Radiance (A working title)

[sleepywolf]

OK so here's the deal! I want a game forum to discuss my games, but I was instructed to talk about it first here, so I will give the info I came up with the past few days at school for it. I hope someone likes it^^;

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Title:Radiance

Genre:Adventure/RPG

Plot:
In this game, you will play three different stories that all connect together, which are respectively called the past, present, and future. The story starts off in the present, in the world of Aquaforge, a planet covered by sparkling oceans and scattered islands. However, all is not happy in the world, as the evil Lord Malice is bent on purging the human race, those who he calls 'meaningless shells' He thinks himself a god, for he has lived thousands of years, bringing destruction to the world. Later in the game, you will be sent to the past to see how Lord Malice became so powerful and corrupt. Can you go to the past and stop Lord Malice before he turns to the dark side?
And if you do, does that mean the safety and peace of the future is guranteed? (I'm not going to say any more, becaue I don't wana put out spoilers)

Characters:

1.Glade Whitebreak
The main hero of the story. Glade is a withdrawn, quiet mercenary who spends his time honing his fighting skills. He swears nothing but vengance because his parents were killed by one of Lord Malice's dragons. He will soon come to know the meaning of love,though ^_^

2.Lord Malice
An evil, corrupt ruler who has ruled over the planet for thousands of years. His ultimate goal is annihilation of the human race. He thinks human's are disgusting and pitiful; mere meaningless shells, and that the spirit is the perfect form, thus he is going to commit genocide. He regularly sends his 4 dragons into the towns to kill everyone.

3.Franchesca Mirran
Love interest to Glade. Joins him sometime in the story. Details not yet created

4.Sebastian Alrick
Male support character. Details not yet created

5.Vivianne the Priestess
Sends Glade through time. Details not yet created

Features of the Game:
-Three different but connected storylines (past, present, future)
-Multiple endings
-Different gems you obtain through the game can be used at savepoints to boost your stats (Ex.=A Taurus Gem might permanently add +2 Strength to your stats)
-Eight playable characters throughout the game

Radiance is a game about discovering the power of love, friendship, and human determination to overcome impossible odds.

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Okay, so that's it! Please leave comments! Suggestions and/or praise is always appreciated! Please note that this game is in the planning phase! This means that some details will probably be changed or stuff might be added once I actually start working on it!

[Chronicle Games]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Hey, one of the major villains in my game is named Glade...I didn't think anyone else would think to use an air freshener/cleaning product to name a character. Cool name.

Not too into Lord Malice, though.

I like the idea of going into the past to stop the formation of the present. What you've given us is a very brief synopsis, though, and there isn't much to glean from it. If you can spare any more details, I encourage you to do so. It will help people with understanding what makes your game unique.

It sounds good so far. Have you decided which RPG Maker you'll be using? Anyway, keep up the good work.

[Stormy]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Its a lot better than the "my project" descriptions from the typical newb. Give us a few more details, as you work them out, and you just might hook a few of us into following your project.

One good tactic is to let the reader know what happens in the first few minutes, or the first half an hour of the game. They're going to find out anyway, and if your designing it right that is where the real hook is anyway.

Good luck

[sleepywolf]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Hey, one of the major villains in my game is named Glade...I didn't think anyone else would think to use an air freshener/cleaning product to name a character. Cool name.

Haha are you serious? Besides being a refreshing product, the actual defenition of glade is 'an open space with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area.' Have any of u ever heard of the fairytales like 'the Faery's Glade'?

Anyway,

Here's some more general info about Radiance

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For game maker:
RPG Maker 3

First part of the game:
The game starts off with Era (new temporary name for Glade) out on a hunt job to find and kill the dreaded 'Crimson Wrath', a monster that lurks in the nearby forest shrine, attacking pilgrims that come there. Once you find and defeat it, you return to your client in town to get your reward, only to find that everyone has been slain! You come to the sorrowful conclusion that Malice's dragons must have come through here and killed everybody. This brings up painful memories of the past for Era... Amidst the wreckage, he sees his parents! (ghosts of course) They talk to their son and tell him it's too dangerous for him to stay here or any other normal town from now on. They tell him he must go to a place called 'The Shelter', to the north. It's a town surrounded by mountains, in a deep valley. This is where everyone is going to be safe from danger. Era's parents just want him to be protected and out of harm's way, and have nothing to do with fighting the dangerous Lord Malice. Era follows their advice, and you must make it through several wilderness areas. At one point,you will have to go through a cave, which, unfortunately, caves in, trapping you. Upon exploring the cave, you meet a lost, scared girl who ran away from her town after it was attacked by a Malice dragon.This girl's name is Franchesca Mieron, and her parents were killed as she was fleeing her town, along with most everyone else. This creates a bond between Era and Franchesca, as they both understand the feelings of losing your parents, so she decides to go with you to the Shelter. After finding a way out of the cave, you keep journeying and finally reach The Shelter. Contrary to his parents' will, Era will meet and join a resistance group dedicated to confronting and taking down Malice once and for all!

