Odyssey - Action Adventure RPG! Updated 10/12/14

[Ace of Spades]

Explore Mysterious Lands - Traverse a beautifully detailed island, discovering its secrets along the way.
Fight Dangerous Enemies - Action based combat, where each weapon and enemy have different strengths and weaknesses.
Discover New Treasures - Acquire new items which serve completely unique purposes, both in and out of combat.
Solve Challenging Puzzles - Use your items and the world around you to solve clever environmental puzzles.

The hero's fairy companion will fly over a specific item or area to offer up helpful hints.

Our hero balances across a fallen tree, just one of many ways to traverse across the world.

The hero can climb thick vines, like the ones seen here, to reach higher locations.

Some places will need to be revisited after acquiring new items, to unlock new areas to explore.

Here, our hero will be able to buy items that can passively buff your health, speed, luck, and more.

Every weapon can be upgraded in the item shop, to do more damage and perform other new functions.

The hero is using the dash boots to sprint quickly through the forest.

Pots, barrels, and small trees can be destroyed to yield rewards, like gold, hearts and more.

The fortune teller will read your future and point you in the right direction if you get lost or stuck.

Each enemy is unique, like these snakes that burrow out from underground when you get too close.

Every item that's discovered will have a unique purpose, both in and out of combat.

An underground section in the abandoned mines, where the lantern is used to illuminate the darkness.

Once befriended, this monkey will offer to take you on an air balloon ride.

The air balloon can be used to fast travel between different major locations on the island.

Our hero can jump across small gaps, such as the one seen here, using the dash boots.

Time progresses as you complete the game. The most dangerous enemies are encountered at nightfall.

My goal with Odyssey is to develop a fun game that pays homage to one of my favorite genres of video games. This game is created in vein of old school action RPG's, more specifically the Legend of Zelda series. Odyssey is an action adventure game, filled with open world exploration, hidden secrets, puzzle solving, and discovering exciting, new items. Odyssey dumps the complexity of many modern RPG's, in favor of simple fundamental controls and playability.

Gameplay is comparable to that of the Zelda series. The combat itself is a fully custom action battle system. Instead of leveling up, gold can be obtained by exploring the world around you. Gold can be used to buy items to buff your stats and become more powerful by upgrading your current weapons. Discovering new weapons will open up new areas to explore. For example, bombs are needed to blow up rocks, and the lantern is needed to light torches and illuminate the darkness. By gaining new items, new areas of the island will become explorable.

Please note, the download link for the Alpha version of this game has been removed. In the interest of not misrepresenting what Odyssey has become over the last 3 years, I've decided to remove the link to the demo. The game will be available for download for free when it's complete.

Here is a list of resources used for the production of Odyssey. I'd like to thank the following individuals for the materials used in my game:

Spoiler: Credits

Scripts by:
f0tz!baerchen
SephirothSpawn
PandoraShock
Moghunter
poccil
Ccoa
Guillaume777
ForeverZer0

Sound and Music by:
Enterbrain
RHumphries
gelo_papas
Legend of Zelda
Assassin's Creed
Riven
Lost Odyssey

Graphics by:
Enterbrain
Radeth
LOS
Dog Matrix
Mascarpone
Wyatt
Anonymous


Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to keep track of the author's of each individual character sprite. If you see anything of yours and are not seen in the credits, feel free to contact me and I will add you.

 

[Ace of Spades]

It was brought to my attention that the images in this thread were down for the past couple hours. Just wanted to mention the issue has been resolved for those who may have missed it.

 

[HarryE]

This game looks promising! Looking forward to the download. Sounds very like Metroid, the upgrades gets you new places to explore, stuff like that. And I want to try your battle system. Haven't really seen an ABS battle system the really works, yet.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Great Job. I will definitely download this when released.

 

[omerpaz]

This sounds interesting, will be waiting for it!
Say what's a pixel-based system?

 

[omerpaz]

Shit, remove this post!

 

[Ace of Spades]

Thank you everyone for the comments! I'll be stopping back in every few days to answer questions and post updates.

This game looks promising! Looking forward to the download. Sounds very like Metroid, the upgrades gets you new places to explore, stuff like that. And I want to try your battle system. Haven't really seen an ABS battle system the really works, yet.

Actually yes, the element of exploration and opening up new areas is very similar to Super Metroid. Odyssey draws a lot of inspiration from the older generation of games. As for the battle system, I agree that I haven't really seen an ABS that works. I think the main reasons would be RMXP's tile based movement, and the fact that most ABS's available right now are too complicated for their own good. Odyssey hopes to prevail where others have failed by utilizing the pixel-based movement, and by sticking with a simple, old school mentality.

This sounds interesting, will be waiting for it!
Say what's a pixel-based system?

Thanks for your support! To clarify, when I refer to pixel-based movement, I'm referring to the movement and collision of characters. By default, RMXP uses a tile based movement and collision system, meaning if you hit left, your character moves one tile to the left (32 pixels). By using fotz's pixel-movement script, hitting left will let the player move 1 pixel to the left. So a simpler way of putting it would be, the movement and collisions are handled much more accurately than they would be if it were still on a tile-based engine.

