Paragons: Year of the Ebony Crown

[JayRay]

Okay, Update, as I have began the work to create Roguehaven in the way that I want it to be made. I decided against the DLC friendly pack for now, which might still be used at a later date, once the original game is complete, or enough of it for a viable demo is ready. I did however, solidify my mapping structure, which basically will come in at just 900 maps over all! This was great as I was really concerned that the number of maps I truly needed would be too much to work with. Luckily, I converted my world Mapping down into 10 regional or kingdom maps, with landmarkes, forts, ruins and little towns throughout the map for each one.

I also added three new scripts, two for aesthetics, and one for purpose.

The first, Event Transparency, looks to be an awesome way for me to cram more trees into a thick forest without destroying any chance of seeing our hero

The second, ELSA, began as a script by DerVVulfman called Events Always Under. This was expanded into a multi-tiered eventing that opened up a lot of doors.

The third script, which I'm really excited to try out, called Event Sizes, seems to allow me to add event passability for events larger than 1 tile. This is the script I need for purpose. With this script I can add event variations (walls, props, obstacles at will on a map, using the same map over and over in different aspects, much like some MMOS will have the same room in 3d, but while you could go up stairs in one version, the path is blocked off by a bunch of rocks in another version, but this alterpiece with all sorts candles, definitely WASN'T in the other version of the room.


MAPS MAPS MAPS
I also got a chance to really outline my maps for the world, and have the map matrix listed below. There are really six environment types, woodland, Grassland, Snow, Desert, Rocky, and for the most the entire world can fit into those basic general type. I also have


Updated 3/11/15
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New Map Matrix
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1 - 25 Non-Map Menu Screens
26 (Category Folder)

27 - 49 World Overland Maps
50 - (Category Folder)
51 - 249 Specific Locations External
250 - 599 Ships/Tunnels/Specific Exteriors

600 (Category Folder)

601 - 630 Varied Fort/Castle Interiors
631 - 660 Varied Reydi Stronghold Interiors
661 - 690 Varied Tomb/Ruins Interiors
691 - 720 Varied Desert Interiors
721 - 750 Varied Shadow Bastion Interiors
751 - 799 Varied Cave/Cavern Interiors

800 (Category Folder)

801 - 899 Specifc PVE Event Systems
900 - 950 K'tyras
960 - 998 Ob'raskyr

999 (ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE)

Explanation
============
1-25 Non-Map Menu Screens

Taking advantage of my strings and text placement engine, I wanted to also utilize mouse systems in my game for menu systems that might not need all the extras that a Scene may require. This system will allow for that same transition, for things like minigames, character customization, whatever options I have decided to embrace.

26 & 27-99 Specifc Interiors

Even though a castle is a castle is a castle, I want varied and specific touches to some of my locales. For instance, I know that the throne room in Sharistae is gilded with silver, has many balconies, and a 30foot tall angelic figure known as a Silvermaiden, servant of Aaliana in the room, while Raven's Court in Merede is much older, with large gothic archways throughout. These are items that may mot be used in abundance throughout the game, so I am working on maps to best befit these unique locations.

100 & 101 - 599 The world is your Oyster!

Okay, so even with 500x500 maps, with all these points of doors, and portals, and even with a world atlas, I still have a VAST, and I mean VAST overland track land masses so far require at least 477 maps at 500x500, with an 8x10 border on each map. That's still 484 x 480 x 477, or 110,816,640 total tiles, and if we figure a stride from one tile to another is approximately 3 feet, we end up with close to 62,964 SQUARE MILES. Now some of that is taken by maps that have impassible water tiles, but even ignoring the scale that a continent is NOT going to be a tiny 250 miles by 250 miles or so, we still have a HUGE mass to work with.

601 - 799 Interiors/Dungeons

I was stressing, oh so stressing about how I was going to recycle everything I needed per maps, until I realized, I had switches in my game, perfect for ensuring that doorways always go to sections of fortresses, back and forth, until everything, and every one of my fortresses are created from (BLOCKS) of rooms and tiled areas. 30 maps at 500x500, to give enough space between each section, should definitely be enough for what I'm trying to accomplish. Using bits and pieces, even combinations of pieces form different mappng structures, I can be sure that ALL my locations are preserved, allowing for hundreds of locals for adventure, questing, and just for the 'Hey let's see where this takes us' immersion. Even though each map location is just bits and pieces, a good mapper can draw out and keep maps for all these rooms, much like in the old days of pen and paper games.

