Empirus Chronicles EP1: Emerald Skies

[Zadeon]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ultrakool9876/EC01.png[/img]

For a quarter of a millennium, our Empire has, remarkably, kept the peace. Peace is all we had known, all we had lived. We never knew major conflict, crises or war.

Everyone was someone in our society. Everyone was worth something.

Corruption in the government? Never heard of it. Our public officials were elected truly by the people.

But our orderly world was...not what it seemed. We thought we were a strong Empire able to withstand nearly anything.

We basically owned the world...but I am convinced now that there are things in this world that should not be seen, should not be touched, should not fall into the hands of humans.

And then came the whispers.

Whispers of arcane arts long lost to the winds of time. And a few spoke out...

Could it be? The ancient Magical arts were about to be rediscovered?

Magic? Hah. We ignored them, shunned them...told them to stop believing in the fairy stories. After all, we had our own kind of magic now...called "technology", made by humans and made for humanity.

And then a man...a Deceiver... rose in power. Through the ranks of the military he became very decorated, every medal and honor of any sort was pinned on his lapel. This man became somewhat of a celebrity to his fellow Altessians.

And he harboured a secret lust for the ancient magical arts.

Thus started the downfall of the Empire of Altessia.

Attempting to overthrow Emperor Mobius of Altessia in a coup d'etat, the Deceiver was banished from the Empire forever...

...rather unsuccessfully.

Seizing the capital of the South of Altessia by killing its governor, he claimed all of Southern Altessia for himself and called his new empire "Demagus". And he plunged his people into destitution.

And 8 years ago, my father was part of the resistance. Even though our area was not controlled by the Deceiver, my father knew secrets. Secrets that could push our world into another War of Arcana...if they fell into the wrong hands.

That was the prelude...to the second War of Arcana. My father was betrayed and my country invaded. But still, nobody knew the secrets of the Ancients.

And then...

Three bullets.

Three bullets meant for me.

Three bullets...that changed my life...and the history of the world forever.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... acters.png[/img]

Spoiler: Characters

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ultrakool9876/cha_boy14.png[/img]Cale Leonis
Age: 18
Hometown: Zameda
He -was- a happy kid from the Empire of Altessia. But 8 years ago, this all changed when General Maxwell of Demagus killed his father, and took Cale prisoner in the Phil Theeman Institute for the Orphaned. Since then, he has been forced to make guns for the Demagus Empire. He has plotted to escape the Institute and avenge the death of his father.

Silas Denzare
Age: 17
Hometown: Solnoir
Though not an orphan, he was thrown in the Institute for protesting the Demagus Empire's military crusade to conquer the independent nation, Gem'suda. Now, in an ironic twist of fate, he works alongside Cale, manufacturing guns in the Institute.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... sprite.png[/img]
Aurelia Malloche
Age: 17
Hometown: Edenvale
A mage-in-training travelling the world to figure out the reasons behind the sudden return of Magic to the world of Terralia. She is trying to prevent another War of Arcana, as it could endanger her and her people.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... masca0.png[/img]
Lera Dalmasca
Age: 23
Hometown: South Demiel
Lera works inside the Empire of Demagus to hinder its operations. Lera and her associates lead the raid on the Phil Theeman Institute in the beginning of the game. She helps you many times during your journey, even joining the party at one point, but her reasons for doing so remain mysterious.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... oko067.png[/img]
Emperor Daerius Zadeon of Demagus
Age: 48
Hometown: ?
During the reign of the Altessian Empire, he was fairly high up in the Empire. A decorated general and a brilliant scientist, he became insane after a military campaign went too far. His insanity, among other reasons, caused him to attempt an overthrow of the Altessian Empire, with some success. Now he rules the former province of Demagus, the largest of the three Altessian provinces, with an iron fist.

Tellos Azudere
Age: 20
Hometown: Port Valencia
Coming Soon.

Barrett Gohma
Age: 30
Hometown: Port Valencia
Coming Soon.


