http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... banner.jpg[/IMG]
Greetings, ladies and gents, and welcome to the The Reconstruction info/pseudo-Q&A thread! Now, with the formalities out of the way, let's get started.
Prologue download updated 1/23/2007 at 4:10 PM EST - get the newest version if you have one older than this.
Introduction:
Summary: The Reconstruction is an adventure/strategy/RPG hybrid set in the EQ/EQ2 universe, with an original story and multiple unique playable characters. The goal of the adventure is to turn your small, ragged band of characters into a powerful guild of world-renowned heroes! Sounds simple enough, right? To do this, your characters will complete quests to gain favor with the city of Qeynos, recruit more allies, save a few lives, and find out just who is keeping a watchful eye on your actions.
Of course, none of this will be possible without a little violence, and this is where The Reconstruction stands away from most role-playing games. Instead of the standard HP/MP for each character, the three basic components of being - Body, Mind, and Soul - serve as your health, as well as your power to use magic and special abilities. This goes true for your enemies too, so it's up to you to determine the best strategies for felling your foes. Battles are strictly turn-based, and play out in a board game-like fashion, with many factors to consider and plan for ahead of time to ensure victory.
Screenshots: Thumbnails, so click for full. All screenshots here are from the Prologue.
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_1_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_2_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_3_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_4_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_5_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_6_th.jpg[/IMG]
Prologue ("demo") download - right here!
Game download last updated: January 23rd, 2007, 4:10PM EST. If your copy is older than this, it is in your best interest to update it! Your save should carry over, since there is only one point to save at anyway in the prologue.
Prologue details are here
End Simplified Introduction
Detailed Information
Note - the next part deals with concepts of gameplay, and therefore is exceedingly long and detailed, but it has so many unique concepts that it must be told fully. Don't feel bad about skipping it if you don't have time to read it all and just want to play something! All the important things to know will be covered in the manual in a condensed but effective fashion.
All right, so what should I know ahead of time?
That's all well and good, but where do I, the player, come in?
How do I get these tasks, exactly?
Great! So, what goes on in adventure mode?
Fighting, now we're getting to the good stuff! What happens when I run into an enemy?
Tanking, charisma, assisting, pulling? This sounds complicated...
That's a whole lot of colored bars. What's up with that?
That's simple enough. What's with all the other moon language along the top though? Rush? Chain?
So, what about the characters I control? What sort of stats do they have?
Anything else?
-> "TL;DR" folks can start reading here <-
How's the project itself coming?
Is there anything I can do to contribute?
Any glaring problems with the prologue demo right now?
Any word on the main party characters, past the prologue?
Can I go now?
Greetings, ladies and gents, and welcome to the The Reconstruction info/pseudo-Q&A thread! Now, with the formalities out of the way, let's get started.
Prologue download updated 1/23/2007 at 4:10 PM EST - get the newest version if you have one older than this.
Introduction:
Summary: The Reconstruction is an adventure/strategy/RPG hybrid set in the EQ/EQ2 universe, with an original story and multiple unique playable characters. The goal of the adventure is to turn your small, ragged band of characters into a powerful guild of world-renowned heroes! Sounds simple enough, right? To do this, your characters will complete quests to gain favor with the city of Qeynos, recruit more allies, save a few lives, and find out just who is keeping a watchful eye on your actions.
Of course, none of this will be possible without a little violence, and this is where The Reconstruction stands away from most role-playing games. Instead of the standard HP/MP for each character, the three basic components of being - Body, Mind, and Soul - serve as your health, as well as your power to use magic and special abilities. This goes true for your enemies too, so it's up to you to determine the best strategies for felling your foes. Battles are strictly turn-based, and play out in a board game-like fashion, with many factors to consider and plan for ahead of time to ensure victory.
Screenshots: Thumbnails, so click for full. All screenshots here are from the Prologue.
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_1_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_2_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_3_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_4_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_5_th.jpg[/IMG] http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_6_th.jpg[/IMG]
Prologue ("demo") download - right here!
Game download last updated: January 23rd, 2007, 4:10PM EST. If your copy is older than this, it is in your best interest to update it! Your save should carry over, since there is only one point to save at anyway in the prologue.
Prologue details are here
The prologue centers around three characters many years before the main story begins. It features a ight amount of questing, as well as a fair amount of adventuring - even more if you wish to try for the highest possible score. (It's 1500.)
The story in the prologue follows a small raid lead by an iksar seafarer and his crew onto the monstrous transport ship piloted by a some-time rival. However, his true intentions run deeper than just general piracy.
Here are the characters playable in the prologue:
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... r_cpts.gif[/IMG] Cpt. Rehmdir "Captain S" Sikohlen
A seemingly young but otherwise capable and wise seafarer. Present captain of the ship QS Vigil, he is firm but merciful. (Fun fact! Captain S is a real character of mine; that is, he actually exists in some from in EQ2, but his two friends are completely made up.)
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... r_vasr.gif[/IMG] Sara "Vasra" Nafoi
Courageous (and slightly sassy) officer on the ship QS Vigil. (Fun fact! Her scar switches cheeks up close, almost as if by magic, and certainly not because of an oversight by the author.)
