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Sacred Earth: Memory is a visual novel that adopts certain aspects of RPGs seeking to throw off contemporary shackles of constraint given by the genre's predecessors. With useless fluff done away with, Sacred Earth: Memory seeks to provide an entertaining experience without the frustration present from standard RPG conventions.

Join Veili and Gunnar as they explore the labyrinthine tower that has suddenly appeared in their world. As they explore, they will meet friend and foe alike, and perhaps, they may just discover what it means for it to have appeared now...

Latest Blog

After five hundred years...

...I actually post something.

SEM has more or less been on the backburner for the last... two years? Amid a tumultuous changeover from RM2k3 to RMVXA, then getting hit with RMMV, THEN waiting for the water to settle only to find that RMMV was not going to be my holy grail of game making, legal RM2k3 still wasn't up to the less legit version's standards, and RMVXA stood in a weird place between...

Talk about a run on sentence.

Well, in any case, the end result was that I did a whole lot of waiting only to be disappointed. That, plus my motivation was at an all time low for the last two years, and I lost the same insane drive to create that I had back when this was just an RM2k3 project.

So now that the dust is settled and everything is all said and done, I'm deciding to move forward with prototyping the first 'Chapter' of the current plot outline of SEM, using RMVXA and Sacred Earth Promise's engine. This disappoints me on a deep level because SEP is not what I wanted SEM's base to be.

SEM was going to be deeper than that, but as it stands, RMVXA is getting older, and older, and eventually, I may find myself in the RM2k3 situation again. So rather than twiddle my thumbs, I'll just do what I can with what's there. Even if it's not to my dream specifications and the extra mechanics are missing.

That spiel out of the way, what HAVE I been doing anyway? Well, for now, just making sprites. Thankfully, I have a metric boatload of graphics from the years that SEM has been in the works, so all I really needed to do was polish those old sprites up to my current standard. This is what I have so far:

(Kinda impossible to see weapon trails against this BG, but heeeeey)

Most of the work is adding inbetweens, as the original sprites were pretty much just key frames. Especially in the case of Mir, whose original sprites had no transitions whatsoever. It was kind of bad, yet I was lazy and less skilled back then.

Anywho, the plan is to make all the materials I need for 'Chapter' 1, and then develop it. Once I'm finished and it's playable, I'll see how I feel about it in the end, and if it's worth going forward with. But at the very least, it's something to do to keep me busy.

I wish I knew how to program.

Posts

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- Actually the demo goes on for much longer than the first dungeon. What did you get a game over in? After the first boss, you should be continuing events.

The game over occurs after the party came back to town, finding researchers through out the town. Then some talks with Allie, then after some confirm buttons, it shows game over. I don't even understand... Oh, on the side note, Gunnar got knocked out in the first dungeon's boss, where they got the extra chunk of ore, not the I.D.E. one.
...That makes no sense at all. Did you download the latest build of the demo? Everyone else that played so far got through fine, and I didn't insert any game over clauses in the events.
That's odd. I did download the latest. Oh well, I've stopped playing and I'd rather wait for another release :P. Or attempt to restart again when I have the mood.

EDIT: Wait a minute... Now I got the logic a little. I wanna ask, after the first dungeon part, did Gunnar have to be alone in the party? If that's what will happen, then you can get the picture... Since Gunnar was KO'ed, the game prompted game over since he was the only member and being dead! Or was the party got healed after the dungeon?
This game is so hot...

Can't download. Don't have Paypal, and SpeedyShare isn't letting me do the Basic or Unregistered. Can you create a mirror?

...Nvm, I found a link.
author=wltr3565
That's odd. I did download the latest. Oh well, I've stopped playing and I'd rather wait for another release :P. Or attempt to restart again when I have the mood.

EDIT: Wait a minute... Now I got the logic a little. I wanna ask, after the first dungeon part, did Gunnar have to be alone in the party? If that's what will happen, then you can get the picture... Since Gunnar was KO'ed, the game prompted game over since he was the only member and being dead! Or was the party got healed after the dungeon?


