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Aurora Hearts

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12197713 ... hearts.png[/img]
__________________________________________________________________
Genre: Classic RPG
Developer: ZeroAlmah & IronDuke
Game-progress: about 30%
Release (Demo 2): 4th quarter 2008
Presentation translated by: GreyHat
__________________________________________________________________


http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12235808 ... istory.png[/img]
"Faith is taking the first step
even when you don't see the whole staircase."

The world Alaysia, 1000 years ago...

Everybody lives in peace and harmony with the nature and other creatures...
The people use magical crystals to solve tasks of their daily work. These crystals are called "Aura". With Aura, people were able to cast fire or water everywhere and without problems.
The Aura crystals were bound to some places on the continents but were accessible by everyone, although only few were able to control their power. These people were called "Aurora".
But then one day, the inevitable happened...

The greed for power rised in the people's mind and everybody tried to take control of the crystals. A horrible war arised and went on for several years...
To end this war, a group of Aurora formed with the goal in mind to seal the Aura.
They managed to do this, but as all crystals were united at the same location, they fusioned and caused a fatal catastrophe. The earth bursted, millions of people died, and the Aura finally broke up into several crystals again....

The catastrophe ended the war, but also most of the planet's life...
The few who survived tried to found a new civilisation.
They sealed the Aura at different places all around the world,
to prevent an event like the great catastrophe to ever happen again.

1000 years later, nobody remembers the Aura or the catastrophe.
Only some old legends still tell the story...
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222814856_qwqq.PNG[/img]

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1223581384_2_Story.png[/img]
"Dreams are true while they last,
and do we not live in dreams?"

Alaysia, today...
Vaan, a young boy who is on his way home with his friends Jesse and Miranda, can't believe it:
His friend Miranda disappeared and only left a letter, reading that she has to "do some business" in port Nova...
But why? They did everything as a group and never had an secrets... So Vaan and Jesse decide to follow Miranda's traces.
As they arrive in Nova, nothing is as they thought it would be...

They see Miranda fighting against the city guards; What did she do?
After that, they are united again, but not long until Miranda disappears again, this time in Nova's castle.

Strange things happen there. The young princess Ayu listens as her mother talks about the sealed Aura. She can't believe her mother's plans and decides to get help, but she gets caught and is put into prison. On the way to prison she meets Vaan heading for the castle, and so so their journey begins.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222816825_hulp.png[/img]

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12235817 ... aktere.png[/img]
"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1214915955_Vaan_Face_col_final.png[/img]
Vaan
Age: 20
Height: 1,77m
Sex: male
Born in: The town Satoruh
Hobbies: Sleeping, eating, fights
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12075798 ... hief01.png[/img]
Story
Vaan is a nice, but not really clever boy. On more than one occassion he blows himself up or falls down some stairs. Some years ago, he left his home to see the world and find some adventures, together with his friends Jesse and Miranda. As they went back home again, Miranda got lost on a ship. She only left a letter behind, reading that she had to "do something in port Nova". So Van and Jesse decided to look for her, before continuing their journey.

As the story progesses, some questions about Vaan's past might grow. It may be revealed that he's not the person you always thought he was. But we won't tell you more right now, as he might be totally unintresting then!

Abilities
Vaan learns his fighting technics from his old friend Jowy. He teaches him to fight with weapons, and some supporting or theft technics. Since you can meet Jowy in different cities around the world, there's always something new to be learnt. Later on, some more difficult prerequisites have to be met to learn new skills, and you won't get the best ones easily at all!

In contrast to most of the other party members, Vaan is not able to use Aura (the game's "magic". This could be due to his... Mental disfunction - or is there another reason? But to make up for this, he has some skills nobody else is able to use! He uses weapon skills and two additional, special kinds of skill.

This & That
Because he's the main hero, everbody has to like him! Now can you identify yourself with a retard?
Well, at least he's the fastest one in the party. Also, he has got a pretty good strength and useful skills. And after all, you can't throw him out of the party! òó
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207578870_Vaan1.png[/img]http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579197_Vaan2.png[/img]http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579285_Vaan3.png[/img]http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579371_Vaan4.png[/img]http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579515_Vaan5.png[/img]http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579650_Vaan6.png[/img] http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579683_Vaan7.png[/img]
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1214915887_Ayu_Face_PrePreview.png[/img]
Ayu
Age: 18
Height: 1,71m
Sex: Female
Born in: Royal city of Nova
Hobbies: Because of her being the princess, there's not much time for hobbies
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12080990 ... hter08.png[/img]

Story
Ayu is the princess of the royal capital of the continent Erazia, Nova. She lives (well, that's what she thinks) in a stable and perfect world. She always lived safe and secure and never left Nova. Her mother holds her in safe distance of everything that could be a bad influence to her.
But Ayu dreams of a life outside of Nova and wants to see the world.
Her dream is about to come true, as she heards her mother Queen Milai and general of the city guard, Red, talking about the sealed and very dangerous Aura.
Not long after that, she meets Vaan and her greatest adventure begins...

