Paragons: Year of the Ebony Crown

[JayRay]

 

NOTE
::: New Engine, New Storyline Brainstorming! ::
As of September 2017, this thread is 100% outdated. A new thread is starting.

Paragon - Book I: Heroes of Roguehaven is actually the fourth incarnation of the Roguehaven Project, and will be a 2.5d RPG, reminiscient of traditional RPG systems, but with rendered tilesets, sprites, and other add-ons for high quailty. Resolution will be set at a standard 640x480 With fullscreen and mouse support. This is an expansive project, with several large graphics, a full CMS, Quest Logs, KeyItem Puzzles



Setting: Kharis-Yeshar (The World) is dominated by two large landmasses. Yeshar, or Yesharya, was the cradle of civilization before a great cataclysm took the lands and twisted them, scorched them, turned swamps into canyons and cast mountains into the sea, Those who sought to survive, rushed to Kharis, in hopes of starting anew. As wars brewed, each faction and crown demanding their own 'breathing room', the domains became smaller and smaller, until at present, seventeen kingdoms stand. The



Story: When, in the lands of Kharis, the seven kingdoms of the New Accord want to get rid of their vermin, their waste, but feel compelled by the Written Law not to execute them for baseless crimes, they instead exile them to the city state of Roguehaven, a warren of every kind of vice and of every kind of outcast the lands could describe but decide not to in polite exchange. Roguehaven is that, a nation of outcasts, longing to return to their homeland, or to survive in their world anew. In the last few years, Roguehaven has began to become a popular neutral ground and trade center, serving no one, and catering to all. Often, travelers needing mercenaries or cheap supplies, rumors or more will step into the dismal city and do what it takes to get what they need. It's said that Roguehaven takes all kinds, and no truer words were ever spoken, especially in these dark times.



A long time ago, the Khan of Time, carried out horrible scourges, curses, and even full-scale invasions upon the seven kingdoms and four major factions in hopes of usurping their power and becoming the only great power within Kharis-Yeshar. Standing against them were the guardians of each of those seven nations; the Guardians of Sharista, longsuffering in their service to their crown, The cold emmisaries of Justice in Merede, the savage red elves of Haz Reyd, the virtuous knights of Gharail, the stoic vanguards of Jemiscra, the Peace-brokers of Rhoslayn, and not far from the Shadow Thrones of the Khan, the battle-hardened Paladins of Prahven. Those who did not join the seven found their lands buffers in a world war, with magics and battles not seen since the old world of Yeshar.



As the Shadow Thrones sack and storm, sending wars, and rumors of wars rifle through Kharis turning the guardians against each other. These rumors and more often beckon through the back alleys, taverns and warrens of the Dismal City. How can Roguehaven succeed where nations have not? Could the outcasts of the Seven be the saviours of them all? Can a band of misfits, outcasts, and good-for-nothings band together, and bring the nations together again in hopes of staving off a new threat from the Shadow Thrones?





Depending on the character chosen at the onset of the storyline, your background, motivation, and adventure story may have different nuances. Heroes of Roguehaven is not just about ONE main hero, but several, all experiencing their own stories. Each one of the major seven nations of the Accord have heroes to choose from, and as such, you must set forth on your path to become a true hero, not to your homeland, but to Kharis, a legend of time, and vanquisher of the Shadow Thrones!




NEW in Build 1.00



There have been some improvements to the earlier 0.82 Revision, and for the most part, all the early basic needs of the game are now finished. With that being said, I wanted to go ahead and review the earlier revision and see if anything has changed.







* 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!



* 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.

IN ADDITION - New Advancements

for Build 1.00



- HUD Display

In addition to the mouse buttons and mouse driven GUI for the system, there will also be an active hud, thanks to Moghunter's Ultima Hud

I will working on rendering a 3d looking display ala Diablo to house health pools and talent pools, along with a portrait of the character, known equipment, a revision of my game events log, gold, map locations, experience tables, and levels as well.



- Frankenspriting Success

While I still will be limited to less than 20 starting characters with variations from there, I'm please to announce that there ARE a few frankenspriting possibilities that worked out well for me, and because of suck I was able to frankensprite a few more Galv battlers. If I'm successfull, I think I should stick with 16 starting character possibilities and work my way out from there. As it stands I still have it set for up to a four member team, with NPCs available to join either through quest or through hiring.



Quest Screen Success

I switched my questing mode out for modern algebra's quest manager called Quest Journal 1.03 for RPG Maker VX Ace



Tilesets - Moving into the Real!!! (or rather pre-rendered)



As everything from the main game will now be parallaxed and overlayed, I will be changing passability to either be based on a single A4/A5 tile with tileswap options to allow for specific needs depending on the passability. This will allow for all 12 passability settings to be set for each map and such. Looking for PK8 for his latest version of Editor Tiles for VX Ace, so I can just keep the items in Editor and delete them from being visible in game. What I may do is ensure that ALL A-Layer tiles are invisible in game, and use them all to correctly map out my editor tiles, since I won't be using autotiles, going for a painted terrain look instead.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit)
Recommended Ram: 2 Gb
HD Space: 1 Gb
Processor: 2 Ghz or Higher
Must have mouse support

Chief Designer: Jay Ray
Software Support (Outside RPG Maker): Earthsculptor, Particle Illusion, Daz, Cinema4d, and Iclone,
Extra Resources: Pioneer Valley Games, Arteria3d, Dexsoft, Opengameart,
Script Support: Goldaryn, DerVVulfman, MechanicalPen, Trickster, Cybersam, SephirothSpawn, BuddySievers, Kylock
Web Support: Blogspot, OpenGameArt

A special thanks goes out to DerVVulfman and Netz for all those nights, bouncing ideas and brainstorming...

