[VX] Professor Verne's Magnificent Flying Machine

Update - 1/11/13
Updated the concept section with more details about game play.

All features listed here are in a mostly-done state, with either graphical elements left unfinished, are unpolished, or just simply only exist in so much as I know the script/event system works, but doesn't serve a complete function.

Professor Verne's Magnificent Flying Machine

Created by Anthony Vick

For he comes the human child
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
From a world more full of weeping than he can understand - William Butler Yeats, from The Stolen Child
(Note: Concept art to go with these descriptions are forthcoming. After that, screenshots).
Setting
Thousands of years into the future, the world is ruled by nature and mystery. Once-bustling cities lay forgotten, reclaimed and overgrown by the forests that were cleared for them in ages past. In these lands where nature has triumphed over civilization, beasts great, terrible, wondrous and wise make their homes. Far off to the south of Earth's one and only continent, a new Industrial Revolution is beginning. For some, the old ways and superstitions of the past age are quickly being replaced with logic, reason, and man's dominion over the world. Yet, still, something far older than even the advanced ancients still lingers on this shrinking world.
Story
A boy from a hunter-gatherer tribe and a recently orphaned girl are pursued by faeries, otherworldly horrors, disciples of an ancient evil, and concerned adults as they travel through a world where ancient cities have been reclaimed by forests, beasts talk, and humanity has rediscovered steam-power and Victorian culture. Adelaide's father is dead, and Yuma's father is imprisoned for the murder. Unable to adapt to life in the industrializing world, the two run away on a stolen flying machine (that claims it's alive) and solve mysteries presented by a changing world and its clash with the old, in the hopes of finding out why the murder took place. What they end up uncovering are whispers of a darkness from the technologically advanced ancient past--a darkness that threatens to cover the world once more...
Concept
Professor Verne's is an experiment with videogame storytelling. It is, at it's heart, a coming of age story, incorporating elements of a whimsy, fantasy, science fiction, and drama. Throughout the game, the player takes the control of Yuma, solving mysteries and battling enemies in a mix of adventure game and combat-RPG. Throughout the story, Yuma and Adelaide grow up and age from young children into adults in their thirties, and it is the people that come in and out of their lives, and the way they cross in and out of each other's lives, that make up the bulk of the story.

There are some choices to make, but they are not as extensive as those found in, say, a Bioware game.

Gameplay Concept
My concept for the gameplay was variety, as well as a feeling that I didn't want it to center entirely on violence. There are lots, and I mean lots, of different ways to kill things in this game. But I did that for the purpose of keeping the game fresh and experimental. Essentially, anything you can do in the game, your enemies can also do. They can use the same weapons, attacks, spells, and, sometimes, even Momentous Attacks (Limit Break-like super-moves obtained by keeping the party's morale up) and summons. This makes the battles much more like a card game where both opponents choose their deck of options (in this case, your weapons and skills must be equipped) and go into battle with very little assurance as to the outcome. Battles will be scarcer, and more emphasis will be put on the variety of options. This goes for all three variations of the battle system in the game.

Zone Break
The zone-break system is an improved version of the one from Xenosaga Episode II. I liked the idea, but hated being limited to the same selection of attacks, having to stock turns, and all the lame spells. There was no variety, and the mecha battles were boring. Still, the concept for the zone break was interesting, so here I've taken what Namco has abandoned and made it work within a more standard RPG: Each physical attack for each weapon has a specific "zone" it can hit in. Each enemy has a specific combination of zones that, when struck, will "Break" them. Once broken, enemies take more damage and cannot move for a turn. Also, a broken
foe or character can be knocked into the air or down to the ground by certain attacks. Once in the air or flat out on the ground, the character takes even more
damage, but will fall or get back up pretty quickly, so effective timing is key to maximizing damage.

Though there is an element system, less emphasis is put on it. It does modify damage, because that's logical that a sword wouldn't affect, say, a slime monster the
same way a hammer would. The difference is that using the right element/attack
properties will only enhance your strategy, not dictate it. The various properties of the weapon (power, range) and the property of the skills available when wielding that weapon (zone hit--or combination thereof--properties, and status effect) are more important. Most of the physical attacks deal some kind of status effect, be it causing the foe to bleed, bruising or breaking bones (which reduces usefulness of that body
part to a degree), burns, ect. One's resistance to the these effects directly relates to their resistance to the physical property that produces the effect. Protection against slash damage also protects against getting an open wound, protection from blunt damage reduces your chances of getting bruised, ect.