Ayu has some secrets that will be revealed, and she has way more than just some sword skills!
But again, we won't tell everything at this point.

Abilities
Ayu learns her skills called "ancient art" (name might change) though notes.
These notes can be gatherd by solving side quests, or along the main story, and every note will teach her a skill. As mentioned above, there is also a second kind of skill that she is able to learn...

This & That
She is the second "main character" along with Vaan.
At the beginning she might seem a little bit shy, but she's also curious and she sure knows that she's intelligent (compared to Vaan, that is). As both of them will insist on being right, there might be some "territorial fights"...
Ayu's fighting style is typical for a sword warrior, she has a good strength, lots of defence, but isn't very fast. Like Vaan, she is not able to use Aura, but might use a different kind of magic!
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1208102797_Ayu.png[/img]
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1215381465_Lidia_face_Final_markant2.png[/img]
Lidia
Age: ??? (lost her memory)
Size: 90-60-90
Sex: female (you bet she is)
Born in: ???
Hobbies: Hanging around in dungeons and "Wusah!!"
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12087022 ... Mage08.png[/img]

Story
Lidia meets Vaan in Nova's dungeon. Why she has been put there is not known, since she lost her memory. But as she gets to know that Vaan and Ayu want to go on a journey, she decides to follow them and get back her memories.
Lidia is a nice but also a bit gimpy. She always is a helping hand, though her actions do not always lead to great success...
But that doesn't make her less charmant, and she always follows the group through good and bad with her great way of justice.

Abilities
Lidia is focused on skills that support the group with positive effects, or remove negative effects. In summary, she is the group's healing magician.
She learns her skills at so called "Memory Spots", spots that bring back pieces of Lidia's lost memories. These spots can be found on main or side quests. In addition, she's also able to use Aura.

This & That
Lidia is a side actor at the beginning of the game. She joins the party very early, but her background is revealed pretty late in the game. She's always commenting on everything with "Wuha!" or "Wusha!". What this means is unknown. She might be just confused...
She is a typical magician. She does
not have much strength or defence, but her magical power is enormous. With her supporting and healing skills she is the perfect healer, as long as the AP suffice.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1208705128_Lidiposen.PNG[/img]
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1214642171_Shaw_Face_Final2.png[/img]
Shaw
Age: Unknown (looks like 30)
size: 1.80m
sex: Male
Born in: Unknown
Hobbies: Travelling around and collecting Aura crystals
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1214941246_Shaw_Fc2.png[/img]

Story
Vaan's group meets Shaw in the small mountain village Nyu, where he helps the three hero to stop a unfair ambush of the royal guard of Nova. He calls himself an Aura crystal hunter, meaning that he searches for them to seal them again at another place. This way he hopes that noone will ever find them again. He joins the group as Red and his army are trying to steal the sealed Aura from a mine in Nyu.

Abilities
Shaw usually fights with two guns, and learns his special skills through so called "holy objects". He has to take these objects to a correspondending shrine to gain new skills, and every object is bound to one shrine.
While he is an offensive character, he also has some supporting skills, although he does not reach Lidia's supporting power. Additionally, he's able to use Aura.

This & That
As he joins the party early in the game, he can be integrated very well and supports the party with his multifunctional stats. Like everyone else, he has a special role that will be revealed at a later point.
He is the only smoker in the game (wonder where he gets the cigarettes from...) and always tries to impress with his coolness.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12094967 ... aw_Pic.png[/img]
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1209921957_Duke_Face.PNG[/img]
Duke
Age: 30+
Size: 1,77m
Sex: Male
Born in: Unknown
Hobbies: Books
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1209922167_Dukie.png[/img]

Story
Duke is an old fried of Shaw and intrested in Auro crystals, too. Because of Shaw, Duke gets to know about Vaan and decided to travel with the group and learn more about the Aura.
Duke knows a lot about the things that make the world go round... He's pretty intelligent und doesn't talk much. He often gets provoked by Vaan and is overall bad tempered.
There's not much known about Duke and he usually doesn't talk about himself. Apparently, only Shaw knows him a bit better. But Duke is a reliable friend and always reaches his goals.

