After seven years, I figured it is time to hang up my game development mantle and focus my creative energy on pixel art and creating resources for the greater RM community.

While it is painful to let go of a project I've been working on for close to three years, I've never felt more free, more happy and so unrestrained after I cancelled LoTL.

Now as to why I cancelled it:

I don't think any of you realise just how difficult it is, or how emotionally draining it is, to work on something you care about so much, only for it to be forgotten by the greater masses. I've been putting out demos to receive feedback for this game ever since June and the feedback, if I am frank, was pathetic. Now, I am not an attention whore, but how on earth can you expect a game developer to continue with his or her project if they have absolutely no clue as to how they faring without C & C?

Yes, to some of you, the project looks grand, an epic in the making, and sometimes I told myself that, just to give myself a bit of a confidence boost because despite what you may think, I have very low self-esteem in RL. No matter how awesome or epic LoTL may have seemed, I was still a human being who craved just a little bit of recognition of my work. And a video game, no matter how great it seems, will amount to nothing if its developer feels like an ant. Being human, we all crave a little warmth and attention. It is human psychology.

I was always under the impression that this community operated on the 'scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours' mentality. I.o.w, if you expressed interest in someone else's work, they would probably return the favour and support your own project. That's what I've picked up after studying 100s of blogs on this site. And it's always the same people who respond to certain game projects. To an outsider, this creates an almost 'elitist' mindset, and also explains why the vast majority of games on this site go unnoticed because the cool cats were too invested in their own work and the works of their friends. That's honestly how I feel, and my lack of inactivty on this site stems from that exact same mindset.

That subscriber count? Those profile views? They meant nothing to me. I would have exchanged all of it, for a few simple sentences of constructive criticism. Only my testers ever gave me that.

But the damage is done. I don't need anyone's sympathy or pity. I will stand on my own two feet, continue with my pixel art and maybe one day, just one day, sell them. Then I can finally have peace of mind from earning money from something
that I love doing.

Most of us would probably save a blog like this towards the completed game's release date, but because I needed a bit of self-motivation, I dug around my Dropbox and to my joy, found the earliest known screens of LotL.

It's pretty screenshot-heavy.

Hints of political drama and earliest prototype screens of LoTL ( around June 2013 ):




The City of Lester was originally supposed to be the capital of Reglay, Tristian's Duchy. It will probably still make an appearance in the current game though.

The game was originally called Eridanus: The First War, but it sounded too generic, so the game went through several name changes ( check the comment sections of the main page, I really couldn't decide on a name >< ) and just went with naming the project after the game's titular heroine. The plot originally centered on Tristian as an embattled Duchess, trying to run her Duchy after the death of her father, but also trying to stem the unrest resulting from disdain her own people showed towards her.


Tristian was also originally going to search for her missing brother and had insisted on going alone. Although a Duchess, she was still a proud knight through and through and even in this early drafts, she was still Ianna's bodyguard.


...Whom she clearly still expresses concern for.

While there is a Bedivere in the current demo, he looks nothing compared to the above knight, and this lion-maned Bedivere was also supposed to serve as Tristian's love interest ( she was 100% straight in my earliest drafts but the whole concept of her falling for Ianna; who was her Queen, was still there ).


And yes, it was planned to be a TBS.

But it didn't give me the same level of depth as say, Fire Emblem, so I ended up scrapping the battle system entirely and going back to Yanfly's Battle Engine Melody. Another downside of using a TBS-battle engine and giving the game a Fire Emblem vibe was the fact that I probably needed a fairly large roster, to give that feeling of actually recruiting various characters who wanted to fight for their own personal reasons and fighting in your army ( though this isn't really true for FE in general; 80% of the cast tends to be either poorly written, a walking trope or an anime cut-out ).


Tristian still looks like an ice-queen. Although her game has undergone countless changes, her personality has more or less remained the same.

Of course, none of the above scenes, let alone the battle system, made it into the game. A lot of planned characters got cut as well when transitioning into the new rewrite. I'm still wondering how LoTL, in the beginning, went from a possible political drama rife with consquences, to an anime-plot JRPG of evil villians wanting to capture Ianna so they could use her blood for a resurrection of an evil-- yeah, you know how it goes, to its current incarnation ( which did a complete 180 and is back to being a political drama between two factions, kinda like FFT: War of the Lions ).

