Okay, here's the game that I'm outlining. I'm about 99% sure that I'm going to make in on XP, as it seems like more of what I'm going to need. In depth, I mean.
First, back story -
A few years earlier than when the actual story takes place, there was a war going on between two of the largest continents, named Scii and Rian. There had been an attack on the ruler of Rian, and she had suspected it was the people of Scii, on behalf of her advisor. The advisor aided her in the stuggle, telling her how they attack, and that they had been long-time enemies. The people of Scii panicked and turned to their main goddess, named Andia. She ruled over water, and was the goddess most widely worshipped across the land. Andia simply said that she would let them live underwater. The people protested that they would drown, and that she was crazy. She gave them magical artifacts, talismans, to let them breathe underwater and be able to stay under at varying depths. All Andia asked in return was for it to be kept a secret.
One night, when the war was still going on, one person left the water, and told a magician of the talismans, and an idea for how the war could be won. The magician annalyzed the talisman and created more, loving the idea to end the war. The troops were all gived an amulet so that they could go underwater and have a surprise attack on Rian. Quickly realizing that the Rian people were dying, the new ruler, Ferra St. Claire, quickly talked to the leaders of Scii, trying desperately to get a peace treaty. Ferra's advisor was very upset with her, but she didn't care, she wanted it to end. Ferra had been inducted at a very young age (about 18) and wasn't ready for a full-fledged war. She told her general to stop all attacks, and to retreat. Scii agreed to stop the war, but didn't completely trust Ferra. To the current day, there is no peace treaty.
After hearing that the Scii troops had used amulets to win the war, Andia was outraged. She let very few people stay in the sea, and banished most. She destroyed the vast majority of the amulets, and made it so the people that stayed could go very far underwater. A few days later, there were great storms and floods, which came to be known as 'Andia's Rage.'
The Story -
The main character, Bao, decided that he would work for one of the Andia temples for a little extra cash. After being chewed out by the preistess of the temple, Circe, she makes him go and fetch a new statue made for the temple. As he leaves, he walks across the beach to see and unconsious girl slowly drowning. He brings her to the temple, and tells Circe what happened. After the girl comes to, she reveals that her name is Nerissa, and she simply came to town to sight-see. Circe makes sure the girl is alright, and then sends them both off to get the statue. As they walk along the beach, Nerissa picks up a few seashells (which become part of a side-quest later) and then they are met by a very tall, thin woman. She tells them that something is going on in the east of town, around where the crafter's (who made the statue) house is. Once there, they see a few people running out of the crafter's home, leaving with the Andia statue. Bao and Nerissa try to stop them, but aren't able to.
The crafter sighs, and begins to talk to Bao and Nerissa as if nothing had happened. He tells them that things like that happen all the time, and that they only took the unfinished statue that he had made to test the mold. He shows them the realy statue, that had a blue gem tied around the neck. The crafter explains he got it in a trade, and hands the statue over to Bao.
When they get back to the temple, the woman from the beach is waiting outside. She tells them that the gemstone on the statue is one of the amulets she didn't destroy - thus revealing herself to be Andia. She says it is very weak, so it wasn't able to withstand much water. She gives it to them, and tells them that not everything seems to be gonig as smoothly as it seems. She tells them that there are many troubles surrounding Ferra St. Claire, and that there are even more closer to home. She suggests going to the next town over and seeing what's up.
As the story progresses, it is revealed that there is a lot of tension between people and Andia. There are groups that are trying to find a way to overthrow the goddess. There is also a lot of tension with Ferra St. Claire. She is trying to rule the way she thinks she should, but she is being pushed into other directions - even those opposing Andia, and herself.
The other two goddesses are very important over the course of the game, as there is Radia, deity of ice and snow, and Leda, deity of steam and mist. There is also a LOT more to the storyline, but, if I kept going, there would be tons of spoilers.
Features -
This is one of the things I'm really proud of. Okay, there isn't any leveling up. And you don't really have any set skills. Whatever you equip has skills built into it. Most characters, there accesories and sometimes weapons have skills, but Nerissa is the most customizable character. Whatever she equips, there are skills in it.
And you can mix and match them. Lets say you have Nerissa equip a bangle that has the offence skills that have to do with fire, i.e. fire skills, but you want her to also have water skills, AND be able to heal. So, you could do something like this (and these are all working names) -
Accessory -
Fire Bangle {Skills - Fire Burst, Lava, Heat}
Hands -
Water Gloves {Skills - Waterfall, Freeze, Rain, ADDED ABILITY - Fire Extinguisher}
Weapon -
Light Staff {Skills - Healing Mist, Ancient Charm, Thick Skin}
Notice the 'added ablility' thing? They can even effect you abilities, which strengthen those spells, strengthen items, etc. And there are loads of different possiblilities with those.
Also, the healing items are herbs and such, and most have a double-edged sword effect. There are some double-edged sword issues with some spells, for example, a spell that recharges MP for HP. Like a reverse healing spell.
Other Characters -
These are the two playable characters I would have put in the story part, execpt to get to where they come in, it ruins some stuff.
Aoife (pronounced ee-fa)
You meet her in the town of Yhim, where she is always winning at card games. To her dismay, you find out she's been cheating with the help of the manager of the casino. To shut you up, she decides to join the party and help out, just as long as you don't tell anyone she cheated. She has a strength in skills with spirits.
(Okay, I haven't found a good name for him yet, sorry!)
He is a good friend of Aoife's, and joins shortly after you do. After Aoife learns that you need a bomb to get into this one cavern, she tells you that she knows just the man for the job, and introduces you to him. He is a scientist, and that comes in handy with several things, including some side-quests.
