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Announcement

Hero's Realm: Heroic Expedition



Calling all heroes! Hero's Realm: Heroic Edition has launched its gameprofile. Further updates and announcements and requests will be made through this new gameprofile. Follow along there if you are interested in the revamp!

So long and thanks for all the downloads!



Request

Inhuman Resources


Remaking all this will be a pain in the asset


Converting Hero's Realm into a commercial endeavour requires remaking a large swath of assets. When I was creating the game, I had access to the expansive RM2k3 RTP resources, as well as many, many (many) rips from Final Fantasy IV, V and V, and MIDI renditions of popular game tracks as well as a score of original works. As such, I was very liberal in my use of different assets when creating monsters, maps, animations, classes, etc!

Remaking these assets will require me to hire artist(s)/spriter(s)/composer, and this is an open call to see who might be interested in working with me to create a batch of new resources.

This is the first time I have attempted to commission resources. If I am missing any details, please feel free to ask for them in the comments.


I am looking for resources for RPG Maker 2003 for:
Tilesets, Panoramas, Monsters, Charsets, Objects, Battlechars, Battleweapons, Battle Animations, Battlebacks, Titlescreen/Game Over, Music, Sound Effects


I have a limited budget (like all indie game devs do, of course). In some areas (monsters, panoramas, battle animations) I am willing to scale back graphic fidelity to come under budget. I will also be willing to help with (and encourage) recolors, editing templates, minor tweaks and edits. The graphic style I am aiming for is somewhere between SNES Final Fantasy V and RM2k3's RTP. I have gone into greater detail for each resource below.


Tilesets (a.k.a. chipsets) ::..




Here I am looking for an ideally 1-to-1 match with the RM2k3 RTP edits I used in the game (to minimize any remapping clean up I would have to do).

Details:
480x256 pixels
256 colors

Assets Needed (6)
-Overworld
-Town (with small variations/recolors for Mountains, Swamp, Ocean, Sand/Desert)
-Indoors
-Ship
-Dungeon
-SciFi Complex (this can be a smaller set of graphics, and I can redo what I have with a new chipset)


Panorama-o-rama ::..


I used panoramas sparingly in Hero's Realm.

Details:
320x240 pixels (typically)
256 colors

Assets Needed (6)
-Mid-day lightly clouded sky
-Very Cloudy Sky (tiles horizontally, as illustrated above)
-Strange miasma (tiles horizontally and vertically, for parallel dimensions)
-Mountain range (tiles horizontally, as illustrated above)
-Dark abyss (tiles horizontally and vertically, used in a very fast-moving parallax)


Characters ::..



Characters are 16x16 sprites with 4 directions with a 3-step walking animation (left foot, standing, right foot) typically. A 2-step walking animation is also acceptable. I need a lot, though. Charsets for RM2k3 are a specific dimension and have a specific layout. They (like all assets in RM2k3) are limited to 256 colors.

Classes (46)
There are 21 classes that need a male and female variant, plus 4 hero classes.

-Daredevil M
-Daredevil F
-Assassin M
-Assassin F
-Joker M
-Joker F
-Bandit M
-Bandit F
-Engineer M
-Engineer F
-Harlequin M
-Harlequin F
-Ranger M
-Ranger F
-Templar M
-Templar F
-Warden M
-Warden F
-Champion M
-Champion F
-Black Knight M
-Black Knight F
-Paladin M
-Paladin F
-Ronin M
-Ronin F
-Shapeshifter M
-Shapeshifter F
-Channeler M
-Channeler F
-Sage M
-Sage F
-Shadowen M
-Shadowen F
-Druid M
-Druid F
-Mesmer M
-Mesmer F
-Warlock M
-Witch F
-Wizard M
-Wizard F
-Huntress
-Magus
-Ninja
-Monk


NPCs (54)(estimate)

Main NPCs (11)
-Child of Light (girl)
-Pablo (grand poobah)
-Wip (Chief Advisor)
-Great Red Spirit (Seer)
-Trihan (Captain)
-Lady Liberty (Lord Captain Commander)
-Archeia Nessiah (Guard and Overseer of the Child of Light)
-Dread Pirate Holberts
-Guru (male)
-Guru (female)
-Giant Golem

