[VXA] The Misadventures of Claire

The Misadventures of Claire

What if Adventures were more commonplace in a world?

The Premise:
We've all seen those RPG's where some group of rag-tag heroes save the world countless times. In fact, we've seen them so much that it's become a typical stereotype that many devs like to play off of. It's kind of wise to do so in many cases, as it shows the creator's ideals around what he sees in his friends.

However, what if you were in a world where the Adventure was controlled, where Adventurers were much, MUCH more organized, and saving the world is like the daily grind? In such an instance, you have this:

The Misadventures of Claire is a take of the RPG Genre where you get to see the world from our titular protagonist's eyes, all while she tries to live a normal life WITHOUT Adventure. Sadly for her, she keeps getting dragged into situations where she must be the hero in Adventures that save countries, kingdoms, and even the world.


The Characters So Far . . .:

Spoiler for:

Claire "Deces" Morican
Claire is our main protagonist; a farmgirl looking for peace and quiet, and yet, somehow someone decides that she's the perfect hero to save the world [not wise, considering she's basically a teenager]. Claire HATES Adventures, despite not having a problem with monsters, and despises contemporary Adventurers who she thinks "are out to make a quick name for themselves by cheating the Ranking board". Her father was one of the great heroes of the old days who saved the world countless times before retiring.
Being the main protagonist, she's the "Every-Man" of the group: She's a good physical fighter, has decent HP and MP, and can manipulate the elements to dish out the maximum amount of damage. Though she did not recieve any formal training, her father did teach her how to use "Animagic" - magic using purely ethereal mana - and "Environmental Magic" - magic that effects the battlefield as a whole. This garners some unwanted attention from the masses, who consider her a celebrity among the people.


Alux Pelamecia
Alux is the first of today's Adventurers that Claire meets; He's a noble kid, but a kid nonetheless [At the barely adult age of 18].
Having just graduated from an Adventurer's College, he still has his reservations on combat and monster-hunting, and honestly, any fight he gets in scares him a bit. When Claire meets him, he starts acting rather rashly, and insists that Claire go home, however, after an incident caused him to be saved by Claire, he began to trust in her ability a bit more, and eventually wound up travelling with Claire on what she calls a "road trip".
Alux is and is not a typical mage. He favors magical combat over physical, and his defense isn't the greatest, but unlike the rest of the group, he has a very high HP stat and his magical defense is beyond decent. Alux, for all intsneive purposes, is a tank who specializes in magic, able to hit enemies hard with the right elemental advantage. If only he had the speed to keep up . . .
One of Alux's specialties lies in his other ability: the "Elema Summons". Being one of the few mages in the world capable of controlling Elemental Spirits, he can summon them in certain situations to deliver a punishing blow to monsters and enemy troops.


Professor Alexis Tahsequah
Lex is one of the few Adventurers that Claire has any inkling of trust with, seeing as Lex was the best friend and Party member of Claire's father. She is also one of the few people in the world to not be surprised about Claire's lineage or ability. Lex owns The Factory, a store in Carpside that sells some of Lex's inventions and tinctures, and serves as a tactical advisor for the Magistrate of Aurica when the situations arise.
Lex is by far one of the fastest characters in the game; unless specced otherwise, she will ALWAYS act first in combat. In many cases, that's a really good thing; because she can buff the party and debilitate the enemy using her special "Sci-Tech" magic. She is also the only character in the game who knows spells that can allow you to act multiple times in a turn, provided you can keep her from being silenced. When not using magic, she can use her special "Inventions" to devastate the enemy and really charge her up for crippling moves such as her signature Ion Cannon or a use of the Singularity. Protect her, and she'll protect you.


Darcene Sirenius
Darcene's the newest member of the group so far. Ironically, she is one of the few Adventurers who wound up living paycheck to paycheck because of a lack of Party registries.  As such, she wound up getting a roommate and began working as a street musician to pay the bills. Claire and Lex met Darcene on their first stop on Claire's "road trip": the musical party capital Sylvanopolis, and decided to let her be a part of the festivities by allowing her to travel with them.
Darcene's as much of a  support as it gets: her two abilities, "Jingles" and "Songcasting", allow her to boost the party using songs or bewilder the enemy with special debuffs and status ailments. She isn't a very offensive character; but in a pinch, she can - at least - fight using white noise projected from her special stringed instruments. She also get a jingle here or there that allows her to use some elemental magic, but for the most part she is your healer and crowd control character. Unfortunately, some of her better abilities can leave her unable to do much if over-used. Just keep an eye on her  and she'll sing you a path to victory.

