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Aetherion is a roleplaying game created in one month for the 2011 RMN Summer Games Competition. The contest’s theme was Surrealism.
What is it about?
The world of Aetherion is a strange place where dreams and reality are closely intertwined. The world is periodically threatened by Raythe, bizarre otherworldly entities that prey upon humanity’s weaknesses and fears. To protect the world from the threat of Raythe, the ARC Institute was founded, to study and protect against the Aether, the mysterious realm from which Raythe originate.
Take on the role of Edan, a new initiate at the ARC Institute, as he learns the secrets of the Aether and takes up his mission to protect the world from the looming nightmares that threaten it.
Credits
Giving credit where it's due:
1. Rei-: for some awesome music!
2. heisenman: VX Tileset edits
3. Whitecat: Extra icons
What is it about?
The world of Aetherion is a strange place where dreams and reality are closely intertwined. The world is periodically threatened by Raythe, bizarre otherworldly entities that prey upon humanity’s weaknesses and fears. To protect the world from the threat of Raythe, the ARC Institute was founded, to study and protect against the Aether, the mysterious realm from which Raythe originate.
Take on the role of Edan, a new initiate at the ARC Institute, as he learns the secrets of the Aether and takes up his mission to protect the world from the looming nightmares that threaten it.
Credits
Giving credit where it's due:
1. Rei-: for some awesome music!
2. heisenman: VX Tileset edits
3. Whitecat: Extra icons
Latest Blog
Dimensions of 2 or 3?
Anaryu
25 post(s) 
- 02/23/2014 05:46 AM
- 12211 views
This is a question we've long been pondering, and we've done a prototyping on both sides of the spectrum.
I want to ditch RPG Maker because of resolution limitations more than anything else.
Krisanna (artist) wants to ditch it because she's not good at spriting; environments in particular.
So we started working in 3D, and we've gone through a lot of tests, iterations, and prototype games (BoutallesTogether, Death Wish, even Ginger) to make stronger and better tools and learn our limitations, capabilities, and tools.
After several iterations we came up a 3D model design we liked and built it so it animates well:
So why 3D for a hobby game? Because we don't want to keep it a hobby game. I'd like to Kickstart and eventually sell the project.
While I enjoy making games and can do it in my spare time for fun, for Krisanna this is work - and as such is mentally exhausting.
So we need to either making money on some of these projects or she has to get a part-time job to help deal with the medical bills and costs of finding a residence in the city we moved to for my job.
The best solution to us seemed to be to do a commercial project. An unpleasant decision for me.
Trying to Kickstart or sell an RPG Maker game just felt... childish? Inappropriate? But I've seen a lot of successful people using it - people who aren't making junk games (though there are plenty of those.) So maybe keeping it 2D and in RM is a possibility?
So the questions we're pondering and would like some input on:
1. Do you think RM is okay to use and go commercial with?
1. Should we go with 2D or 3D?
I want to ditch RPG Maker because of resolution limitations more than anything else.
Krisanna (artist) wants to ditch it because she's not good at spriting; environments in particular.
So we started working in 3D, and we've gone through a lot of tests, iterations, and prototype games (BoutallesTogether, Death Wish, even Ginger) to make stronger and better tools and learn our limitations, capabilities, and tools.
After several iterations we came up a 3D model design we liked and built it so it animates well:
So why 3D for a hobby game? Because we don't want to keep it a hobby game. I'd like to Kickstart and eventually sell the project.
While I enjoy making games and can do it in my spare time for fun, for Krisanna this is work - and as such is mentally exhausting.
So we need to either making money on some of these projects or she has to get a part-time job to help deal with the medical bills and costs of finding a residence in the city we moved to for my job.
The best solution to us seemed to be to do a commercial project. An unpleasant decision for me.
Trying to Kickstart or sell an RPG Maker game just felt... childish? Inappropriate? But I've seen a lot of successful people using it - people who aren't making junk games (though there are plenty of those.) So maybe keeping it 2D and in RM is a possibility?
