Gun Sage (may contain mature content)

[gunsage]

UPDATED - 9/11/2009

This is a game idea I've been enthusiastic about and has only grown since I was...probably about 14. That was 12 years ago. To reiterate, I've been drawing and writing ideas for games I've had ever since I was 5. For something to stick with me that long shows you how important it is to me, but I'm definitely wanting constructive criticism here. Anyway, here goes...

Spoiler: Story Basics

This is actually set up to be a 5 book series with this plot centering around the 3rd book. That sounds a little involved, but not really when you consider the 1st book details a 100 year war (World War 3) which takes place from 2058 - 2158 AD involving struggle for power over a rare element that eventually leads to mutant standoff and finally finishes up with mutants turning on their masters, almost completely obliterating the human race. The 2nd book centers around the first gun sage which, while an interesting topic in and of itself, is not a very long book. I was thinking maybe these books could be done as turn-based strategies with multiple scenarios and such, if the first game takes off.

ANYWAY :P ...after WW3, there was a brief period of anarchy that led to the creation of the New World Government, or NWG. The original purpose of the NWG was to drive the mutants away from towns and act as a temporary form of government while the world slowly regenerated. Unfortunately, this intent turned sour quite quick and they became corrupt. However, they were unchallengeable as they had assumed complete control of cloning technology and with it, super soldier technology. After several failed uprisings, in 2175 AD the NWG had assumed almost complete control and began scouring the planet for any potential threats to their power.

They stumble upon a military base long forgotten: The Upper Himalayan Military Base, where testing was done during the war to find a common weakness in the mutants. As a side note, the first gun sage sacrificed his life in a final standoff against the mutants to bring civilians and soldiers alike from a ruined military base near the base of the mountain up to the UHM Base back in 2158. We switch to our main character, Daniel, a 17 year old underachiever who aspires to be a gun sage only because his father is acting captain of the gun sages which is about the only reason he gets away with his attitude about classwork.

What attitude? Well, when the game starts, he's sleeping, yet again, through class and is held after for detention. The game deliberately starts slow, but immediately picks up when the NWG storms the front and Daniel gets caught up in the ensuing fight. Overwhelmed, Daniel makes a break for it. Depending on who you've befriended, certain classmates will join and others you will find, often dead or dying at the hands of the NWG soldiers. I've done this to deliberately establish character in those that you meet, complete with plenty of interactions and possible side missions well before the assault, then RIP it all away from the player to show them that ANYTHING can happen.

All in all, the first chapter alone is chock full of trauma, eventually leading up to Daniel pursuing the NWG forces on a quest for revenge. Along the way he'll learn what it really means to be a gun sage and mature as both a man and a true gun sage. He will develop love interests and lose some of them, yet again, at the hands of the NWG as a constant reminder that they're not going to go away and he must focus on them at all times. A lot of the game revolves, therefore, around revealing the NWG for what they are and starting successful revolutions to route their forces from an area and establish militias to keep them out.

Spoiler: Features

With an ambitious story must come ambitious ideas for the engine. There are easily hundreds of things I want to do to modify the engine. Among my ideas are hacking, wall running, interrogation scenes, developing militias via a sim-like system, safe havens, workout centers, libraries, dojos, branching skill trees, skills that build by using them, crossover skills, various fighting styles that promote different skills, different types of guns that promote different skills, the ability to create weapons, a Dark Cloud-like weapon upgrade system, and probably a whole lot else that I can't quite remember right now.

The most important philosophy that I want to have I'm not sure RPG Maker XP can satisfy, but I'm willing to give it a shot...

"What you do is who you are."

A simple philosophy, really. If you punch, you get better at punching, sure. However, the arm you used to punch gets better at punching. The muscles used for the punching get better. The different support skills and stats that are applied to the punch also get better. The idea is that anytime you do something, a lot of factors come into play, but often only one of those factors (maybe) gets rewarded. That's not very realistic. Say I punched a punching bag for an hour. Yeah, I'd understand punching a little better, but a lot went into that, so there's a bit of crossover as well.

I'm hoping that through crossover skills, a lot will be achieved. An idea of a crossover skill is this...

