Chain

[Kaleidx]

Genre: Mystery/Horror

Greetings!
I'm sure none of you may know me just yet. I usually lurk around this site and ask for help every now and then. But I've always liked this community and respect the talent on this site. So I thought I'd try and get some feedback and criticism on what I've created in my head.
I've actually had almost 2 years experience playing around with this engine, but this is my first RPGXP project I might get serious about. It's not going to be some huge, innovative, polished new game .. but I feel it's a great place to start since I've really fallen in love with this idea and characters. Why don't I introduce you to them?
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Characters & Story/Plot

Spoiler

Amelia Ruiko

If you were to ask what few friends Amy had throughout her lifetime one word to describe her, you'd get the common responses "serious" or "somber" maybe even "gloomy."
Amy grew up with very strict parents and was given much more responsibilities than the average girl her age. So she always focused on there here & now or what needed to be done. As a result, she had very little imagination and firmly believed only in the logical.
As you can imagine, Amy took a big interest in the field of science and excelled in her studies. This, however; made her somewhat socially secluded.

Rory Shirou

Rory was actually raised the exact opposite of Amy. He was raised with a very free-spirited mother that loved the arts. Naturally, he was encouraged to open his mind and let it wander. He was very open and cheerful always looking towards the positive side of things.
Following the interest of his mother, he became very adept in art and for as young as he can remember, he loved creating art.
Unfortunately, this all began to change shortly after his 11th birthday.
His mother, once full of love and spirit, had become fatally ill. He saw such a drastic change in her to the point where she hated life and questioned her purpose.
Rory, with his always positive attitude, tried his best to cope. Trying to find a way to comfort his mother, Rory turned to religion and the supernatural. He had become really interested in the unexplainable and the afterlife. After his mother died a year later, he became almost obsessed with the subject. He became much more distant to his friends and secluded himself from most other serious relationships.


Since then...
Amy and Rory met in their last year of high school and quickly fell for one another(I'll spare the sappy love story). After high school, they both ended up attending the same college and Rory suggested they move into an older home that used to belong to their family located near the school. Happier than ever, Amy is enjoying her relatively simple life along with her boyfriend Rory. But as both have learned in the past, sometimes isolating yourself from others is a way of protecting yourself.


Plot
The game takes place between the dates 2/13/2011 and 2/20/2011. At the end of this 7-day period, Amy's boyfriend Rory dies. Devastated, she attempts to take her own life. She wakes up the next morning comfortably in her own bed. Frantically she heads to Rory's room and to her astonishment, he's alive and well and greets her like nothing had ever happened.
She comes to the conclusion that it was an elaborate dream and simply continues her day. But as the hours drag by, she begins to realize events that are strikingly similar to that of her dream.
Is Amy fated to relive the same day of her boyfriend's death again?
Or is she destined to prevent this terrible occurrence?
Whether it was a premonition or a nightmare, Amy throws out what she has believed all of her life to save what she cares most about in this world.

Locations
There are only a few locations which may be revisited on separate occasions in this urban area.

• 
  •Home: The home of Amy and Rory. It's a 2-story(barring basement) mostly wooden surface home several years old. It's belonged to Rory's family ever since he can remember and is still in relatively good shape considering its age.
  •Neighborhood: This small neighborhood has grown considerably since the opening of the school nearby. A relatively nice place to live with a friendly and quiet community.
  •School: A prestigious school which has gained praise from a national level. Students from across the world come to attend this school with its high educational standards.

Features

• 
  [*]XAS CBS
  [*]Edited MOG Menu Pack
  [*]Advaned Time & Weather System
  [*]Intricate Puzzles
  [*]Custom Music Tracks

Screenshots

Spoiler

Part of the first scene in my game

Amy's room

Courtyard/Entrance to school w/ HUD

Edited item menu

Demo
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=57CM0NXR

Please note: I'm having script compatibility problems with my Diary script so pressing on the DIARY option in the menu will cause a crash. Please avoid this for now.
I don't have too much at the moment, but you're free to roam around my maps and give me some comments on the quality or ways I can improve.