So the questions we're pondering and would like some input on:
1. Do you think RM is okay to use and go commercial with?
1. Should we go with 2D or 3D?
RPG Maker VX
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Closeauthor=Fanatik007
Is it full game?
There's going to be expanded content later on, but it's playable in it's current format. Though, me saying that "It's playable" is something of an understatement!
Anaryu
8938
author=Marrendauthor=Fanatik007There's going to be expanded content later on, but it's playable in it's current format. Though, me saying that "It's playable" is something of an understatement!
Is it full game?
To expand a bit more, the next version isn't exactly the same although we're using a lot of the material - you'd feel it was basically the same for the most part.
We simplified some scenes and are balancing things out more, but the next 'version' will be the real start of the full game, this is a complete project for it's scope (think of like a one-shot to test the waters of this project viability.)
I love this game's battle system.
---edit---
It's quite obvious Avarice should be in the recommendations page.
---edit---
It's quite obvious Avarice should be in the recommendations page.
author=calunio
It's quite obvious Avarice should be in the recommendations page.
I don't believe in plugging your own games on the recommendation pages. This is entirely my own personal preference, but I have no plans to ever add Avarice.
Glad you like the game, though!
argh
792
This is incredible! Avarice was pretty good, but this game was sublime. The story is quite intriguing and I am eager for the next installments. I believe you said you were taking suggestions for the overhaul, so:
1. The battle system could use a "wait" option -- I often found things happening far too quickly, and even taking the time to select a different target than the default can be dangerous.
2. I noticed that it's impossible to go back from the final boss area once you reach it, so you can't level grind in case you get stuck, as I did.
3. The battle system was quite interesting, but I think there are too many skills and too few slots. I think it might be a good idea to perhaps allow two skills per level (or perhaps add a fourth power level) in later installments.
4. Balance issues! Some skill combinations are absolutely gamebreaking, some are nigh-useless, and it's difficult to tell this in advance. I only managed to beat the final boss after I realized how broken Blessing + Ray of Frost was.
5. Related to the above, it would be nice to have some detail in the skill descriptions as to their power and charge time.
Bugs:
1. It seems to be impossible to unequip accessories if there are none to switch with.
2. There isn't an exclamation point marker before the scene with the second boss.
Regardless, I loved it. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for the sequels, and may make a TV Tropes page later if I have time.
Edit: Oh, also, I was quite impressed with the extreme variety of the face portraits! Like the rest of the art, very well-done.
1. The battle system could use a "wait" option -- I often found things happening far too quickly, and even taking the time to select a different target than the default can be dangerous.
2. I noticed that it's impossible to go back from the final boss area once you reach it, so you can't level grind in case you get stuck, as I did.
3. The battle system was quite interesting, but I think there are too many skills and too few slots. I think it might be a good idea to perhaps allow two skills per level (or perhaps add a fourth power level) in later installments.
4. Balance issues! Some skill combinations are absolutely gamebreaking, some are nigh-useless, and it's difficult to tell this in advance. I only managed to beat the final boss after I realized how broken Blessing + Ray of Frost was.
5. Related to the above, it would be nice to have some detail in the skill descriptions as to their power and charge time.
Bugs:
1. It seems to be impossible to unequip accessories if there are none to switch with.
2. There isn't an exclamation point marker before the scene with the second boss.
Regardless, I loved it. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for the sequels, and may make a TV Tropes page later if I have time.
Edit: Oh, also, I was quite impressed with the extreme variety of the face portraits! Like the rest of the art, very well-done.
"Spirit stacking" (piling up tons of spirit buffs on one character) is very broken in this version of the game. It's really easy to do with Alaria due to Blessing, but any character can become absolutely lethal with enough spirit buffs. We're aware of this and scaling it back in the future.
We're also including better descriptions (including charge time). You aren't the first person to complain about wanting a wait option, either (I want one, too!)
We've kicked around ideas for a hypothetical "fourth level" skill, but it would work differently than the other three and would function more like a Limit Break.
