Dark Crusade

Why's the graphics so inconsistent? Some tiles such as the grass and trees look good, nice colors and well made. Then there's the fence bearing much darker outlines, and lower quality. And finally the inventory items which look disfigured due to bad scaling or resizing?

> I'm actually glad you posted here, we ARE in need of a skilled musician, we currently have 2 composers, Joshua Palacios, and all the music styling of Mathew Pablo, but a heavy metal/orchestral composer such as you, well, that's always needed. Sorry, not interested

This seems all talk and no show. Do you guys actually have any real experience to show us? Videos on some game mechanics, screenshots of custom graphics, some actual designs you have planned, proof of this game which is almost ready to release? All I see is some really bad art on a website with little to no content.

Woosh!  I've fleshed out both the weapon and spell attack animations now. I'll complete them for all directions, and them move onto finalising character customisation. I'd like to hear peoples opinions on hair and skin color limits. I'm considering having 3 skin shades, light, medium and dark. Players will have 10 hair styles per gender to choose form, and be able to pick mostly natural colors, which will keep the game world not looking too whack. These would include white, blonde, light brown, dark brown, black, orange, and a few others. You'll also be able to choose your eye color from the usual green, blue, brown, black and hazel. Thoughts?

Foosh!  Spellcasting and attacking will utilise unique 2 and 3 frame animations. I've created a mockup of the spell casting animation, and made a quick simple spell to showcase.

> Way better now Imo. Better contrast and shading overall. Thanks, I couldn't agree more. The main issue with the old sprite was the palette.

I'm reworking the character sprites! They are looking better then ever! Check the new palette and edit on my blog, and don't forget to check out some of the other posts! http://beaubuckley.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/player-sprite-update-1.html More updates soon, including more character customisation previews.

Thanks McAdams I've been looking into a 'final' name for the game now that I've gotten a lot of design work completed. I'm almost ready to agree on the name 'Emberstorm', which will replace the name 'Elandor' for the continent, and 'Elandor Chronicles' for the game name. I feel it is both fitting for the name themes I have for each area, and also represents the game as a simple, retro, fantasy world. Contary to many popular ORPG/MMOs, the game won't have backstory or lore, so a name like 'Akhator' or something isn't fitting. I've taken inspiration from simpler game names such as 'Dragon Quest', and even 'Torchlight'. Emberstorm is memorable, fun, and fantastic! Thoughts?

> Photoshop CS2 is now *Free*. > > Maybe just open up the images and click Edit -> Free Transform -> Hold shift and drag the corner. > > Save. > > GG? Clearly he'd need someone to edit the source for him too so he can use the edited GUI it in his game.

> bleh with that kinda art work you could work for nintendo or square enix, imo Haha thanks! When I finish and finalise my game design document and complete all associated assets I'll tell them to fund me!

> Everytime I see this project, I think about how fun dragon quest series is. It's sad because I haven't even played it, though I am quite fond of their art style. I'm actually thinking about redoing the trees and such though because my world presentation is feeling flat and lacking depth.

Lots of great content and ideas to share on my blog. You have the option of subscribing by email if you'd like updates to your inbox. You can expect many previews, updates, and game design tips, concepts, and discussion. http://beaubuckley.blogspot.com.au/ Thanks to everyone checking it out, and a big thanks to those who get involved, comment, and ask questions!

I was looking through an old game I made using Eclipse in 2006, and come across some tracks I used which were included with Eclipse Evolution. This track is incredible however I can't find it's origin! Does anybody recognise this battle/boss theme and know which series it came from? http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/289030742a8e175c3f467788f0486ac7.mid Thanks!

> I think he has it like that because if your evasion fails you take the full damage and if you block something you manage to take reduced damaged. This is primarily the reason, and I'm pretty happy with the formula I've developed which determines if you evade an attack, depending on several variables. I do understand that it seems logical that you could avoid some damage, such as misplacing an attack from your head to your arm, or just having an arrow scrape you, but unlike real life or some more complex games, an attack is an attack. I'll likely implement critical hits, but aside from that there won't be much diversity in terms of where or how you hit. > @The "class" idea: I think that would be nice. Would you be able to hide it though if you don't want your enemy to know what you can do?(Not sure if there is pvp or not) Maybe, I'll leave the class system until after the initial release, but I'll definately think about it and take opinions and ideas such as that. I haven't decided yet whether PvP will be in first release or not yet. I'm trying to plan and develop a realistic release which won't take too long for me to reach.

You need to put it in the spritesheets in your client directory. I haven't used Eclipse in many years so unfortately I can't be specific. Check around for some tutorials else start a new question topic.

