Courier - Play it now!

[C-7]

Play Courier Now!

Courier is an RPG made with Construct 2 that lets you explore and interact with a large fantasy world. But you're not the sword-swinging hero, and you're not the mystic sorcerer. You're the peaceful Courier, making deliveries and helping all in the land. You'll traverse many towns, locales, landscapes, dungeons, caves, and much more delivering items for the characters in the game world. Along the way, you'll help them in their daily lives, influence their decisions, and unravel a plot to bind the Kingdom and cripple its outreach. This all takes place in a dynamic, ever-changing, ever-expanding world that always has new things to discover and new places to go.

There are two main modes of play in Courier. The first is Story Mode, where you'll deliver items, visit places around the world, solve environmental puzzles, traverse dungeons, and unlock the secrets of a sinister plot hidden within. Your decisions, along with the passing of time, will change the world and what its inhabitants do. Secrets hidden in dungeons will open new paths in the outside world, solving environmental puzzles can gain you access to whole new areas, and the main quest deliveries will help you delve deeper into a secret evil binding the Kingdom.

The second mode of play is Route Mode, where you'll try to beat your best time making deliveries to everyone in a town. You'll have to find your best route through these large environments to reach every mailbox with the most efficiency and the best time. But don't miss anyone--there are steep time penalties for missing a delivery! Compete against others' times and climb the leaderboards, or share your times with your friends to see if they can beat you. There will be a delivery route available in every major town so you'll always be gaining access to even more levels while you're playing the Story Mode.

By the way, you can play as either a male or a female.

You start the game making your deliveries in a forest town, but the entrance to the town has been blocked off by a rockslide. Once it is cleared and you can get out to explore the rest of the world, you'll discover many similar events all around. Bridges have been knocked out, town entrances have been blocked, lifts have been shut down, and travel routes have been disrupted. Someone or something wants to hold back communication throughout the Kingdom, and it can't be for a good reason. Uncovering these paths lets you gain access to more deliveries to build up your career, and open communication can slowly be restored. But there still must be a sinister plot underlying these events, and that is your task to uncover.

Courier's entire design is based around the type of gameplay possible in a browser with HTML5. Two big issues exist with standalone applications: downloading and installing is a barrier to players, and players may not always be playing the must up-to-date version. HTML5 browser games can fix this, and in a far more efficient way than Flash could before it. You can log in anywhere and pick up where you left off (save data is stored off-site with your account), but you'll always be playing the most up-to-date version every time you log on. This means that the world can constantly change and be updated, and everyone will be able to share that experience. So events in-game could be independent of in-game triggers. NPCs can pack up shop and move elsewhere. Construction crews can build new bridges. New discoveries can constantly be made, and NPCs just might not be tied to the same boring dialogue every time you speak to them.

I plan on all in-game changes being reflected in the game world. For instance, before a new path opens up, you can see crews working on clearing a rockslide. NPCs or signs might mention new things to come or rumors they've heard. And then, you'll log in one day to find new content or places to explore. This also means that the game world can be ever-growing. At the start, the first town will be available to play--no need to wait. Once the surrounding areas are developed, the game world can open up and change around you, and this process can constantly continue. It doesn't have to get stale, and you can avoid the barrier created by client-based MMOs.

Being web-based means you can share your scores, findings, or even screenshots of things you've found with your friends and the world. Your single-player experience doesn't have to be a solitary one. A game about communication ought to encourage it! There will also be in-app purchases available for people who want to enhance their play experience, expand their abilities, or, in the future, change costumes. I also fully intend to have user-submitted costumes available for purchase so the users could make a benefit from the game, too. There is no need for greedy begging for money, and the entire story can be played out for free. That means no obnoxious flashing screens begging you to buy something. Treating your players with respect goes a long way. But bonus content and add-ons are available for people who want to boost their abilities.

Being web-based allows for some good opportunities for other games and teams. In-game billboards in non-annoying locations (but highly visible!) will allow a greater link with the community around. It can also be a very effective way for other games to reach discoverability with a targeted audience. Billboards will not rotate. So you can rent it for a month, and EVERY user will see your ad there, and can click on it to see your site. But, since they're built into the game world and not filled with flashing banners about unrelated content, users will be more likely to be interested in what is presented. Treating your players with respect goes a long way. And this can be a very helpful opportunity for other game developers as well as for the progress of the game.

I plan on fully supporting touch-based input, mouse+keyboard controls, and gamepad controls so everyone can play how they'd like, where they'd like. Initial release will just include mouse+keyboard, but the others will come over time. This is all wrapped up in an efficiently-built, visually-appealing world with high-level professional music.

Play Courier Now!

 

[Xhukari]

I only had time to look at graphics for now, but I notice some issues (for me atleast) in the second screenshot.
It all looks amazing... except the diagonal tiles, and the cobblestone. Now the issue with the diagonal tiles is more due to preference; it feels too clean, the texturing a bit too light, it looks like a solid block of one shade of gray unless you look closely..
But the cobblestone definitely has a tiling issue; the backwards L stone is too noticeable. It breaks the nice tiling effect massively. Try reducing or cutting in half that L stone, keep them to a more conformed size.

 

[C-7]

I only had time to look at graphics for now, but I notice some issues (for me atleast) in the second screenshot.
It all looks amazing... except the diagonal tiles, and the cobblestone. Now the issue with the diagonal tiles is more due to preference; it feels too clean, the texturing a bit too light, it looks like a solid block of one shade of gray unless you look closely..
But the cobblestone definitely has a tiling issue; the backwards L stone is too noticeable. It breaks the nice tiling effect massively. Try reducing or cutting in half that L stone, keep them to a more conformed size.