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... r_pvtc.gif[/IMG] Pvt. Tarew "Private Clap" Clapian
Newcomer on the ship QS Vigil. Gave up a wealthy background to set out upon his own. Shy, but prone to moments of daring. (Fun fact! His name is more than a dumb, perverse joke - the reason can be found in the prologue's Quest Mode. His real name stems from his overly eccentric parents, who named their children after Norrathian deities - in this case, Tarew Marr, god of water.)
The story in the prologue follows a small raid lead by an iksar seafarer and his crew onto the monstrous transport ship piloted by a some-time rival. However, his true intentions run deeper than just general piracy.
Here are the characters playable in the prologue:
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... r_cpts.gif[/IMG] Cpt. Rehmdir "Captain S" Sikohlen
A seemingly young but otherwise capable and wise seafarer. Present captain of the ship QS Vigil, he is firm but merciful. (Fun fact! Captain S is a real character of mine; that is, he actually exists in some from in EQ2, but his two friends are completely made up.)
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... r_vasr.gif[/IMG] Sara "Vasra" Nafoi
Courageous (and slightly sassy) officer on the ship QS Vigil. (Fun fact! Her scar switches cheeks up close, almost as if by magic, and certainly not because of an oversight by the author.)
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... r_pvtc.gif[/IMG] Pvt. Tarew "Private Clap" Clapian
Newcomer on the ship QS Vigil. Gave up a wealthy background to set out upon his own. Shy, but prone to moments of daring. (Fun fact! His name is more than a dumb, perverse joke - the reason can be found in the prologue's Quest Mode. His real name stems from his overly eccentric parents, who named their children after Norrathian deities - in this case, Tarew Marr, god of water.)
End Simplified Introduction
Detailed Information
Note - the next part deals with concepts of gameplay, and therefore is exceedingly long and detailed, but it has so many unique concepts that it must be told fully. Don't feel bad about skipping it if you don't have time to read it all and just want to play something! All the important things to know will be covered in the manual in a condensed but effective fashion.
All right, so what should I know ahead of time?
Basically, the project began as an EQ/EQ2 fan game intended for some friends who play. The characters they created, as well as my own, are miniaturized like magic into sprite form, and are available in an original, non-canon story. While the game's setting is in the world of Norrath (EQ2's timeline, specifically), knowledge of the lore and history is not necessary to play, as it's referenced and explained when needed, and it's pretty easy to grasp. Here is a quick rundown of the history leading up to the start of the story:
The setting begins at the end of the world of Norrath; namely, the gods of Norrath had abandoned their mortal followers, who grew too power-hungry and had invaded the outer planes where the gods themselves resided, slaying them (temporarily - they're immortal, after all) with relative ease. So, the deities went into hiding. Around this time, an event called the Shattering occured; the moon Luclin was destroyed and pieces of it rained down onto the planet's surface, sinking whole continents and splitting the remaining inhabitable land into islands, as well as decimating most of the world's population. Over a long time - about 500 years - two human-established cities were rebuilt as the main forces of power in the world: Qeynos - the city of good-aligned races - and Freeport - the city of evil ones. Despite the obvious apprehension between the two factions, they maintain a wary truce, as neither side can afford an all-out war with the other. Yet.
The setting begins at the end of the world of Norrath; namely, the gods of Norrath had abandoned their mortal followers, who grew too power-hungry and had invaded the outer planes where the gods themselves resided, slaying them (temporarily - they're immortal, after all) with relative ease. So, the deities went into hiding. Around this time, an event called the Shattering occured; the moon Luclin was destroyed and pieces of it rained down onto the planet's surface, sinking whole continents and splitting the remaining inhabitable land into islands, as well as decimating most of the world's population. Over a long time - about 500 years - two human-established cities were rebuilt as the main forces of power in the world: Qeynos - the city of good-aligned races - and Freeport - the city of evil ones. Despite the obvious apprehension between the two factions, they maintain a wary truce, as neither side can afford an all-out war with the other. Yet.
That's all well and good, but where do I, the player, come in?
The main story begins with a group of six friends of various backgrounds in Qeynos who are banding together to form their own guild. In fact, your first course of action is deciding on an appropriate name for the guild, of course. A guild is an organization of people which sends out parties of adventurers from its ranks to do tasks on behalf of the city, such as cleaning out a nearby gnoll infestation, or delivering emergency supplies to a helpless caravan. Over time, they hope to gain favor with the city (through "status" points, namely), as well as more recruits, and in turn be granted more challenging and important tasks on the city's behalf. Of course, it's not solely acts of aggression against Freeport; some citizens of Freeport may even join the guild's cause...if the price is right.
It is the player's duty to seek out tasks that need completion, choose which party members will take part on the quest, and guide them through the various monsters and perils they may encounter while completing the task. Status is awarded upon completion of the quest, with more points being acquired for completing various alternative objectives (hints to these are given when the qust is received), as well as a significant bonus for fast completion. Each quest is timed, so avoiding confrontations and knowing the lay of the land can be beneficial. Many of the quests can be repeated as well, so the player is free to try as many times as he or she wishes to get the highest score possible for each map. More guild status means tougher missions, new locations, and advancement of the plot, to a degree.
