-Fractus Stellarum-

[Injury]

HBG's January Blues RPG Maker Contest 1st Place Winner!!!

The Fallen Star of a Broken Heart

	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	

		
	


 Final Demo V0.06 - 02262014 http://www.plaidapplestudios.com/hbg/demo006.rar - 57.5MB

Centuries of evolution, technological and biological, have led mankind the edges of new star systems. During the terraforming process of their newly discovered homes, they reside in the stars on immense space stations. Day by day, vying over their creations and doings, they are observed from afar...

Envious and plotting, they set their sights on what is easy...

What is alone...

What is theirs...

GSS Mirage
Class V Space Station
Bravo Sector

Alien chatter breaks over the radio. Intecepted sound waves from what seems far away are actually that of an approaching craft. “Is this…what I think it is Admiral?” asked a nervous Lieutenant.

“Damned if I knew. It’s too far away to trace, and indistinguishable to boot. Send it over to the crypto lab to be analyzed. We are almost to our new home Dellik…No need to get jumpy about waves this far out and this close to home.”

“Roger, sir,” said Dellik, watching Admiral Visen leave the bridge. “Attention!” bellowed some nameless Ensign. They all stood up. ‘What a waste of time…’ thought Delik. “Carry on.”

Far away...the unknown prying eyes gazed at their prize, bathed in red light. It was all very close now. So...close...




Support: Do you like what you've seen? Show some support by adding the user bar to your signature! I appreciate your support!


Latest Development Updates:

26 Feb 14:
Final touches. Wish me luck!

25 Feb 14:
Hey everyone! I would just like to say thank you for all your support throughout the months I worked on this little thing. I really hope you enjoy it, and check out the other entrants! Showing your support for the community means a lot more to me than winning this contest. For years, we have been hanging out and working on our own projects. This is the first contest I've entered, and I'm just happy to participate!

-Intro
--Complete and finalized
-Part I
--Done!
-Part II
--Done!
-Part III
--Done!
-Ending
--Done!
-Soundtrack
--Done!

Features:
-Fun!
-Customized GTBS: AI and range control features
-Custom Sound Effects/Graphics/Sound Track
-Darkness Script
-Custom mini-games/built in puzzles
--Thank you coyotecraft and Guardian for your help so far!

Characters

Spoiler

-Catch Galez
--Senior Enlisted member of the onboard security force. Has a girlfriend. Quick to shoot, slow to question.
--Specialty: Crew Serve Weapons
--Talents: Tactical Expert

-Bali Hulumn
--Senior Enlisted transfer from the colony ground forces. Sent to the station for thinking too much and not shooting enough.
--Specialty: Small Arms
--Talents: Technical Expert

-Aimee Quent
--Catch's girl. Being apart of the 23% of the space station's female force, she used to deal with a lot of shit. Not anymore.
--Specialty: Close Quarters Combat
--Talents: Learner

Screen Shots

Spoiler

Opening Scene

Current Map-Initial Demo Map

Demo Map1- Deck IV- Storage Area I

Demo Map2- Deck IV- Storage Loading Dock

Current Map- Deck IV- Storage Area 1

Current Map- Deck IV- Storage Loading Dock

Current Map- Deck IV- Repair Shop

Current Map- Deck IV Storage Loading Dock

Current Map- Deck IV Main Storage Lift

Updated Map- Deck IV Main Storage Lift

Credits:
Storyline/Music/SFX/Graphics:
-Injury

Graphics:
-coyotecraft
--Custom Sparks graphic
-Mataraelfay
--Future tilesets

Scripts:
-Gubid
--GTBS
-Orb
--Fullscreen Script
-Lukas Cahyadi Gunawan
--Darkness System

Not Interested in this Project?
Please show your support and check out the other contestant's projects!
Deflayer by coyotecraft
Starlight Forest by Stardust
A Tale of Two Worlds and Battle of Bollhaste by Potion
The Hermit by SleepingDuck

 

[Stardust]

I have some questions to throw out to you just to get some ideas/concepts rolling into something more concrete.

1. I'm guessing these are humans? People usually say otherwise, but you could go in different directions.

2. What are the motives of the attackers? This will shape a lot regarding how the enemy reacts to things. Also, what are they?

3. What's the ratio of armed/fighting-capable forces to civilians? Is it going to be a rescue mission or a re-group type of objective? If the ship is mostly civilians (which, if it's just a shuttle, it would probably be), you could throw in some aspects with regards to saving/escorting civilians. Perhaps you have to keep x number of civilians alive through each mission or something like that (although I personally detest these types of missions, they do add decent difficulty!).