The Gameplay:
Combat is pretty standard: attack normally and use magic if you can target a weakness. The game uses the standard VX Ace engine, so battles are front-view and turn-based. Skills are learned from both standard levels and the use of Gemstones.
Items in the game can seriously turn the tide of battle. Proper use of Mega Potions and Arc Ethers can prevent you from dying from a group attack or burning the party out of MP, and take just a turn to use.
Equipment runs just like any other RPG, unless it's story-based equipment, the shops generally carry better gear each time you visit a new area or progress with the plot.
Each character in this game has a specific set of [LIMIT BREAK]'s, powerful abilities which use up an entire TP Guage. The Break's you can get so far are as follows:
Claire:

Spoiler for:

     * Aether Reset: Restores Claire to full HP and removes any status ailments she might have. You get this at level 4, which is pretty early in.
     * Lunar Ruin: Recieved from a weapon you can get near Aurica, the weapon's [LIMIT BREAK] heavily damages all enemies and Ruins them, making them take uncurable damage over time.
     * Astral Reset: Like Aether Reset, it will restore Claire to full HP. Unlike Aether Reset, Astral Reset restores everyone to max Hp and MP while curing some of the status ailments Aether Reset can. You get this at level 16, which if you didn't level grind, should project you right at Sylvanopolis.

Alux:

Spoiler for:

     * Ifreeti, Shivici, and Typhon: These 3 Elemental spirits can assist Alux when summoned, usually in the form of heavy elemental damage that ignores defense. You get these by leveling up to levels 4, 13, and 22, respectively.
     * Clayface: The first Elemental Spirit you have to fight in the game is the only Spirit in the game that uses Alux's ATK stat, not MAT. To compensate, it has a higher base power, and also ignores defense. Used against an enemy who is weak to Earth, Clayface can crush them. You get this by winning the boss-fight against him.

Lex:

Spoiler for:

     * Ion Cannon: Lex starts with this overdrive which blasts 4 random enemies - or 1 enemy 4 times - with heavy Thunder elemental damage. Lex can actually use this [LIMIT BREAK] quite often, as she can charge her TP Guage really quickly. Only problem is that charging her up and using this Break seriously drains her MP.
     * Singularity: Like Ion Cannon, this is a Break that can be used over and over again, which deals massive Dark elemental damage to all enemies. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, Singularity costs a TON of Mp at the time you get it - at level 17 - and can't take advantage of elemental weakness, since most bosses resist Dark elemental damage. But if there's a fight that you hate, and it's a normal enemy, this spell is guaranteed to wipe them off the face of the map.

Darcene:
At the time of this post, Darcene will have only one [LIMIT BREAK]: Jamming Jazz. Jamming Jazz steals pretty much ALL of every enemy's MP pools and returns it to Darcene. In a pinch when she's in need of MP for a Jingle, this Break can really turn the tide of battle.

The Game, Itself:
For those of you who are interested in playing a demo, I have one in finalization. There's about 2 hours of gameplay there, give or take an hour of combat or grinding; however, It ends at the Sylvan Vault, before you can get to B3. If you get irritated at a bad demo ending, I well and truly apologize. I am well aware that the first draft will have some flaws, so I'd love to see what you guys spot. If you have any suggestions on what to change or what to fix, please let me know in the comments below.

Screenshots:

Spoiler for:

Alux's skill library, after Fort Crysta:


Lex's starting Inventions:

Demo Download:

DropBox Link [Ver 0.1.0]:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ambdf8g6yp2wqkv/Project1%20%282%29.exe?m=

DropBox Link [Ver 0.1.1]:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l08m4x44urx68zj/Project1%20%283%29.exe

Editing Checklist:

Spoiler for:

     *

Credits:

All of the people listed - aside from my tidbit on the bottom - can be searched in Google or Bing! for reference. The credit sheet allows you to take the author and the file and go to their galleries/posts to find the material.