Now for a quick update:
I know most the buzz on Odyssey seems to be focused on the battle system. However, there's a ton of extra bells and whistles I'll be unveiling during these updates. The focus today is on the file select system.

Spoiler

The script is a heavily modified version of Moghunter's Scene File. I wanted to personalize the files a bit, so in addition to showing the current location, I've included a description of the last major event that occurred as well as play time, completion percentage, and a small picture of the current map your on.

The other highlight, although not visible, is the autosave feature. In my opinion, there's nothing more frustrating than having to replay through an entire section of a game because you forgot to save. For that reason, Odyssey doesn't offer any save option. Instead, your progress is automatically saved as you play through the game. When used in conjunction with my continue screen, it's extremely useful and keeps the action moving quickly.

That's all for now, stay tuned and keep the comments coming!

 

[Jason]

Oh wow that file select looks fucking beautiful...

Questions:
How does the picture appear, is it preset at update each save point, or does it take a screenshot and put it in its place?

How accurate is the percentage completion, is it also predetermined by each save point, or are you using a variable to check how far the player has actually progressed?

It looks really cool, keep up the hard work, would love to play this!

 

[omerpaz]

To clarify, when I refer to pixel-based movement, I'm referring to the movement and collision of characters. By default, RMXP uses a tile based movement and collision system, meaning if you hit left, your character moves one tile to the left (32 pixels). By using fotz's pixel-movement script, hitting left will let the player move 1 pixel to the left. So a simpler way of putting it would be, the movement and collisions are handled much more accurately than they would be if it were still on a tile-based engine.

Wow that sounds like a LOT of work.
Good luck!

 

[Ace of Spades]

Oh wow that file select looks fucking beautiful...

Questions:
How does the picture appear, is it preset at update each save point, or does it take a screenshot and put it in its place?

How accurate is the percentage completion, is it also predetermined by each save point, or are you using a variable to check how far the player has actually progressed?

It looks really cool, keep up the hard work, would love to play this!

Thank you for the compliments, it's encouraging. Basically the picture that displays are predetermined, it displays the picture with the same name as the current map you're on. I did it this way because it's much simpler than taking a screenshot of the map, and because it allows me to take a picture of the most scenic, recognizable part of the map, as opposed to taking a picture of the player at the map's edge.

As far as the percentage completion goes, it's based on the number of key events accomplished. For example, finding a chest, upgrading a weapon, or beating a mini/main boss will all add to your completion percentage. To give you a better idea, I believe it's possible to play through the demo and beat the boss with only 30% completion, and that's if the player doesn't accomplish anything else. The percentage in the demo will be different than that of the final game, but I wanted players to be able to see how far they got in what's available to play (note that the max demo completion is only 99%, it didn't feel right making it 100% :grin: ) The only thing that isn't accurate in the screenshot is the completion times. Those were just quick play-throughs with god-mode on; it should take the average player longer to reach those areas.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Here's another developer's insight on some of the features in Odyssey.

The first highlight I'll be discussing is the continue screen. Many games focus on punishing the player for dying. Most often, especially in RPG's, the game forces you to restart from an old save file, which in turn forces the player to replay the same portion of the game over. This can be extremely frustrating, especially if the last save was more than 15 minutes from when I died. Losing that much progress from an expected event like dying is completely uncalled for. Odyssey opts to keep the player in the action. Upon death, you must watch yourself fall defeated, as your enemies triumphantly attack you while you're down. After a short fade away, the player is introduced to this guy.

Spoiler

A novelty taken from the page of any current gen game, yet a feature ignored by many of us RPG makers. When you select continue, you restart the current map you were on with your health restored. It gets the player back on their feet, and in the action without feeling devastated for dying (which is good, because you will die).

That leads me to my next feature, which is my heart system. At the beginning, I knew I wanted to nix the old cliche of needing health potions to regain life. One thing that bothered me about many other ABS's available is stopping to use potions in mid combat. If not done correctly, potions can often interrupt the flow of combat and ruin immersion, especially when combat is happening in real-time. Ultimately what I decided to do was to have hearts drop out of items, à la Zelda. Littered throughout the world are little shrubs. Slash them down, (or try burning them with the lantern, it looks cool!) and they have a chance of dropping gold or a heart when you need it. Observe:

Spoiler

Notice the sword slicing through the shrub, and a little heart is about to pop out. I have to admit, it's quite addicting. Like little slot machines littered everywhere, you never know what's going to drop.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Ace of Spades]

Trying out some different eye-candy as I get closer to finishing a beta. These are subject to change, and might have to be taken out if game performance suffers.

Spoiler

The grassland has light shining through the lazily drifting clouds. The rays of light also subtly animate, making it more lifelike. I think it's a nice addition, it's subtle enough that it doesn't distract the player or look overpowering. Less is more.