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Okay, so that's the first part of the game you play. After all of that, things start to branch off into the past and future. This is where multiple story paths are, which lead to multiple endings. I will post more info later, and I plan to put all of the info I have typed so far into my games forum when and if I get one ^^

[sleepywolf]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Okay, after much much thought...I've decided to scrap everything in my plot, due to the fact of it all being PAINFULLY cliche!


What I will keep, tho is...

-playing through the present to get to the past, to save the future
-Era, and the fact that his parents were killed
-Malice, who is more evil-er and meaner than before(before, he was gana be evil , but kinda mysteious like Kuja from ff9, but now he's just an all out bloodthirsty overlord(think sephiroth in a state of berserk)
-The world is in a state of hopelessness and dying.

I'm pretty sure it's a good thing I took away the biggest overused, cliche stuff like 'main character is a Mercenary, theres a faction/guild/resistance group, ect. I did keep in the cliche of 'saving the world' tho...hehe couldn't resist^^

Anyway, since I don't have a game forum yet... -looks at Valkysas- I am gana post updates for my game here. You don't gata read 'em if u don't want to, but it sure helps me to organize my ideas. And thank you for anyone who is currently supporting me on makin my first RPGM3 game^_^ -bows- doomo arigato gozaimasu!

Today I made the introduction story, title screen, and first scene before the game starts. I alsofound out some cool glitches you can do such as coming out of a dungeon and appearing completely underwater in a map (you can't walk tho...its a pity>_<) , and I also figured out how to get the camera to zoom from the top of a field map straight down to your character then steady out and point like normal at the horizon. Anyway, seeya later pavvies!

[sleepywolf]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

I don't have trouble making storytellers. I don't have problems making a good map on my first try. Heck, I don't even have issues when making characters off the top of my head. What I am having a major problem , though, is how to start off the actual game ( the actual game meaning after the prelude/introduction scene and backstory scene; where you actually get control of the main character for the first time.)

Anyone else have this problem/block?

[Dusk Raven]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Now for my customary villain rant.

He thinks human's are disgusting and pitiful;

I would have found that hard to believe if I didn't believe something like that myself. To quote my favorite video game antagonist of all time, "I have no wish to destroy humans, I merely wish to return them to their natural state."

-Malice, who is more evil-er and meaner than before(before, he was gana be evil , but kinda mysteious like Kuja from ff9, but now he's just an all out bloodthirsty overlord)

Wrong direction. I like my villains when they don't suffer from a psychotic case of Bipolar Disorder.

[Lausen]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

It's not your game though, Dusk. Use whatever makes you happy. Trying to acomidate other peoples likes could come at the cost of quality or a lack of modivation. Do what you like. I do think using "Sephiroth in a beserk state" is a funny example. Sephiroth never gets angry. He was always calm and collected.

I do agree with Dusk in that if he is so blood thirsty, there should be a good reason. You wouldn't expect someone to randomly want to kill people.

[Dusk Raven]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

It's not your game though, Dusk. Use whatever makes you happy. Trying to acomidate other peoples likes could come at the cost of quality or a lack of modivation. Do what you like.

You're right. The nature of the villain is just a matter of major concern for me.

And I've never played any of the Final Fantasies except for a bit of Tactics Advance, so I wouldn't know what Sephiroth is like, berserk or otherwise. Bad, I'm guessing.

[sleepywolf]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

A slight obstacle nowadays in making games is how it's just about impossible to make a main character that's never been used before...Take these examples of a main character design:

-Bad@ss Mercenary/soldier kinda guy (Ryudo from Grandia 2, Cloud from FF7)
-Heroic save the princess kinda guy (Zidane from FF9)
-Quiet, moody antihero kinda guy (Squall from FF8 [Square overkilled this one ^^;] )
-'I wana be a sky/space/sea pirate!' kinda guy (Vaan from FF12, Jaster from Rogue Galaxy)
-Static personality/almost robotic kinda guy. Doesn't really speak unless its to directly advance the main story( used in a lot of games)

So you see, it's quite hard to make a good character for your RPG nowadays without him fitting into at least one of the above categories...

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Now for the different types of common antagonists (bad guys):

-The mysterious/calm badguy that seeks ultimate destruction/rule of the planet, and often speaks in riddles or Shakespearian-type dialect. Often feminine in appearance or voice(Kuja from FF9, Vayne from ff12, Seymour from FF10)
-The brother/relative of the hero (Jecht from FF10, Melfice from Grandia 2
-Something that is not even human (Sin from FF10, 8 phases of the Epitaph from .hack series)
There are some others but I can't think of them at the moment.

Basically, I said all of that to make a point: Please don't hate on my characters if you have seen their personalities or whatnot in another game before...^^; sorry for the long post as usual

[Wavelength]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Valk's not usually the one who creates Game Forums for people. Sometimes the requests take up to two weeks to get done... you could bump your topic in the Tech Support forum if your game forum isn't made in the next 4-5 days, or send a Private Message to IRC or TheTrueCoolness.

