A HAND FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

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A HAND FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE


Edit: Also ive editted my game's page with this info as well, since i think its an appropriate presentation.

A Hand from Beyond the Grave… the new topic! This game, set typically in medieval man's time, revolves around the existence and influence of an undead race, known as the Lamor'dae. Unknown of their true origin and true purpose as to why they exist or who they were before they were dead, the Lamor'dae simply try to live out their lives. Formations of religion are common, attempting to try and answer the oh so many unanswered questions, but in truth there are no answers. But, one can commend them for trying to find something to do…

The undead capital, Vlan'taieles, houses several million undead, studying the one thing that just might prove their existence fruitful in this world - Necromancy. The alteration and usage of the state of death and such prove the Lamor'dae to be one of a kind in the world of Nagalia, and it is this art that gives most of them the will to live. Whether it is used to torture humans or further advance undead civilization, necromancy has its uses.

As you'd imagine, in the “undead” perspective, there are several groups of people who have different purposes, beliefs etc and form different organizations. Let me list them now.

FACTIONS

Lamor'dae

Basically a general name used toward any undead being that follows the dark arts. Most undead typically attempt to study the ways of necromancy, although there are a few who chose not to. No one is certain how the undead are born; it simply happened (what with a biblical explanation in the game which I wont waste time with here) and soon undead were rising everywhere. When a human dies, he is buried. Other undead usually go grave robbing to gather human corpses for their experiments, and with uncovering some graves they find that some of the rotted corpses still have life, and can walk, as well as do much anything with free will. So simply, it is assumed that the undead are randomly spawned among dead bodies, albeit not all corpses reanimate.

Humans

Your common man. The human is considered ignorant and far below the superiority of an undead being, at least from the eyes of a Lamor'dae. The humans struggle with their own issues; war, resources and the like. Their knowledge of the undead and their abilities and intentions are non-existent, and observation of an undead typically leads the human to think it is only a common monster. Interaction with humans other than harvesting is considered a crime to the undead, as keeping the undead's secrets safe is top priority. The undead don't want to have hordes of humans outside their city the next morning because of some idiot's mistake, and thus political action in terms of crimes as these are high.

Reapers

Usually when we hear the word “reaper” we think of the one and only Death, but reapers are many in Nagalia, and are as much visible as any other existing being. The reapers are gifted with the powers of guiding souls into the Nether World by order of the “nether demons” (more on them later). When a human dies, his soul, the collection of all his mentality, what makes him who he is, is separated from his body. Reapers have jurisdictions over all matters concerning guiding, uncorrupting, and helping souls. They also search for lost souls; souls ripped from a human body prematurely or if the body is utterly decimated in an instant. Their job might seem easy, but by the strict demand of the nether demons, they are required to search for souls 24/7, and monsters also seem to enjoy gathering around the illustrious illuminations that souls seem to emanate.

Undead Government

The main form of government of all things undead. They manage the main income of human corpses for consumption (yeah I forgot to mention this, the undead require human bodies as food, to continue living) as well as for distributing for necromantic practice. They manage the society's laws and practices, as well as the laws concerning human interaction. Generally the government doesn't have too high or too low of an opinion concerning humans, rather in the middle between love and hate, as they need to gather from the humans for the sake of the undead population.

Nether Demons(Also known as the Nen'Em Auis)

Only some information is known about the nether demons, at least from the perspective of an undead citizen. The nether demons are like the “2nd layering” of government, in that the undead government must do as they say or else they will kill every undead in the city. Their demands are quite small, although intriguing. They only request that human souls be guided to them. Although, they do request non stop transportation of these souls, but it is still a rather simple request. No one knows for sure just what the nether demons do with or need those souls, but it isn't really a concern for the undead populace. Nether demons typically don't wander around in plain sight either of course, but it's said their monstrous forms are so hideous it can cause any human mind to break upon visualization.

Deathdancers (They also go by several other aliases)

The deathdancers are a secret organization formed despite the hatred and detest of many other citizens. The deathdancers have a strong connection to their past living existence. They have a deep focus to want to aid humans, as well as learn of their own undead pasts, as well as, most importantly, turn themselves back into humans. While its not illegal to have such beliefs and ideals, many citizens detest and hate this form of thinking, as they have grown hatred for humanity and its flaws through their years of unlife. They believe their existence has shown them the true errors of man kind, and that what they currently live as now is man's true, peaceful form.

