Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

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Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#1 Post by Enigma »

Freedom From Silence

So, I’m finally back (as if anyone even knew me to miss me) with this little game. Originally I was going to make it in Ren’py, but I ended up with RPG maker, it already had RPG elements, and it was easier to do some things in RPG Maker so I transferred it on over. The game is still very story based and well I got my artist from this site so I figured I'd post this thread here. I have a demo, but as it is I can't find a way to get it to upload, so I thought I'd put the thread here first until I have my "proof of concept" ready.

*Spoiler Warning* The aforementioned, that covers the game’s opening sequence and said opening has a slight twist in it, if you don’t mind it though, read below. It's really not something I mind spoiling so I don't think it's too big a problem.

Overview: The discovery of magical energy had saved humanity from an impending apocalypse, but now it’s use in war threatens to bring with it a more dangerous era than ever. Two countries, both located in what was formerly North America have declared war upon one another. The American Empire, a powerful nation to the east that controls most of what once was Canada and the eastern half of the United States, and the Independent States, a loosely united group of city states. Despite the fact the world has only just recently rebuilt from a cataclysmic event, the two powers are locked in battle constantly. Among the soldiers fighting there is a unit called Elf comprised of mostly 10-14 year old children tasked with setting up a checkpoint to block trade into the underground city of Harrowing. A series of events leads to Elf being re-purposed into an invasion force, but despite their success in eliminating a key point of Harrowing’s defense, Elf ends up buried alive along with the city. Much worse, the members of Elf were also exposed to a chemical weapon Harrowing had in wait, leaving many who would have otherwise survived in critical condition. Fearing the worst, Elf’s former leader and three other members spared by fate join together shortly afterward to form a new Errant Knight unit known as Rainbow. Their goal is to find a cure, even if it means going behind enemy lines. With their friend’s lives on the line, the four girls of Rainbow’s journey may cost them their lives, but as they see the real America, it’s best and it’s worse, could it also cost them something else?

Main Characters:



Name: Iii Eiffel

Namesake: The song “I” by Black Sabbath

Abridged Bio: Iii’s origins are a mystery. She found 14 years ago in the ruins of a city in Texas, black haired and brown eyed. For the first several years of her life the only thing special about her was her determination, but around the age of 8, she awoke to her magical potential. From then on her hair was golden and her eyes were purple. Soon she showed immense talent as a fighter. Since nobility is not permanent in the Empire and must be renewed by great military service , many wealthy families wanted her as their own child and soon she was adopted into nobility. Not long after this she not only was awarded knighthood for her exemplary performance, but was appointed the leader of Elf. After the siege of Harrowing, Iii, now promoted further to a High Knight, formed the Errant Knight unit Rainbow to save the lives of her comrades, and hopefully overcome the guilt she feels from having lost so many of the soldiers she was meant to lead.

Personality: Iii’s most definitive characteristic is her strong will. No matter how hard or how hopeless the situation may be Iii is not one to give up until she’s completed her task or died trying. She is not quite aware of how abnormal she is, so she expects much of her allies, in addition she tends to blame herself when things go wrong even when these things are out of her control. Despite this she’s still a kind girl who’d do anything to help protect her friends.

Fighting Style: It’s said Iii was built to fight barehanded. Her impressive physical strength and discipline allowed her to learn martial arts relatively quickly, her primary style is Yiquan, a formless martial arts style developed to increase one’s own natural fighting ability. Her magical ability allows her to express magical energy as kinetic energy (as magical energy is normally unable to interact with the physical world) she can also reverse the process and turn kinetic energy into magical energy, though this is not an efficient conversion (she loses magical energy in the process). In addition she is unable to project energy outside her body, and she can only steal energy that is within three meters of her. In game she is the primary physical attacker, doing consistently high damage and requiring little to no mana to do so.

Trivia: Iii’s namesake, “I” is sung by Ronnie James Dio, former member of the bands Elf and Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow of which her unit’s names are based. Despite being the lead singer in all of these groups, Dio did not lead Rainbow. Similarly Iii exercises much less control over Rainbow than she did Elf (though in her case she is the official leader).



Name: Laura Lannerbeck

Namesake: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerbeck (better known as Yngwie Malmsteen).

Abridged Bio: Laura was once an orphan living on the harsh streets of the American Empire with her two siblings. She fought and stole to survive . One day her luck ran out and she was caught and charged for stealing from a noble, however she was given an alternative to jail in the form of military service.

Personality: Laura’s attitude can best be described as carefree and lazy. Her relaxed and playful attitude contrasts Iii’s own attitude almost perfectly, but the two get along very well. Despite this she is often times pessimistic when confronted with problems and is slow to trust anyone. Those she does trust however will find her a great ally. In particular her relationship with Iii stands out as being extremely close.