Uhhhhh...Characters get healed after every battle. This is weird. And I have processes in place that handle party removal and replacement, there really should not be game overs at all outside of getting everyone KO'd in battle. I'm honestly at a loss for what you're doing and what's happening there.
author=Skie Fortress
Uhhhhh...Characters get healed after every battle. This is weird. And I have processes in place that handle party removal and replacement, there really should not be game overs at all outside of getting everyone KO'd in battle. I'm honestly at a loss for what you're doing and what's happening there.

Then I have no choice but beat the boss with Gunnar alive then, in case it will happen again :(
Well, I can definitely say that I enjoyed playing the demo of this game. Fusing Visual Novel with JRPG-style mechanics turned out to be beneficial to the overall structure of the project.

As for how I did, I managed to slay all the IDEs, disarm all the traps, clear all the optional quests, and collect all the Soul Essence and have it allocated to the characters.

@Skie: Remember when I requested that you'd post something about the history of the series on your blog? I was wondering if you could do the same here since there are something things in the game that got mentioned that only those that read that post now about, like Guardia and the Sacred Tools.
Thanks for the vote of support. I appreciate it. Truthfully, the visual novel elements were all my effort to prune out irritating RPG conventions that I either didn't like making, or had trouble making. I think it turned out well in spite of all that though!

And I'm not surprised you did so well. I'll definitely need to up the challenge level for the game going forward. I also think that once the skill cancel bug is fixed, that the challenge will sort of fix itself as well. In that regard, I am kind of on semi-hiatus until that bug does get fixed.

As for the history of SE...I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to port over those posts. I can probably share more information from the ones I have on my blog as well.
I couldn't help to notice that Gunnar's Rank 1 Special grants a skill that increases base evasion in a game where hit and miss is supposed to be completely absent. I was wondering if it's simply a placeholder for something else or it was simply a speed boost with a slightly misleading description.
Enemy's normal attacks can miss the party sometimes. It's rare, but it happens. Gunnar's Rank 1 Special increases that chance. And considering that he's made of paper initially, it's a good skill to invest in.
There's not really a trojan in this game is there? Cause my antivirus is going crazy over it for some reason :|
iirc this game uses molebox to encrypt the game data. Molebox uses encryption and compression algorithms often used in viruses to reduce their footprint and make transmission over the wire quicker. Part of some virus scan heuristics is to look for the code that can decrypt/decompress such data which can cause false positives when legitimate software uses them. I remember bSNES becoming a false positive a few years back due to byuu using these algorithms to make bSNES smaller in size.
Hmm, that's odd. I remember using Molebox before (although I did purchase the full version and didn't just use the demo to compile the files) for my game and tested in on a whole assortment of different people's machines and none of them popped up with a virus message. Perhaps that just might be the case with the demo version of Molebox?

Either way, I don't use Molebox anymore because it really doesn't serve much of a purpose unless you don't want your custom artwork, sprites, etc. to be stolen. But then again, we've discussed about this matter MANY times in the past...

I finished the first dungeon in demo and defeated IDE monster there. I usually don't play demos further than 20-30 mins, I find it pointless to move and spoil myself in game where there is no true progress which leads to ending.

Interesting game. RPG Maker 2003 is cool but dated engine, I think its already on retirement. I am myself doing last project in RM2k3 and when I finish it I am done with this engine for good.

I would play full version of SEM game, since its quite original and battle system is fun and challenge.

Its a bit chaotic in city (at least in my opinion), when there is a ton of NPCs icons all over. Overall very nice work. 'scuse my Eng.
Finally got around to playing this. I only did the first map area and I did make it to the end. Barely heh That last fight was pretty intense. I really thought I was going to get game over and bam! My dead hero came back to life :o I didn't know that this would happen since it was the first time I kept fighting with one dead person. It was awesome! Then right after that hero came back, my other hero died, and I really thought it was over...

I can understand what people said about tons of info up front, but it didn't impact the game for me. There should be tutorial battles where you can't lose and every move gets to be used once. It didn't seem fair to only tell me what the special commands did after I used them, and couldn't decide if I wanted to wait. Like his SoulEater(DRK much?) ability. I used it first turn and it was a bust + 10 turn wait for it to be useful again. I almost lost because of that.

