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In the ancient days, magic was a myth, a story told to frighten children and fleece fools out of their hard earned silver. Not all stories stay myths forever, though, and the world changed when a new moon appeared in the sky, bringing with it a very real power... and a very real cataclysm. From the ruins of the old orders arose new ones, who struggled against one another until a balance was found. Eventually, peace replaced war, and magic found a place in society outside the dark corners of the land.

Moonsong begins alongside great events which will undoubtedly change the world once more. Take control of a band of outcasts as they struggle to understand their role in the conflict and the scope of the perils which face them. From humble beginnings in the back country of a mighty kingdom, they will embark on an adventure that will take them all across the land- and through no shortage of danger- as they attempt to counter the growing darkness.


I started this project many years ago (perhaps a decade?), but it sat on a shelf for a very long time. Last fall I decided it was time to pick it up and dust it off, and in doing so I found the kernel of a promising project. Unfortunately, I'd done less work than I'd thought, but with my shearing scissors in hand a LOT of elbow grease I've gotten it up to a playable state: certainly worthy of a demo release. I've trimmed out the things that I could never finish, culled the story, and reined in my lofty, impossible ambitions to put together a short, atmospheric quest that I hope you'll all enjoy.

Key features include:
- Choose 3 of 6 characters to form your party.
- Each of the 6 can choose to change class later in the game, offering numerous combinations to suit your playstyle.
- 6 unique skilltrees (one for each character) which let you spend ability points earned from monsters however you like, letting you customize your party.
- A linear story with lots of exploration, with ample treasures to reward perceptive players.
- An interconnected world where every step is shown off in high-detail maps.
- A mix of custom, edited and ripped graphics that all work together to form a cohesive aesthetic.

I hope you'll all enjoy this project from yesteryear: it took a lot of work to revive it, but I think, in the end, you'll agree it was worth it.

Latest Blog

Moonsong v1.3 update is here!

The third update is here! And it's a doozy. The end of the game has been completely rebalanced to increase difficulty and the mid game has been changed to be more challenging, as well. A new type of equipment has also been added!

There will be small save inconsistencies with earlier versions, but only because the light armour characters (Siegfried, Amelia and Elle) can no longer equip shields. Saves should load fine, but shields will need to be unequipped to update correctly. Khalid can equip both shields and the new book-type item which replaced shields for magic-focused characters, so he'll be fine either way.

One major thing of note: please uninstall the old Moonsong.fon font after downloading the update and then reinstall the one included in 1.3's folder. The font must be deleted before installing the new version, otherwise it won't update correctly (a restart might fix this, but this is a Windows bug so I have no control over this). The new version of the font fixes certain unicode characters and adds Spanish text support. If this is your first time installing the game, simply right clicking on the Moonsong.fon file found in the main directory of the game and selecting "install" will fix the font in game!

Anyway, please let me know if you have any problems with old save games other than the shield thing!

Change list:

  • Fixed font to show NoĆ«mi's name correctly.

  • Added unicode support for Spanish text.

  • Rebalanced mid- and late-game monsters to have more HP and deal more damage. This change is especially noticeable in the desert and snow areas. (thanks to everyone!)

  • Changed some resistances for late-game monsters to make monster groups harder to eliminate with a single poweful attack.

  • Removed shields from the light armour characters.

  • Added a new off-hand slot item for Amelia, Khalid, Elle and Siegfried: the book. Books act like shields, but offer less defense. Instead, they increase intelligence and give a small attack boost.

  • Added new merchants in all cities in the game to sell the new books.

  • Magic gear (light armour, books and staves) can now be found for sale in all towns at new merchants denoted by a moon icon on their vendor sign (except Ebora, where it is sold by the quartermaster).

  • Updated one of the NPCs in Ebora to give you your first book for free if you find her.

  • Added a small number of extra equipment pieces for balance.

  • Fixed a difficult to trigger but serious pathfinding issue in Karnev. (thanks to grayshadow)

  • Changed the contents of a small number of chests.

  • Changed font to be brighter and more readable.

  • Finally added a custom icon (it's simple, but it's something!).


If you notice any issues with this new update, feel free to let me know! Any feedback on the updated balancing would be especially helpful.

