The Secrets of Kankara - Updated for VX Ace

The Secrets of Kankara is a project that has been in development for 3 years. It started out on RMXP, but is now on RMVX Ace (and it was recommended that I start a new topic for that reason). It uses a number of scripts, but the primary one is XAS Ace Edition.
The backstory is, an evil court mage is attempting to release an evil into the world from Tenebris (the dimension of shadow and corruption). The main character is the grandson of a former court mage who is trying to stop it from happening. The main character sets off on his adventure after he hears a plea for help echo in his mind.

Screenshots:

Gameplay Video:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW1S_BZa5uU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW1S_BZa5uU</a>

Music From The Game

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NbzWZa1P1U" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NbzWZa1P1U</a>

IMPORTANT NOTICE

I realize that some are downloading the project strictly for the audio, you have to check the ending credits in the game to see their usage stipulations, as most of them are in the creative commons under a CC-BY or CC-BY-SA License, both of which require a link to the artist's page.
Also, some of the music that is/will be used in the game was obtained through license purchasing, so not all of what's in their can be used legally unless you pay for it like I did. If it's not creative commons, it probably isn't safe to use without the license. Just a friendly warning, take heed or not.

Demo Link

Mediafire Download (RTP Included)

Mediafire Download(RTP not included, for those who already have it.

Updated to Ver. 1.1
Minor bug fixes as well as one game freezing one. Minor graphical update as well; sword swing graphic for hero (not finished).

Note: If you encounter any bugs or problems in game and would like to help me find them, just press the "S" key (or LB/L1 on controller) and write down the number, this is a map id number that I can use to find the problem to help fix it.
When you come across any problems, just type up a message with the map number included like so:

"Name of Problem"
Map: (number in message box)
What you did when the bug occurred, if it can be repeated, and where you were in the map.

Thanks for helping with this! I hope you enjoy the game.

I've updated the demo to v1.0, the change list is as follows:

• Full time and weather system (time moves at a pace and effects things like shop openings, events that occur only at night, etc., weather will change on it's own depending on where the player is)
• Item creation (the player will have to craft some of the items used in game, using materials that are often dropped by enemies, bushes, etc.)

Credits are too long to list here, however there are credits at the end of the demo.

This game tends to be process heavy because of some screen effects. It will likely not impede running programs, but other programs will interfere with the game's frame rate. It is highly recommended that you play it with no other programs open.

Don't know why your vid won't embed, but it's also very off-putting to blame it on the site like you did in that other topic you locked.  We've all been very helpful and encouraging to you to help guide you through your complaints.

Also, this link is a great example of how to present your game correctly.  Make your publicity look polished and professional.  Center your pictures.  Add more obvious headers, such as "Story" and "Screenshots."  You can find guidelines on presentation here.  Come on; you've put three years into this game.  Make it look appealing.  And brighten your attitude.  Don't be so quick to complain.


-flap

Don't know why your vid won't embed, but it's also very off-putting to blame it on the site like you did in that other topic you locked.  We've all been very helpful and encouraging to you to help guide you through your complaints.

There's no need to take what I said personally, I'm not putting the blame on anyone here on the site, I'm just saying that embedding video here could be simplified so that it's not such a hassle to do it. I don't seem to be the only person having this trouble either, I've looked in other topics, looking for how other people might have done it so I could fix the problem and learn from it, but every page I've visited so far has been like mine, with only a link, instead of an embedded video. From that, I gather that it's not the effort, but rather the means to do it.

Also, this link is a great example of how to present your game correctly.  Make your publicity look polished and professional.  Center your pictures.  Add more obvious headers, such as "Story" and "Screenshots."  You can find guidelines on presentation here.  Come on; you've put three years into this game.  Make it look appealing.  And brighten your attitude.  Don't be so quick to complain.

All good ideas, thank you, I will do that now.

I didn't take it personally.  I was letting you know how you sounded to the general public and highlighting the pattern of you get frustrated easily.

Your layout looks better!

-flap

I didn't take it personally.  I was letting you know how you sounded to the general public and highlighting the pattern of you get frustrated easily.

Your layout looks better!

-flap

Lol. I don't see how making an observation about trouble with posting a video can be seen as me having a problem or complaining, but that's just me I guess.

And yes, I think so too, thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate the help.

I fixed your video link.
To embed a youtube video on RMRK, you take the last tag in the URL and put it in a  tag.

For example:

Code: [Select]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL0tx7xpci4
into
[yt]PL0tx7xpci4[/yt]

and the result is:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL0tx7xpci4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL0tx7xpci4</a>

Anyway your game looks neat, it shows you've put a lot of time and work into the gameplay components.

