Novostrana

[CountVlad]

http://www.freewebs.com/apokonline/Novo ... Shield.png[/IMG]

Well, I've been working on this game for a couple of months now and it is starting to take shape nicely. It's quite an ambitious project and the game should be released by April 2007. I have no knowledge of Ruby Scripting so I have only used a script to change the font. For the rest of the programming, I have been using common events and regular events.

Novostrana is a freeware Medieval Fantasy RPG.

Features:

• Time system with the time of day, date, time of year and which year you are in!
• Weather system where your geographical location and the time of year affects what the weather is like.
• Open ended gameplay where there is no obligation to do any of the game quests including the main storyline.
• Blood Loss system where if you get injured you start to lose blood.
• Hunger system so that you have to eat to survive!
• Banking system so that you can deposit gold and gain interest on it.
• Custom made HUD, Menus and Battle system.
• Customise your character by choosing your name, what you look like and your class.
• Reputation system where what you do for one faction will affect your standing with another.
• Story driven gameplay. All quests have a purpose and arn't just random things for you to do.
• Bet on a game of dice or maybe on a fight in the capital city's arena!
• Fight in the arena, if you think you're hard enough!
• A custom made levelling up system where your stats affect your health, magic and skill points.
• A fully interactive world where you can interact with almost anything including picking up knifes from tables and picking alchemy ingredients from trees and plants.
• Fast travel options so you don't have to roam the wilderness if you don't want to.
• Use your magic and skill to do alchemy!
• So far, there are 34 different weapons and 24 different pieces of armour. This number may increase.

The game is still in it's Alpha stages and most features are complete. However, some have not yet been implemented and are subject to change.

I have a site for the game: http://www.freewebs.com/apokonline/novostrana.htm

 

[CountVlad]

I take it it's of if I bump this topic, isn't it?

 

[~Atlaswing~]

Hmm.. Your features are present in the scripts also here in RMXP.org.. But you've done them all with EVENTS??! Cool..

You only showed the LOGO. Not even a title.
And any possible screenshots or any more info about the story itself?

 

[CountVlad]

Ok, here are some screenshots:

http://www.freewebs.com/apokonline/NovSC1.png

http://www.freewebs.com/apokonline/NovSC2.png

http://www.freewebs.com/apokonline/NovSC3.png

I'm not gonna put much more about the story because I want people to find it out for themselves by playing the game when it's done. Plus I haven't thought about the details of it yet.
It involves a demon who once lived in the middle-world who was bannished to the underworld for all time. He has now risen to take his vengence on the people of Novostrana! It is your job to make sure he doesn't get his way!

 

[~Atlaswing~]

I love the screenshots!

Good Luck with this!

 

[CorporateGreed]

Hmm.. Your features are present in the scripts also here in RMXP.org.. But you've done them all with EVENTS??! Cool..

Ah, this reminds me of when I still used rm2k...

Sounds good. I like the idea, but i can't help but feeling
that the rtp graphics you used don't feel medieval at all...

~Greed

 

[CountVlad]

Well, I'm not really a graphics person. The only graphics I can do are menu backgrounds, logos, etc. Also, I'm not really going for historical accuracy. However, if I find any good tilesets I may use them.

Thanks for your support, guys!

BTW, I used RM2k3 for about a year before I got my hands on RMXP. Thats why I use events. I can do everything I need to do with events so I can't really be bothered to learn how to do Ruby scripting.

 

[Totti]

Love the screenshots. could you tell use a bit about the game itself though?

 

[CountVlad]

Well, it's a game where you create and play a character who has been sent away from his/her homeland because of war. You now find yourself a refugee in the Kingdom of Novostrana, far from your homeland. Little do you suspect that you are about to enter into another war against all the powers of darkness!

Because I'm not all that far into development of the story and game world, there is a limit to what I can say because I'm making it up as I go along.
It's kinda a free-roam game where you have the option of following the story line only if you want to.

There are several guilds and factions in the game:

Novostrana Royal Family (Good)
Order of Wizards (Neutral)
Thieves Guild (Bad)
Merchants Guild (Good)
Explorers Guild (Good)
Warriors Guild (Neutral)
Pirates Guild (Bad)
Rogues Guild (Bad)

By the time I've finished the game, each faction should have at lease 10 quests each. There are also going to be some non-faction based quests along with the main storyline. So in total, there should be over 100 quests!
I'm going to try to make a bit of a back story to all of the quests and some of the guild quests will be linked together into a mini storyline.

 

[CountVlad]

Just a quick update.

Firstly, I have a new address for my site: http://www.apokstudios.net

Also, the new demo should be released tomorrow if all goes well. All thats left to do with the demo is add a few shops and do a bit of tweaking and it should be good to go!

 

[CountVlad]

I've found a major bug which will need to be fixed before I release the new demo. It may take a couple of days to do.

 

[CountVlad]

Sorry about the wait for the new demo, guys. It's taking longer than I thought, plus I've been quite busy recently. I'm now a fully qualified small-vessel VHF Radio Operator! lol.

The reason it's taking so long is that I'm having to do the menu without any Ruby Programming knowlege and I'm having to everything with variables. Also, I've been altering some of the graphics for the game to make them better. Furthermore, I've discovered several major bugs and I've had to redo some bits because I accidentally deleted some variables. I should have completed the demo in about a week with all menus working, customised shops, improved graphics and maps and a fully working battle system.
After that, unless any major bugs are discovered it is unlikely that I will release any further demos until the first BETA version, which will probably be in late February/March.

I will tell you when the new demo is done. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long.

 

[nancyheavilin]

HI! found yer note in Amaranthia about the new release date! thought I'd chase ya back here and leave a note!!

http://www.amaranthia.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1178&post_id=104828#forumpost104828

 

[CountVlad]

lol. Thanks for posting the link to this thread on Amaranthia. Anyway, for the benifit of you guys, here is what I posted on the other site (sorry for the lack of updates BTW):

Since the last update a lot has changed. I have added many new maps. There are now about 20 outside maps, but I have yet to do most of the indoor maps. I hope to have at least 30 outside maps by the time of release. Also, all of the previous maps have been revamped and been given much more detail (thanks to the example set by jtbengal who has done the music for the game and some of the maps).

The game engine has been tweaked a bit so that you can now turn shadows on or off depending on your hardware. I am also planning to add a few more graphics options before release. Some things still need completing with the engine. The battle system still needs to be done, but a backup battle system is currently in place just in case I run out of time to do it. To compliment the dynamic weather system, I am also planning to add a dynamic atmosphere system (i.e. controls cloud shadows on the ground and other effects like fog and mist). I am planning to change the way the leveling system works, the way the player health works and I'm also planning to change the HUD interface to be less complicated and more 'user friendly'.

Probably the biggest change has to be the storyline. I'm not going to be saying much about it before the release because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. However, I will say that it is no longer a story that is personal to your character. The storyline relates to another character, who you must help. I think this is better than the original idea because you are no longer forced to follow the storyline. I have also changed the starting scenario because I felt that it was too biased to allow a free-form character to develop properly.

I will probably be looking for Beta testers a week or two before release.