[RTPC]Beyond the Threshold Waits...

[Marcus]

I managed to complete enough of the game to feel satisfied that I might actually finish it so here's the topic.

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-A RTP Challenge contest game

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Spoiler

Rated Teen 13+ for:
-Disturbing text
-Adult situations
-Mild profanity
-Use of tobacco and alchohol

Story

Spoiler

1987

"Spend one night in the old mansion. That's our challenge to you!"

It all started as a childish dare.
But the seven kids soon realized their lives would never be the same.

Hidden in the darkness lies a creature waiting beyond the threshold...

How the Game Works

Spoiler

BtTW is an adventure game with some RPG elements. You take control of Lucius and Tania, the two leaders of the seven children who are tasked with exploring a mansion for a friendly dare.

As Lucius or Tania, you can group the other five children together in any group you wish to help explore the mansion. The mansion is filled with devious puzzles, locked doors, traps, and monsters manifested from the minds of the haunted. Use your skills and wits to defeat them and survive. The ending is determined by who lives in the end of the game.

When a child is injured, you may return to the "sitting room" to disperse the party and heal their health and sanity. If a child dies, they are dead for good. There are, however, rare artifacts or spells that are said to bind the soul to the flesh.

Each character has a score representing their sanity. By fighting in battles or casting spells from the "Deck of 39," they use up their sanity. When their sanity is at zero, they become insane and useless to the party until their sanity is restored.

The "Deck of 39" is a powerful artifact that contains 39 spells. At the beginning of battle, five of these spells are shuffled and drawn from the deck randomly. If you are not satisfied with your hand, you may shuffle your hand and draw a new one at the cost of sanity.

Characters and their Abilities

Spoiler

Lucius [Leader] (loo-see-us)
Special Abilities
Faith in One: Lucius becomes invulnerable for a few turns but loses his ability to play cards from the Deck of 39.
Light Bearer: Lucius damages an ally and heals himself.

Matmon (mat-men)
Special Abilities
Extra Draw: Matmon can draw an extra 3 cards if he reshuffles his hand.
Uncover: Matmon can use this ability to find rare items in battle.

Ashmed (ash-mid)
Special Abilities
Lust for Power: Raises a random stat at the cost of 10-50% sanity.
Lust for Love: Ashmed's instantly destroys a female monster.

Levia (lev-I-ah)
Special Abilities
Trade Power: Permanently sets Levia's stats to a monster's stats.
Steal: Steals an item from a monster.

Beezley (bees-lee)
Special Abilities
Consume (passive ability): Eats a random item and gains a status benefit from it.
Vomit: Removes all status affects at the cost of a little health.

Tania [Leader #2] (tahn-ya)
Special Abilities
Rage: Causes Tania to go insane but raises her stats to their peak limit.
Curse: Curses an enemy but also curses Tania.

Belphia (bell-fee-a)
Special Abilities
Apathy: Lowers all enemies' speed at the cost of Belphia's speed.
Sleep: Belphia falls into a deep slumber for a few turns but recovers health each turn spent sleeping. Her defense is also increased.

Screenshots

Spoiler

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/1817/characterslb0.png[/img]
-The main characters left to right: Beezley, Matmon, Tania, Belphia, Ashmed, and Levia. This is the room where you can disperse your active parties and rest up.

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-An encounter with Orcus, a homicidal ogre bound to the mansion that devours children.

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-Reading a poem in the children's room of the mansion. Can you spot the two spirits in the picture?

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/4480/battlerk7.png[/img]
-The battle system is low-stat which works the same for monsters. You have to rely on spells and items to win.

Questions? Comments? Criticism? They're all appreciated.

 

[JD_Slasha]

Interesting game here! I like the sanity system you've implemented here... something new in my eyes... also I like the card system as well.... quick question: why 1987? (noticed that cuz' that's the year I was born)

Good luck with this project!

 

[Balore]

HAHA! Awesome man! Haunted Houses are always awesome! Can't wait to see more!

 

[Nix]

"Throw the baby in the furnace to feed?"

You've definately played Sweet Home. You're my new idol! :D

I like the idea behind this, although I don't know how you'll manage to pull off the atmosphere that horror games require using only RTP graphics. Good luck with it, anyhow.

 

[Marcus]

why 1987?

It was originally going to take place in 1984, but I switched it because I found an album in my cd collection called Sream Bloody Gore that came out in 1987.

You've definately played Sweet Home. You're my new idol!

My favorite NES game and the inspiration for this. It was originally going to be a graphical remake of sweet home but I wanted to do something original so I completely reworked the story.

I can't really classify it as a "horror" game... more like a "dark fairy tale" game. There are otherwordly monsters, spirits, and dark locations but I'm not designing it to really scare anyone (hence the TEEN rating).

 

[Zoom]

The whole thing makes me think of Maniac Mansion... but... what the hell is that thing in the first pic? A hand puppet?

 

[Onsokamaru]

Damn, someone had an idea that just looked like mine...
Well with the diferences that i was planing on an adult take (you know, people in his late 20s, forty years old people, subjetive themes and gross depictions of death and perversity) But yes, i was also inspired by Sweet Home... and "The Haunting"... And "Poltergeist" and "The Shining" and Lovecraft (And the Call of Cthulhu game for the Sanity systems). But seeing that i wanted it in Half-Kaiser, then it release date would be like year 2200.

I like this, is like those old movies about teens who messes with the unknown and ends up being lost in terrorific situations. I'love the deck system, reminds me of another game, but can't remember it's name...
But... really what`s the thing at the doorstep? a midget?
Good luck!

 

[Cortez]

This looks incredible.

If you finish, you will win. I believe it.

 

[Jstreet]

You and Nix should have an orgy...

 

[Despain v.1]

This looks really cool. I love some of the abilities for your characters- really original. It looks like there will be lots of strategy involved to use the characters all to their best.

 

[Marcus]

The hardest part is balancing the character abilities. Since everyone has access to the same pool of spells and have roughly the same starting stats, I wanted something that sets the 7 kids apart since you can only cart around 4 at a time and choosing them has no affect on the story except for the ending (each character has an ending with another character except for Lucius; if a character dies, they'll be absent from the other's ending which alters it).