RMMV The Last Chronomancer (OFFICIAL CHAPTER 1 RELEASED)

[Guld]

The Last Chronomancer
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SECTION A: SYNOPSIS

Spoiler

• An RPG inspired by the Classic RPGs that I still enjoy playing to this day. FFVI, ChronoTrigger, FFV, Lufia, DragonQuest/Warrior, Legend of Zelda, etc.

• I will try to keep the Gameplay/design/feel very 16bit Retro if possible.

• Turn Based combat, but with thought put into animated skills and battlers when possible.

• Row System implemented.

• Fairly generic Magic System.

• HP + MP system, no TP.

• Strong emphasis on players learning as they go. I try to avoid overwhelming the player with too much initially, and introducing new skills/features as the game progresses.

• Many different heroes/classes to choose from, and for the most part the player gets to level up and advance the heroes of their choosing.

• Choose one of 6 Main Heroes "Timestreams" to follow. Even though the heroes travel together for the most part they have unique content/experiences, so there will be a degree of replay-ability from that aspect as well. (all 6 currently available)
  
  
• I'm also trying to strike a balance between providing useful game/story advancement, while providing incentive to explore the other areas/maps.
  
  
• The gameplay should initially feel fairly basic and generic, but strategies and tactics will start to become necessary as the game advances.
  
  
• Currently my biggest spots for improvement are eventing (although I am making improvements).

IMAGES/SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler

SECTION B: CHARACTERS

Spoiler

• Many heroes will be available to play. Not shown here, but playable within the Demo include a Monk, Dragoon, and Mystic Knight.

• Daery the Ranger

• Jett the Rogue

• Johan the Cleric

• Keegan the Soldier

• Raven the Mage

• Talsa the Defender

SECTION C: STORYLINE/PLOT

Spoiler

• The Time Mage Shae travels through the slipstream of Time itself. Recently she has discovered that a Great Tragic Event coming, and seeks to aid Six Heroes in their Journey to stop the oncoming Great Evil.

• The Heroes begin their Journey in the Mountain Town of Pentam.

• They have come together to participate in the annual Kobold Hunt. The Kobolds attack Pentam every Autumn. They try to steal as much food and resources as they can before Winter sets in. Every year the Town comes together to fight them off. The event attracts Visitors, Warriors, and Adventures from all over the planet.

• This particular Kobold Hunt will have a very unusual outcome however...

• Even though this sounds very generic, I promise you that the story will have many twists and turns and will stray from the whole "Good vs. Bad" concept.

• Characters will develop and change as the story progresses. Relationships will be formed, and Blood will be spilled.

SECTION D: SETTING AND/OR WORLD DEVELOPMENT

Spoiler

• A Single Pangea Continent

• 6 Major Kingdoms, each with different rulers

• Multiple religions throughout the world.

• Humans, Elves, and the Undergrounders are the primary Races of the Cities/Kingdoms.

• Orc, Kobold, Goblins etc. all exist as well.

• 1000s of years worth of documented Legends as well as currently ongoing civil Wars set the backdrop for the Story.

• Myth, Magic, and Tales of Amazement are plentiful.

PLAYTHROUGHS/FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Spoiler

DOWNLOAD LINK

The Last Chronomancer Demo by Guld

guld.itch.io

 

[Guld]

Finally got around to updating this (all of the image links were bogus). I have sent away my game for some First Impressions Feedback, and will likely have a Demo available for everyone shortly after that (if there is any interest).

Currently around 8hrs of Gameplay I think. I can probably speedrun it in a little under 5.

EDIT: I have been making improvements and adjustments on a daily basis and things are finally starting to come together.

 

[Rogue Milk]

Looks very well put together.

Story is interesting, it doesn't sound so generic as you put it.

Might wanna try lowering the saturation on Talsa's hair.

Sounds promising, looking forward for the updates.

 

[Guld]

@Rogue Milk I really did make the Story my #1 focus. Since this is my first RPG everything else was a bit of a struggle (SO MUCH TO LEARN haha), but I realized one of the major reasons I go back and play the old RPGs is because I still REALLY enjoy the story behind them.

I actually kinda like the Orange "pop" that Talsa's hair provides. I might try dulling it a BIT and seeing how I like it, but currently I like the way that it looks on her, but also how it compliments the rest of the team's color scheme. But like I said, I'll test it out and see if I like it. Thanks for the advice.

Also...just to post some progress, I finally got around to adding some custom Saws for my Lumbermill...

 

[Guld]

Finally got around to redrawing my Colossus. I always hated how it looked. It still needs some work, but I think it looks much better now.

