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None just yet!

-Original Soundtrack
-Original Sprites
-Muddoll System
-Original Battle System/ Menu System
-Original Artwork
-Original Tilesets
-Original Character Development/Plotline
-Particle Animations
-Voice Actors

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(An excerpt from one of the Nidoian Academy Textbooks)

Originating as a mass of nothingness, the world was formed by the goddess Slymira. The world was eventually named "Nidoia" (Freedom in the Archaic Language). Taking a part of herself, she created two races: the Humae and the Humeo. She established a promise between the two races. The promise made the two races be bound to a covenant, which stated that the Humeo and Humae had to protect one another. This promise was latter known as "The Promise". The goddess then benevolently formed the ten constellations that guided the path in which Nature would take its course, and provide a source of guidance and power for the two races. Slymira then approached the two races and stated that she would undergo a Respite, in other words, she was going to rest and observe the growth and development. The Humeo grew to become a very intelligent race that sought nothing but the growth of their power and knowledge. The Humeo created a colony at the center of the world and bestowed it the same name as the planet itself, Nidoia. Their discoveries lead them to become extremely advanced for their time. They created machines, airships, projectile weapons, and other forms of advanced technology. However, the Humae grew at a slower rate. While the Humeo enjoyed a blessed life in their walled community, the Humae remained somewhat nomadic; dispersing throughout various places in the world to build temporary communities. The Humae resented the Humeo for their reluctance to assist them and felt that the Humeo were breaking "The Promise". Much to the surprise of the Humae, the grand city of Nidoia was leveled by a grey cloud-like mass. From the ruble emerged strange humanoid figures, with appearances of different animals. The Humae gained the impression that Slymira punished the Humeo for their vanity and unwillingness to help others. This hypothesis was accepted as the true explanation of the fall of the Humeo. The Humae then rounded up an army and subdued the Humeo, and ended up calling them cursed ones. With new motivation in the belief that Slymira favored their race, they forced the Cursed Ones to be their slaves and established the three Providences of Saxon, Isaria, and Nidoia. History then went on; the Humae continued their steady growth and rise in power.

The story begins with Elias Yule, a talented youth who was recently accepted into the Nidoian Academy. Little does he know that his whole life will be thrown upside down when he begins his first term at the Academy. A grand mystery is waiting to be solved.

The Constellations:
These star formations govern the way nature takes its course on the world.
There are ten known ones.
Antila (Governs the Wind Patterns)
Caelum (Governs the lushness of the soil)
Cetes (Governs Rain patterns)
Crux (Governs the snow)
Cyngus (Governs the orbit of the sun)
Fornox (Governs the flames needed to start wild fires, like to help break apart seeds that need the heat to burst open in order to pollinate.)
Draco (Governs the Moon orbit)
Apus (Governs all forms of matter)
Lynx (Governs the eclipse)

Star Scholar: A fancy title to call a magician. They spend most of their time predicting patterns in the constellation movements. They obtain their powers through Glyphs, objects that can turn the constellation's radiance into magical power.

Humae: Present day humans; they were originally tribes of Nomads at the awakening of the world.

Humeo: Present day Cursed Ones; they formerly made up an extremely advanced civilization.

Redemption: The day when The Humeo race fell and assumed their cursed forms.

Archaic Language: The language the Humeo spoke.

Cursed Ones: Many humae call the members of the Cursed Race by this name.

Pure Ones: Many Cursed Ones call members of the humae race by this name.

Constellation: A formation of stars that govern the way nature takes its course on the world. There are ten main ones. Star Scholars derive their powers from the radiance of the constellations.

The Arid Wind: An organization founded by Aiden Lent. Its goal is to end racism between the Cursed Ones and the humans.

Wild Prophesy: This happening is not regarded as a prophesy by many people. The reason why individuals refer to this prophesy as the "Wild Prophesy", was due to the manner in which the prophet Syd foretold it. On the year 540, the prophet was preaching to the royal court in the Nidoian Capital. Out of the blue, the prophet is seized in a fit of fright and anger and screams out three words, "crash", "twin-heart", and "eleven". The prophet then threw himself over a balcony, falling to his death. This event lead Syd to be referred to as the "Lunatic Prophet". Many scholars have come to the conclusion that he was mentally unstable, due to his bipolar nature.

Nidoian World:
World Map Coming Soon!

