Mars Underground (demo updated 7 July 2016)

[Kilgore Trout]

Mars has just moved to a new city with his family. It's his first day at a new school.
Except every day is his first day at a new school.
Every morning Mars wakes up and relives the same day.
Every night the world ends.

Features

• Do anything you want in a consequence free world!
  Dynamic music that took ages to program and will be unnoticed by 99% of players!
  NBS battle system (No Battle System) - this is an adventure/exploration/puzzle game. It has no combat!

Explore Phobos City
Solve the mysteries of Phobos City and try to escape the timeloop!

Interact with the charming and witty citizens! Make friends!

Relive the same day over and over: almost as tedious as real life!

About Me and Influences
Hi, I'm Matt and I've been making this thing.
I've been playing around with software like RPG Maker since the late 90s trying to make my own game.
Mars Underground initially started after finding out a new RPG Maker engine was coming out. I checked out the DLC graphics packs available and was particularly taken by "Old School Modern" by Jason Perry.
At first I started planning on making a game that was largely Earthbound inspired. As a twist I thought I'd set it in a timeloop. Eventually I removed all the RPG elements and made it into an "adventure" game. I've been heavily influenced by the classic LucasArts adventures.
I have also always loved the way Zelda games open up as you play them. It's a feeling I'm trying to capture in my own game. As you unlock topics and gain items you can get to new places and have different experiences.
Dynamic/reactive music has been a passion of mine since listening to the music of Monkey Island 2 on a decent soundcard. I've been trying to make the music in my game as "dynamic" as possible using events.
Outside of video games I'd say Mars Underground is influenced by movies like Groundhog Day and Donnie Darko and novelists like Philip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut (that's where my user name "Kilgore Trout" comes from).


Demo (updated 30 March 2016)
Play online: http://www.indiexpo.net/en/games/mars-underground-demo
Download (PC): http://rpgmaker.net/games/8513/

Credits

Graphics
Old School Modern, Fall Tiles and Time Fantasy by Jason Perry
Pop! Horror City by Vexed Enigma
RPG Maker DS+
Modern Shop by Lunarea

Scripts
TerraxLighting: Terrax
MVCommons: Zalerian, Ramiro, Hudell, Dekita
TDDP PreloadManager and FluidTimestep: Tor Damian Design / Galenmereth
WebAudioCache and AdvancedMenus: orlando
ChangeTileSize and MV Smart Path: Shaz
DMV Core and DMV MapButtons: Dekita (http://www.dekyde.com)
Copyright (C) 2015 - Dekyde Studios
Dekyde Studios Developer: Dekita - dekita(at)dekyde.com
YEP CoreEngine, MainMenuManager, RegionRestrictions, MessageCore and X-ExtMesPack1: Yanfly
SilvSkipTitle: Silver
MBS SmoothScroll and MapZoom: Masked
TTKC EventBaloonAlert and TTK ChoicesCursor: Fogomax
Orange EventHitboxes and InstantTrigger: Orange
Hime ConditionalChoices, HiddenChoiceConditions, LargeChoices and DisabledChoiceConditions: Hime --> HimeWorks (http://himeworks.com)

font
Xeliard by Alex G.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Demo updated 20 March 2016

Updates
-Made improvements for touch devices
-Enabled AdvancedMenus plugin by orlando
-Moved all choice menus to centre of screen
-Added descriptions to more items
-Added poop and toilets...
-Added more music
-Added more sound effects
-Improved sound levels mix
-Various tweaks and improvements

 

[SimplyEasy]

I'm not done yet, but it's pretty cool so far. Reminds me of the movie "Groundhog" day.

A few things I've noticed...

- The intro is reallly long. Way to long. I know you're just establishing the repeat, but to go that long with out being able to do anything is really tedious. I'm just concerned nobody will get past the intro, I swear it's like 10-15 minutes. lol. That's a long time to have no control over your character. Maybe make it so you can explore a little bit, or do... anything.

- I know it's a tileset thing, but the characters in the classroom walk right up to the desk. Looks like they are taking up the same space. Just looks really weird.
- It's strange that the bus turns and blocks the entire road. It should stay pointed in the same direction.
- Same as the light on the bus at night. Shouldn't it point forward, like headlights?

I love the retro era graphics and style. I also love the choices you can make.

Overall, not bad. I'd have no problem playing this straight through. Keep it coming.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to have a look at my game.

- The intro is reallly long. Way to long. I know you're just establishing the repeat, but to go that long with out being able to do anything is really tedious. I'm just concerned nobody will get past the intro, I swear it's like 10-15 minutes. lol. That's a long time to have no control over your character. Maybe make it so you can explore a little bit, or do... anything.

I think this is a good call. I've been debating with myself about chopping down the intro. I've just tried it with most of the school day part cut out and I think it's a lot less tedious.
I'll have a look at the graphic issues you've raised (added to my big list!) and see what changes can be made there.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Demo updated 30 March 2016:

-Shortened "default cycle" by removing most of the school section
-Now using 16x16 tilesets
-All events are now triggered by "player touch"
-Graphics tweaks
-Gameplay tweaks

Download (PC): http://rpgmaker.net/games/8513/
Online: http://www.indiexpo.net/en/games/mars-underground-demo

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Demo updated 7-July-2016
-Can play through the entire day!
-More locations. More things to do. More music. More everything.
-Can travel on bus. Reach locations: Phobos City, Pac Street, Moloch Headquarters
-Use of Jay’s VariableMix plugin for dynamic music crossfades
-Removed icon pop-ups
-Dialogue choices now use HMSChoiceDisplayMode
-Note: Current web demo does not run well on mobile devices
-Note: “Quit” crashes game in web demo

Download (PC): http://rpgmaker.net/games/8513/
Online: http://www.indiexpo.net/en/games/mars-underground-demo