Don't worry! The game's not dead...just still on hold until maps are done, of which I gave my mapper until the end of the month to finish. Once he's done (or once the end of the month comes around) and I get the maps, the project will be back in full swing. Still need someone to help out with the synthesis shop though...I've no idea how to sort that crazy thing out...and also not sure on the stupid EXP ratio anymore either...;___;
As for the sprite, this is the finalized version just about for Hope's in-battle sprite. It's been updated from the original Chamat sprite to the more Touhou/Soku style, and also borrows the colors of the original for the newer version. However, some changes have been made to the design of Hope even from the concept art, such as the skirt.
Hopefully, soon, I'll be able to post more than just updates for Hope's sprites...I have the story and what I want to do all ready to go in my head. It's just that I have to actually MAP out everything and set everything up. The events and storyboards aren't hard to do (well, I've no idea how hard setting up the puzzles and gimmicks are going to be, especially since I'm more inspired by Valkyrie Profile's and, recently, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time puzzles)...just that the mapping takes me ages to do since I'm terrible at it and dilly-dally like nobody's business!
Again, if anyone is willing to help out on the project, feel free to drop me a line! I can use all the help I can get...not having a new beta out in 1 1/2 years is kinda sad, considering that I've done not that much since then aside from updating from Beta4 2.0 to Beta4 3.0...