Providences:
Nidoia: The main capital of the world. This capital was built upon the destroyed remains of the ancient Humeo capital. Its name is also what the world is called. It is governed by a Sovereignty, or system of government where the ruler is chosen to act as both a military and spiritual leader. The royal family that has ruled ever since the creation of the world, was the Fidelo family. The leader is backed up by a cabinet of advisors, that help the ruler govern to appease the people. As of now, the political stability of the providence is rather shaky, due to some mild corruption in the cabinet.

Saxon: The wintery republic located in the North. This placid country is known for clear night skies, the perfect place for Star Scholars to predict weather patterns and conjure up prophecies. The republic was formerly a monarchy, but the last king attempted to unite the world through violence. He was overthrown in a bloody massacre, known as Red Tide. Many of the king's supporters were murdered in the skirmish. Now, it is a peaceful Republic, with a strong economy. The Mediator is the head of the senate that helps the Republic stay on track.

Isaria: The Black Sandstorm is another name for the desert Providence of Isaria. It is governed by a the dictator, Ahab, a ruthless and merciless ruler. His reign, however, poses no threat to the other Providences, due to the lack of military strength that the providence has. Ahab, however, has plans to unite all the providences into a kingdom of his own. The Isarian economy is rather poor, due to the arid climate that prevents successful crop growth.

Asim Fidelo: The first Sovereign to start the Nidoian line of Star Scholars.
Olev Parris: The last monarch of Saxon.
Ahab Rajiv: The current dictator of Isaria.
Teodor Savas: The Mediator of Saxon.
Robert Tate: The dean of the Nidoian Academy.
Prophet Syd: The infamous lunatic prophet who gave the Wild Prophesy in year 540.
Ithiel Wood: Elias' childhood mentor. He died when Elias turned Twenty.
Sophia Yule: Elias' mother divorced his father, Abiel Yule when Elias was three.

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Concept Art
This is an example(s) of the cutscenes that would appear throughout the game.
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Coming soon!

Coming soon!

This is actually a very simple yet effective system that will save players a great deal of time when exploring dungeons. Muddolls are tiny yet magical golems that are infused with power to transport players at certain points in dungeons back to the outside. There are two types, the brown muddoll and white muddoll. The brown muddoll is planted in the spot where the player last was in a dungeon and the white muddoll is placed outside the dungeon. For instance, if one were to run out of items or was low on health, the player would simply plant a muddoll on a certain place in a dungeon and warp to the outside. When the player is done with stocking up, they would use the white muddoll to warp to that exact spot. However, muddolls are expensive and can only be used once. However, they are very useful and make dungeon exploration easier.

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Elias Yule is a quiet and rather carefree individual, who is very successful as a pupil and fighter. The man was trained and taught by his father's late friend, Ithiel Wood. He had quite a normal childhood, save his mother leaving his father when he was only three. Elias, however, does not expect that his life will be turned upside down once his trip to the Nidoian Academy begins.

Other Information:
Birth: Seventh of Septimus, Year 1443.
Blood Type: A-
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 152 pounds
Age: 22
Dominant Hand: Right
Origin: Ture Village
Preferred Weapon(s): Epee

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Elliot is your typical knight in shining armor. Aloof and distant, this young man possess great talent as a student and knight. Because of Elias Yule's prowess, Parke feels threatened by him. Because of this, he treats Yule with mild disrespect. What could have lead to this young man's cold personality?

Other Information
Birth: Nineteenth of Diminus, Year 1444.
Blood Type: A+
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 163 pounds
Age: 21
Dominant Hand: Left
Origin: Nidoia Capital?
Preferred Weapon(s): Broadsword

Marius.gif

Marius, or Maru for short, is the young prince and a destined Star Scholar of the Nidoian Sovereignty. Because his family comes from a long line of Star Scholars, he, along with his elder brother, Ilar, are expected to become talented Star Scholars by both the people of Nidoia, and with the Royal Fidelo Family as well. Marius, however, does not possess the innate ability to predict the movements of the stars as adeptly as Ilar can. Embarrassed and belittled by his elder brother's successes, Marius has deep feelings of envy. Despite this, Marius is a quiet, polite, and insightful individual. He tries his best to be a positive and upbeat individual as much as possible. However, Marius' envy of his elder brother sometimes overshadows his good nature which result in major mood swings.