Abilities
Just like Vaan and Ayu, Duke is not able to use Aura. Not that he "couldn't", he rather doesn't want to and most likely doesn't need to. Duke is the only person that uses "ancient magic", a form of casting magic without using Aura at all. But as he knows quite few skills, the need to learn more rises pretty early. He learns this new skills by reading "books of ancient magic".

This & That
To quote Vaan, Duke wears "a dress"...
He is a very skilled magician and you shouldn't let him sit on the reserve bank. His magic is more powerful than the other members' Aura skills, and some argue that his magical power is even greater than Vaans mouth. His downsides are his speed as well as his defence, so you better keep some supporting spells on him!
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/12099244 ... _Posen.PNG[/img]
Sorry, but the battlers, characters & faces arent final yet. But they're almost done! :)
During the course of the game there of course still further, playable characters.
Some are joining the group "forever" and some are only briefly playable.
In the final game you can take control of about 15 characters.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222827172_ka.png[/img]

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1223583712_4.png[/img]
"Imagination is more important
than knowledge"

Queen Milai
Queen of the city Nova.
She tries to take control of the sealed Aura.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222827472_mi.png[/img]
Mr. Snaider
The tailor of King's house of Nova.
Ayu usually talks to him when she's got problems.
Mr. Snaider is important, as he always has some good advice for the group.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222827571_schn.png[/img]
Red
Red is the general of Nova.
Milai gave him the quest to find the Aura crystals.
In the game, you'll have to fight him way more often than you'd like to.
He also gets more important as the story progresses.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222827698_re.png[/img]
Kafka & Bacon
Red's henchmen.
They follow his order without asking (and usually without success).
Because of a incident, they vanish without any trace.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222827884_kaba.png[/img]
Fayt
Fayt is a young man, who came to Nova to make his dream come true.
He meets Vaan on the ship to Nova and borrows money from him to open his beet stand.
Later in the game, you'll be able to buy these beets from him.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222828071_fa.png[/img]
Savers
Savers is an old man, whose goal it is to write a fascinating story.
As he meets Vaan, he decides to travel with him and write down his story.
Savers is the game's saving point, though you'll be able to save at some other points with some items.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222828195_sav.png[/img]
Seneca
Seneca is a mysterious person, hired by Queen Milai to get rid of Vaan and Ayu. But apparently, he also has some goals of his own....
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222828334_sen.png[/img]
Mr. Gropper
Mr. Gropper is a merchant with his own transportation agency.
He helps the group with some problems and sells specials items to them.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222828501_grop.png[/img]
Jowy
Jowy is a old fried of Vaan who wants to open is own fighting school. He just doesn't know, where...
So he and Vaan meet in Nova, where Jowy teaches Vaan some fighting moves.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222828573_jo.png[/img]
Salvatore
A cool guy, but not much is known about him...
He is on the search for somebody, though it is not known for whom.
Still he seems to take this very seriously.
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222828677_sal.png[/img]
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222829452_iwas.png[/img]
Of course there are more characters in the game, but as they're not relevant yet, you don't have to know them. Some of them - though not playable - also are very important to the game.

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1223584957_5.png[/img]
"Power is not revealed by striking hard or often,
but by striking true"

All in all, Aurora Hearts is pretty "old school", you wander through towns and solve some quests. The battle system is modificated, so it's not turn based and rather runs in real time, like the older Final Fantasy games. (so hurry with giving your battlers commands, or your enemy gets to attack twice)
In terms of graphic style, the RTP will be used, but again, some additional effects will be included.

In Aurora Hearts, we value humour very high, but emotions aren't neglected either, so Life is brought to the characters' faces by many edits.
Battles must be solved strategically, especially later in the game where you can't just trash every enemy with the same attacks over and over again.

Features include, but are not limited to:

-ATB front view battle system (KGC)
-trainable magical attacks
-OoF attacks (that are bound to weapons) aka Soul rage system by Blizzard
-customized Mog menu
-very "special" characters
-"run" function
-forging/crafting by Prexus
-"rave menu" (a second currency, exchangable for items)
-lots of mini games
-400+ items
-a broad variety of smaller missions and side quests
-custom monsters and battlers
-Bestiary by Blizzard
-world map system
-BoF-like mastery system
-Mr. Cross!!!
-other small but cool things
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222864041_crappy.png[/img]

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1222863766_screens.png[/img]
"It isn't over till it's over"

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1223586712_6.png[/img]
"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is
that it is at all comprehensible."