Nevertheless, I went back to the drawing board and continued with version 2.0:

Arrival of Disma and Co. and generic anime plot:

Though in retrospect I am wondering why I never kept the 'political drama' plot. Oh wait... I didn't write it down. Epic fail.


Anyone remember Disma and that creepy-looking armoured dude?


At least he/she? was honourable in his/her? own way.

Didn't stop his/her? cronies from hitting Tristian with some nasty dark magic and affecting her with an incurable disease... Which only gave her a year to live. Then Tristy needed to seek the help of some mystic to cure her ( this happened over a rather short time frame ). Said mystic informed Tristian she needed to return to her Duchy because of an apparent invasion by the 'evil empire' who invaded for no real apparent reason apart from being evil, with Dante at her side ( Ianna was kidnapped by Camus in the early drafts, which really hurt the developing relationship between her and her lady knight ). Of course, neither Trianna displayed any hints of real affection towards each other like in the current version of the game. Ianna was still meek and the dreaded damsel-in-distress and Tristian was still a stoic badass.


Yep. JRPG Plot #49594. I'm probably great at level design, but back in 2013-2014 my writing was pretty mediocre. I didn't even see the captured Ianna behind the magic crystal.

While the plot was awful, it did introduce some key characters such as Darcy and Trabant ( who would go on to become staples in LoTL's current plot )

LoTL Circa 2014:



She's still pretty much the same, though her role is much bigger now. In the old version, Darcy was just a wannabe rebel who styled herself as the 'Lightning Thief' ( she even broke into the manor of an old admiral to steal a valuable gold pidgeon >< ). The old demo also introduced party-splitting, but this idea was later scrapped. The last thing I wanted was a disconnected narrative like Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn ( whose plot still gets bashed today nine years after its release and for good reason ).


And this battle screen still looks great. Definitely more aesthetically pleasing than a grid-based battle system. And its fast-paced too ( another reason I ditched the TBS, it's slow and can be a chore to play through if it's not designed well ).

It's pointless having a pretty shell of a game that sounds great but is slow to play through.


Out of battle skills: Might reappear again. Like Darcy using her bombs to clear previously unreachable areas.

I really loved some of the areas from the old game though.


The whole idea of a bustling town was lifted straight from FF12 ( my favourite entry in the series ).

Probably my favourite screen in the game.


The gameplay in battle also varied between turn-based to PTB-based ala SMT. But there was a glitch that allowed a powerful character ( like Ira/Trabant ) to score even more 'turns' by just re-selecting them again and again and targetting weak points. There goes the strategy of targeting enemy weaknesses. In the end, I went back to turn-based.

Now you'd probably ask me why the hell I redid the graphics as well in addition to the plot. Simple. I didn't want the game to look like Enelysion 2.0. xD I also figured that a more serious storyline needed more realistically proportioned sprites and didn't want LoTL to look like a generic RPGMaker game ( the chibi sprites tend to be dead-giveaways ).

Wrapping Up:

I could go on and on about LoTL itself, but I really need to finish off this blog. Writing about ( and looking at ) my past work not only shows me how far I've come, but it really is testament to how many hours have gone into making Tristian but I still have a ways to go. I've been RM'ing since 2009. I read an article a while ago about the '10 Years of Silence' and it pointed out that no matter how much talent/passion/drive you have, it takes at least a decade before you produce a particularly brilliant piece of work. Even brilliant musicians like Mozart only started producing their best work after Year 10.

So if LoTL really is going to be my magnum opus, I have to stick with it until late 2018-2019. If you read Addit and NTC3's reviews you'll probably get the feeling they were reviewing two different games and I suppose, again, it is part of my willingness to improve and eventually deliver a great product come release day.

So, it's finally here. After several months of testing, the first 5 hours of LoTL are finally ready for your playing pleasure. Because it is an open 'test' demo of sorts, it may or may not represent the final game, and I'm open to any suggestions that might improve the game as a whole. At 185mb, it's a little big for a demo ( blame the audio, visuals are only 29mb in size ><). I'm looking for additional testers too, and maybe another proof-reader.