Other Information
Birth: First of Neufim, Year 1446.
Blood Type: O-
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 144 pounds
Age: 19
Dominant Hand: Right
Origin: Nidoia Capital
Preferred Weapon(s): Tanto

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Shila is the girl next door to Elias. She is the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Both Elias and she spent their childhoods growing up together. One would expect both the protagonist and her to have some kind of romantic relationship due to their long history as friends, but that prediction is quite wrong. Shila actually loathes the protagonist (this is evidenced by the two constantly arguing). She is rather bossy and a bit of a tomboy, much to her mother's disappointment, who expects her to act and behave like a proper woman.

Other Information
Birth: Fifteenth of Pentoras, Year 1445.
Blood Type: B-
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 115 pounds
Age: 20
Dominant Hand: Ambidextrous
Origin: Ture
Preferred Weapon(s): Lure

Artwork Coming soon!
Deven Cromwell is one of the captains of the watch guard in the Nidoian Manse. Being an alumni of the Academy, he is good friends with the Dean. Cocky and a little selfish, his goal is to become a powerful noble. Deven despises his poor upbringing. Obtaining a position like his with hardly any social status to begin with is viewed by many as a great accomplishment. This played a part to the development of his arrogance.

Other Information
Birth: Sixth of Quatrin, Year 1440.
Blood Type: AB+
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 176 pounds
Age: 25
Dominant Hand: Left
Origin: Nidoia Slums
Preferred Weapon(s): Poleaxe

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Ivah Fay is the daughter of the Duke Tanis, a duke who reigns over the small county, Agrippa, on the outskirts of Nidoia. Ivah is the shy, well-mannered, and dainty Lady of Agrippa. Well, if one were to look at her at first glance one might assume these traits. However, these assumptions are all quite wrong. Ivah is actually a professional Martial artist, who secretly trained under a former master who ended up being one of Duke Tanis' manservants. Her parents know nothing of her skills in combat. Cheerful and determined, Ivah longs for a life where she can be free of her noble title. Her mother is vehement in finding a proper suitor for her, but Ivah always turns them down, sometimes beating them up. Ivah desires to find her own true love. She hates pretending to be a lady, which explains the reason why she constantly sneaks away from the grounds of her father's manse at night.

Other Information
Birth: Eighth of Octoras, Year 1446.
Blood Type: O+
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 126 pounds
Age: 19
Dominant Hand: Right
Origin: County of Agrippa
Preferred Weapon(s): Greaves

Artwork coming soon!
Raleigh Roemer is a student at the Nidoian Academy. Although he behaves in a rather silly way most of the time, he has a presence or some kind of aura that no one can really tell what it is. He is aspiring to be come a poet with the hope to charm a virgin with his words. When Elias Yule moves in to stay at the Academy, Raleigh is Yule's roomate.

Other Information
Birth: Eleventh of Monius, Year 1444.
Blood Type: B+
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 153 pounds
Age: 21
Dominant Hand: Left
Origin: Agrippa County
Preferred Weapon(s): Boomerang

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Panther is a decendant of the Cursed Race, a former slave, and a wanted criminal. He is accused of murdering a man during his time of enslavement. No one knows for sure whether or not he truly was the murder of the man. He currently resides in hiding with a band of other rogue Cursed Ones. Having the physical appearance of a half-moutain lion, half man, Panther carries the shame from the sins of the forefathers of the race and feels the hatred of the humans, or as they call them, Pure Ones.

Other Information
Birth: Fourth of Dectinum, Year 1437.
Blood Type: O-
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 178 pounds
Age: 28
Dominant Hand: Right
Origin: ???
Preferred Weapon(s): Dagger

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Aiden Lent was a rogue from Alim, a small, desert sea port town. Both him, and his younger brother, Cooper Lent, grew up with Cursed Ones, since the boys' parents abandoned them when they were young. Aiden recently gave up his life of thievery, because he was disgusted in the way the Cursed Ones were treated by other humans. Because of this, he began an organization named, "The Arid Wind", in hopes to end the bigotry between the Cursed and Pure Ones once and for all. Aiden is a rather soft-spoken and quite individual. Despite having the ability to run the organization quite effectively, Aiden lacks the charisma required to be a leader. This prompted him to hand his leadership to his younger brother.

