[VX] The Order of the Marten

My Blurb before we get started:
So, I'm one of those idea people who's had several promising games in development, and a whopping zero completed projects. Where's the guarantee this isn't just another something that I'll abandon down the road? There aint one.

That being said, this project is more "right" than any other I've started. I've been working on it some time now and keeping it off the net so I could focus on getting the foundation right. I've done enough work on this piece that I'm confident that I won't be ditching it. Everything I have planned is feasible, all of the resources are taken care of (at least enough to get it released, I'm sure better could be found/made) and the story is solid. So, either blow it off as another idea that will never get released, or hang around and let's see if it makes it.



What it's Not:

Spoiler for:

This game does not include any of the following:

• Teenager heros
• Magic (aside from the fringe superstition of witches and cultists)
• Asia-free, the farthest east I go is the ottoman empire
• No saving the whole world
• No gods, demons, fairies, elementals or santa claus

If you think you could dig a game set in a more realistic world, with real flaws, real danger and mature characters trying to achieve more real (yet not easy) goals, stick around. If you dig big eyed magical elves from the land of suteki going against the dark god Beazleburp, well, stick around anyways, maybe you'll like this too.

Story

Spoiler for:

This story is told from the view of a lowborn guards-woman. Her name is unimportant, as she has become a traitor to the king by abandoning her lawful duty, thieving from the king's own coffers, and refusing taxes. This peasant is thus sentenced to death.



Her story has now ended, but her executioner came with a bargain. Serve him, and in doing so serve their king in a covert squad. You would think it a simple decision, die, or serve your king, however, this woman holds a great deal of animosity for her king, who has done nothing to protect border towns from the growing threat of the wildmen, rampaging sub-humans who have been terrorizing and raiding the out territories. With reluctance the woman does accept the bargain, and her life ends at the hand of the executioner. Her name has been lost to the world, along with her story.

Audrey, as the new recruit into this squad calls herself, has been enlisted as a bodyguard for it's leader, an enigmatic man known as Simon. She has learned that all members of this squad are former criminals, executed for crimes as petty as document forgery and as vile as rape and murder. After brief re-training, she and Simon set out to investigate the disappearance of one of the squad's informants, and discover a conspiracy unraveling, one which could endanger king and country, and the squad is the only chance this country has to prevent an international fiasco.

Loyalties will be tested, lies will be exposed and our heroine will learn that nothing is ever as it seems in the world of politics. Will she be able to cope with what this quest makes her do? Follow her tale and find out.

Characters

Spoiler for:

Audrey
Specialty: Martial Prowess
Enlisted to defend a kingdom she has no faith in, Audrey is at constant odds with herself. She is very sensitive to the suffering of the common people, and it pains her to perform her duty to the king when so many others suffer. Her faith lies in god however, and she believes that god has a purpose for her that she can only fulfill if she remains alive.
She is a master of heavy arms, years spent tending the fields of her homeland have gifted her with a strength unlike most women. In battle her raw strength and martial prowess allow her to defend her comrades and strike powerful blows to even armored foes.


Simon
Specialty: Finesse and Espionage
Like many of the squad he leads, his past is lost to history. No one knows where he came from or what his crime was, and they don't particularly care. He is a dangerously intelligent man who holds sway over every member of his company. Many respect him for his tactical prowess and unfaltering calm, others fear him for the dark shadows he holds over their very lives. Simon holds agents in every corner of the kingdom it seems, and even traitors to foreign lords beyond the kingdom's borders.
His skill with light arms is unparalleled, and his fighting style hints that he may have been an assassin in his former life. His tactical maneuvers have also won many a battle.


Isabel
Specialty: Explosier
Isabel often comes across as a very cold individual, and she my very well be, if she has any emotion at all. She is difficult to read due to a perpetually calm exterior. It has been discovered by some of the squad that she was charged with the death of her husband, amongst others. He, a skilled chemist, and his colleagues were burned alive in his workshop, for which Isabel was blamed. She is likely the member most loyal to Simon's cause.
She is skilled in the creation and use of explosives and other chemical creations. She also is skilled in the use of pistols and rifles.