I fixed your video link.
To embed a youtube video on RMRK, you take the last tag in the URL and put it in a  tag.

For example:

Code: [Select]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL0tx7xpci4
into
[yt]PL0tx7xpci4[/yt]

and the result is:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL0tx7xpci4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL0tx7xpci4</a>

Anyway your game looks neat, it shows you've put a lot of time and work into the gameplay components.

Aha, ok it was "yt" lol. I wondered what it would've been, I was typing "youtube" as the tag. I've never seen "yt" before, but thanks for fixing that and showing me. 

And thank you, I have (not sure what I typed here now, my posts keep getting spammed with imageshack stuff?). It took the longest to really put it all together, but since the basis is now done, it won't take too long to finish the main story. The next biggest part is adding side quests, but that'll be added after the rest is finished already.

Well, kinda a moot point if you can't see it yourself, but there is a difference between making an observation about the video not working and making a value judgement against the site.  The "kinda off-putting" statement is a value judgement, in which you seem to be taking the offense personally.  Of course if a feature isn't working, it's implied that you're frustrated with it.  So adding direct complaint to an already agnsty post makes you come across as needy and easily upset.  Anyhow, Sophist was very kind to fix it, so hooray!  I just point out Sophist probably would have fixed it anyway (not that it was actually broken) without you being so negative about it.  You probably don't like this reply (in which case I'll stop trying to point these kinds of things out to you), but it might do you good to step back, re-read your "So Frustrating" posts, and think about how that kind of thing comes across to others.  And that concludes today's sermon, lol.

-flap

By the way, I like your gameplay video.  I've never played a solid real-time RPG with any Maker before.  I'll be interested to try Kankara.

-flap

By the way, I like your gameplay video.  I've never played a solid real-time RPG with any Maker before.  I'll be interested to try Kankara.

-flap

Yeah, it's kind of rare to see this kind of gameplay on RM anything lol. But that's good for me I guess, cause people would probably try it because it's a new-ish thing.
I find it's not all that hard to make this kind of game, though it's sometimes rough coming up with the enemy vs hero stats cause they don't always work right at first. I haven't really run into that much trouble with that so far though so I must be on the right track with that part lol.

Also, I do see your point (previous post), it wasn't really my intention to come off as complaining about it, and while I wasn't really taking it personally, given other posts into consideration, I can see why people would think I was.

Nice, you should keep more gameplay coming then.  Have you posted the game on rpgmaker.net?  This site is more friendly and fun, but they have more traffic over there.  While you're in production is a great time to publicize every new feature and advancement you add.

Thanks for working through that last squabble, and sorry if I was preachy!

-flap

Ima play this right now
Edit: Okay, it might be a good idea to make a version without any rtp in it. For those of us who already downloaded it. Just ta give the option.

Edit: Bug 1: I can use menu at the titlescreen.
Bug 2: I pressed something and the number 23 popped up in a message box.
Bug 3: Crashed at the library. I guess there was a scene but it started kinda late (and you didn't tick "ignore if can't move"), and it wouldn't let me move.

Ima play this right now
Edit: Okay, it might be a good idea to make a version without any rtp in it. For those of us who already downloaded it. Just ta give the option.

Edit: Bug 1: I can use menu at the titlescreen.
Bug 2: I pressed something and the number 23 popped up in a message box.
Bug 3: Crashed at the library. I guess there was a scene but it started kinda late (and you didn't tick "ignore if can't move"), and it wouldn't let me move.

Bug 1: Yeah I have a lot of work to do with that, it's laggy and tends not to work very well, especially at first. If I can't fix it by final release I'll probably just use a custom title script (this one's evented).
Bug 2: Oops! I forgot to take that out. The number is the map id, I was using that to debug and add stuff as I noticed it from in game, but I can fix that in no time.
Bug 3: The library in the castle? The first time you visit, or the second time?
I bet it was the second time since there's an event in there that runs at that point, I'll recheck the events and see what might be crashing.

Thanks for the bug report, and for the suggestion as well, I hadn't thought of that, but I should be able to release the non-rtp version sometime today.

Nice, you should keep more gameplay coming then.  Have you posted the game on rpgmaker.net?  This site is more friendly and fun, but they have more traffic over there.  While you're in production is a great time to publicize every new feature and advancement you add.

Thanks for working through that last squabble, and sorry if I was preachy!

