Ethereal Springs - A Modern-Fantasy Crossover

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

 

A Modern-Fantasy Crossover

 

Download Latest Demo (v2.1) Here

 

 

"Friends are just an escape route for those who can't handle life on their own"

-Victoria   

 

 

 

Approximate gameplay time of current demo: Approximately 2~3 hours

 

 

 

 

*Note: This game is based on a novel I am working on alongside this project. Of course, some of the elements have been changed to match a more game-like structure. If you're interested, you can read the raw story here.

 

 

Version History

 

 

 

• 02/08/2014 - v1.0 => Initial Release
• 03/08/2014 - v1.1 => Fixed a bug regarding the 'guard' command
• 04/08/2014 - v1.2 => Fixed some passability bugs; Replaced RTP audio; Fixed Random Encounters. Minor Bug Fixes.
• 03/06/2015 - v2.0 => I had stopped working on the project for a long time, but since I had most of the stuff done with, thought I'd finish up this part. So, story progressed more, more characters added, basically a complete update.
• 06/06/2015 - v2.1 => Added anti-lag script and fixed some minor issues here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raito isn't the best wizard out there. Nor does he have the self confidence to believe that he could be. However, blessed with the talents of his late grandfather, Raito begins to harness the wind elemental gifts he received from his bloodline. Following his family's footsteps, Raito joins the United World Army (UWA), an international organisation that thrives to maintain peace using the united abilities of wizards of all elemental prowesses. However, with the antagonistic forces growing ever stronger, even such a unity could prove lacking.

 

As the evil organisations grow ever closer to uncovering the secrets of the legendary Ethereal Springs, the famed fountain believed to grant unbelievable powers, the world could be on the brink of chaos. It is high time for the new generation of wizards to produce a hero who can take a stand against the inevitable.

 

Join Raito as he teams up with a mysterious woman in his own story of defiance against the dark arts, while uncovering ravishing information about his own bloodline - and that of his comrades…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raito
Age: 17
Specialty: Wind

A lazy and seemingly talentless young wizard, Raito must carry the burden of his highly respected family reputation. He doesn't believe he has anything special in him, but everyone around him thinks otherwise…



Victoria
Age: 18
Specialty: Fire

A woman of few words, Victoria is almost the polar opposite of Raito. She is well aware of her situation, and the current state of the world. She decides to take the entire burden herself, and put an end to things with her own hands…

 

 

More coming soon...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle

 

Menu

 

Puzzles

 

Minigames

 

Gameplay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Play your way through numerous amounts of puzzles.

 

Fun Minigames:

 

 

 

 

Reveal the mysteries behind all the characters.

If you liked my novel, you can have the opportunity to live through the story.

Become popular (not yet implemented in current demo).

And many more…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphics

 

 

Most of the graphics were either generated using the in-built generator or RTP edits done by me. The ones to give credit to are:

 

• RPG Maker VX Ace Futuristic Tilesets.
• Celianna's Tilesets.
• Animal Sprite credits goes to the makers of each sprite available in this post.
• System, Menu and Character Graphics from MOG's Master Demo and MOG's Monogatari (with slight edits by me) (Credits to the original creators as listed in the demos)

 

 

 

 

Audio

 

 

• "Atelier" (Title Screen Music) by Ayesha
• "-Westnote-" by Waterflame
• "Fear Factory Elite" by EliteFerrex
• "Skim" by nietzlaw
• "Ninjas Everywhere" by eatmeatleet
• "Caveman Zombies" by eatmeatleet
• "I'm Freezing" by Mawnz
• "Fishtank" by Mawnz
• "No Quarter" by McTricky
• "Eyes of the Plight" by McTricky

 

 

 

Scripts

 

 

 

Moghunter

 

 

• Chain Command
• Damage Pop Up
• YuriYuri
• Bestiary
• Text on Event
• Boss HP Meter
• Pickup and Throw
• Battle HUD
• Monogatari
• Active Battle
• Schala ATB Gauge
• Actor Picture
• Battle Result
• Battle Cursor
• Enemy HP
• Ultima HUD
• Active Timer
• Mog - Ayesha Title Screen

 

 

 

Tsukihime

 

 

 

• Map Screenshot
• Large Choices

 

 

 

 

Yanfly

 

 

• Parallax Lock
• Ace Message System
• Move Restrict Region
• Common Event Tiles
• Gab Window

 

 

 

Galv

 

 

 

• Variable Timer Functions
• Cam Control
• Use Item On Event
• Visibility Range
• Map Positions

 

 

 

 

Others

 

 

 

• Victor Engine Basic Module
• Victor Engine Diagonal Movement
• Craze Elemental Merger
• Estriole Actor Enemy
• Khas Self Switches
• Event Offset by V.M. of D.T.
• Shaz Simple Diagonal Movement
• Shaz Remember Event Positions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Softwares

 

 

 

• Enterbrain RPG Maker VX Ace
• Paintshop Pro 8
• PaintTool Sai
• Cooltext.com
• Character Machine by Erangot of DeviantArt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recruitment for this project is currently open. Any sort of help will be greatly appreciated. If you're interested, feel free to PM me.

I will accept any sort of aid provided. Those that I especially need are:

-Map Artists
-Graphic Artists (Those who can create battler graphics and others of the sort)
-People who can help me balance parameters

Any help will be greatly appreciated

P.S. I'd also be really grateful if you'd check out my book too

 

Edited June 12, 2015 by Naveed_Ashfaq

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

This is NOT a bump. Just wanted to let everyone know that I updated the demo. There was a major bug with the guard command so I had to fix that.

