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This was my fifth project overall and first to be canceled. I hit a massive roadblock in making the plot twist work. This was around the time that I stopped working on my own personal projects and focused instead on commission work as well as RMN activities.






The economically powerful land of Valera has enjoyed stability for centuries. War is a thing of the past, unless one considers capitalism a form of warfare. Scores are settled through mergers and acquisitions, not bloodbath—with one notable exception. Instead of militia, Valera uses small groups of trained mercenaries to eliminate any liabilities that surface. The metaphorical "invisible hand" is not as invisible as one would think.

One such mercenary camp is ruthlessly attacked by a mysterious force deemed the "Butcher of Valera." One of the top mercenaries, Julian, suffers great loss in the slaughter and will stop at nothing until the Butcher is silenced. Circumstances lead Julian to the doorstep of an old enemy: Kaufman, leader of one of the most powerful merchant syndicates in all of Arum. Julian assumes that Kaufman is out for his own revenge for what Julian did to one of his supply facilities in the past.

With a clear enemy in his sights, things don't get any easier for Julian. For during his call to vengeance, Julian is repeatedly jarred by lucid dreams involving cryptic instructions from a shapeless spirit. These dreams—and the subtle message they bring—will be the catalyst that changes everything for Julian.





Julian
Second-in-command of the Bergeron Force, a group of mercenaries, Julian has been suffering greatly due to a series of tragic events. His ability to compartmentalize his darker emotions has kept him focused on work without any problems. Although he is able to remain sharp and positive most of the time, he is prone to occasional bouts of anger—though not to the extent of his comrade, Sarah. He is 37 years old.

Sarah
A close ally of Julian and one of the few who can get under his skin without reprisal, Sarah is occasionally brash but intelligent enough to get the job done. Not as stoic as Julian, she tends to wear her emotions on her sleeve. Her skills as a martial artist surprise nobody given her personality. She is 28 years old.

Trey
One of the few foreigners in Bergeron Force, Trey hails from the land of Dermod, more than 1000 miles to the west of Valera. He is collected, curious, and analytical, providing sound advice only when necessary. He has developed proficiency in elemental abilities: a rare trait among mercenaries. He is 25 years old.

Justine
Justine is a supportive, yet misunderstood woman. She is worried about what others think of her, to the point where she is often treated with indifference. There is a degree of jealousy among all of the members of Bergeron Force, for many believe she gets special treatment as Bergeron's sister. She is often marginalized when her brother is not around, even though her skills as an archer and healer make her one of the most valuable members of the force. She has been thinking about leaving Bergeron Force for quite some time. She is 23 years old.

Bergeron
The founder of his band of mercenaries, Bergeron is a natural leader who is somewhat arrogant and instinctive. He counts on Julian and Trey as the voices of logic and reason—especially Trey. Despite his arrogance and boldness, he is prone to lapses of self confidence, which have placed a strain on his subordinates in the past. Little does everyone know that his personal struggles will soon come to a head. He is 29 years old.

Jaal
One of the victims of the "Butcher of Valera", Jaal becomes comatose after suffering a severe stab wound. He is a friend of Julian's, though they have grown somewhat distant since an earlier incident at one of Kaufman's secret vaults. He is 30 years old.

Kaufman
One of Bergeron Force's most frequent targets, Kaufman is a greedy and corrupt businessman, merchant, and manipulator. Hated by Julian due to the vault incident, though one would suspect that the feeling is mutual. He is 51 years old.

Aderna
Kaufman's second-in-command, Aderna is a hyper ambitious and sharp-minded woman from Thranik who is not afraid to speak her mind to her boss. She is 27 years old.




Valera is a turn-based RPG that uses elements of Yanfly's Gameplay Engine Ace. Regular battles are slightly more challenging and strategic than a typical RPG, and many bosses feature twists that require careful use of skills, elements, and status effects. The game emphasizes items: selling loot is the primary way of obtaining money, and the typical 'attack' command has been replaced with 'mug' to facilitate and encourage item acquisition. Most enemies have three items to steal; some of these items, such as the Gift Box and Money Bag, contain random rewards.

Each character has two skill subsets, as well as the 'Mug', 'Guard', and 'Use Item' options:

Julian: 'Cunning' (status-inflicting sword moves) and 'Impedimenta' (status/debuff magic)
Sarah: 'Martial Arts' (TP-based physical attacks) and 'Augmenta' (tanking/buff magic)
Trey: 'Swordplay' (various) and 'Elementa' (elemental magic).
Justine: 'Archery' (TBD) and 'Reficia' (healing magic).

There are three main dungeons in Valera: a mountain pass, an underground passage, and a watery tomb. In an attempt to streamline the game, most town interaction will occur on the world map. Field maps are completely explorable and feature a variety of puzzles, treasure chests, enemies, and NPCs. Completing an area in the final version will yield a special 'Care Package' based on a simple metric. Every opened treasure chest and defeated monster party will yield a point; vanquishing the boss under a certain number of turns will yield a ton of points. The more points collected, the better the care package.




