Envision, Create, Share

Welcome to HBGames, a leading amateur game development forum and Discord server. All are welcome, and amongst our ranks you will find experts in their field from all aspects of video game design and development.

[NEW DEMO 24/7/08] Ethereal Memory - Chapter 1, Below The World Above

***Updates and notes***

22/7/08 - New demo added along with two new youtube videos of Brightfall's Bay and a maze dungeon test.
23/7/08 - Fixed Demo bugs and edited chapter1 story.
24/7/08 - Changed the screenshots + fixed the demo
21/8/08 - Edited the storyline and character description page and added King Davous, Queen Quwen, Tulcen, Ashsa and Runfrid.
24/12/08 - Created a survey and would love feedback to progress on the game. Link below.

Link To Progressing Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NaJYdnwDswnvpyn0iXUqUw_3d_3d

Storyline

The story follows some characters on their journey through Mysta, a fantasy world with magic and mystical weapons. As the story progresses these characters meets become closely attached to one another while meeting other characters with wide personalities, fight the beasts of Mysta, gain creative weapons such as the tiger scratcher, visit towns, gain party members with classes never seen in fantasy games before (such as the Xialgus), travel fields from beautiful landscapes to dried deserts, and most importantly finding out there is far more to the world they live in than they could ever imagined before, and eventually wishing they never knew so much.

Chapter1 storyline

Chapter 1, Below the world above, takes place in the town called Brightfalls, where Ralph lives with his sister Jennifer. The entire chapter revolves around Ralph wanting to leave Brightfalls and helping out the locals of the town to do so. When he sneaks into the castle to try and convince Dwenna he must leave, he gets mistaken as a theif and the guards go chasing him. After a little confusion Ralph is told he must find Princess Qwara whom has recently visited a cave full of beasts before he may leave the town. Shortly after searching the cave of mysteries where she apparently was, Ralph finds her. But some unexpected events occur on the way back to Brightfalls. On top of this Jennifer has gone to investigate the strange noises being heard within the Tarkee Forest, and it seems the beasts are getting more aggressive then usual. Something else is in plans by an unknown force. Can Ralph, or anyone for that matter, do anything to stop it?

Characters

There are a wide range of characters within Mysta. I'll list the main ones from the first chapter.

Ralph is the main character of the first chapter and possibly the remaining few. After watching his village, Tuku, getting attacked by the beasts of Mysta at a young age and then later in life hearing the mysterious news of his mother Lucie dying by beasts, it is no surprise he feels the need to explore the rest of Mysta. He has stayed living in Brightfalls, a town ruled by King Davous Dreadful who seems to do nothing good nor bad to this area. Now that Jennifer has grown up at last Ralph hopes to be able to leave Brightfalls in search for others he once knew and possibly his father. Ralph, like many undecided, is extremely curious about the world he lives in. He wishes to find out where the beasts come from and hopes to find a solution to removing them forever. Though he acts nothing like it, Ralph is strong and brave and nobody could ever say he’s lifeless. Will his journey change this in anyway? What will he discover outside in the world of Mysta?

Jennifer is Ralph’s slightly younger sister. Just like Ralph, she has suffered through the same dark past, but now she’s living in Brightfalls and nothing will stop her enjoying this local sunny area. Jennifer always tries to look on the bright side of life and enjoys chatting with others. She has made friends with everyone around her and believes she has everything she could ever want right in font of her. She worries for Ralph sometimes as she can not understand what he is always thinking. After trying so hard in the past to cheer him up she’s almost given up hope that he will ever be extremely happy again. Though she keeps on trying. One thing for sure, Jennifer is most afraid of the beasts within Mysta, never wanting to go near them again. She has a humorous personality and many say she seems like a sign of hope much like her mother did.