4. The state of technology is important. Are we dealing with lasers and phasers or bullet-based weaponry? Do we have robot servants or cyborgs or anything like that? Is there any kind of magic that's been "discovered" or anything like that?

5. Any idea what engine/scripting language you would want to make this in?

That's what I have right now! I don't know where it was you personally wanted to go with it, so I stuck with questions that you could work with to starting moulding the idea into something more definite.

 

[Injury]

Thank you for all your questions! That is exactly what I was looking for!

1. Humans are the primary race, androids and sentients are apart of it as well.

2. Motives at this point are unknown. Possibilities include the potential of cargo stowed on board drawing them to the ship, trying to take control of it before it reaches the colony. It's kind of open, and the potential for sub-stories after certain requirements are met, maybe there are other characters in there with their own motives, stealing cargo or kidnapping, information theft from high-level government employees that were on there. It's open!

3. My idea initially was as you go through out, you rescue and recover areas of the ship that allow to you regroup and equip/purchase new gear, recruit new members to your squad, etc...

4. I feel like a mix of the old and the new is something people would enjoy. The enemies from the ship that attacked would have an unknown phaser based technology. The security forces would have a mix. The more elite squads would have newer technology and the less experienced or the 3rd party recruits would have bullet based technology. Magic, probably not. I think a possible integrated techno-weapon system would be a good substitute, if any.

5. No idea yet. I want something that it easy enough to get this fleshed out, but not limited.

Thanks again for your ideas! Keep bouncing them around! MORE MORE MORE!


Original Post

Spoiler

EDIT: Added some concept picture...

I wanted to throw this out there, get some ideas and possible get this moving.

Main plot:
-A space cruiser, en route to a newly colonized planet, is set upon by an unknown ship. After breaching the storage hull of the cruiser is breached, the power goes out in certain areas of the ship, leading the cruiser's on board AI to seal all bulkheads.

The on board security force is spread in different parts of the ship, leaving teams without contact with the central control force.

In the dark, left alone, and with unknown forces aboard...Will the teams take back the ship, restore power and make it to their destination?

Characters:
-None at the moment. The idea is there will be about 4-5 main characters, each with a different class/ability set. They will have to work together or alone in certain levels.

Features:
-I would like to implement something along the lines of 2.5D/3D to add depth and texture to this game.
-When I say ATBS I mean, the characters are acting based upon their choices while other moves are being made. If you put them against a wall, they have the option to take cover. They would take cover, and peer over the wall. If an enemy unit was shooting back, they would shoot at the player unit, causing them to duck a bit more.
-Any ideas would be helpful! Item-Combinations, Combat Tactics Combos, LOS Attack Tactics
-Environment is everything! Interaction with the environment is key! Exploitable objects, such as fuel-cell containers, light switches to reveal potential enemies (or give away your position!), and many other ideas we can come up with!


Future Ideas:
-Maybe yours? Wondering what to do next!

Positions for a solid development team would be:
-Writer
--Main Storyline\Sub-Quests
-Graphics
--Textures
--Modeler
--Animator
-Sound
--Effects
--Composer
-Programming
--Level Editor
--Scripting
--AI Programming
--Network Programming
--UI Programming

Am I missing anything?

What would you do? Talk to me. Share your ideas, please!

 

[Stardust]

I'll keep going with questions and comments.

...androids...

Where are they on the social structure? Are they humans' servants, equals, are they fighting for their independence, are they dominant over humans, or somewhere in between and around there?

...sentients...

How many types, how recently did they show up, and are they based from Earth or another planet? (I ask that last question because the crazy scientists on the Discovery Channel think that squids are becoming more intelligent and may be a next "conscious" being eventually, so it could be a situation like that!)

2. Motives at this point are unknown. Possibilities include the potential of cargo stowed on board drawing them to the ship, trying to take control of it before it reaches the colony. It's kind of open, and the potential for sub-stories after certain requirements are met, maybe there are other characters in there with their own motives, stealing cargo or kidnapping, information theft from high-level government employees that were on there. It's open!

You could discover a different motive based on how you play the game. I.E. if you focus on combat, you might uncover that the aliens are trying to get to Earth and take it over, or if you focus on research/technology, you might discover that the government (or maybe some religious/political group or something) sent the ship to sabotage the colonization.