The menu seemed pretty bare, considering how complicated the gameplay is. A help option with lots of info would be good. No equips? No way to see what skills I have learned so far? What's my current max HP? I dunno.

I didn't know what the stats were. PRY? Lifeforce, or something. Is that max HP? Maybe I missed something, but something like that should be one of the first things forced into my brain. I didn't understand what the meters were below my faceset in battle.

I don't like lack of healing. I got 1 shotted pretty early on, and I don't think it was a super hard monster. He did a magic ice attack that hit 3 or 4 times and did 80 plus damage I think. Well, it's in the video. I didn't die much, but I dunno, I just feel a little too helpless without any healing and no items. Maybe it was coming soon.

But I didn't really care for the whole static bg and node mapping. I can appreciate that it's something different, but the immersion isn't there for me. I like to walk around and explore.

The writing was okay. Fun.

Um, what else, I didn't suffer any interrupts in battle. At least I didn't notice any. I like the combo attack system, but I found the price a little too high. I could do it once or twice before having to recharge or sacrifice HP. Then I'd have to charge for 2 turns to use it once. In the long battle it felt really drawn out, I was often out of resources and had to charge. Something like that might change as you level up, but it felt really steep for a low level thing.

So yeah, the video is pending and I dunno if I'd play again. Even though I didn't see much. I'd like to explore the battle system, but I don't like the rest of the game's style enough. Could you make a Boss Rush mode? :D
You've given some plentiful feedback here. Thanks for playing. I do appreciate it!

Now to address all this...

author=Link_2112
Finally got around to playing this. I only did the first map area and I did make it to the end. Barely heh That last fight was pretty intense. I really thought I was going to get game over and bam! My dead hero came back to life :o I didn't know that this would happen since it was the first time I kept fighting with one dead person. It was awesome! Then right after that hero came back, my other hero died, and I really thought it was over...


Haha, yes. That's the feeling I was trying to replicate with this battle system. The constant tension lingering just around the corner. Of course I also want the player to understand what's going on, so...that needs to be addressed.

I can understand what people said about tons of info up front, but it didn't impact the game for me. There should be tutorial battles where you can't lose and every move gets to be used once. It didn't seem fair to only tell me what the special commands did after I used them, and couldn't decide if I wanted to wait. Like his SoulEater(DRK much?) ability. I used it first turn and it was a bust + 10 turn wait for it to be useful again. I almost lost because of that.


Yes, this is a problem. My current plan is to provide visual tutorial information to the player that they can access at their leisure. The only real trouble is the fact that such an approach is basically a custom menu. I'm going to have to work out a layout and materials and text and everything, so it's been on the backburner.

The menu seemed pretty bare, considering how complicated the gameplay is. A help option with lots of info would be good. No equips? No way to see what skills I have learned so far? What's my current max HP? I dunno.


The menu is bare because a lot of standard RPG conventions simply don't exist in SEM. The help option is in planning. Characters don't have equips or items. Being able to reference learned skills though would be something to consider adding though. And Characters are always at Max HP after battle, so there's no point in showing it. Though it can be referenced from the status menu.

I didn't know what the stats were. PRY? Lifeforce, or something. Is that max HP? Maybe I missed something, but something like that should be one of the first things forced into my brain. I didn't understand what the meters were below my faceset in battle.


I thought it was pretty obvious from the status menu. Guess not. I'll add explanations for what each stat is in that aforementioned Help menu. Though I will say that I did explain what the meters in battle were. In the first battle of the first dungeon there was a tutorial explanation. I know I did that much at least. Did the lack of an accompanying visual indicator cause you to ignore it? I'd actually like to know.

I don't like lack of healing. I got 1 shotted pretty early on, and I don't think it was a super hard monster. He did a magic ice attack that hit 3 or 4 times and did 80 plus damage I think. Well, it's in the video. I didn't die much, but I dunno, I just feel a little too helpless without any healing and no items. Maybe it was coming soon.