J.Broughton and M.Dale for those countless hours of roleplaying in my campaign world.

And of course, my wife Q-BABY for supporting my weird hobby...

And GOD above all things, in hopes that this game gives him the glory.

[Ahzoh]

This looks really interesting. Thou must finish.

Oh and some these place names I'm gonna use them as words for my language =D

[JayRay]

Update:

Promising a screenshot soon. But as I am creating and rendering multitudes of 3d objects, I am looking to mapping programs like Tiled to generate the amount of layers ans setups for the 4-5 layers necessary to build inside the game. Using several scripts including Ulitmate Overlay scripts as wellas Pearl ABS, which I am completely graphically redesigning.

[trexrell]

Wow pretty good renders. Really like the story and characters. I really like how you can embrace anyone of the characters as your main hero.

[JayRay]

Yep, I'm working closely with Pioneer Valley Games on this one, they supplied the entire High Fantasy tilesets, even though if need-be, I may be replacing those with my own renders if my budget allows me to buy a few more Daz packs, and Iclone packs.

***BTW*** do not be alarmed my signature and graphics are gone, currently preparing to add everything back in to a different CMS for Roguehaven Games. (ALL is well)

**UPDATE** began working today on 36 maps that will be the center of one main zone area, the Saravaa-Kir

**The Saravaa-Kir, in the western lands of Merede, plays host to several incursions by the Felenash and the Dyranesti in hopes of encroaching and dominating this sparsely habitated region. Known to have several orcish and troll encampments across the Byandire river, as well as several forest trails that offer assaults and ambushes by the Dyranesti clans that prey on travelers. Expect Reydi highwaymen as well.**

[JayRay]

UPDATE:

I may be transferring this entire project backwards to RMXP - To both take advantage of certain scripts that would make having a parallax no longer necessary, involve a zbuffering that could assist me, and to take advantage of a larger than normal resolution. More news as it develops.

UPDATE: Upset with the way my rendered houses are limited in variations for this game, and not wanting to go through and create 100 variations of each house, I will be implementing a variation of the tile/autotile version to allow more flexibility with my tile engine... I would then work with trying to make sure that all events (even the ones off screen, show up correctly.

I discussed a few things with DerVVulfman in the IRC, and may be changing a few things to reflect a different style, modifying the textures sets purchased to create a more RPG Maker-ish High Fantasy set. IF anyone knows a way to convert Tiled maps to work with RMVX Ace, please tell me...

[JayRay]

Game Update 12/19


MAJOR Changes to Game Design!

"I have a dream"

Last night, while dreaming, I came across an idea for game implementation that will allow me to keep file size and download moderately low, and allow for the vastness of the game world to be addressed. In Dragon Age, a similar concept is used, where world map navigation creates a world play surface that allows people to go from major points to major points in the game, and during the pathfinding of the game-world, events can snag players into pre-set and arranged battlefield or plot point scenarios throughout the course of the game, and as other areas are unlocked, navigation becomes more and more varied.

I wanted to take it one step further. While world map navigation is still possible, I want to have minor/regional navigation for each point so that I can have a broad range and distance, as well as more close-knit areas. Other map areas are unlocked via storyline plot-points, items or just by 'heresay' when unlocking other character paths.

This will also allow me to have distinctive battlefield elements depending on the region or play-area visits, as well as variable-placed enemies dependant on skill level.

Tool Usage has been expanded, so if a character learns of a mine or resource gathering area, they can visit it on a timed/cooldown basis to retrieve the resources they need for crafting and other traits.

I am currently looking for other world rendering tools to assist me in creation of these environments, catering to my need for everything from snow-fields to deserts without being confined to a tile engine that doesn't have my best layering interests in mind.

I am also looking into allowing MCG's H-Mode 7 for our World Map Displays so that large geographic areas are displayed in the right proportions (mountains and more)

Roguehaven Hiatus is OVER!

[JayRay]

Update: While I still like the Isometric style of game play, I'm hoping that I can actually keep my old style gameplay. I am very much considering going back to RMXP to take full advantage of H-Mode 7 or something that can visually immerse the character into the vastness of the world.

[MechanicalPen]

...Why won't Mousie Pathfinding work? Tiles are tiles, even displayed isometrically. It should still be possible to navigate through them.

[JayRay]

i dunno... maybe the way the tiles are displayed... since it uses a seperate map based passability. If you figure it out, let me know lol