Warlocks

Warlocks are like an alternate version of necromancers. They utilize necromantic knowledge for usage in their sorcery. Their arts might not rely directly with human parts, or mangling, but it is still a dark evil. Warlocks are despised by many, having a large government and sect; they are despised for their disrespect of the way of necromancy and the immoderate usage of human corpses. It is unlike the traditions of old. They are at war with the undead, trying to acquire their knowledge to further expand their powers. They say the warlocks have become corrupt, and strive only for power and world domination, who knows if this is actually true, but their actions surely show their intentions.


The way of the Necromancer

When an undead devotes himself to the study of "death magic", he must make a pact; an Oath of Shadow. He must follow the laws to conceal his hideous appearance, and act stealth fully within the domain of humans. His unearthing of undead secrets to human eyes could mean the end of the entire undead race. This oath, known as the oath of shadow, is an ancient pact, that all have been demanded to obey.

The oath is cited once the necromancer achieves the rank of acolyte. The studies of the undead consist of 3 basic ranks. 1. Novice, where they are instructed in basic necromancy. This rank usually doesn't take long. 2. Neophyte, where they are instructed in more proficient usage and knowledge. 3. Acolyte, where an undead is taught advanced techniques, and soon goes to major in a separate school of necromancy.

Story

So after hearing all this, just what is the story about then? Well, you play as a fresh undead victim, Malaeus, who is met with two undead acolytes gathering resources for their society. Malaeus is taught the ropes of the undead society, and what he has become. (and thus the player learns at the same pace) Eventually Malaeus starts his necromancy training, and he's become an acolyte before he knows it. Now Malaeus is ready to receive instructions from the government to help further the undead race. While Malaeus may interact with some or all of the factions, there is one thing to realize: the undead are becoming corrupt. No one knows why or perhaps who is behind this brainwashing, but something is definitely amiss, and Malaeus sees to it that justice is sought, whether it is through his large sense of justice, or the fact that he has nothing else to do. (Or maybe because he doesn't want to live in a city that's corrupt, maybe that too, who knows)

Gameplay

The most important aspect of any game, what mayhem you cause and how. The battles in my game use the DBS, albeit I try to make it look a little nice; nothing very custom, but I try. Seeing as the game focuses around necromancy, your characters are mostly intelligence mage types who excel with spells but lack in physical attack power. Malaeus is your main necromancer, whom you will teach new spells and skills to. There are a few other necromancers that you can hire as mercenaries, although you can only hire 1 mercenary at a time. Your main emphasis of physical attack power and variety comes from the necromancer's most noted ability: summoning.


Summoning

Summoning is your bread and butter skill, albeit lacking in flair. There are numerous amounts of monsters that you can create, and through their creation you can create a scroll or an orb for that respective monster. Scrolls lets you summon that monster in as many battles as you want, but cost a lot to make, and you can only carry a few summoning scrolls with you at once. Orbs let you summon that monster only once, though it costs less to make orbs. Summoned monsters can also be dismissed with their scroll.

Monsters level up normally, and get stronger through them. To add to the importance of monsters, each one has a “Skill Tree”. A Skill Tree consists of several “skills” usable or passive, which can be bought to further upgrade and harden your monster. A Life Essence is required to purchase these skills, which are gotten from battles, as treasures or rewards. Blood is also needed, which is fed to the monster and acts as a prerequisite for some skills. Blood is always obtained through battle or as treasures and such. Each monster is unique and different in many ways, whether they are combat oriented or magic based etc. I try to make every monster useful and make their skills interesting.

Ingredients

Of course, one of the more potentially entertaining things in being a necromancer. Gather your ingredients to make your monster allies. There are four forms of ingredients: Corpses, Primary, Secondary and Life Substances. All are needed to properly create a monster, and work in a certain way. (Which you'll learn) Gathering corpses is probably the more entertaining aspect. Head to a human town and stealth fully kill humans, or go on a rampage and kill everyone. Lure children with candy, or help with a carnival of death.