1. Within the aikido stance, you learn the reversal support skill which, while equipped with said stance, allows for a higher amount of countering.
2. Within the boxing stance, you learn the triple punch technique. It's a basic combo that's basically three punches in rapid succession.
3. After getting the reversal support skill up to level 2 and triple punch up to level 5, counter punch is learned.
4. Counter punch is a boxing only support skill that enhances the countering abilities within the boxing stance that counters with a single punch.

The idea is if you were just working on the boxing stance, you'd learn just the boxing stuff. If you were working on the aikido stance, you'd only learn aikido stuff. However, if you learn a little of both, you'll get certain skills, both support and technical, that you wouldn't normally get. Anyway, I realize I'm rambling a bit here, but what do you guys think so far? Interesting or same ol, same ol?

Progress so far

- Chapter 1's story is in the completion stages. I already know approximately what I want to have happen. I've already begun thinking about Chapter 2.
- Mapping for the residential quarter and all domiciles therein is complete and has been rigorously tested.
- Mapping for the hydroponic gardens and all domiciles therein is complete and has been rigorously tested.
- I have added various effects such as bleeding, ablaze, frozen, and more.
- I have added various elements such as pierce, blunt, physical, mental, psychic, holistic, scientific, gunplay, and more.
- I have added the ability to level most skills to level 3. After level 3, your experience is collected, but unused for the techniques until you have "earned" your right to the next tier, which will be worked out in chapter 2.
- You can work out at workout centers to improve Daniel as you see fit. I also have it set up to where you will eventually beef up your styles by doing this, though I'm still researching a way to just improve the style by using it instead, so this is more of a temporary feature.
- You're able to leaf through books on book cases to increase EXP for certain skills and learn new support skills.
- You can recruit people within the first chapter are dependent upon whether or not you win a certain fight. The dungeon you face after the Hydroponic Gardens is affected by this as well, meaning there's multiple pathways and unique dialogue options depending on performance in a variety of ways.
- Development of the Old Armory is underway.
- Development has not begun on the Sewers or Upper Levels, but that's pretty much all that's left for the chapter.

Feature-wise, there's still a lot that needs done. Plot-wise, I'm ahead of schedule. Once the first chapter is done, I plan to release a "full" demo.

New demo available! Last update - 9/11/2009

File 1
File 2

Please keep in mind that this is a very VERY early build, but I at least wanted you guys to see what I was up to. B)

 

[JD_Slasha]

Please read up on rules next time. Since you have screenshots this actually belongs in Project Discussion and not Concept Development. I'll move it for you.

 

[gunsage]

Oh, sorry about that!

 

[Despain]

The title got me really excited. I mean "GUN SAGE" sounds fucking awesome. And then the MATURE CONTENT warning. I was seriously ready to come into this thread and see some kickass cyberpunk project.

Instead it's just generic rtp garbage. good luck or whatever

 

[gunsage]

On the one hand I appreciate you taking the time to read over my story and see the still in development screens, but I'm a little confused as far as your response.  The first area is a military base, so it's deliberately minimalistic.  Most of what's interesting in the game is the actual game itself, which I plan to have a demo of when I've gotten through the first chapter.  As far as mature content, well, no there really isn't anything like that just yet other than foul language.  The primary reason I threw that warning in there is I plan to have a fair amount of violence.

And to be fair, cyberpunk isn't necessarily the same as post-apocalyptic.  They often overlap, but they're not entirely the same.  For example, would you claim Wild ARMS is cyberpunk?  In any case, I suppose I should have expected a response like this since I just started on it, again, from scratch a little over a week ago.  I plan to have more screens and a demo shortly.  If anyone else has further constructive feedback about the screenshots, screenshot requests, need me to develop more on the storyline, etc., I'd be more than happy to do so.

 

[Despain]

I didn't say anything about the apocalypse factor. I was just talking about how the title is off-putting when compared to the screenshots.

Absolutely nothing about the RTP says "gun" (even the default gunner class doesn't FEEL like it has anything to do with guns). I think that a lot of this comes from the atmosphere that the RTP graphics are giving you. It's horribly restricting, but the description sets the game up for something that the graphics simply do not support at aoll.