By the way, making research a thing might be cool. It's more of an aspect of RTS games, but incorporating a "base" type of aspect into an RPG could be interesting. Somewhere that you could upgrade weapons/armor/abilities in between missions. (If you're going to go for a spooky atmosphere, I personally like having a place like this just to feel safe for a little while when I get really into a game.)

3. My idea initially was as you go through out, you rescue and recover areas of the ship that allow to you regroup and equip/purchase new gear, recruit new members to your squad, etc...

You could create the scenario that the "residential" area of the ship is where the invaders entered the ship and you're on a mission to get to that area to try to save whoever is still alive. And who knows what you might find they've done to the civilians? ;3

4. I feel like a mix of the old and the new is something people would enjoy. The enemies from the ship that attacked would have an unknown phaser based technology. The security forces would have a mix. The more elite squads would have newer technology and the less experienced or the 3rd party recruits would have bullet based technology. Magic, probably not. I think a possible integrated techno-weapon system would be a good substitute, if any.

I actually have no idea what a phaser is... it's some random reference to a comedy skit from Mad TV, I think. xD But yeah that would work! Instead of magic (which I don't feel would work in this scenario, either), you could have someone who can reverse engineer the alien technology. That would be kind of cool, actually, to have a character that gains skills after defeating an intruder who had just used them and figuring out how the weapons/armor work. Or maybe you could run into an intruder who switches to your side... or you could enslave him (which would be an interesting ethical aspect).

 

[Injury]

No worries! Keep it going!

1. As far as they go, sentients and andoirds, just artificial life in general, would/could follow the basic I Am Robot laws. It would be interesting to have the ability to hack enemy, as well as enemy hack player, artificials. The backstory would be pretty basic. After the creation of basic robots, AI was birthed and controlled from the start. No craziness there.

2. I really like that idea! The role you play determines the story's path. I really like the idea of some form of integration with a "farm" type genre mini-game. Civilians you rescue have different jobs and will contribute to certain aspects back at your home base, Central Command. Not only would the civilians have different jobs, they could contribute to the base research speed at which new items, weapons, armor etc are created between missions. Each mission would be a duration of time, come back to base and see/modify progress on certain areas. Items you find could shorten upgrade times, or add time while adding modifiers to the product in progress.

I want there to be a "spooky" atmosphere, but like you said, early on in the game it wouldn't be too bad. Dimly lit rooms with less lighting here and there.

The mission to get control of Central Command, or w/e it will be called, would be very early so the player can go through some simple missions, get acquainted and then take back the base area to allow upgrading and whatnot.

4. I love Star Ocean. I think they have a great idea about phase weapons:

"A widely used personal weapon in the Pangalactic Federation, Phase Guns fire a powerful beam of energy that destroys the molecular cohesion of the target's matter through phase magnification. It is possible to control the power output of the beam by adjusting its focus setting. A stun mode is available for knocking human-sized animals unconscious, as well as a vaporization mode that will completely vaporize an object the size of an automobile."

Obviously it won't have as many capabilities as the entry describes, but that is it in a nut shell. I would also like to be realistic. Phase technology requires energy. Batteries aren't unlimited. Weapons will have clips, rounds and shells. That's my idea of it anyways. Games are too easy nowadays. I want to make the strategy resource intensive adding to tactical difficulty.

As far as the "magic" goes, it's a toss up. EMPs, Radar Jamming, other skills could be something as well.

Having a separate class, a Siphon/Learner, is a good idea. Rounded stats with the ability to learn from defeated enemies, only when that skill is used successfully after defeating them in combat. Not after the fact I'd say. They would be limited to a class type, and a set number of skills. So a Learner would kill an Andoird (Race) Hacker (Class Type) and learn Radar Jamming and some other moves. They would have to choose after the next use of the skill Learn, if it was another class type, Android (Race) Combat (Class Type) and learn Takedown or whatever. It would remove the Hacker class type and start them with combat...

Possibly have certain levels of class type based on mastery of skill as well.

Keep the ideas going!

 

[Injury]

Concept using some random sci fi game for an idea...

 

[Injury]

I'm not very good at...well...Anything but music. I just want to get this moving a bit more.[flash=1,1]http://www.plaidapplestudios.com/hbg/topicTrack.swf[/flash]

 

[Stardust]

1. As far as they go, sentients and andoirds, just artificial life in general, would/could follow the basic I Am Robot laws. It would be interesting to have the ability to hack enemy, as well as enemy hack player, artificials. The backstory would be pretty basic. After the creation of basic robots, AI was birthed and controlled from the start. No craziness there.

