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While the original games stand on their own, the Trilogy Collection Editions can be seen as remakes that expand upon the worlds and plots of the originals. The upgraded 1.3 editions will be entirely new editions built specifically to the satisfaction of the players, rather than the developer. These brand new editions will offer deeper gameplay experiences and will formulate a more coherent narrative throughout the millenium long tale. The plots of these new editions will also be closer to the novels (written by Sbester's new EL partner, Amerk). If you're looking for a longer, deeper, fuller experience than the originals had to offer, look no further than this all encompassing package! Here's what you'll find:

Eden Legacy 1.3
-improved world map
-battles available on the worldmap (for training/grinding purposes)
-NPCs will be more instructional than annoying
-all houses will be accessible (and probably scaled down)
-more quests and side quests, with more variety and less battling
-improved battle dialogue
-monster graphics
-(Edit) skills book is causing more problems than solving. On hold til v.1.4.
-better rewards for dungeons
-a couple new music tracks will likely be added, and I'll use EL2's music switching system
-actual enemy base camps. No more gay ass battle after battle, but real exploration instead!
-A more coherent narrative.
-Features from the original Deluxe Edition have been added and updated!

Eden Legacy II (v. 1.25)
-improved world map
-expanded main quest
-new side quests
-improved dungeons, complete with new layouts
-A more coherent narrative with new characters and subplots
-added music tracks
-new cutscenes will be added for all secondary characters
-a special DELUXE EDITION area will be added- includes director's cut and previews

Eden Legacy III (v. 1.25)
-updated battle mechanics and animations.
-improved world map
-expanded main quest
-new side quests
-A more coherent narrative with new characters and subplots
-added music tracks
-new cutscenes will be added for all secondary characters
-a special DELUXE EDITION area will be added- includes director's cut and previews.
-also planning something very special to end this build. VERY worth your time.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
The original (or classic) versions are the games I wanted to make, through and through. Many people, however, felt that they seemed somehow unfinished and that I made some poor choices along the way. In response to these criticisms, the x.3 upgrades are being built. These games will NOT stop at versions 1.3, but will be updated regularly on a yearly basis based on feedback from the RM community. In other words, the expansions will know no bounds. It is my hope that one day, the world maps for each game will be entirely filled, and they will stand out distinctly from the original versions.

The advantage of being indie developers is that we don't have to stop once we're finished!

Latest Blog

Series Master! Part 9 – Eden Legacy with Sbester

Welcome to the ninth issue of Series Master!

Hopefully this article isn’t seen as a shameless plug for my own series of games, but rather as a sort of guide to creating a series using my own personal experiences. Anyways, for this special edition, I’m going to delve into my Eden Legacy series and attempt to share insights into how I went about making a full trilogy of games, and what I learned from the experience. Rather than an interview this time, I’ve arranged my thoughts in a similar way to how the previous issues played out.


*********************************************************************************************************************************
Origins
The origins of EL can be traced back to an old FF1 hack I was working on a few years ago. It was to be in black and white, and the story was to be just as minimalistic as FF1 was. In short, I got bored and gave up. From there, I had the idea to redo the whole thing as an RM project, and I went about gathering resources and pondering the leveling system. It was pretty much always my plan to make it the first part of a whole series of games, each one visiting a different era of JRPGs. I believe that the level system, combined with the energy conservation system, were the reasons I was able to keep going strong with the series throughout the next two games.


Image from Eden Legacy 1.

Evolution
The first game had a very minimalistic approach to everything, especially in the graphics department, while the 2nd and 3rd entries focused on the early and later stages of the NES era. And of course, I wanted to have the systems and customization options evolve from game to game, which included additional party members and improved skill choices.

If I could say anything about this, it’s that if you are indeed intending to make a sequel to one of your games, it needs to FEEL like a sequel. It needs to have more of all the things that made the first one stand out, both to you and your players. It needs to LOOK like a sequel, meaning you need to pay special attention to graphical refinement and map design. And finally, it needs to advance the story. Even if the story is not related to the earlier game (like the FF games), the story needs to be a deeper experience. If you can’t surpass the first game in some way, shape, or form, you’ve already failed in your experiment.


Images from Eden Legacy II.

Difficulties
Well, self-imposed time constraints were the biggest problem for me. Each game was made in a 4 month time period, which is a hard feet to manage if you’re making a 7-15 hour long experience each time (which I did anyway). Luckily for me, I was doing my Masters degree at the time, which gave me ample opportunity to work on these over the year. If I wasn’t writing essays or sleeping through a boring lecture, I was working on the EL trilogy.

I set these time constraints because I need deadlines, like really badly. It’s how I get my shit done. To me, these were no different than a school project, I had a goal, and I needed to use my time as wisely as possible. I also needed to find ways to reinvent the games each time, which wasn’t all that difficult because I believe I had all the necessary components already in place after the first game.


Images from Eden Legacy DELUXE Edition.