Healing items are a bit in depth too. Medicine is the cheapest yet most ineffectual form of healing; potions are greater, but more expensive. Corpse items are the greatest form of healing items, but are rare.

Speaking of corpses again, corpses can also be stowed in the freezers, to increase their capability. The better the corpse, the more you can yield from it. If you want the organs within the corpse, you can have it shredded at the City's Tear-O-Matic, which will allow to receive the strong healing items, as well as a few miscellaneous ingredients. Corpses can also be used at the soul trap, where they be used to form a spirit, a very rare item that can permanently increase statistics, give you life essences or be used in strong equipment.

Souls

Souls are equippable items of immense power. Sometimes you will receive non specific souls such as: common soul, less common soul, ordinary soul, rare soul, artifact soul, legendary soul. These can be in turned in to the fortune teller to be converted into an actual soul (which can be equipped) of a value equal to its name. Souls are a sort of typical “dungeon treasure” item that is a nice find though not so common.

Honor

While most humans do not know the existence of the undead, there are some who do. The ones who do know take it for granted. They try and take advantage of this knowledge and earn themselves some cash. By communicating with these secret, incognito humans, you can spend Honor on weapons, armor, ingredients, and other things. You earn honor by helping humans, instead of hurting them. (Hurting them earns you dread which is used for certain things) But having high honor can be dangerous and can cause necromancers to attack you and the like. If you think your honor is too high, you can present yourself to the leader in the metropolis and have him strip you of all your honor for a modest fee.

Upgrading Malaeus

Malaeus can learn his necromantic skills and spells by purchasing them with dread. The spells and skills require that you have a high enough skill level in that appropriate class, (skill level max is 33) which can be leveled by using a life essence. Whether or not the skill level can be upgraded depends on Malaeus's current level. Every 3 levels, Malaeus can upgrade his skill levels by 1. A higher skill level obviously means you can purchase better spells. Purchasing the actual spell costs dread, which is gotten from killing humans or relinquishing spirits to the great beyond. Higher level skills also sometimes require a certain reputation rank. (which is explained below)

Necromancer's skills are broken down into classes:

-Assassination
-Affliction
-Curses
-Insectism
-Corpse Art
-Seals
-Sorcery
-Nether
-Imitation

You can have two classes worth of spells with you at any time. Each class varies in spells, and has different purposes. Find the ones you like and stick with them.

Malaeus upgrades his stats not through leveling but through battles. At the end of every battle, you receive blood. You use this blood to create blood gems, which can be enchanted to hold spells. But, you can further the ability of these blood gems by enchanting them with a life essence. Once they are enchanted, they become “Hearth Blood Gems” which upgrade a statistic of your choice.

Reputation

The Reputation system is a way of showing how effective you've been to the undead community. The reputation consists of several ranks that you achieve through collecting reputation from doing quests. Reputation is also earned from the total amount of dread you collect. Reputation has many benefits, such as more items being available to shops, being able to enter better dungeons and areas, more quests become available, achieving the next rank nets you a lot of cash, and higher reputation ranks allow you to purchase more and better skills for Malaeus.

Dungeons

As far as dungeons go, I'm trying to experiment with a more randomized creation system that allows dungeons to be more innovative and have more replayable value. No treasure will be in the same place, or be the same item; every puzzle will be slightly different or perhaps be in a different place. I believe the more interesting ideas I have for the dungeons are the implementations of the Spirit Skulls, and Fire Torches.

Spirit Skull: Skull of a spirit. When all monsters in the dungeon are dead, and all chests have been opened, this skull will turn into a spirit. (rare)

Fire Torches: When all of these are lit, (a fire is lit by activating things in the dungeon) a chest will be revealed containing decent treasure. (The torches are all gathered in one room) You will also receive a treasure room key, which opens a chest located past the boss of the dungeon to give you one rare item. The key is removed from you when you leave the dungeon.

Also on a random note since I didn't no where else to put this, the battles in my game are touch based, no random battles. You must get close to the monster for them to detect, and once they detect you, they will start to chase you. They will stop chasing you once you leave the map.


