[XP] Expeditus

Expeditus

Hello guys! I have been messing around with RPG Maker for a fairly long time, though I haven't exactly released anything substantial. About half a year ago, I decided to fulfill my lifelong goal of creating and releasing an amateur RPG. I used an old idea I had back from 2009, and re-worked it to cover any inconsistencies and plot holes (as I never intended to release it at the time, I never really cared about such things). Right now, I'm still mostly in the script-writing phase, although I already do have a general idea of how the story goes. Without further ado, may I present to you Expeditus!


Story/Premise

Expeditus is a sci-fi/urban fantasy RPG that takes place in a school named Expeditus High, a school with 'Gates' to another dimension hidden throughout the campus. The game follows the adventures of Emil, a student at Expeditus. He gets caught in a series of events concerning the vandals McCoy and Marcus, the disciplinarian Caitlin, the new student Elizabeth, and his friends Amy and Franco.
Meanwhile, three sharply-dressed men with highly-advanced technological gizmos enter the school looking for a fugitive on the run. Emil and his companions eventually stumble into something way more grave than a petty vandalism case: the rampage of a beast coming from the Gate hidden inside the library.
Using mysterious, strength-enhancing armlets (which also allows them access to extraordinary abilities) acquired from the three men, the students fight off the beast and bring safety to Expeditus.
However, the fugitive continues to lurk around campus, leaving open Gates in his wake.


Characters

The Playables

Spoiler for:

Emil Wallace
Emil is the character that the player controls, but he is far from the leader of the group. He is apathetic, and only shows concern towards things that affect him directly. Through a series of events, he meets and interacts with the three other playable characters during the game's introductory chapter. He wields a retractable baton in battle.


Caitlin Kent
Caitlin is the overly-serious head of Expeditus High's Disciplinary Committee. Due to her constant need of order within the student body, she is often regarded as a tyrant who controls the school with an iron fist. She approaches Emil when he becomes a witness in a vandalism case. She wields a replica sword in battle.


Jonathan McCoy
McCoy is the resident delinquent of Expeditus High. Being smart and cunning, he usually dodges punishment. As such, he is always at odds with Caitlin. Emil witnesses McCoy and Marcus, McCoy's fellow miscreant, as they vandalize a wall in school. He wields throwing knives in battle.


Elizabeth Finn
Elizabeth is the perky, ditzy new student in Expeditus High. She genuinely likes to help other people, no matter what it might cost her. She is a friend of a friend of Emil's, and she runs into him numerous times while looking for her missing uniform. She wields a pocket knife in battle.

Supporting Characters

Spoiler for:

Marcus Ford
Marcus is the brawn to McCoy's brains. He holds a heavy grudge against Caitlin. Just like the main characters, he finds an armlet and uses the power for his own personal intentions.


Amy Way
Amy is a close friend of Emil. Together with her brother Franco, they are usually the forces that push the indifferent Emil into action. She is also a friend of Elizabeth.


Franco Way
Just like his sister Amy, Franco is a friend of Emil. Compared to his sister, he is a lot more cautious. He was the one who figures out how to reprogram the armlets that Emil found.

Screenshots
While I am still in the script-writing phase, I have already started on the RPG Maker XP project itself.

Spoiler for:

This is just a "Test Map" of sorts, just to help me test battles and stats and such. Don't worry, this (badly-designed) map won't show up anywhere in the final product.
[The tileset used is a slightly modified version of Neo-RTP's school interior tileset]

Spoiler for:

The menu screen. Nothing special.

Spoiler for:

The battle system that uses the Tankentai SBS engine.

Gameplay Features
The game uses a sort of skill-equip system. By equipping 'Memory cards' into the characters' armlets, the characters can use certain skills and raise stats. Think of it like the Suikoden series' rune system, or the Persona series' persona system.
The game mostly takes place within the campus of Expeditus High, where the player can prepare the party for the dungeon levels beyond the Gates.


So there you have it. I expect the final script to be finished by mid-May, and for the final game itself to be finished in about a year. This isn't going to be an epically-long RPG, but rather, something that can be finished in just a few sittings.

I read through the whole thing to find something to interest me. Sadly I found nothing in this game that would personally interest me into playing it.

Your story is something to point out, you have admitted that it is cliche, but state that there are more intricate plot twists throughout the story, right now though that doesn't matter to me.
If you do in fact have a better story going for this than what has been presented, you should update the story to reveal this, don't worry about spoilers unless you're talking around half-way into the game.

As a side note, I also see little purpose in having a step count in your menu unless your steps are actually important somehow.

Your story is something to point out, you have admitted that it is cliche, but state that there are more intricate plot twists throughout the story, right now though that doesn't matter to me.
If you do in fact have a better story going for this than what has been presented, you should update the story to reveal this, don't worry about spoilers unless you're talking around half-way into the game.

Hmm, I guess you have a point there. I'll update the main post soon, with some added gameplay features.

As a side note, I also see little purpose in having a step count in your menu unless your steps are actually important somehow.

Ah, yes. That's how the default menu of RMXP looks like (which makes me wonder why I even bothered to screencap it). I'll definitely be replacing the steps counter and replace it with something else entirely (possibly a location indicator or whatever).