 

[OgreKiddo]

Sounds pretty interesting. Any major games/etc that influences for the World/Lore?

 

[Guld]

Sounds pretty interesting. Any major games/etc that influences for the World/Lore?

FFVI was the biggest Game/Story influence.
Chronotrigger, Dragon Warrior/Quest, FFV, Lufia, and Legend of Zelda as well.
It was originally a story/world I created for Dungeons and Dragons, so there are elements of that as well.
I also tossed in a bit of World of Warcraft, and Game of Thrones for good measure.

I SHOULD have some First Impression videos ready by the beginning of next week and I will probably have a Demo available for download after I make the improvements they suggest.

 

[Spaceboy]

You're going to potentially improve your game after a First Impression video instead of just ignoring advice? This game is going to be awesome! Ha ha

 

[Guld]

Livestream of First Impression in 5 mins...

 

[Guld]

The Impression is complete....now time to take all of his feedback and make something better.

 

[Guld]

I don't know if anybody is really following/cares or not, but I figured I'd post a list of updates I've done since Dutch did his review...

Chronomancer Demo 1.0.4 updates...

-Rework of the Pentam Tunnels. Modified outer wall to be solid black, changed encounters to sprite based (no longer random), boosted exp gains for the mobs
-Modified the Guard combat in Westwell Keep. Now animated with proper sounds, and each battle is properly interrupted with dialogue. Also added some Banners inside the Keep.
-Modified SEffects for Poison and Fire warmups
-Added Timer to Lumbermill Dungeon, with Bonus loot for reaching and defeating Lanny and Randy in time.
-Added Items Store to Mor
-Redid the graphic + hue for Snakes/Cobra (Specifically for Pentam Tunnels)
-Improved Belbank Sigil, and darkened the Stone tiles.
-Smoothed out the Main Title Font a bit. Still a bit pixelated, but better than before
-Created Songhurst Sigil and added to Keegan Intro
-Increased Axe Power by +1, and removed Defenders ability to equip Maces
-Increased Kobold General Health by 150
-Made a new Game Icon
-Modified the graphics for some of the doors in the Pyramid
-Modified the graphics for the Battlers for the Shift Snakes
-Added a Choke point in the Pyramids that prevent the heroes from advancing beyond the "solution" for the other team.
-Dead Skeleton now above the Spike holes
-Mor Orb Puzzle now has appropriate matching icons below it.
-Added a new plugin to allow me to control DOT and HOT formulas/elements. Will playtest to confirm values are legit...
-DOT damage modified and tested. Seems good now.
-Increased the dmg for Trident and RedStar slightly
-Resized the Stones during ViperContact fight and post Dromo fight
-Replaced the Mor "Snowballs" with Amber Stones
-Removed Mor Pyramid Random encounters. Now AOE based Skeletons.
-Added Kobold Pikeman
-Added a "Jump" effect to Bite attacks and gave Eagles a "Dive" attack in place of that
-Modified timing on Ilir Name Input
-Mag Power added to Rogues (to accomodate Poisons/Bleeds)
-Hero and Enemy Spell effects/moves are different now for Poison. Allows for constant old DOT dmg against heroes, but no more OP attacks on bosses by the heroes.
-Increased Shield armor values
-Modified Westwell Dock Map
-Added Jett Note/dialoge scene for Westwell Docks
-Added some dialoge for Westwell Commander. Indicated dislike/backstory for Johan.
-Added Class overview when recruiting Heroes
-Added a Steal effect for Jett vs. the Kobold General. Disabling Cleave in the process.
-Modified King Lumin sprites (more white/gold + Blood)
-Modified Sting and Blind to be Melee range attacks only
-Gave the Voras Emperor a new Multi Jump attack
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Dutch's recommendations/fixes inspired by him
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-Auto event Ilir "Sir Dave" to the Staff
-Modify/Remove the dialogue about Ilir and the Staff.
-Make heroes less obvious about their skills/abilities when first being introduced. (may still need more tweaking)
-Change "beware the Trickster God" line
-Made the Kobold General a giant sized SV Battler instead of flat sprite.
-Modified Pentam Cafe dialogue
-Kobold Fight Dialogue added.
-One fight describes limitations of fighting front row mob.
-One fight describes the requirement to hide back in behind your front line
-Added more mobs to Emperor Fight + reworked Ilir's moves. This will help the player learn the limitations of fighting against Row combat as well.
-Added a Shae meets the Hero in their Inn/Dreams scene. She now informs them of the prophecy + team they must recruit + warning sound they will need to flee. Heroes will discuss this in the Tunnel exit (another new scene) now. Possibly with Vass. (another reworked dialogue)
-Unique Battle Theme and Fanfare implemented
-Modified Ilir's intro so that he begins dialogue with the Soldier prior to the player being free to "move"
-Pub scene COMPLETELY reworked. Complete with dire consequences for resisting the storyline and potential tutorial on Escaping combat.
-Exit of Pub scene modified
-Entrance into Tunnel scene modified
-Modified Hero Join dialogue + provided basic Class description upon the recruitment messages.
-Modified Sardsahrk encounter/Shae dialogue.
-Added more dialogue/Choice to recruit Vass. Confirm dialogue/scenes up until Goldmill
-Added overhead tile for Ship railing (top near Captain Don)
-Wolf sprite for Hanz and the other puppies in the kennels.
-Added reverse side dialogue for Cake guy in Westwell.
-Added a map marker for Goldmill after leaving Westwell

