRaViJa]

I randomly had to think back about this project today. Is it still active?

 

[blueperiod]

I randomly had to think back about this project today. Is it still active?

Yeah, it's still being worked on! Been busy with work/life so progress has been preeeetty slow but development has is picking up steam again. In fact, here are two new screenshots!

 

[Bloodlines]

Really nice project, glad you are still working on it.

 

[esby]

Woah, dude! This project is probably older than some forum members by now
Good to see you're still active.

 

[blueperiod]

Woah, dude! This project is probably older than some forum members by now
Good to see you're still active.

Haha, yeah, LINUS is getting up there. I think I started development in... 2010? Or some such?

 

[AK47]

Hey blueperiod!

Hope you are well. Great to see Linus is still going. Great screens, looking forward to more updates and to play the next build

 

[IAmJakeSauvage]

This project is iconic - I still play through the demo sometimes. So glad to hear you're still working on it.

 

[BloodletterQ]

Those aren't modified rips, right? They look exactly like the Tellius Fire Emblem characters.

 

[blueperiod]

Those aren't modified rips, right? They look exactly like the Tellius Fire Emblem characters.

They're edited Fire Emblem facesets. Eventually plan on having custom portraits.

 

[blueperiod]

Hey blueperiod!

Hope you are well. Great to see Linus is still going. Great screens, looking forward to more updates and to play the next build

Wow, how did I miss this post?

I know I'm super late but, man, it's great to see you again! If you see this, thanks for the support, and for your help in playtesting the game! Hope AoA is progressing smoothly.

 

[blueperiod]

Hello and a merry new year to everyone!

Decided to try my hand at some art and drew Linus as an adult.

It's not incredible or anything but I figured I'd give it a try!

Also, here's a new battle screenshot:

^ This takes place during a flashback sequence in the prologue. It's meant to make that chapter a bit less reliant on talky cutscenes.

The current plan is to have the next demo out sometime in the first half of the year, with a tentative release date set for May, 2018. This demo will have a chapter that isn't the prologue in it, so finally, Linus can debut in his own game. That's exciting!

 

[EZaxess]

It's good to see you kept going, never give up. I remember your writing it was good.

 

[blueperiod]

Hello again, folks/friends.

I figured I'd give a much-needed update on the status of the game and what's changed since the last demo release 4 years ago. A lot has changed in that time, both in the game itself, as well as my perspective on what kind of story I'm aiming to tell. The goal has always been to tell a personal story about a character's life, but I've since increased the game's scope to be something... different. What's important to me now is the idea of a single person affecting other people, including the player. It is a passive concept that involves the player reacting to the story, rather than being the one who sets things into motion. Interesting and lifelike NPCs are my favorite things in games (wassup Radiata Stories!), and I'm curious to see how it'd work out if an NPC was given a central role in the story as well as the capability to change the story themselves, and in turn, for the player to react to those changes. I think it's a neat idea that's worthy of being explored!

The reason I've been toying around with this concept is that... well, I am honestly tired of always being the all-powerful Dragonborn/Space Cop Jesus/Chosen One hero in games. You could be the hero in Linus, or maybe someone else could.

I have some ideas on how to implement this and I am incredibly excited to see if it all works out or if it becomes a horrible nightmare. Either way, I'm sure it'll be a learning experience.

Besides that, I've started implementing a certain gameplay system for the game's Etonmarch chapters. For those who don't already know, Etonmarch is a military college the main character, Linus, gets sent to when he is 13 years old. He then spends the rest of his adolescence in this school making lifelong friends/enemies, getting into trouble, doing cool sheep, suffering horrible tragedies, ect. Basically, it's Harry Potter meets Suikoden. Anyway, I am planning on implementing a Persona-style calendar system here, with each day of the school year offering a choice of different activities and events for the player to partake in. Either they can hang out with comrades, train, explore, sleep, or what have you. This all sounds like a ton of work but it's been in the planning stages for years and I am very much looking forward to getting it in the game.

That's about it. Thank you for reading and for being interested in my anti-power fantasy!

 

[gRaViJa]

How's the development going by now? After all these years, this project still crosses my mind once in a while!

 

[Jayje]

Slice-of-LIFE in RPG Maker? NICE!!

 

[blueperiod]

@gRaViJa Development is still going at a brisk pace! Hoping to release something new at the end of the year.

In the meanwhile, here are some new screenshots featuring Leigh, Linus' older half-brother who will have a playable section in the prologue.

 

[gRaViJa]

Cool, happy to hear the project is alive and kicking