Other Information
Birth: Twenty-First of Trimus, Year 1442.
Blood Type: A+
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 151 pounds
Age: 23
Dominant Hand: Right
Origin: Alim Slums
Preferred Weapon(s): Sickle

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Gwen is known throughout the Isarian Providence as "The Desert Witch". Beautiful and quite sharp, she was once a Star Scholar who served in the Royal Court of the Providence. However, disagreeing with the manners in which the Cursed Ones were being treated under the iron rule of Ahab Rajiv, Gwen left the court to join Aiden's Cursed One and Human Alliance, "The Arid Wind". She serves the alliance as an invaluable member, recruiting members and spying on Ahab's various schemes. Gwen hopes for the day when "man, Pure or Cursed, can walk together hand in hand."

Other Information
Birth: Second of Heximus, Year 1442.
Blood Type: A+
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 128 pounds
Age: 23
Dominant Hand: Right
Origin: Isaria Capital
Preferred Weapon(s): Longbow

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Rim.gif

Rim is a mysterious boy that appeared to the Royal Nidoian Court exactly 22 hours after the latest Starry Prediction, the infamous time when Star Scholars place their abilities to read the patterns of the constellations to the test. Rim and Sovereign Fidelo, Marius' father, have taken quite a liking for each other. No one knows of his past or why he even appeared to the royal court in the first place. Rim looks around the age of a fifteen-year old boy. The most peculiar aspect about him is the fact that his entire body, save his neck and his head, is covered by a strange black-grey tattoo of various designs. Despite his young appearance, Rim terrifies many people. Many rumors state that Rim is a Cursed One. However, many people combat this hypothesis, because all Cursed Ones have strong animal-like features. Rim looks exactly like a human, save for the unearthly tattoos. Just who exactly is this boy?

Other Information
Birth: ???
Blood Type: ???
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 121 pounds
Age: ???
Origin: ???

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Ares is another Cursed One. His physical features closely resemble that of a wolf's. Ares is unlike all other Cursed Ones. He worked his way into becoming an important figure among many of the important Lords of Agrippa. Mysteriously, Ares was promoted to be a member of Sovereign Fidelo's official cabinet the day Rim appeared to the Nidoian court. Despite this great accomplishment, Ares is still disliked rather strongly by many of the other court officials. He is despised among the majority of the Cursed Ones, because of his close relations with the humans. Cold and rather cunning, Ares hates his race and wishes he were a human.

Other Information
Birth: Seventeenth of Septimus, Year 1438
Blood Type: AB-
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 183 pounds
Age: 27
Origin: Agrippa County

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Artwork coming soon!
Ilar Fidelo is the elder son of the two Fidelo princes. Actually Ilar is Marius' twin. He was only prematurely born about a little than a day earlier than Marius. Serious and talented, Ilar dedicates himself to to his studies and often ignores other individuals. For some reason, Ilar is either lurking about Marius or scolding him on his severe lack of talent as a Star Scholar. Why would Marius' own twin be so cold and demanding, towards him when most twins share an affectionate bond?

Other Information
Birth: Sixteenth of Septimus, Year 1446
Blood Type: O+
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 148 pounds
Age: 19
Origin: Nidoia Capital

Artwork coming soon!
Fritz Elmsgard, along with Ares, is the youngest council member of Sovereign Fidelo's cabinet. Just and charismatic, this handsome youth is one of the only council members who resists the great corruption in the cabinet. Because of his righteousness, he is despised by all the members of the council. Fritz is highly suspicious of the sudden presence that the boy, Rim, made to the court. He also question's Ares' promotion to the cabinet as well. His goal is to find out the true motives of the Sovereign.

Other Information
Birth: Sixteenth of Octoras, Year 1438
Blood Type: B+
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 152 pounds
Age: 27
Origin: Nidoia Capital

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The different constellations appear on certain months.

Monius (Antila)
Diminus (Caelum)
Trimus (Cetes)
Quatrin (Crux)
Pentoras (Cyngus)
Heximus (Fornox)
Septimus (Draco)
Octoras (Vela)
Neufim (Apus)
Dectinum (Lynx)
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Mascarphone, ringo, and Zekallinos for the animations...
Twin Matrix for the tileset(s). GubiD for the CBS and menu system.
Kodakami and Shizu for the soundtracks, Green Raven for the sprites and Sennachanx3 for coloring my artwork.

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Special thanks to Kodakami for making it.
 
Well, you definitely have some good screenshots there.

I would just recommend that you clean up your post a bit, i.e. separating things into sections. So far, this seems interesting, but I feel it's lacking information about other characters.