Spoiler for:

     * Aaron Krogh, for his music [Void Tower, 5F - "Leviathan", ].
     * Logan Forrests, for his reserve member exp script [Reserve Member EXP Rate - 1.0]
     * MrBubbleWand, for his Animation sheets [Fire_001, Fire_003, Heal_001, Ice_002, Light_001, Light_002, Light_004, Magic_(003,004,006),Thunder_003, Water_005, Wind_002, Wind_003].
     * Toasty [RPGMakerVXAce member] for his Animation sheets [Cure, Curaga, Firaga, Firaja, Haste, Regen]
     * Queen yuyubabe, for her advice on presenting and compressing.
     * VXResource, for their battlers [Adamanturion, "deus-machina-2vx"]
     * And you - my future audience - for your enjoyment/possible critiques in the future.

Sounds interesting. Good luck!

I'd suggest organizing the thread with a couple o' spoilers, and possibly some screenshots.

But altogether, I like the looks of this. Your curious statement "What if Adventures were more commonplace in a world?" is what initially got me to read onward, and the fact that you kept things brief. Also, it really helps that you seem to be good at writing, so I may give this a look when I have more time (I can't stay up too late tonight because of class tomorrow).

I'm glad you like what you saw so far. I hope you do well at class tomorrow, and I hope you enjoy what you see afterwards.

I finally remembered to take a look at this. :p

But I can't seem to find out where to download the link. There's waaay too many spam ads on 4shared that it's gotten a tad bit confusing.

(I'd recommend Dropbox or Mediafire for hosting. )

The file link that you requested is not valid.

I can't seem to find out where to download the link . . . I'd recommend Dropbox or Mediafire for hosting.

I'll see what I can do on one of those sites. I'm sure DropBox might be a good place to check, so that's a definite experiment.

Okay, this is weird. Now Chrome keeps telling me that I'm trying to download malware and cancels the download. wut

Okay, this is weird. Now Chrome keeps telling me that I'm trying to download malware and cancels the download. wut

That's an odd predicament. I know the feeling, though. When I tried to download Violent Whispers from this site, Chrome told me it was a dangerous file and tried to erase it.

Unfortunately, I don't know why my files are being considered malware, and am shocked that they are in the first place. Sorry about that, Yuyu.

Maybe you're TRYING TO SPREAD MALWARE!

Or maybe Chrome is confused.

Chrome's awful funky when it comes to downloads. I've had issues with it trying to erase  files I knew were 100% clean sources, from things like the MMO 9Dragons to emails I sent myself from school.

Again, my apologies for this issue. If there's a way to work around this, I'll try to find it - unless I am ninja'd by someone about this problem in the future.

Have you tried compressing and archiving the game, so it's just that little blue cube icon? I've downloaded a couple of those without any problems at all. B) I think it's just Chrome freaking out because it takes a look at the more specific files or something like that.

Also, you didn't include the RTP, right? B) Just making sure real quick. The download is a bit large. o.o

Have you tried compressing and archiving the game, so it's just that little blue cube icon? I've downloaded a couple of those without any problems at all. B) I think it's just Chrome freaking out because it takes a look at the more specific files or something like that.

Also, you didn't include the RTP, right? B) Just making sure real quick. The download is a bit large. o.o

I was honestly smacking myself around when I did that. Give me a few, and I'll work it around so that the files can be more easily managed.

EDIT: A new version of the demo is out, fixing a mistake I made. Click the DropBox version for the download.