-flap

Lol actually you've been very helpful, I appreciate the advice.
And yeah, I agree, updating while in production is best, it lets people know the project is still going (and going, and going lol).
I've been thinking about rpgmaker.net, though I haven't decided yet. I've also placed it on hbgames, though it's not as active as this site so I'm not expecting much.

@Zexion: I think i see where you were talking about, though I don't know if the crash will be prevented with the change, I'll have to look more into it during development.

I've also updated the original post with a non-rtp version, which is slightly updated from the old one but not by much (been working on graphics).

Wow you actually took all my advice, lol! Definitely a first on the internet. Anywho, yeah it was the first time at the library. The camera kinda moved up a bit and it said Castle Library on the top left corner. I assume a short cutscene or something was going to take place but by that time I had walked right behind a bookcase, so I got stuck.
You should keep all your debug tools in one script that way none of it goes into the final build. If you do it through event, you could make a sort of "final build" checklist that you go through every time you release a demo. That way everything always goes as planned.

Also, isn't there a "disable menu access" on the event menu that you could use? I'm not to familiar with vxa.

Wow you actually took all my advice, lol! Definitely a first on the internet. Anywho, yeah it was the first time at the library. The camera kinda moved up a bit and it said Castle Library on the top left corner. I assume a short cutscene or something was going to take place but by that time I had walked right behind a bookcase, so I got stuck.
You should keep all your debug tools in one script that way none of it goes into the final build. If you do it through event, you could make a sort of "final build" checklist that you go through every time you release a demo. That way everything always goes as planned.

Also, isn't there a "disable menu access" on the event menu that you could use? I'm not to familiar with vxa.

I think it was getting stuck with the music event (I didn't add erase event like I thought), but other than that, there's nothing on the first visit that would crash it. Unless the lighting did it (though I hope not).

There is, it's in use for the whole game, I changed the button to access the menus (Q for items, W for equipment) and the normal menu button is used for the shield. The debug is a common event (the same for the menus actually). I thought about taking it out, but I figured people could just use it (I'll be updating the original post soon on it) to tell me the map id where they have problems, that way I can just scroll to it and find it easier lol.

Edit: lol I misread what you said in bug 1, I read it as "can't use menu at title screen", referring to the title menu. I saw what you meant after the second release, but I fixed it for the future, so that won't happen anymore.

Ima play this right now
Edit: Okay, it might be a good idea to make a version without any rtp in it. For those of us who already downloaded it. Just ta give the option.

Edit: Bug 1: I can use menu at the titlescreen. Fixed
Bug 2: I pressed something and the number 23 popped up in a message box.
Bug 3: Crashed at the library. I guess there was a scene but it started kinda late (and you didn't tick "ignore if can't move"), and it wouldn't let me move. Fixed

I just found what happened to you, it's an autorun event that I didn't account for (and until today, didn't realize existed) in the candle events. I fixed it and will re-release onto the non-rtp version shortly. That way it won't happen again and players won't have to worry about it in the demo (unless they play the other one before I can finish uploading it too).

Nice bug fixes :d
I am a professional game breaker, so don't be surprised if I keep breaking it
I tend to not follow the path as planned.

Nice bug fixes :d
I am a professional game breaker, so don't be surprised if I keep breaking it
I tend to not follow the path as planned.

lol I used to have a tester on the dev team here that was the same way, which is a good thing, professional game breakers are fantastic at finding those well-hidden bugs.

Hey, Jaden, just a heads up, but the picture in your sig links to an outdated game page for SoK.

*edit*  I downloaded the non-RTP and it had a huge problem, so I downloaded the version with RTP and it has the same problem.  My character doesn't have a walking graphic... I can't play the game!

-flap

Hey, Jaden, just a heads up, but the picture in your sig links to an outdated game page for SoK.

*edit*  I downloaded the non-RTP and it had a huge problem, so I downloaded the version with RTP and it has the same problem.  My character doesn't have a walking graphic... I can't play the game!

-flap

Yeah I haven't had a chance to update my sig pic yet, and ah crap, I think that was my fault, I've been testing a new dungeon, it's probably in test mode. I'll update asap.

Hey, Jaden, just a heads up, but the picture in your sig links to an outdated game page for SoK.

*edit*  I downloaded the non-RTP and it had a huge problem, so I downloaded the version with RTP and it has the same problem.  My character doesn't have a walking graphic... I can't play the game!

-flap

Updated, you should start the game normally now (that was embarrassing lol)

I'm going to review your game.  I'll post a link to the review here as well.

-flap

I'm going to review your game.  I'll post a link to the review here as well.

-flap

Awesome, I look forward to reading it, it'll help me gain new perspective on the project as a whole and improve.