Fighting Style: Laura’s primary role is that of a combat medic. While she’s not very strong physically, her magical ability lets her convert water into organic tissue, which is usable in a variety of ways. In addition this ability is effective over 20 meters, making her a combatant suited to the back lines. In game she is the primary healer and secondary mage.

Trivia: Laura regularly gave Iii opportunities to hit her during her time as Elf’s leader. This was because she agreed initially with Iii that a strict image would help in commanding the group.


Name: Shiori Edgai

Namesake: The band Edguy

Abridged Bio: Despite being born in the American Empire and raised there, Shiori was almost always treated like less than a true citizen. Since one of the more powerful city states of the Independent States was comprised mostly of Japanese refugees from the previous war, she spends much of her life trying to escape the suspicion of her peers.

Personality: Shiori is a bit of an oddball. Her tone seems tired or bored at most times, but she’s rarely disinterested with whoever she’s talking to. She likes to try out new jokes on people, often times explaining them shortly afterward if there’s no immediate reaction. She has many other odd or embarrassing habits as well that the other girls tend to bemoan (despite their own odd habits), though overall Shiori’s pleased to have friends that see her as “the unfunny one” instead of “the Japanese one.”

Fighting Style: Shiori’s sword may look like a katana, but it’s actually a simple machete. She lacks any formal sword training, instead focusing on hacking limbs of with her sword and relying on her versatile magical ability. Using magic Shiori can recreate weather conditions such as rain and lighting. Her effective range varies based on the actual weather of the day, but her minimum effective range is about 15 meters. In game Shiori is the group’s primary mage and quite skilled at killing multiple enemies.

Trivia: Shiori can’t speak Japanese, the names of her skills are really just phrases I put through google translate, many of them are nonsense.


Name: Merry Mercury

Namesake: Freddie Mercury

Abridged Bio: Not much can be said for Merry before she joined the military academy with Iii and Laura. She comes from a fairly ordinary family, and never had any great victories or struggles before joining Elf.

Personality: Merry’s the most grounded girl of the group. Having lived a fairly normal life without any of the extreme circumstances or pressures the other girl’s faced, Merry’s attitude is far more optimistic than any of the other girls. Though her upbringing also made her a bit naive and a bit too trusting the other girls are happy to have her company.

Fighting Style: Merry is the one of the last of a dying breed of gunslingers. Since many soldiers like Iii and Shiori are fast enough to avoid or , in the former’s case, catch bullets, many fewer soldiers bother with guns than in the past. In Merry’s case, her gun fighting is viable in no small part to her magical ability. Her magic is a passive ability giving her heightened understanding of three-dimensional mathematics. The practical application she found was using this to ricochet her bullets and attack from unpredictable angles. Combined with her inventive mind, she makes for a tricky opponent. In game she is the secondary physical attacker and primary debuffer, she is also capable of many multi-target physical skills.

Trivia: Due to Laura’s distaste for mathematics, Merry did both her and Laura’s homework throughout their time at the military academy.

Please keep in mind, there are many more characters than these 4, these 4 are just the members of Rainbow.

Features The Final Game Should Include:
Visual Novel Style Scenes- Despite moving over to RPG Maker, I still intend to add some visual novel scenes to the mix. The combination of visual novel style and classic RPG style scenes affords a wealth of options for storytelling and character development.

RPG Combat System- While the battle system is the same as default RPG Maker, every encounter has been carefully tested to ensure a more tactical experience. Players will have to learn enemy patterns, prioritize their targets, and make good use of buffs and debuffs to survive. Of course for more casual players, there is an option to turn the difficulty down as well (Well there will be haven’t put it in yet.)

Four Chapter Storyline: Rainbow’s journey won’t be easy. Enemies await them at every turn, but from within their own country and from without. In addition, to the quest to save their friends the four girls of Rainbow also have their own personal struggles to overcome. This story is divided into four chapters Elf, Rainbow, Sabbath, and DIA.

So with all that out of the way, despite having a demo…I’m using my phone’s hotspot for internet so I can’t upload it yet. I did copy it to a few disks and give them to friends and the feedback has been mostly positive. The biggest challenge making use of all the tools I have for storytelling. So far, the Elf chapter is done, and Rainbow is underway. Here are a few questions to kick off discussion.

1. I have in the past heard concerns about the main cast’s age (all members of Rainbow are 14). There is a reason for this, but before I try to justify this I’d like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

2. The story is full of references, primarily references to physics and mathematics concepts and hard rock/heavy metal. I’m trying to keep the references juuuust close enough to be understood, but different enough to not break any laws. Any thoughts on this?