The demo contains about 1 or two hours of gameplay (first city and dungeon)

We're working on an english version of Aurora Hearts. It'll take some time though,
but we are working to develop a good translation. :)
If you like the game, you can still take a look at the demo (even if it's german)
And, of course, we would like to hear your opinions and criticism. xD"

Your
ZeroAlmah & IronDuke

Spelling errors included =)
 
RojoBo":394x7lxn said:
Fix your image links. Whenever I click on one, its leads me to a "cannot find" page.
Actually, the links are there, it's just that they have a problem sometimes where there is an extra http// and ' ' around the URLs. Remember that all you need to do is put the image URL and put http://URL here[/ img] (excluding the spaces) around it.

This actually looks really good! :D The custom (are they made by you?) face sets looks really good, although Shaw's battler looks out of place. (personally I think it's the best outta the bunch though) Character set animations are good as well, but it's a bit disappointing that you're using RTP. And this:
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579371_Vaan4.png[/img]
could be done better. It doesn't look like he's holding Ayu, and that she's just floating in front of him. I suggest at least having his hands more visible.

I may comment later on this, but keep it up. Oh, and you have WAY too many screenshots. You should really have no more than ten screenshots, so try leaving the most important or impressive ones there.  :thumb:
 
RojoBo":2jvegmcf said:
Fix your image links. Whenever I click on one, its leads me to a "cannot find" page.
It's done ;) crappy errors D:

This actually looks really good! :D The custom (are they made by you?) face sets looks really good, although Shaw's battler looks out of place. (personally I think it's the best outta the bunch though) Character set animations are good as well, but it's a bit disappointing that you're using RTP. And this:
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1207579371_Vaan4.png[/img]
The character edits are still templates^^ We're trying to let them look way better, but thanks for the mentioning.^^ And we're using RTP cause this is our first game^^ we want to finish it next year and this would not be possible by creating own graphics or maybe music's^^ So, i think you have to live with that xD" (Oh, and we are noobs in making graphics xD") Shaw's battler was colorated by an other guy, than the one who made the others^^" Like I said - the battlers, faces and chars arent final at last x.x
But were trying to fix it asap :)

I may comment later on this, but keep it up. Oh, and you have WAY too many screenshots. You should really have no more than ten screenshots, so try leaving the most important or impressive ones there.http://www.rmxp.org/forums/Smileys/default/thumb.png[/img]
Are you sure? o.o" But we love screenshots q_q maybe we can show a lot, cause the playtime is already about 15+ hours oô Could be a whole game xD"

An we're looking forward for your further comments^^

Spelling errors reserved 8~D
 
Well, I guess it isn't that there are too many, it's just that it might annoy people to look at all of them. It might discourage them from checking them out. And fifteen hours is impressive! :D
 
Dadevster":1pkikzs6 said:
Well, I guess it isn't that there are too many, it's just that it might annoy people to look at all of them. It might discourage them from checking them out. And fifteen hours is impressive! :D

Maybe you are right =| I'll take some out^^"
Yeah, 15 hours--- X_x Took over one year at last xD"
 
The game looks interesting, the only thing thats keeping me from downloading this, is the abuse of fogs... its ruining most of the maps

Not even the rtp is bothering me... only the fogs
 
Avadan":b30i5hlb said:
The game looks interesting, the only thing thats keeping me from downloading this, is the abuse of fogs... its ruining most of the maps

Not even the rtp is bothering me... only the fogs

So you mean, that we use too much fogs or that the fogs just look crappy? xD
But as you mention it... At the beginning of the game there are so many fogs that doesnt really fit oO"
But no one forces you to download it! xD" (Of course we were glad if you did ;D)
And thanks for your comment :-}

You can collect my spelling errors =D
 
This game is seven shades of bitchin'

However most of the shades are fogs, so its only one shade of bitchin'.
I'll give this a go tommorrow.
 
Avadan":2b9l79ig said:
The game looks interesting, the only thing thats keeping me from downloading this, is the abuse of fogs... its ruining most of the maps

Not even the rtp is bothering me... only the fogs

I have to agree. You used fog in every map of your screenshots (dont assume they just automatically beautify a map)Also try to make your sunlight a bit more transparent and a tad darker, its too bright.
 
Rubicant":ejh5n7p2 said:
Borrow a few more names from mainstream RPG characters. *sigh*
X_x
It is only Vaans name which is borrowed! xD" and that was not even intentional >_<"
(But Fayt and Jowy are! xD)

Blaredose":ejh5n7p2 said:
This game is seven shades of bitchin'
However most of the shades are fogs, so its only one shade of bitchin'.
I'll give this a go tommorrow.