Diplomacy
There is also an element of diplomacy. One of the reasons why the game tries to even the playing field between player and foe is because I didn't want the player to feel like the enemies on the map where just there to be mowed down for their money and items. Most of the enemies (even the beasts) will have a reason to fight, and they will fight hard for what it is they want to accomplish. You can go around looking for fights for loot and whatnot, but the implications of that action are on your head. You can do it, if it doesn't bother you. Just don't expect some NPCs to not hold it against you.

There are other ways to obtain loot and experience points, not just fighting. Quests are a good way. Enemies can be convinced to run instead of fight, come to a truce, or even turn on their allies--sometimes even in the midst of battle. Again, this is to give the player the feeling that the characters they are fighting are rational beings with their own motivation, not just some loot dispenser.

Character Growth and Customization
I always wondered how characters in RPGs just pull new techniques right out of their asses. Like, they level up and suddenly learn a new technique. Not only is it usually just a fancy, slightly stronger version of the last one, but I can't help wondering: who taught them that? We rarely see any character in an RPG getting instruction, or learning from a master. And even if we do, there's no real impact. Some might think it lazy that I don't have some kind of fancy skill-learning mechanic in the game, that the game's skill-learning is handled through events, but this was a design choice I made. It's not entirely uncommon. Games such as Okami have used this simple skill learning mechanic. But instead of just one technique master, there are masters of martial discipline all over the world who will teach you how to master the weapon they specialize in, for a price, or for some other favor they might have you do in return. I believe that Jade Empire used a similar system for learning new abilities.

As you perform skills, you gain experience points for that skill. When the skill levels up, you gain a random stat boost related to that skill. Alternatively, there are variations on that skill that can be learned through level ups, such as defensive measures and preemptive attacks that damage attacking foes and stop their actions cold.

Leveling is not entirely meaningless, though. Every level, the player may pick a stat to increase, and spin a slot reel to determine bonus stats: x2, x3, or even x4 or bonus stat boosts for another stat are all possible outcomes.

In addition to stat increases, a character may pick a "trait" every three levels. These are not much different than Fallout 3's "Perks". They do everything from simple stat increases to enhancing some of the game play mechanics for a character's specialized field. It at once serves to enhance the character, but, since many of the traits are centered on a specific type of weapon or magic use, they also further specialize the character (again, similar in concept to how the Fallout series handles them). There are a few techniques and abilities, also, that are unique to the character and are obtained usually through level-up.

Quests and NPC Interaction
The Rep system is actually a more simplified version of something like Bioware's dialogue system. In this case, however, you're limited in your responses, and each response increases a variable (or a set of variables) that not only affects the current conversation, but also your reputation (note that reputation is related to, but not in any way the same as one's personality--that's a given, but in this game it should be taken to heart). Your reputation can affect future events and interactions with NPCs.

I also didn't want the player's reputation to be visible as some kind of stat. I felt like that would be (and is in other games) immersion-breaking metagaming. The evidence of your reputation will be visible in the way NPCs treat you. If you don't like the treatment you get, then change your tactics. I want this to be about tactics and cause-and-effect, not the height levels of a blue and red bar, or a position on a sliding scale.

The game really isn't open-world. It gives the player a modicum of freedom within the constraints of the story, but I wanted there to be more urgency. That being said, there are some career choices available in the game. Military, detective, and pirate quest paths are all featured at one point in the game. There may be more, as I haven't decided yet on several others. Even though the game may sometimes feel like a collection of side quests and side-stories, everything you do eventually links back up to the main story. How this works I will let the player discover on their own. The idea being that you can't escape what others have in for you.
Other Features

• An engaging storyline.
• A mix of RPG action and adventure-game puzzle and mystery-solving.
• Varied gameplay with exploration and three main combat modes:

• A fast-paced melee combat system with combo attacks, saving throws, and
       and a defense-breaking mechanic.
• Characters pilot vehicles in a tactical press-turn (like the Shin Megami Tensei games)battle system.