 

While on that note, I would really like some feedback on my project. I need to know what's going right and what's not. Perhaps a review or some criticism would help me greatly. I'm looking for full honesty, no matter how harsh

[pencilcase27 66]

Hi, after your other topic I got interested and played your demo. I'm warnig you, you asked for an honest oppinion, and that's what you get. I'm not the guy who plays a game and writes a whole rewiev just to make you feel bad, but I'm not Mr. nice guy either I have good intentions, but maybe harsh words.

 

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

 

 

The first thing I tried in your game was looking at the bunch of papers on your desk - and I was dissapointed. It doesnt has to be much, just a small line, maybe sth like "Ugh, don't remember me of my due homework, please..." The mirror could give you two different responses, too, based upon if you're dressed or not.

There is sooooo much free awesome music out there. Just take a look at newgrounds. There is no need to use the basic rtp music. Most of your players will have heared this music over and over and over...

After you arrive to the UWA the first time, you can walk through your fathers car. that looks funny

All the roadblocks/guards in the building use the same line of text. Thats boring.

Lord Saruman, really?

Your character picture is over your enemys hp gauge so you can't see it.

If you press the sprint button and then talk to something, you can skip the text by accident.

Is there anyone out there who likes timers? Anyway, its an RPG, so give me something to discover. Behind the lion in the biology minigame. After he vanishes. Is that a mouse hole? Is that a hidden potion? Uh, awesome.

The math minigame is really bad. Like, really bad. The controlls are not explained, the timer is to short and anywas, is there anyone who multiplys 83x65 for fun? Im playing your game for fun, not because I need to waste some time, I have 9gag and DotA for that .

The football game is a nice Idea, but it's just too random and sudden. Why is there a football field anyway?

The pictures made with Facemaker 1 are awesome, why don't you use them for your characters, too? Victoria looks so sweet in your thread and in the menue and all, but so... sorry... ugly in the textboxes.

Then I enterer the woods. I'm going to quote myself here...
'Non linear maps + unavoidable random encounter = DEATH OF ALL JOY'
You can't walk ten steps without them there. I almost quit at that point, and when your testplayers wants to quit, thats a bad sign...

Why does this girl knows so much about me? And if I win the fight against her, it's a cheap move to make me lose anyway.

 

 

Your game feels just all over the place. It's like you went to any site with scripts and just implemented every interesting script you found without thinking about, if this is really what you need. The best example is the quicktime event to use your wind slash out of combat. Why do you need this?

 

Sit down. Ask your self: what is my game about? What do I want it to be? Do I want an engaging battle system? Do I want to tell a story. And once you found an answer to that question, focus on that part. Because so far, this is a bunch of minigames in a really interresitng setup with the most annoying usage of random encounters I have ever seen. Oh, and a beautifull menu. God, this looks good.

 

Well ,thats my oppinion, I'm sorry if I offended you somehow, as I said that was not my intention. I rant because I care

I think the story has potential, and I like the "future with magic"-setting. Make something good out of it!

 

Edit: Facemaker 1 is the best thing since sliced bread and I reward you with 15 Internet Cookies for showing it to me. Thanks

Edited August 3, 2014 by pencilcase27

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

@pencilcase27 I appreciate your feedback. I mean, there can't be a game without some flaws, right? Especially when it's an initial release . And without some honest opinion like your's, it isn't really possible to fix these flaws. I thank you whole heartedly  .

 

I already started working to fix some of these bugs. Will update v1.2 soon

 

And a note on the over-usage of scripts. I actually hand picked the scripts to use. Some of them may seem redundant or useless in the current demo, but they'll have a greater importance later. So I was actually thinking ahead when choosing what to implement on my game. But thanks for that note anyway

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

Alright uploaded v1.2!

 

Changes:

 

 

 

 

• Added events to make the game more interactive.
• Replaced RTP audio.
• Fixed passability issues.
• Enemy HP gauge now above character picture so that it is visible.
• You cannot accidentally skip through text.
• Made Math minigame much more easier. Will replace it if I receive more negative feedback.
• Random encounters now much more tolerable.
• Changed the last event so that it wouldn't be so wierd 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that's enough polishing the first demo. Time to move on with the story

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

Updated the OP and added a Gameplay Trailer. You can watch it if you want

 

P.S. I can see a lot of people have downloaded the demo. However, the feedback I'm receiving is not enough for me to progress much further. I will accept any form of criticism, just so I can know my faults. Thanks

[*NightWolf687* 3]

Just watched the trailer, your game looks incredible.

I am downloading the Beta as of now.

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

Glad you liked the trailer 

 

I'll look forward to what you think about the game 

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Unlocking at OP's request

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

***UPDATE***

 

So I haven't touched this project in a LONG time (9 months to be accurate) and thought of abandoning it. But then I realised I had most of the materials, maps, events etc done for the second demo when I last worked on it, so I thought of giving it that last push, cleared some major bugs, and basically cleaned up the whole game and added more story material.

 

So, Ethereal Springs v2.0 has been uploaded! The OP has been updated with the link to the new demo. The game should be approximately 2 hours upto now.

 

I'm open for any sort of criticism. Please feel free to say anything you want.

 

Thanks

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

*UPDATE*
Demo v2.1 uploaded!

 

Added an anti-lag script since the game was lagging quite a bit. Also fixed some minor issues here and there.

 

OP updated with new link.

[LordSquirrel 150]

Just a brief observation on the trailer. Having it at such a low frame rate is really going to turn several people off. I don't know if it's your computer's problem, or the recording software, but I would go back and try to fix it.

[Naveed_Ashfaq 11]

@LordSquirrel Thanks for the input. I'll work on a new trailer, since this one was made a long time ago and so I wasn't really that good at this kind of stuff. I am better now, so hopefully the next one will be much better

 

As of now, I temporarily took the gameplay trailer down from the OP. Will upload a new one soon...