 

[Dewoor]

You MUST work much on your mapping, some tiles are used wrongly, (I mean, for example, half 'H' shaped tables, rooftops used as walls, etc. The title screen is a low quality nothing, just a red text on the blank black crap.
Oh, and if ya wanna be ,,post-apocalyptic", and if you want guns and zombies, then forget the RTP  :dead:

 

[Anonymous]

Half H shaped tables exist, cupcake, and using the rooftop tile for the bit on top of something is hardly using it inappropriately.

 

[gunsage]

I do plan on using more and better tilesets, that's for sure.  Mostly what I'm trying to point out is that there are LOTS of character interactions possible which will make up, at least in the first chapter, certain custom stats about your character.  I'm also not quite understanding what you mean by rooftops used as walls or half H-shaped tables.  For starters, the tables mentioned there are for a schoolhouse, so in my opinion, they don't look out of place or poorly designed.  Were you referring to the teacher's desk?  I guess I'm not really understanding what looks "wrong" about that.

As far as rooftops used for walls...huh?  Also, I never mentioned there would be zombies.  There are mutants, but perhaps I should clarify.  Mutants were used in the war more or less as war dogs.  They were hybrid animals that now make up modern day monsters.  Look, as is, there's maybe 15 minutes of gameplay.  I plan on updating the screenshots and music list as I go.

 

[Dewoor]

Half H shaped tables exist, but not with these type of legs. Well, at least I've never seen one  :huh:
But you are right about rooftops. My bad, I didn't figure out where are they standin (Because From that crappy map I couldn't figure out where the heck they are)

gunsage, I said that they are zombies, because you used the basic rtp zombie monster on a screenshot.

Y'know, I check out screenshots first. If they look good, then I will read the story, because I know that it will worth the time. Your screenshots didn't make it worth reading, so I didn't know that they are mutants. Sorry.
Good luck on finding new tilesets, and good luck on developing.

 

[mawk]

I strongly suggest against using so many lyrical pieces in your game's soundtrack. Good backrground music will define the atmosphere but not steal the show -- what's going on onscreen should be as important as the music. A lyrical piece won't mesh very well with tiny little sprites making their merry way through a bright and cartoony world. I appreciate that you're probably just plugging in whichever songs are your favourites, but you should give more thought to the general feel you want, and how a specific piece would fit in with that atmosphere. Lyrical pieces can work if used sparingly (to convey a special sense of urgency or emotion,) but not so well when more than three quarters of your songs are mainstream metal.

 

[SorcerGamble2]

i'd be more gentle... but you said urself ur about my age so you can take the painfull truth.

You said you've had this 'vision' of creating this apocalyptic game for over 14 years now.  Does your vision really match the RTP?  If RTP is used well enough, i can get over it - i recently played a tactics type strategy game that only used RTP and I was still impressed with the mapping.  This mapping is clean and spacious and uncluttered and ... well, happy.  Not exactly what you would expect in a post-apocalyptic world trying to rebuild itself.  Ya, ya, is the clean inside of a military installation.  Ok, so use a tileset that conveys -military- because this one does not.  Have you seen some of the title screens that people on this board have made?  Have you downloaded and played any of the more popular titles in the Completed Games thread?  I would guess that you havn't just based on your title screen alone.  In this 'vision' that you have had for the past fourteen years, did you 'see' just red brush stroked letters on a black background?  You said it urself, "Standard Opening Battle": putting aside that he's using a crossbow and will presumably get a real Gun later in the game... does the standard zombie RTP really fit ur vision?  If so, is it the only bad guy we are going to see in your game?  Because there is only one RTP zombie.  In your fourteen year vision of this game, did your main character really wear a buckskinner leather pants and leather shirt and a bandana that makes him look like he has either befriended or killed american indians?

You can get RTP points for doing a lot of things:  using screen tone and fogs to give the RTP a different feeling.  Using RTP in an original way.  Making RTP edits and frankenspriting.  Doing an exception job of mapping with it, etc.  But you havn't scored any of these points.  Jeez man, there are even post-apocalyptic tilesets out there... just look on Zanyora's resource site for at least one small one.  And i'm guessing ur working with all RTP.  