Evil (7)
-Balthalas (fat demon)
-Niddly Wormwood (sketchy man)
-Kakorotto (kung fu master)
-Murzhor (evil wizard)
-Spinidel (shade)
-Urok (muscle demon-captain)
-Mephistocles (tall demonlord)

Generic (18) + recolors/tweaks
-man
-woman
-old man
-old woman
-boy
-girl
-soldier
-exotic dancer
-priestess
-commander/elite soldier
-merchant
-bard
-bald tough guy
-king
-queen
-froggite (or similar small animal/gnome-like creature)
-sensei
-pirate

Animals (8)
-dog
-cat
-butterfly
-chicken
-sheep
-cow
-horse
-fish

Vehicles (4)
-skiff
-airship (I have a custom airship already, but may need tweaking to match style)
-seafaring ship
-ghost ship

Monsters (6?)
-skeleton
-beast
-dragon
-mummy
-shade/ghost
-fairy


Objects (32)
Chests, switches, doors, villages, castles, and the like. Some are static, some have animation frames (ie- doors and chests)

objects (18)
-chest
-ornate chest
-sparkles
-orbs
-blood spatter
-savepoint
-wood door
-reinforced door
-metal door
-jail door
-ornate door
-floor switch
-wall switch
-lever
-rock
-mine cart
-small spikes
-large spike

worldmap (14)
-village
-town
-manor
-hut
-temple
-castle (32x32)
-elegant castle (32x32)
-castle ruins (32x32)
-pyramid (32x32)
-shrine
-futuristic ruins
-camps
-tower
-cave



Battle Characters ::..



Like I mentioned earlier, I have 21 classes that need a male and female variant, plus 4 hero classes, plus a battlechar for the Child of Light, for a total of 47 battlechars. Battlechars in RM2k3 have a specific size and template and are limited to 256 colors.

These battle character sprites should reasonably match their accompanying 16x16 charset sprites.

I am looking for a Final Fantasy IV or V style. I need 8 poses (Standing, Attacking, Walking, Hurt/Crouch, Spellcast, Victory, Asleep/Dead, Defending), plus 4 poses that I can use universally (Invisible, Ghost, Statue, Wolf/Werewolf)

Assets Needed (47+4)

-Daredevil M
-Daredevil F
-Assassin M
-Assassin F
-Joker M
-Joker F
-Bandit M
-Bandit F
-Engineer M
-Engineer F
-Harlequin M
-Harlequin F
-Ranger M
-Ranger F
-Templar M
-Templar F
-Warden M
-Warden F
-Champion M
-Champion F
-Black Knight M
-Black Knight F
-Paladin M
-Paladin F
-Ronin M
-Ronin F
-Shapeshifter M
-Shapeshifter F
-Channeler M
-Channeler F
-Sage M
-Sage F
-Shadowen M
-Shadowen F
-Druid M
-Druid F
-Mesmer M
-Mesmer F
-Warlock M
-Witch F
-Wizard M
-Wizard F
-Huntress
-Magus
-Ninja
-Monk
-Child of Light
+Invisible, Ghost, Statue, Wolf/Werewolf



Enemies ::..


Final Fantasy VI style


Final Fantasy V style

So many monsters in this game. So many...

I have done an initial cull of the monster graphics used in this game, and can still do further consolidation based on the roles the monsters filled in battle. Currently, I have a list of 86 monsters and bosses. However, I am not particularly wedded to each specific monster's graphic or name - I simply used what was available from Final Fantasy VI rips and designed from there. For example, I used a bear graphic and made a bear-like enemy, but really any large ferocious beast-styled sprite will suffice. Thus there is a lot of freedom in what monsters can get ultimately designed and developed. I am also (very) open to artist suggestions, based on what they would like to try spriting!

