Quintessence - The Blighted Venom

[Red Dawn]

Same again

Spoiler

I agree... Even if he agreed later, he still agreed... Asshole

Oh im sad =[ my speakers are stuffed so i had to play w/o music... sucks to be me! hehe

 

[Reives]

The one just labeled 'To Realize' in the ME folder is the original one I composed. It's actually my very 3rd composition ever, heheh. Sadly for some reason after all these months it's still probably one of my favorites out of the songs I wrote. And hahah, I actually did have lyrics for it. . . But I lost it in time due to cheesiness.

I've been wanting forever to make a full 4 min-ish version of that, but kept slacking off. :/ A lot of other things to do to distract me from it too, I guess.

Oh by the way, there is also a harmonica+guitar version of the song in the ME folder that I didn't use at all in-game. It was originally for a credit scene of live performance of the song. Then I got tired of the sound of harmonica and had Reivier play an Ocarina instead, as you can see. :p


P.S. What the-. . . Damn, that sucks Red. Sound/music use is like the one of the most important aspect of the game for me, I would've gotten bored myself without sound.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Ah! That is depressing. The music is half of what makes this game!

Spoiler: What a long spoiler discussion

Yeah. it could have been semi forgivable if he showed remorse at the end. Then I would think 'well his parents were drafted to the war. Brat needs money to survive I suppose.' But he seemed almost proud of his little act if I remember the facial expression used correctly. Corrupt mind right there.

 

[Red Dawn]

Spoiler

Yeah, and he was all like that was too easy, like he was doing it for the money and nothing else. I find it hard to imagine someone like that just randomly inviting a little girl to play with him. (Thats why i think he was with the king from the start)

 

[Reives]

Spoiler

Heheh, yep. Although I guess there were scenes that weren't show. Perhaps he had a vacillation about it then snapped out of it, who knows. But you actually brought up a good point, Red. Given his character judged from the last act, it's strange that he would invite her to play without external influences.

Frankly I know less as the story's writer than the typical story writer, heheh. After developing the plot for years (it keeps changing as I go :/ ), I pretty much get the illusion of mentally 'hearing' what each character would say to certain things, and it feels like I'm being told of the story by them as if they are looking back at the past, hah. Sometimes turn of events even surprise me. :p

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Frankly I know less as the story's writer than the typical story writer, heheh. After developing the plot for years, I pretty much get the illusion of mentally 'hearing' what each character would say to certain things, and it feels like I'm being told of the story by them as if they are looking back at the past, hah. Sometimes turn of events even surprise me. :p

I know exactly what you're saying. This happens to me too. Not so much with the story to Ethereal Dreams, as this was a collaborated work. But other things I've written in the past, that's the same style I approach it with.
It's fun when the characters manage to surprise even yourself.

Also, I look forward to the 4 minute version if you ever get around to making it.

 

[Mars]

YEAH IV IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Starts drooling as the download progress bar fills itself. O_O;

 

[Reives]

Heheh, hope ya like it!

I am in the process of constructing the website at the moment.

 

[bradleydfc]

Very nice to meet you Reives, and a very nice project you have going. I can't wait to listen to a few of the BGMs, 'cause I just love playing to a BGM that enchances the atmosphere. Heres hoping you managed that right!

As for the effort you must have put in... It must have taken literally years. It is people like you who inspire me to make my game, because it makes RMXP seem like less of a gimmick to make cheapo games with one variable, but to make a fully fledged RPG, just as good as any professional one.

Bravo!

Brad.

 

[alexia]

P.S. Alexia, I took in your suggestion and made it so that after the first time, you can press 'Esc' during the long title screen to skip to the "real title screen"; only works for loading saved files though, heheh.

That little bit of change made quite a difference. Thanks!

Again, your talent for storytelling shines through. The Huey flashback actually put me through a wide range of emotions. I went from being happy, to suspicious, to sad to angry and betrayed. I thought I had it all figured out but then you threw in that little twist at the end.

There are also some little moments in the game that are delightfully funny. I loved the scenes with the cat, the teddy bear and the ball game when Lunair falls down.

The music is your game's second strong point. It fits in so well with your game and really sets the mood.

Unfortunately, I feel as though the quality of your gameplay doesn't match the high quality of your storyline and music. There are many times where it seems you just move the player from point A to point B just to get to the next cutscene. Also, controlling the wagon was probably my least favorite part of this chapter. The road seemed too narrow for the wagon and navigating around was awkward at times.

Adding the experience to the battles did improve that aspect of the game, but not by much. There didn't seem to be any payoff for gaining all that experience. At level 6, it still felt as though I was at level 1. I expected the attacks to take off more of the enemies' hp, but they didn't really seem to.