Success
Was the series a success? Well, it’s hard to say. I knew before releasing the first game that I was targeting a very small group of players with such minimalistic games, and as expected, it’s only garnered a few loyal followers over time. There was also the fact that the detractors were far more vocal at the time of the first game’s release… that kinda hurt my pride, and I’m still at a loss as to how hard some people were on the game. Basically, there were a lot of people who were disappointed because the first game didn’t meet their expectations of how it “could” or “should” have been, and I guess a lot of people looked at the world map and decided it was going to be the next Hero’s Realm, which is not at all what I was aiming for.

However, there were a few passionate fans along the way as well. I got some more than flattering reviews, met some helpful commentators, and received some very rewarding emails from players over at RRR. I tend to measure my successes by the following few points:
- I gained a small following of shy but loyal fans.
- I met a friend (amerk) who is now heavily involved in all my games. He is my main game tester now, is nearing the end of his own Eden Legacy novelization, and is also a creator for EL4 (and will be with all future EL games as well).
- I love these games, and have learned a whole lot about game making as a result of them.
- I was able to prove I could finish the games I started, which is not something I take lightly.



Screens from Eden Legacy III.

Advice
Yes, I have some very important advice that I would like to share with all aspiring game creators. And yes, these are all things I learned while working on the EL trilogy. In no particular order:
- Set deadlines for yourself and STICK TO THEM.
- Have AT LEAST one unique element of your game that stands out from all others. Expand on it for the sequel(s).
- Don’t take criticism too hard, and try to prove the naysayers wrong in the end.
- Don’t make any promises you can’t keep.
- Start small, expand from there. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.


Future
EL4 is still slowly moving along. Amerk and I are both busy with other things, but it will see the light of day and I never intend on abandoning it. In fact, it is still my hope that the series will go on for as long as RM games are being featured around the net. I’m also fixing up EL2 and EL3 for the updated trilogy editions, so fans can look forward to those as well… someday.


Images from the upcoming Eden Legacy IV.

Final Thoughts
If you can’t push yourself to finish the game you started, it wasn’t worth doing in the first place. If you do finish it, then it probably was. I’m proud of these games, for all that they are, and all their faults as well. If you can’t learn to do that with your own game, you won’t be able to see anything through to the end, and that’ll play the biggest part in determining whether or not you are committed enough to create a series out of it.

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I hope this helps someone out there!
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Posts

Pages: 1
You should try and upload the Novel into a PDF so I can read it on my touch pad. :B
We definitely will as soon as it's finished. Add some pics and stuff to make it a bit visually appealing.

I'm not sure how long he's going to make it though. He was originally planning for a 10 chapter novella but it's looking like it'll be longer now. I think he's almost done the 9th chapter now, so he'll probably be able to give a good estimate soon.
The way I see it, it will probably have anywhere from 15-20 chapters. I wanted to have them all done for each game, and I still plan on it, but it will probably take longer than I expected, especially with working on EL4's game. I think I've already broken the 200 page mark (double spaced).
Amerk updated the walkthrough for the 1.3 version of the game. Still another beta tester working on this one, and I'm fixing some bugs and dialogue, so I can't release the game yet til we're done. The walkthrough is there though for anyone who wants a sort of preview.
Episode 8 of the EL1 novel has been posted.
UPDATES:

Too short for a blog post, but here it is. Episode 9 has been posted.
I tweaked the walkthrough in the game's folder, haven't touched it here though. Will when not lazy.
I'm going to add images of the new areas very soon. Most will be from the 2nd and 3rd game.
(edit) Also, game page is finally finished!
Ep.10 posted!

Not exactly sure how many more are left, but I'm sitting on ep.11 for next week and Amerk says 12 is quickly on its way!
I've never heard of these games before, but they sound interesting. I'll give these a download sometime.
Only the first game is available so far on this page, but the older versions of the sequels can be found on this site. Their new versions will be finished in the coming months.
I'll get the first one and wait for the sequels to be remade. Unless the first one ends on a cliffhanger that is resolved in the sequel, in which case I'll get the older version of the sequel.
UPDATE: Finally added episode 12 (the lateness is my fault, not Amerk's). The errors on the novel page have been fixed and it now allows for comments.

:)



5/31/2011
Ep 13 added!
Episode 13 has been posted, ep 15 will be up in the next few days.

I'm going to repost the download for EL1 this month, as well as finally releasing the new EL2 version. Sorry it has been taking so long, Fragile Hearts has taken up most of my time over the last few months.
*subs*
Looks really cool, I played through the previous parts, I'd love to see what new areas have been added in!
author=sbester on 04/24/2011
Their new versions will be finished in the coming months.


author=sbester
Advice
- Don’t make any promises you can’t keep.


;P

so there's only 1 game updated and in color available atm?
lol and that is exactly where I learned that lesson :P

I'm still waiting to hear further problems with getting the first one started though, and that has kinda stunted progress on the other two atm. I suppose EL2's update is pretty much ready though...
Please include the RTP in your games, I can't play any of these because despite having the RTP myself, it refuses to acknowledge that I have it, I even tried a manual drop.

IF you want people to be able to play this, you need to include the RTP.
Pages: 1