We're just trying to create a lot of atmosphere, thats why most of the maps have fogs =|
Well - in motion everything looks way better (or should I say 'different'? xD)
RojoBo":ejh5n7p2 said:
Avadan":ejh5n7p2 said:
The game looks interesting, the only thing thats keeping me from downloading this, is the abuse of fogs... its ruining most of the maps

Not even the rtp is bothering me... only the fogs

I have to agree. You used fog in every map of your screenshots (dont assume they just automatically beautify a map)Also try to make your sunlight a bit more transparent and a tad darker, its too bright.
It depends on the maps like a fog is set. some fogs like similiar, cause there in the same area.
But we give us trouble, to let all the places look different^^"
Well, I think it's it's just a question of taste^^"

Spelling errors now 20% off
 
Those Battlers are hurting my eye  :crazy:
First and second look good, looks selfmade, the third is rtp, and the fourth is some overshaded and different crap  :dead:
Plz only 1 style of battlers.
I recommend the selfmades.
Oh, and the girl's skirt is awfully... tiny. (Horny, huh?)
I suggest to make your own battlebackgrounds too, they would match well for the rest. You could use more shading in the monsters.

Other:
The characters are good, but the personalities are not original at all.
I like when somebody is using much selfmade sprites (Even if your characters are basic rtp, duh :mad:)
The story has potential, but could use more detail (Both in storyline and character bios) Ask lot more ,,why?".

I hope the critiques helped, have a nice day. :blush:
 
Crystalgate":1xdanqkl said:
Looks good. The story certainly have potential. I think information about Jesse and especially Miranda is lacking however.
Yeah, thats true... Miranda and Jesse arent very important at the beginning but they'll get a bigger role in the game later. Maybe we'll show a bit more of them.^^

Dewoor":1xdanqkl said:
Those Battlers are hurting my eye  :crazy:
First and second look good, looks selfmade, the third is rtp, and the fourth is some overshaded and different crap  :dead:
Plz only 1 style of battlers.
I recommend the selfmades.
Oh, and the girl's skirt is awfully... tiny. (Horny, huh?)
I suggest to make your own battlebackgrounds too, they would match well for the rest. You could use more shading in the monsters.
Theyre all made by me xD" But the one who colorates them is missing so we had to ask someone else to do it. But we promise, that the battlers will be in the same style when the second demo will be released.^^ (reliable artists are hard to find X_x)

Dewoor":1xdanqkl said:
Oh, and the girl's skirt is awfully... tiny. (Horny, huh?)
Prudish? ;D xD

Dewoor":1xdanqkl said:
Other:
The characters are good, but the personalities are not original at all.
I like when somebody is using much selfmade sprites (Even if your characters are basic rtp, duh )
The story has potential, but could use more detail (Both in storyline and character bios) Ask lot more ,,why?".

I hope the critiques helped, have a nice day.
 
Yeah, but we are noobs when it comes to graphics... And this is our first game so we dont wanted to set the flag high w/o any option for reaching it--- (german ftl D:) But we have a lot of char edits o.ô"

Well the story turns 180° at "chapter 2" and 180° again at "chapter 3"---
So we dicided to keep it simple for now. But okay, I could try to revise it^^

Oh, and critiques are always helpful^^

Found a spelling error?
Keep it =)
 
Until you’ve got some screenshots in English I won’t even bother reading much of this. Like others said, there is way too much fog and contrary to what you may believe it does NOT always look good. Your mix of RTP battlers and custom battlers looks awkward and Ash’s portrait is totally different than the other 3 in the menu.

But most importantly, the main reason I probably won’t play the game is because of those retarded looking emo kids in your sig.
 

Ryouko

Member

Aww...
Errr....
Okay....ôo"
Soo...
Dukkie-nii-chan, my english isn't he best, you know, so...
If you don't understand me, just ask me and I'll tell it in German, okay?xD"

I love AH.
And for me it isn't important if... Lidia's skirt is to short (Lidia have pretty legs, why don't to show them?), or... the spirits are... RTP or... something else.xD

I know, that you can't tell us the whole story, so...
I'm waiting for a demo I can play!xD
(I hate my computer...)

Ah... I've to learn english...y-y"

Ryouko

PS. I love fogs, I love your LEs, I love your maps! oÓ"
 
Okay... I'll say it the last time: The Characters, their faces and battlers arent final yet! xD

@fogs
Like i wrote before: in motion everything looks different!
i made an example with and without shade/fog:

http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1223669273_with.PNG[/img]
http://imagesload.net/daten_no/1223669319_without.PNG[/img]
well, maybe its just a difference between countries--- some like more fogs and some dislike 'em? xD"

Magicant":xn143fmg said:
But most importantly, the main reason I probably won’t play the game is because of those retarded looking emo kids in your sig.
They're called Mayday parade xD"
I had no idea what I should put in my signature xD" But I like their music D:
 

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