It is the player's duty to seek out tasks that need completion, choose which party members will take part on the quest, and guide them through the various monsters and perils they may encounter while completing the task. Status is awarded upon completion of the quest, with more points being acquired for completing various alternative objectives (hints to these are given when the qust is received), as well as a significant bonus for fast completion. Each quest is timed, so avoiding confrontations and knowing the lay of the land can be beneficial. Many of the quests can be repeated as well, so the player is free to try as many times as he or she wishes to get the highest score possible for each map. More guild status means tougher missions, new locations, and advancement of the plot, to a degree.
How do I get these tasks, exactly?
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/rec_scr5.jpg[/IMG]
(Screenshot - "Quest Mode" - Prologue example)
You pick the next quest to complete in a part of the game called, appropriately enough, "Quest Mode." In this mode, the player controls an arrow in a sort of point-and-click adventure style concept. Various points of interest and NPCs, as well as your own characters, are scattered about the area. Pointing to one will reveal his/her/its name, and pressing the [ACTION] key to inspect the thing of interest will reveal more information. If it's an NPC who has a quest for you, a quest summary will be displayed (along with the previous high score if applicable), as well as the option to accept or deny the quest. If accepted, your current main party is sent off to the location specified, and the adventure begins!
(Screenshot - "Quest Mode" - Prologue example)
You pick the next quest to complete in a part of the game called, appropriately enough, "Quest Mode." In this mode, the player controls an arrow in a sort of point-and-click adventure style concept. Various points of interest and NPCs, as well as your own characters, are scattered about the area. Pointing to one will reveal his/her/its name, and pressing the [ACTION] key to inspect the thing of interest will reveal more information. If it's an NPC who has a quest for you, a quest summary will be displayed (along with the previous high score if applicable), as well as the option to accept or deny the quest. If accepted, your current main party is sent off to the location specified, and the adventure begins!
Great! So, what goes on in adventure mode?
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hypermart.net/recon_ss_4.jpg[/IMG]
(Screenshot - "Adventure Mode")
At the start of an adventure, the members in your main party (up to six characters) will be dropped off around the area's "safe point", and the timer begins counting down. From here, you can move your characters one by one with the [DIRECTION] keys, and inspect objects or speak to other characters with the [ACTION] key. You can switch to another character or "group" at any time outside of battle with the [CYCLE] (Page down) key. The character you're switching from will be left behind, and a new character will be under your control. It's very cumbersome to move six characters around separately, which is where grouping comes in.
Groups are two or more characters who move as one, to put it plainly. To create a group, move one character who is alone next to another ungrouped character, and speak to him or her. You will be given the option to form a group. If you say yes, that character will disappear from the map and move with the character you control, who is now a group leader. This group leader can invite other characters on the map into his or her group, up to all six in one group if you so desire. You can have multiple group leaders, such as two groups of three characters, or even three groups of two. Pressing the [CYCLE] key will let you switch between group leaders. You can also disband a group at any time by returning to the safe point of the map - it looks like a floating shield.
Grouping is important for several reasons. One, it saves time, by allowing you to move as many characters as you like in unison. Two, grouped characters can combine their strength for certain situations. Say, for instance, a boulder that requires 70 Strength to move is blocking a shortcut. One character probably can't push it on his own, but three or four together might just do the trick! And, three, characters who group together, fight together.
(Screenshot - "Adventure Mode")
At the start of an adventure, the members in your main party (up to six characters) will be dropped off around the area's "safe point", and the timer begins counting down. From here, you can move your characters one by one with the [DIRECTION] keys, and inspect objects or speak to other characters with the [ACTION] key. You can switch to another character or "group" at any time outside of battle with the [CYCLE] (Page down) key. The character you're switching from will be left behind, and a new character will be under your control. It's very cumbersome to move six characters around separately, which is where grouping comes in.
Groups are two or more characters who move as one, to put it plainly. To create a group, move one character who is alone next to another ungrouped character, and speak to him or her. You will be given the option to form a group. If you say yes, that character will disappear from the map and move with the character you control, who is now a group leader. This group leader can invite other characters on the map into his or her group, up to all six in one group if you so desire. You can have multiple group leaders, such as two groups of three characters, or even three groups of two. Pressing the [CYCLE] key will let you switch between group leaders. You can also disband a group at any time by returning to the safe point of the map - it looks like a floating shield.
Grouping is important for several reasons. One, it saves time, by allowing you to move as many characters as you like in unison. Two, grouped characters can combine their strength for certain situations. Say, for instance, a boulder that requires 70 Strength to move is blocking a shortcut. One character probably can't push it on his own, but three or four together might just do the trick! And, three, characters who group together, fight together.
Fighting, now we're getting to the good stuff! What happens when I run into an enemy?
If your character or group is spotted by hostiles while adventuring, they will be thrust into - what else - "Battle Mode!" The number of enemies you will face can usually be determined before engaging them (although this is not always true - some might sneak up on you and join their friends), as they appear on the map itself. The number of allies whom you will control in battle depends on a few things, however.
First, the character who was spotted by the enemy will always participate. Secondly, if that character is leader of a group, any of his groupmates will also participate. This, and this is important - depending on the spotted character's (or leader's) charisma stat, allies who are nearby may join in to assist as well. These allies will start one space behind the primary character in battle. This technique is known as pulling. The character who is closest to the front line will be the target of the enemies' attacks, so it is in your best interest to know your enemies ahead of time and position your most appropriate character to be the target. This character is unofficially called the tank. So, if you wish to fight enemies by pulling, it is in your best interest to let the tank go ahead, ungrouped, and engage the enemies first, and allow his friends to "assist" from behind without being targeted for attacks. It's a viable strategy. Of course, you can just as easily pile all six of your characters into one group and brute-force it, although some scenarios will favor multiple small groups over a single large one.