As for style, I am shooting for a Final Fantasy V level of graphic fidelity. (Final Fantasy VI, though more elegant, is likely outside of my price range). I have showcased both above. At least, that is what I am envisioning. I am open to discussion and suggestions on monster graphic design.

The size ranges varies, from a low end of 35x35 pixels, to 50x50, to 70x100.

Mooks (66):
-This is a working list, and based largely on FF6 sprites I used.

Ameboid-like goop
Bear
Beastrider
Beetle
Behemoth (very large demon)
Beholder
Buffalo
Cadaver/Zombie
Cat
Chestmimic
Coral
Crab
Dancer
Demon
Demonmage
Dragon
Dragonbones
Drake
Droid
Elemental
Enchantress
Fae/Fairy
Fighter
Flower
Fog
Ghost
Giant
Goblin
Hawk
Joker
Kappa
Knight
Lizard
Long Dragon
Mech/Robot
Nautilus
Ninja
Odonata (flying bug)
Pirahna
Porkus (fat pig-like beast)
Potmimic
Raven
Ray
Reaper
Rodent
Rogue
Sandworm
Scorpion
Seahorse
Seaserpent
Skeleton
Slime
Spek
Spider
Squirl
Telstar
Tentacle
Toadstool
Troll
Tyranno
Vines
Walkerbot
Whelk
Wizard
Wolfdog
Wyvern


Bosses (20)

Fatdemon (miniboss)
Big Fighter (miniboss)
Big Skeleton (miniboss)
Knight/Prince (miniboss)
Balthalas, 3rd form
Iron Gaia/Virus (robot boss)
Murzhor (wizard variant)
Spinidel (demon variant)
Urok (behemoth variant)
Niddly Wormwood (vagabond human)
Evil Wind
Xelob (giant spider)
Xelobite (spiderling)
Shadowstorm (Atma, from FF6 basically)
Mephistocles (has 2 arms, each arm has 2 forms)
-Mephisto Left I
-Mephisto Left II
-Mephisto Right I
-Mephisto Right II
Mephistocles, 2nd form


This will likely be the biggest component of my budget, and requires the most work, but it could also be the most fun and varied resource creation of the entire project, and the artist would have considerable leeway.


Battle Animations ::..



I don't even know where to begin with battle animations...

I haven't compiled a comprehensive spell list yet. I used a ton of different battle animations that varied greatly in style. This could potentially be a huge cost-sink, but I am quite willing to scale back in this area to meet budget.

I need someone comfortable with battle animations for RPGs who would be willing to advise me in how to approach this facet of resources.


Battle Backgrounds ::..



Ideally, for battle backgrounds, I would like to imitate a Final Fantasy IV or V style (or even an FFVI style). But the style will have to match both the FF5 style battlechars AND whatever style the monsters end up taking. Depending on that, I am even willing to simplify the battlebacks to do a mostly-black background with a stylized header, like so:


Details
320x160
256 colors

Assets Needed (22)

-plains
-forest
-desert
-wasteland
-swamp
-snowplains
-snowforest
-sea
-mountains/foothills
-cave
-snowcave
-catacombs
-dungeons
-ethereal
-scifi complex
-ruins
-village
-arena
-watercave
-ship
-sky
-matrix-style



Battle Weapons ::..



There are (roughly) 33 weapons needed for this game, though depending on how much it takes to make them, I can use more (up to 50). Battle weapons in RM2k3 are a 3 stage animation, and fit into a specific template.

Assets Needed (33)
(some consolidation/recolors are an option!)

-axe
-shortsword
-longsword
-greatsword
-elegant sword
-katana
-magicsword
-scimitar
-epee
-dagger
-ornate dagger
-whip
-magic staff
-wooden staff
-quarterstaff
-wand x2
-chakram
-spear
-hammer
-lance
-shortbow
-longbow
-ornate bow
-arrow
-club
-crossbow
-mace
-boomerang
-claws
-harp
-shuriken
-dice
-card



Miscellaneous ::..

Details
320x240
256 colors

Assets Needed
-Title screen
-Game Over screen
-Chapter frame


Music ::..

