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- Introduction -

Karma Flow – the Prototype is a Noir Open-Stealth game made with RPG Maker 2003 for a Short Game Contest held last year by an italian community. The game was developed in a month and a half.
As the subtitle implies, this is only a prototype for the real chapters which I'm working on right now.

Both the English and Italian version are now available for download!

The player takes on the role of the Meat Hunter Florien Kealborn, an hired hit. Throughout the five episodes that define the whole game experience, the player is tasked with the assassination of specific targets or is given specific mission objectives to carry out.

All of this must be done without alerting the Karma, a new and strange phenomenon that works under the "eye for an eye" principle.
He who kills dies the same way.

The player has complete freedom over the course of action. You can decide where to kill your target, when and how. However, all of this must be done without alerting the Karma. If you do, Florien will suffer the same death as her victim!
This requires you to find alternatives to direct kills.


- Synopsis -

After a devastating war, the country of Hardnam began to face a major economical and financial crisis, having been "confined" by the countries that won the conflict and being unable to trade or having any kind of relationships with the other countries.
This all changed after the crime families took control of Hardnam.
Soon, criminal activities became the main source of profit, the one thing that made the country survive the crisis.

However, a new and strange phenomenon started to spread across all of Hardnam after having made its first manifestation in the capital of Rolsara. No one knows exactly what it is.
The only things that is known is that it responds to the "eye for an eye" principle.
Killing means being killed, stealing means being robbed, etcetera, etcetera.

This "anomaly" has been called Karma.

Florien Kealborn is one of Rolsara's best Meat Hunters, an assassin, currently broke and without a job because of the Karma.
Since it's nearly impossible for her to find an honest job due to Hardnam's current condition, Flo decides to risk it:
the only way is to trick the Karma and get back to business.


- Characters descriptions -




Florien Kealborn
Age: 24
Occupation: Former member of the Old Major Organization
Description: Considered to be, by herself mostly, one of the most lethal assassins Rolsara has ever saw. She began working as a hired hit for the Eathan family when she was only thirteen, for unknown reasons. Daughter of Kenneth Kealborn, last boss of the Kealborn family and sister of Marien and Klerika Kealborn. Even though she is an extremely good-looking and sensual female, she's a bit of a "tomboy". She is tough, egocentric, sarcastic and can be really cold and ruthless on the job. However she is friendly and caring towards her closest friends, which aren't a lot, mostly her former colleagues. She's a heavy smoker and usually drinks a lot. She is extremely agile and athletic.



Chris Kaleido
Age
: 26
Occupation: Former member of the Old Major Organization
Description: Chris was a brilliant Project Engineer and worked for a very important company before it had to be closed due to what the conflict caused. He ended up without a job and without any money as he had to spend most of his fortune to help her mother overcome severe illness. She eventually died. Chris decided to use his very last foundings to create a small criminal activity and began his career as an hacker, hacking bank accounts and security devices mostly. He eventually draw Don Borkus' attention, which offered him a job in his crime family. Soon after, he left the family and joined the Old Major Organization instead. He was the "mind" behind the Organization, helping Florien and the other hired guns with their preparations before a murder. Chris is a very intelligent and composed individual and always manages to make rational decisions in no time. He, however, lacks the "ruthlessness" and all the other "qualities" that are standard among hired hits, so he never does any "field works" and always stays behind the scenes. He has a really deep friendly relationship with Flo, and respects Old Major a lot. He's a smoker, just like Flo, although not as an heavy smoker as her.



Old Major
Age: 63
Occupation: Former leader of the Old Major Organization
Description: A lot can be said about Old Major, from his many successes in the underworld business to the many allies he made among the other crime families. But there is little to none explanation about his personal info and his past. He was the leader of the well-known Old Major Organization. Most of the time he is silent and speaks only if is absolutely necessary. Florien and Chris always have a hard time remember the last time he smiled or showed any kind of emotion. He appreciates Chris' professionalism a lot but despises Florien's careless and unrespectful behaviour although he simply tries to let it slide. He dreams of expanding his organization and make it the most wanted service for criminals in need.