Jerome
Specialty: Apothecary
Jerome is a man of dark humor. He is certainly a social butterfly, but his life it seems has twisted his mind into a dark thing. It seems he is content enough to be alive, but holds some old animosity towards the capital. He is quite open that in his former life he was a drug dealer, profiting from the addictions of his clientele.
While he is a large and dangerous man in a fight, his great value in battle is the application of medicines. Jerome has the ability to use compounds to their maximum effect, whether they be helpful or harmful. To have any other person utilize salves would simply waste half the supply.

New Screenshots:

Spoiler for:

Old Screenshots:

Spoiler for:

Passing through a bit of uninviting woodland towards the scout's home.


A much more inviting hamlet nearby the woods, but even bright towns have problems.


Seeking the blacksmith.


A recently abandoned mining outfit, why will the king not send guard here to retake it from the wildmen?


Just on the other side of the mine, infiltrating the wildmen settlement.






And now some crafting images:

Times are tough, and tradesmen can't keep many finished goods in stock, so you'll have to find different types of craftsmen and provide them with raw materials to have access to a greater variety of armors, weapons and items.


Isabel can craft her own goods from raw materials and chemicals, producing explosive results.


The travel system, courtesy of ModernAlgebra's Baldur's Gate system. To travel to different areas, access a signpost. Unless you fork over the money to be ferried, expect to be attacked by wildmen, bandits or beasts along the way.


The journal system. Audrey keeps a written account of the events of the game.

Assorted Art:

Spoiler for:

Features:

Spoiler for:

• As there is no magic, a character's skills are governed by their prowess, and utilizing them requires Fatigue
• Equipments require certain levels of strength or prowess to be used
• ranged weapons and some special weapons require ammunition or reagents to use, best keep an eye on your supplies
• No world map, travel is done through signposts, with varying levels of danger to travel from point A to B. Hiring a coach can reduce the danger.
• Each character brings a completely different set of skills to the party you'll have to use them well if you're to survive
• Very few RTP graphics!
• A complex politically fueled story with mature characters
• Explosier crafting system, make everything from smoke powder to grenades to special bullets.
• And more to come...

Music:

Spoiler for:

What's Mine Is Mine:



Borderlands:

Demo Progress:

Spoiler for:

Database: mostly done, just need to add descriptions, item prices and test parameters.
Story: Done
Eventing: Much to do still
Mapping: six or seven maps to go
Scripting: just need to populate crafting recipe lists
Graphics: Maybe a few more icon edits, adjusting tone on NPC facesets

Things needed:

Spoiler for:

None! ...as of yet...

The Team:

Spoiler for:

Joy: Maps, Art, Story, Eventing, Eventual breakdown.
Holk: Voluptuous musical masses.
grafikal: perfectly proportioned pixels.
EvilM00s: Wittily whimsical wording.

Support Bars:

Spoiler for:

That should be about it, let me know what you think and check back as I add more. I hope to have a gameplay demo coming very soon.
Old Post Here:

Spoiler for:

So, I'm working on a bit of a project, who knows if I'll stick with it or not.
The general points:

• No Magic
• Nothing Japanese
• Not saving the world
• No gods, demons, elementals or fairies of any sort
• No teenagers

That being said, I'd like to get a bit of feedback on the current state of mapping, visual aesthetic and travel. I've mapped a town with all interiors, travel connection, a small tutorial forest (tutorial not yet implemented) and the beginnings of highlands.

I'd appreciate any reports of mapping errors, passability issues or game errors. I'd also like to pick some brains for opinions on the general look of the game. I'm also wondering which looks better on MA's Travel Script for location images: the battle backdrops used for the crossroads and town or a screencap of the actual location as in the Hills.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=7adc24220587c0fbd2db6fb9a8902bda

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.