 

[gunsage]

I strongly suggest against using so many lyrical pieces in your game's soundtrack. Good backrground music will define the atmosphere but not steal the show -- what's going on onscreen should be as important as the music. A lyrical piece won't mesh very well with tiny little sprites making their merry way through a bright and cartoony world. I appreciate that you're probably just plugging in whichever songs are your favourites, but you should give more thought to the general feel you want, and how a specific piece would fit in with that atmosphere. Lyrical pieces can work if used sparingly (to convey a special sense of urgency or emotion,) but not so well when more than three quarters of your songs are mainstream metal.

I see what you're getting at, except, here's some better clarification.

Down Again starts off with nice instrumentals and stays that way for a good minute or so.  Now, theoretically I could've just chopped it after that point so it would just convey that part, but I kept the entire track anyway.  It's actually a pretty solid track.

Wasteland is used for the intro where it's explained how the world got in the state it's in.  It's a perfect track to convey despair, so it works for the whole post-apocalypic theme.

Army of Me is used for the nightmare battle against the yeti (yes, I used a zombie pic, but right now since I'm using the default RTP, that's all I've got).

The FF12 remix is used for a calming melody while you're supposed to be studying in detention, which you have the option of ditching.

The Ataris track is a nice, laidback rock track that's used for the base while it's still peaceful.

Everything else so far has been used for battle music.  I probably should've mentioned that because I really don't like the default RTP music.  Now yes, it's a bit ironic that I've worked on getting new and better music but not tilesets, but that's one of the many things I want to change slowly.  Right now, I'm just trying to work things out so that it will be fun, functional, and have a number of side quests and interactions going on with the main plot.  I'm trying to get the story and design going first because that's motivating to me.  By the way...

I suppose I should have expected a response like this since I just started on it, again, from scratch a little over a week ago.

Let me be completely honest.

- I don't have all the tilesets I want yet.
- The game doesn't have all the functionality I want yet.
- I don't feel I have enough music tracks in general, let alone varied tracks (though I do have an Excel spreadsheet of about 200 of them all categorized).
- I don't even necessarily have the people all saying exactly what I want them to say yet.

I attempted to put this in Concept Development even though it had screenshots simply because not even the first chapter is done, story-wise, and even once it is, I'm going to still have a lot of work to do to make it look "right."  It was moved.

i'd be more gentle... but you said urself ur about my age so you can take the painfull truth.

Alrighty, so let's go line by line.

Does your vision really match the RTP?

No.  Actually, I'd really like to make Gun Sage into a 3D 3rd person action/adventure with a strong RPG development base.  I'm developing this right now because I wanted to actually put my idea into more than just words on paper.  I don't know how to use 3D engines at all, but I have been using RPG Maker ever since RPG Maker 95, so I feel a little more comfortable with this.

Ok, so use a tileset that conveys -military- because this one does not

Okay, and I plan to.  As is, the residential quarter of the military base is actually done pretty well.  Deliberately minimalistic and calm.

Have you seen some of the title screens that people on this board have made?  Have you downloaded and played any of the more popular titles in the Completed Games thread?  I would guess that you havn't just based on your title screen alone.  In this 'vision' that you have had for the past fourteen years, did you 'see' just red brush stroked letters on a black background?

You know, you're absolutely right.  Why, I'd love to have a fully animated background complete with an anime interpretation of the main character (who only sort of resembles what I'm using for the main character now) shooting people, using martial arts, etc.  That'd be wonderful, except, I'm just an okay artist and certainly not an animator.  I slapped red text on a black background just so it wouldn't be the default.  I plan on doing more with it, but right now it is what it is.  And no, I haven't played any of the completed games...I only just joined up about a week ago.

You said it urself, "Standard Opening Battle": putting aside that he's using a crossbow and will presumably get a real Gun later in the game... does the standard zombie RTP really fit ur vision?  If so, is it the only bad guy we are going to see in your game?  Because there is only one RTP zombie.  In your fourteen year vision of this game, did your main character really wear a buckskinner leather pants and leather shirt and a bandana that makes him look like he has either befriended or killed american indians?