Tags

Posts

I'll be releasing a 1.1 patch very soon to address some bugs people have found, so if anyone has found anything they think needs fixing (even something minor) now is the time to let me know!

author=Frogge
I think I broke sequence in the city with the postman sidequest by interacting with the alchemist before getting his package? When I went back to the post office the game said I delivered his package and got attacked but I didn't.


This one took awhile to track down, but the search command once again came in handy. Turns out it wasn't from talking to the alchemist, it was from talking to the NPC near the cart in the marketplace. It was a MUCH older version of the event that I just never removed that takes the package from your inventory and skips to the end of that section of quest. Whoops.
Hi

I am enjoying the game so far. I noticed a few things though.

I am playing as the necromancer dude, and his sludge summon ability doesn't work. When I summon the sludge, it does not appear.

Also Magnus, the norse tank has issues. The upgraded skill tree on the right hand side, the Ulserker? upgraded skills don't show up at all in battle.
author=handalfed
I am playing as the necromancer dude, and his sludge summon ability doesn't work. When I summon the sludge, it does not appear.

Also Magnus, the norse tank has issues. The upgraded skill tree on the right hand side, the Ulserker? upgraded skills don't show up at all in battle.


Thanks for bringing these to my attention! I have fixed both and will include the fixes in the patch. The skills were set to the wrong type of skill and the Sludge required... way too much work to fix, but they're both working now.
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
I'm about 3ish hours in (just finished the mines area). Here are my thoughts so far:

Story has some nice intrigue, though it hasn't quite gripped me yet (I have a feeling it's about to). Same with the characters. The dialogue is well written and there are some nice NPC quips, though it hasn't fully immersed me yet.

Mapping is very solid, though some of the areas (mostly the caves and towns) do get kinda samey in their look and feel. The beach area is the MVP so far. Great mix of grays and browns. Nice use of staggered elevations as well. The towns are sprawling and certainly evoke some of that FF6 feel.

The opening areas feel like an MMO starting zone, complete with NPC errands and all that jazz. Thankfully it only lasted like 30-40 minutes before I got to sink my teeth into the systems.

The gameplay, while extremely easy, is interesting enough to keep me playing.

Equipment is pretty well balanced and the game throws the right amount of stuff at you. There are lots of options and plenty of opportunity costs. A few things become obsolete rather quickly. I wasn't a big fan of having to hunt down specific NPCs to sell items, especially since money is rather tight.

The skill trees are fun and the main reason why I'm still playing. There are a ton of toys to play with here. AP becomes abundant after the first couple of areas, especially once enemies start granting 2 per kill.

It might just be my progression through the skill trees or the synergy between my 3 characters, but this game is extremely easy so far. It has become particularly easy since the mansion underground/warehouses, where my skill levels skyrocketed due to the abundance of AP I accumulated while just exploring the areas as normal. Bosses are dying in 2 rounds, and I'm able to cleave down most trash within two actions. I haven't really grinded much - I did grind about a half level from 6 to 7 to get my advanced classes, but that's it. Maybe all the exploration has kinda put me ahead of the balance curve. I've been exploring every nook and cranny because you've done a great job hiding goodies throughout the landscape (I loved the chest behind the waterfall, as well as the treasure half-buried in the sand!)

I might just have an OP party as well. Seigfreid's dark spells are potent and the summon added quite a bit of DPS to the group during the earlier areas, before I had the attack buff and high-tier DPS spells. Elle offheals with her song when the party's getting low on HP, which is usually every 3 fights or so; I have her specc'd into the magic tree for single-target magic DPS and cleave. Leonov, the physical attacker, is another great offhealer and buffer. When SP was a problem in the early game, I used his Rally ability to replenish Elle's SP for her healing song. I also use Rally if I start running low on SP while cleaving trash as I progress through the dungeons. My party is self sufficient. I haven't had to use a recovery item since before I met with the Baron; the bard's heal song is amazing, and all of my SP needs are met by a combination of Rally and the passive regen between battles. Each character has a level 3+ aoe spell at this point (I picked the trees with these aoe spells in mind). I still use the dirk on my necromancer; the dual attack is really nasty since Leonov's attack buff is additive. Easy 45-50 damage per hit, though that's probably going to get replaced by the mastered Deathcall IV spell once I can afford it. The last boss fight in the mine was over in 5 or 6 actions (Elle's fire spell was particularly effective!). The crab boss and his minions got cleaved to death in 5ish actions as well (3 cleaves and two single-target spells, iirc).