Inspiration
I'm a big fan of survival horror type games and I'm sure you'll realize that I took most of my inspiration from PS2 titles such as Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and Resident Evil. To anyone who has played one of the games you'll also notice a ripped sound or two.
I've always wanted to create a captivating story and at the same time send a cheap scare your way. I'd love for the player to go "woah" at some point during my game.


Help/Etc.
So I'm handling this project alone and for the most part, it isn't a problem. The main issue is scripting.
I currently have a problem with my time system that is stopping me from continuing my eventing. If you're a scripter willing to help, please see this topic:
viewtopic.php?f=155&t=69004
Also, like I stated before, I'm having a compatability issue between the XAS Battle System and MOMO's Diary Script. If you'd like to help me with this problem, you can PM me for the details.
I greatly appreciate any help.
I look forward to any comments you can provide me with on whatever subject!

 

[Kaleidx]

I don't see any rules about bumping my own topic but I apologize if I missed something.
It's been a couple of days now and still hoping for any feedback on my story, mapping, etc.

 

[Sabao]

Downloading the demo right now. An impressive premise so far, reminiscent of the movie 'Premonition' (I forgot who played the lead). I like the atmosphere so far. The menu... Not so much. The memories of trees-styled menu's not really my cup of tea.

 

[So fist]

I would like to download this but sharebee is ridiculously invasive with its adverts, can you put it somewhere else.

 

[Daxis]

Was going to... then forgot. Sorry.

Mapping is moderate. Really, really moderate. Although I have to commend you on using different styled tiles and whatever, it could easily be betterred. There are some odd bits in the mapping here and there, though; there's this house with this shadow that's just straight across and stuff. The directional move of the XAS does not help; it's not really the best directional move script out there.

I really, really think that you should fix up the diary part, otherwise we can't save, right?(unless I missed something, which I undoubtedly did)

I didn't try out the demo far. When the game starts, you're just this girl in a place with no idea to go. Nothing, nada, no direction to follow, or at least one shown to the player. I traveled all the way up, over, and a whole BUNCH of places, trying out the houses as well, before I quit. You should really work on that; at least give the player hints of where to go AT THE VERY LEAST.

Good luck doing the proj.

 

[coyotecraft]

I thought the mapping was ok. The houses were a little plain.
I agree with Sabao, the plot does sound a lot like Premonition. But that might make for interesting gameplay. If you are reliving days you could stop certain events from happening. As the title implies, you have to find the correct chain of events to save the boyfriend.
How do you plan to progress the story? In the demo you started on day 1. I'm guessing at the end of each day she has the same dream. Only aspects of it change depending on what you managed to do that day. As a survival horror game I expected running from hell-ish creatures and finding items to get from point A to point B. I'd like to see player choices that effect the story.

Since you are limited to locations over a 7 day period I'd suggest having different weather for certain days. For example it rained on day 3 so it's foggy on day 4. This is just to give revisited areas something visually fresh.

 

[Nolund]

Downloading the demo right now. An impressive premise so far, reminiscent of the movie 'Premonition' (I forgot who played the lead). I like the atmosphere so far. The menu... Not so much. The memories of trees-styled menu's not really my cup of tea.

It was Sandra Bullock.

Anyway, I read over this, and I'm impressed. I too am a fan of a cheap scare and it looks like it could definitely deliver on that.

I will definitely keep my eyes on this project and probably download the demo later today.

Good luck with this!

 

[moxie]

You've got a very neat concept and I'd love to try it out, but I've gotta agree with the "sharebee sucks" thing. Sorry to be so demanding, but do you have anywhere else you could upload?

 

[Sabao]

Erk. Downloaded the file and it turned into something my PC doesn't even recognize. Chalk me up as one of the 'Sharebee Sucks' mob.

Personally I'm not counting on real scares here. That's just me though, I personally believe the RM platform just isn't able to produce an environment that would give me the willies like Silent Hill or Fatal Frame might (and trust me, I'm a wuss when it comes to the survival horror genre). But because I believe that, I can't really take it away from the concept overall. The idea of fighting what seems like an already predetermined outcome and hordes of otherworldly beings is already scary in itself. While it may not have the shock value, I think a well written story will still impress nonetheless.

