A downloadable game for Windows

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Version 1.5 release 4/(7*)/2022.

IMPORTANT NOTES 

For version 1.1 - snip - solved - ver 1.2


A one-man attempt to break the rules of RPG maker.

-what does that mean?-

A randomized RPG for thinkers.

-wait, random?-

Hand-crafted maps and stories.

-those two don't go together.-

21 playable characters, each with their own tales to tell.

-but the random?-

Between 49 and 147 unique bosses to learn!

-i'm starting to...-

The world grows as your troupe does.

-like a leveling system?-

Test both mind and mettle in complex, puzzling dungeons.

-is this a puzzle game then?-

Guide a troupe of actors through the worst plays imaginable.

-are we still talking about the same thing?-

Deal with complex political intrigue.

-i doubt it.-

Deal with complex and indecipherable upgrade systems.

-that's more believable.-

7 tiers of threatening bad guys.

-that's not many, though?-

Of each of the 7 elemental affinities, of each of 7 types.

-for... 343 of them?-

Combined in tailored squads, designed to destroy your actors.

-is any of this actually random?-

The whole game is randomized.

-but what about all that above?-

Listen. Alright?

The entire game is generated from a World Seed - where each actor is, which boss monsters guard which treasures where throughout the world, which shops sell which items, et cetera. My design intent is to hand-craft the experience of each of these randomly generated quests for a truly engaging, serialized RPG with a lot of stories to tell.

Many of the tales that will be contained within, including the characters and resolutions, are based on my time as a dungeon master within this same world over the last 2 decades.

-but that isn't here yet, is it?-

No, not all of it. This is a demo I will be updating routinely until it accurately represents a vertical slice of the main product. At that point, I will go very very quiet for months as I grind out each of the tales to be contained within, buffing and polishing the story to go with the rest of this game.

The sound effects are still somewhat*RTP assets, for cryin' out loud. Custom audio tracks and sound effects are still a little raw, but are being added quickly.

-so what can we do or play?-

Fiddle with the Seed Random system, and watch as though it shuffles everything the same seed generates the same world every time! The seed generator will be expanded out into a 26-character length with access to any key or character for the full release. The demo has an 8-digit number code.

Currently, 8* of the 21* hub cities have been added (see screenshots). They have unique tunes and societies, but are currently mostly window dressing for the micro-events they hide.

Currently, 49* of the 147* Boss Monster fights have been added. 

All lower-tier enemy spawns have been added (a little over 2000 entries). Tier-1 fights will always be mono-elemental. Tier-2 and higher enemies will swap themselves in and out, further increasing the dangers of any one combat.

All 343 Legendary Items have been added. Many of them are simply aligned weapons or elementally-resistant armors, but at least 50 extremely powerful relics exist somewhere in the world...

Within each city, find a member of the troupe, explore the local shops, and even solve a monster problem. Connected to each city (for the demo) is your dinghy, the Great Martha II. Travel between the cities, try to collect each actor, and defeat the boss monsters for epic Legendary Loot items! Start a new game and enter a different World Seed number, and give it another go!

-so how much is this going to cost to play?-

Nothing right now! The demo (even after official launch) will be available with (eventually) all 21 hub cities for free as its own, tiny, standalone effort. After release, the price will be a projected $19.99 base for the full game or totally free if Patreon becomes a possibility instead.

Download

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

Art War Retell.rar 525 MB

Development log

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Comments

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going live!
(4 edits)

Sweet news, friend! I'll have another update tomorrow, actually, with a whole lot more work done.

This gives me something to watch and eyes on what to fix. Thanks!

I definitely do type too much sometimes, and yes, the tutorial is quite speedy. I do want to slow it down, actually.

Apologies for the complete lack of preface on things. This has also been addressed in the next version - you should now get an upgrade screen as the game finishes generating.

I'm adding something in each of the libraries because of you. They were originally placeholders until I could get to the tooltips and descriptions. Oops. Now they'll all have secret loot. Your fault.

And autosaves are in file 25.

I hope you enjoy where the game ends up!

Sitting through the stream now as I work!

I appreciate your commentary and critique quite a bit. Having your video up in the background lets me pull up the exact situations you came across, and they should be fixed up on release of Version 1.2!

I keep getting a "No such file directory" error. I installed through Itch.io Launcher 

I will have to download the Itch launcher and see what's different. Added it to the list to do!

When does the error happen? I need to come up with a bug report template soon.

(2 edits)

Whenever i try to exit the options menu, or just about any other menu. Pls update if you know a fix, I'm very interested in checking this game out! Shining force 1, 2, and CD are my favorite game ever, so I try every Tactical RPG I can find.

It's up next on the do list, actually! Was about to begin the bug hunt now. Have you tried to manually download the file and see if that also doesn't work in the meantime?

Thanks for the continued intent to play it in spite of that! Menu errors are the second worst, and that note has helped me narrow things down quite a bit. Whenever you -do- get to play I hope it was worth your efforts.

Lucky both of us, actually! I got it (for now)...

Alright, all you need to do is go to where the game is installed and add two new folders - an empty "www" folder just next to the executable, then a folder named "save" inside that, and everything worked again on my end. The bug appeared when trying to write your options to a directory that didn't exist.

If I had to guess, it's because they would look like orphan folders to the app, and when it pulls and installs the executable it didn't seem to drop those in for me. That might be an itch app problem I can't solve, but I will absolutely put a warning on the top of the page here!

how to contact u?

Please direct any questions or comments to this page (to have your answer publicly) or umamigoblin_gamedev@yahoo.com (for more privacy).

I'll do my best to keep up with it all.