Also, unrelated: Thank God you didn't use Septimus as the ninth month and actually understand prefixes. :smile:
 
I know, I did this late last night, so I'll clean it up now.
You said that some of the character aspects were lacking.
I stated that I will most more later, so I am not neglecting that factor. :)
...
Any other comments/suggestions..?
 
Well, you said you're going with a silent protagonist, and there's going to be deep characters. You also don't want it to seem like the player is watching a movie. These statements kind of contradict each other. Unless you're going to have NPCs answer for your characters, a silent protagonist with history and emotion is hard to pull off.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea. Legend of Zelda had Link, who was silent. In the Mario games (well, at least all the ones that matter), Mario never spoke. In Bioshock, Jack, the main character never speaks. But if you think you can make it work, go for it!
 
Well, I many have been unclear in my explanations, but I want to have the player involved in the plot, through the silent protagonist. When I said deep characters, I meant for the playable allies that assist the hero and the NPC's will have a memorable personality. I think my protagonist will resemble Crono from Chrono Trigger, or Serge from Chrono Cross. Despite that they never spoke, they were still able to express emotion, no? ;)

Does this make sense?
 
Sechs":33xg2lg4 said:
I think my protagonist will resemble Crono from Chrono Trigger, or Serge from Chrono Cross. Despite that they never spoke, they were still able to express emotion, no? ;)

Does this make sense?

Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.
 
Major Update!
The first custom character art for the protagonist is up now!
Please give your thoughts, comments, etc.
The picture is still to be resized and recolored.
 
Well...
One thing I noticed immediately was the caterpillar thing...
Total dragon quest thing. Sorry, but for some reason caterpillar's just not the thing I like.
By the way, memorable NPC's... The best way I can think of doing that is to make them funny. I think I'd like to see how that works out for you.
By the way, check out this website if you haven't already:
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

I find that website has some of the funniest and best RPG cliches.
 
It sounds interesting, but you said you didn't want to make a generic rpg, then the main characters are only 16 and 17, both talented at fighting, those are both incredibly generic!

I'm about to turn 18, and I sure as hell couldn't go fight the masses of evil villians, I mean, I can barely clean my own fucking house.

It looks promising, but most of the things you're going to eliminate should be eliminated in any game if they want to come across as origanal, what's the feature in this game that will make it stand out from the others on this forum?

Peace
 
Thanks for the comments. This is still a work in progress, so a lot of things will be changed accordingly.
How is the art?
Please comment on it.
Daxis Heart, thanks for giving me that site!!
It's awesome. I changed some things akready.
 
Of course, you really shouldn't take away ALL rpg cliches... some of them(albeit a bit ridiculous) are still sometimes good... there's a reason giant sword and spiky haired emo guys are so popular...
By the way, I sort of agree with what durastik said. Try to add some sort of really powerful magical object thing that makes the heroes really powerful. That's what I do to give a symbolism of reality.
 
Yeah, I changed the character ages. I think if they are in their early twenties then it'd be a bit more realistic.
Some more character arts are under production. A new character will be posted soon.
More screenshots are underway!
 
Some of the information, i.e. "The Constellations", "Important Figures", and "Important Nidoian Information and Timeline" should be put in spoiler tags. They mess up the post a tad, and it's too much information for people to take up. It's great that you've got details for the story, but too much confusing details might chase away possible players.

Regarding silent characters portraying emotions, some of Suikoden's main characters did quite well in that. Suikoden 2's deep storyline made up for the hero's lack of speech. But in my opinion, I'd rather if the main hero isn't mute. Sometimes, characters are made memorable due to their personalities.

Try making lots of "options" for players to choose in the game. And each option resulting in different outcomes. That should help add to the concept you're going for. It's a buttload of work to pull of, but at least it gives the game a bit more replay value.

The artwork of Elias is ok. Sketchy. Doesn't stand out too much tho. Some coloring might fix that. Are you going to use pencil sketches or proper line art in the game?
 
I my friend is going to color all the scans that I send him with photoshop. They will look nice once they are colored.
I did this late at night, so I'll organize it in a bit.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention this, but I am trying to make the game as non-linear as possible i.e. multiple endings. There can be some choices that the player can make that can turn allies against you, or other things that direct the plot in different ways.
 
Feedback: Ivah Fay.... anorexic? Kinda odd to be 19 and 120 pounds, scratch thatttttt, shes a woman xD. I think this looks great, awesome mapping, nice character descriptions, lovin it'
 

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