Phantasy Star IV: Beneath a New Light: DEMO avaliable!!

[starFantastica]

It's time I started posting some information about my first (and most ambitious) fan-game made with RPGMaker XP. It's called Phantasy Star IV:Beneath a New Light, and is a parallel game to the original Phantasy Star 4 that was released on the Sega Genesis back in 1994. It is set in the Algo solar system which consists of three planets: Motavia, the desert planet, Dezolis, the ice planet, and Parma, a planet very similar to Earth, in the year AW 2284 (AD 4370-- AW 0 = AD 2086.)

STORY:

'The Algo solar system...somewhere in space.
Once, a brilliant civilisation flourished here.
The citizens devoted themselves to the art and
sciences, and life was prosperous and good.
Then a series of disasters struck.
The system-wide control system,Mother Brain,
was destroyed.
So was the first planet, Parma.
Over 90% of the systems population died,
and the advanced technological culture was lost.
Society declined, spiralling downwards until only at
last a few groups could remember there were better
times.
1000 years passed.
At last, civilization is once more on the rise across the Algo solar
system.
People are once again turning to thoughts of an easier life.
Old knowledge is being rediscovered.
But just as things look brighter, beyond the threshold long
thought closed, a dark and very ancient evil stirs...'

Opening sequence of PSIV: BaNL. Extract taken from the original
1994 release.

An image that shows during the intro sequence.

Now, moving to the present day.
A mysterious outbreak of unusually powerful bio-monsters has prompted the Dean of Motavia Academy to summon a professional female Hunter by the name of Alys Brangwin, along with her partner,Chaz Ashley, to exterminate a group of
monsters that have appeared in the basement of the Academy. All very simple, one might think. But the Dean's overall unease about the whole situation arouses suspicion in Alys and her partner. According to Alys, monsters usually don't come into inhabited areas. So where did they come from?

I can't reveal any further information for fear of ruining the plot.

Spoiler

Major cutscenes in the game are shown via movie-like stills. I drew the images myself.


CHARACTERS:

Spoiler

Alys 'The Eight-Stroke Warrior' Brangwin.
Occupation: Hunter
Age: ??
Weapon usage: Swords/slashers (boomerang-like throwing knives).
Height: 177cm, 5ft 9.5in

The protaganist of PSIV: BaNL.
A hot-headed, razor-tongued veteran whose prowess with the blade is matched
only by her beauty. Not much is known about her past, but parts of it seem to
pop up from nowhere,which pisses her off to no end. Everyone on Motavia seems
to know something about her that she didn't tell them. She is an excellent all-round
fighter, with exceptional Agility and Dexterity, and possesses powerful techniques
as well. She lands critical hits like a demon. Her only downside is her inability to heal.

Alys' Overdrive skill, Grandcross. She does not learn this skill leveling up.
(Does not appear in the demo.)

Chaz Ashley
Occupation: Hunter
Age: 16
Weapon usage: Swords
Height: 166 cm, 5ft 6in

A street-rat turned Hunter, Chaz was headed for a questionable future until Alys
spotted him and pegged him for Hunter material. Now, three years later, he is
off with his partner to investigate the mysterious outbreak of monsters in Motavia
Academy. He is a keen swordsman with a quick temper and a keen eye, though
can be a bit slow at times, especially when dealing with his partner's witty banters
and sarcastic comments. Another good all-rounder like Alys, but weaker
in both Agility and Dexterity. He can use healing techs, though.

Hahn Mahlay
Occupation: Scholar
Age: 24
Weapon usage: Knives
Height: 178cm, 5ft 10in

A kind and gentle soul who studies under the tutelage of the eccentric Professor Holt. After his mentor goes missing, Hahn takes it upon himself to find the missing Professor. He is expecting to recieve the help of some Hunters who are in on an
extermination hunt. Unfortunately, Hunters don't come cheap. Hahn is a very weak physical fighter, but possesses several helping techniques which are useful against Bio-monsters and his healing skills are top-notch.