This actually makes a lot of sense considering the general level of technology at the time. If we haven't advanced beyond bullet-based weapons, we probably haven't created an AI capable of thinking for itself quite yet! I didn't think of this when I asked the question. :x

2. I really like that idea! The role you play determines the story's path. I really like the idea of some form of integration with a "farm" type genre mini-game. Civilians you rescue have different jobs and will contribute to certain aspects back at your home base, Central Command. Not only would the civilians have different jobs, they could contribute to the base research speed at which new items, weapons, armor etc are created between missions. Each mission would be a duration of time, come back to base and see/modify progress on certain areas. Items you find could shorten upgrade times, or add time while adding modifiers to the product in progress.

Yes, I think that's an excellent idea! :D I always enjoyed the base aspect of strategy games. The idea reminds me a little bit of XCOM: Enemy Unknown (one of the many games I played for a while and then found another game to distract myself with xD). It's a strategy game that operates much like your proposed game mechanics do.

I want there to be a "spooky" atmosphere, but like you said, early on in the game it wouldn't be too bad. Dimly lit rooms with less lighting here and there.

The mission to get control of Central Command, or w/e it will be called, would be very early so the player can go through some simple missions, get acquainted and then take back the base area to allow upgrading and whatnot.

That's probably the best way to handle it! :3 Especially for strategy games, it's hard to figure out the controls and everything while also dealing with a fear factor if it's just thrown right at the player.

4. I love Star Ocean. I think they have a great idea about phase weapons:

"A widely used personal weapon in the Pangalactic Federation, Phase Guns fire a powerful beam of energy that destroys the molecular cohesion of the target's matter through phase magnification. It is possible to control the power output of the beam by adjusting its focus setting. A stun mode is available for knocking human-sized animals unconscious, as well as a vaporization mode that will completely vaporize an object the size of an automobile."

Obviously it won't have as many capabilities as the entry describes, but that is it in a nut shell. I would also like to be realistic. Phase technology requires energy. Batteries aren't unlimited. Weapons will have clips, rounds and shells. That's my idea of it anyways. Games are too easy nowadays. I want to make the strategy resource intensive adding to tactical difficulty.

As far as the "magic" goes, it's a toss up. EMPs, Radar Jamming, other skills could be something as well.

Ah that makes sense! As far as "magic" or even large capacity batteries go, that could be something to throw in slightly with the intruders, if you wish. I'm a bad one to talk to about the reality of magic existing because one of my friends brought me into the realm of energy healing and general energy work and I've seen/felt some cool things when I've delved into the practice.

Having a separate class, a Siphon/Learner, is a good idea. Rounded stats with the ability to learn from defeated enemies, only when that skill is used successfully after defeating them in combat. Not after the fact I'd say. They would be limited to a class type, and a set number of skills. So a Learner would kill an Andoird (Race) Hacker (Class Type) and learn Radar Jamming and some other moves. They would have to choose after the next use of the skill Learn, if it was another class type, Android (Race) Combat (Class Type) and learn Takedown or whatever. It would remove the Hacker class type and start them with combat...

Possibly have certain levels of class type based on mastery of skill as well.

I like this idea! It would keep that class from getting overpowered (as they sometimes do unless the creators make the character otherwise pretty useless). I think the idea of "leveling up" skills/stats is much nicer than leveling up as a whole, also, but that's just my preference in the matter.

The concept picture looks like a decent layout for everything! In all honesty, it's very hard to get people interested in helping with a project until it looks like stuff is happening with the idea (i.e. a demo or something along those lines). I think I've seen a script or two for the tactical battles that you might be able to nab for RPG Maker and just start throwing things together (i.e. GubiD's Tactical Battle System). If you get something started, even if you don't really want to use the program you started with, you have a much better chance of getting people to hop on board. You'll never have exactly what you want in a first demo, but that's okay!

My strong points are story and characters, although I was able to get quite far with RPG Maker events and I started learning how to alter little things in the RPG Maker scripts (this was ages ago, though, so I don't know how much I remember). I can help when I get the time, but I work full-time, so I sometimes don't get a chance to come online for a span of days or weeks when I get busy! And I have my own stuff that I've been formulating in my head, but we might be able to come to an agreement at some point if you're interested because music is the one thing I'm not capable of doing at all by myself. xD

 

[Injury]

If you ever need music, let me know and I can see what I can cook up. I don't have much of a studio here, but it doesn't take much to build one up nowadays.

I used to have a more traditional fantasy TBS game I was kicking around. I didn't enjoy not having custom graphics, which is also an issue here. I have tilesets, I just need some futuristic sprites. I've never played XCOM, but I heard it's fun. If this is a complete rip-off, then I'm screwed haha!

