ECG Wolf 36 Posted March 5, 2016 (edited) Ardenian Legends: The Fall of Arcana 1,000 years have passed since the cataclysmic closure of the gateway that feeds arcane energy into the world of Ardenia. The events of the past have become all but forgotten to humans, its legacy left within the many treacherous ruins scattered across the countryside. Civilization has once again rebuilt itself, but with arcane energy unknowingly becoming a limited resource, the ability to channel arcane energy into spells, the art of Arcana, becomes harder and harder with each passing year. In light of this realization, many humans begin to turn to developing new technology to assist in their daily lives. Because their influence is wading and their way of life will soon be a lost art, the Ordo Arcana, which has been the most powerful guild in Ardenia for the last thousand years, begin secretly planning one last desperate gambit to keep the art of Arcana alive. It is only a matter of time, however, before a new group rises up to challenge the old ways and forever shift the balance of power in Ardenia. A new chapter in Ardenia's history is about to begin! Visit the Ardenia Project website here. Bug reports and general feedback can be sent to ardeniaproject@gmail.com Current Version: v0.4.0 RTP and sprites at the moment are just placeholders and will be replaced as assets are finished. You can download the latest open prototype here. Created by: East Coast Geeks Studios Powered by RPGVXAce Enterbrain, Inc. Programming: Matt Vargo Victor Sant Additional Scripting: Yanfly Coelocanth Yami Soulpour777 Trihan Acezon Cay Galv Artwork and Graphic Assets: Adrienne Wrabley Michelle Chard Dominique Music and Sound Effects: Rachael Calypso Writing and Dialogue: Matt Vargo Level Design: Robert Mick Matt Vargo Character Design: Adrienne Wrabley Internal Testing: Weston Key Peter Halikman Chad Artis Lisa Carson An open, explorable world Traverse the world map of Ardenia to discover lost ruins, dangerous enemies, and the opportunity to discover new things that will open up opportunities. Travelling the world map will consume stamina (SP) forcing you to strategically plan out your journeys. Turn-based combat based on real-world swordplay Tactical combat that will have you anticipating your opponent's next move to come up with a counterplay. Stagger the opponent to render him helpless and turn the tide of battle! Insight and blueprint invention Interact with people and objects to gain Insight on the world around you. Certain Insights are needed to invent certain blueprints, which will unlock new items, stories, and long lost secrets. Item crafting Gather materials from across Ardenia to forge weapons, armor, and devices that will change the course of history. Original artwork and soundtrack Still a work in-in-progress, but the final product will not be using the standard RTP to give it a more unique look and feel. Kotori Novellus Apprenticed to Ferra in the city of Gateway, Kotori is a quick learner that often aspires to goals that are too far beyond her reach. Because of this, she is often never able to finish any of the machines she starts building, leaving her house a mess with all kinds of unfinished contraptions only she could recognize. She is deeply inspired by her older brother, Ishi, who is quickly becoming renowned in the community for his inventions. While following after her brother can be a tough act to follow, she is not the kind of person to let her burdens weigh her down, and manages to keep optimistic even in dire situations. When Kotori begins having a strange, recurring dream of a future where a mysterious stronghold is under attack by unidentified rebels, she witnesses extraordinary technologies which inspire her to create radical new designs of her own. After she witnesses a ship capable of taking to the skies, she ventures to undertake an impossible feat of building a flying machine, much to the dismay of her older brother. Ishi Novellus Kotori's older brother. Ishi has made many significant contributions to Gateway as both an architect and an engineer. Gateway in fact owes much of its progressiveness to Ishi and those who follow his example, and the result is a city that has prospered despite the fact that magical power in Ardenia continues to dwindle. He is a forward but practical thinker, so while he may be continuing to push the envelope on new discoveries and innovations, he will never think with the imagination that Kotori possesses, which inevitably limits his capabilities. It is also on this point that Ishi and Kotori tend to butt heads, and it often ends with Ishi worrying about Kotori's future. Ishi spent much of the last two years exploring the deserts in the east, and with the help of a local tribe created a new weapon that could forever change the face of warfare. Fearing the repercussions of this technology falling in the wrong hands, Ishi stole the blueprint and returned to Gateway, where he hid it so no one could find it. Aeolyn Aeria Calidus Aeolyn is a Magus in the Ordo Arcana, and can be best described as stubborn and impatient. Unlike many of her fellow Magi, she tires of the overly bureaucratic ways of the Ordo Arcana, and is eager to take action to save the dying art of Arcana that she has spent so much time studying. She is very inquisitorial by nature, which makes her very good at solving all sorts of puzzles and mysteries, but her impatient nature often leads her to a more aggressive approach to solving the issue at hand, inevitably leading to her blowing something up. This often gets her into a lot of trouble with the guild, and indeed were it not for her continually ignoring the council's heeds and the collateral damage caused by her troublesome nature, she would in fact be of much higher rank and status than she is now, given her profound affinity for the arcane