I really want to know now...where did anyone see that I said anything about zombies?  This is not a zombie, it is a yeti, or at least the closest thing the default RTP had as far as a zombie.  Right now, I'm working with defaults.  No, everything is not set up the way I want it.  I just want to get the layout for the first chapter ready as far as story, level design, interactions, etc.  Once I'm done with that, then it's a matter of changing things up and making them look more "appropriate."  At that point in time, I will have updated screenshots and a demo.

 

[mawk]

You're missing most of my point. Lyrical music does not mesh well with 2D video games when it's used almost exclusively. Contemporary songs are not meant to loop over and over in the background but to be a centerpiece, and they don't lend themselves well to mood-setting unless you're trying to sync them up with a cutscene, and even then it doesn't quite fit with the relatively inexpressive graphics. I'm not telling you to use the RTP music, I'm telling you to use music that fits its intended purpose.

And if you want to convey despair, for god's sakes convey it in your actual game. Not only is the city bright and clean, full of people with happy and colourful hair, but from the dialogue you wouldn't even be able to tell that it's supposed to be post-apocalyptic or whatever. Before reading the story, I thought that it was a standard high school RPG set in a cheerful little castle town.

 

[Phoenix]

Your "mature content" label doesn't seem fleshed out as far as I can see. Where's the blood in your screenshots? The gore? All we get to see is a zombie (yeti?) that is in every RTP game out there that's rated "E" by their creators.

Think about what mature content is and please post some of it. I want to see some so I know you're not lying.

 

[Xilef]

HAHA RTP!

The title got me really excited. I mean "GUN SAGE" sounds fucking awesome. And then the MATURE CONTENT warning. I was seriously ready to come into this thread and see some kickass cyberpunk project.

Same thought went through my head...
Get rid of the RTP. RTP + Lyrical music doesn't work either, so either lose the RTP and use your own original graphics or get some custom RTP styles and have midi music.

lolRTP!

EDIT: RTP isn't the only issue, the maps are very RMXPoo-ey. Cramp stuff in and lose the open spaces, look at other people's maps in the screenshot thread and copy what they're doing. Title screen should have been cut out of the list of screenshots, it's nothing to be proud of...MS Paint? Find GIMP and redo your title screen to a proffesional standard, or get someone else to do it for you.
You want this game to be unique and awesome, so get some scripts together and work out how to make awesome animated battles like from final fantasy and have facesets that show raw human emotion in your currently dry dialog.

 

[mawk]

it's not just the RTP, lyrical music doesn't fit with 2D games as a whole unless they're implemented REALLY WELL.

also, if all you have to say is "lolrtp," then get out. this isn't a spam topic.

 

[Xilef]

it's not just the RTP, lyrical music doesn't fit with 2D games as a whole unless they're implemented REALLY WELL.

also, if all you have to say is "lolrtp," then get out. this isn't a spam topic.

I had more to say just forgot what it was until just before you said that.
With the standard RTP you cant get the same blood pulsing feel that you get with lyrical tracks in other RMXP games. Lyrical music doesn't work with RTP ever. It can work with well designed 2D games (Although they are rare), but the point was that it never works in the RTP.

 

[mawk]

is there an echo in here?

 

[gunsage]

The mature content comes from the fact that the music has explicit lyrics, there will be blood (but currently there is not), and there is a little bit of language.  I thought I would put in a warning just in case.  It's a military base, there's nothing going on yet.  In the first few minutes of the game, you get to go around, explore the military base, interact with people, and get to learn the environment.  Story-wise...

Spoiler

An invasion from the NWG is getting ready to occur.  The reason there's as much peace as there is is because for several years this place has been well-guarded and since most mutants can't survive the harsh conditions, the guards have become complacent.  Orphans, civilians, and soldiers alike are able to live peacefully, but still aspire to eventually return to the world below.  When the invasion occurs, that's when I have to make the decision how much or how little violence there will be.

Find GIMP and redo your title screen to a proffesional standard

What is GIMP and what does it do?  Like I've said a number of times, I'm trying to make things functional first, flashy later.

You want this game to be unique and awesome, so get some scripts together and work out how to make awesome animated battles like from final fantasy and have facesets that show raw human emotion in your currently dry dialog.

This is a great idea, but for right now, I just want to proceed with the story.