First, the character who was spotted by the enemy will always participate. Secondly, if that character is leader of a group, any of his groupmates will also participate. This, and this is important - depending on the spotted character's (or leader's) charisma stat, allies who are nearby may join in to assist as well. These allies will start one space behind the primary character in battle. This technique is known as pulling. The character who is closest to the front line will be the target of the enemies' attacks, so it is in your best interest to know your enemies ahead of time and position your most appropriate character to be the target. This character is unofficially called the tank. So, if you wish to fight enemies by pulling, it is in your best interest to let the tank go ahead, ungrouped, and engage the enemies first, and allow his friends to "assist" from behind without being targeted for attacks. It's a viable strategy. Of course, you can just as easily pile all six of your characters into one group and brute-force it, although some scenarios will favor multiple small groups over a single large one.
Tanking, charisma, assisting, pulling? This sounds complicated...
Then you'll probably do yourself a favor by not looking for too long at this screenshot.
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... n_ss_6.jpg[/IMG]
(Screenshot - "Battle Mode")
Ah, yes. Battle Mode plays out like a strategy board game, and so I feel it should take the appearance of such as well. Let's start with the board itself.
Your heroes who are participating have tokens representing themselves lined up along the left half. The enemies' tokens are on the right, facing your intrepid heroes. There is a faint grid to give you an idea of distances on the board, and a bright white dividing bar separates the two sides. Your heroes can move about in their respective rows only within their side of the board, and the enemies will move in theirs.
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... n_ss_6.jpg[/IMG]
(Screenshot - "Battle Mode")
Ah, yes. Battle Mode plays out like a strategy board game, and so I feel it should take the appearance of such as well. Let's start with the board itself.
Your heroes who are participating have tokens representing themselves lined up along the left half. The enemies' tokens are on the right, facing your intrepid heroes. There is a faint grid to give you an idea of distances on the board, and a bright white dividing bar separates the two sides. Your heroes can move about in their respective rows only within their side of the board, and the enemies will move in theirs.
That's a whole lot of colored bars. What's up with that?
Well, every character has three health ratings: Body, Mind, and Soul. (Cliche, yes, but don't get up just yet). If any one of these values drops to zero, the character is defeated, and is out for the fight. It is your duty to defeat all your enemies and not get wiped out yourself. However, there is a twist.
Every character's melee attack, as well as those of enemies, will target a specific health type. It's the player's job to learn his or her enemies and which characters would be most susceptible. It doesn't stop there, however. Character - and enemies! - have sets of skills they can use. These can be special attacks, recovery magic, or something else entirely. However, to invoke these skills, it costs health. So, a character may have a skill that heals mind damage, but in turn costs the caster some of their soul points. It's a delicate balancing act. If all enemy characters are defeated, you win! If all the heroes in the battle are defeated, the group (if any) that took part in the battle will be disbanded, and all heroes who participated will be returned to the safe point in the map. The enemy will be removed from the map as well, so you can't get stuck on a particularly hard fight. Mostly, it's an inconvenience, as the clock will be ticking while your characters regenerate and regroup. Fortunately, running out of time isn't a big deal, you just lose bonus points. Boss and story battles are different, however. When you reach a boss, the timer stops counting, but your entire group will fight. However, wiping out in this fight results in a game over! Let's hope it desn't come to that, though.
Now, we shall break down the character's status box further. The smaller colored bars represent status effects. There is one positive and one negative for each health type, either adding to or subtracting from health every turn. Positive effects will be brightly colored (orange, pink, and bright green), while negative effects are darkly colored (brown, purple, and dark green), and they will also cancel each other out. The fourth bar turns gray when a character is stifled; that is, he or she can't use special abilities. Fortunately, this status effect only lasts one turn; the others last until cured or until the battle ends. As for those cryptic letters, they represent the character's weapon, armor, and element, which we will get to shortly.
Every character's melee attack, as well as those of enemies, will target a specific health type. It's the player's job to learn his or her enemies and which characters would be most susceptible. It doesn't stop there, however. Character - and enemies! - have sets of skills they can use. These can be special attacks, recovery magic, or something else entirely. However, to invoke these skills, it costs health. So, a character may have a skill that heals mind damage, but in turn costs the caster some of their soul points. It's a delicate balancing act. If all enemy characters are defeated, you win! If all the heroes in the battle are defeated, the group (if any) that took part in the battle will be disbanded, and all heroes who participated will be returned to the safe point in the map. The enemy will be removed from the map as well, so you can't get stuck on a particularly hard fight. Mostly, it's an inconvenience, as the clock will be ticking while your characters regenerate and regroup. Fortunately, running out of time isn't a big deal, you just lose bonus points. Boss and story battles are different, however. When you reach a boss, the timer stops counting, but your entire group will fight. However, wiping out in this fight results in a game over! Let's hope it desn't come to that, though.