General Maxwell
Age: 42
Hometown: ?
Coming Soon.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... tler01.png[/img]
Emperor Alfred Mobius of Calbrenia
Age: 63
Hometown: Zameda
The former emperor of Altessia, he now only governs the province of Calbrenia after Zadeon seized power in the South. Once a proud man, he fears another violent invasion of his nation by Zadeon's forces. He now finds himself appeasing Zadeon's demands, as he no longer has the military strength to resist him.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... nshots.png[/img]

Spoiler: Screenshots

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ultrakool9876/gamedevelopment2.png[/img]
Bulding the City of North Demiel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... lencia.png[/img]
Outside the Town of Port Valencia

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... /ss4-1.png[/img]
Part of the opening scene, the Invasion of Zameda

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... ment-1.png[/img]
The Phil Theeman Institute for the Orphaned

Vash's Tales of Symphonia menu system screen coming soon.

More coming soon!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... atures.png[/img]

Spoiler: Features

--A traditional front-view OR Final Fantasy 6 style ATB Battle System
--An "essence" system, which allows elemental items called essences to be fused into certain weapons to allow for numerous elemental attacks and spells
--Novas, elemental creatures which enhance skills and increase stats
--Vash's Tales of Symphonia Menu Script (In next demo)
--And much, much more...
All this in the full version of Empirus Chronicles EP1: Emerald Skies!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ ... anner1.png[/img]

DEMO!! Version 0.10
Demo: Download!!
Game play time: 25-60 minutes, 10% Complete
File size: 28.6 MB

Note: You NEED to install this font to read any of the game's text. It's the font, "Forgotten Futurist College". I should have fixed this, any ideas on how I can fix this for my next demo?
Install it here.(zip)
Install it here.(rar)

 

[mdavis901]

looks pretty interesting so i guess i'll try your game out...
I'm anxious to see how i can choose my battle system. :smile:

 

[Zadeon]

Haha, actually I'm the one that chooses the battle system...
I'm probably gonna go with the front view because all the sprites I have are frontview. Until I get sideview sprites for all my characters, it's frontview for EC episode 1.

 

[mdavis901]

Bad news bud...
I couldn't get outta the orphanage...
the unlocked door was impassable.
            BUG!

 

[Zadeon]

That bug has now been FIXED. I've got the link up now.
Other than the bug, what do you think of the demo?

 

[mdavis901]

So far, so good. :thumb:
You must be a pretty good eventer to script cutscenes like that.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

Well, it looks interesting, but by looking at the screenshots, you have a lot of glitches on the world map picture. The ground tiles are all wrong and mixed up and out of place. Suggestion? Read Inq's tutorial on how to use his world map properly-it should help a lot.

...okay, scratch that, I guess his tutorial doesn't exist anymore. He used to have a really good tutorial...ah, nevermind. Download the demo map, then, and see how you could implement aspects from that map into yours.  :thumb:

 

[Zadeon]

Yeah, I'll get on that. Fortunately my demo ends before you get to the world map, so that was just a rough idea of what the outside of Port Valencia would look like.

 

[Diaforetikos]

The story sounds good. I wish you gave away a little more info on it. The script/storyline thing doesn't give me a lot to work with. I'll definitely play the demo though. Looks good.

The tilesets could use more work. I'm not a spriter, so I couldn't help you there. I do concept art. If you need character pics or faces, I can do that. But at the moment, I am working on a character for Regi's game called Spinel's Core.

 

[Zadeon]

@Diaforetikos: What elements of the story do you feel you need more info on? It's hard as a game maker to see your story and game the way a player would :P

I gotta use a mix of futuristic and rtp tilesets in my game because it's really difficult to find lots of versatile futuristic ones. but hey, ya gotta roll with the punches... and I'm gonna need all the help I can get, especially now that this project's been featured on the front page!

If you're interested in joining the Empirus Chronicles team, PM me!

 

[Diaforetikos]

What was a little confusing was when The Deceiver was banished unsuccessfully. You don't really explain what happens there. Do people help in escape? Does he use magic to force everyone on his side?

