RMMV Luna Sanctus [RPG/Fantasy/Strategy] (Demo Available)

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DEMO LINK: https://kamo-studio.itch.io/luna-sanctus-demo

* NOTE: Everything is a work in progress and subject to change. I'm aiming to do a great game (who wouldn't), so hit me with those critiques! I can take it! I want to make a game that people would enjoy. With that said, I'm trying to appeal to a certain audience. Not everyone will like this genre. My game is in the same direction (more or less) than: Final Fantasy franchise (especially the mechanics), Tales of Series (for the skit and party dialogue), Witcher Series (for the quest system).

* NOTE2: Although I am interested in making a good story and an immersive world, I am by far prioritizing my game mechanics. I would be very interested in what you guys think of my game mechanics and my different systems. I will list them individually below and explain how they work.

Current Progression: 85%
Current Version: 1.06 (DEMO)
Projected Release: Q1-Q2 2019

SYPNOSIS

(please read the world setting before the synopsis as it will help understand)​

Spoiler

Many years after the great war that led to the creation of the Empire, Azel Ortu Solis was born, son of Emperor Julius Ortu Solis, direct descendant of the first Emperor. Unfortunately, Julius was more of a weak emperor that doesn't always follow traditions, and that didn't please many of the nobles. When he married his wife, Azel's mother, who wasn't of noble descent and have a child with her, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. When Azel was 7, some nobles rebelled against the emperor, leading to a great battle between rebels and loyalists, which the loyalists lost. That night, Azel's father and mother were killed by a Knight in complete Black Armor. Hopefully, Ermion, the head of the loyalists, managed to save Azel. He entrusted the descend of the imperial family to his dear old friend, Genjiro, which was the head of the secretive clan of Magus.

Azel grew up with the clan of Magus, in the nature far from human civilization. He trained there for 12 years, before graduating and becoming a true Magus. After all these years, Azel decides to return to his empire, now split in two: one for the loyalists, called the Republic of Ortu Solis, and one for the rebels, called the New Empire of Ortu Solis. Of course, he decided to return to exact vengeance, meaning to find and kill the black knight. Regaining his throne and reforming the Empire was less of a concern for him. He just wanted to have justice served against the regicide.

And thus begins Azel's journey to find the Black Knight who killed his parents. Through his adventure, he will travel across the different provinces of his Empire, he will make unforgettable bonds with friends, he will learn the harsh world in which villagers live, he will understand that the world isn't as black and white as he thought, and he will be confronted by his dual incompatible identities, one of royal descendant and one of a Magus that lives alone away from humans.

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WORLD SETTING
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Spoiler

The story takes place in a fantasy medieval world. Many years ago, the moon just appeared in the world. However, this was no ordinary moon. It is a Moon filled with magic and power that transcend human comprehension. The Moon created mana that filled the world. Just as oxygen is a required component of the air surrounding humans, mana became just as important. The divinity aspect of that moon earned it the name Holy Moon, hence the name Luna Sanctus.

At that time, certain humans, a little minority (about 1%), realized they had the ability to use the mana surrounding them to create magic. Those people where called wizards. It goes without saying that those people, with their incomparable power, took control by forces over the normal humans. Soon, clans of wizards were formed, each controlling a area. There were 5 main clans that were constantly at war over power, money and territory. In that dark time, a legendary hero emerged, one that was blessed by the Holy Moon, the most powerful wizard of all time. Alone, he defeated all 5 clans and put an end to the war. Afterward, in order to achieve peace, he united the 5 clans and their territory into a single Empire, called the Empire of Ortu Solis. The wizards that were defeated were reunited into 5 Noble Families that served under the emperor. Peace and prosperity were at their greatest.

A part from the wizards, a small clan of people who couldn't use magic like the wizards was formed to learn and fight monsters and defend themselves and the poor villagers. They were called Magus. Unlike wizards, they can use mana to cast spells, but they have developed the art of manipulating the flow of mana inside and around them, thus greatly enhancing their physical abilities. Magus are even rarer than wizards, and roam the world in solitude for work and for the discovery of the world. Each year, before the new year eve, they reunite themselves at their camp in the middle of nature, where no humans ever go, to celebrate together and catch up before leaving for another year and roam the world.