Now, we shall break down the character's status box further. The smaller colored bars represent status effects. There is one positive and one negative for each health type, either adding to or subtracting from health every turn. Positive effects will be brightly colored (orange, pink, and bright green), while negative effects are darkly colored (brown, purple, and dark green), and they will also cancel each other out. The fourth bar turns gray when a character is stifled; that is, he or she can't use special abilities. Fortunately, this status effect only lasts one turn; the others last until cured or until the battle ends. As for those cryptic letters, they represent the character's weapon, armor, and element, which we will get to shortly.
That's simple enough. What's with all the other moon language along the top though? Rush? Chain?
These are two more aspects of battle that are easily forgotten, but can be exploited to much effectiveness.
Rush is a Canadian rock band comprising bassist, keyboardist, and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. Wait, no, let me start over.
Rush is essentially the morale of one side or the other. The heroes' side is represented by blue, and the enemies' by red. By using the "Rush" command or skills with Rush effects attached, the bar shifts one way or the other. When it fills up completely with a color, a charge occurs, where one side rushes the opposing side to gain more ground. This causes all units on the rushing side to move forward one space, and all opposing units to move backward one space. The divider bar also moves in the direction of the charge. When a side is rushed, the box to the side will light up (as shown - in this case, the player has successfully charged once), as a reminder, and the Rush bar will return to its centerpoint. Now, the side that rushed as more free space to use aggressively or defensively, and the side that was rushed has less, since the board itself is a fixed 12 spaces wide. Enemy units will aggressively rush a player who cowers his units at the back out of range, so be cautious when trying such a tactic.
Chain is an optional method of obliterating your foes. You'll note that there are boxes lined up beside it with varying colors. The links in the chain can be one of three colors: Red, Green, and Blue. Similarly, player skills have a "Color" associated with them (viewable in the Skills command window). Usually, straight up attack skills are red, recovery or defensive skills are green, and miscellaneous skills are blue. Every character will have at least one of each color. Some characters also have "White" colored skills, which will always advance the Chain. To advance the chain, the color of the skill used must match the color highlighted on the Chain. When this occurs, the chain will increase by one, or more if the skill used has a certain number of "hits" to it. If the colors are mismatched, the chain resets to zero. Having a higher chain makes your skills and attacks more effective, so for tough fights you will want to build up a nice chain before your "assault."
The chain also resets to 0 after battle, but there will be items you can earn throughout the story that allow you to keep a portion of the chain between battles.
Rush is a Canadian rock band comprising bassist, keyboardist, and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. Wait, no, let me start over.
Rush is essentially the morale of one side or the other. The heroes' side is represented by blue, and the enemies' by red. By using the "Rush" command or skills with Rush effects attached, the bar shifts one way or the other. When it fills up completely with a color, a charge occurs, where one side rushes the opposing side to gain more ground. This causes all units on the rushing side to move forward one space, and all opposing units to move backward one space. The divider bar also moves in the direction of the charge. When a side is rushed, the box to the side will light up (as shown - in this case, the player has successfully charged once), as a reminder, and the Rush bar will return to its centerpoint. Now, the side that rushed as more free space to use aggressively or defensively, and the side that was rushed has less, since the board itself is a fixed 12 spaces wide. Enemy units will aggressively rush a player who cowers his units at the back out of range, so be cautious when trying such a tactic.
Chain is an optional method of obliterating your foes. You'll note that there are boxes lined up beside it with varying colors. The links in the chain can be one of three colors: Red, Green, and Blue. Similarly, player skills have a "Color" associated with them (viewable in the Skills command window). Usually, straight up attack skills are red, recovery or defensive skills are green, and miscellaneous skills are blue. Every character will have at least one of each color. Some characters also have "White" colored skills, which will always advance the Chain. To advance the chain, the color of the skill used must match the color highlighted on the Chain. When this occurs, the chain will increase by one, or more if the skill used has a certain number of "hits" to it. If the colors are mismatched, the chain resets to zero. Having a higher chain makes your skills and attacks more effective, so for tough fights you will want to build up a nice chain before your "assault."
The chain also resets to 0 after battle, but there will be items you can earn throughout the story that allow you to keep a portion of the chain between battles.
So, what about the characters I control? What sort of stats do they have?
Each character has his or her own personality, skills, abilities, and equipment. Charactes will always have the same weapon, which will do a specific damage type and target a specific kind of health for the enemy. Armor always stays the same, too. Let's take a look at the status screen for one of our prologue characters.
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... n_ss_3.jpg[/IMG]
(Screenshot - "Status Screen")
Starting from the top - we have the character's name, face, sprite, color flag, and equipment/element. The face and sprite are self-explanatory. The color flag is an easy way to identify a character by his or her primary colors, and appears in various places as a shortcut for showing the full name.
Weapon is the name of the weapon the character wields, as well as the damage it deals (Body, Mind, or Soul) and the type of weapon (Crush, Slash, or Pierce).
-Crush (CR) weapons are effective against Heavy (HV) armor, and weak against Medium (MD) armor.
-Slash (SL) weapons are effective against Light (LT) armor, and weak against Heavy (HV) armor.
-Pierce (PC) weapons are effective against Medium (MD) armor, and weak against Light (LT) armor.
Armor is the name of the character's armor or clothing, as well as its type.
-Light (LT) armor, such as leather and robes, resists Piercing (PC) weapons, and is vulnerable to Slashing (SL) weapons.