800 & 801 - 899 Ninety Nine More Dungeons, I feel for ya son,

That's right, keeping with themes, for larger dungeons and crypts we have 99 more locations that will be specifically set around certain levels, class options and more. These may allow for our more uncommon equipment drops, but of course are a lot harder than your normal slower-paced dungeon setting. The risks are greater, but so are the rewards. Plus, of course, like many major MMO's, you can go back over and over again to defeat the threats at each of these PVE, to stock up on the higher needs that might just not be available in the overland or normal dungeons.

900 - 950 Travel to the Chaotic, Churning, Hell of K'ytras, Vacation Getaway

Extraplanar travel is sometimes not as easy as you might think. While guarded transportation can quickly scoot you from countryside to countryside, the 'Old' created large stone portals. These portals used a harsh environment as a bridge from one area to another. If one is low on money, and wants to risk being torn to shreds by something that would never exist in the natural world? Then K'tyras is available, with its ruined and cursed lands.

960 - 998 Ob'raskyr
Ob'raskyr, also known as the Scarred, is a land of choking black air, hot wind, and environments that make K'Tyras seem like a true vacation getaway. Deep Underground, this cavernous getaway can confuse and misdirect the hapless adventurer. The only reason anyone would want to travel through the Ob'Raskyr Gate is for rare metals and spices only available there, and to meek out a living among the factions of Ob'Raskyr City. The Haz and Dark Elves of millenia ago came to this city, in hopes to alienate themselves away from the outerworld, and often belittle outsiders or surface dwellers who come.

999 Another Time and Another Place

In the center of K'tyras is a henge of portals that stay inoperable for now, but (when DLC comes out) will expand to huge expanses for players to explore, adding new items, new equipment, adding new maps, new magic powers, and more! These updates should fall seemlessly into the same game files, and seeks to someday populate the entire world of Kharis as one major campaign and RPG system.

[Miharu]

This looks awesome! I like the idea of difficulty levels, might add an extra challenge for people like me to do high tier content in low tier gear/level!
I'm working on incorporating such a system into my game, where one of the bosses will be beatable but very very very hard. The player can choose to make the fight easier by completing a quest line in some other dungeon.
Looking forward to this! Hype!

[JayRay]

HEHE, thanks Miharu... now for the BIGGEST adventure! I am going to create my atlases now...

[JayRay]

GAME UPDATES

"Best of Both Worlds"

I have decided that since my tiles and events are working a lot better, able to support much larger maps, to go ahead and work to create a mapping method brought forth by DerVVulfman in my HEY HEY JAY RAY World Maps topic.

With maps upwards of 400x400, I've decided to go ahead and keep regional sections, with stitching maps together to create a seemless transition between those large overland maps to create a quiltwork of maps. As it stands, I'm now looking at, even with spaces for large sections like water, approximately 477-500 maps of this overland variety, showcased in a way that best suits the need for the vastness of the scale. I would also state that for the most part, I can double that for indoors parts and pieces, but may be able to recycle as I go to condense map size and use.

Now, while this will NOT be to the scale I'd LOVE for it to be, it definitely will allow me to showcase several environments in the map structure overall, and also will allow me to take full advantage of the layering system that was developed between DerVVulfman and myself.

[JayRay]

BUMP Version 0.64

"Oh, listen to the trupeter's call, boy, you know the herald's tone!" The grizzled old earl, his long beard twisted into a knot, bobbed and jumped with each syllable. His yellowing eyes, flickering with the light of the nearby fireplace. His mutton, half-eaten, glazed with a marinade of onions and cloves sat, uneaten, as he stared at a boy nearly half the age of an adult, whose tasks were at hand.