3. I intentionally chose a cute art style for the character art. I’m aware the story isn’t exactly cutesy. There’s a reason for this too, but rather than explain myself out the gate I’d like to hear some options on this before I explain why I did this.

4. And well this is the elephant in the room, how do you feel about a game that is more and RPG with visual novel elements than a visual novel with RPG elements. I feel the story is the game’s main draw myself though so I figured it’d be appropriate to post it here (and I found an artist here too.)

Credits
Original Storyline/Programming/Moustace Grooming: Enigma

Character Art: Dandilionfluff

Sprite Artwork: Archeia
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Last edited by Enigma on Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:18 pm, edited 10 times in total.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#2 Post by Enigma »

Updated 1st post to include Iii's sprite. Ths art is by dandilionfluff

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#3 Post by eileen »

Dandilionfluff did a good job on doing Iii's sprite. She looks cute and a dark skin character is plus too.

I don't think it really matters which engine you used as long the gameplay or story is good. So, I embrace this warmly. I hope you can get the demo out soon. It's interesting that you add namesakes with type of songs to bio. Really interesting to see which character is based on what song.

I'm curious why all the members of Rainbow are 14 but it doesn't take away that they're that age. I hope you do make it close enough to understand because that might put off players. I wonder if cutesy art is there for less the impact of the story.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#4 Post by Enigma »

eileen wrote:Dandilionfluff did a good job on doing Iii's sprite. She looks cute and a dark skin character is plus too.

I don't think it really matters which engine you used as long the gameplay or story is good. So, I embrace this warmly. I hope you can get the demo out soon. It's interesting that you add namesakes with type of songs to bio. Really interesting to see which character is based on what song.

I'm curious why all the members of Rainbow are 14 but it doesn't take away that they're that age. I hope you do make it close enough to understand because that might put off players. I wonder if cutesy art is there for less the impact of the story.
I finally, finally got the thing to upload (not even sure what I did that made it work). It's encouraging to hear that the engine doesn't matter. As for the namesakes, I'm a pretty huge fan of a lot of things, so the story is full of references though I try not to make any of them too blatant or use them for humor (cause if you miss the reference then it's not a joke it's just a sentence.) Anyway, thanks for your interest.

Oh, and now that I have the demo up, is there anyway this could be moved to the main WIP section?

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#5 Post by Killionaire »

Interesting concept; child soldiers having to enlist and participate in post-apocalyptic civil war....now with magic. I wonder how Iii deals with the struggle(the emotional one). I've seen too many war movies to know that everyone in the squadron doesn't just walk out of it smelling like the perfume section of the mall. Death would be brutal on someone her age. How does she lead at the age of fourteen? Did she sign up on her own? aside from some questions I have, the characters seem to do their part well enough. I feel like what you were going for with Arwin was how the Hollywood war tactic of charging in as soon as one is attacked(reminds me of No More Heroes 2 somewhat) would be world's easiest way to die. Am I right on that? I hope so. Otherwise he feels kind of fodder-y. One of the more powerful moments however, was when you coupled the emotional burden of Iii failing to stop 4 people from dying with the prospect of more death in the form of that suicide mission.Thinking about that had some pretty profound emotional effect on me.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#6 Post by Enigma »

Killionaire wrote:Interesting concept; child soldiers having to enlist and participate in post-apocalyptic civil war....now with magic. I wonder how Iii deals with the struggle(the emotional one). I've seen too many war movies to know that everyone in the squadron doesn't just walk out of it smelling like the perfume section of the mall. Death would be brutal on someone her age. How does she lead at the age of fourteen? Did she sign up on her own? aside from some questions I have, the characters seem to do their part well enough. I feel like what you were going for with Arwin was how the Hollywood war tactic of charging in as soon as one is attacked(reminds me of No More Heroes 2 somewhat) would be world's easiest way to die. Am I right on that? I hope so. Otherwise he feels kind of fodder-y. One of the more powerful moments however, was when you coupled the emotional burden of Iii failing to stop 4 people from dying with the prospect of more death in the form of that suicide mission.Thinking about that had some pretty profound emotional effect on me.
Ah thanks for your interest. I'll try to answer your questions too. Iii's dealing with the deaths of her friends is a major part of her character arc so of course it'll be addressed in story. I even put in a few nods here and there to them, like shops selling weapons for party members that have already died or been otherwise incapacitated.

Iii was put in charge because she's qualified for the job. In the conflict prior to to the current war (The one briefly mentioned in the over view) everyone who could fight did because it was necessary. Though it isn't currently, child soldiers are still used to boost military ranks. Iii, having a disciple, a sharp mind, and powerful magic, was put in charge because she's the best for the job. Being nobility also probably helped.