Screenshots











This is my favorite screenshot because I made the ground myself. :P

Game Page: http://www.rpgmaker.net/games/340/

Demo1 download page: Please note that I have a slightly improved demo that is pending right now that also has the rtp with it. Once it is accepted, it will be the only download. Also the demo goes on for about a half an hour if you dont count reading the dialogue. I also forgot to put in the message box that tells you when the demo ends; so i'll tell you that the demo is over once you get past the guy in the undead city asking for a registration card.

http://www.rpgmaker.net/games/340/downloads/

Conclusion

In conclusion, this is the only game that I have actually spent quite a lot of devotion to. I've done and thought of other games in the past, but this is the only game I've actually spent a good amount of time on. I think this game has a unique idea, and a concept not yet seen in rpgmaker games. This game was intended to have a dark feel, not necessarily the survival horror scary type feel, but atmospherically. Thus, I intend to maintain that feel through the game, hopefully, while still displaying an interesting story. (I'm not going for any trophies, but I'm hoping the story will interest a few of you) As of now the game is still in early development, but hopefully I'll pick up the pace and the game will continue to grow. Thank you for your support and interest for my game.
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
First, I'm excited to see a new game here finally!

Second, this project sounds like exactly the kind of game I want to play, like it was custom made to my tastes. I love liches!

Third, your world-building is in depth and excellent.

And all this enthusiasm without even glancing at the screens!

However, that is a MOUNTAIN of text, and I was unable to bring myself to read it all. Maybe you should leave some of that info out and save it to be revealed in the game itself? Just a thought.

Thoughts on the screens:
I feel like you could further darken screen tone and add rain to get the sort of gloomy/spooky, necromantic mood you seem to want so badly. This reminds me a lot of one of my very early rm2k projects, right down to the chipsets used and the basic premise. Of course, in that game you could (theoretically) also play as an inquisitor hunting the necromancers, although I only actually released the demo for the evil part of it.

Wait, there is a demo? I am so downloading this shit! Does this remind anyone else of Diary of a Madman? ;D
YDS
member of the bull moose party
2516
However, that is a MOUNTAIN of text, and I was unable to bring myself to read it all. Maybe you should leave some of that info out and save it to be revealed in the game itself? Just a thought.

You'd be surprised, but i actually felt like i needed to add more; the info provided was really only basic info, yeah most of it is informed to you in game, but hey a thread has to have meat eh? Also thats the reason why i asked for how to make spoilers. :P

Code: (Spoiler Tags)

And thanks for telling me how to make spoilers. :D

EDIT: Also guys, its come to my attention that a friend of mine tried to dload the game and got a few errors. First he got: the archive is either i nunkown format or damaged

But then he tried dloading again and got: DOWNLOAD ERROR: could not be saved, because the source file could not be read

This doesnt make sense; i tried dloading it myself and it worked fine for me. I made it using the gamedisk function in rpgmaker because it includes the rtp easily. Maybe the gamedisk function is messed up? So can you guys dload it for me and see if it at least works?
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
REVIEWED: CHECK THE WEBSITE YE BUMS.

By the way, thunderdraco, I got a fatal error when I opened the game, telling me that "sf2sys" or something couldn't be found. I renamed the one system set in the system folder to what it said was missing, and that fixed the error.
well before i read the review i did tell you there was a polished demo that was still pending. :P Its up now btw, and im actually having issues with it, and it would be nice if you could dload to see if it even works...

EDIT: Reading the review, some of those things were fixed, such as the battles, the menu and other small things, although the dialogue is most likely still broken and what not. Realize that the demo you downloaded was uploaded quite a while back, and yes i know i misunderstood the battles at first, because ignorantly i didnt realize that the hero is by himself, but the battles are easier in the polished version. But like i said, dload it for me plz to see if it even works.
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
I'll get around to it eventually. I did mention your new version in the review, I was just eager to play it. Sorry I apparently reviewed the bad version. ???
lol its okay, you actually mentioned some really good things i should fix.

EDIT: Oh btw, something else, there is music on the title screen, i believe it just takes a little while to kick in, and the volume seems a little low, a flaw on my part. The title screen also sucks on its own btw. :P
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
I still feel more people besides just me should pay attention to this, in spite of my review.

>:(
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
DP + 2. Excuse the bumpus.

More people should give this game a try. I have reviewed it here:
http://www.rpgmaker.net/games/340/reviews/218/

But the version for download is (apparently) better than the one I reviewed!
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