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RESOURCES DISCLAIMER
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Spoiler

Even thought I am more known (by a very little minority lol) for releasing plugins, I too like to make games Most resources I use (not all) are completely made by me and my artist (Leviathanimation), which isn't a RPG Maker user. He did the characters' images and some wallpapers for me. Except the plugins listed down there, and the default ones by RPG Maker of course, I create every plugins. I also composed every music. Every images from Leviathanimation, every plugin by me that is in this project that I haven't publicly released, and all tracks I composed for this project, are strictly for usage in Luna Sanctus and aren't to be used by anyone else for any other projects. HOWEVER, if you like a certain plugin, you could ask me to do a public version of it (of course, it wouldn't be the same. Most of the plugins are adapted for my game are need the MUSH Engine to work, which is only used in my games).

Every resources I use that isn't from me is free to use for commercial and non commercial usage, and free to edit. However, not all of them allow repost, so I will only be naming them (not official names because some of them didn't have one):

For tilsesets:
- Essential Add On by Lunarea
- Essential Set by Celianna
- Dungeon Rock and Nature Expanded by Indrah
- Expanded nature by CWStudio
- Starbird Resources
- Japanese tilesets by Wahuu (that's what he was called. He didn't specify a name, or a need to credit him, but I'll do it anyway).

For plugins (yes I use plugins that aren't by me ):
- Camera Core by SRD
- ET_Maps (Inputs) by Eivind Teig
- Yes, that is correct, there are no YEP plugins!

OTHER WALLPAPER(S)
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Spoiler

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GAME MECHANICS

(Check the game development section for more info on every game mechanics in the game)

MENU:

Spoiler

I've redone the entire menu. Now, this isn't a question of mechanic, more of aesthetic, but I still thought it would be nice to know what you guys think about it. Here are some screenshots:

Main menu


Status menu (parameters)

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QUESTS:

Spoiler

The Quest system is similar to The Witcher 3. There are basically 3 types of quests: main quest (those that you have to do), side quests (optional side stories, often a setting of other party members or other important characters), and contract (helping NPCs, often a world exploration or lore exploration). In most villages and cities, there's a quest office where you can view the available contracts at that particular town or city.

Quests can be seen directly in the menu. The information contained in each quest description is the objectives and a quick summary of the quest. Quest are never simply hunts where it says "Defeat 5 wolves" (pointing at you, Final Fantasy 15). There should always be a little setting. For example, a quest where you need to defeat 5 wolves would be like this: a farmer posts a notice because something is killing his farm animals. Upon investigation, you follow the lead and encounter a female wolf that had been possessed by dark mana due to having lost her children. After killing her, you attract 4 other wolves and need to defeat them.

A little additional note: The quest name and current objective can be shown directly on the world. The player can show and hide that information easily. This acts as a little reminder. On the minimap, the location of the current objective is also shown (not programmed that part yet).

Quest Journal in the Menu
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ABILITIES:

Spoiler

Abilities are a very important part of the game. Abilities are attributes with a very particular and precise effect. It can for example boost a stat, boost an elemental resist, recovers hp when guarding, reflect some damage, accelerate a spell casting, etc. Abilities have levels, and the higher the player levels them, the stronger their effect will be. There are 2 types of abilities: hero abilities, and skill abilities.

Hero abilities affect the entire hero. That means that if there's a hero abilities that gives the hero +5 physical strength, the +5 bonus will apply for all actions. This is a way to customize the a character in general.

Skill abilities affect only the skill to which they are attached. For example, the "concentrate" ability on a character's Cure spell will decrease the casting time for only that particular spell for only that particular character. This is a way to customize a character's skill. Skills have a maximum of 3 abilities. Because it is nearly impossible to max everything out, the player will have to prioritize which ability/ies to level before or more. For example, the mage character has one fire spell. The player can decide to focus on the ability to increase the single target damage, or another one to increase the AoE damage, or even the ability to increase casting speed.