 

[Kaleidx]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback!
I really wasn't sure what site would be the best choice for an upload so I just looked up 'mass site uploader' and sharebee came up. Are there any recommendations on what site would be good to upload it to?
Anyways.

@Daxisheart
Moderate? As in average? I understand that the hallway is pretty empty, but I honestly have no idea how to fill it up any more. As you can see, I tried reducing as much space as I could in the rooms. They're small and full of items, but still easy to navigate. I'm icky about my outdoor maps, though.
Is there any specific things you can point out besides my overall skill?
Save anywhere via menu was replaced by in-map saves.
Finally, the demo was more to showcase my atmosphere, mapping, and eventing skills. I honestly didn't include any more story then what you experience within the home.

@coyotecraft
I wasn't aware of how popular that movie was, but obviously my idea has been done before. :p But I'm glad you caught on to the title wordplay! :p I also meant for it to imply that she's also 'chained' down to this week as well as a synonym for 'cycle'.
As for how I plan to progress my story ...

Spoiler

The dream, like most dreams, is a metaphor. The strange like creatures are her own personal demons that haunt her day in and day out. But as you guessed, every time you trigger an important event, the dream will change giving you hints and clues about the next event. (ex. the first clue was obviously in the basement)
Unfortunately, if you don't trigger a specific event on the time it appears, you will have to wait until the next cycle to try again(Of course you will have an option to skip time via sleep) and be forced to relive Rory's death once again.

Since this is set in an urban environment, the only creatures that will appear will be in her dream. Talking, puzzles, making choices, will be the main drive to progress the game.
But yeah, I did plan on using weather on a certain day since I need to think of anything to stop the locations from becoming bland and boring if the player is having trouble progressing the story.

@Nolund
Yeah, that's her!
Haha, but I'm glad you like the premise. I know RMXP games have a lot of trouble setting the atmosphere for these types of games but I think I can work a little something out.

@my.opium.eyes
Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't realize Sharebee had such a bad reputation. I'll look at some other threads and see what would be a good site to upload to or if you guys have any suggestions, that's cool too.

@Sabao
Scares that make you scream like a little girl? Haha, maybe not.
But I hope I can make a player somewhere go along the lines of, "woah, creepy."

But thanks for your comments so far!
I'll upload to a different site shortly.

 

[Sabao]

Concept's solid, like I said. I totally can't wait for it to play out.

I'll settle for the demo for now though. Preferrably on another host. Haha.

 

[moxie]

Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't realize Sharebee had such a bad reputation. I'll look at some other threads and see what would be a good site to upload to or if you guys have any suggestions, that's cool too.

Rapidshare and Megaupload are used quite a bit around here.

I really like the idea, but I've got a few questions.

In order to go back to the beginning of the cycle, do you have to progress all the way to the end or is their some kind of like... rewind option?

Do you have to get everything right in a single cycle, or do your successes from previous days come back to help you somehow, or is it just a Groundhog Day-esque system of learning what fucks up the cycle and what doesn't, and approaching the new cycle with that information?

Ugh, I'm imagining the psychological toll that watching your love's death over and over could take on a person. You really do have a good premise for a trippy horror, if you wanted to go in that direction. :crazy:

 

[Kaleidx]

@my.opium.eyes
Alright, I'll upload to both when I get the chance.
As for your questions, yes: you do have to end each cycle before starting again. The thing that causes the rewind back to day one is the death of Rory itself. She doesn't have magical powers or anything. Although, there is a choice to fast-forward via sleep in predetermined intervals(2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, and 8 hours).

As for the order of events .. the first cycle is just for the experience. You have to go through it and you can't save Rory on your first try. But technically .. you could very well figure it out on your very next try. But if you take too long, it will start having a negative toll on Amy(In order to end the game without winning, a certain large amount of cycle attempts will end the game in a negative way). Amy does indeed remember every cycle she goes through, so as you can imagine the harsh affect it will have on her.