Another question. When was the first War of Arcana? I'm guessing it was before the Deceiver came into power.

Also, who shot the three bullets at the main character? What was going on in the situation?

I would probably have to play the game to get a lot of this information, but what I'm looking for is a deeper story. Thats why I don't like going to the movies very often. The previews don't give you enough info to tell you if it has potential of being a hit. I'm not doubting your story at all. I just don't have enough information to give a small critique.

 

[Zadeon]

@Dia: Haha, play the game, it'll all make sense to you then. :P Although I can answer the War of Arcana question... it was 250 years before the events of the game.

NEWS: Because I've just found a wealth of futuristic resources, I'm re-mapping some of the game's areas featured in the demo in order to keep with the futuristic theme, it's gonna be interesting. :P
Also, for all those who've downloaded and played my demo, about how long did it take you to complete the game?
For those who haven't downloaded it... you better get on that now. :P

 

[Zadeon]

So while I've been shifting the maps towards a more futuristic look, I've decided to ask the community which look is better. I've taken two screenshots of the same screen in my game, one using the original tileset, and the other using the futuristic one. I've set up a poll- tell me what you think!

Spoiler: Screenshot 1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ultrakool9876/ss5.png[/img]

Spoiler: Screenshot 2

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/ultrakool9876/ss4-1.png[/img]

 

[dadevvtsvre]

While the new tileset looks nice, the RTP characters clash horribly with it. I know it's difficult to find futuristic looking characters, but it's just a little awkward having soldiers in iron armour (one dead guy even has a cape) with a guy holding a gun in the same shot. It's not necessarily required, but personally I think it'd look better with different character sets.

Anyway, keep it up. It's nice to see some futuristic games here. It's a nice break from the constant Fantasy-type genre. (Yes, I know, my game falls into that category as well)

 

[Atsuen]

Oh wow. This looks amazing!
Nice change of pace from the fantasy games, it'd be nice to play a cyberpunk (if you can call it that) game. :3

 

[mdavis901]

While the new tileset looks nice, the RTP characters clash horribly with it. I know it's difficult to find futuristic looking characters, but it's just a little awkward having soldiers in iron armour (one dead guy even has a cape) with a guy holding a gun in the same shot. It's not necessarily required, but personally I think it'd look better with different character sets.

Anyway, keep it up. It's nice to see some futuristic games here. It's a nice break from the constant Fantasy-type genre. (Yes, I know, my game falls into that category as well)

Yep I definitely agree w/ you there.
You can always use the knight-blade charsets as a base template, that way it won't look so bad.  But don't forget there is a resource request section that you should probably use.
But yeah...  I'll download it again, and give it the ol' college try! :thumb:

 

[Zadeon]

While the new tileset looks nice, the RTP characters clash horribly with it. I know it's difficult to find futuristic looking characters, but it's just a little awkward having soldiers in iron armour (one dead guy even has a cape) with a guy holding a gun in the same shot. It's not necessarily required, but personally I think it'd look better with different character sets.

Anyway, keep it up. It's nice to see some futuristic games here. It's a nice break from the constant Fantasy-type genre. (Yes, I know, my game falls into that category as well)

Yep I definitely agree w/ you there.
You can always use the knight-blade charsets as a base template, that way it won't look so bad.  But don't forget there is a resource request section that you should probably use.
But yeah...  I'll download it again, and give it the ol' college try! :thumb:

Yeah, knightblade's become my best friend now. :P it has almost everything I could want. But as I said, since medieval fantasy games have WAY more resources available than futuristic ones, I gotta work with that.

@Atsuen: Thanks for the comment, and if you wanna be involved in my game just PM me!

 

[Mustardy85]

...Ummm Dude... I don't have the font... Where do you get it? I wanna try your demo. Story looks interesting and very ummm... rebellion vs empire -ish.

Anyway Where's the hell is the Font Download you using for this project

EDIT : Nevermind... I found it in one of your million folders. The demo is very good actualy. I like your story, alot. But your mapping could use a little kick.