Abilities, both hero and skill, can be seen from the Menu Status and can also be leveled there. To level an ability, you need a specific magical item (which changes depending on the ability of course). These specific magical items are found in chests, received from side quests and contracts, or crafted by the player.

Hero Abilities


Skill Abilities
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CRAFTING:

Spoiler

This is a pretty straightforward one. With materials collected from chests, monsters, or even bought in shops, the player can forge a superior item, magical items (used to level up hero abilities and skill abilities), superior weapons and armors.

This will become a major part of the game, especially in the second half, for two reasons:
1) The idea is to have better equipment purchasable in shops in the first half of the game, but in order to get better equipment past half of the game, the player will need to find the materials and craft better equipment.
2) In order to level up abilities, the player will need a little more than magical items received normally by chests and main quests. Farming should not be necessary in order to complete the game, but harder side quests and post-gameplay will need to player to farm and craft the magical items to level their abilities (by farming, I mean getting the necessary materials by killing the monsters that drop it).

BATTLE SYSTEM:

Spoiler

I've programmed from the ground up a new battle system. It's a semi-tactical active battle system with action sequencing. I'll go through each aspects: semi-tactical, active, action sequencing.

For the semi-tactical aspect, it is still a kinda traditional-ish rpg battle system, so not tactical, but instead of having only a front and back positioning, there's a 4x4 grid for actors and enemies. There are 2 utilities to that:
1) Of course, like in the front and back system, the closer the hero's column is to enemies, the more damage he will deal and receive from physical attacks.
2) An attack targets an area and not an enemy. There are still some skills that target only 1 enemy (1 case in this case, pun not intended), but some skills, especially spells, can target more than one case, damaging possibly multiple enemies. It can hit in a plus pattern (example 1 central case and every case just beside it) and have fall off damage for cases that aren't directly hit. The further from the epicenter, the less damage the enemy will receive.

The active part is pretty simple and traditional. This is basically an ATB system with a bar that grows and battler gain their turns when their bar is full. Also, spell will need casting, which is done through filling a casting bar.

The game uses a MP system and a Soul System, which is like TP. MP is like the good old magic point system that we know, acting as a general resource for skills. Souls are like TP, but a bit different: there are a lot more volatile since there are only 6 souls per character, and skills can use 1-4 souls. However, they replenish very quickly; simply doing a normal attack will give back the hero 3 souls. There are also other ways to replenish your souls with abilities. (NOTE: the action sequence has been removed in version 1.06).

Now, for the enemies, they had to be adapted for this battle system. I've programmed a little AI for enemies. Enemies will try to take the "better action" of the situation. For example, if the enemy is casting a spell with an area bigger than 1 actor, it will target a case where it can damage the most heroes. Also, the lower the enemies' allies Hp is, the more likely it is to use a casting spell, and in an area where it can heal the enemy with less hp and the more enemies possible.

Obviously there are a lot more of little details to the battle system, but most of them are discovered while playing (and not programmed yet lol). Here's a screenshot of the battle scene. Also, you can see what the battle looks like in the youtube video I linked above. Go to 8:20.

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ACTIVE DIALOGUE:

Spoiler

I think Yanfly already did something similar. Basically, it's just a system where there can be dialogue without interrupting the game (on the map of course). The character's face will be drawn and the text will be just beside it, at the top of the screen. The player can even manually go to the next line by pressing 'D', otherwise it will just go automatically to the next line after a certain time. The dialogue continues even if the player teleports to another map.

I don't have a screenshot, but it can be seen in the youtube video I linked up there at 14:36

SKIT SYSTEM:

Spoiler

This is very similar to the Tales of Series, especially the one in Tales of Graces. Basically it's a scene where you see the bust of every talking characters and they have a dialogue. You can see different facial expressions and the talking animation.

I have a screenshot, but honestly it's a lot better to see how it's animated in the youtube video. Go at 19:20 (and yes, I know, there is no talking animation with the sigh expression. My artist just forgot that particular image. It will be fixed).

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MUSIC:

Spoiler

I've composed every single tracks in the game. Well, it's more correct to say that I WILL since I'm not finished yet. I've done a couple of them, but it's very long. Before becoming a programmer, and even before creating games, I was already a musician. I started piano lessons at the age of 5 and studied music theory for a long time. If there's one thing I have confidence in, it's my composing skills lol.