A few hints/tips:

Use your AP ( Ability Points ) wisely. You will not be able to redistribute stat points afterwards.

You can kind of exploit Tristian's 'auto-protect Ianna' ability by keeping Ianna under 50% of her maxHP. Note that Ira does not have this innate skill.

I'd recommend buffing Ianna's SPD/MAG stats, since you can pick up a Sentinel Orb for her ( grants +10 DEF ) for her quite early in the game. A 40+ MAG Ianna can wreak havoc in the later parts of the demo.

Try to save enough money to obtain a Reverse Scroll ( it costs 7999 Diadon ) and it will be a lifesaver against hard-hitting enemies. Units like Darcy and Ianna make wonderful use of it.

You can also buy some nice gear for Ianna on the Ferry bound for Trent. It's a once-off buy though...

Don't neglect the MAG/Magic stat. More magic means more LP healed through a Lifeforce Orb (trade in 5 Water Crysalii). Everyone save Ianna can equip it. She can boost her HP through her Royal Blood skill, provided you obtained it before she changes classes ( from Princess -> Mage ).

Healing items are expensive to purchase, so watch your resources.

Explore every nook and cranny of the maps. There are no random encounters, and observant players may end up with more Crysalii than they've bargained for...

Bosses are weak against numerous status effects.

Press 'Q' when scanning common foes/bosses ( or button 7 if you're using a controller ) to look for elements marked with a 'red' emblem. It means your foe is weak against that element.


List of Orbs and their abilities:

Ardor Orb: 5 Fire Crysalii
PWR +10, DEF-5 Critical +15

Lifeforce Orb: 5 Water Crysalii
User recovers HP equivalent to base Magic stat.

Invigorate Orb: 5 Ether Crysalii
Grants +20HP when equipped.

Sentinel Orb: 5 Earth Crysalii
Grants +10 DEF when equipped, resists the Bleeding state.

Aggressor Orb: 5 Thunder Crysalli
Allows the wearer to strike twice in a row.

Swift Orb: 5 Wind Crysalli
Boosts the SPD stat by 10 when worn.

I think that's about it. Have fun! =)

I was mulling over what to write about for my next blog, but then an idea sprang into my mind which pretty much governs the laws of how most rpg-skills work: Skills and Magic. Where does magic come from? Where does it originate? How do developers fit their game lore into their character's skillset? Or is it the other way around?

First off, LoTL is rapidly approaching the 5-hour mark. Bear in mind that I'm only on Chapter Two of a proposed ten chapters, so this going to be a very long game indeed, though hopefully I won't bore the player at any point. I think I know enough about game dev by now to know when the player starts losing interest. I've learnt a lot from Enelysion's rather sluggish 'first 2 hours' phase and LoTL is a game where the plot moves at a constant rate.

So let's talk magic.
Who can use it in-game? Only Ianna and Dante.



Ianna the Cutie and Dante the Muscle Mage. Both of them are descended from powerful magis who went on to form one of Liguria's many Duchies: Dubhan went on to establish the royal House of Genoa, whereas Laeveii, Dante's ancestor, went on to establish the mage House of Connaught.

Ianna doesn't start off by learning magic naturally the way Dante does, but rather casts spells from equipable tomes that can be swapped during battle and can wield magical blades. She gradually learns single target spells but doesn't learn AoE spells until much later on. Ianna's only AoE spells are limited to her heritage, aka Light spells.

But I can tell you now she's probably the most powerful unit in the game, and not only from a gameplay perspective. I suppose I could sum it up like this without spoiling anything: Ianna basically creates her own legend over the course of LoTL's
ten lengthy chapters.

So why is magic so interesting here when it's so common in most JRPGs?

The Kingdom of Liguria is rather on the low-mag side of things, simply because it's setting is a bit more realistic than the average JRPG setting, where mages are treated as just another set of long-range units, rather than having every Tom, Dick and Harry (Potter) flinging Firagas all over the place.