There seems to be a particularly strong AP grinding spot that I was tempted to use: the jellyfishes. You almost always encounter 5 of them on the beach cave map, and they can be one-shotted with Death Wave III. I haven't really capitalized on this, but it would be an easy 10 AP per fight. I could see someone maxing out the skill trees in less than an hour.

Once I mastered the heal song, I had to go into the editor and fix the Aria IV state. It was only regenerating 1 HP per turn, so I set it to +17 HP. (It probably should've been set to +16 HP, since the skill gains +3 HP per level, but I wanted the extra point for mastering the skill :P)

Really nice use of symbols in the menus to communicate the intricacies of the equipment system. Love the system graphics as well. Music choices were enjoyable; I heard some Ogre Battle in there, which made me quite the happy panda.

The level design is very basic, and it's clear that you're mostly trying to get by on the high quality of the mapping. I just like more engaging dungeons, tbh, so I get a little nitpicky about 'em these days. Maybe it's the Zelda fan in me. I did like the barrel/crate pushing in the warehouses though.

So far, I feel this is a very solid 4/5 game that is carried by the in-depth DBS, deep skill trees, and fun map exploration. Please keep making games; we need more stuff like this and Exile's Journey in the community. I'm not really a story guy nowadays, but I'll try to pay more attention since it looks like you're setting up some fun intrigue.
author=Kaempfer
author=handalfed
I am playing as the necromancer dude, and his sludge summon ability doesn't work. When I summon the sludge, it does not appear.

Also Magnus, the norse tank has issues. The upgraded skill tree on the right hand side, the Ulserker? upgraded skills don't show up at all in battle.
Thanks for bringing these to my attention! I have fixed both and will include the fixes in the patch. The skills were set to the wrong type of skill and the Sludge required... way too much work to fix, but they're both working now.


I like the game. Its nostalgic and plays well. Love your skill tree set up.

Thanks for the fix.
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Finished it. I was thoroughly entertained by the combat and the maps. The game remained easy, though the castle scenario was a little tricky because resources were limited. I had to make use of most of my skills there, especially on the final boss. Cutscenes improved toward the end - the approach to the castle was nice and cinematic, as was the final cutscene. The deaths seemed a little nonchalant, though.

The final two bosses suffered from pretty big HP inflation - more than double the previous boss. Indeed, each of these bosses was as long as all the previous bosses combined. I think the HP totals of the rat, crab, and mine bosses could've been increased by 50 percent. The optional boss had just the right amount of HP and overall fight length, but it didn't really hit hard. My Aria was able to heal through everything effortlessly and I was even able to stop it at a couple points to punch up my DPS.

Approximately how much more game is left to be made? Feels like the halfway point. You may want to reduce the AP rewards in the full version or increase the cost of tier III and IV abilities - I feel I was too far along the skill trees for being halfway through the game, unless the final branches of the skill trees require way more AP to develop. Definitely a 4/5. A bit too easy, straightforward and talky for my tastes, but the equipment and class systems are delicious. Some of the dialogue was pretty flavorful too. Towns were nice and lively, and I enjoyed the short stealth section early in the game.

Edit: Apparently there were supposed to be sunstroke and sandstorm mechanics in the desert, but I never encountered them. I just kept going south-ish until I reached the ruins. Was that intentional?
author=Deckiller
Story has some nice intrigue, though it hasn't quite gripped me yet (I have a feeling it's about to). Same with the characters. The dialogue is well written and there are some nice NPC quips, though it hasn't fully immersed me yet.

This is a direct result of how the game was cobbled together. It was originally going to be a much larger project, but I trimmed it back after many years of sitting on a shelf because I realized it was simply too much work for me to possibly accomplish on my own. As a result, the story got pared down quite a lot, and some of the dialogue ended up being a little big long or clunky in spots as I tried to wrap up ends that would otherwise been left loose.

author=Deckiller
Mapping is very solid, though some of the areas (mostly the caves and towns) do get kinda samey in their look and feel. The beach area is the MVP so far. Great mix of grays and browns. Nice use of staggered elevations as well. The towns are sprawling and certainly evoke some of that FF6 feel.