Also, and maybe some people disagree with me on this, but I think you should stop addressing us as Pavvies or whatever... it makes you sound painfully on the outside... aren't you one of us now?

I actually kinda liked the Glade-Franchesca dynamic... Franchesca could have used a stronger backstory (and in my opinion a better name), but I thought you had something going there. Lots of potential for an interesting relationship. If you think you can make something original out of it, then don't let people dissuade you from your vision easily.

I've had trouble starting off my game as well. I've changed it a couple times already and I expect to keep changing it as I get further into development. Right now I start the player off at the beginning of the first dungeon, with a bit of dialogue and a practice battle, with a tone of rising action. I like that it feels very natural, but I'm worried that the banality of it could be a turnoff.

And finally, yeah, a lot of main characters have been done to death, but if you look at all those heroes you named, most of them were pretty likable. I think that's the key--make your character deep and likable. Combining archetypes is OK; adding a twist on archetypes is usually very well received. Even using a straight archetype like "heroic save-the-princess kinda guy" could work as long as you give the character sufficient personality and motivation. Just don't ever make a robotic, static-personality hero--I've always considered that a product of ineptitude rather than design.

Anyhow, I think you're off to a really good start. I've learned long ago not to get too excited about a game until the creator actually delivers a bit, but I will look forward to hearing/seeing some more from you.

[Lausen]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

As far as cliches go I wouldn't worry about them too much as long as they're not completly obvious. Like you even mentioned it's near impossible to come up with something new, but you can always present it differently. I believe the way you present the game is the most important part and that can make people forget all about the cliche.

Like Wavelangth I too like what you had going with Glade and Franchesca. Even if the love interest has been done a million times there is always room to make it better. You should always do what you want to above all else. I personally believe if you like your idea enough and truly want to make it good and to the best of your ability it will turn out good.

I found that my game has a good number of cliches too, but I think I did an okay job at deiguesing them and turing them into an original feel.

About the opening of the game it's always cool to have it start with a bang. I don't know what this Crimson Wrath is going to be, but you could start as one of these pilgams it is attacking and have to fight it. The Wrath would pretty much wipe out the pilgram. Then Glade shows up and has to fight it in order to save the guy. This would give a different view of both the wrath and Glade. Plus it gives you a chance to make a fancy entrance.

I guess all I can say is stick with it.

[sleepywolf]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

About the opening of the game it's always cool to have it start with a bang. I don't know what this Crimson Wrath is going to be, but you could start as one of these pilgams it is attacking and have to fight it. The Wrath would pretty much wipe out the pilgram. Then Glade shows up and has to fight it in order to save the guy. This would give a different view of both the wrath and Glade. Plus it gives you a chance to make a fancy entrance.

If you read down more and see my other posts, you'll see where I said I scrapped (as in decided not to do) everything but the time travel concept, Malice, and Era. So that whole thing about the crimson wrath and all was thrown in the trash, that's why I'm tryin to come up with a beginning, yo! And thank you both for your words of encouragement! I never looked at cliches that way before

[sleepywolf]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Update for my game...The memory usage is around 16 % now..My available memory is shrinking VERY fast...and I haven't even really got into making the main gameplay really! I am thinking of releasing a demo of the game pretty soon, where you'll see the whole beginning story and introduction and stuff, and then be able to play through the first few areas. I think you guys will really like my storyline I created! I spent the last two days brainstorming, editing, and revising the whole plot until I had a massive headache, but it was all worth it! I am not going to spoil anything, but lemme just say that the ending (if any of you are so kind as to play my game all the way through) will be a 'jaw droppin' moment (not in a plot-twist way like 'OMgZ, suzie just killed her boyfriend and became evil!) but like a revalation to the player. I even have ideas forming about a second game in the series!
Anyway, I probly should tell you guys a little bit about the new and shiny details I've made (in hopes of keeping your interests up with my project!):

The full title is Radiance: Crossroads of Time

Two dragons (light dragon of time, and the dark dragon of time) balance out all of nature and the web of time for the earth. The majority of the game will be dealing with them!

The two dragons have the option of combining their soul with a human, if they want, creating very powerful, but sometimes deadly, results!

Malice does have a reason for being so bloodthirsty and for living for so long!(see above sentence)

Throughout the whole game, you only get to have a two-person party: Era and Fran [new name for Franchesca] (although there will be temporary exceptions to this during the story, of course)

Those of you that hate random encounters in games...too bad! They're still here, but only on the smaller portions of map that are 'dirt, forest, sand, or plains' That means that you will never run into a random enemy if you always stay on the grass (which is like 90% of a map for me)

Okay so that's about it for now! Keep checkin back here for more updates!

Also, I thought I'd tell you guys that my inspiration for making Radiance came from playing games like Chrono Trigger and The Ocarina of Time. Play them if you have never played them! DO IT NOW@!!@!

[sleepywolf]

Re: Radiance (A working title)

Is there any way to move this whole thread into my game forum?