Thank you for the feedback! Both textures have been updated and the screenshot, too.

Here's another shot, but this time from inside one of the houses.

As everything, it's all a work-in-progress, but it gives a good idea of how it'll be!

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Are you making your own tile sets? These are beautiful.

 

[C-7]

Are you making your own tile sets? These are beautiful.

Yes, I am. A friend of mine drew the plants in the pots (in that shot and various other places), but everything else is me. And, luckily, I'm not tied to a grid with Construct, so I can be a little more organic and flexible with my maps, buildings, etc as opposed to standard tiles/tilesets.

 

[bacon]

This looks very cute.
I like the idea a lot. Definitely focus on the puzzle aspect of it because walking around for too long probably would get tiring for the player, at least in story mode. But its a great concept. I also am a fan of the everchanging world and how you are handling the pacing.
The graphics look very nice and its very cool you are making your own. My only nitpick would be that the colors look a little washed out and blue tinted. Its almost too cool with the colors. The only reason why im saying this is because if one of the main things i am going to be doing is walking around, then the world around me should look interesting. Because the colors look desaturated, it isnt provoking the eye. Maybe play around with saturation and contrast filters in photoshop? I think it would help a lot.
Love how its web-base. It definitely will add a sense of community. Leaderboards are a neat idea. It would be cool to integrate the single campaign and the multiplayer campaign into just one game mode. You could have specific courier missions to travel from one place to another and then use billboards to display leaderboards in each town? It would definitely liven up the single player aspect too and make the player feel as if he/she isnt the only courier in the gaming world?. Just an idea.
Very cool. Keep at it.

 

[C-7]

This looks very cute.
I like the idea a lot. Definitely focus on the puzzle aspect of it because walking around for too long probably would get tiring for the player, at least in story mode. But its a great concept. I also am a fan of the everchanging world and how you are handling the pacing.
The graphics look very nice and its very cool you are making your own. My only nitpick would be that the colors look a little washed out and blue tinted. Its almost too cool with the colors. The only reason why im saying this is because if one of the main things i am going to be doing is walking around, then the world around me should look interesting. Because the colors look desaturated, it isnt provoking the eye. Maybe play around with saturation and contrast filters in photoshop? I think it would help a lot.
Love how its web-base. It definitely will add a sense of community. Leaderboards are a neat idea. It would be cool to integrate the single campaign and the multiplayer campaign into just one game mode. You could have specific courier missions to travel from one place to another and then use billboards to display leaderboards in each town? It would definitely liven up the single player aspect too and make the player feel as if he/she isnt the only courier in the gaming world?. Just an idea.
Very cool. Keep at it.

Thank you very much! I've been toying with the idea of adding a bit more saturation, and I actually have recently. I'll have to give some updated shots soon. And that's a good idea with having the leaderboards physically in the game world. The arcade areas are currently integrated into the single-player--the towns all double as courses, so I'm glad it sounds good to someone else! Puzzles and personal interactions will make up a good amount of the gameplay. That can lead to a world even more interesting and worth investing your time in than a place that attacks you every time you walk outside...

Thank you a lot for the feedback!

 

[Xhukari]

Well done, the second screenshot looks much nicer now! Good job

 

[C-7]

Here's a screenshot from the newly-created title screen:

And, of course, it's all fully animated.

 

[Xhukari]

Your game certainly has an impressive aesthetic, thats for sure!
Nice job.

 

[rosareven]

Spoiler: semi-relevant

Source

The mail is the one final hope for resurrecting a dead planet from its ashes, and the letter carriers are the brave soldiers of God in this righteous crusade. They are the defenders of the light of knowledge, free communication, and the exchange of ideas. They are the bold toters of all those little papery conduits of freedom, the white postmarked angels that whisper a message on their deliverance, a promise to the yearning: "There is hope yet."

Liberty. Reason. Justice. Civility. Edification. Perfection.

MAIL.

This is looking great. RPG that isn't about sword-swinging is rare, even more so RPG from Construct 2. I look forward to it.

 

[C-7]

Here's a quick status update showing NPC's in-game:

I have about 25 in so far, all are fully animated and unique.

 

[Ellie]

Looking good, and very interesting to see an RPG-maker style game in Construct 2. I wondered how long it would be 'til someone managed it.

 

[C-7]

Looking good, and very interesting to see an RPG-maker style game in Construct 2. I wondered how long it would be 'til someone managed it.

Thank you very much! I would have done it sooner if I hadn't had other projects to finish up :-P

Also, here's a new shot showing inside a mansion:

I really enjoy the textured reflections--I think they add a nice touch. In the interest of GPU-conservation, I chose to not do something crazy to have the player reflected, too.

 

[bacon]

Looks cool. Still think some contrast would do wonders for the graphics; they are a little soft in shading and coloring. But it is great you are doing your own art for this.

The only other suggestion would be to get rid of a lot of empty space in your maps. I would either shrink them down or add more detailing to them; this is most obvious in the latest indoor map.

I really like the textbox.

 

[rosse119]

i am most amazed by the water effect, wow! I'll have a look at this in further detail soon.

 

[C-7]

Thank you very much everyone! It's nice having access to webgl for the shaders and such (distortions, etc). There is an NPC in the open are in the mansion, so it isn't completely empty. I'll continue to add details, but the maps must remain more open than rpgmaker maps due to the free, quick movement.

 

[C-7]

You can play Courier now! It's up on couriergame.com for free. Let me know what you think of it!