Another point to note is that in LoTL, where war is one the most prevalent themes of the game (and indeed, its catalyst), any side with access to powerful magic would be able to win the war easily and just obliterate their opposition's legions of armour knights, infantry and longbowmen. So not only does magic form an important plot point later down the line, but it does give me, as a developer, the ability to create more interesting and diverse magical foes. Which leads me to make more powerful equips, items, accessories etc, which leads to a richer game play experience.


Sure they look imposing, but the Gatekeepers don't present much of a challenge if you've got a buffed Ianna on your team. ;)


But still incredibly dangerous... But like all Armours, they're weak against Thunder. Since they you know, get electrocuted.

As for the other characters, their prowess in battle stems simply from whether they've been trained from a young age as a military cadet, or whether they're just another ordinary soldier on the front lines. This also helps diversify skill sets of my characters. i.o.w, Lance will never be as powerful as Tristian, and Darcy will never be as strong as Striker. I just go by rule-of-thumb. If the game's pliot dictates that your are awesome, then your character's base stats and skill-set will reflect this.

Comparison sake: Taking Tristian and Lance at the same level (10).

Tristian: Level 10 General

LP/HP: 49
MP: 21
Str: 24
Mag: 18
Def: 21
Spd: 26

Lance: Level 10 Soldier

LP/HP: 35
MP: 12
Str: 16
Mag: 8
Def: 16
Spd: 13

That's before altering their stats through the AP ( Ability Point system ) of course.

I've never really been a fan of settings where magic is widespread, because all of it would have to fit into your game's lore and you'd have to establish certain rules like:
Who can use it?
Is magic genetic or is a learned skill?
Is there an established pantheon of deities your characters worship?
Is magic restricted in certain parts of your game world, and if so, how do player characters react to it? Are there strict rules in place?
Can magic only be used in dire circumstances, or is it an everyday thing? If it is, how is it incorporated into daily life?

And so on. I could write an article about this, but that's for another day.

Indeed, you'd need to build some kind of genesis explaining the creation of magic to make it mesh with what you are creating. And shoe-horning things later on never work. Making magic scarce and self-contained makes it a veritable force of nature where it can turn the tide of battle in an instant.

That's all fine and well, but where's the yuri?

Oh, it's still here alright. Just... very subtle. I'm not too fond of the 'in-your-face-romance or flirts' type of romance. I like to keep players guessing. But no yuri for today's update.

And a few new faces:



Viceroy Dorner is under increasing pressure to deal with the rebel group known quite simply as The Mountain, led by Darcy, who are causing havoc with their pseudo rebellions. Then again, Darcy has every reason to be rebelling against Dorner and his goons. He's used to people poking fun of his hairstyle.


A twin he is, but will he be as interesting as Tristian? Only time will tell.

Fun fact: I spend anything from 30 mins - 2 hours composing and formatting my blogs. It's also not unusual for me to get up at 5:30am to get some work on the game done before going to work. =)


And that's it for my bi-monthly update. See you the end of April for another. =)

Time for my bi-weekly update as usual. Lots to talk about.

Ever since the game's plot re-write, I've never given a complete breakdown for the reasons for the political strife in the Lady of the Lion. So, with the help of my scenario writer, Dyhalto, I'd like to give you guys a short little 'primer'. You might want to read the Thirty-Year backstory segment first, whilst trying to break down things for you.

This was originally under the game page section, but few people ever check those tabs.

--- Begin history lesson

The Thirty-Year War



It was a series of conflicts between the various duchies of Liguria, where alliances and adversaries kept shifting. King Auster III would have intervened to put an end to the warring Dukes, but being generally weak of will, he was easily manipulated and controlled.

The 30 Year War eventually came to an end with the Battle of Yalger ( a fortress situated on the borders of Reglay and Caliburn ) when Duke Avalon, on the orders of King Auster, marched his own forces and that of the Cerulean Order in between Duke Caliburn's army and his home Duchy, cutting off his ability to supply his army. Without aid, and pincered between Reglay's defences and Avalon's standing army, the Duke's army withered and were easily defeated.

Duke Avalon argued for punishment to befall Duke Caliburn, as well as the lands seized by Caliburn during the 30 Years War to be returned to their respective duchies and all debts owed to him repudiated, but the King was manipulated yet again. Duke Caliburn got off untouched and maintained all of his ill-gotten gains.

