Ad Lucem

[KainLightsworn 63]

... *pokes head out of bullrushes* So it's time for everyone's favorite announcement... That of further production delays. *canned "YAY~" sound effect*

 

I hate doing this to you all. You have no idea how much I wish I could have stuck to my production schedule. Those little week/two week bumps were nothing before, and now, it seems like I can't get any more than one location in one area done.

 

There are a lot of personal factors that could be feeding into this. I'm spoiling them out for the sake of those who don't want to hear the rambling.

 

 

I've been starting a new job and adjusting to the demands it makes of me. It being a service-oriented position and me being an introvert, such a job is tremendously draining on my energy. By the time I get home, my ability to do much more than take a nap or level in a game is pretty well shot.

 

I've also been short my meds for the past two weeks due to financial issues. This has had the effect of completely and utterly wrecking my sleep cycle and preventing me from being able to use that forced awake time at night to any productive means. I've sat there at 3am wondering why I'm looking up random things on YouTube instead of game-developing, then as soon as I boot up RPG Maker, I am reminded just how tired I actually am.

 

My passion for the project has not died in the least. If it had, I'd likely feel little shame or remorse in just letting it die off and go into the pile like so many other projects of mine over the years. Instead, I feel awful each time I set a goal, set a deadline, expect the next chunk to be done by then, and end up not meeting it. Working on this game always used to relieve my stress. I'd use dead time at old jobs to plot out and plan things, even draft up NPC conversations and come up with what should be in the shops. Every aspect of this whole process used to be entertaining.

 

Now it feels like I'm fighting with myself to get even one NPC conversation done to a satisfactory degree.

 

I could just say 'eff it', put in some half-ass effort in order to just have it DONE with already and leave it there until I get my energy back. I could remove the branching/random NPC dialogues, the interactive objects in the environment, the lore books, all of it, and just focus in on the plot. I could, but I won't. Because I feel like all of you who have stuck with me thus far deserve more than that. You all, who have been so loving, so supportive of this dinky revival of a composer's second RPG Maker game, deserve so much more than a forced-out-just-to-have-product-out demo.

 

Let it be said that I have no intention of letting this project die. I will fight with all that is in me to keep this thing alive. Even if I'm working at a glacial pace. Even if I can only get two NPC dialogues done a day, I intend to still be doing something. Too many other people have put their time and effort into this for me to let it fall now. But I can no longer deny the feeling of sheer burnout I've had over the past few weeks.

 

 

As I didn't post this update so you could hear me make excuses, allow me to say this: September 31st will be the absolute latest this next segment is posted. That gives me well over a month and a half. What I have left could easily have been done in a week or two in the early days of the project. This deadline should be generous enough that it gives me a chance to breathe, to think things over, to re-evaluate some mechanics-related decisions, and to proceed with a clear head.

[Tsarmina 2,610]

I'm sorry you've been having trouble with your project! Don't worry though; I think you're absolutely right in thinking making a good product is worth much more than releasing some half-completed messy one just to meet a deadline. After all, you set the deadline, so you have rights to change it.  

 

IRL issues suck most of the time, so don't be too down about having to adjust to everything. I hope you feel better soon, as sleep is so important. ^u^ Best of luck and September 31 will be a day it all turns around!~

[KainLightsworn 63]

Hey there folks. =_= I come to this thread with extremely distressing news. 

 

My laptop, on which were all the files I had for this game project, became infected by over 3500 viruses. The only way to save it is by a full factory reset. I recently got a new desktop, on which I have Steam, so I still have VX Ace, however...

 

All the data for this game has been lost. Scripts, sprites, music, artwork, writing. All of it.

 

Part of me was tempted to just throw in the towel. But I love this project too much to let it die an undignified death like this.

 

So, out of the ashes of destruction, we shall rise. I'm starting over. From the ground up. Re-evaluating my story, my characters, my mechanics. Doing all the art myself. Concept, sprites, maps, all of it. Doing all the music myself, just as I was before. I will also be taking great pains to try to learn Ruby so that I might even be able to script the whole damned thing on my own. (Or else, I may well seek a collaborative partner who knows how to script so that I can see my dreams for this thing properly realized.)

 

I'm doing stats tables for everything. Every character, every enemy. Every boss. I am going to make this game balanced.

 

This whole situation sucks, but it's made me realize just how desperately I needed a fresh set of eyes on this project. I needed this fresh start.