I may have music assets lined up, depending on how things play out. But for sake of completeness, I am looking for a list of music. I am not sure how pricing works (probably by the minute)

The style I am looking for is, again, SNES-esque, though I am not requiring a strictly chiptune instrumentation. If orchestral music fits, I will use it.

RM2k3 supports MIDI, WAV and MP3, though I would prefer WAV or MP3.

I can provide sample MIDIs. I will work on recording some samples of the songs I really like and posting them here soon.

Assets Needed (27)

-main theme
-hero's theme x4
-overworld (x5?)
-airship
-ship
-skiff
-battle
-important battle
-boss battle
-final battle(s)
-village
-town (x2)
-castle
-city
-cave
-tower
-dungeon
-creepy
-funhouse/casino
-other dimension
-final cave
-Intro music
-titlescreen music/Paranor



Sound Effects ::..

I don't even know how these are made, acquired, produced, or commissioned. I am strongly leaning towards making my own using something like bfxr because I am so unknowledgeable about sound effects, just to sidestep the hassle. But I did come up with a draft list.

(Can I just use the RM2k3 sound effects? Is that allowed?? Problematic??? Legitimate question here)

Assets Needed (draft list)(37-ish)

-menu
-select
-cancel
-success
-fail
-fall
-steps
-find item
-chest
-warp/teleport
-switch
-roar
-levelup
-evillaugh
-bark
-meow
-moo
-neigh
-baa
-item
-dodge
-spellcast
--ice
--fire
--explosion
--quake
--lightning
--energy
--healing
--reviving
--poison
--bite
--punch
--slash
--wind
--buff
--debuff







If you are interested, please respond in the comments below or via Private Message. Contact me with any questions, pricing, payment options/arrangements, or suggestions. Thank you for your time!

Miscellaneous

The Lost Reviews

I have tracked down copies of two reviews for Hero's Realm that had been lost to the sands of time.

Long Game Is Loooooooooooooooooooo-
(2009)

Griever plays Hero’s Realm:

Gameplay: 10/10

The battles in Hero’s Realm are well balanced. You’ll never get frustrated with this game, although you will usually find the battles challenging when you enter a new area or come up against a new boss. Bosses are worth a special mention because, although they pose a credible threat in this game, they aren’t the ultra-immune titans that bosses are in many other games – especially other games of the type Hero’s Realm is aiming to be. Being able to use your skill sets to their full potential is very rewarding (in a strange way), especially when you eventually find that one status-effect or element the boss is especially weak to.

Exploration is also handled extremely well in this game, and I don’t just mean at dungeon level. Sure, the dungeons are well mapped and are a joy to walk around, but your exploration is rewarded just as much on the world-map level. There are a lot of games that don’t utilise the sense of exploration and conquest you can get out of a properly designed world-map, but Hero’s Realm is definitely one of them. The way exploration's very much a part of the game’s setting is also good to see. NPCs are often talking about exploration in this game and they will usually give you a good reason to stick your hiking boots on and have a look around – many even have optional quests you can take up to gain a little more gold and experience.

When used, the puzzles are quite thought provoking, which is really their only aim. The only problem in this department was a slight penchant for arrow-tile puzzles, but they weren't used so often that it ever got annoying (and I am actually quite a fan of those kinds of puzzle if they are done well!)

The standout gameplay element in this game, though, is saved for the fifth chapter. Bringing the four parties of the previous four chapters together results in having four parties to play with at once, something that has been used and abused to its fullest potential. It’s because of this that some of the end-game dungeons are totally amazing. Remember Kefka’s tower in Final Fantasy VI? Yeah, like that.

Basically, this game ticks every box on the “how to make a fun, generic role-playing game” checklist.

Classes: 7/10

Class development is well worked, with the classes being differentiated enough from one another that there isn’t too much overlap between them. This means that building a good party is a key factor in your progress, especially when some areas only allow you to take certain types of character with you. The fact that you get to build four parties over the course of the game makes experimentation a real possibility as it removes the problem of having to start over to try a different set up.

