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Latest Release
0.1.7 - Sept 22, 2022

Synopsis
Join Amalia, a tracker from the simple orphan colony of Tulron, as she discovers the veiled world of Alcuria in search of her friends.

Links
website
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Legacy Synopsis
In Starless Umbra, you play as Andoru in a quest to attempt to return home to save your sister after bandits raid your village. This simple task complicates itself quickly, as a strange phenomenon leaves you not only away from your village, but with little direction in a completely new continent.

As you travel, you'll learn the people around you aren't what they seem, and ties begin forming between yourself and others as your past is revealed. Unfortunately, no one can answer the simple question: "how do I get back home to save my sister?"

Latest Blog

Progress Check-In

Hello! Things are moving. I've been staring at a blog draft since November. Some noteworthy things have happened since the last demo, but any time I have to write I typically spend working on the project. From here on I'll focus on more bite-sized updates, mostly for accountability and keeping you up to speed on the game progress.



I got a lot of great feedback from the demo. Thanks a bunch! Feature-wise it's not quite where I want, but it's a good starting point. I don't want to dump features for the sake of features anymore, but I do think more variety around character progression/customization, enemies, and things to do in battle might go a long way. Details to come on those features down the road, once they're a bit more solidified.

Feedback, thank you!

Speaking of demos, the demo release picked up some attention around the internet. Here on RMN I was pleased to hear I won The kentona Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence. This is extra special to me because the 2k3 version has been nominated in the Misaos a few times, but its never formally won anything. In the Gamemaker community, SU was selected for "Best Puzzles" in a GXC Community Showcase event. Lastly, I started a twitter account specifically for game updates, and the rebuilt swimming & diving system gained a bit of traction.



Updates

So what's new since the last demo? For the sake of organization, I've broken the game down into 5 rough acts. The July demo consists of a rough Act 1. Act 2 will triple the length of the game by adding 4 more dungeons, a new village hub area, and plenty more minigames/puzzles. Drafts of the core cutscenes are all written, with about 40% of them actually implemented. The first two dungeons are mapped out with two of my favorite mechanics from the 2k3 version making a return. I'm currently tackling dungeon 3 as I continue to implement more scenes.

At a high-level, that leaves more cutscenes, two more dungeons, a whole slew of monsters to sprite and implement, a new gameplay feature, some minigames, and tons of balancing left. I'm bad at giving dates but if I can finish this by the end of summer I'll say I'm at a good pace. We'll see, though. Please cheer for me.

Thanks so much for reading. Take care!

Key Stats
99 Maps
333kb Database (skills, cutscenes, player data, etc in plaintext)
  • Production
  • 1 of 5 episodes complete
  • Commercial
  • dragonheartman
  • GameMaker Studio 2
  • Action RPG
  • 02/20/2008 08:51 PM
  • 12/06/2022 11:30 PM
  • 01/01/2030
  • 871791
  • 351
  • 17635

Posts

Tau
RMN sex symbol
3278
Everyone has to play this game, NOW! seriously great work, should have gotten a Misao haha.
Yes, the game seems good from what i've seen and looks massive. I will try this out soon.
my font isn't right.The font fix files dont work.What to do?
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2962
Noo don't play this game. Wait for chapter five. haw haw <3
I've been hearing about this.. nice job dude.
I went to check its homepage, this game is not available for download yet, unless you want to beta-test it.
And to be 'allowed' to beta test, there is this ludicrous requirement:
----------------------------------quote------------------------------------------------
Important! In order to download the beta, you need to be logged in and have at least 30 points. Remember, it's +1 point for a reply and +5 points for a topic.
---------------------------------unquote-----------------------------------------------

That is posting on that game's own forum.
Well, I have better things to do than posting on a forum just to be allowed to beta-test... so I move on to next game.
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2962
Fafhred, the reason that is put into effect is because I only need two, maybe three testers. There are a lot of bugs as it is and there's no reason for me to hear the same bug feedback from testers to testers. Once it is ready (which it is absolutely not at the moment) there will be no posting requirements. In addition, I will make an effort to actually promote it. But for now I have been limiting the amount of traffic my game gets because I want people to play something that's good and ready--not something that has so many bugs. x]
Tau
RMN sex symbol
3278
Check the Misaos man you got a nomination!
PM me when you have a download ready.
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363
I just played this again real quick. The whole intro got changed from the last time I played!
I'm really glad this was featured.
Your admins and staffs are on the ball, with their thumb on the pulse of the community
Ciel
an aristocrat of rpgmaker culture
367
I downloaded this like a year ago but never got around to playing it. It looks very RM2K3! (Which is +++)
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2962
I'm very excited that this got featured! As if I wasn't motivated enough already to work on this I hope you guys enjoy it, because I am rapidly working on chapter seven. 8)
congratz on front page :D
everyone definitely need to play this game. it's epic.
Everyone so needs to download this!
(Including m-me... *click*)
Dude this map is very awesome, I've never got bored with with this game, with many kinds of unique features and mini games this is totally awesome!!! but I think I found a glitch, the house in the entrainment village, the one with 3 treasure chest with gems on it, if you get back and forth the house the treasure chest somewhat refills, so from that I can get unlimited money selling thos gems, but I know you can fix this easily, :) overall 9.9/10 for me!!!
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2962
ravenduran, thanks. It has been fixed. :]

I'll be updating the game soon.