Rune Walsh
Occupation: Esper Wizard
Age: ??
Weapon usage: Staffs
Height: 183cm, 6ft

An arrogant, (but gorgeous soul), Rune is descended from a group of people that marks him as one of the rare breeds...the Espers, and possesses something few people know about and even fewer possess...true magic. He know Alys from a past encounter, though how they met still remains a mystery. He shares a very powerful bond with the Hunter. After witnessing the events which follow after Nurvus, Rune realises that Alys and the rest of her companions share a far greater destiny...
The weakest physical fighter, but probably the most powerful character in the game after Alys. He has a wide range of techs and skills to work with, and nearly all of them are capable of hitting multiple opponents.

Gryz
Occupation: Motavian Soldier
Age: 19
Weapon usage: Axes
Height: 161cm, 5ft 3in

Gryz is the first and only Motavian to join Alys and the rest of her companions. He is asked by the village elder Grandfather Dorin to escort the group down into the Tonoe basement in their search for the Alshline. But his intentions after the group has obtained the medicine soon becomes very clear..he is on a vengance-seeking quest to destroy the man who killed his parents, annihilated his village and murdered his fellow Motavians.
Gryz is a very powerful physical fighter, but sucks in pretty much everything else. He is also the slowest character in the game.

FEATURES:

Spoiler

-Animated battle system scripted by Atoa.
-Demo is around 7+ hours, full version is around 17+ hours in length.
-Movie-like stills depicting major cutscenes.
-Long,engaging storyline filled with humour, angst, tragedy and many other
recurring themes.
-Interesting and vibrant cast of ten playable characters. Among them is
a millenia-old android and a wizard that has lived for nearly 2000 years.
-Fully animated Mog-style menus that I styled myself.
-Apothecaries and Blacksmiths enable you to buy rare items.
-Hidden flashbacks which convey Alys' past to the player. Shown in black and white.
-Custom soundtrack. Virtually RTP free.
-No random encounters on the overworld maps.
-Overdrive system
-Blitz skills aka button-input skills

NEW SPRITE WORK:

The final release of the game (which is not due until later this year, will feature brand new sprites that I've been crafting myself. So in other words, it will feature no RTP characters when released. Here's a preview of some of my work. They have all the detail of an RTP sprite, yet with the proportions of a Half-Kaiser (which I didn't like.)

Spoiler

This is Alys, the heroine of the game.


Chaz, Alys' 16 year-old apprentice (and NOT your cliched JRPG hero!)


Hahn, an anxious scholar looking for his missing mentor.

In game testing.

Screenshots:

Spoiler

MEDIA:

Spoiler

Mock up game-cover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtpQM4tFgMQ
An LP of the first 8 or so minutes of gameplay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CPF2y_JYA4
Boss battle.

CREDITS:

Spoiler

Scripts:
Battle system by Atoa
Catterpillar script by Fukuyama
Victory window by Blizzard
Mog-style menus by MogHunter
Weapon limitation script by TerraAqua
Max items script by Jarvair
Pause with F12 by Zeriab
Barehands script by Leon
Lighting script by Near Fantastica
Anti-Event Lag by Zeriab

Artwork and graphics
Original character designer: Tohuru Yoshida
The Inquisitor
ZPU Warehouse
Enterbrain
Bonzai and Zucca( For rips of monsters )
StarFantastica

Music from:
Sakari-Infinity
Square
OC Remix
Lord Khyron
Sega
Enya
Izuho Takeuchi 'Ippo' ( Original game composer)
Gaki Chan ( Original game composer)
VGmusic

Original story by Tohuru Yoshida and Reiko Kodama, modified by StarFantastica

DEMO link: (109 downloads so far.)
http://www.mediafire.com/?klyhqgw5zwm

Font link:
http://www.dafont.com/forgotten-futurist.font

Please leave constructive feedback.

 

[darkcieran]

personally i loved the old phantasy star games and this one looks like a good(if unofficial) addition to it. where did you get those tiles. are they edits?

 

[starFantastica]

Anyone who wants to download the game should wait a few more days because I came across a bunch of errors...mainly missing files. So I'll playtest/bugtest the game again, then upload it here again. It takes quite a while to playtest a 4 hour demo...

And about those tilesets, no, they're aren't edits. Those are the Inquisitors tilesets that can be found at rpg-palace.com. :grin:

 

[starFantastica]

Bump
New download link added. It doesn't require any fonts, seeing that I'm using the Verdana font now.

