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Title: The Darkans
Game engine : RPG-Maker XP (Zeus81's version)
Genre : A-RPG, dark fantasy
Status : Cancelled
Dates : 2008 (first project, using RM 2003) / October 2015 ~ Today (new project)
Demo's length : 1~2 hour
Languages available : French / English

Unfortunately, this project has been cancelled so I can dedicate my whole spare time for another (even better!) project that I will soon submit here. I will however add a link to the demo of the cancelled game!

To sum up, it's a Zelda-like A-RPG with a gloomy/macabre atmosphere, yet cartoonish too.
I'm trying to give it the same ambience as those dark fantasies (Coraline, Frankenweenie, etc.) and it that sense I don't hesitate to use as many Halloween clichés as possible.





Dunkel is the last survivor of its kind, a Darkans.
This is a human-looking creature that has the ability to devour Demon souls. Demons on the other hand prey on humans.
Gregor, a human villager, adopted him as he was still a baby, therefore he grew up amongst them. Once grown-up, that young adventurer decides to visit the rest of the world that he has never seen.
He leaves on his own as the outside is too dangerous for humans. He will discover a world in distress where thousands of people are eaten by Demons every day. He will then swear to protect the humans and will learn more about the origin of Demons and their king, Maoh, whom he will end up fighting and killing to lift the curse upon his world.

The scenario is simple on purpose so I can take more liberties concerning the gameplay, then the player can experience different things and have more fun.

ATTENTION : SPOILER THAT SHALL NOT BE READ IF YOU LIKE TO DISCOVER SECRETS WHILE PLAYING.

The game is basically separated in 6 chapters, 5 bosses, 5 Star fragments and 5 ultimate souls.

Each boss killed will give you one star fragment and one ultimate soul.
Once the 5 star fragments are collected, the hero will be able to open the Door of the abyss and enter the last zone to fight Maoh.
The ultimate souls are meant to help you go through some areas. There are

1: Dodge, allows you to dodge a blow by stepping one tile back.
2: Jump, allows you to jump on or over some obstacles.
3: Holy Walk, allows you to walk on water.
4: Run, allows you to move faster.
5: Double Jump, allows you to jump a second time in mid-air.




BATTLE SYSTEM :

It is an ABS made almost exclusively in events, but with a bit of script too.
The monsters A.I. has been carefully worked on, and many cool effects have been added to them so the fights are always dynamic.

BASICS

It is a pretty classic system. The hero has 5 statistics:
,
,
,
et
.
- Hearts represent your character's health. You lose them everytime you're hit. When you lose all of them, he's dead.
- Stars represent your character's energy. You lose them each time you use a skill.
- Crosses represent your character's control. A certain amount of them is necessary to equip some souls, and they are used each time you equip a soul and given back when you unequip it.
- Power represents the damage your character gives. You start at 0, and can increase it with your gear.
- Defense reduces the damage your character receives. You start at 0, and can increase it with your gear.

Monstres only have three of these stats:
,
et
.

EXPERIENCE

The level-up system is inspired from the first two Paper Mario :
- The expérience needed to level up is fixed at 100 points throughout the game, and the experience points that monsters give you decrease progressively while your level gets high.
- When you level up, you get a stat choice, where you can choose amongst 5 Hearts, 5 Stars or 1 Cross.
- For now, the maximum level is fixed at 50. Depending on the game's final length, I might change it to 99.


SOULS :

It's a system borrowed from some Castlevania games (Aria and Dawn of Sorrow).
Each non-static monster has a unique soul, which the hero can drop each time he kills it.

The unlocked souls can be equipped from the Soulset. There are three kinds of them :

Active Souls : unlocks a Skill, that you equip with Crosses and costs Stars when you use it.
Passive Souls : unlocks a Capacity, that you equip with Crosses and works constantly.
Ultimate Souls : unlocks an Asset, that you don't need to equip since it's constantly working as soon as you kill the boss.


MAPS :


There's a Zelda-like transition system : the player moves from one screen to another. The world is therefore cut in Zones, that are themselves cut in screens.
There are for the moment two zones 100% playable in game :

Mount Ansicht
Kurbis Village


The monsters respawn when you leave their zone. They are fully healed and teleported back when you leave their screen.


MENU :

This menu is 100% homemade in events. It's brought to the player as a grimoire that he can use to manage :

- His Status (main page)
- His Soulset (locked)
- His Inventory
- His Maps (locked)
- His Options

The Soulset is unlocked quite early during the game, but not at the very beginning. The hero must learn how to tame souls.




Now if you find it interesting, wait for the screenshots :

Introduction scene



Cemetary



Level-up



Inventory Menu



Hilda's



Animated gif



And there is a beta-test video from a friend :


(French-speaking !)



= Download

Right now, there is no public demo. You can try and ask me if you reaaaally want to test it, but I highly recommand you wait for the first chapter to be completed, as your gaming experience will be so much better then.




I really want to thank all those without whom this project wouldn't exist today.

First of all, thanks to following softwares :

- RPG Maker XP
- GIMP
- Audacity

A huuuuge thank to Zeus81 whose scripts (AMS Ultimate / Configuration de touche) and demo of his game Ark of Gladoria have been of great help for me as much as a great inspiration.
The samy way, I want to thank Roi of the Suisse whose project Kujira no Hara have been a great inspiration for my battle system too.

A huge thank to Inquisitor for his graphic resources, and to Derek & Brandon Fiechter for their excellent music work.

Finally, thanks to all my beta-testers who have been helping me find countless hilarious glitches :
- Nova_Proxima
- Freazyx
- People you don't know

That's it. I hope I haven't forget anyone (oh yeah, sriden for the presentation model
).

Thanks to the Oniromancie and FAMAS communities too !


Latest Blog

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  • Cancelled
  • NanakyTim
  • RPG Maker XP
  • Action Adventure RPG
  • 02/23/2017 12:38 AM
  • 09/20/2018 03:49 PM
  • 01/01/2050
  • 12010
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Posts

Pages: 1
Souscrit!

J'avais vu les screens sur le forum. L'ambiance a vraiment l'air excellente!
Thanks :D

I plan on releasing the first chapter within two-three months !
I also saw the gifs in the screenshot forum. This looks great! Love the atmosphere, and love that it's an A-RPG; simply isn't enough of those around these parts. subbed.
Pages: 1