[ADVERT] Vanadia Project

[aten]

Hello everyone! I'd like to share a game I'm working on. This game is inspired by Tales of Eternia (but isn't a fangame) I was really absorbed into the LMBS or Linear Motion Battle System and I decided to try and replicate it in RM2K3. I think I succeeded somewhat haha. What you see is a work of probaly more than 2 years. It's taken that long simply because of LIFE and stuff, you know how it is :smile:

I'll put the story and characters briefly here.

ABOUT
Legend of Vanadia is based around exploration of a huge world with many locales to visit. While a light hearted game with the theme of Adventure, there are deeper and darker parts. The battle system is based on the Linear Motion Battle System (this particular system coming from Namco's "Tales of Eternia") providing fast paced non stop action.

STORY
Vanadia is a planet that is equivalent to 16th century earth. However, there are secret societies which are beginning to learn the art of "Science". In one such "science lab" there is a test subject who is though to have immense power in him. The power is dubbed "God Hand". One day, the test subject breaks out of the facility and kills everything in his way while he is escaping. Now he is wanted by the facility, who have dispatched a band of deadly warriors known as the "Crimson Riot" to capture him.

CHARACTERS

-Vaash-

Vaash is a young man living in the port town of Nimavil. Born in the city of Jem, he went out hunting one day, then got ambushed and knocked out. On waking up, he found himself outside of the Port town of Nimavil with no recollection of how he got there. He made the best of it and started to make a living in Nimavil, hoping to make enough money to get back to his home one day.

-Aerin-

Aerin is a student of the world famous "Sky Dragon School". Having no parents, she was found by the master of the school when she was little, The master took her in, and when she was just five years old, she expressed her desire to learn the art of "Dragon Flash", a technique only taught by the Sky Dragon School. Whats more, Aerin does these techniques with a two-handed sword, when it is supposed to be done with a one-handed sword. Even her master is amazed.

-Rein-

Rein is a mysterious figure. He showed up one day to help Vaash, and they've been traveling together ever since. Rein is notorious for being a flirt and telling exaggerated stories, which makes believing what he says a really dangerous task. (Especially for Vaash, who gets slapped by a lot of women because of Rein!)

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKjDVZON0-4

ScreenShots (Big screens)

Spoiler

The demo video is now old compared to what I have now, but it's still a good indicator of what's what. Also, if you find any bugs in the video, I may have fixed them already, but you can still point them out if you want to

 

[Jason]

Hmm, the music on the map seems so familiar, I THINK it's from Chrono Cross? o.O

That battle system you've got looks pretty impressive o.O

 

[aten]

Yes, please don't mind the music, there will be a custom soundtrack for this, all music as of now is temporary

 

[Jason]

No, I mean, I love the music from Chrono Cross, lol...

So anyways, I guess I should give a little more C&C...

The mapping seems really bland, empty, boring, and just lacking in every area, well, from what I can tell of the video and those maps, although the indoor doesn't look TOO bad, atleast it looks busy, being a restaurant(?) and all o.O

Again, the battlesystem looks great, and I don't get the dealy with the levelling up, is it? kinda looks like the Sphere Grid but more simple, care to elaborate on that please?

The story is a little so-so, I mean, it's not exactly the typical JRPG cliché clusterfuck like you usually see around here (No offense anyone), but there isn't enough content in the story section to merit anything, I mean, I get the idea, but it could be a little more detailed maybe.

The characters seem a little cliché though, especially how Aerin was orphaned at a young age, and this Rein guy who just came out of nowhere, but sure, I can live with that I guess, lol, to be fair I'm never really interested with character backstories anyways, unless the game is epically engaging and I want to know more.

Overall, I'd say that what you're showing/telling us here seems pretty good, although it could definitely be better, you just need to go in depth a little more with the story and characters, and maybe improve your mapping, which can be helped in the mapping improvement thread.

 

[Daxis]

dear god, I almost jizzed my pants when I saw the demo and leveling up, but then I completely jizzed my pants when I saw that this was rm2k3.

I mean, WTF, why is god so unfair?!!?!

Godly animations and systems, and, as as stated, I think the fact that this is 2k3 makes it a legend. I'm guessing that the menu screen. leveling up, skills, and battle is all evented?

Ps: just wondering, how much of the sprites, both field and battle, are custom?

 

[Ellie]

This actually looks really good. Only one thing I noticed that annoyed me, is that you can only walk up/down/left/right where the pretty road map is all diagonals. :girl:

 

[aten]

....

I should probably mention that the mapping in the video is a testbed of the worldmap. It's not the ACTUAL worldmap. And the one in the pic (i assume you mean the one with those kids) is basically a big empty playing field, so.... its big and empty haha

The level up system is the standard exp/levelup system. The spheregrid lookalike one is called the Drive Tree, and is how you learn magic (called Drives) in the game by spending your DSP or drive skill points. (Or you could play through without learning a single magic!)

Sorry about the story seeming cliche, I can't help it because I'm not a MASTER WRITER or claiming to be one, but I can say that every typical RPG has stories which usually go much deeper than they appear at first. It could still turn out cliche but I hope not.

Ps: just wondering, how much of the sprites, both field and battle, are custom?

All of the main heroes, both map and battle, are custom. The initial character design (1x1 sprite) was made by Oceans Dream, and then built upon by me (the hero has 440 sprites as of now all built from the initial 1 design)

This actually looks really good. Only one thing I noticed that annoyed me, is that you can only walk up/down/left/right where the pretty road map is all diagonals. :girl:

I know right! I'm including an 8way walk system to smooth that out

 

[Nolund]

Hot damn! 2k3!

Honestly, every time I see a 2k3 game anymore it's because some jackass puts together something that blows my mind, and my load.

Seriously, this is incredible. To do this sort of thing...it's really remarkable. Can't wait to see more progress.

 

[Sechs]

The battle system is very impressive; the NPC sprites are used from a Japanese resource (name escapes me); the tileset graphics are First Seed Material graphics; the story is not that noteworthy.
Maybe the story is decent (can't judge right away), but from the excerpt I read, it seems pretty trite and very similar to a typical "Tales" game story. I know it's not a fan game and that you were inspired from Tales of Eternia, but personally I would prefer to see an RPG with original elements that's not based off of a well-known series.
Your battle system, despite being an exact copy of a "Tales" linear motion battle system, is quite smooth and works well; your endeavors in eventing the whole thing paid off.
Another peeve of mine is looking at games with over-used graphics from places like First Seed Material and the like, but then again it's very difficult designing custom tilesets.

 

[aten]

Actually the only thing inspired by Tales is the battle system. Everything else is from the depths of my own brain. I would love to use tilesets that are original, but I'm not that talented in that department. If anyone is reading this and wants to help me by making original tilesets, they're very welcome to help!

 

[Sechs]

Still, I prefer a breath of fresh air. I said that for other things, like the story, it's easy to make negative first impressions since one cannot post much information without the risk of spoilers. I cannot make critical judgments from a promotional page.

 

[moog]

Looks even more badass than it did before. Am I still working on this? I have some tracks I wrote for you a long while ago that never got used.

Either way, keep it up man, looks great.

 

[aten]

Yeah man, just like we agreed, I'll hit you up when the game is finished and ready for the soundtrack :grin:

 

[Sechs]

I assume you and some friends did the voice acting for this?

 

[aten]

Yes. But it's not me, I hired some people for it, they did it for free since I know them well.