> The system you described is like the one in fable 2 or 3(maybe both?). I think it'd be pretty cool. Great work, and cool updates. Sweet, I'll have to check them out. I've played only Fable 1, although I've wanted to try 2 for some time. I heard 3 was pretty bad though. In other news, I've finished formulas and tied a bow around the different defenses in Elandor Chronicles- > Armor, Block, Evade, Barrier and Resistance > > There are five types of defense in Elandor Chronicles. Armor reduces weapon damage, Block has a chance to negate weapon damage, Evade has a chance to negate all types of damage, Barrier reduces magical damage, and Resist provides protection against specific elements. Each defense is primarily associated with an attribute, so different character builds will be able to use different defenses. > > **Armor** is perhaps the most common defense. Most strength-based equipment will provide high defensive armor to the wearer. Armor is essential to all players because it reduces weapon damage taken by all hits. It does not reduce magical damage however, which may leave strength-based builds weak to spells. > > **Block** is primarily associated with shields. It gives the player a chance to negate often most if not all damage from an incoming melee or ranged weapon attack. It's another strength-based defense, which gives players the opportunity to have extended defense capabilities at the expense of not being able to dual wield or use weapons two handed (A feature which is planned post-release). > > **Evade** is a specialized defense mostly seen in speed and occasionally magic-based equipment. It gives players the chance to dodge all types attacks, including both melee and ranged weapons, and also spells. While evade is a good defense for all players to have, focusing in high levels of it will allow players to have higher chances of evading even the most powerful spells and attacks. > > **Barrier** is defense against magical damage, mostly seen in spells but also some enchanted weapons. Similarly to armor, it reduces the amount of magical damage taken from every hit. Magical damage refers to all the different spell elements such as fire and ice damage. Barrier stacks with resistance. > > **Resistance** is a very specific defense which applies individually to each element. Resistance applies damage reduction to one or more elements. Different equipment may add defense against different elements, and players are able to wear specific equipment to focus protection against one or more elements depending on their environment and enemies. For some time I was unhappy with armor being the only 'main' defense, which made no sense when it felt like it was primarily a strength-based mechanic, making speed and magic feel underplayed. Like most games I already planned on including resistances as per specific items, spells and skills, but I wanted to have a few more to even things out. Now, not only will your attributes determine what types of weapons, skills and spells you can use, but also your defense style or combination thereof!

No problem, glad to see some people still use it.

> Ah, excuse my ignorance. My apologies. > > @Kreator: They are the default Runtime Package that come with RPG Maker 2000. No problem.

Good lineart, however your color choice could use a bit of work. The contrast between each shade is barely noticable which makes the blade look flat instead of sharp and made out of iron. Also, why did you make a dark outerglow around the sword?

Well, here I am to ruin the party. Both the design and execution are pulled off terribly. It barely looks like a evil eyeball cloud, if that's what it even is. You need to learn about color picking, and also detail/shading. Clouds aren't symmetrical so I would recommend not copying and flipping half the sprite to call it complete. Find a few tutorials to teach you the basics, and give it another go.

Miracle Classic? Is that a game? I'd be very interested in checking out what game they came from, but I can't find anything about the game. Got any more information about it? The mapping could use some work, try to put more thought and creativity into the map. For example, must the cliffs be straight and symmetrical and have ladders on both sides? And the grass patches have a visible grid which doesn't make them blend together very well.

> So if I were to ONLY spend points in speed, even at max level I'd still be classified as a ranger? Nah, at higher levels as I mentioned more classes would become unlockable. > Also, will you offer multiple trees for specialist combat? > > Like elemental/control/shadow/holy for mages. shield/onehanded/greatsword/hammer/axe for warriors. knives/bows/thrown/swords for rangers? Multiple trees? What do you mean by that? Skill trees? Also keep in mind this is just currently an idea. The first release will be absent of any class system, since I want to get an essentials release out with only a level cap of 10 to start.

Elandor Chronicles is a classless-based game, however I'm thinking about once you reach level 10, depending on your allocation of attributes, you'll have a dynamic class viewable in your character menu, and also by other players who target you. This class may change every level as you allocate new attributes. Perhaps for each different class you'll get a special unique skill or ability. At higher levels new classes could even become available and unlockable. Here's just an example of the sort of system I might do, the classes would be unlocked by the ratio of allocated attributes as shown below. Strength:Speed:Magic 1:0:0 Gladiator 0:1:0 Ranger 0:0:1 Wizard 2:1:0 Beserker 2:0:1 Paladin 1:2:0 Assassin 0:2:1 Soulknife 0:1:2 Psion 1:0:2 Inquisitor 1:1:1 Adventurer 1:1:0 Swashbuckler 0:1:1 Arcane Archer 1:0:1 Battlemage The gladiator for example, might be able to deal 15%+ additional damage with two handed weapons or something, or maybe have access to a additional skill. What do people think? Should I implement a system like this?

> This glow…? > >  Yeah that's the one!

Not a bad bush..