As far as a demo, I could work out something. I think if it comes to it, I'll just make it apart of the contest for January. I might be able to get something shelled out and going in that short time. We'll see!

 

[Stardust]

Thank you for the offer! If you need help with story, characters, or events, let me know! (By the way, the base idea is very doable with some events! I used to be quite interested in trying to make complex systems like that with events.)

I run into the issue where the graphics aren't what I want them to be, either. It makes the characters and scenery feel incomplete in a weird way, but if you keep in mind that they're placeholders to push out a demo so you can find someone to help with the graphics, I think it's possible to get much further! Not that I should talk - I'm horrible about starting a project and then getting distracted by a new idea and never finishing anything, but I'm trying to change that. >_>

It's not a complete ripoff if you make the characters and story count. One of the problems with XCOM (in my opinion) was that the characters you played as didn't really have personalities because you could customize everyone and also, if a character died in battle, you lost them for good, so it was really hard to care about the people you were controlling. I also feel like people get a little too caught up with trying not to imitate everyone else by accident because, if you're really putting the effort into something, it's going to come out good either way and it shouldn't matter.

 

[Injury]

I'm working on the demo now in RMXP. It will just be a quick intro, battle and that's about it. I don't have any futuristic sprites to use, so this will kind of suck. I also want to throw in a UMS, or just have battlers for the dialog...In the line of JRPGs or w/e...

Need for demo
-futuristic sprites/enemies
--maybe just some humans, some robots

 

[Injury]

 

[Injury]

Just worked on the intro, creepy sound stuff. Fun fun fun!

 

[Injury]

Working title...will be released later tonight. I have to thank coyotecraft for the sparks! Woot!

 

[Injury]

Very...VERY SHORT demo added. It features the basic premise, battle system, atmosphere and puzzle elements.

Please offer feedback here as I want to make this an enjoyable experience for those who play it.

Thank you!
Edit: Updated to new demo link!
http://www.plaidapplestudios.com/hbg/demo002.rar

-Minor updates to tileset priority
-Added screen shots

 

[Injury]

The demo is still short, but its way more customized in terms of sound.

-Custom sound tracks added.
-Minor graphics updates.
-Fixed some bugs.
-Made the enemies harder.
-Changed some text.

Please try it out and let me know what you think! I really think I've captured the atmosphere. I want to add more, but I need feedback.

 

[Stardust]

I'll get around to trying out the demo sometime this weekend! :3 I would test it sooner, but work keeps me very occupied during the week, unfortunately.

 

[Jason]

So I just downloaded the demo, went to play it, and it told me I don't have the .dll file... oh yeah I forgot I don't have XP anymore, how gay of me! D: Gonna' "get" XP then I'll try the demo :thumb:

 

[coyotecraft]

It'll crash every time I enter a battle.

I was sure you were using the floor tile wrong. I couldn't figure out how to use the tileset actually, so I found the artist that created it on DA to see how they would use it. Er, i don't think they really knew what to do about the floor either.
Might give you some clues, plus there are some character-sets for the doors and stuff that I don't think you have.
http://mataraelfay.deviantart.com/gallery/

 

[Injury]

@coyotecraft-Thanks! That will help for sure. I get the error too. It probably has to do with the AI path finding. I'm going to work on it in a bit here. Looking at that art, he really didn't know how to use the floor...
EDIT: Patched up. Uploading now. @085010JAN2014

I hope you enjoy it! It's really short. I just wanted to explore this idea.

Things to focus on while playing:

-Atmosphere
--Is it creepy/edgy? (As much as an RMXP game could be, this early)
-Storyline
--Where do you think it will go? Do you enjoy the premise so far?
-Artwork/Graphics
--Does the artwork/graphics used add to the realism of this universe?

In the Army, we do AAR (After Action Review) so I'll do one here as well...

-What did I set out to do?
--Create a working demo to establish the base idea of this game

-Did we do that?
--Yes, as far as it can be pushed for just a demo

-What are some things you would change?
--3D. Better graphics engine. Establish more of the storyline. More custom sound tracks.

-What are some things you want to keep the same?
--The creepiness is there, I just wonder what else can be done. Flickering lights and stuff. I want to add some lightmapping, but if I could transition to 3D somehow, it would be CREEPIER.

Please offer your feedback. I apologize for the bug in the battle system. It's not my own.

EDIT: Uploading minor graphics fix. Standby for transmission.