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SECOND PLACE in the Golden Week of RM2k3 event.

SUMMARY
A Traitor's Hold is a short prequel to The Difficult Second Quest and tells the story of the "legendary" Tybalt and his party. This was submitted for the Golden Week of RM2k3 event and therefore was made in a week using only RTP.

Tybalt and his party are coming to the end of their journey where they must face off against the Dark Lord.

However, due to recruiting the help of a priest who doesn't seem to have any real powers - and consequently having to sell all their best equipment in order to pay for all the recovery items needed to keep him alive - the party find themselves at the gates of the Dark Lord's tower prepared for the final showdown armed only with a damp rag on a stick and a rusty spoon.

While the Dark Lord ravages the Kingdom of Bieune, the brave heroes decide the best course of action is to walk away from his Tower and instead undertake menial sidequests in order to find themselves better equipment and hopefully learn some new skills.

FEATURES
  • Class Orb System- Each party member has a defined class, but by equipping Class Orbs they can learn a new command, skill or passive that is appropriate to their class and contains the flavour of the class contained within the orb. For more information regarding Class Orbs, please view the Ability Guide.

  • Dexterity System- Characters can hit multiple times with the !Attack command based on their Luck stat and the Dexterity of their equipped weapon.

  • Summoning- There are three hidden bosses in the game. Find and defeat them to learn new summons!

  • Blue Magic- By mastering the Thief Orb, the White Mage gains the ability to cast Blue Magic. Blue Magic can be learned from enemies.

  • Non-linear gameplay- There are many different locations available to the player once the first dungeon is completed. These areas can be explored in any order the player wishes.

Latest Blog

The Future for A Traitor's Hold

I really enjoyed the Golden Week of 2k3 event. It was a lot of fun to interact with different members of this site in a creative way and I felt I learned a lot. Thanks to everyone who gave their time to play A Traitor's Hold and for their useful feedback. I also enjoyed playing all your games!

I always considered my submission as a "first draft" and it is my intention to release a post-event version where I can address all the problems that the event version has as well as implement all the ideas that I never had time for. However, when I signed up for this event I was midway through the 2nd chapter of The Difficult Second Quest and I really want to get that finished so for now I am going to leave A Traitor's Hold as it is and pick it up once I've finished Chapter 2 of DSQ. I think leaving it for a while will allow me to approach the project with "fresh eyes". At least I hope.

For the time being I just thought I'd make a brief summary of the issues that I will be focusing on when I pick this project up again. I'll probably stay with RTP for the remake but will bend a few of the rules that the contest had :P.

  • Balancing- This was definitely the weakest part of the project in my opinion. The abilities learned from Class Orbs need reworking as well as the encounters, which was something I rushed the most with. The first dungeon is quite a mess and the scene outside the cave is very unclear in giving player direction. I'll probably redo the entire first area.

  • Story- The dialogue is all first draft and some of it is a bit baggy and poorly worded. I wasn't that happy with how Henriet turned out as a character so I intend to go back to the drawing board and completely rethink her personality.

  • Revise Orb System- I think I never fully realised the potential of this system. I've got a few ideas of how I can improve it to allow the player to add further customisation to the party but I don't want to ruin it by over-complicating it.

  • Mapping- My mapping abilities have never been better than average but I really wasn't happy with how some of the towns turned out or with Kois Swamp so I will probably rework those.

  • Loot- There isn't much motivation to explore the dungeons at present as the loot is so mundane. Something I may do is have "Trading Posts" in the game, which is something I have in The Difficult Second Quest.

  • Extra Side Quests- I had quite a few ideas that I had to cut out and I would really like to add these to the game. There are a few locations and quests that I would want to add.

  • Progression- At present the Class Orb system gives a few "perks" and the world is completely open right after the first dungeon so there isn't really a feeling or progression in the game. This is something I want to address.


I imagine things will slow down somewhat now that the contest is over. Thanks again to everyone who played.

Posts

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finished the game with a review on the way, be sure to read it. :)
I'm stuck at Red Mage's quest. He asks to get him Cyclone Scroll and I have it, but can't finish the quest. I've been in the swamp before and got Phoenix, maybe that is the problem?
Hi teemoor. Getting Pheonix shouldn't effect the Red Mage's quest. There are some shrubs blocking the path just outside of where you find phoenix. If you use the scroll on these shrubs then you clear the area. In the next area there is a chest containing another Scroll of Cyclone. When you return to the Red Mage and give him the scroll you will complete the quest. Does this solve your problem or are you still having trouble?
Hi Cernus, thanks, that helped!
Although now I don't know where to go - in Newport there's a mountain blocade and the city is closed, in Medmouth I've been everywhere (I think).
The Red Mage is on the top floor of the lighthouse in Newport. To travel between Medmouth and Newport you need to walk to the harbour to take the ferry.
Henriet has learned Mana Leach, but it looks like she's not gaining any MP after using a summon
There's a couple of bugs in the game. If I recall correctly Mana Leach doesn't work if you use a Summon to win the battle.
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