If there's anything I left out of here, or you'd like to know more about the characters, let me know. I would really appreciate thoughts on my game.
First, back story -
A few years earlier than when the actual story takes place, there was a war going on between two of the largest continents, named Scii and Rian. There had been an attack on the ruler of Rian, and she had suspected it was the people of Scii, on behalf of her advisor. The advisor aided her in the stuggle, telling her how they attack, and that they had been long-time enemies. The people of Scii panicked and turned to their main goddess, named Andia. She ruled over water, and was the goddess most widely worshipped across the land. Andia simply said that she would let them live underwater. The people protested that they would drown, and that she was crazy. She gave them magical artifacts, talismans, to let them breathe underwater and be able to stay under at varying depths. All Andia asked in return was for it to be kept a secret.
One night, when the war was still going on, one person left the water, and told a magician of the talismans, and an idea for how the war could be won. The magician annalyzed the talisman and created more, loving the idea to end the war. The troops were all gived an amulet so that they could go underwater and have a surprise attack on Rian. Quickly realizing that the Rian people were dying, the new ruler, Ferra St. Claire, quickly talked to the leaders of Scii, trying desperately to get a peace treaty. Ferra's advisor was very upset with her, but she didn't care, she wanted it to end. Ferra had been inducted at a very young age (about 18) and wasn't ready for a full-fledged war. She told her general to stop all attacks, and to retreat. Scii agreed to stop the war, but didn't completely trust Ferra. To the current day, there is no peace treaty.
After hearing that the Scii troops had used amulets to win the war, Andia was outraged. She let very few people stay in the sea, and banished most. She destroyed the vast majority of the amulets, and made it so the people that stayed could go very far underwater. A few days later, there were great storms and floods, which came to be known as 'Andia's Rage.'
The Story -
The main character, Bao, decided that he would work for one of the Andia temples for a little extra cash. After being chewed out by the preistess of the temple, Circe, she makes him go and fetch a new statue made for the temple. As he leaves, he walks across the beach to see and unconsious girl slowly drowning. He brings her to the temple, and tells Circe what happened. After the girl comes to, she reveals that her name is Nerissa, and she simply came to town to sight-see. Circe makes sure the girl is alright, and then sends them both off to get the statue. As they walk along the beach, Nerissa picks up a few seashells (which become part of a side-quest later) and then they are met by a very tall, thin woman. She tells them that something is going on in the east of town, around where the crafter's (who made the statue) house is. Once there, they see a few people running out of the crafter's home, leaving with the Andia statue. Bao and Nerissa try to stop them, but aren't able to.
The crafter sighs, and begins to talk to Bao and Nerissa as if nothing had happened. He tells them that things like that happen all the time, and that they only took the unfinished statue that he had made to test the mold. He shows them the realy statue, that had a blue gem tied around the neck. The crafter explains he got it in a trade, and hands the statue over to Bao.
When they get back to the temple, the woman from the beach is waiting outside. She tells them that the gemstone on the statue is one of the amulets she didn't destroy - thus revealing herself to be Andia. She says it is very weak, so it wasn't able to withstand much water. She gives it to them, and tells them that not everything seems to be gonig as smoothly as it seems. She tells them that there are many troubles surrounding Ferra St. Claire, and that there are even more closer to home. She suggests going to the next town over and seeing what's up.
As the story progresses, it is revealed that there is a lot of tension between people and Andia. There are groups that are trying to find a way to overthrow the goddess. There is also a lot of tension with Ferra St. Claire. She is trying to rule the way she thinks she should, but she is being pushed into other directions - even those opposing Andia, and herself.
The other two goddesses are very important over the course of the game, as there is Radia, deity of ice and snow, and Leda, deity of steam and mist. There is also a LOT more to the storyline, but, if I kept going, there would be tons of spoilers.
Features -
This is one of the things I'm really proud of. Okay, there isn't any leveling up. And you don't really have any set skills. Whatever you equip has skills built into it. Most characters, there accesories and sometimes weapons have skills, but Nerissa is the most customizable character. Whatever she equips, there are skills in it.
And you can mix and match them. Lets say you have Nerissa equip a bangle that has the offence skills that have to do with fire, i.e. fire skills, but you want her to also have water skills, AND be able to heal. So, you could do something like this (and these are all working names) -
Accessory -
Fire Bangle {Skills - Fire Burst, Lava, Heat}
Hands -
Water Gloves {Skills - Waterfall, Freeze, Rain, ADDED ABILITY - Fire Extinguisher}
Weapon -
Light Staff {Skills - Healing Mist, Ancient Charm, Thick Skin}
Notice the 'added ablility' thing? They can even effect you abilities, which strengthen those spells, strengthen items, etc. And there are loads of different possiblilities with those.
Also, the healing items are herbs and such, and most have a double-edged sword effect. There are some double-edged sword issues with some spells, for example, a spell that recharges MP for HP. Like a reverse healing spell.
Other Characters -
These are the two playable characters I would have put in the story part, execpt to get to where they come in, it ruins some stuff.
Aoife (pronounced ee-fa)
You meet her in the town of Yhim, where she is always winning at card games. To her dismay, you find out she's been cheating with the help of the manager of the casino. To shut you up, she decides to join the party and help out, just as long as you don't tell anyone she cheated. She has a strength in skills with spirits.
(Okay, I haven't found a good name for him yet, sorry!)
He is a good friend of Aoife's, and joins shortly after you do. After Aoife learns that you need a bomb to get into this one cavern, she tells you that she knows just the man for the job, and introduces you to him. He is a scientist, and that comes in handy with several things, including some side-quests.
If there's anything I left out of here, or you'd like to know more about the characters, let me know. I would really appreciate thoughts on my game.