-Medium (MD) armor, such as hard leather or chainmail, resists Crushing (CR) weapons, and is vulnerable to Piercing (PC) weapons.
-Heavy (HV) armor, such as platemail, resists Slashing (SL) weapons, and is vulnerable to Crushing (CR) weapons.
Elemental Affinity is the character's attunement to a specific element. All characters, as well as all enemies faced, have an affinity. Enemy affinities can be determined by the colored rectangle on their mini-health box on the right side of the board.
-Heat (Red) opposes Cold (Blue).
-Physical (Yellow) opposes Mental (Purple).
-Divine (Off-White) opposes Noxious (Green).
Using an ability with, say, heat affinity on a character that is cold-affine will result in extra damage. However, using a cold ability on that same character will cause less damage. This goes for enemy skills on heroes too. Simple enough.
Elements also manifest in the form of enchanted squares in battle. "Caster" type characters have a command called "Enchant" which will turn an entire column of squares on the board to the color of their personal element. If a spell or ability with the same element is used on a target in one of those squares (for instance, a heat spell on a red square enchanted by Heat), it will do more damage. This can also be used defensively, however, if the square has the opposite enchantment - say, a cold spell is used on a red heat-enchanted square, so it will do only half the damage. Either way, the enchantment will be dispelled at the end of that turn. If a spell that does not have any relation to the element is used, the enchantment remains and does not affect that spell.
The next box (the purple one) is mostly flavor text. The character's race, hometown, and a short bio/description are given. Our captain looks like a smug, proud individual.
Along the left hand side are details on the three health components of this character. All values listed in a color box are for that specific component. Since they're redundant in meaning between the three, let's just look at Body, and assume the same is true for Mind and Soul.
The large number beside "Body" is the Body Point count - that is, the straight number of health points available, and the maximum. This is the value you want to keep high in battle, as it's, well, the character's health!
Below this are two stats, an attack stat and a defense stat. In this case, "Strength" is the Body Attack stat, and "Stamina" is the body defense stat. Since the captain's melee attacks deal body damage, they are influenced by his Strength stat. Similarly, the ability to resist melee attacks from enemies that do Body damage are determined by his Stamina stat. Additionally, skills the character possesses are modified in effectiveness by a certain attack stat that doesn't always follow this rule (for instance, the captain's Shock Burn attack deals Body damage, but is influenced by his Spirit stat). Therefore, it is in your interest to determine which skills you like the best, and bolster their attack stat values when you can. Or, if you want to make a character whose power is tanking well, you'd want to improve his defensive values.
Regeneration is how much of this stat the character heals per "tick" while in adventure mode. A tick is about 6 seconds. Characters do not regenerate while in combat using this stat. Because the good captain is an iksar (which is some kind of lizard, I think), he regenerates his body at a higher rate than other characters. Mage-type characters may regenerate their Mind points at faster rates than other characters too, for instance.
Essence is "experience" earned for defeating foes in battle, and sometimes from other sources. "To upgrade" means the cost of essence to improve any stat in the box (except regeneration) by 1 point. Improving an attack or defense stat bumps the cost for the next upgrade by 100; improving the health stat itself increases it by 500, so make sure you don't waste your points. The expense to power up later on could be too costly otherwise. Power up is done through a simple menu-guided process between adventures. It's not available in the prologue. Sorry.
Remember, all of this applies to Mind and Soul as well.
Abilities are active skills used by the character in battle. These have their own info page accessible from the status menu, and so will not be outlined here. Abilities can be upgraded to rank 5, and start at rank 1.
Traits are passive abilities the character has earned. Each character gets two lines of these, and may do things such as boost specific stats, power up abilities, or even add new effects to previously existing abilities. Traits are not obtainable in the Prologue, either.
Agility is a character's speed in battle. It determines turn order, and that's it; however, it may be used for certain instanced in adventure mode as well. It cannot be improved by normal means.
Charisma is a rating, from 1 to 10, of a character's appearance, leadership qualities, and general pleasantness. Charisma affects many things, especially assist range (remember "pulling"?), effectiveness of Rushing, and sometimes story events during quests. Iksars tend to have generally poor charisma, but the captain is an exception. Must be the kerchief. Like Agility, it's a static value.
Skill Points and Mana Points are experience granted for actions in battle. Naturally, more physical actions will boost Skill points higher, and more magical actions will improve Mana points better. These are used to upgrade a character's skills between adventures, much like regular experience. And also like regular experience, this option is not available in the prologue.
And, as a reminder, the relations between weapons and armor, as well as elemental relations, are in the light gray boxes on the right side.
Lastly, the dark gray box at the button is for Support characters. Once you've acquired more than six characters in your guild, there's no reason to leave behind too many people! You can attach one "supporting" character to each primary character in your main party. This character's information will be shown here, and that character will receive half the experience and skill/mana points that his or her mentor receives, without actually having to act. Additionally, certain pairings of characters will bring out special improvements, either in stats or abilities, that will benefit the mentor. Not all characters will consider their mentor enough of a friend to add these special bonuses, though, so it's up to the player to experiment and find the best bonuses. Note that supporting characters cannot partake in battle OR adventure mode puzzles, and will not take the place of the mentor if he or she is defeated in battle. They are entirely passive.