"Is that the... Cloakrangers? Really? Here at Avariksan keep!" The boy began to belch forth a slew of questions, all of which were halted with the closing of the Earl's eyes, and a singular pointing to the front, to the iron and wood doors of the main hall. Quickly, the boy jumped off his wooden stool, and ran, stopping only to grab a diminutive shield, the coat of arms, not a shield of war, but rather of ceremony. The boy donned a cloak made of fine bear pelts, and rushed out the door to meet the incoming visitors. As he breeched the door, the cool autumn Meredean air blasted him with fresh atmosphere, and he watched as the huge drawbridge porticulus began to raise, the clanking of thousands of pounds of iron barricades lurching upward, aided only by the five guards at the top of the guardpost, turing the cranks. Inwards, six riders flanking a carriage rode in and upwards. The boy quickly stepped into action, he was the Earl's steward after all.

"Stableboys, fresh straw for the guests, tavernmaster, a barrel of ale, and housemiaden it appears we need at least seven rooms, if not eight! Step to lively, Sir! I bid you welcome to Avariksan Keep! " The steward watched as the first rider approached and as he grew closer, the steward let loose with him solemn invitation and greeting to the castle. The horseman stopped, his hand extending upwards into a fist, as the rest of his entourage and the carriage slowed. Slowly, his head and his eyes met the slack-jawed gaze of the steward.

"And... you're the castle guard?" the man was in his early fourth decade of life, his accent and complexion that of a Gharaili, with tanned skin, and golden hair, like their coatsake the lion.

"No sir, the castle guard were busy hoisting the porticulus, and those that are left know better than to cross blades with a Cloakranger. I am Aubren, um... Aubren Micharis, steward to the Earl. I've told the stableboy to..."

The man cut off Aubren's speech. "Ralos Micharis, you're Ralos' birthright, yes? Trueborn and all?"

Aubren was caught off guard at the mention of his father, an Earl far in the north of Merede. Not many people knew of him, at least not this far south. The fact that the son and noble of Ralos Micharis would be the steward for another Earl ould be a tasty nugget of news that anyone in proper circles would hold in a season of gossip. "Yes sir?"

"It's alright, Sir Micharis, I bled for your father once, I bled, and I had men die for your father's will. Without your father's tactical genius, I would have bled my last bit of blood. It's too bad you're not the castle guard though, cause if you were any part of your father's skill with the sword, this would be the most protected keep in all of Merede." The man nodded, looking up at the tall walls and high parapets.

"Sir, it is. I offer our shield, sir!" Aubren pulled off the shield, in a gesture as to offer the shield to a visitor. the man ceremoniously touched the shield, his palm underneath it, as the gesture dictated, accepting the sanctuary of the keep and the rule of its lord as long as they were there.

"I am Davars, and my men bring the Earl's daughter. Where may we find food, beds, and ale?"

- Hours Later -

"Well, Davaris, as you know the Avariksan family has a deep hold in the south, second only to the Queen of Ravencort herself, so while I understand your plight, I have to say, I'm more worried about a pack of Jedean Plunderers or Sharistan Mercenaries rushing our lands than a threat from the Shadow Thrones. I mean, really... those heathens are practically on the other side of the world!" The old man, poured himself another glass of wine in a large cup of silver, and drank heartily.

"Is that why you keep the Micharis boy? Because you want to protect the birthright from the armies that exist across the other side of the world? That boy's castle, razed to the point that not one stone left upon another, the Reydi refugees ripped to shreds and mounted on so many pikes that a man could walk ten miles and not once escape the gaze of a dead Haz-Reydi. Whether you like to admit it or not, Earl Tharan, the Shadow Thrones started over in Sumekidar, but they're here in Merede now." Davaris looked at the fire, his mind jumping to the fires of sieges in days gone past.

"Yeah, they might not be waving their flags over the Ravencort... yet, but trust me, their armies are here, and seeping into more and more places. Would you believe I was at Palemount?" At the mention of Palemount, the Earl grew attentive. His eyes focused on Davaris, on each word he spoke.

"I saw an army as large as any, appear as thought they just walked out from a curtain of heaven, they were not and then they were. Palemount was a slaughter, and that fiend controlling those armies? Zahl... Zahlamaan. He is NOT human!"

