Project Maze (a game about love, loss and eating your enemies)

[RAM 9]

Abstract: Project Maze is, in a nutshell, a dungeon crawler with lots of maze and puzzle elements. I'd like to think that I've created a unique enough twist with this genre to keep it interesting.

Genre: puzzler/dungeon crawler

 

Game Progression:

Half of the first part complete. I'm going to do no more than two or three parts, making this project about 16.6% to about 25% complete. I may add one or two more scripts after the game is done, but nothing to change the mechanics. I'll think about how to change the music and what I might like to edit with the visual elements at that point as well.

 

Recruitment:

I'm not officially recruiting, but I'm open to anyone that wants to add something special to this project. Basically, anyone can recruit themselves if they're interested. As well, I'm open to any suggestions and critical feedback. If you like what I've done please feel free to use any part of this project for your own, just remember to give credit to the same good folks that I've given credit to if you use any of their stuff. I don't need credit for any of my stuff.

Story / Setting / Purpose:
The setting is abstract, set mostly in dark, dreamlike landscapes and scenes. The story is set up to be like the setting, the main character is plunged into a dark world of mazes and puzzles. The protagonist finds that he has to eat others that are lost in this world to stay alive, stealing their identities and collecting their souls as a kind of currency. But, despite his being something of a monster he develops a number of allies to help him on his way. Escaping the maze is his main goal.

 

Any and all critical feedback is welcome! I feel like I'm still just scraping the surface of what Ace is capable of.

Demo
Non-RTP demo - for those with VX Ace (13MB) - http://www.mediafire.com/download/05ao8mejz333wcl/Project_Maze_demo_(non-RTP).exe
RTP included demo - for those without VX Ace (200MB) - http://www.mediafire.com/download/c6ebip2wit27bd9/Project_Maze_demo(2).exe

Character Bios:

Eater: The protagonist. He takes on the body and mind of those he consumes, gaining their skills and power through equipable tattoos. His personality and memories also change with each meal.

Fairy: A fairy who's real name Flutter Princess, a name that the protagonist ignores. She's a little dim, but physically tough, dual wielding battle axes with ease. Because of her innate magical talent she starts off mostly as support, but early on she can still do a good amount of damage between healing spells. Adding to her relationship boosts wind elemental skills.

Boss: An angel who's a nameless Metatron. He's also the main antagonist that sets Eater on his journey.

Sway: An elven healer. She's cunning and manipulative. Her weapon of choice is a pair of steel toed boots. She's the wife of the first character that Eater devours. Adding to her relationship boosts most fire elemental skills.

 

Credits:

Graphic Battlers:

Gut at httplud.sakura.ne.jp (I've used none by the artist yet, but I plan on pulling a few from here)
Magellan at cyanyurikago.web.fc2.com (flatwoods, gool02, han, leraje, and tokushubutai used so far)

Scripts:

 

Restore After Battle 1.2 by V.M of D.T
Simple Gold Hud by XAIL

Mouse System by Jet10985(Jet)

A fix for Yanfly's Battle Engine by Archeia

Scripts by Tsukihime:
- Tile Swap
- End Phase Triggers
- Custom Event Triggers
- Custom Page Conditions
- Equipable Limits
- Overlay Maps
- Overlay Map Zoom

Scripts by Yanfly:

- Ace Core Engine
- Ace Equip Engine v1.06
- Battle Command List v1.09b

- Enemy HP Bars

- Enemy Target Info

- Battle Command List

- Slippery Tiles

- Ace Save Engine

- Ace Item Menu

- System Options

- Command Window Icons

 

Scripts by Victor Sant:
- Basic Module
- Anti Lag
- Fixed Parallax

Additionally, I used the large Iconset compilation by Mudducky with additional credits from it's creators:
- Whitecat at http://whitecafe.sak...p/material.html"]http://whitecafe.sak...p/material.html
- Kaduki at http://usui.moo.jp/rpg_icon.html"]http://usui.moo.jp/rpg_icon.html
- Tim Wendorf / Urbansquall at http://www.gamepoetr...graphics-sheet/"]http://www.gamepoetr...graphics-sheet/
- Counterclockwise at http://ccw.blog.shinobi.jp/"]http://ccw.blog.shinobi.jp/
- Enterbrain Icons at http://www.rpgmakerv...?showtopic=5576
- Nintendo
- Square Enix
- and with additional cooperation from GrandmaDeb, zbdarkflame & SBS at http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=9014
- and Twilight, SD-Arius at http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....showtopic=19808 and http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....showtopic=18442

I used the Future-Joy Tilesets: Compiled and edited by joy from the following sources: Nomicom, Enterbrain, Shiro, Kaduki.

If I'm leaving anyone out, please let me know! I'm new to all of this, so I hope you'll forgive me for any errors in these credits. Before I forget, thanks also to Mihel for the post on changing floor damage. I used that mini-script that he posted in here. To fully give credit I'd have to post all the core members on this site. I've learned a lot since I started coming here.

Screenshots:

Exploration and interesting scenes are a big part of this project.

It's all about the relationships.

Don't get lost! It really is a maze.

Spike traps! Buttons! Treasure! O my!

War isn't as big a theme as I want diplomacy to be.

 

History

 

5/9/13 - Initial upload of demo. Just started the project!
7/8/13 - Demo with current progress uploaded. Still a lot to do!
7/24/13 - Updated demo with current progress. Lots of editing and bugs fixed. Coming to the end of the first stage. Added another companion to the group. So many puzzles, so little time.

7/29/13 - Updated demo. Deleted a script that was causing crashes. Edited a lot. Added a script.

7/30/13 - Took some time to integrate a lot more scripts mostly by Yanfly to make the game more esthetically pleasing. No game changers really.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2013 by RAM

[JesseO 40]

I'm downloading your demo now, Is this strictly RTP? How long have you been working on this?

Edited June 29, 2013 by JesseO

[RAM 9]

I'm downloading your demo now, Is this strictly RTP? How long have you been working on this?

Sorry, I didn't even think about offering both an RTP and non-RTP upload, which just shows how new I am. I haven't been working on this project for long, although it's more of a learning project than anything serious, so I'm not sure if I'll ever really finish. Sorry for the delay in the reply, it looks like I skipped a month while I've been busy with other projects.

 

Thanks for the post. It's inspiring to see that there might be some interest in this game idea. I'll make sure to upload another file with my next update and add dates on the project's history. Thanks for the feedback! Every bit helps! XD

Edited July 9, 2013 by RAM