I had other cave graphics planned, but again, reducing the scope of the project meant fewer tilesets, allowing me to craft new maps more speedily (since I was very used to the tiles). Some of the caves, especially, were inserted to combine otherwise disassociated areas into a coherent world.

author=Deckiller
The opening areas feel like an MMO starting zone, complete with NPC errands and all that jazz. Thankfully it only lasted like 30-40 minutes before I got to sink my teeth into the systems.

It's amazing how much of this still shines through, but when I started the project so, so long ago the aim was to be similar to an Elder Scrolls game (complete with an open world). That idea was quickly abandoned, but it still exists in the initial areas. I thought it was very funny that you picked up on this so easily!

author=Deckiller
The gameplay, while extremely easy, is interesting enough to keep me playing.

To be fair, you did have a pretty strong understanding of the systems! The game definitely errs to the too easy side, though. It's actually less easy than it was for the testers, but balancing can be a real tight rope, and I'd rather there be a net below me if I fall off.

author=Deckiller
I wasn't a big fan of having to hunt down specific NPCs to sell items, especially since money is rather tight.

Initially only Giovanni would buy items, since I had a "dynamic shop" feature planned for him where he'd sell better items as you sold him more of your junk. Very late in the project I realized that he wasn't available for long stretches of the game, so I added emergency buyers. I wanted the player to be short on cash, though, so I'm OK with this.

author=Deckiller
The skill trees are fun and the main reason why I'm still playing. There are a ton of toys to play with here. AP becomes abundant after the first couple of areas, especially once enemies start granting 2 per kill.

I LOVE skill trees. Honestly, even a mediocre skill tree can make a game more fun than it has any right to be. It was a lot of work to get up and running, but I really think it was worth it. I have devalued the AP totals numerous times, but it's a bitch to go through the battle event pages to tweak the balancing.

author=Deckiller
this game is extremely easy so far.

I really wanted people to have ample access to the skills, since the replayability can come from other classes/characters/combos. Your exploration and the synergies you employed have made things much easier for you, but it's not particularly hard even without that. Like I said earlier, balancing is tricky, though I definitely veered toward the too-easy side. It's especially tricky in an engine where you don't have detailed access to how damage is formulated nor terribly much control over it. Besides, it's my experience in RM* games that I'm much more likely to stick with the ones where I can smash through enemies than the ones where I almost die every encounter. I have to admit, I'm mostly in it for the exploration.

author=Deckiller
Masterful stratagems

I would say the power of your party stems more from your ability to utilize skills in tandem with one another than the party itself. I really didn't want any character to feel worse than the others, so they should all have options to work well in a team if their strengths and weaknesses are balanced. For instance, Siegfried is extremely powerful, but struggles against clumps of undead enemies, since a lot of his skills are just downright useless against them. Playing to elemental strengths also makes the game quite easy, but I wanted to reward players for playing smart, and you're playing very smart.

author=Deckiller
There seems to be a particularly strong AP grinding spot that I was tempted to use: the jellyfishes. You almost always encounter 5 of them on the beach cave map, and they can be one-shotted with Death Wave III. I haven't really capitalized on this, but it would be an easy 10 AP per fight. I could see someone maxing out the skill trees in less than an hour.

This is probably too good a grinding spot, but honestly, I don't mind so much. All of my favourite games have one or two spots that are simply superior to others for players who really want to go to town on the game's systems. I'm OK in that company.

author=Deckiller
Once I mastered the heal song, I had to go into the editor and fix the Aria IV state. It was only regenerating 1 HP per turn, so I set it to +17 HP. (It probably should've been set to +16 HP, since the skill gains +3 HP per level, but I wanted the extra point for mastering the skill :P)

I will check this out and include it in the next patch.

author=Deckiller
Really nice use of symbols in the menus to communicate the intricacies of the equipment system. Love the system graphics as well.

Those are around 50% custom, 40% edited glyphs. I love glyphs. I love making them and using them. I'm glad you noticed!

author=Deckiller
The level design is very basic, and it's clear that you're mostly trying to get by on the high quality of the mapping. I just like more engaging dungeons, tbh, so I get a little nitpicky about 'em these days. Maybe it's the Zelda fan in me. I did like the barrel/crate pushing in the warehouses though.