The spot on the left shows this character's battle mode token, as well as his class (either Fighter, who can use the Rush command, or Caster, who can use the Enchant command.)
http://imgred.com/http://steelstar.hype ... n_ss_3.jpg[/IMG]
(Screenshot - "Status Screen")
Starting from the top - we have the character's name, face, sprite, color flag, and equipment/element. The face and sprite are self-explanatory. The color flag is an easy way to identify a character by his or her primary colors, and appears in various places as a shortcut for showing the full name.
Weapon is the name of the weapon the character wields, as well as the damage it deals (Body, Mind, or Soul) and the type of weapon (Crush, Slash, or Pierce).
-Crush (CR) weapons are effective against Heavy (HV) armor, and weak against Medium (MD) armor.
-Slash (SL) weapons are effective against Light (LT) armor, and weak against Heavy (HV) armor.
-Pierce (PC) weapons are effective against Medium (MD) armor, and weak against Light (LT) armor.
Armor is the name of the character's armor or clothing, as well as its type.
-Light (LT) armor, such as leather and robes, resists Piercing (PC) weapons, and is vulnerable to Slashing (SL) weapons.
-Medium (MD) armor, such as hard leather or chainmail, resists Crushing (CR) weapons, and is vulnerable to Piercing (PC) weapons.
-Heavy (HV) armor, such as platemail, resists Slashing (SL) weapons, and is vulnerable to Crushing (CR) weapons.
Elemental Affinity is the character's attunement to a specific element. All characters, as well as all enemies faced, have an affinity. Enemy affinities can be determined by the colored rectangle on their mini-health box on the right side of the board.
-Heat (Red) opposes Cold (Blue).
-Physical (Yellow) opposes Mental (Purple).
-Divine (Off-White) opposes Noxious (Green).
Using an ability with, say, heat affinity on a character that is cold-affine will result in extra damage. However, using a cold ability on that same character will cause less damage. This goes for enemy skills on heroes too. Simple enough.
Elements also manifest in the form of enchanted squares in battle. "Caster" type characters have a command called "Enchant" which will turn an entire column of squares on the board to the color of their personal element. If a spell or ability with the same element is used on a target in one of those squares (for instance, a heat spell on a red square enchanted by Heat), it will do more damage. This can also be used defensively, however, if the square has the opposite enchantment - say, a cold spell is used on a red heat-enchanted square, so it will do only half the damage. Either way, the enchantment will be dispelled at the end of that turn. If a spell that does not have any relation to the element is used, the enchantment remains and does not affect that spell.
The next box (the purple one) is mostly flavor text. The character's race, hometown, and a short bio/description are given. Our captain looks like a smug, proud individual.
Along the left hand side are details on the three health components of this character. All values listed in a color box are for that specific component. Since they're redundant in meaning between the three, let's just look at Body, and assume the same is true for Mind and Soul.
The large number beside "Body" is the Body Point count - that is, the straight number of health points available, and the maximum. This is the value you want to keep high in battle, as it's, well, the character's health!
Below this are two stats, an attack stat and a defense stat. In this case, "Strength" is the Body Attack stat, and "Stamina" is the body defense stat. Since the captain's melee attacks deal body damage, they are influenced by his Strength stat. Similarly, the ability to resist melee attacks from enemies that do Body damage are determined by his Stamina stat. Additionally, skills the character possesses are modified in effectiveness by a certain attack stat that doesn't always follow this rule (for instance, the captain's Shock Burn attack deals Body damage, but is influenced by his Spirit stat). Therefore, it is in your interest to determine which skills you like the best, and bolster their attack stat values when you can. Or, if you want to make a character whose power is tanking well, you'd want to improve his defensive values.
Regeneration is how much of this stat the character heals per "tick" while in adventure mode. A tick is about 6 seconds. Characters do not regenerate while in combat using this stat. Because the good captain is an iksar (which is some kind of lizard, I think), he regenerates his body at a higher rate than other characters. Mage-type characters may regenerate their Mind points at faster rates than other characters too, for instance.
Essence is "experience" earned for defeating foes in battle, and sometimes from other sources. "To upgrade" means the cost of essence to improve any stat in the box (except regeneration) by 1 point. Improving an attack or defense stat bumps the cost for the next upgrade by 100; improving the health stat itself increases it by 500, so make sure you don't waste your points. The expense to power up later on could be too costly otherwise. Power up is done through a simple menu-guided process between adventures. It's not available in the prologue. Sorry.
Remember, all of this applies to Mind and Soul as well.
Abilities are active skills used by the character in battle. These have their own info page accessible from the status menu, and so will not be outlined here. Abilities can be upgraded to rank 5, and start at rank 1.
Traits are passive abilities the character has earned. Each character gets two lines of these, and may do things such as boost specific stats, power up abilities, or even add new effects to previously existing abilities. Traits are not obtainable in the Prologue, either.
Agility is a character's speed in battle. It determines turn order, and that's it; however, it may be used for certain instanced in adventure mode as well. It cannot be improved by normal means.
Charisma is a rating, from 1 to 10, of a character's appearance, leadership qualities, and general pleasantness. Charisma affects many things, especially assist range (remember "pulling"?), effectiveness of Rushing, and sometimes story events during quests. Iksars tend to have generally poor charisma, but the captain is an exception. Must be the kerchief. Like Agility, it's a static value.