• Over 10 different weapons and tools, each with their own mechanics and battle strategies. From melee weapons, to tools, to medical applications and even guns. The four main characters are customized via the equipment system where armor and weapons determine what they can do in battle.
• Over 100 spells: 8 element magic system with spells harnessing the combined force of elements. With a focus on raw elemental power, you may do everything from setting foes on fire to summoning field effects such as storms to change the conditions of the battle!
• Recruit others as allies! Diplomacy is sometimes best: Yuma can talk to animals, Fredricks has a way with people, and any character with Engineering training can reprogram machines. All to make allies out of your enemies.
• Some spirits and animals can be obtained as permanent allies that can be summoned to the battlefield whenever the player wants.
• Varied locations with a lot to explore.
• Quests that are self-contained stories on their own, but also serve to forward the main story.
• Immersion-based reputation system that determines how NPCs interact with you as you establish yourself within the game world.
• "Legendary Reputation" is a new concept where the legend of your adventures and skill truly precedes you. As your fame or infamy spreads, you may find yourself more legend than human in the eyes of those around you.
• Scripts created by (some modified and bugfixed by me):
  -Yanfly
  -Yami
  -GB Productions
  -Shanghai
  -KGC
  -Modern Algebra
  -GubiD
  -dudeguy119
  

This game features original art done by myself, and animated battlers done in a more western style. I am in the process of creating a strong enough mockup of features and character designs so that I may use it to attract and recruit others to this project. As I add more people to this project, I hope to add more artists to decrease my workload, and so others can add their ideas. I am not currently looking for a team right now, as there are still things I'm working out with my mockup. However, the basic mechanics of what I have described here are all functional.

More info to come as I finalize things.

This sounds pretty cool. Hopefully it looks just as good.

I'd like to see a few screenshots myself

Update - 12/11/12
Mostly just a cleanup of the page, with a new story description. Character descriptions coming soon, as well as character and concept art (I'm debuting all three at the same time). There will be concept art added as soon as I get home from school. As for screenshots, those are also forthcoming. There's not enough finished graphically for me to really want to show it. As to why those and other promotional-type materials have been nonexistent, well, with school and all, I've had to choose between upping the hype for this game, or simply making it. I chose the later.

All features listed here are in a mostly-done state, with either graphical elements left unfinished, are unpolished, or just simply only exist in so much as I know the script/event system works, but doesn't serve a complete function.

EDIT: By the way, what do you guys think of the new setting and story summary? I tried to make them as succinct and short as possible I spent about two hours trying to sum up what is, really, kind of a difficult story to summarize. But, then again, I'm not good at summarizing. If I could say the things I want to say in plain language, I'd be a Preacher, not a storyteller. Still, any advice or criticism would be welcome. I'm trying to make the summary draw people in more.

EDIT: I just realized I wrote "navel combat". *snort* Yes, folks, this game features a bellybutton fighting sequence. I wanted that to be a surprise...

UPDATE--well, sort of

I just wanted to say that this project is still a go. I haven't abandoned it. I know the reason I'm not getting much attention is due to lack of shots and demos. Those are coming, I promise. My issues are that I'm learning all of this as I go. It isn't that I'm afraid of criticism, I just feel like I'm not there yet with what I want, but that I am getting there. I've scaled back a lot of what has been posted here, though the philosophy and mechanics remain the same.

I'll be posting with more details soon, as well as a few screens to show that, while the graphical elements are still forthcoming, the coding has been progressing quite well. There's just one issue I'm trying to work out that's holding me up. Expect a recorded demo/series of screens soon using RPG Maker VX's resources to showcase this new battle system.

P.S.: Things I have cut:
-The third battle system. THere will still be a second battle system, however.
-Summoned Creatures--sort of. They're still there, but far less Final Fantasy-rip off.

The game will also be released in episodic form. I will expand further on this concept soon. Many of the stories featured in this game will be written by others, making this a fusion of videogame and episodic "television" storytelling. I'll have more details on how that works as I finalize my business plan.

Note that eventually I will be searching for writers. I've got some local people interested, but I will expand my search to the internet, soon.