I did in fact have Arwen use a common movie tactic partially to show how bad it was, and partially because it was in character. I'm curious as to what made him seem "fodder-y" though. I though he had a lot of typical main character traits.

Also I updated the demo to fix an issue with Arwen being invisible at the beginning of the game.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#7 Post by Enigma »

Whoooooo, updated with Laura sprite.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#8 Post by Ran08 »

Oooooh, I an not so good in Math too, so... Laura it is! Hahaha. :) She's currently my fave character. Oh, and Shiori is pretty cool too! I like jokes too, and I like characters I can relate to. Haha.

I'm not super concerned with age, although to be perfectly honest, they do seem pretty young to me. But I'm already 16, hahaha, so of course, I view 14 y/o as young. :D Oooh, time goes by so fast. Haha.

And I like references! Hahaha. They're cool. As for the art, the cutesy style is fine. I actually think the art looks pretty good for the story.

Anyway, good luck! :D

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#9 Post by dandelionfluff »

Ahhh I didn`t know they were 14! Hahaha, anyways the story sounds really interesting at the moment. The characters are about my age so I couldn't possible imagine what's its like being in a war. Also what did you mean about it being a RPG game with visual novel elements?

Good luck with the rest!

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#10 Post by Enigma »

dandelionfluff wrote:Ahhh I didn`t know they were 14! Hahaha, anyways the story sounds really interesting at the moment. The characters are about my age so I couldn't possible imagine what's its like being in a war. Also what did you mean about it being a RPG game with visual novel elements?

Good luck with the rest!
Ha ha, yep. Each of Rainbow`s 4 girls is 14 (the initial 4). Also, when i say visual novel elements i really mean visual novel storytelling moments and dialouge choices. I'll make the first of these scenes too now that i have Laura's sprite ready. A big difference from the main storytelling is that when the gams shifts to vn style the writing becomes first person. It hopefully will help the player assume the mindset of the character. I do have plans for a few different endings, and a sort of (unseen) affection point type mechanic, as well as at least one major choice in the middle of the narritive that changes a significant chunk of the quest and who joins your party. As well as many more minor choices, like deciding to laugh for Shiori or just face palm.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#11 Post by Enigma »

Ran08 wrote:Oooooh, I an not so good in Math too, so... Laura it is! Hahaha. :) She's currently my fave character. Oh, and Shiori is pretty cool too! I like jokes too, and I like characters I can relate to. Haha.

I'm not super concerned with age, although to be perfectly honest, they do seem pretty young to me. But I'm already 16, hahaha, so of course, I view 14 y/o as young. :D Oooh, time goes by so fast. Haha.

And I like references! Hahaha. They're cool. As for the art, the cutesy style is fine. I actually think the art looks pretty good for the story.

Anyway, good luck! :D
Thank you, and thank you for your interest. Id also like to mention that everybody loves Laura. My friemd who played my old demos love her, my old writing club loved her, i think the only person that ive seen not put her at #1 is me. For the record my favorite isn't on the page yet.

To go ahead and explain the age thing, it has to do with my own view that a lot of children hold whatever viewpoint the people aound thwm do without thinking themselves. It specifally 14 because thats one year younger fhan Giorno Giovanna and i love part 5 of JJBA.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#12 Post by Ran08 »

Hahaha, oh, I like those minor choices. Like I said, I can relate to Shiori, so... ;)) Laugh at her, okay? Hahahaha.

Really? Then I hope we get to meet your favorite character soon! :D

Ahh, I see. Well that's perfectly fine. :) Haha. At 14 years old, I thought I was already mature enough, actually. Only when I look back do I notice how childish I probably was at that time. Hahaha. So ages don't really matter much to me. :)))

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#13 Post by Enigma »

So, I've finally got a new update to the project. Well two updates

1. I was already going to pretty much overhaul all the maps in the game, since I got some new resources to use. I also ended up updating the battle UI/battle system, buying new assets for character sprites, and now I'm extending the first part of the game to make it comparable in length to the other parts of the game.

2. Also I got Iii's new sprite!!

Image

As soon as I get some more character art for Merry and Shiori, I'll also be making a new thread in the main WIP section, so everyone can look forward to that.

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Re: Freedom From Silence [RPG][Science Fantasy]

#14 Post by Enigma »

Updated with Merry's Sprite, whee.

Soon I'll have a new demo up using the new art with the new opening scenes as well, which are well...a lot different since I've added in a lot of scripts to RPG Maker. Though I still only have Iii's new sprite.

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