The Earl began to chuckle, catching Davaris off guard. "You almost had me at your jest."

"Your regence?"

"This talk of Zahlamaan... Zahlamaan, who walks through walls, Zahlamaan who walks to the world of the living form the bowels of hell and brings hell with him, the same one? Which version do you speak of? Is this the one where he flies across the sky, or the one where he lets hordes of imps terrorize the peasants while his abominations kill and destroy the people and their lands? Or is it the version.."

Normally, to interrupt a noble is considered not only bad manners, but can be punished. However, Davaris could no longer hold his tongue. "I jest not, Zahlamaan is real. And unreal as well. The things I hear, I have now seen with my own eyes, and I am Gharaili sir, We are not as prone to imaginations as our southern cousins the Kem-Vadii"

- - - - - - - - - --- -- - - - -
LINK TO ZOOMED MAP IMAGE OF KHARIS
((This map is rather large, if you right click and view image, but it would be nearly impossible to show the full size map on web for some internet connections, as the actual map dimensions are close to 8000x4000))

[thephantom]

Wow! Your world looks so much larger zoomed out like that! I do not envy the work you have ahead of you piecing together all those into maps. Good luck on that! And I liked the animated cloud layer in the video you showed me earlier. Still wish I could see the water in more detail though!

[JayRay]

BUMP to 0.65
3/10/15

Something kinda just stuck with me, talking with DerVVulfman, last night over the IRC chat.


"Well choose one, and just stick with it!"


And it got me thinking, how many times have I went back and forth with different ideas, different engine implementations, different forms, all to come back to square one, time and time again. I thought to myself "Enough of this crap! I've learned so much on this engine and the RPG Maker VX Ace Engine, that I know exactly how I want my game to unfold, how I want it to progress. I'm really starting to wear thin on changing stuff here and there, tweaking stuff here and there, and then I started looking at other game systems, how they had so many different alpha builds that were nowhere near what the finished product looked like. So I made final (and yes I mean FINAL) decisions regarding my game.


As you may or may not know I was working on another project called Paragon, year of the Seven Storms. I have now closed that thread, envisioning my real vision, to create a series of games under the PARAGON Name. Thus, as you may have seen from the starting thread now, the name of my game will for all time be known as Paragon. Book I, as it is called, will be known as Heroes of Roguehaven, and I really look forward to incorporating over 700 scribbled note pages, printed sheets and ten year old notepaper together with this storyline to put it to pixel. I've incorporated a few new features to my Heroes of Roguehaven project, and while I'll still want to have some bells and whistles, I want to get to the main point of my game, the storyline. I've amassed hudnreds of character sprites, purchased rendered and photographed textures and items, and now believe, with the knowledge of close to three years of "mistake here", "computer can't handle this there", and "Dang I thoguht this part would work, now what am I going to do" and am arming myself with the best possible weapons.

While some might detract from the default vanilla RMVXAce mapping style, I have unlocked several key scripts like...

Yanfly Engine Ace - Move Restrict Region v1.03
Yanfly Engine Ace - Adjust Limits v1.00
Basic Mouse System v2.7e Script by: V.M of D.T
Map Folders by Hime
Victor Engine - Pixel Movement
In-Depth Maps v2.0 FenixFyreX

among other scripts to ensure that I can click, move, and immerse the player in a vibrant and HUGE world!

I also will be using Yanfly's own personal battle systems with addons, including
Yanfly Engine Ace - Visual Battlers v1.01
Yanfly Engine Ace - Combat Log Display v1.02
Yanfly Engine Ace - Victory Aftermath v1.04

I also have looked to some scripts by Victor Saint, modern algebra, and JV, to edge out my scripting lineup... Strangely enough I think I covered everything with only about 36 scripts in my database, to ease load, I've tested and re-tested to make sure eveyrthing is compantible thus far, and...

IT IS!

NEW in 0.65 Revision

- Now in RPG Maker VX Ace

- Overland Fast Movement ALA Skyrim, complete with mouse-controlled
scrolling world map and setup. This worldmap will also be the blueprint
for all the main overland maps that will be accessible, and will
determine the player's actual location on world map.