Spoiler for Gameplay Notes:

• Intro text scrolls way too fast.
• "I should get my sickle"? But I already have it...
• It seems like I should be able to talk to the father, but he doesn't say anything...!
• Who's Alux and why is he stopping me from entering the mines?
• In Aurica the music changes for half a second when exiting buildings.
• I walked into a house and the disembodied voice of Alux started talking to his parents and a scene played out as if he were there.
• I think I skipped something. I never got Alux, but I was able to enter the town like he was there...
• During the cutscene with Alux's father, his mother steps through you. o_O
• I got destroyed by the zombies in the fort...
• Ok, let's do this... nvm, I got killed on the way there.
• I got past the cystal maze, and was ass blasted by the monsters there.  ;_;
• Made it past that part... then I died as the girl. (Three headed dog killed me in one turn...)
• There isn't anything I can do as the girl. If I don't suceed at running I die. ;_;
• Still stuck here.
• With lots of saving and running, I made it.
• I have to fight that dude... wut? Yeah. I don't see me beating this guy. I surrender.
• Total death count for what I played 16 deaths.

Okay, here's some notes on what I've played through so far. I rage quit on the sword-guy boss, and I can't quite put myself through that torment again. Sorry.

Spoiler for Visuals and Audio:

-The houses are just a tad bit spacious. I like the use of many walls, but I'd add in just a bit more objects and make it cluttered. ;] Also, I would try not to reuse the same items too much.

-For the outside map, I think using more tall grass and plants will liven it up. It's a bit spacious, too.

-The houses are a bit tiny. I think a bit more height and some windows will help. B)

-Nice choice of battle music! That would be my pick, too.

-On the second forest map, the beach-like water doesn't quite sit with it, since it still has the sand outline.

Spoiler for Gameplay:

-Quickly poisoned in battle, but also quickly got an antidote. Very good! A lot of people end up setting up poison traps that doom the players by forgetting to make antidotes appear. B(

-I can't tell you how nice it is to encounter battles like these. The enemies deal enough damage to keep me on my toes, but they also die quickly, so it minimizes boredom. Awesome work!

-The item drops are pretty fair! Perhaps a bit too fair, haha.

-On a second thought, the enemies are a little too easy. I can't complain too much about that, though. B) I one-hit KO them with lightening.

-Random encounters are just a tad bit too frequent. =(

-On the other hand. Dat boss. Whew!

-It was a bit difficult to find the town I was going to next. I passed so much other stuff on the way. D:

-The boss attacks me a random amount of times with nothing to help me predict what's to come. Kinda annoying how far I got on him, just to have him take out all my health with a series of little punches.

-Enemies use a bit too many skills. B( That silence is REALLY starting to get annoying. Over and over again. I can't even damage him normally, so the silence it dragging the battle on for way too long. I even silenced HIM and he's still using them. Arrrrrgh!

-I give up. Not fighting that painstaking boss again.

Spoiler for Story:

-I like the dialogue! It's pretty well written. B)

-Creative names for enemies. Very nice!

-The conversation with Alux was just a bit brief and hasty.

-Whoa I found Alux's house? Weird. o.o

Spoiler for Other:

-I accidentally exited the forest, not knowing it was an exit. o.o Oops!

-The scrolling of the intro text is a tad bit fast.

-Neat transition to battles! B)

-I would recommend Yanfly's battle system. It's very simple, basically the same as this, only a bit more pretty, since it show's the actor's faces during battle.

-Should probably make the forest feys only heal when they get injured, but that's just a little thing. B)

-Claire x Alux

-That mother sucks.

Spoiler for Bugs:

-My dad doesn't talk to me when he's standing in front of the house.

-This guy's dad just walked through me! D:<

-After the cutscene with Alux's parents, the music shifts back to a happy town, before changing to a more serious one. It does this if you leave and return to the town, too.

-If I try to enter the college, Alux talks. Right now he's no longer in my party. =(

-It seems I got the puzzle right, but the last crystal is still glowing. =O

-Random encounters bleeeegh

-There was a japenese command thrown in there somewhere o.o (I think for blocking)

Spoiler for Overall Thoughts:

The dialogue was well-written, but some conversations would be a bit awkward here and there. The story wasn't the most original out there, but it got the job done. Those are always the first two things I pick at, being a writer nut and whatnot. B)

The graphics need a bit of work - mostly clutter. The dungeons were fine for the most part, but the towns looked a bit empty. It wasn't too bad on the second town - mostly just the first.