Kyrath is roughly the same age as Ralph give or take a few months. Ever since Ralph moved to Brightfalls the two have been bullying one another. When together as Ashsa tends to point out to Jennifer, they act like huge idiots. Ralph and Kyrath have both ended up in the Inn beds for weeks due to there fighting. Kyrath seems to have some sort of crush on Jennifer, though Jennifer tends to avoid him if possible. Ralph believes Kyrath to be the town thief who has been stealing all the stuff which goes missing in the town, as Ralph weaknesses him stealing a bucket. Though nobody else in the town have accused him yet and believe Ralph is simply paranoid with this idea. It seems Ralph is never any match for Kyrath, for with his Pirate Sword, Ralph always gets defeated. Will Ralph ever be able to beat Kyrath? Can anyone at all beat Kyrath? Or is he really as strong as he makes out?

Dwenna is brightfall’s healer. She is rather young for a healer and probably in her 20 which is extremely surprising. Almost all healers are in there 60’s to 80’s. Though Brightfalls tends to have miracle water which can’t seem to be found anywhere else. This helped Dwenna have advantages when she was training. She is always healing Ralph and Kyrath due to the injuries that they make and has had almost enough of all the trouble they cause. Though from appearance she seems kind, gentle and sweet, when Dwenna gets angry she can turn, unexpectedly, vicious rather suddenly. She lives within the kingdom of brightfalls (Kingdom Hydra) as her power for healing others makes her seem far more important to King Davous. It seems the guards obey Dwenna, which suggests she has power over the town of brightfalls just like the king. Dwenna use to get on really well with Ralph’s mother after they moved here. Unfortunately and shockingly it seemed her magical healing could not restore Lucie as she died.

Lanarra and her sister Bella have lived in brightfalls their entire life. Lanarra worries everyday for Bella as she believes Bella that she will die by fighting for the king. Her parents who are long dead were warriors of Brightfalls and she seems to think she should not take on the position of a warrior as it seems pointless to her. She is trying to study the healing in hopes she can heal others one day, but has made almost no progress. Sometimes what she thinks in her mind accidentally gets said out loud. She seems to seem rude by first appearance but she doesn’t notice herself how rude she can be. She tries to be gentle and sweet as her nature is kind. She is absolutely in love with the nature of Mysta and along with it’s plants. She wishes the beasts would leave the Tarkee Forest so she can investigate into it’s nature. She is also the first character introduced appearing to be upset for what is to come.

Bella is a very strong warrior who always fights beasts to defend Brightfalls. Much like Dwenna the king asked if she wanted to live within the kingdom, however due to Lanarra living in Brightfalls she refused the offer but thanked him. She believes fighting for Brightfalls in right as it is her who is keeping the town from being attacked by beasts. She feels very annoyed with both, her sister Lanarra and her brother Drake and believes they both need to step up as warriors instead of being cowards, though she has not seen Drake in years. She has been asked by the king to try and remove the Gubba’s which have infected Brightfall’s local cave (Cave of mysterious). Without question she goes off to do so, however just before leaving has a small argument with Lanarra who is pleading her not to go.

Princess Qwara has always been spoilt since the day she was born. She always gets her own way and whatever she wants. She spends most her time wondering around Brightfalls after sneaking outside her kingdom, as she gets bored being locked in there all day. Recently she has gone missing and the king believes she has been kidnapped. Nobody seems to really care about the matter other then the king and queen, since nobody likes her. Queen Quwen seems desperately worried of what may have happened to her. Unfortunately most of the guards seem to have become dumb and don’t notice when she sneaks off to the cave of mysteries. It seems for an unknown reason there is a plot by a unknown group to kidnap her.

King Davous IIV is the ruler of Brightfalls. He is a very impatient and easy to anger. He never let his daughter go anywhere as being his only child so far, he always worry what might happen to her. Davous seems to just….exist. He never is mentioned doing anything useful for Birghtfalls, nor anything bad. It seems he is a lazy pig as others like to put it. Though the fact he does not let the people of Brightfalls ever leave without permission he almost never grants, suggests either he cares enough to protect them from the beast or knows he must keep people in Brightfalls to rule a Kingdom.