- Over a 160 monsters with over 160 variations! That's 320 unique and standard monsters!

- In addition to the monsters, plans are in place to use actual
characters as the battlers, meaning that you can end up fighting people
too! Acolytes? Brigands? Barbarians? Tons of possibilities here!

- Using Map Folders, plenty of maps for all the distinct locations planned. No map sharing unless it becomes necessary!

- Profession Training. There's a big difference between having a class,
and having a profession, and now you can do both! From Mining, to
Blacksmithing, to Leatherworking, Herbalism, Politics (yes I said
Politics), Hunting, and even brewing, you can make money doing your side
hustle!

- Learn stuff! That's right folks, books in this game, once read, can
raise stats, can give you massive clues to dungeon puzzles, can uncover
lost locations, and more!

[JayRay]

BUMP to 0.77

[JayRay]

Revision 0.81 being implemented now....

After reviewing resources, and some ideas regarding frankenspriting some resources for use within the environment and battle engine, the previous statement of 80 character templates will NOT be making it to the final cut. Instead, we're going a more basic route, with a field of 8 main characters to choose from, each with a distinct starting storyline and backstory, combined with 12 other characters to join and ally to, to get a wide range of varying characters with varying skillsets on a team. From melee to ranged, and even special gifts, these characters will be able to be moved and organized depending on the issue with the character swap feature.

* No more snakes – My wife is terrified of snakes, and I just found that there are four snames in the resource packs. So, unfortunately, I will NOT be adding any snakes on this game.

* Hundreds of monsters and monster variations – each with varying weaknesses special attacks, skills and more
* Animated battlers in a Sideview Battle System,
* Faction and Guild Rankings for expansions in NPC immersion, as well as getting the backing you need for your fight against the Khan!
* Evented Non-Tile landscape, buildings and structures, with a tile-based collision detection system, in an active map for better 2.5D immersion than typical Ace mapping.
* Expanded Database – thousands of items at your disposal. Books, recipe items, key and gyph items, teleportation gems, and more!

* over 300 locations to discover through a fast-travel world map. Caves, Dungeons, Old Temples, forts, and more are accessible through storyline, and by discovering their location through study.

* Quests, quests and more quests – over 150 storyline and 75 sidequests to complete along with the storyline main objectives
* Recipies and Training – With the Open RPG style, spend a session mining, harvesting, digging in archaeological digs, training stats, and more!
* Great Music Soundtrack, using music straight from the Arteria3d Collections!
* All monsters and actors now utilizing Galv's Animated Sprites and Yanfly Battle Engine Ace for 56 frames of animation per battler.
* New Message System and Codes using Yanfly Message System
* On-screen Mouse-controlled GUI features.
* Multi-drops – Sometimes monsters have what you need, other times they don't – Monsters have certain specific percentages for items to be looted.
* New Experience System! - Takes longer to level, embracing the long-held idea of long table-top campaigns. You feel like you've earned your level, you don't blink and are instantly level 10
* Cheat Codes – Once the game is released, a new general cheat code will be released weekly that will do awesome things for your game. Add specific characters to your party, show all the locations, get special item packs, and more! The idea is that over all, we plan to introduce eighty cheat codes over the first year and a half. However, if you think this is a quick 'Cheat to Win' code, be forewarned.. cheat codes will brand your particular save-slot with the CHEATER monicker! If you cheat, a script is planned to keep you from advancing beyond level 80 in game, and any game credit screens will show your character as a 'cheater'
* Attacks are now a part of a skill group, and weapons bestow their skills on players.

* NPC Dialogue System – All attempts will be made to create a conversation engine with Paragon to allow for unique dialogue depending on factors like; character leading party, faction and guild rankings, level, and location.

[kyonides]

* over 300 locations to discover through a fast-travel world map. Caves, Dungeons, Old Temples, forts, and more are accessible through storyline, and by discovering their location through study.

How exactly could the player discover the location through study? Sounds a bit unusual and I wonder if this feature is as interesting as I first thought.