remains of Temenos

[ancell]

Updated 7th of August '11

Spoiler: New Stuff

Medusa Fight (new)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipB9pPkfz0Q
Garuda Fight (new)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqiwCAMUpfQ

Story and Lore
In the valley runs a river. The only river. A river most holy and imbued with souls of the gods. It is connected to the remains of an otherworldly construction; the Tower of Wandou. Reaching the blue river and the black sky, this place acted as a gate between paradise and the netherworld.
But now the architect, the First Emperor, is gone, alongside his fellow men. Not a single one of their souls remain. And the spire now lies in ruins, as if a warring god passed judgment on it.
Inside the tower roam lingering automatons called 'deves'. Ceremonial crafted armours ensouled with spirits of the river, they instinctly follow the last will of their long gone masters. Like ghosts, they wander deep inside the most sacred of chambers. Not every piece of armour can become an automaton, and only the strongest of automatons can become deves.
A myriad of secrets slumber inside the tower and one day a lost soul enters the valley in order to find his dead brother inside the tower.

Characters
Lost Soul (playable)

The oldest twin. As a torn being, he has entered the valley to reclaim his brother's 'lost' soul. To arrive there he had to sacrifice his body. He doesn't remember much, but it doesn't matter to him. All that is left is the desire to locate his brother.
The armours inside Tower of Wandou used to contain crystalized river water, therefore Lost Soul can creep into the armours and control them using his own soul.

The First Emperor

A man of many talents, he was the first person to build automatons ensouled by the river water. Gone and dead now, his most memorable work would be the Tower of Wandou that he, with the use of his army of 'deves', constructed over the course of a single night.

The Last Deve

Originally a new type of deve, this construct was the first one of its kind. It was the last deve created in the Tower of Wandou before the tower was abandoned. This deve is not ensouled by the river water, but by something else...

Game Flow Description
The game is rather short; 30-60 minutes. But the value lies in the replayability. When a game starts, the player has got 30 minutes before his 'visitation time' in the valley is over.
The player is able keep some items found on other 'valley visits'. He is also able to make changes that has been made to the valley. It is possible to visit individually sealed off parts of the valley in the form of battlefields.
There are several different endings and beginnings, all affected by the 'pre-game' setup.
'Pre-game' setup consists of:

• Equipment / Applied Bonuses
• Former victories and achievements
• 'Timeline Orders' *

*It is possible to 'alter' the valley timeline by giving the valley's inhabitants 'commands' or make deals with them. Maybe a boss then disappears or a new area becomes available.

Screenshot and Videos (currently on v.1.172)

Spoiler: Gameplay Screenshots

Spoiler: Titlescreen Screenshot

Spoiler: Horror-mode screenshots

Spoiler: Introduction and Demonstration Videos

Youtube channel

Basic Stealth Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbbT4yNFZk

Solo Battle Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYRoUEW5OtQ

NPC Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP7gCRoTXb4

Medusa Fight (new)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipB9pPkfz0Q

Garuda Fight (new)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqiwCAMUpfQ

Project Information
remains of Temenos is a 2d rpg that combines a (Zelda-like) realtime battle system and stealth elements. It allows customizable behaviour from NPCs that battle alongside the player during various missions.
The game is repeatable and each playthrough is supposed to be different.
The game is written in C# and uses the XNA framework. The tilesize is 32x32 pixels and the resolution is 800x600. If provided 64x64 tiles the resolution can scale accordingly.
The graphical elements such as character and map sprites are placeholders (property of Enterbrain). I do not claim to own them.
Youtube Channel

I will update this thread regularly and comments are very appreciated! :biggrin:

 

[regi]

Pretty interesting concept! I checked out the videos and the gameplay seems solid. It's a nice feature to be able to switch armors and weapons for different effects. The replayability feature sounds nice, though I'm not entirely sure how it works.

The ambiance looks great, though I find the maps are a tad spacious. The blood splatter effect looks a bit big and distracting IMO, perhaps you could scale it down? Also, the enemies in the video seemed far too easy to sneak up on and kill (especially since they're stunned after the first hit, and only have 2HP), but maybe that was just a demonstration.

 

[Kain Nobel]

Neat concept but the screenshots can really give a person the blues. uch:

 

[No ID]

The Story and Lore leave a lot to be explained, and I hope 30-60mins will be enough time to explain it all, while also including the goals and story of the Lost Soul. Maybe you have something setup to where it could all be explain after 1 or 2 playthroughs or whatever, though I'm skeptical.

The gameplay does look decent, though I hope that if I were to play the game I would enjoy the gameplay so much that I wouldn't mind being stuck in the same dark rtp dungeon for the games entirety.

 

[ancell]

First thanks for the feedback folks, I appreciate it alot :D

@ regi
Spacious? As in too much room for roaming or just a general feeling of too few details or not enough interactability?
The bloodspatter is too big, you're right!
As of the video, yes it is indeed a rough demonstration, but because the current mission (which is played in the vids) in particular requires the the player to avoid detection, I figured the mobs shouldn't have much hp. But others will indeed!

@ Kain Nobel
Maybe I should turn on the lights more and force the player outside the forest in the next vids :D
(and maybe not a forest that is blue)

@ No ID
My original plan is to show '1 particular story per playthrough' and you kinda unlock things.
For example:

• 1st playthrough -> Lost Soul reunited with brother? (Are awarded new 'battlefields' and 'trigger items' which can be used to spawn mobs, keys for new rooms/part of castle)
• 2nd playthrough -> Filling out some holes, maybe seeing stuff from another angle, all determined by items/cutscenes/boss you've triggered in playthrough 1
• 3rd playthough -> Secret boss is revealed, new rewards are possible to loot, the maps change slightly, maybe you can assume control of Lost Soul's brother.

Stuff like that. I want to keep a feeling of freshness to it, even if it's the 5th time you play it.
And yes, I do have a concern about the RTP being insufficient and its a problem that remains to be fixed.

 

[Ellie]

Hey man. Can I just say I love the head up display. It shows what's needed and nothing more.

I like the blood but it might look better transparent? So that it blends with the surroundings more realistically, anyway. Regi's right it's a bit distracting against everything else.

 

[ancell]

Hey man. Can I just say I love the head up display. It shows what's needed and nothing more.

I like the blood but it might look better transparent? So that it blends with the surroundings more realistically, anyway. Regi's right it's a bit distracting against everything else.

Thanks for the thumbs up on the HUD :D And i've toned down the blood(enemy's) a little. You're both right, it is distracting. I have plans to change the blood spatter a bit, so please ignore that fact, that it is still there in the new vids I've just uploaded ^^;

Also 2 new vids are up. If anybody would watch it and give feedback I'd appreciate it :D