arts. Unsatisfied with the empty answers given to her by her colleagues, Aeolyn begins investigating why arcane energy is fading from Ardenia, an action that may very well prove to be the Ordo Arcana's undoing. Feng Feng is a rather carefree Urufu-Kai that wanders the streets of Academia looking for easy marks. As an Urufu-Kai, Feng channels energy from Urufu-Kami, the wolf-spirit. Since Urufu-Kai don't utilize arcane energy to cast spells, Feng isn't affected by the diminishing of arcane energy from the world. Channeling energy from Urufu, however, is something she absolutely refuses to do now, for reasons that she keeps to herself, given that it touches on a sensitive subject in her past. A skilled thief and scavenger, Feng spends much of her day pick pocketing unsuspecting victims in the markets. She will often feign naivety, but she is in fact one of the wisest Urufu-Kai in the world, and will often be the one offering others advice and direction. Feng and Aeolyn meet when Feng lifts the Magus's machinarius, a device that allows humans to channel arcane energy into spells. A chance meeting with an Urufu-Kai like Feng, however, is hardly left up to chance. Ferra Schmidt Once an avid adventurer and one of the first to explore the world outside the safe confines of the cities, Ferra is now an established Techsmith that owns her own shop. Ferra will often support adventuring parties by creating equipment and gadgets for them to use. She is a very simple person, preferring a straightforward solution to problems; whether that is out of efficiency or laziness is often a blurry line. She enjoys hearing the adventures of people who explore the wilderness, and while it was always her dream to run her own shop, it often ties her down from going on adventures of her own. Unlike Kotori or Ishi, she is much more eager and able in a stand-up fight, sometimes even starting them herself. Ferra is the first person who Ishi comes to after returning from the desert. Agreeing to help him safeguard the blueprint, she unwittingly entraps herself in a much larger game of political intrigue and espionage. "Raven" Jennings Raven is a Range Rider that has spent most of her life living in the wilderness. She is an expert tracker, capable of following an animal long after the trail has seemed to grow cold. She is a patient individual, which comes in handy both when stalking her prey as well as teaching others. Much of Raven is a mystery as she cut all links with her past, and even given up her name, to run away from it. Unfortunately for her, she can only run so far before her dark past eventually catches up to her. Raven helped Ishi out in the desert when he was exploring, and was there for his great discovery. Seeing firsthand how revolutionary the technology was, she helped Ishi destroy the prototype and steal the blueprint, where they made a retreat back to Gateway. Orion Blair Orion is a Kindred Swordsman, a small group of elite swordsmen that wield Kindred Swords, living swords originally forged by a black dragon ages ago. Orion wields the sword of strength, the Ravager Kin, a sword that crushes its enemies with brute strength. Kindred Swords choose their masters, and the Ravager Kin continually seeks out the strongest warrior in the world. To this end, the sword will stick with his master until he is defeated by another, in which the sword will seek out the victor as its new master. Orion shares the same philosophy as the Ravager Kin, having defeated the previous wielder in battle and inheriting the sword. Orion is a man that prefers to settle disputes with swords, rather than words, and will never back down from a fight, even if the odds are stacked against him. In fact, he truly enjoys a challenging fight that threatens his life, as it is when he feels most alive. Continually testing those around him, he can often times come off as brash, speaking his mind and telling the honest truth, even though the truth may hurt. Kotori first witnesses Orion in her dreams fighting off rebels in a mysterious stronghold, although what that place in time is continues to elude her. Blake Jensen One of the last remaining members of the Guardians Guild, an organization that protects the world against anomalies created by uncontrolled arcane energy, Blake is tasked with the difficult job of minimizing collateral damage caused when arcane energy creates a spacial rift. He is lighthearted and easygoing, a stark contrast to many of his associates in the guild. Blake also appears in Kotori’s strange dreams with Orion, but what he is doing there and what his intentions are remain a mystery. Story of a Little Bird Codex: Arcana -None at the moment! Help us improve the game! Our open prototype is available on the website. Feedback is appreciated! Edited March 29, 2018 by ECG Wolf 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsarmina 2,612 Posted March 5, 2016 It might be me but I can't see any of your images D: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted March 18, 2016 News update! Since it's gonna take a while before we can really start showing off art assets, I thought I'd take some time to talk about some of the game mechanics that I've been working on for the game. You can read the full dev blog here. In a nutshell, there'll be two levels of maps that players will use to explore Ardenia, a world map and a series of interconnected exterior maps, each with their own gameplay styles and advantages/disadvantages. The exploration menu will tie all of these elements together into a unified interface for the player to work from. Bare in the mind the screenshots below still show only a prototype for the system, and a lot is still subject to change. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsarmina 2,612 Posted April 7, 2017 Unlocking at OP request! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted April 8, 2017 News Update! I thought I'd give a status update on what we've been up to since I haven't in way too long and I really should. So here we go! A while back we decided to create a new set of smart tiles that were to going to be hand drawn and painted. Looking around the gallery I didn't really see a lot of traditional artwork so I thought it would make the game really stand out. Teaser pictures below! We tried out some of the concept art in the game and it looked pretty awesome, but I'm starting to see now why most people make tilesets digitally. It takes a whole lot of work to get it to translate well digitally, and painting them is taking way too long. So we decided to keep the hand drawn sheets we made and just paint them digitally, which should still turn out really nicely (to give an idea of what it will look like our title screen art was actually hand drawn and then painted digitally. A new prototype will be released soon with the first iteration of the exploration menu, and we'll need some help with bug hunting if any testers out there are interested. Stay tuned! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) v0.4.0 is now available! This is an open prototype for playtesters. It is not a demo. -Exploration menu has been implemented. -Travel fatigue has been implemented in world map. -Gateway - Forge District map has been removed from the map pool. -Gateway has been added to the map pool. -New Ardenia exterior maps added to the map pool. -Incapacitated party members earn 50% experience rather than 0% experience from fights (They can still learn from the battle since they're not actually dead). -Player can no longer sprint if one of the party members has 0 SP. -Fixed Disarm skill crash bug. -All placeholder and stock music has been replaced with empty placeholder files. These placeholders will be replaced with the game's original soundtrack as it is developed. -Title screen music implemented (work in progress). -Additional debug menu added to assist with troubleshooting -Ginseng Root and Ginseng Tea now properly restores SP -Fixed save deletion crash bug -Kotori's face set and character sprite has been added You can read the full patch notes history here Edited April 10, 2017 by ECG Wolf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+ Takeo212 1,079 Posted April 10, 2017 Yep, I love Feng's design, though I do like the look of Aeolyn's robes/hat (swirlies). Admittedly I overlooked this due to the RTP maps, but reading that you plan to gradually change them is a really good sign. It's great seeing the concept drawings in the Characters section (kind used to seeing either in-game face gens or online face maker faces) I've been back and fourth in this topic to have a check here and there, so keep up the updates Glad to see your back on the project~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted April 10, 2017 Thank you! Let me tell you, finding an artist who was willing and able to stick around long enough to tackle tilesets was quite a roller coaster, but it's nice to finally be able to get the ball rolling on that and be able to visibly see the progress. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted June 14, 2017 Status update! Work on assets have been slow but sure, so in the meantime I thought I'd show off some more character art. The character concepts for Kotori, Ishi, and Aeolyn are pretty much decided upon, though some of the details aren't final. Character concepts for Ferra, Raven, Orion, and Blake are still a work in progress, though hopefully we'll have a solid idea for what to do with them soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saeryen 299 Posted June 14, 2017 How have I not seen this before? I think this looks really cool. I love that there are so many female characters, and I love the exploration! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted June 16, 2017 Yeah, since I don't post quite as often as other developers on other games this thread doesn't tend to float to the top that often. I'm glad you like what you see so far! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted November 5, 2017 I've emerged from the woodworks to give a status update! So we've been hard at work coming up with plans for replacing the RTP tilesets and now that the first set of tiles are coming out I wanted to share them with you all. Pictues below! For the first set of tiles the goal here is simply to replace the RTP as soon as possible, so there's likely going to be some refinement of the tiles being drawn up as development goes on. The left panel is the default RTP, while the right has new rocky hills, trees, and grass. Here is another snip looking at the new water tiles with the other new tiles: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted November 20, 2017 I wanted to share another screenshot of the new road tiles. So in Ardenia the old road networks were left behind by the previous civilization and, while still usable, have been largely abandoned, and so without maintenance have become quite crumbled. This idea was taken with the new road tile and it really changes the look and feel of the world map, it's pretty awesome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ECG Wolf 36 Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) OP updated with shiny pictures and screenshots and stuff. You know, things I should have done a while ago... Progress has been very slow but at least at a steady pace (considering this project is pretty much being done in spare time). It is really satisfying to finally be able to see visible results after having worked on this project for so long. Also I bring you some eye candy - a full-color of Feng, and it looks like she may start some trouble! Edited March 29, 2018 by ECG Wolf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