However, the fact that the “main” hero in each party has a set development sometimes makes the party selection a little less rewarding/entertaining than it should be. The “main” heroes usually have enough skills to balance out any weaknesses your team might have and – at the same time – seem to develop a lot of the same skills as each other (I’m 99% sure they all develop fire and healing-type magic whilst you have them). The secondary commands they have work well to alleviate the latter of these two problems as they do a lot to make each “main” hero different to the others, but I still sometimes got the feeling I could get through the game quite easily without having to balance my party at all…

Storyline: 6/10

“A big, evil thing is coming! Gather your party and destroy it, hero!”

You would probably expect something akin to the above, but you’d be wrong. The storyline in Hero’s Realm actually comes together quite well because the individual stories that bring the four heroes together are actually decent (if slightly extremely cliché). The first four chapters of this game are basically there to remove the “chosen ones” dogma most games of this kind have, successfully setting this game apart from other games of similar ilk.

The storylines are by no means brilliant, but they do a decent job.

Graphics/Mapping: 10/10

First off, the mapping in this game is excellent, especially from a gameplay point of view (see the gameplay section). Each dungeon is really well designed, as is the world-map), and the result is a game that is really fun to walk through.

I don’t have many complaints about the graphics, either. The graphics used reflect the type of game this is very well, and because of that they work. This game is definitely an example of “RTP done right” and, although there are little edits thrown in every now and again, none of them ever clash. The result is a game that is very consistent graphically.

Music and Sounds: 8/10

The music is good in this game, although it is littered with songs you will have heard before. This doesn’t particularly annoy me so long as they songs are used in the way they were intended to be used (and that is the case here) but if you are one of those people who doesn’t like hearing well-known tracks in a game then perhaps you won’t enjoy the musical score quite as much.

The sounds are also functional, although most of them are from the RTP (I think). Again, if you’re not a big fan of games that use the RTP sound effects (I know that the combination of common tracks/RTP sounds does annoy some people) then you can again knock some points off for this section.

Overall: 8/10

Man this game is long…

But despite it being long you will enjoy it all the way through. The gameplay, especially the exploration and battling, is top notch and are more than enough reason to play this game. If you’re a fan of traditional RPGs then just do yourself a favour and download this now.




Hero's Realm review
(2017)

My experience with the game has been quite irritating so far. The first and most major problem with this game is the combat system due to how the wait timers that happen between turns due to the combat system being like Chrono Trigger have you waiting 10~12 seconds between actions and that'll add up to a lot of downtime.

This issue is made even more frustrating by the mechanics of the first boss. Specifically the part where the foe who cannot be killed (or given debuffs as far as I can tell) gets to use a blind debuff on your whole party, forcing your damage to an annoying crawl since I didn't see any cure items for that debuff in the shops. That foe also can cast an invulnerability buff on one of its allies (one of them being the boss) that basically renders it invincible for around like 2~3 turns. Already having waited through the surround debuffs to the point where two of my party members died due to not being able to do much but defend, heal, and get killed after healing thanks to the blind, I was left basically waiting for the boss to stop receiving that frustratingly invulnerability buff... Well long story short, after the buff faded it was recast on the boss between my character's turns. That is the definition of an unenjoyable time due to the how all of the random battles before that were painfully slow after a while due to losing patience after sitting through what must have been 50+ wait times between turns.

Also, I thought I was on wait combat (so that the monsters don't kill my allies while I'm deciding what to do) due to how the menu said "wait" when that meant it was the button to change to the wait system but it was really active combat since the enemies were still able to attack. Even after pressing the option to turn active on and display "active" on the menu when the wait system was active, I was confused because of course there were 1-2 second delays on the monster's attacks which would go off when I was selecting my attacks and that also gave me some downtime (via groups of four ravens all using double attacks right from the start of the battle all at the same time on my starting party).