Double Edit:

Since some folks have asked for more, here's a few things that are decided on already:

• Battle System: DBS, the skills DB is going to be completely redone since there is no magic. Many skills will require item reagents to use, each skillset will be unique to each character(Finesse, Martial, Pyrotechnics and Triage)
• Professions: two characters are tradesmen, so there will be two separate creation systems to manufacture apothecary goods, chemicals and incendiary devices
• Loot: Beasts do not drop armor or gold, they drop parts such as pelts, bone, carapaces and humors. You can then either use these raw goods in Apothecary or Explosier recipes or trade them to  craftsmen in the world for finished goods. There will be an increased drop rate on humans for gold, and armed enemies have a better chance of dropping many pieces of their armor, weapons, items and gold.
• SP/MP: SP has been replaced with Fatigue. Using special abilities such as garotte, sunder armor, salve and smoke grenade use up fatigue points. When Fatigue is completely used up, regular attacks become weaker. Defending allows the character to restore a bit of fatigue or the apothecary has skills to restore fatigue. Some weapons will also drain fatigue, such as claymores, double-headed axes and hammers.

I'm not yet ready to post the story, I want to get the entire main storyline outlined before I start putting up anything on the story or characters. I will say this: Three out of four characters are criminals in various stages of rehabilitation.

As to the tileset used, I am using Mack's new VX RTP, you can find it here:
http://cyocorune.cocolog-nifty.com/daily_vx/

He updates something new pretty much every Japanese weekday, slap it in translator to read his rules of use, it's the last category.

My Sprites are coming from this creator, also in affiliation to Mack:
http://www.geocities.jp/kurororo4/looseleaf/

I'm really enjoying your screenshots. : ) I'll have to download this later for sure.

I played the map demo, and all of the maps are great. I can't wait until you start working on the game aspect of it. :3

Yeah, the maps look nice.

• No Magic
• Nothing Japanese
• Not saving the world
• No gods, demons, elementals or fairies of any sort
• No teenagers

My god this has got to be the best rpg ever. no joke.
So did you make those tilesets yourself? Cause they look tons more detailed than the RTP.

Looks very nice, mind putting up more about they story and available features?
Like, what battle system are you using or plan on using?

Where did you get that furnace section for a tileset O_O  That's pretty amazing.

Nice! That's solid foundations for a quality game! The tileset is pretty sweet. :jealous: 

Keep up the good work! Should be a spiffing game.

Tanks for all the kind words. I'm going to be working on the DB and events once I finish the next four maps in the hills and one or two more for the intro(oh yeah..and draw character portraits and re-do the windows...), then it's playable demo time.

I've updated the main post with more information on the game and my graphical sources thus far.

:O I personally love the loot system, like Chrono Cross. GAWD ppl stealin mah ideaz. Lol. Just playing, I like it

I found a glitch 
A passibility issue in that house in the spooky woods. Attached a picture.
One other thing: Perhaps make the sound the bird makes a bit quieter? It's kinda piercing at the moment! lol.

This is a good looking project that I hope something develops out of it.

I love how you found this wonderful tileset and now everyone has stolen it for their own projects. Should all band together to make one great game.

Major edit on the first post, info is all now up.

I love your first screenshot's fog.

There, I named it...and look..title screen, opinions on it?

The Order of Cory Marten

I have arrived. :D :D :D

._.

Looks wonderful. I want those tilesets ^o^

As to the tileset used, I am using Mack's new VX RTP, you can find it here:
http://cyocorune.cocolog-nifty.com/daily_vx/

Crazy good work so far, this is going to be a unique RPG for sure!

I sees a future Project of the Month...

Right after I read what its not, I got interested. I'll definitely keep an eye on this. ^^

I really like the color scheme that your art uses. It has a sort of sepia tone that really makes me think that the game is unique. The only thing is, your maps don't really use the same aesthetic. I think, and this is just me, that a filter over your maps would pull everything together artistically, and make the entire package look enticing. This is sweet looking so far.

Wow, thanks for all the kind words, I'm very glad this is being well recieved.

Holk: I was already planning on doing all flashbacks in that same sepia-tone, and I think I may try your suggestion and tint it some, though probably not to full sepia. Posting some battle screens now, not that the DBS is very exciting. ;p