 

[Guld]

Toast might be able to playtest this Demo (1.0.4) soon. After I take his review into account, and finish up some other changes I wanted to implement, I will make Version 1.0.5 available publicly so I can start getting even more feedback.

 

[Guld]

Toast did a solid First Impression for me.

I was able to get some solid feedback out of this one as well.
Once I implement it I'll push out another Demo for everyone to play/test.

 

[Guld]

So apparently that is now 2 Reviewers that did NOT like my font. I tried looking for a better match, but honestly couldn't find anything I liked better. So I did the only SENSIBLE thing...I downloaded a font editor and customized my own font. These are the letters that gave people the most grief, I think it should help.

EDIT: I also added a Font selection Option for Player Preference.

 

[atoms]

@Guld Your front looks much clearer, well done for researching and working all of that out! I would've agreed with those two reviewers as well.

 

[Guld]

@Guld Your front looks much clearer, well done for researching and working all of that out! I would've agreed with those two reviewers as well.

Thanks @atoms , I appreciate the feedback. Hopefully the Font Selection tool will allow everyone to find something they can use comfortably.

 

[Guld]

Created a Grandfather Clock...because it seemed necessary in a game about Time Travel.

 

[Guld]

I never liked the scrolling Text intros for each of the heroes. Now each hero will have glimpses of their past Timestream revealed prior to Shae's first visit to them...

 

[Guld]

Demo 1.0.5 Update...
-Clyde is now a "Ninja" and has Throwing Stars. Testing required, but so far so good.
-Redid the Animation for Thunder 3
-Added more Pentam guards outside the West wall + more dialogue about the situation. Also provided feedback on why they have to head to Westwell.
-Added a 'pop out of bed' motion for all heroes @ the Pentam Inn.
-Customized Lowercase Font manually (rotated 'd' to face vertical alignment, modified 'g' because it seemed to throw everyone off, ajusted the 'k' to look less like an 'h', removed accent marks for 'v' and 'y', lifted 'f' to not appear cut off, changed 'w' as well)
-New Font selector added to the Options menu
-Modified the Emperor Fight/sequence. Now with Mob and camera focus.
-Modified the distance/eventing for the first Mob fight in the ThroneRoom.
-Fixed the window placement for the 2nd floor of Pentam Inn (I always thought it looked a bit off, but nobody else said anything about it. Now that you have, it's DEFINITELY change time.
-New Theme for Shae, Pub, Time Crossroads, etc. (will go through the game to update accordingly)
-Created a Grandfather Clock
-Moved Antidote as Lvl 1 Ranger Spell, also gave a Wind spell in place of MMissile, and modified Spell Gain rates.
-Added a Move/Description for Defenders and Monks describing their Passive Skills
-New Start and Stop animations added for Shae
-Talsa Intro re-worked.
-Created a proper Throwing Star Icon
-Modified the Steal items from the first False Party fight
-Formation popup added before Kobold Fight
-Cleave animation redone and modified for Kobold General Sequence
-Kobold Sgt added to the first battle
-Kobolds slightly resized to look less blurry
-Orc Battler created

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Still on my immediate "To Do" List...
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-Finish rework of Daery Intro (the other 4 heroes will come later I think)
-Add more character dialogue back and forth, while onboard the Ship (prior to Pirate attack)
-Modify the Goldmill Ship dialogue, as this is no longer the first time they all had the same Dream/experience.
-Do even more Dialogue checks

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My distant "To Do" List (probably after Demo 1.0.5
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-Rework the other 4 Heroes intros
-Smooth out the Intro Splash + Command options
-Have a proper camera Move command after Pyramid camp out

 

[Guld]

LOTS of work being done/updated. Figured I'd share a little.
Here is an update for Keegan's face image (Before and After).