Skill Points and Mana Points are experience granted for actions in battle. Naturally, more physical actions will boost Skill points higher, and more magical actions will improve Mana points better. These are used to upgrade a character's skills between adventures, much like regular experience. And also like regular experience, this option is not available in the prologue.
And, as a reminder, the relations between weapons and armor, as well as elemental relations, are in the light gray boxes on the right side.
Lastly, the dark gray box at the button is for Support characters. Once you've acquired more than six characters in your guild, there's no reason to leave behind too many people! You can attach one "supporting" character to each primary character in your main party. This character's information will be shown here, and that character will receive half the experience and skill/mana points that his or her mentor receives, without actually having to act. Additionally, certain pairings of characters will bring out special improvements, either in stats or abilities, that will benefit the mentor. Not all characters will consider their mentor enough of a friend to add these special bonuses, though, so it's up to the player to experiment and find the best bonuses. Note that supporting characters cannot partake in battle OR adventure mode puzzles, and will not take the place of the mentor if he or she is defeated in battle. They are entirely passive.
The spot on the left shows this character's battle mode token, as well as his class (either Fighter, who can use the Rush command, or Caster, who can use the Enchant command.)
Anything else?
Probably, but the manual included in the archive should be able to answer anything not written here, and probably more succinctly too!
-> "TL;DR" folks can start reading here <-
How's the project itself coming?
(Updated January 19th, 2007)
The prologue is available, which is more of a tech demo to help me locate bugs that I might have missed, especially in battles. Since this is a core function of the project, I want to get it as good as I can before I start expanding upon it to the fullest. So, as always, I appreciate any bug reports and the like, which you may email or AIM/PM to me. Just see my profile for contact info.
Next on the agenda for me is to finalize the character list and begin artwork for them, as well as designing and implementing their skillsets and stats and the like. (There are at least 20 more to create!) I know this doesn't seem like a major bit, but since I didn't create all of the characters by myself, and they essentially "belong" to other people, I want to get them right so as not to displease my friends. What this means for you, dear reader, is that it could be a while before I can shovel any updates out into the open, so it will be mostly improvements to the prologue, as well as questions that I may answer.
The prologue is available, which is more of a tech demo to help me locate bugs that I might have missed, especially in battles. Since this is a core function of the project, I want to get it as good as I can before I start expanding upon it to the fullest. So, as always, I appreciate any bug reports and the like, which you may email or AIM/PM to me. Just see my profile for contact info.
Next on the agenda for me is to finalize the character list and begin artwork for them, as well as designing and implementing their skillsets and stats and the like. (There are at least 20 more to create!) I know this doesn't seem like a major bit, but since I didn't create all of the characters by myself, and they essentially "belong" to other people, I want to get them right so as not to displease my friends. What this means for you, dear reader, is that it could be a while before I can shovel any updates out into the open, so it will be mostly improvements to the prologue, as well as questions that I may answer.
Is there anything I can do to contribute?
Bug reports are always nice! The more severe, the better. Also, I have a soft spot for the RTP music, which I know is not exactly smiled upon with some folks, but if you have an original piece of music (MIDI only, please) that needs a home, I'd be happy to oblige. I'm not begging, mind you; I've laid out the pieces of music that I already have and thought of how they'll fit into certain situations.
Any glaring problems with the prologue demo right now?
Just a few. First, since I sort of rushed to get the demo released (I promised my friends I'd have something playable for them to try by New Year's 2007 - whoops!) it lacks a bit of polish that it could have.
Second, there is a problem that, sometimes, status boxes drawn in battle will overlap each other briefly. This is cosmetic, but distracting nonetheless. I've implemented something that seems to make it occur much less frequently than it was, but I also seem to have inadvertantly introduced a crash bug which I could not replicate for the life of me. If you experience the crash bug, please report it to me, and give as much detail as you can. A big thanks in advance!
Third, and this is the painful one - it runs s-l-o-w in adventure and battle. The good news is, the countdown clock counts by frames, so it runs slowly too! The bad news is, my GOD it's slow. This seems to be a problem within RMXP that I'm sure many are familiar with. I'm doing my best to stem the lag and make it as playable as possible, but time will have to tell. The running joke is that, like with the release of EQ2, this game was designed to be best run on computers two years in the future.
Second, there is a problem that, sometimes, status boxes drawn in battle will overlap each other briefly. This is cosmetic, but distracting nonetheless. I've implemented something that seems to make it occur much less frequently than it was, but I also seem to have inadvertantly introduced a crash bug which I could not replicate for the life of me. If you experience the crash bug, please report it to me, and give as much detail as you can. A big thanks in advance!
Third, and this is the painful one - it runs s-l-o-w in adventure and battle. The good news is, the countdown clock counts by frames, so it runs slowly too! The bad news is, my GOD it's slow. This seems to be a problem within RMXP that I'm sure many are familiar with. I'm doing my best to stem the lag and make it as playable as possible, but time will have to tell. The running joke is that, like with the release of EQ2, this game was designed to be best run on computers two years in the future.
Any word on the main party characters, past the prologue?
They've been decided, but I don't have appropriate artwork done quite yet. I shall update with this information when it's available fully.
Can I go now?
Yes.
