Caesar's Folly
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... Screen.jpg[/IMG]
Hi all! I've decided to repost my game here since the new demo is close to being finished. I've made a lot of reworking on it which I think made it tremendously better.
I'm still trying to find site to upload demo, hopefully I'll be able to post it really really soon.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... Screen.jpg[/IMG]
Hi all! I've decided to repost my game here since the new demo is close to being finished. I've made a lot of reworking on it which I think made it tremendously better.
Background
Majority of the people living in Ignatia worship the Arbons. These are the five gods who built Ignatia's five realms. The realms were named after each god: Warsaw, Hel, Bethel, Granada and Brandiwine. For years since the founding to the five realms, the gods have kept a close presence among the people, each god taking control over his/her realm.
But a few hundred years before the events that takes place in the game, like the gods of other countries, the Arbons have also started leaving Ignatia one by one. Today, only Bethel visit her realm, and only on very rare occassions. They have now assigned a Sovereign to rule the five realms in their stead, one chosen by the people themselves. After the gods' exodus, this has been the system adopted by Ignatians: whenever the current Sovereign pass away, five new Lords from each realm should rise up and from these five Lords, the people will choose their new Sovereign.
With their faith still as powerful as ever, the Ignatians refused to ask that single nagging question. What have the gods been doing all this time?
Caesar's Folly Episode 1
Caesar's Folly will be divided into episodes. The first episode starts with the death of the current Sovereign. This episode will focus on two characters, David and Noah, as they visit towns and villages to campaign for Warsaw's Lord Caesar.
Majority of the people living in Ignatia worship the Arbons. These are the five gods who built Ignatia's five realms. The realms were named after each god: Warsaw, Hel, Bethel, Granada and Brandiwine. For years since the founding to the five realms, the gods have kept a close presence among the people, each god taking control over his/her realm.
But a few hundred years before the events that takes place in the game, like the gods of other countries, the Arbons have also started leaving Ignatia one by one. Today, only Bethel visit her realm, and only on very rare occassions. They have now assigned a Sovereign to rule the five realms in their stead, one chosen by the people themselves. After the gods' exodus, this has been the system adopted by Ignatians: whenever the current Sovereign pass away, five new Lords from each realm should rise up and from these five Lords, the people will choose their new Sovereign.
With their faith still as powerful as ever, the Ignatians refused to ask that single nagging question. What have the gods been doing all this time?
Caesar's Folly Episode 1
Caesar's Folly will be divided into episodes. The first episode starts with the death of the current Sovereign. This episode will focus on two characters, David and Noah, as they visit towns and villages to campaign for Warsaw's Lord Caesar.
David has lived in Rosario all his life. For most of his conscious life, his mother raised him all by herself. His father died when he was four. The village of Rosario has peculiar rules which shuns outsiders. As such, David has yearned to explore the outside world and find out what he's been missing. He has a problem of finding out what his life goals really are and usually just lives each day doing what other people tells him to do or what he perceives normal people do all the time.
Noah is a silent and calculating person. He also used to live in Rosario but for some reason, the entire village has a deep-rooted enmity towards him. His only friend was David. He left the village and lived in Centrada (capital city of Warsaw) two years prior to the start of Episode 1 and has returned to invite David to come with him as well. There is one lesson the elders kept on telling the people of Rosario regarding Noah: he is not to be trusted.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/iceshiva/Concept%20Arts/Noah.png[/IMG]
Gameplay has been completely reworked.
Character Individuality
Every character has four skill trees unique to them. You get to unlock active, passive and special skills by assigning points to the skill trees. The game only has six main characters and I've set their skills up so that they are completely different from each other. Not only that but since the characters have four skill trees and you can't really learn all of them in one play-through, choosing one skill tree and following it to the top is the way to go. This can mean that one character has four different styles of play as well, depending on the skill tree you pick first.
Let's have a look at David's skill tree:
Nimbleness
This skill tree includes active skills like double slash and triple slash and passive skills related to ATB Bar (full ATB bar at start of battle, ATB Rush, Haste skill). Already implemented in game.
Support
This skill tree includes active skills that buffs the entire party as well as a passive skill that allows David to defend other party members. I've also added here special skills to improve David's CHARGE skill. Already implemented in game.