Glad you like it, though!
We're also including better descriptions (including charge time). You aren't the first person to complain about wanting a wait option, either (I want one, too!)
We've kicked around ideas for a hypothetical "fourth level" skill, but it would work differently than the other three and would function more like a Limit Break.
Glad you like it, though!
argh
792
We've kicked around ideas for a hypothetical "fourth level" skill, but it would work differently than the other three and would function more like a Limit Break.
Aren't level 3 skills kind of like limit breaks already? Or perhaps you could give them a new functionality and give the "limit break" functionality to level 4 skills...hm. (There aren't a whole lot more things you could do, but perhaps a skill that gives no energy points?)
Actually one of the ideas I had for it was for it to be tied to how many times you "Break" an opponent in a single battle. After succeeding at enough breaks, you'd gain access to one use of a super powerful technique. This is all still hypothetical though.
argh
792
By the way, seeing how you're using fire, air, and water as aspects, I assume earth is an aspect as well? And judging by the title, you may be using the fifth "ether" element as well... (Apologies for not spelling it correctly, I don't have the keyboard shortcut for the "ae" symbol memorized.)
Edit: Oh yeah, a suggestion I forgot to mention: have you considered learning skills in a way other than through level ups? It works for now, but it is rather generic, and it would be nice to see a more unique mechanic, especially considering how important the different skills are.
Edit: Oh yeah, a suggestion I forgot to mention: have you considered learning skills in a way other than through level ups? It works for now, but it is rather generic, and it would be nice to see a more unique mechanic, especially considering how important the different skills are.
Anaryu
8938
author=argh
By the way, seeing how you're using fire, air, and water as aspects, I assume earth is an aspect as well? And judging by the title, you may be using the fifth "ether" element as well... (Apologies for not spelling it correctly, I don't have the keyboard shortcut for the "ae" symbol memorized.)
Thanks for the feedback so far, it's all being put to good use!
"Earth" is the fourth and final 'primary' you'll see characters belonging too, and we've only seen it once so far (with the punk boss in the intro.)
It would probably be best to think of the aspects as a big circle, with each primary at one of north/south/east/west points, and a person can exist as a point within that circle. Most people will only be able to slightly deviate from their aspect, but you're sure to meet the odd-balls who might have really odd aspects like "Gravity" (earth and fire) or "Light" (fire and wind,) etc.
Aether/ether is a unique type that no one relates to directly; how it fits into the world will be explored later, but it ties heavily into the Aether itself of course!
argh
792
You have obtained a TV Tropes page! Have fun. I know my description probably isn't the greatest, so people are free to change it if they want to.
By the way, do you want me to request a custom title to make the page "Ætherion", or do you want to keep it as just "Aetherion"?
By the way, do you want me to request a custom title to make the page "Ætherion", or do you want to keep it as just "Aetherion"?
Anaryu
8938
Thank you, certainly didn't expect that!
"Aetherion" is fine - using that special character would be too annoying to keep consistent. : )
"Aetherion" is fine - using that special character would be too annoying to keep consistent. : )
i just beat this game/demo and i have to tell you from that first battle i was hooked.
listen i know this game is fairly new but i was wondering if you could give an estimated time period in which i could expect a sequel?
oh and one last ramndom question... i noticed some striking similarities between this and a game call enchanted arms for the xbox 360 and i was curious if you may have been inspired by that game
listen i know this game is fairly new but i was wondering if you could give an estimated time period in which i could expect a sequel?
oh and one last ramndom question... i noticed some striking similarities between this and a game call enchanted arms for the xbox 360 and i was curious if you may have been inspired by that game
sorry for the double post, but light element and dark element would fit this game sooo well..... that and i think you guys could make darkness attacks look so freaking awesome
Reviewed here at about four minutes in: http://irishpodcastnetwork.podbean.com/2011/12/21/episode-22-it%E2%80%99s-pronounced-%E2%80%9Cram%E2%80%9D/