Removed download link. - StarFantastica

Please review. I've been getting some negative feedback from other sites...They are apparently under the impression I'm doing a poor job. :sad:

Hopefully, someone can lift my spirits. I've put alot of time and effort into this game, and I would appreciate it if someone could at least give me a decent review.

 

[rickleone]

It's really nice to see something related to PSIV, since it's a very GREAT game.

I have an exam on Wednesday, so I'm cramming like hell. I'll try to play the game, though, and post a review on Thursday. :grin:

 

[starFantastica]

Thanks. There are a couple of cosmetic errors here and there, like the characters might pass through the walls if you walk sideways and might walk through fountains. And there's no damage display unless you have the Myriad Pro font installed on the PC. I forgot to change it in the script before I uploaded my game. I will be uploading a newer,improved demo (again), in the future, but for now, I'll hope you enjoy it. It's still far from perfect, but still good enough to play. :grin:

 

[Snarge]

Thanks so much for this. PS4 is BY FAR my most favorite RPG ever. I'll be playing the crap out of this.

<3

 

[rickleone]

Wow, I really underestimated the length of this demo.

I don't think I can finish it today... however I promise to bring a review this Saturday. Sorry for the delay... :blush:


EDIT: Well, here's the review. I divided it into three aspects: Graphics, Sound and Gameplay.

1. Graphics: 8.5

This game's graphics are really good. The charsets, tilesets and facesets not only brings the atmosphere this game had in the past, but do this in an even better way, good job with that.

About the cutscenes, one thing I noticed is that the art varies from the official art and your original ones. That's where the game lost a point in the Graphics aspect, and that may be the reason people were trolling you. It's not that I don't like your work, it's just that if you decide to be original in the art, you have to go all the way so that you don't give others the impression that you're "recycling" graphics.

Also, another half of a point were subtracted because of the numerous bugs in tilesets (for example, it was possible to walk over cups in tables) and in-battle enemies sprites (for example, it looked like the Zoran Bult was erratically moving around his fixed spot), altough this can rapidly be fixed.

2. Sound: 8.5

This may be another source of the trolling. Altough the music DOES fit to the scenery, most of it is recycled from the original game. Altough it is difficult to create new musics for a game, it is very rewarding, since the music is what put feelings in your game (who didn't cry at Aerith's death? I admit I did, but it was probably because of the scene such sad music).

3. Gameplay: 9.5

This is where the game really shines. All the additions you made are done in a flawless way and they conribute o a more enjoyable game.

I only disliked two things: The difficulty curve (altough some people like a difficult game, this one in my opinion is too hard right in the beggining, and since the right thing to do was to escalate the difficulty when the game progresses, this would make the final boss almost impossible !) and that you could equip two weapons and a shield.

Conclusion: You are doing very great, and I would really like to see this game finished. Maybe you could ask someone for help in the sound department (it's the part I find this game lacking) so that you can make this game even better. Once again, congratulations !!

 

[starFantastica]

Gee, thanks rickleone! I never expected it to be that good. :grin: But the updated demo will be even better. It won't be as hard as this version, and most of the bugs have been fixed. I am actually thinking of adding some original music, mostly from Sakari-Infinity, the music there is absolutely beautiful, and the original game's artwork are merely placeholders for my own artwork. :grin: I've added a trailer of my game on Youtube as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pTtBGlFEWo

I look forward to feedback from other gamers as well. :biggrin:

 

[-LuX-]

This looks very promising...

I'll make sure I keep a very close watch of this game, and you can expect feedback from me as far as the gameplay and story when I get the chance to download your work.

- Keep up the Good work
LuX

 

[starFantastica]

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been really, really busy. I plan to release an extended demo by the 17th of December or so, which will extend the demo to about 6 and a half hours, so anyone who is willing to review my game can wait for the updated demo. :grin:

Thank you for your interest, LuX.

 

[-LuX-]

there's an error...

Unable to find Audio/BGM/Phantasy_Star_4_Twilight_of_the_Millenium_OC_ReMix.

 

[Sammie]

there's an error...

Unable to find Audio/BGM/Phantasy_Star_4_Twilight_of_the_Millenium_OC_ReMix.