Queen Quwen is a very cunning women. She always spoils her daughter as that is her only child. She tends to enjoy making potions in her free time for Brightfalls. Though her potion making is dreadful no one in Brightfalls dares tell her in fear she will have there head for criticizing her. She seems to spend most her days alone in the king’s room on the third floor of the castle.

Runfrid is Ralph and Jennifer’s father. Very little is known about him as he ran away when Ralph and Jennifer were young. Lucie use to tell them stories of how brave and loyal he was battling the beasts of Mysta. She said he was a knight. Jennifer has forgotten all about him but Ralph hopes to find Runfrid one day. Ralph questions how someone so brave and loyal could run away when they were in desperate need of his protection and wish he asked Lucie more questions when she was still alive. Though everyone in Brightfalls knows and adored Lucie, no one ever met Runfrid. It is suggested Runfrid may still be a knight working for a royal family in a kingdom far away. Is this at all possibly true? Are there really anymore kingdoms in Mysta other then Brightfalls, or are the travellers lying?

Ashsa is one of the longest civilized member of the town Brightfalls. She is expecting to live there her entire life. Though she has a wide knowledge of the world of Mysta she tends to keep most of it to herself. Ralph often speaks to Ashsa whenever he gets the chance as she too is curious of where the beasts came from. Her best friend would be Bella as she often invited her around for tea. Lanarra usually comes too as Ashsa has many flowers and fruit growing around her house. Ashsa is very grateful for the conditions she lives in and feels peaceful in town. She seems to know her magic, and must of studied it in the past. No one ever has questioned Ashsa of it.

Tulcen has a wide interest in swords, helmets and hammers. He lives within brightfalls and works at the store part time selling these. He spends most his time reading books on warriors or talking to the people around him. Though very little is known about him, he seems to disappear when Lanarra asked Ralph to find him and it seems he starts mysteriously stalking Ralph.


Screenshots (New as of 24/7/08)



Credits

***Story Design***

-Ideas-

Spin
Sunny
Friendly
Lindsey
Mira
Sindri
J8stine

-Story-

Spin
Lindsey
Sunny

-Graphics-

D*M
http://www.vilamakers.com
http://usui.moo.jp
Facemaker tool
Edits by Spin

-Character & Classes creation-

Spin
Friendly
Sunny
Lindsey

***Music***

Vido Games & Songs across the internet.

***Scripts***

-Battle side view system-

RPG Tankentai Sideview Battle System Version 2.6
Translation Version 1.3 by Kylock

-Side view system addons-

Kylock's Bow Addon
Kylock's Gun Addon
Kylock's Dual Attack
Kylock's Double Attack
Kylock's Triple Attack
Kylock's Epic Battle
Kylock's Stationary Enemies
Kylock's Enemy Animated Battlers
Dargor Large Party Script
Overdrive system by KGC_OverDrive. Maintained by Touchfuzzy
Moghunter's battlebacks
Skill shop by Nechigawara Sanzenin

-Menu and map scripts-

Item Price Changer by Woratana
NMS Beta 3 by Woratana
Window Skin Changer by Woratana
Fog feature scripted by Havendor edited by Jirbytaylor
Moghunter's menu status
Emoticon on Face by Nechigawara Sanzenin
Kylock's Light Effects VX originally for XP by Near Fantastica
Press Start by Gando
Jirbytaylor/Jaabi & Yeyinde's World Map script
Advanced Files by Dargor
Map location by Moghunter Edited by Erzengel

***Speical Thanks & Contacts***

http://www.rmxp.org
(Other links will appear here in the game.)

More details

Check out the webblog which I update every once in a while.
http://pcrpg.wordpress.com

I have a few videos too.

Ralph VS Kyrath battle test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVo56znja70

Ralph cutting weeds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfTxfcSxbmc

Battle beta testing with fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB0a1kev8fg

Beta testing the potion shop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bWxD4OhImQ

Beta testing Brightfall's Bay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_YVMFUBQfU

Beta testing Tunnel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-s0OLVY6VQ

If anyone has any idea's please share them, I'll be more then happy to listen.