You can listen to some tracks I composed. I will be posting more on youtube as I get them done. Here are some examples:

Battle theme

Magical Adventure (music on one of the "world map")

Theme of the City of Zion

MAPPING:

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If there's one thing I can say, I can program, design, compose, but I'm not an artist. I've taken a few free to use tile arts and made some tilesets (all credits are shown in the resources disclaimer section). I try to make the best maps I can, but it's probably not on par with my programming skills and composing skills. Here are some screenshots if you want:

Pendragon City (north)


Hardia Village (west)


Travis Woods (south entrance)


Road of Magus
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GAME DEVELOPING (DEV LOG):

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You can follow the game development on my youtube channel. I'll keep a list here.

DEV 1. General overview

DEV 2. Battle and Abilities

DEV 3. Gameplay and Quest System

ENDING WORDS​

I've done countless of projects before, but unfortunately I haven't release any (haven't finish almost all of them). I hope I will finally release one with project Luna Sanctus. I'm not so close to a release, but I did a lot already (as can be seen in the youtube video above). I'm hoping to release the complete game somewhere in Q4 2018, Q3 if I'm lucky.

Please tell me what you think in general, and if possible on a particular mechanic. All this seems really good in my head (of course), but I don't know what other people think. This is the first time I'm showing all this work publicly.

I will keep this thread updated!

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment!


MushroomCake28

EDITS:
- 2017/08/01: Updated the music section. Put newer tracks instead of the old ones.
- 2018/03/06: Added the wallpaper and 2 tracks from the game in the music section.
- 2018/03/20: Added the Game Development section and the DEV part 2 video.
- 2018/07/31: Added the DEV part 3 video in the Game Development section. Also added the "current progression" and "projected release" information on top.
- 2018/08/28: Added the game's trailer and chaged the "Game Mechanics" section.
- 2018/12/26: Added the public demo link. Updated images to v.1.05 build.
- 2018/12/27: Added a new wallpaper. Added the "Other Wallpapers" section.
- 2019/02/12: Updated the progression

 

Check out my update and showcase of my custom battle system and advance ability system (built entirely from the ground up with my personal plugins). Tell me what you think of my "triangular relationship systems" between my 3 systems: You want to level your abilities to be stronger in battles, you clear battles and earn materials, you use those materials to craft items to level your abilities.

 

Battle system looks really neat, them menus are amazing, but its sooo much, like information overload. Overall looks awesome though.

 

Haven't thought about information overload. Interesting.

Perhaps I should dial it down and transfer some information to something like a journal that could be access if the player wants.

 

Wow, simply wow! You literally built most systems from ground up! This is very impressive. A game where you can brag that a lot of logic belongs to you

 

Subscribing this because it's soooo rare to see some people really make their own system and especially grid battle system. I'm curious how you gonna balance them out with all these skills. How is the progress going after these few months?

 

Thank you! I'm a bit more than half way done with my project. The programming is mostly done for the game, there's just some more mapping, eventing, and music composing to do. I'm targeting Q3 this year for a release, probably end August or September.

 

So recently there was a thread about different art style being used in general, and it got me rethinking about this aspect in my game. Because I had an artist design and draw the characters in the parties (full body, bust, and faces), there is a difference between his art style and the default rpg maker mv face art style. Of course I'm still using the faces from the default RTP for NPCs, and I also use faces from the character generator.

Although still cartoonish/anime-ish, the faces of my characters are a bit different visually from the default face art style. Is the difference that bad that it would affect the game?

Main heroine, Marianne


Main Hero, Azel

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I mean, its a clear visual difference; it wouldn't go unnoticed. You could just not use faces for minor npc characters to cut down on the art needed if concerned. How much it really affects the experience for an individual is up to them I guess and it likely wouldn't ruin any enjoyment they have from the gameplay.

The generator for Mv was such a boon for hobbyist developers because it was much more accurate to its own default artstyle than Ace ever was; that coupled with consistent generator parts and edits by the community helped those able to expand designs and facesets and still match the default and not have the same issues that would otherwise show up from needing a custom character.