It's not that there's a lack of healing. Rather, healing is done alternatively. The EX Recover command restores character HP and MP at the cost of one EX. I explained this in the first battle too. You can also heal by way of Focus, and through the use of Elemental Barrier spells.

Oh well, you're not the first the miss all this. I really do need visuals to accompany explanations. Let it be made known now that I'm clearly not good at this tutorial thing, hah-

But I didn't really care for the whole static bg and node mapping. I can appreciate that it's something different, but the immersion isn't there for me. I like to walk around and explore.


Admittedly, SEM was initially a game where you could walk around maps and explore. There was a reason I dropped this however.

That reason is twofold; first was that I was simply not good enough at mapping and having to make piles and piles of maps drained me. Second was that I simply could not make dungeon areas engaging. Sure, you can walk around maps...but then what? I'm not good at making puzzles because lock and key, switch pushing, and block pushing stuff. Standard boring RPG fare. Anything more complicated than that and it simply becomes not possible for me.

Thus I cut out that section and focused on the game's story aspect while allowing the battle system to shine. At least that was my intention. The node maps were just a way to include some gameplay to simulate dungeons and events without having to map.

I know it's not for everyone, but I don't see myself going back to mapping because...it's a huge weakness.

Um, what else, I didn't suffer any interrupts in battle. At least I didn't notice any. I like the combo attack system, but I found the price a little too high. I could do it once or twice before having to recharge or sacrifice HP. Then I'd have to charge for 2 turns to use it once. In the long battle it felt really drawn out, I was often out of resources and had to charge. Something like that might change as you level up, but it felt really steep for a low level thing.


Well, with the Strike Chain system, you're not supposed to spend turn after turn doing full combos. The point is to balance your EP expenditure between multiple skills while raising the hit count. Plus EX Recover in addition to focus softens the blow of EP usage quite a bit. It still boggles my mind that everyone seems to have missed it, but EX Recover is seriously what makes things easier.

So yeah, the video is pending and I dunno if I'd play again. Even though I didn't see much. I'd like to explore the battle system, but I don't like the rest of the game's style enough. Could you make a Boss Rush mode? :D


That's okay, the game is essentially a visual novel at this point. It just happen to have a battle system and some gameplay to pad out the story between scenes. In that respect, it's becoming less of an RPG, but that's okay with me.

I know the game in it's current form isn't for everyone. And that's fine. Not everyone needs to play the game and enjoy every aspect of it. As for Boss rush mode...that's definitely possible. Something like that could be added to the battle arena.

Anyway, thank you for playing. I appreciate the feedback!
I thought it was pretty obvious from the status menu. Guess not. I'll add explanations for what each stat is in that aforementioned Help menu. Though I will say that I did explain what the meters in battle were. In the first battle of the first dungeon there was a tutorial explanation. I know I did that much at least. Did the lack of an accompanying visual indicator cause you to ignore it? I'd actually like to know.
It's not totally cryptic, but when a dev uses new terms for stats, I like to have them explained so there is no doubt. I was only 100% sure about POW. Lifeforce could be Max HP or Vitality. Wisdom, I think it was,*oh, Knowledge* it likely for magic, but what does it affect? Magic attack? Magic defense? Does it have any bearing on my MP. I know this is 2k3, but it seems like a game where many things have been altered. I wouldn't assume anything.

Maybe it was because there was so much text, so many things to remember at the start, that by the time I tried to remember what those meters were for..I forgot.

When you say Visual Indicator, do you mean a picture showing the action? or some kind of arrow pointing to what the text is referring to? I'm not sure something like that would have made a difference, since it might have been caused by info overload.

I think the best thing to do is explain something at the time you have it available to use. But since so much is available right from the start, dish out info in pieces. Maybe explain the combo system, then let me have a few turns to use it, then explain the next thing, and let me have a few turns to use it. That kind of thing. Or maybe make a battle training place in town. Since these guys are mercinaries? there should be some kind of training ground for them. Offer up a "refresher course" for the new recruits, as an optional tutorial fight. I think a fight that tells you one thing, and lets you do it, then tells you another thing, lets you do it, is the best way to go. Even having access to read all that info, isn't as effective as hands on training of one thing at a time.