DEMO LINK
What needed of RTP includes! Roughly 30MBs
http://rapidshare.com/files/132137477/EtherealMemory_ch1.exe.html
 
Dadevster":2fqp5vsy said:
When I clicked the videos, it sent me to Youtube and said the URLs had a "Malformed Video ID". You might want to fix that up.
How odd. I'll try and resolve that now. Thank you for telling me. xP

Edit: That should be sorted now.
 
The weed cutting video and the beta fish thing lead to the same video.  :tongue:

I suppose I should comment instead of simply telling you about the videos. Reading your story, it's a tiny bit cliche (how the hero wants to leave his hometown) Still, it could play out to be very nice. Also, the mapping is decent. But you put many screenshots of basically the same thing. (two of the title screen, three of the intro on the same map, except different messages.) Also, I've sort of taken a disliking to Face Maker facesets. Not that I think the games that use them are bad, I just don't really like them that much. Surprisingly, however, the Face Maker faces and the RTP faces don't clash too much.

Anyway, good luck!
 
Dadevster":3itdhgd0 said:
The weed cutting video and the beta fish thing lead to the same video.  :tongue:

I suppose I should comment instead of simply telling you about the videos. Reading your story, it's a tiny bit cliche (how the hero wants to leave his hometown) Still, it could play out to be very nice. Also, the mapping is decent. But you put many screenshots of basically the same thing. (two of the title screen, three of the intro on the same map, except different messages.) Also, I've sort of taken a disliking to Face Maker facesets. Not that I think the games that use them are bad, I just don't really like them that much. Surprisingly, however, the Face Maker faces and the RTP faces don't clash too much.

Anyway, good luck!
I agree with you on the facesets but I prefer to have facesets which can show different emotions rather then the same faces and I find face maker the easiest way to do that xP

Sorry about the problem with the videos o.O I don’t know why they keep coming out with odd links.

This rpg game does have a lot of cliché themes such as a princess getting kidnapping however I’m hoping it will still be fun to play and we plan to include a few plot twists from the usual themes.

I agree with you on the screenshots too, they do look almost exactly the same and I plan to upload better ones once I am done with a few more events.

Thanks so much for the comments/feedback.


Edit: I've fixed all the youtube links.
 
Bump, I've added a demo and two new youtube videos. Sorry about the not so great screenshots, I'll try and add better ones when I have time.

Edit: I am sorry for all the bugs etc. A new demo link has been uploaded. Please download the game from that. Fonts and whatever else needed to play the game is now included.
 
I've got problem: on title screen, in in-game menu and in-battle... Every where there I have no text! How it is possible? Maybe font doesn't suit (in you movies on YouTube the font it this 'sections' is "Monotype Corsiva - at least it looks like it)? Could you help me?
 
I am sorry everyone. I really should of updated this long ago. I'm reworking on my project to fix all the bugs and such.
One of the first things which will help this game become a lot better would be filling in the survey I created.
Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NaJYdnwDswnvpyn0iXUqUw_3d_3d

As that will help me decide where I will now go with the project. Hopefully I didn't disappoint anyone.
I will show new screens, new videos, new content etc etc as soon as this survey reaches it's limit number of responses or expires. ^^

@Exrallan That's one of the bugs I will get fixing soon.

@Kaimi The font was invitation in case you may want to use it for your project.
 
I think that I have posted bad info of what I mean - I have the same prob like Exrallan.
Sorry if I make it a little strange...
 

Thank you for viewing

HBGames is a leading amateur video game development forum and Discord server open to all ability levels. Feel free to have a nosey around!

Discord

Join our growing and active Discord server to discuss all aspects of game making in a relaxed environment. Join Us

Content

  • Our Games
  • Games in Development
  • Emoji by Twemoji.
    Top