Yeah, I would definitely agree that the dungeons are just places to walk through. My focus is and always will be on exploration, and although I agree that more interactivity is needed, I doubt it will ever be a strength of mine. I don't feel like Zelda-esque dungeons would have been appropriate here, but I'd like to move closer to a happy middle ground in the future.

author=Deckiller
Cutscenes improved toward the end - the approach to the castle was nice and cinematic, as was the final cutscene. The deaths seemed a little nonchalant, though.

The ending section was the most recent thing I made, and I made it entirely in the last days of the project. Everything else had some element of the older project in it (some more than others). It is more indicative of my current RM* abilities, since I wanted to flex a bit to show off what I've learned since the old days.

I know it's a bit of a cop-out, but the deaths in question were meant to be a bit nonchalant. The one responsible holds quite a callous opinion of life, and one soul is the same as another. The fallout from the scene will be explored in more depth, and with more weight, in the future, I hope.

author=Deckiller
The final two bosses suffered from pretty big HP inflation - more than double the previous boss. Indeed, each of these bosses was as long as all the previous bosses combined. I think the HP totals of the rat, crab, and mine bosses could've been increased by 50 percent. The optional boss had just the right amount of HP and overall fight length, but it didn't really hit hard. My Aria was able to heal through everything effortlessly and I was even able to stop it at a couple points to punch up my DPS.

I doubt there will be major balancing changes in the future, even though I agree with you to a large extent. Maybe in the Second Verse.

author=Deckiller
Approximately how much more game is left to be made?

As it stands, none. I'll be working on other things for the forseeable future. Treat this more like the first chapter in a duology, one that ends on a cliffhanger. This project used all of the material I had made in the past, and then some. Anything else I make will be completely new, and major balancing changes will be needed in the future to keep the balance curve at least someone accurate. As the game expands in size the required maintenance (in terms of balancing and bug fixing) grows exponentially, and for the time being I have dedicated as much time to this project as I can spare. I do have plans to revisit it in the future though, and have figured out how to bypass some of the hurdles that were blocking future progress already, so we'll see.

author=Deckiller
Definitely a 4/5. A bit too easy, straightforward and talky for my tastes, but the equipment and class systems are delicious. Some of the dialogue was pretty flavorful too. Towns were nice and lively, and I enjoyed the short stealth section early in the game.

I have no arguments with this! Perhaps you could aggregate your findings into a review and help the game get recognition? *whistles innocently*

Either way, I greatly appreciate your in-depth feedback. It definitely helps to know how other people think and feel about a project that I've been so close to for so long.


author=Deckiller
Edit: Apparently there were supposed to be sunstroke and sandstorm mechanics in the desert, but I never encountered them. I just kept going south-ish until I reached the ruins. Was that intentional?

Sunstroke is inflicted randomly. Leonov has 50% chance of being inflicted with it (if he is chosen as the target by the invisible hand of the event), and a zero percent chance if he has mastered Suntouch. Since the calculation randomly selects someone (or no one) to inflict it with, you just got lucky that you didn't get it. There is something other than the ruins in the desert to find, and most people get lost (which raises their chance to get it quite a bit!). It's also cured if you step in to the caves or ruins (or the other thing in the desert). The sandstorms are an edge-protection mechanic. Since you can exit a map from any side you can access, I needed some way of hemming in the desert that wasn't just cliffs (which the game has enough of, already).
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Thanks for the in-depth replies - definitely looking forward to what you're gonna cook up next!

edit: Been on a 2k3 nostalgia binge the last couple days to try and spark my motivation again. I played this, Balmung, and Villnoire. I think it's my favorite of the three, on the whole, but all three are enjoyable in their own ways.
I have to say - after a full play-through of this, I want to say that this is a well paced game for repeat runs. I'm currently on a second run, using different characters, and other than the occasional hiccup here and there (there's a section in a cave sometime before or after the pirates where you can bypass the cliffs and walk on the sand, and the game begins to lag cuz of it - also during Khalid's opening, sometimes his name will change to that of the old soldier guys. No clue why.)

Once I've run through it and see what each character has to offer, I'll be coming back for a full review :) I'm stoked to see what the second verse and onward will be like.
author=Punk_Kricket
I have to say - after a full play-through of this, I want to say that this is a well paced game for repeat runs.