Marty Rivers
Age
: 31
Occupation: Former Machinegun Kingdom's celebrity spokesperson
Description: Everyone knows Marty Rivers! And everyone knows Machinegun Kingdom, the number one weapons and other kind of equipment supplier in all of Rolsara. Marty served as Machinegun Kingdom's celebrity spokesperson and always appeared in all of its commercials along with his girls who he refers to as his "Sexorgeous Chicks". With the manifestation of the Karma, most criminal activities ceased to exist aswell as Machinegun Kingdom, resulting in Marty Rivers losing his job. Marty's a very annoying and irritating kind of guy, always going nuts when surrounded by women. He was very popular among Machinegun Kingdom's followers because of his ridicolous and funny gags, even though he's convinced that his charm made him popular. He has a lot of connections among criminals and suppliers.


- Features -

  • Five episodes, and sub-quests, that gives you complete freedom.
  • Complete non-linear experience. Decide when, how and where. Study the game's map, the enemies movements, decide the mission's time of day, listen in on enemies conversations, set up traps... How to carry out the mission is completely up to you!
  • A noir-themed story and atmosphere with uncommon twists.
  • Four difficulty levels, in order to make the game accessible to anyone.
  • Ranking system for each episode.
  • Various extras, original artworks included.


Latest Blog

Sequel Announced!

Forgot to post a blog about it in here as well.

Karma Flow 2 - Steel Skin is now in development and its gameprofile page is up: https://rpgmaker.net/games/9472/
Have a look!

Thanks to anyone who followed and played this game. I hope you will find interest in its sequel.

See ya all and stay tuned!

Posts

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OldPat
OrudoPatto, kisama!
5107
author=Arknark
So I made an account here just to find out what the song that you used in the trailer was... I used Shazam but that didn't work :)


Hi Arknark!
No problem, I can share!
The musics I've used are:
King Deluxe by Bows in the first seconds of the trailer:
https://youtu.be/tQHTGKBw4l8

And Sun Electric by Bows in the remaining minutes:
https://youtu.be/APhOLVywDts

Have you played the game yet? There are other good ones in there :)
author=OldPat
author=Arknark
So I made an account here just to find out what the song that you used in the trailer was... I used Shazam but that didn't work :)
Hi Arknark!
No problem, I can share!
The musics I've used are:
King Deluxe by Bows in the first seconds of the trailer:
https://youtu.be/tQHTGKBw4l8

And Sun Electric by Bows in the remaining minutes:
https://youtu.be/APhOLVywDts

Have you played the game yet? There are other good ones in there :)


Thank you so much! And I have not yet, but I will check it out when I can! It looks pretty awesome indeed :)
Dragnfly
Beta testers!? No, this game needs a goddamn exorcist!
1809
It was a long time ago, but I think I thought it was all original up until I got to the final level and it had a song I actually knew... which was from a specific event in a then-Japanese-only MMO. I can't tell if that's cultured or uncultured of me.
Finished playing it, and it's been one of my best experiences with a RM game in a while, even though I'm quite indifferent to the genre. Congratulations.
OldPat
OrudoPatto, kisama!
5107
author=Zorga
Finished playing it, and it's been one of my best experiences with a RM game in a while, even though I'm quite indifferent to the genre. Congratulations.


T.T
Wow!

You don't know how happy I am to read this coming from you, Zorga!

I'm really, really glad you enjoyed it THAT much! And I'm now stupidly happy. Like you have no idea. XD

Thank you for playing my game! :)

The second game better be good.
E x p e c t a t i o n s .
OldPat
OrudoPatto, kisama!
5107
author=Zorga
The second game better be good.
E x p e c t a t i o n s .


It will! I won't disappoint you!

News coming soon! :)
I loved this game. 5 stars but what does it mean, The Prototype??????
OldPat
OrudoPatto, kisama!
5107
author=Dr_Imp
I loved this game. 5 stars but what does it mean, The Prototype??????


Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it, Dr Imp! :)

"The Prototype"... yeah, I should've not called it that, it makes things very confusing. xD

I've called the game "The Prototype" because this was just a prototype for the real Karma Flow, in the beginning. Consider its sequel, Tears of a Ghost, to be a much more "definitive" experience than this one, basically.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
So! Gave this a bit of a whirl on Easy because I suck at stealth games. I still kinda want to get back to playing, but, this is a really well put together game! I must admit, Mission 2, and maybe needing to buy info for the target, felt overwhelming for what little resources I had carried over from Mission 1. However, it does appear that replaying missions for additional resources is possible, and I appreciate that.