As for EX anything, I didn't see any available command for it. I noticed the EX meter going up but I never had access to any new command menu for EX attacks and there were no skills added to existing commands that I could see. I actually assumed it was like Limit Break, where I needed to fill it up to use it. I would scroll to the bottom of my command list from time to time, but the only time some new command showed up was in the final battle when Soul Eater and the other one, Ether Burst? was it? Then another one showed up after Soul Eater, one that increase his magic attack power. Oh, and then some burst command with a single attack combo move in it showed up. Without much warning, too. I think you might have made mention of those things very early on, but they didn't show up until the end so I didn't remember anything about them.

My strategy didn't consist solely of combo after combo, although for the most part it seemed like that was the most damaging thing to do for the guy hero. And since I had no healing, it seemed like I needed to dish out as much dmg as possible, as quickly as possible. Combo/Focus/Repeat seemed like the most damaging thing to do. For the girl, her combo was Ice and weak against these enemies so I didn't use it very much. Instead I used Ether attacks, but even then it seemed like I was charging a lot.

What do you mean by 'raising the hit count'? What is the significance of doing that?

I did notice a slight heal on focus, but it was less than 10, from what I remember. Nice little addition for when I need to focus anyways, but not a viable heal option. Elemental barriers healed? Say wha? I don't recall that being mentioned and I didn't notice it happening when I cast the spells.

I noticed that HP/MP regen'd after battle, but I mean that when I was looking in the stats menu I didn't see what my Max HP/MP values were. Or at least, it wasn't obvious. It's not a big deal, it just seemed missing.

:3 Yes, gimme boss mode. Or some kind of arena battling thing, where I can battle increasingly stronger monsters as I level up. Not to do then do the story all powerleveled, but just to do some battling.

*I was looking in the Game Mechanics tab and noticed some things that I had no idea existed.

Elemental Flow Shift

Link Arts Chain System

EX Blocks, Exceed Limits

EX Blocks are the blue cubes located on the right of a character's Battle HUD, you can expend these for EX Recover and Exceed Limits. They also are used with some passive skills.

You gain EX at a moderate pace from taking action in battle. However, you gain the most EX from using Burst Skills. Using a Burst Skill gives you around two blocks, while it would take 2-3 normal actions to get one otherwise. However it all adds up in the long run. EX piles on at a good rate, so never be afraid to expend it

Hold Z/Enter during a Burst or Ether Skill in order to extend it into a character's EX Limit. An EX Limit is essentially an extra action taken outside of your turn. Both Bursts and Spells have EX Limits attached to them.

EX Limits for Burst Skills take 2 EX Blocks. EX Limits for Spells take 1 EX Block. However in order to unlock EX Limits, you need to upgrade your character's Special Rank in the Advance Menu until you gain the skill needed to use them.
Even after reading this, I don't understand how to use EX healing. Do I perform an EX limit and pray to the heavens it does a heal spell? :P And it seems like I need to unlock the Special Rank? I didn't even know what Special Rank was, so I avoided unlocking it. It seemed useless, so I went for spells instead.

I don't mean to keep rubbing in how you did a poor job of explaining things xD I'm just explaining in detail what I don't know and why, to better help you explain things in the future.

Combo Chain System - oh ok, that's what it does.

Exceed Recovery - oh, there it is. I don't recall that ever being explained.

Barrier LF System

Focus Guard System - oh, so 1/10th HP is restored? I just remember seeing a single digit and thinking, not much HP. And I don't recall being told it doubles as the Defend command. Although I guessed by the stance of the hero.

Heh, I guess I should have looked at that page first. I see it explains the stats. But like many other people, I just downloaded and jumped right in.
Yeah, it's not your fault. After all, who actually expects to have to read a lexicon on a game page before playing a game? I need to stuff all that info into the game itself for easier reference. So in the end, it's all up to me.
shayoko
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515
when i saw VN i was gonna ignore this(i dont think its a bad genre but hard for me to get into)
but after looking at screen shots and info and such im interested and want to check this out subbed :D
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