 

So. If you see nothing but concept art for a while, it's because that's all I can properly do right now and post while I work on writing out/rewriting character information. ^^"

 

AND BELIEVE ME, I HAVE REPENTED MY FORGETTING TO BACK UP SINS. WE ARE GONNA HAVE LIKE FIVE BACKUPS FOR THIS THING.

[Tarq 741]

I'm sorry to hear about this, you'd worked very hard on this.

Since you're using the Steam version of Ace you might not have lost as much as you think. I believe it has some sort of cloud autosaving backup jazz that you have to actively turn off. So, give it a looksee, hopefully you'll get lucky

[KainLightsworn 63]

*pokes head back in*

 

*goes in the corner to bust some dust bunnies*

 

https://soundcloud.com/kainalexander/sets/ad-lucem-remaster

 

Just dropping this off here, don't mind me. Just showing I'm still alive. ^^

[KainLightsworn 63]

All righty, time to visit the thread with another announcement. Production on Ad Lucem is moving along, albeit slowly. I've been doing some tileset edits, trying to get my characters all set up and their sprites sized up, so mostly graphical work right now.

 

In addition, I've been working on some concept art for various characters, so I'll just drop it all off here. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KainLightsworn 63]

SO. *busts dust bunnies... again* HERE WE ARE.

 

6 months later and... not... much... has happened... Work eats my life. CONSUMES it. BUT. I have found time to generate new sprites. SO. Here we are. New sprite style.

 

    

 

PICTURED ABOVE: Your first four party members... feat. King Anselm because I didn't have a better spot for him. Also the Four Grand Paladins, who might be mildly important.

ALSO. While I did in fact find a salvageable copy of the old game (!!!), I still feel like the best recourse is to pull a scrap and start from scratch. MAINLY because I still have a LOT to learn about game design. But also because I'm remaking the game with a Tactical Battle System. I feel like doing that without a full army at your command would make for a very interesting challenge! (Also my love for/obsession with the Fire Emblem series now is hard to beat.)

 

SO. Instead of going back to where I was and trying to resume progress on the old project. I am going to be doing a Let's Play/MST3k style riff of it to give the old version one last send off before I do the demolition/reconstruction. So stay tuned for that!

[PowerBurger 49]

Hey, not too shabby there! Have any new sketches of the characters?

 

(I'm very sorry to hear about your loss of data.  )

Edited June 25, 2017 by PowerBurger

[KainLightsworn 63]

Well my biggest thing I've been practicing lately is creating my own animations! The big dream is for full animated cutscenes at plot important points, as well as a good ol' animu style intro. So here's some samples of my vague practices on that, haha!

 

  

 

 

And the Let's Play can be found here!

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by KainLightsworn

[PowerBurger 49]

The animation looks pretty good! I like the improvement, heh. It's definitely better than anything I can do.

 

While I don't believe I'll be watching the LP soon, as I'm getting ready for AX, I'll check it out whenever I get some free time!

[Radiant Arin 412]

Hmm, looking back on it now, I realized there was a lot of stuff I missed when I first played the game, including all the special interactions including talking to cupboards and learning about bread.

 

I think it's admirable that you're looking back now and deciding to make your project better. Most people quit after their initial attempt flops, but props to you for sticking with it. Maybe I'll be able to get past the first boss this time around, ehh? -.^

 

Also, you have a very cute voice. ^//^

Edited June 29, 2017 by Radiant Arin

[KainLightsworn 63]

@Radiant Arin: I also made things more transparent, or tried to, after your Let's Play/Review so that's another benefit. ^^

 

Well losing my data had a little something to do with me deciding to nuke it and start all over but yeah. Hopefully this time you will! The battle system will be extremely different this time- more of a TBS. Also haaaa I wish this were my initial attempt at this story/project. When I'm done with this, I might go grab the ORIGINAL original file for this, which was on VX and was done when I was in high school. THE CRINGE. THE. CRINGE.

 

And aw, thanks!

 

@PowerBurger: No problem at all! Watch whenever you have time, and have fun at the con!

[Perang Cemen 183]

Just done with DK Fanatic, quite attract me a bit, the battle system of course, oh well just good luck on your project!

 

don't mind anything below this, this is just some weird text appear when I done play someone game.

I saw Chalice at Prologue...

so I was thinking if I have that Chalice...

I'll hide it in Top of Tower...

and lock it in Chamber of the Sacred Chalice...

My favorite number is 9 so I'll make 9 floor for that tower...