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Alone in a mysterious forest in the dead of winter, Adfer hears a voice beckon to him:

"The summit awaits you, Adfer."

But what is so special about this summit? And where exactly is he? Adfer, one of the world's leading scientists, suddenly finds himself thrust into a mysterious land - and finds himself reflecting on who he is and where he is going.

With demons and harsh weather encroaching, he has no choice but to venture toward the mountain at the center of the forest in search of answers.


Due to significant issues, this project has been canceled. If and when it is revived, it will be for MV or MZ, using upscaled REFMAP, and likely during either a competition or event. Thank you for playing!

A Return to Game Making


This game was started in the final week of the Seasons Event on RMN. It is a short, tightly focused project that is intended both as an exercise in concise game development and as a throwback to the glory days of RPG Maker 2k/3. As a result, I use classic REFMAP and the RM2K DBS unabashedly here - though with plenty of wrinkles included.

Additionally, this is my first personal project in quite some time; the last few years have been kind of turbulent for me, and most of my efforts have been spent on projects by other developers. It's time to make my own works again!


Gameplay


Players control Adfer on an angular, surrealistic journey. Along the way, he'll fight demons, use their powers to fuel his own, and even harness their skills in battle. It's a small game, and there aren't many puzzles, but there are tons of nooks and crannies to discover!

The combat system, while fairly straightforward, is similar to Xenosaga. Players start combat with 3 Skill Points (SP) and have an initial cap of 5. Most skills consume at least one SP. A single SP is restored passively each turn; players can spend their turn to charge an additional SP if they wish. Most of the powerful attacks require 4, 5, or even 6 SP.

Players will find skill scrolls and equipment that will increase their total SP, regeneration rate, or even their starting SP - but at a cost. Savvy players will discover the right combination of equipment as well as the optimal skills that will allow them to become damage-dealing powerhouses! And time is of the essence in Solitary - the game emphasizes burst damage and efficient combat. All bosses have enrage timers and must be defeated before they start delivering nasty attacks.

Solitary eschews the traditional leveling system; Adfer and his demonic sidekicks gain power by consuming ethereal orbs dropped by enemies. This gives players complete control over their party's statistical development. Each playable character has both physical and magical attacks, and both skill types can exploit elemental weaknesses. Thus, players can choose whether to turn a character into a brawler, a mage, or both. Do you desire weaker-yet-versatile characters, or specialists? Both have strengths and drawbacks, but thankfully there is no cap on how many orbs you can consume; if your party isn't working out, you can simply grind more orbs if desired.

The main quest itself is short and intended to emphasize exploration and story; the battle system is explored more thoroughly in an optional area.

Latest Blog

Revisiting after Jamie is complete? Unlikely.

I really wanted to finish this project, and I was easily more than halfway through everything, but life got in the way. By the time I got back to gam mak, I was doing commission work and barely had time to even look at this project.

I suffered a hard drive crash earlier this Fall, and I'm not sure if I have a backup available for this particular project. I'll do some digging and if I can salvage it, I'll do what I can! But Jamie takes priority since that project has all the momentum at the moment.

Edit: for some reason, Solitary is the only personal game that I had failed to back up. This is really painful because I've become a little obsessive about backing up my projects and this is the one thing that I failed to complete. I was proud of the work I was putting into this project, including that giant dual tower map. Such is life, I guess.

I will be marking this canceled. If I do revisit the project, it will likely be in MV or MZ using upscaled resources, and I won't post a gamepage until it's complete.

I just wanted to apologize to those who were following this game last winter. I was unable to live up to my word and get this thing done, but I did a lot of experimenting with this project and I think I can make it even better in MV or MZ. Perhaps I'll revive it for the next competition!
  • Cancelled
  • Decky
  • RPG Maker 2000
  • RPG
  • 01/10/2019 05:37 PM
  • 11/03/2020 06:48 AM
  • 01/28/2019
  • 26841
  • 19
  • 324

Posts

Pages: 1
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
thanks for your feedback bruh
Rockin' the classic refmap I see. Nice mapping!
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
author=Blind
Rockin' the classic refmap I see. Nice mapping!

Thanks :) I've always wanted to revisit REFMAP. I made Carlsev/the start of Carlsev 2 when I was brand new to gamedev, and the other times I used the graphics were strictly for events or screenshots.

REFMAP is super nostalgic.
I was a big fan of your Carlsev and Hero’s Realm LPs. I’ll definitely be checking this out. Subbed.
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Thanks a lot! Hope you enjoy the demo and/or completed game :D
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
I really like the combat mechanics in this, and the boss fight is quite a bit more involved than I've ever been able to do. I'd love to see this turn into a complete game.
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Thanks! I do enjoy lots of DBS tinkering, lol. Will try to get it done on the 21st :)
Gotta keep an eye on this. how long is complete game going to be?
Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18536
Hey dude, I enjoyed this! Can't wait to do a review of the full version once it comes out.

Only minor complaint I can think about is that I feel a save after the battle with the flies and before the boss would be very useful. I died to the boss once or twice and the text is a bit tedius to repeat since it seems to be automatic and I couldn't just hold shift and go right past it.
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
author=Mr.Nemo
Gotta keep an eye on this. how long is complete game going to be?

Complete game will be 45 minutes to an hour, approximately.

author=Frogge
Hey dude, I enjoyed this! Can't wait to do a review of the full version once it comes out.

Only minor complaint I can think about is that I feel a save after the battle with the flies and before the boss would be very useful. I died to the boss once or twice and the text is a bit tedius to repeat since it seems to be automatic and I couldn't just hold shift and go right past it.

Thank you sir. Yeah, the boss might be tuned a little strongly. I might use save points because they tend to serve as reminders for people.

I like interesting combat in my works but I also feel this is going to be a story/atmosphere-driven game, so I'll have to balance the two. Deep combat usually requires higher difficulty, which might turn some people off from the game and they won't get to experience some the story's big twists later on. A solution to this is to make the main quest fairly easy and have some optional fights. I've been leaning toward this direction.
Pages: 1