Prowess
This includes active skills like Hurricane Slash and passive skills that increase physical damage and chance to counterattack. Already implemented in game.
Beastmaster
This is a miscellaneous skill tree that allows David to train pets which can provide help during battle. Not yet implemented.
One other thing about character individuality is that characters gain Status Points when they level up which they can then use to improve their statistics. Each character have different stat points requirement for each of the statistic. For example, David needs only 1 stat point for STR and AGI, 2 for VIT and INT, 3 for DEX. Noah needs 1 for VIT and INT, 2 for STR and DEX, 3 for AGI.
Your Enemies
Enemies have now been buffed. They also have passive skills like increased evasion, HP regeneration, normal attacks that deal status effects etc. I'm also working on increasing AI for the monsters so that they'll prove to be more of a challenge.
I use a heavily customized ATB Battle System with features like counterattack (which I've implemented so that a counterattack can also be countered and so on and so forth), ATB Shock (normal attacks reduce your ATB Gauge) and Hate (partially implemented) and Fear system (partially implemented).
Battle Design Issues
For this game, I've made it a bit difficult to get gold and buy consumable items like potions. This is to increase difficulty and promote strategizing. Spending a lot on potions will seriously drain your money to the point that you cannot buy equipment anymore. Monsters will also drop very little money and just give out some loot here and there, which brings me to my next feature.
Monsters are also visible on map and most are easily avoidable. It's also fairly quick (but not easy) to level up early on because while most monsters are difficult to a degree, they also give out a lot of experience.
I've completely created a new system for merchants. Each merchant have different pricing system whcih might mean that Item A is expensive from Merchant A but cheap from Merchant B, but at the same time Item B is cheap from Merchant A but expensive from Merchant B.
There is also a Lore system which basically means that if you have enough Lore (determined by party INT and LVL), the actual price will be displayed and you can compare it with how much the merchant is selling it.
Also, merchants are picky on what they buy, meaning that you'll have to scour the Merchant District to find who will want your loot.
I realize this can be a bit of a chore but again the aim is to promote careful use of money. Still, this is subject to change depending on how well the system is received.
Character Individuality
Every character has four skill trees unique to them. You get to unlock active, passive and special skills by assigning points to the skill trees. The game only has six main characters and I've set their skills up so that they are completely different from each other. Not only that but since the characters have four skill trees and you can't really learn all of them in one play-through, choosing one skill tree and following it to the top is the way to go. This can mean that one character has four different styles of play as well, depending on the skill tree you pick first.
Let's have a look at David's skill tree:
Nimbleness
This skill tree includes active skills like double slash and triple slash and passive skills related to ATB Bar (full ATB bar at start of battle, ATB Rush, Haste skill). Already implemented in game.
Support
This skill tree includes active skills that buffs the entire party as well as a passive skill that allows David to defend other party members. I've also added here special skills to improve David's CHARGE skill. Already implemented in game.
Prowess
This includes active skills like Hurricane Slash and passive skills that increase physical damage and chance to counterattack. Already implemented in game.
Beastmaster
This is a miscellaneous skill tree that allows David to train pets which can provide help during battle. Not yet implemented.
This is still unfinished:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... atTree.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... atTree.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/iceshiva/MainMenu2.jpg[/IMG]
Your Enemies
Enemies have now been buffed. They also have passive skills like increased evasion, HP regeneration, normal attacks that deal status effects etc. I'm also working on increasing AI for the monsters so that they'll prove to be more of a challenge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/iceshiva/Map%20Screenshots/BattleMenu.jpg[/IMG]
Battle Design Issues
For this game, I've made it a bit difficult to get gold and buy consumable items like potions. This is to increase difficulty and promote strategizing. Spending a lot on potions will seriously drain your money to the point that you cannot buy equipment anymore. Monsters will also drop very little money and just give out some loot here and there, which brings me to my next feature.
Monsters are also visible on map and most are easily avoidable. It's also fairly quick (but not easy) to level up early on because while most monsters are difficult to a degree, they also give out a lot of experience.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/iceshiva/Map%20Screenshots/ShopMenu.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... Menu02.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... Menu02.jpg[/IMG]
There is also a Lore system which basically means that if you have enough Lore (determined by party INT and LVL), the actual price will be displayed and you can compare it with how much the merchant is selling it.