Two other game play aspects that I missed were exploration and sidequests. Will this game not have any items, weapons, gold, etc?

Have you considered reformatting your game to nonplayable episodes like Nadir's Cannon? I think something like that would suit your game really well.

 

[Reives]

Thanks for the feedback, Alexia. Much appreciated, and glad you liked the storytelling!

I have to plead guilty to the game-play slack, hehe. After I finished Chapter 3, I promised to include more game-play in Chapter 4... but as I finished the chapter's story content, I just got impatient and wanted to get it off the shelf as soon as possible. :/ Kind of just slapped the new implementations to the battle system the day before the release, to be honest. And while the attacks do more damage as you level, it is rather minuscule. HP and SP bonus are the main things I think. Sadly, it doesn't matter too much anyway since there is only one battle in Chapter 4.

Ultimately I think the reason for the lack in gameplay and its related notes is that I focused too much on the goal of showing the main story, and its completion, that I put everything else on the trivial list to be looked after when it is done.

I've definitely thought about the episode formatting. However, I've decided that my primary plans for this game is somewhat of Nadir's-Canon genre with the ability to walk around and interact with the environment. But sadly, by taking one step into the game play aspect from null, it exposes the area in an incomplete way like a naked coconut. Hopefully I'll be able to get to work more on that aspect when I finish the whole thing.


Edit: @Everyone: I just remembered! I went down this path because I was inspired by Memento Vivere's demo at which point was just an interactive story with no battle/gameplay! Zomg, blame Rye! Bad Rye! :D Speaking of which, if you like Quintessence, you'll love Memento Vivere. Psst, I heard a new demo for it is coming soon!

 

[Lust Dragon]

Just finished chapter 4 today, as always i like your story and song especially when you put that bgm when chapter 4 starting :P.

Thus Lunair story was interesting, look forward to see next chapter, anyway i do agree with Alexia to reformatting your game to nonplayable episodes.

 

[G-man]

What the? I knew this was Project Of The month for a reason, the deception the lies! Vikon!!! 3 things that make me give this game a 10 out of 10 can't wait 4 part 5

 

[Red Dawn]

I dont think you should make non-playable episodes, somehow i get bored just watching. Doing something as mundane as pressing the space key occasionally adds a lot of input or something. Plus, i freaking LOVE your battle system. Although i agree with an earlier comment, navigating that damn wagon was hell. You should make that bit automatic in next release.

 

[zealex]

Yeah, although I love the story and everything, non-playable episodes are a bit boring in my opinion.
Keep going

Anyways, Playing chapter 4 atm... Stuck in that thief boss fight ><;
(I guess it's because I'm using my old save from chapter 3 and I'm lvl 1 :p There was no lvl system back then. Also, my PC is sorta broken and it lags... Specially the battle system.)
I've found quite many passability issues etc... I'll try to report them later.

EDIT: Okay, I completed it now... God I love the ending ^^ Like a real movie

 

[Reives]

Heheh, thanks. Chapter 4's last 15 minutes or so is my favorite part of the whole game so far. Thanks in advance for the passibility issue report! And gratz on beating the thief at level 1. :p

And yeh, I think I will keep its format as it is now. Basically an interactive show -ish format; the minor game-play here and there are just to make the player feel somewhat connected to the story.

 

[zealex]

Sorry I probably wont be able to report them today...
My PC started playing tricks on me... Random shutdowns and BSODs. (I need a new motherboard)
I'll try to report them tomorrow. Hope it works fine then >_>

 

[Reives]

Heheh, no worries. Just do when you feel like it, and no need to if you get lazy after a while. (I do that a lot. :p )

 

[Anglachel]

I pretty much get the illusion of mentally 'hearing' what each character would say to certain things, and it feels like I'm being told of the story by them as if they are looking back at the past, hah. Sometimes turn of events even surprise me.

Haha that happens to me with my project as well! Of course I haven't got 4 episodes out or reached the quality of yours yet!

I think the story thing might have a bit to do with realising it in parts, as well. Stick with your guns. Do what you think is best. I'm happy with semi-playable episodes myself. Don't forget that theres no rush to release episodes. It is probably somewhere in the thread but how many do you have planned?

I still haven't finished the first few eps but there are so many other good RMXP games to play that I'm halfway through all of them. I'm busy sussing out MotW at the moment.

PS: I swear I commented on a music piece of yours in the resource forum but then the topic disappeared!

 

[Lust Dragon]

Just want to know, how many episode left?