One of the classes in said party was the Harlequin who basically had subpar attacks, one useful enemy group stat debuff, and then the sleep spell (which my Mesmer already had), and then Tarot cards that basically leave whether or not YOU get debuffed instead of the enemies up to RNG. One of said cards that I got was a spell that casted an instant death on my Harlequin thanks to going after dialogue from someone in a town. The walk to the location of that card also delayed getting to that horrible first boss.

This game is very frustrating for people who dislike having to wait 10 seconds between each and every turn (which will add up to potentially over an hour if you stick with the game to the end of the advertised 20-30 hour journey). Also, you aren't allowed to save in the dungeons or towns which is frustrating for people who want to be able to save in towns so they don't have to walk out of the town they're in or go to one of the very few save points that exist. If you need to go in the middle of a dungeon, say goodbye to your progress that was partially gained by sitting there unable to do anything in the game between turns (it gets irritating to the point I'm mentioning it this many times).

The world itself is unengaging, because your character barely speaks, all NPC's have 1-2 things to say at best (and its very unengaging when almost all of them in the two towns in the beginning just give a tip or two about the game), and your companions stay silent. Even before a boss fight, my character didn't say anything before the boss went on to say something like "who dares to disturb (random fantasy name)? who dares to die?" which was cliche and flat due to the NPC's only ever saying "oh no the cave (where the demon was at) is dangerous", which really gives no tension to the fight.

Overall, the game's combat system is something that can't have you sitting there for 10 seconds in between your turns and be something I can recommend. The story is bland with maybe a speck of personality given to only one character in your party, and that makes for an experience that just feels like work to advance the story which isn't worth it. The class system shows some variety and effort, but it's all for naught in the end.

tl;dr: ATB gauge combat system makes you wait 10 seconds or so between turns (REALLY starts to add up and ruin experience after first few minutes), characters/story is dull and cliche, start of game isn't worth going through just to see if late game combat is better.


I appreciate all of the feedback I've received since starting this project. Thank you all for taking the time to play and comment on the game.

Announcement

I'm so VERY SORRY! This game won't get made

Due to certain personal circumstance, it is unlikely that I will be continuing on the wprk for the remake.

I am sorry. Take care.

Request

Too derivative for commercialization?

When I set out to make this game, I really did mean to take everything I enjoyed about RPGs I played as a kid and make my own game out of it.

Surprisingly (!), this has lead the game to be pretty derivative. Possibly, too derivative.

...and I really need some help in making it sound cool.


Indeed.



Here was my musings on what the game is about:

Hero's Realm is a conventional RPG wherein you control four parties of heroes concurrently to defeat an impending demonic cataclysm.

Hero's Realm is reminiscent of late NES and early SNES classics such as DQIII and IV, and Final Fantasy IV, V and VI, in terms of gameplay and aesthetic.

The coolest unique aspect of the game is the creation and playing of four parties of four playable characters simultaneously, where the player has the ability to toggle the active party as needed.

In a fantasy world in peril, you control four heroes and their parties as they traverse realm to prevent the incoming demonic devastation.

By toggling control of which party the player plays, a player can explore different areas of a dungeon simultaneously. In major boss battles, a different party can be subbed in to continue the fight, for example when one party nears death or a different skillset is needed.

A central facet of the game is preparation and management of their playable characters and their respective parties - the player gets to choose the classes of each of the four hero's three helpers from a pool of 12, and manage the equipment and skills of all four parties from a common resource pool of items and gold.


But what kind of return would a top down retro RPG with no hook or gimmick or witty title expect, honestly? I wasn't going to quit my dayjob for this, but as it turns out my dayjob is quitting on me, so... I may need this to be a moderate success in the short-term so that I don't go into to too great of debt.

(What if I changed the title to something witty? Like Heroic Heroes of Heroism? That might garner some attention. And the game is pretty tongue-in-cheek...)

I need some help (again) to come up with a pitch for the game. Something that I could put onto, say, a Steam gamepage that would actually entice people to check it out. I am struggling to write anything that isn't self-deprecating.

Progress Report

I need a hero!

So last time on Hero's Realm, I indicated that I would be attempting to convert this game into a commercial endeavor. An attempt was made, then real life reared its ugly head and I was swamped between work, family, and volunteering until just recently.