Also, merchants are picky on what they buy, meaning that you'll have to scour the Merchant District to find who will want your loot.
I realize this can be a bit of a chore but again the aim is to promote careful use of money. Still, this is subject to change depending on how well the system is received.
In an effort to make the battle system more challenging and less of a button-mashing mini-game, I've implemented a Hate System for the enemies. This is inspired by the 'Threat' system in World of Warcraft.
Simply put, individual monsters have different 'hates'. These are just some of the hate factors I've added (these are all in the demo):
1. healers - everytime a character casts a healing spell, the monster's hate increases
2. low hp - the lower the character's hp, the higher the monster's hate
3. low agi - the lower the character's agi, the higher the monster's hate
4. status effect - if a character inflicts a status effect on the monster, its hate increases
5. low level - the lower the character's level, the higher the monster's hate
Most monster types will have 1 hate factor. There will be a few that has 2 or more hate factors. Smarter monster types will have 2 random hate factors, meaning that two monsters of the same type will not have the same hate factors.
BTW, monster's passive skills are also similar. For example, a monster type may have passive regeneration but the actual regeneration amount per turn varies from monster to monster. I just made it more realistic. two creatures from the same species will not be exactly alike, and that also applies to the monsters in the game.
Simply put, individual monsters have different 'hates'. These are just some of the hate factors I've added (these are all in the demo):
1. healers - everytime a character casts a healing spell, the monster's hate increases
2. low hp - the lower the character's hp, the higher the monster's hate
3. low agi - the lower the character's agi, the higher the monster's hate
4. status effect - if a character inflicts a status effect on the monster, its hate increases
5. low level - the lower the character's level, the higher the monster's hate
Most monster types will have 1 hate factor. There will be a few that has 2 or more hate factors. Smarter monster types will have 2 random hate factors, meaning that two monsters of the same type will not have the same hate factors.
BTW, monster's passive skills are also similar. For example, a monster type may have passive regeneration but the actual regeneration amount per turn varies from monster to monster. I just made it more realistic. two creatures from the same species will not be exactly alike, and that also applies to the monsters in the game.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/iceshiva/Map%20Screenshots/saksudon.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... /avila.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... forest.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... nigame.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... /avila.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... forest.jpg[/IMG]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/ ... nigame.jpg[/IMG]
Artwork
Annika Von Holdt - the amazing brushes I used for the Title Screen, the moth cursor and the Game Over
Angel - concept art for David and Noah
ccoa - cloud fog
Animations
Mea - some skill animations
Sprites
I don't think I'll be able to list all here, please PM me if I missed you.
ccoa
mack
satana
Sakura
etolier
Arcanum
Euphony
Sithjester
neortp
MimeSong
iceax
symbiot
InsomniacMG
KaeruSan
poyzinblud
Faraway
TehSpritah
naramura
happip
CloudRavenix
Nix
Scripts
phylomortis.com - which explained how the base scripts work
cybersam - script to enable mouse (used in Merchant Menu)
Near_Fantastica - view range, Path Finding (used in collision encounter monsters)
Astro_mech - Word Wrap (used in Merchant Menu)
Annika Von Holdt - the amazing brushes I used for the Title Screen, the moth cursor and the Game Over
Angel - concept art for David and Noah
ccoa - cloud fog
Animations
Mea - some skill animations
Sprites
I don't think I'll be able to list all here, please PM me if I missed you.
ccoa
mack
satana
Sakura
etolier
Arcanum
Euphony
Sithjester
neortp
MimeSong
iceax
symbiot
InsomniacMG
KaeruSan
poyzinblud
Faraway
TehSpritah
naramura
happip
CloudRavenix
Nix
Scripts
phylomortis.com - which explained how the base scripts work
cybersam - script to enable mouse (used in Merchant Menu)
Near_Fantastica - view range, Path Finding (used in collision encounter monsters)
Astro_mech - Word Wrap (used in Merchant Menu)
I'm still trying to find site to upload demo, hopefully I'll be able to post it really really soon.