Scripts by Yanfly - http://yanflychannel.wordpress.com/rmvxa/core-scripts/ace-core-engine/
"Impending Impact" and "Sentience" BGMs by Vengeance from the Sky: http://vengeancefromthesky.bandcamp.com/
Special thanks to Liberty and Namagomi for direct gameplay ideas.
Logo guidance from #pp...I'm a graphics noob

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Obviously this has been cancelled.

Let's be real here, since it's 2018 and all.

It was a cool story idea that I never fully executed due to taking on so many projects at the start of RPG Maker VX Ace's release (as well as 50-hour work weeks) 6 years later, might as well call a spade to spade: it was a way for me to mess around with VX Ace. A sample game that ran its course. Why hide the fact that it's not going anywhere?

I do like the story idea and I think I can use it as a subplot for a character in a larger RPG.

If anyone wants to know what the story was gonna be, just DM me.

I'll keep the download and gamepage up as a relic of the past.
  • Cancelled
  • Decky
  • YF
    Archeia_Nessiah
  • RPG Maker VX Ace
  • RPG
  • 12/06/2011 04:55 AM
  • 05/13/2022 04:21 PM
  • 01/28/2012
  • 173561
  • 53
  • 2075

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Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Thank you so much for your kind words and for that really cool take on the title screen! :D I'll definitely have to consider revisiting it. I try to make sure most of my games depart away from the traditional ATTACK/DEFEND/MAGIC system, but lately I've been doing a lot of quick jam games in 2k and that software isn't as robust as VX Ace.
Also, here's why I think you should try to continue this game!! I edited the default background graphic with your logo for the game (in a slight edit I made - using Georgia as the game's text).

I would like to see something kinda similar to this though. It felt less default ATTACK/DEFEND/MAGIC ish, had more nuances to the battles and skills did more than just one thing!! Yes!!
I know you canceled it but you should try to finish it, or at least make something similar to it. That picture is so cute too lol nice puppy :D
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Thanks for your kind words! I'm happy that you enjoyed the demo. It was a fun thing to work on.
This game is really good, and it was my first RPG Maker VX ace game I ever played. Shock! The atmosphere to this game is dark but it feels good, and it seems to use the RTP pretty well, the maps are good too. I give a 11/10 on this one. I'm tweaking the demo just for fun, such as the text, which I had changed to Times, kinda fits the feel of the game a bit better than that font that the Yanfly plugins use...
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Yeah, it was a rather up-and-down fall/early winter for me. Thanks for your feedback though :)
author=shayoko
i dont recommend this at all terrible game,which is even more unfortunate since nessia was part of it :(
3 years for a rtp demo that's so depressing :(


The iteration of the game you see here is everything by Deckiller. I was interested in his game and I wanted to help him finish the full thing so he added me in. I love Valera and I do wish it gets done. But Deckiller has been MIA due to health issues.
No, it should be tagged as what it is. Even if there's been no posts on a game page that doesn't mean the game isn't being worked on outside of RMN. And even then, who's to say it's on hiatus? Just because it's been a while...

Frankly, I thought the battles were pretty good and well balanced. They added a lot to the game. You even said a lot of effort had gone in to them so I can't see why you found them boring.

Saying that it's a terrible game and that you don't like because it's unfinished and not marked as on hiatus it is pretty damn silly.

We do not ever remove pages nor enforce people to change those details on their projects. That's up to the person who created the project. I hope you're not going around to pages and telling them this kind of stuff because it's not up to you to tell people what to do with their games. Do not start that shit up again. We already had a talk about this in the topic you started a while ago and the rules haven't changed - game pages stay as they are and the only time they are 'removed' are when the creators take them down or if they break a site rule in some way.

The sites rules state that people may put their games here and that as long as they're of a certain quality and don't break rules, they can stay here. The creator need never touch them again, if that's their wish. You don't have to like it but you don't need to expound on it every time you find a game that isn't marked the way you want or finished.

The fact of the matter is that this project was started for an event and the creator has since taken a break from game creation for a while. You don't know squat about peoples' lives or their reasons for not completing a game unless they tell you, so don't be so fast to hate on them for it. For all you know they might have died (which is the case for some games that are unfinished and callous comments about removing those games will probably see you the target of a lot of anger) or taken a break for work/health/life reasons that you know nothing about.

Hell, they might have put the game on the back-burner while they do something else - still working (or intending to) on it but not saying anything. They might have taken a break from that project while waiting to sharpen their skills up a bit more on another one, so as to make that project the best it can be. They might have decided to remake it from scratch. YOU DON'T KNOW.

And even if that person left a game unfinished because they no longer felt like they wanted to make it that doesn't mean you have the right to say stuff like "remove the page" and the like.

You don't like that it's incomplete or certain aspects of the game? Then say so, but don't be an ass about it and do not say that the game should be removed just because it's not what you want. Maybe you don't realise this, but games aren't made just for you to pass judgement on. You can give your opinion on them (without being a douche about it) but you do not get to say whether or not that game should exist or be on the site.