I think the only issues I really had about this game are effectively personal nitpicks. Like, okay, the game's credits has this list of music sources the game pulls from, but, the actual music directory shows few signs of where things are actually from. I couldn't help to notice the rips from Terranimga that were not specifically credited in the credits file, but, at least there was an indication in the file-names, themselves.



As something of a trivial aside (that I think might be appreciated), my head started having Chris speaking like Christopher Randolph and Old Major speaking like Paul Eiding.
OldPat
OrudoPatto, kisama!
5107
author=Marrend
So! Gave this a bit of a whirl on Easy because I suck at stealth games. I still kinda want to get back to playing, but, this is a really well put together game! I must admit, Mission 2, and maybe needing to buy info for the target, felt overwhelming for what little resources I had carried over from Mission 1. However, it does appear that replaying missions for additional resources is possible, and I appreciate that.

I think the only issues I really had about this game are effectively personal nitpicks. Like, okay, the game's credits has this list of music sources the game pulls from, but, the actual music directory shows few signs of where things are actually from. I couldn't help to notice the rips from Terranimga that were not specifically credited in the credits file, but, at least there was an indication in the file-names, themselves.



As something of a trivial aside (that I think might be appreciated), my head started having Chris speaking like Christopher Randolph and Old Major speaking like Paul Eiding.



OOOOOOOOOOOOOH * _ *
Credits, uh? You finished it oooor... ? :]
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
No, I haven't finished it, but, I have replayed Mission 1 for a bit more wiggle room in regards to cash-monies, and am in the middle of Mission 2. I'm kinda scratching my head at Mission 2 for...


I manage to indirectly kill the target with explosive barrels, and get a cut-scene when Florien dies. The game does include a prompt to "GET UP", along with the typical Game Over selections. I kinda suspect a case of "But Thou Must!" where the "GET UP" selection will just repeat the same message, and return players to the Game Over prompt. However, I can't entirely shake the sensation that selecting it a certain number of times might continue with the game?


...various reasons.
OldPat
OrudoPatto, kisama!
5107
author=Marrend
No, I haven't finished it, but, I have replayed Mission 1 for a bit more wiggle room in regards to cash-monies, and am in the middle of Mission 2. I'm kinda scratching my head at Mission 2 for...


I manage to indirectly kill the target with explosive barrels, and get a cut-scene when Florien dies. The game does include a prompt to "GET UP", along with the typical Game Over selections. I kinda suspect a case of "But Thou Must!" where the "GET UP" selection will just repeat the same message, and return players to the Game Over prompt. However, I can't entirely shake the sensation that selecting it a certain number of times might continue with the game?


...various reasons.


Your feelings are correct!
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
Just played Karma Flow on stream for the first time, and I gotta say, it's really impressive! To see OldPat stretch the 2k3 engine like this to create dynamic stealth missions, with lots of non-linearity and side missions that you have to complete... it's total vibe! OldPat's sense for the dramatic, for creating vibes through music, graphics and story beats put in the right places, makes this a real treat to play.

The gameplay was confusing to me at first, but I think after a while I started to understand. It took me a while to understand how missions, sub-quests, getting notice via "Alerts" and all these things contribute to your overall "Karma Score", and how that contributes to whether you get "clues in game" and stuff. It's a very complex system, and I like that it exists! It's unique and I think I can count on my hand the number of RPG Maker games that use systems that are this complex, that are of the developer's own design (I assume! If it's directly pulled from other games, then I simply haven't played enough non-linear stealth games, then, have I? *sweat face*)

But the gameplay was very challenging, especially the final stage. The cover system was very punishing also! It's well worth the ride, particularly for OldPat's storytelling abilities and the game's general vibe and atmosphere - it's constructed really well. I think that with OldPat's successive games - PSYCHE Locke and The Lady Puppet, OldPat's ability to ease players into the game's experience have only improved with time. I feel like with Karma Flow, there was a massive text tutorial at the start that I caught maybe 40% of, but then had to learn the other 60% just by experimenting. I've found that I learn best as a player if the game teaches me one mechanic at a time, generally speaking. But once I got the mechanics down, it was a lot of fun. I might even return to 100% it!

Looking forward to whatever Karma Flow 2 brings. <3
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