From a purely personal perspective, If I started up a game on the forum and was enjoying playing it I'd still keep playing it even with the differences but it would likely bother me a bit and bring me out of the experience.

 

I dunno, it really depends on what you're trying to go for. I like the style of those facesets! But are you trying to stay true to the RTP, using a mix of both that and your custom images? Or are all the faces custom? If it's the latter, I don't see why you couldn't use them! As for the former, the differences might make players take notice...

 

The problem isn't with NPCs but with other important characters not in the party. Since I only have custom sprites for the party members, it's either I go without faces for all other characters, including important characters, or with faces from the generator. I thought having some character have no face would be weird, so I chose the latter.

 

@MushroomCake28 The difference between this thread and the one you reference is that the other thread was a general discussion and this thread is highly specific to your project. As such, it does not belong in 'General Discussion' which is not about feedback on individual projects.

This should have been in your own game thread. I am, therefore, merging these posts with that.

 

UPDATE after a very long time. I'm currently about 75-80% done with this project (finally!) and I'm projecting a Q4 2018 release, probably around October or November if I'm not lucky with Steam. Anyways, the battle system, the skill system, the ability system, the crafting system, the ski system, everything is mostly done and finished, with just some balancing to do. The story eventing and mapping is about 50% done, and that's pretty much the only thing left, with a bunch of side quests.

Anyways, here's a a bit of gameplay from my Dev Log part 3 (I know it's been a long time since part 2). There will be a timestamp in the video description soon, and you can skip some battles because there are a lot of them in the video.

 

It's been a minute since I've seen another game with a grid based Battle System. Great Job!

 

Here's my trailer! I've posted on my other youtube account (MushroomCake28 is only my name in the RPG Maker community).

 

This looks pretty slick!

 

The demo version is now publicly available! You can download it on itch.io! The demo is about 1h30 to 2 hours, contains 2 dungeons and 1 villages, 2 main story quests, and has the fully unlocked ability system in it!

Page link: https://kamo-studio.itch.io/luna-sanctus-demo

 

The technical stuff, you are an expert. I will contribute to the story then.
Who is a new emperor of the New Empire of Ortu Soli?
If Azel is a current emperor, who take care of a business in the castle?
Who is a leader of the Republic of Ortu Solis?
Why is only a black knight responsible for the main character father and mother death if many noble wanted to kill the emperor too?
Why did the empire split into different types of government? Because of stalemate.
I just curious, so your story can make sense. If you already have the answers, then nevermind.

 

The Empire is split into 2: rebels, and loyalists. There are no Emperor for any half, each province is simply governed by the noble family of that province. (Imagine an empire formed of countries which each their own ruler. Now if the alliance breaks, each ruler just rules his country until one of them reunites all the countries into an empire and becomes the emperor).

The Imperial city is destroyed because of the war. So yeah... no one lives there lol.

The Republic is led by two of the five nobles families (the 2 who stayed loyal). They are actually a huge help during the game. They are ruling while Azel returns to the split empire (the loyalist half) and reunites the empire.

The Black isn't the only one responsible, he's just the one who dealt the killing blow. He helped the rebels take over the city and he killed the emperor.

Yeah I know I prefer designing stuff instead of making up stories. Although I think this one is okay. I made sure they aren't too many plot holes though. But many games here have amazing stories, so I'm definitely going to stand out more with my battle system and my ability system. If you have time you can give the demo a try. It's only about 1h30 if you skip the tutorial (although you'll get a better understanding if you don't skip it).

Thanks for taking the time to read btw

 

@MushroomCake28, thank you for answer my questions. I get it that when Azel return a region is ruled by a local lord.
I will keep asking you question until making sense to me if that is ok.
What is kind of a Republic have a nobility as a leader? Do you build the republic like a Roman empire?
After the black knight killed by the main character. everything is going to return to harmony. You can make this game into expending version.

You state the setting is "a fantasy medieval world." I do not understand your republic government nature. Do your noble lord get elected by the people? I just ask this because it might fill up the weakness of a story.