Spoiler

It's hard to see in a still screenshot, but the leaves are blowing around in the wind. This really gives the forest areas a lot more personality, and brings the map to life. The script is by ForeverZer0, based off of Ccoa's Advanced Weather Script. They'll both be added to the credits if this makes the final cut.

Let me know what you guys think, please!

 

[moxie]

This looks really cute! I'm a sucker for action battle systems as long as the controls aren't too spazzy, which is the case for a few of the more popular ones.

You use fogs really well. Instead of cranking them up and making them dominate the entire map, they seem very nice, atmospheric, and subtle which is a nice change of pace.

 

[Ace of Spades]

This looks really cute! I'm a sucker for action battle systems as long as the controls aren't too spazzy, which is the case for a few of the more popular ones.

You use fogs really well. Instead of cranking them up and making them dominate the entire map, they seem very nice, atmospheric, and subtle which is a nice change of pace.

Ah, thanks so much for the feedback. You'll be happy to know the controls are quite spaz free. CTRL and ALT use the weapons you have equipped, while SHIFT is the designated sword button. Everything else is standard affair (arrow keys move, space/enter interact, Esc/x for menu). I chose this setup because I believe it will be easy to remember while playing the game. There's no excess buttons like sprinting, sneaking, item use. Thank you for the comments on the fogs as well. I think it's a common mistake for developers to let fogs and overlays overpower their maps. Good map design should speak for itself.


For a more proper update, I'll make mention of progress that I have made the past week or so. Odyssey pushes the limits of the RMXP engine, which can at time lead to performance issues. While play testing has been smooth on my laptop, my concern was for players who may be playing on older computers. So I took a considerable amount of time to make some critical adjustments. A customized anit-lag has been integrated, which should help cut processing on events that appear off-screen. Also, some of the larger maps have been split into smaller sections to improve overall performance. In general, I'm doing my best to make sure that as Odyssey becomes more complex, performance still remains the biggest priority.

More info as it happens!

 

[Ace of Spades]

Even back when Odyssey was still lovingly dubbed Project2, this game has never been focused on a storyline. It was my number one focus to build a good foundation for fun game-play with professional presentation. I've toyed with more plots than imaginable, most of which seemed cliche, over-the-top, and took away attention from the true focus of this game. I've even had to scrap entire maps and cut-scenes which have taken weeks to make, just because they seemed drawn out, and shoe-horned into the game.

After pondering how to approach a form of storytelling, I settled on this particular style:

Spoiler

The text fades in one sentence at a time, the character is animated and moves throughout the pages. The pages are also animated and turn when going to the next scene. I did the credits with the same approach. Overall I like the way it turned out. It's an original form of storytelling, and it gives it an old time fable feel to the game.

In an attempt to keep this update slightly more interesting, I will announce that if all goes according to plan, the beta will be available for closed testing at the end of the month, and open testing shortly after. If you've posted in this thread so far you'll be invited to the beta via PM. Whether you choose to participate in the testing or not is up to you, but all feedback is both very helpful and much appreciated.

In closing, I'll leave you all with a few screenshots of the first boss's lair. I'd post pictures of the battle, but I don't want to spoil anything!

Spoiler

 

[Ace of Spades]

Major update to first post, check out the new sexy presentation. Also, the invitations for the Odyssey demo have just been sent out to anyone who's been actively posting, so be sure to check you PM's. It's my way of thanking you for feedback, whether you choose to play it or not is up to you, but I think anyone who gives it a try is going to be in for a treat. The demo will be made available to the public shortly, but until then please feel free to comment on anything.

 

[Necrile]

4 minutes left on download...I'm really looking forward to playing this, Ace! Somehow it crosses me as a Demons souls crossed with Zelda game.

Edit: First thing I noticed...no gamepad support. Bullshit. I never play rm games without a gamepad >_<
Edit2: Ok its good. Really damn good. But is there a point to defending? It seems like even when im directed straight at the enemy they will break my defences and theres no real way to anticipate their attacks, nor do they get set back when you defend. It seems like the best option is to go in swinging and hope you survive.

 

[Necrile]

I'm double posting. Fuck it. You have an amazing game there but christ is it difficult. With the defending not working properly I just barely managed to get to the spider boss, but after 4 fails, I couldn't quite push myself to beat it. Maybe I just suck at the game, but for the beginning of a game to be that difficult is not the best game design. That said, the game is amazing and I particularly loved the bow and arrow puzzles. Those were fucking awesome.

you double posted ima giving you a warning
not really its fine to double post as long as its not consecutive like in the same span of a few minutes and its not a giving any additional feedback or disucssion. so its all good just delete me when you see me because i didnt want to post.

 

[Perihelion]

This looks really slick. I typically don't like RTP stuff, but you pull it off well, and I like the active gameplay and utilitarian story. I also like your idea of restarting on the current map when you die and am gonna steal it. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for the demo when you release it to the public.

 

[Jason]

Due to my slow internet it'll be another 10-15 minutes before it's downloaded, I'm actually excited to play it because this is a rare RMXP game in that I'm geniunely interested in the development of it, I hope it plays as good as it looks!