But last week I picked this back up, and with the latest activity here (a review that appeared and disappeared before I had a chance to respond), I figured now would be a good a time as ever to announce my lack of progress. BadLuck assures me that he'd still like to invest in this game, but we will see how his patience fares after I really get not-going!



I am currently assessing the graphics for enemies. The downside to having full access to FF6 rips means that I was very liberal in the enemies I made and graphics I used. This does not translate well to a commercial remake. The game has 395 enemies, using 124 different graphics. My intention is to combine similar enemy types into a single enemy (ie- various wolves and dogs can be redone as a more generic 'wolfdog'). My first pass resulted in 66 enemies and 26 bosses. I plan on doing a second pass soon, trying to get the total number south of 50.



The other work I am doing is rebalancing the classes. The is a wealth of suggestions and information provided by reviews and comments on the game. That, combined with the (foolish?) obligation I feel for making a game that would be worth playing again for the 30,000+ people who've already played it, has lead me to rejig classes a lot, and added 3 new elite classes: Shadowen (the dark paladin), Assassin (the deadly rogue), and the Warden (the survivalist).

I have also compiled a long list of bugs and minor enhancements to fix/implement, but I haven't started. That is what I will be tackling next.

Which got me to thinking... who might want to help playtest this revamped game? I would prefer people who have already completed the game and have access to the new RM2k3.

Announcement

Strictly For Commercial

I have embarked on a new journey...



Approximately one month ago I was approached by an angel investor to explore the possibility of flipping Hero's Realm into a commercial project. Like naive fool that I am who believes he has more time than ever, I tentatively agreed. (Details are still being hashed out).

While the month of June was hectic, July has slowed down and I have earnestly begun my work on cleaning up the game and getting it into a state such that custom resources can be created as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. Hero's Realm is a large game that made very liberal use of Final Fantasy IV, V and VI rips, a ton of MIDIs for every possible mood and locale, and RTP resources. Minimizing this into a smaller more cohesive set while still maintaining the "feel" will be a tedious process, but it must be done.



A few weeks ago I compiled a list of all of the pertinent feedback that the game had garnered over the past 7 years since its release. I noted all of the major and minor bugs, suggestions on class balance and features, and general impressions left by the various facets of the game.

I also have a laundry list of small enhancements. Things like amplifying magic damage (spellcasters are underpowered), rebalancing classes, and rebalancing skills are all on the table. The Master classes will be toned down, weaker classes tweaked, some overpowered skills nerfed. I will also be adding 3 new Elite classes (Death Knight, Freelancer, and Assassin) to make greater use of the class change mechanic.

The numerous overt references to popular media will be changed to be more subtle. Dialog will be reviewed. The story, such as it is, will remain as is. If I have the wherewithal I would add a new final dungeon (something people identified as a weakness), but I am not certain yet.



This is all in the early stages. I don't have a timeline estimated yet (but I hope to get my initial work done within the next couple of months). The tentative plan is to NOT do a Kickstarter (too much hassle), but to do a Steam Greenlight, and then explore other avenues like itch.io. Stay tuned for notices about the Greenlight drive!

I am adamant about leaving up the original Hero's Realm for RM2k3 v1.5 up here on RMN. (It's already out there in droves so it's not like I have a realistic chance of scrubbing it out anyway). I hope that the enhancements, fixes, changes, and custom resources will be sufficient enough to encourage people to buy it over the original free version. And if it gets on Steam, the market is distinct enough that the free version wouldn't even be known. Plus, I couldn't give up the Makerscore.



If you guys are interested, I can post frequent blogs detailing my progress in my prep work. Otherwise I will just post announcements when major milestones have been achieved.

Wish me luck!



tl;dr - HR is going commercial


Request

Is Hero's Realm worth remaking commercially?

Looking for an anime artist, an animator, a music composer, and a sprite artist who will work for free

I am looking for earnest takes on this question.

