A Little Piece Of Sunshine, Every Two Weeks
A bit o' explainin'
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I have spent so many hours under so many sleepless nights dreaming up plans for games that just expand and grow and overflow from what's actually possible by one person's abilities. So instead of stopping myself to plan it all up, I'll roll with it and dish it out straight away!
Sunbeam is a humble little project that will come to .org in fortnightly updates, like an interactive newspaper comic strip, or a chapter-a-night fairytale. Every fortnight, a new patch will be ready to install into the game, unlocking another page of the story, new features and puzzles to enjoy.
It will be lighthearted but thought provoking, mature but not too serious.
A dab o' plot
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You play as yourself, a new person in the world of Sunbeam. Waking up in your comfortable bed on your feathered pillows, the sunshine lights up the room. You decide to taste the morning air while you can, walking out of your front door and into the day. After barely half a step, you jump backwards, horrified. Your doormat slips out beneath you, flying out of your home and falling forever. Collecting some peace, you peer out. You see nothing but distant islands, floating in white-sparkled and sun-draped darkness. Before you can admire the sailing lands, however, you quickly notice that one is approaching you. Slowing down as the distance decreases, the island gently melts into your own. A man smiles and greets you.
"Welcome to the Sunbeam Ocean" he says, offering you a glass of milk. "Actually, there's something I would like to ask of you..."
As the islands drift in and out and around each other blissfully, you listen to the man's request. You are told that there are many others out there with their own story, and would want nothing more than to join it with yours...
How about some vision?
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Sunbeam will use custom resources from the tilesets and sprites to the ambient music and sound effects. I'll be aiming for simple graphics with soft colours, while the sounds will vary in feel. I will try to include some new graphics in every update. However, if it's not possible or ideal I will make it up in other areas (such as plot developments or character introductions) and include more graphical updates in later weeks.
Sharpened and brightened
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In the first few weeks, Sunbeam will be peaceful and so there will be no need for weapons or magic. As more and more updates stream in, some islands might be tainted with beasties or blessed with weapon selling blacksmiths or magic teaching scholars.
When battle does start taking a bigger part of Sunbeam, it will use a simple Active Battle System (/ABS) using special effect magic and varied weapons
The currency in Sunbeam is good old fashioned gold coins. They fall from beasties hearts, or from the palms of thankful islanders you have helped out along the way.
Interactive goodness
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Because Sunbeam will get an update every fortnight, I want to make the most out of what the update will contain. This is where you can have an effect on the progression of Sunbeam's story.
Would you like to see an islander that can teach you the way of the spear?
Or one that can show you how to cast a beastie-munching ray of light?
Perhaps an engineer that can give you a map, or even a friendly, talking beastie
Any side quest ideas? or a slice of an idea that you would like to see develop.
Perhaps you want to see new, different features arise in Sunbeam, or maybe you just want your name in there above the head of a wandering islander.
These are just a few things to think about in a free and open "suggestion box" form.
Not what you had in mind? There's more, don't worry.
Once an update has been uploaded for you all too explore, a fresh poll will appear in the topic.
Depending on the update, the poll could be anything from:
"What puzzlehouse will Builder Nina create with your help this week?"
followed by multiple choices and explanations in the first post.
to:
"Magi Zenith is dreaming up a new spell. What affinity should it fall under?"
Sunshine? Darkness? Gold? or Island? and some little clues as to what the spell could do.
Thank You Very Much For Your Interest In Sunbeam. I Hope You Enjoyed Reading This As Much As I Enjoyed Writing It
Thanks again.