I'm very glad to hear this! I wanted to give lots of options to players, more than they could see in one playthrough, so I'm glad you find it worthwhile to play through again.

author=Punk_Kricket
There's a section in a cave sometime before or after the pirates where you can bypass the cliffs and walk on the sand, and the game begins to lag cuz of it

I'll try to track this down and fix it- if you discover exactly the spot, let me know. The lag could be a result of the caterpillar system freaking out but I'm not sure about that.

author=Punk_Kricket
Also during Khalid's opening, sometimes his name will change to that of the old soldier guys. No clue why.

I've run into this bug, too, but I can't figure out what's causing the name to change. I swear, I have all the names set correctly, but it still occurs sometimes near the start. It happened to me once (just once) in all my Leonov test runs. It'll remain a mystery, for now.

author=Punk_Kricket
Once I've run through it and see what each character has to offer, I'll be coming back for a full review

I'm looking forward to it!

author=Punk_Kricket
I'm stoked to see what the second verse and onward will be like.

That'll be awhile, but I do intend to come back to this at some point in the future! Just don't ask me when.
I haven't started playing, but it looks good.
author=Kaempfer
author=Punk_Kricket
I have to say - after a full play-through of this, I want to say that this is a well paced game for repeat runs.
I'm very glad to hear this! I wanted to give lots of options to players, more than they could see in one playthrough, so I'm glad you find it worthwhile to play through again.

author=Punk_Kricket
There's a section in a cave sometime before or after the pirates where you can bypass the cliffs and walk on the sand, and the game begins to lag cuz of it

I'll try to track this down and fix it- if you discover exactly the spot, let me know. The lag could be a result of the caterpillar system freaking out but I'm not sure about that.

author=Punk_Kricket
Also during Khalid's opening, sometimes his name will change to that of the old soldier guys. No clue why.

I've run into this bug, too, but I can't figure out what's causing the name to change. I swear, I have all the names set correctly, but it still occurs sometimes near the start. It happened to me once (just once) in all my Leonov test runs. It'll remain a mystery, for now.

author=Punk_Kricket
Once I've run through it and see what each character has to offer, I'll be coming back for a full review

I'm looking forward to it!

author=Punk_Kricket
I'm stoked to see what the second verse and onward will be like.

That'll be awhile, but I do intend to come back to this at some point in the future! Just don't ask me when.


No worries <3 I'm just enjoying what you've made and am super patient for more ^_^
author=Ulevo
I haven't started playing, but it looks good.

Let me know what you think once you've delved in!

@Punk_Kricket:
Patience is a very good thing, heh heh
Haven't gotten too far, but really happy you got around to releasing this.
This has my vote. I really liked the intro.
Also, this was really cool:

The only other game I've seen do something like this was in Origin in 2007,
and that was like, more than 10 years ago.

The reviews here sound promising.
If I get further in this, I'll post my thoughts.
I'm just really happy this got released!
Ahh, what an incredible gif. I can't resist a perfect loop, I just keep watching it over and over!

I hope you get a chance to play it! It's only like five hours long. Let me know if you do!
Kaempfer, downloaded this bad boy. Currently just had the meeting with the Barron. So far so good. I'm taking notes haha. Pretty cool take on the sieken densetsu character select screen. Well done on character animations, subtle but effective. It'll take me some time to complete but I'll get there. Well done. If I choose a different character does the game change a bunch or is it pretty much a charaset swap?
An old pal of mine did the base animations for the character select screen, I just spruced them up a bit. It's a bit basic, but I like the way it turned out.

author=dreadpirate
If I choose a different character does the game change a bunch or is it pretty much a charaset swap?


Each character has a unique opening, and there is a bit of unique text further down the road. Also, each character has their own skill tree, so gameplay will be changed quite a bit by who you chose in your party.
author=koloniarious
hot damn, this is very good.

Nice! I'm glad you think so. I will accept any and all praise.
I've only played like, a handful of rpgmaker games that use Romancing Saga 3 sprites, but I gotta say the mapping here is really good! There's a clear yet distinct direction of where to go, while also being characteristic - worn out paths will fade only to show up again and carefully following them will often lead to treasure or hidden areas - this is very hard thing to pull off right, but it's done extremely well here. Very very cool.