I am a hobbyist developer on a small budget ($0 is small, right?) at the moment, with no experience releasing a commercial product. What I am doing right now is mulling over the practicality and feasibility of remaking Hero's Realm into a commercial game.

HR as a commercial game has always been a faroff idealistic fantasy of mine, but seems increasingly feasible with the release of MV, the expansion of Kickstarter to Canada, kids growing older, and the loosening of restrictions for games on Steam and other online game portals (judging by some of the crap that gets in there). People recently reached out to me about doing sprite work and music for it. It seems like it is all coming together slowly, despite me not doing anything, so I feel it is high time I actually took a serious look at it.

While I know a bit about hobbyist game development, I don't know shit about commercial game development. That's why I am mentioning this publicly. I am scared of the pitfalls I can't anticipate, some of the possible issues that might arise, the costs, the maintenance, and even to some degree stuff like ongoing support, refunds, and piracy. Validate my fears and/or alleviate them please. I don't even know how to break down a budget for a commercial game development project. I have never run a Kickstarter. Unlike other devs, I don't have a particular strength in one area (like, I am not a composer, spriter, scripter, writer, or artist). I am unfamiliar with the inner workings of any major distribution platforms.

For the aesthetic, I am sure you can guess, but I am going for an early SNES feel. Kind of like this: http://rpgmaker.net/games/7196/images/ but cleaner and with a better palette (and better charsets). My ambitious plan is to remake in in MV to take advantage of that engine's latest features, but my less ambitious (ie- cheaper less time consuming) fallback plan is to release it in RM2k3. It really depends on my analysis on the marketability and anticipated returns from this very generic retro RPG.

The first step is for me to replay and assess the current Hero's Realm. I'll fix the bugs noted so far and any new ones I find, slightly tweak some of the balancing, and releast a v1.6 in the new official RM2k3. So if nothing else there's that.

I am not quitting my dayjob for this. But what kind of return would a top down retro RPG with no hook or gimmick or witty title expect, honestly? $100? $1000? $5000? $1 MILLION DOLLARS? I have decided it is worth the effort to feel it out and release v1.6 in the official RM2k3, but beyond that I am hoping you could weigh in with your advice.

Thank you for your time.

Miscellaneous

So Ziegfried_McBacon bought me the new official RM2k3...

...do you know what that means?

It means that for the first time in forever I played this game! (I am not sure why you would assume anything more than that).

Seriously, though, I have dreamed of a day of making a commercial game and releasing it, just to have the experience of doing it, y'know? And this game has always been a candidate in my mind for converting into a commercial game. At least, it is my most successful one. But... ehhh... that kind of feels... not quite sketchy, but something like that. I mean, I released this full game years ago, and to go tweak it, get custom resources, and turn around and sell it...

And for custom resources? This game uses like 75% rips and unlicensed content (music, battlers, enemies, characters, etc...). That would be a monumental cost and effort, and I don't have any money to put into that.

So I will tell you what - I will take a look through the game again, play through the game again, compile the long list of outstanding bugs and balancing issues, and we'll see if I have the moxie to release an update v1.6. A commercial version of this game is not in the cards right now.

Miscellaneous

Hero's Realm is being ripped off by another individual

It is a sad day in the gaming industry, once again, and I am writing as both a whistleblower and a pissed off indie developer.

An anonymous source (feel free to identify yourself!) has tipped me off that Hero's Realm has been stolen and posted and claimed as their own. The offender's website is here:
http://dragoscimpineanu.wix.com/hottorch

I am not foolish. There are tons of RPG games out on the market and a lot borrow ideas from each other, but this is no coincidence!


I was being a tad facetious here, and mocking a bit of the whole Roam/505games thing

Anywho, the attempt is so feeble it's comical. I am not very concerned about my own game (it's 4 years old and non-commercial anyway (plus, the rips and whatnot that I am using)), but there are also attempts to steal Homework Salesman and Reincarnation. That is genuinely upsetting! There doesn't seem to be any place to report this or appeal, so I am not sure what to do except shrug my shoulders. (I suppose I should feel flattered? I'm good enough to steal from!)



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