Finally, the battles were either way too easy (which I was okay with for a bit), or way too hard. The long-haired boss guy literally made me quit my session of the demo. I wasn't going to go through another fruitless adventure of being silenced every 10 seconds and not having anything to do but deal a teeny bit of damage, block, or use precious items that eventually ran out. Also, the random number of attacks got annoying. He literally could hit Claire 5 times in a row and kill her from full health. If not that, I was being silenced or inflicted with darkness (which wasn't so bad because I didn't damage him well by normal attacks, anyways). The limit breaks were the only glimpses of hope, but even they were rendered useless with that damn silence.

Finally, I've never been a fan of random encounters. I'd suggest finding a script for them to be on map, or having set regions for the encounters, such as tall grass, dark spots, etc. ;o

Overall, the game wasn't bad at all. There weren't too many bugs at all, which is always a plus. Many of the issues I had with the game (such as random encounters) can be blamed on the default RTP system. But it might need a bit of work on the battles especially, and the maps. The writing is overall pretty good!

I have to echo the above sentiments for the most part.

I didn't go that far into the game, but my criticisms are that the maps are very bitty. The towns need help... the post implies that the game is light-hearted, but the music and opening scene tell a different story.

The intro scene with dad makes very little sense. I mean, I can tell what's going on, but it seems like I'm watching a movie when I could be moving around and doing things, even if it's as little as finding a root cellar... there's a lot of potential there for player involvement that is missed.

Dad's a pirate? o.O Replace those RTP people, man!

Oh, and I'd suggest replacing your font.

However, I think you have good IDEAS. Even though the execution thereof is lacking, I predict that with some more experience and effort, this is going to be a fun game to play.

So get busy! I'm waiting....     

Wow! The sheer amount of feedback I got from just the first couple of story-segments was awestriking. This will help me out a lot, especially in game-balancing.

I'll fully admit, when doing a mock-testrun of the game, I found Tai-ling's Vacuum Bomb to be a touch annoying. I'll have to lower the occurance of that. My sincerest apologies, friends.

It seems there are some things I need to fix as far as eventing goes. I should be able to fix that soon, though, so again I thank those who have tested the game, and appreciate the critiques you guys have thrown my way.

Okay, let me just stop and say that you're awesome.

You're awesome.

The fact that you're so motivated to take all that feedback and improve your game is another major reason that I'd like to keep an eye on this. The only truly bad game makers are the ones that can't take feedback or criticism.

If you're ever looking for advice on anything that isn't music or scripting, feel free to send a PM my way!

:Update:

A new demo is uploaded, fixing some minor and major issues with the game.

I'll still keep the intro scene, for now; it ties into a sub-plot that develops later in the game, beginning around Sylvanopolis.

While it's mostly aesthetic, the intro scene now includes the trip to the root cellar. This will also give starting cash and an antidote.

Peryton Forest is a touch more difficult to make it compatible with Fort Crysta. It's still pretty easy, and the drop rates are pretty much solid for a beginning area.

Tai-Ling is WAY easier than the last time. I started with lowering the occurance of his multi-hit attacks and his Vacuum Bomb, and in doing so, found an issue with his ATK power, specifically with a skill that becomes more common because of this. To compensate, I also weakened that skill by a little bit, lowered the occurance of his healing ability, and reduced his ATK stat by fifteen points [from 140-something damage per hit to 70] so that fighting him is feasible. If there are any other errors or issues with him, let me know so I can fix it.

Do let me know if there's an enemy or skill that's becoming an issue, and enjoy what's in the new demo.

Right on! B) I'll have to put this on my to do list (it's grown vast in these past couple o' days. ).

I'm glad to hear that he's been made into an easier foe! I didn't even know he HAD a heal move. ;_; Oh gosh...

I'm glad to hear that he's been made into an easier foe! I didn't even know he HAD a heal move. ;_; Oh gosh...

Tai-ling uses Mega Potions and Arc Ethers during the fight if his stats get low. The Mega Potion had to be lowered because of stints where he would use it twice and negate everything you've done for the past couple of turns. It's been reduced to the occurrence rate of his Dual Attack [4 out of 10] so that those incidents don't happen or at the very least happen very rarely. The Arc Ether I left alone because that basically buys you a move if he runs out of MP.

I hope you enjoy the new demo. And thank you for your offer, yuyu.