I got the same error when I click on the Game icon.

Also my download did not include any fonts..

From the read me text:
"NOTE:If you can't see the font in the game,the just drop the included
font 'BNKGOTHM' into wherever your fonts are installed on your PC."

I did find it easily on the web... However, I can not find any free download of the other font that said was required.

From Readme-Copy text:
"If you can't see the font in the game, then please download the Myriad Pro font from any site off the internet."

 

[Sawnik]

The "full" version is simply unplayable, it is missing way too many files. I copied the additional sounds from the demo, but that didn't help me far. So I tried the demo. I've played the original PSIV, and this seemed very faithful to that... a little too much, actually. Well, I don't know how long the demo actually was as I didn't finish it. I got somehow stuck with a glitch during the Igglanova boss fight. It read "Alys" while her picture was flashing. Also, the graphics are a mix, but that's understandable given the limited resources available for such a remake.

 

[starFantastica]

I'm terribly sorry for the severe lack of updates and game errors, but I advise anyone who wants to download the demo to stop immediately, because I've playtested it again and there are several severe errors. Of course, this is a really old demo and I'm planning to release a new one soon, but not too soon, as I've done a complete revamp in most areas of the game. Maybe these screens will cheer some of you guys up... :grin: I can't promise a definite release date, as I'll be starting my studies in February.

It's not easy being a solo tester.
About the Bank Gothic font, I've removed it from the game and changed it to Forgotten Futurist, which will be included in the game file when it is uploaded, because from what I hear, Myriad Pro is a commercial font and is not avaliable for free download anywhere.

Screens:

Spoiler

The overdrive system in play. Note that whenever a character gets K.O'ed, the bar will reset.

The dark background enabled weapon effects to show up much clearer on the screen.

For those of you who are really interested in this game, you can visit this fan-site, where my game gets good support from the fan commnity.

http://www.psalgo.com/boards/psiv-remake-with-alys-as-the-main-char-vt3638.html

 

[starFantastica]

Lack of updates, once again I apologize. I'm starting varsity soon, so my time is quite limited.

I'll be releasing a re-released, remastered demo either during late February or early March. I've been outdoing myself, having redone all maps, reworked and re-coloured the cutscenes, added battle animations for the monsters and so on. Whew. I'll be removing the old download link, and I will post some screen shots in the meantime.

Spoiler

This is the uber-awesome Atoa front battle system (probably the most customizable battle system out there), and all enemies are fully animated.

Reworked main menu. It shows the map in the background now. I've also added an event based party-switching system, but if there is a party-changing script that works with the Mog menus, please let me know.

An example of one of the reworked cutscenes.

An example of an interior shot. This is Motavia Academy, where the game begins.

Well, that's it for now. Light on wording, but then again, one picture is worth a 1000 words. :grin:

 

[starFantastica]

Game will be on hiatus for a few weeks. I've just started varsity, so my time on releasing demos and replying to topics will be very limited, but I'll see what little free time I can squeeze out.

A brief update:
-Monsters have had their statistics adjusted once again, and virtually all of them have some form of negative status-inducing effects.
-Playtesting for the second time now. Fixed several graphical bugs. Testing always comes in at around 5 hours.
-Battles are infrequent on most maps, but are quite challenging. Rather have a few difficult battles that requires thought, than easy battles which merely request that the player mashes the attack button.
-Cutscenes for Chapters 1-5 are now complete. Still working on images for Chapter 6. The demo runs up until Chapter 8.
-Almost every object in homes, pubs, inns etc. can be examined, and Alys will sometimes pop out a few amusing comments, being the witty soul she is. :smile:
-Added a 20 page illustrated guide, which also serves as a readme file.
-Difficulty curve is reduced by a considerable amount. Dead easy in the beginning ( Alys can normally kill all enemies in one attack) to moderately hard, where the player will be forced to use the Overdrive skills as well as other techs and skills.

 

[starFantastica]

Mega bump. Updated the first post. It's a huge update, so please have a look.

 

[starFantastica]

Bump. There is finally a demo avaliable. Please enjoy it and feel free to comment. :smile:

 

[bernhart]

Game wont run for me, lots of missing files from the Graphics/ Titles and Windowskins folders that are not in the normal rtp.