(I recommend you stay away from my game pages. You'll find only disappointment there.)
shayoko
We do not condone harassing other members by PM.
515
he should of put the game on hiatus lol....its 2015 now still a demo with lots of content missing from the game. and its been dam lose to a year since the last post even!

anyway
i was interested in the story for this the simple puzzles weren't to bad either
the battles tho were really boring. effort was put into them but i rather they just not have been included.
really upset when i see games just left unfinished like this worse when not marked as hiatus canceled or even remove the page!

i dont recommend this at all terrible game,which is even more unfortunate since nessia was part of it :(
3 years for a rtp demo that's so depressing :(
Best RTP game ever, hope you will finish it!
I subscribe.
author=Deckiller
Thanks for the comments! The key is to use the shadow tool :D


/facepalm

Thanks!
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Thanks for the comments! The key is to use the shadow tool :D
Figured part of it out... Hold SHIFT when placing field tiles.

Now only thing I have not figured out is the fading on the bottom of the wall tiles in the middle of the bottomless pit. :)
I am very impressed by your demo here. Can I bother you with a few questions?

I have been doing my best to reproduce the effect you managed to make for the pits in the Kaufman Maps, and I am stumped. A few things in particular are throwing me for a loop.

First: The way you seem to place wall tiles, on top of floor tiles without disturbing the floor tiles? In particular, where the bottomless pit meets with stone walls. Normally the floor reshapes no matter what I do. Is there some technique I am missing?

Second: The way you get the bottoms of the wall tiles to vanish into the bottomless pit, as though the darkness consumed them. I am left wondering whaHow?!?!

Third: The way you covered up the loose ends of the bottomless pit in the walls had me trying to place door tiles over, but that often left artifacts behind. Yours are smooth black.

Please share with me your magic! I beg you.
It's great that this game is in production again. It shows a lot of promise.
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
author=Crystalgate
I'm very impressed with the demo.

Julian and Sarah are very well written. Julian balances humor and seriousness so far flawlessly and seem rather intelligent (he's a genius by RPG protagonist standard). Sarah manages to be brash without coming of as dumb, pretty much as you described her. They have great interaction. Trey isn't so impressive, but so far it seems to be due to lack of spotlight.

The story jumped a bit and got confusing, so I have a hard time telling if it was any good. I can say though that the story intrigued me in many ways.

Battles are great. I can't remember any other JRPG where there was so much thought put into cannon fodder enemies. The characters also have well though trough skill sets.

I do however spot one danger to the balance, namely economy. As a rule, when the characters due to levels have doubled their HP and MP, their income has more than doubled. What this means is that healing items will become cheaper and cheaper. The easier it is to heal, the less valuable defensive skills, such as Julian's Impediments and Sarah's tanking moves, will be. You get into the problem present in over 90% of JRPGs where the best strategy is to just spam offensive moves and heal up afterwards. Also, if it becomes easier to replenish MP, the balance between MP and TP can fall apart. For example, Julian has both MP and TP based physical moves. If MP items becomes to cheap, he can just spam the MP based moves with impunity. Sarah on the other hand, relies on TP to deal good damage. She can easily fall behind.

Thanks a lot for the feedback! Yeah, economy is critical, and unless I do something it'll be a problem when the game is stretched out over a full 2-3 hours - usually I keep a static number of MP, and I might do that again for this game. Keeping MP static would also help keep TP/MP balanced, since they'd both have set numbers. I might have some accessories that either increase starting TP or total MP.
I'm very impressed with the demo.

Julian and Sarah are very well written. Julian balances humor and seriousness so far flawlessly and seem rather intelligent (he's a genius by RPG protagonist standard). Sarah manages to be brash without coming of as dumb, pretty much as you described her. They have great interaction. Trey isn't so impressive, but so far it seems to be due to lack of spotlight.

The story jumped a bit and got confusing, so I have a hard time telling if it was any good. I can say though that the story intrigued me in many ways.

Battles are great. I can't remember any other JRPG where there was so much thought put into cannon fodder enemies. The characters also have well though trough skill sets.

I do however spot one danger to the balance, namely economy. As a rule, when the characters due to levels have doubled their HP and MP, their income has more than doubled. What this means is that healing items will become cheaper and cheaper. The easier it is to heal, the less valuable defensive skills, such as Julian's Impediments and Sarah's tanking moves, will be. You get into the problem present in over 90% of JRPGs where the best strategy is to just spam offensive moves and heal up afterwards. Also, if it becomes easier to replenish MP, the balance between MP and TP can fall apart. For example, Julian has both MP and TP based physical moves. If MP items becomes to cheap, he can just spam the MP based moves with impunity. Sarah on the other hand, relies on TP to deal good damage. She can easily fall behind.
Played through 2.1.
I...
Hated it............NO, I loved it. There are a few errors here and there, but it's mostly pretty nice. I'll upload those videos when I get the time :)
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