After the war, King Auster let his decision to send Duke Avalon to end the war get to his head. Feeling the need to look like a strong king, he enacted a bunch of punitive taxes on all the Dukes. Knowing absolutely nothing about economics, he didn't foresee that this tax would simply be passed down to the peasantry. So between his inability to put a stop to the 30 Years War, followed by his levying crippling taxes, the cry for "Down with the King" started erupting all across Liguria.



As things now stand, Duke Avegin is spear-heading the anti-Monarchist movement, calling for a democratic revolution...

Original scenario by Dyhalto. Paraphrased by Luchino to avoid potential spoilers. The original version is far longer ><

---End history lesson

And between all this, we have our two heroines, Tristian and Ianna: Both of them have had rather large burdens placed upon their youthful shoulders; Ianna unexpectedly finds herself as Liguria's future Queen and unwilling becomes the target of blood-thirsty anti-royalists; Tristian, our titular heroine, finds herself on the run with her Princess but at the same time, finds herself running away from her very own duties. Tristian only recently inherited the Duchy of Reglay from her deceased father, a Duchy who finds itself caught up in its own problems.

Coming face to face with their eventual roles plays a pivotal part in Tristian and Ianna's character arcs. Both of them have the potential to be rather amazing characters,development-wise, and I hope the player will follow it with keen interest as well. Of course, the yuri-subtext does make things a bit more juicy...



Sometimes I ask myself if the plot would have remained the same had Tristian been male, or had Ianna been a Prince. I do ask myself why I decided to go for girl-on-girl romance ( and it was long before LA came along too ). I suppose Tristian and Ianna were meant to be expies of two of my favourite video game characters, who have one of the most touching bonds that I have ever seen in the medium, but sadly, they were never really major characters, taking a back-seat to a far more bland male lead. Plus, I just find it more fun to write female characters, period.

Not only because I am female, but eh.. I've never been drawn to male leads. Maybe I've had a inherent dislike for them ever since I played Phantasy Star IV ( my first RPG ) and hating Chaz. His mentor Alys was way cooler. Besides, too many JRPGs involve sausage-fests with a token (healer) chick as the love interest. But I am avoiding the 'lol make them lesbians so the perverted player can check out steamy make-out sessions in the bathtub'. Just no. I write people first, then add in sexuality afterwards ( if it even matters ). I research my characters to the point where I look up certain traits of their zodiac sign. If you check out the Capricorn and Piscean for Tristian and Ianna respectively, you will be sure to find some of their traits there. XD

Graphical stuff:

First off, I've starting 'arting' again. I'd really love to do those comic-style cutscenes ala PSIV, but it will be rather painful doing it all with just a mouse. Wait, all the stuff I've shown you guys was done with a mouse... ><



Maps:

Yes, even I make improvements to my maps. I always felt my water areas appeared too flat, so I went and made an evented animated cliff-tile graphic after altering some areas.


Looks like this in the editor. 100% proof I do not parallax. :D

And like this in-game.







Gameplay:

Now let me talk passives ( I know this blog post is getting a bit lengthy, but I only do 2 blogs a month, so bare with me >< ).

I need some Passive Skill ideas for my characters. Namely Striker ( Mercenary ), Darcy ( Thief ) and Lance ( Recruit ). As you can see from both Ira and Ianna's screens, passive abilities differ depending on the class.



Also, natural healing spells don't exist unless you character is a true magic user ( like Dante ).

Also, the player will no longer just find Crysalii on the world map or as rare drops, but are ingeniously hidden on most wilderness maps. It also gives the player to traverse every inch of my lovely maps ( XD ) scouring out those lovely stat boosters or just hoarding them to turn into powerful skill Orbs.

On a larger note:

There's a demo that's finally ready for testing as well, so I'll be sending it out for a private beta via PMs.

Sometimes I feel I work too hard on a game that is entirely free. Hey, at least LoTL is better than the piles of poo sold on Steam, amirite?

Yes, the title is not misleading you. I only have 3 ( maybe 4-5 hours when I'm done with the new areas ) hours of gameplay done, out of a projected 25 hours. ;_;