Dark Path (with playable teaser!)

[Celvin]

Dark Path

My intention was to make this game differ from most RPG Maker games gameplay wise. There are so many simmilar games out there and I didn't want to go down that road.

This game is using a tactical battle system, but isn't considered a pure tactical game as you get to explore like you would with a normal RPG. I've also added a stealth portion in this demo which I had a lot of fun with.

I hope you like it!


Story

The empire is corrupt from within. The wealthy minority has surpressed the rest of the empire for decades, but in their own greed they have neglected the growing numbers uprising from the slums and outskirts of the empire.

As the tension is rising the emperor and his council feels threatened by the growing numbers of discontent citizens especially around the poor parts of the empire in the slums. The empire is vaster than their citizens really know about. Actually, the empire stretches to the entire east, having the kingdom of Dalia under their control. People are under the delusion that the kingdom of Dalia is an independent state and a threatening force towards the empire, which is false. The emperor and his council intend to use this to their advantage, staging a false war. In this war, the emperor and his council wants to wipe out all the citizens they feel oppose the empire under the false pretense that they'll be casualties of war. All that remains for this great scheme to be put in motion is a valid reason why the two nations should go to war to delude their citizens. The wheels are already in motion…

Screenshots

http://www.home.no/celvin/screen8.png
http://www.home.no/celvin/screen9.png
http://www.home.no/celvin/Screen10.png
http://www.home.no/celvin/Screen11.png
http://www.home.no/celvin/screen12.png

http://www.home.no/celvin/Screen14.png
http://www.home.no/celvin/Screen15.png

http://www.home.no/celvin/screen17.png

Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsiQO3hO3pc&feature=channel_page
The battle system in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS_1QWH1 ... re=channel
Just showing off a location, not actual gameplay


Download
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H5A015IF
87,84MB
- I forgot to add the font, but it can be downloaded here: http://www.muq.org/david/tempus.htm (unzip, then right click the file to install it)
The RTP is needed to play as well! If you don't have it, get it here: http://tkool.jp/products/rpgxp/eng/rtp_download.html

INFO!: The savegames that comes with the game takes you to a debug menu, where you can browse other parts of the game I have yet to implement! Might be worth checking out!

CREDITS:
SCRIPTS:

Tactical Battle Script: GubiD
SDK: Near Fantastica, SephirothSpawn, Wachunga, Prexus, Jimme Reashu, Trickster, Der Drake, Sandgolem, Tribuda, Alexanderpas, Mr. Mo, Tilbuda
Dynamic Shadows Script: Rataime
Reflection Script: Retaime. Edited by: JmsPlDnl.
Double Fog: Daniel3579

Animations: Mascarpone (battle effects)

Lighting Effects: Calibre (I really love this effect!)

Panoramas: Reives

If you find anything in this demo where credit haven't been given yet, feel free to let me know!

 

[Celvin]

I was about to write this just before the forums went down. Good thing I saved it!

Oh yeah I played it, the stealth section was as I expected definitely a nice way to break up the monotony but they were quite simple, you can't knock people out MGS style like your character does in the cutscene, I think you should add in a sneak button because waiting for them to get 5 steps away from you was a bit boring the 29th fail round (literally, it took me 30 or so times to pass the stealth section, mainly cos I thought the guard would catch me if I was 3 tiles away from him :/), sneaking would give you a lot more tactics to work with, as would a knock out or take out button so you can disable guards. Also it would be fun if in the next demo you set up a bunch of sneak maps to mess about on after you get through the story, would give it a wider appeal.

The game itself was one huge cutscene and a battle with enemies with 1HP? A bit too easy methinks, maybe you should've stuck a tutorial in there instead, it would break in people not used to TRPGs and you could have it narrated as I tend to find when a character who's meant to be an expert assassin or something going over the basics midway through their career destroys the illusion. The story itself was good but the writing needs work, I noticed a typo (I'll SS it next time I play through because at the time I was feeling lazy) and it didn't seem to be particularly special, maybe you can get a writer to add some flourish to it, or try to inject firmer personality into the characters, I didn't see any difference from one to the next, I don't even have a bio to compare against so I can't say they were anything special. It was generally entertaining but the story would get a bit one dimensional if the characters don't get some depth.

Good Luck.

Thanks for testing it out! :biggrin:

In the original version of the stealth system you could knock out the guards, but as it was way too unstable I had to remove it. It wouldn't work too well when the guards didn't have a fixed move route and it also caused a bit of a slowdown.
Adding a sneak button is a good idea if implemented correctly. It shouldn't be too hard to add either.

The funny thing about the final sneak trial is that, if you hurry up and skip the text, you could probably finish it in about 15-20 seconds. It's meant to be challenging, but not so hard that people give up. I was more concerned with making it too easy really.

I realize I forgot to balance that battle. I reduced their HP for testing purposes but forgot to change it back. My bad. The battle is supposed to be quite easy, though, so that even the most novice players could get used to the system. Perhaps adding another battle later in the prison could be an option?

The character development is pretty much non-existant in this demo. I've written introductions for most of the key characters that will unfold as you go along. Flashback style. As it is now, they still lack some flair and personality, though. This is a top priority for the next release!

I'll be more than happy to correct any typos or bad wording you find in the demo, so feel free to send them in!

Did you try the debug menu? You have access to other areas that I plan to implement later on in the game.