Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

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Kirarya
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Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#1 Post by Kirarya »

Updated: 1/20 with a detailed cast list. Character art coming soon!
Any comments/criticisms/thoughts about this game would be much appreciated! I would love to hear everyone's first impressions so far!
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Define:
  • panacea n. A solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases; a cure-all
Synopsis:
  • An escaped princess joins a rebel group to save her kingdom from a tyrannical younger brother.

    Since absconding on the night of her brother's coronation the princess has been in disguise, facing
    execution for acts of high treason. Living now as a poor innkeeper's daughter she attempts to help
    lead a group known as Panacea in a rebellion against her brother. Will peace be restored to the land?
    Will the princess fail in her efforts and face death? Or maybe, perhaps, the princess becomes just as
    tyrannical in her own fashion. The fate of the princess and her kingdom lies now in your hands.










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Features:
  • 6+ romanceable characters
  • 10+ possible endings
  • nameable protagonist
  • CG gallery
  • concept art gallery
  • music gallery?
  • custom GUI
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Game play:
  • Panacea is a medieval adventure game that features strategic decision making as the story unfolds.

    You play as the princess (default name Lysette) years after her escape from the castle. At the start of
    the game she becomes a member of the rebel group code named Panacea. What happens after that
    is very much up to the player. From early on you will be able to make choices that affect the events
    of the rebellion, the character of the princess, the knowledge you gain, and the relations you hold
    with other characters. Based on your actions you can achieve a number of endings that range from
    success of the rebellion to corruption of the princess, or even finding love in the midst of the war.








More art and information coming soon!
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Meet the cast
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Lysette, Her Royal Highness:
  • The (nameable) female protagonist. A princess who fled the castle after being accused of high treason. Although she was raised as a proper lady, her adventurous
    personality hungered for more than dancing and looking pretty. She learned combat secretly from one of the royal guards, and taught herself things such as
    internal affairs and foreign politics by eavesdropping on her brother's lessons and spending time in the library when she could.
Percival, His Royal Majesty:
  • A cruel ruler crowned shortly after his father's death. He believes himself to be divinely chosen by Anim to rule all men, and claims that his actions reflect
    Anim's will. All those who oppose him are imprisoned or executed. Once upon the throne, he quickly began to do away with many of the previous king's council
    members on the grounds of treason. Eventually he came to believe even his own sister was out to get him.
Drystan, Marquess of Alstaff:
  • A young man with a mysterious background. He is the son of a neighbouring land's lord and was from a young age trained as a knight. He is therefore quite the
    gentleman, being well versed in table manners, hunting, hawking, and even music appreciation. He is also very familiar with aspects of combat such as weapons,
    armour, and tactics. He specialises in mounted combat.
Aedan:
  • A brawny guy who has been smithing since his father trained him as a boy. He appears a bit rough around the edges but is super friendly and easily
    approachable. While he normally makes horseshoes and other mundane items, he secretly supplies the resistance with weapons. Not one for violence, he has no
    intention of physically fighting in the rebellion.
Basil, The Ambassador of Oria:
  • An ambassador from the country of Oria seeking to reinstate trade with Erestat. Unprepared for the turmoil he finds he soon becomes too involved with the
    rebellion to back out. Although it is unclear what his true intentions are, he agrees to aid the resistance and brings in support from his own land. He is eloquent and
    inspiring, and always perfectly composed.
Master Nikolai:
  • A quiet elf whose intelligence is off the charts -- teach him something new and you will have earned his respect forever. He prefers to solve conflicts peacefully
    through negotiation and avoids physical fights. However he is incredibly strong-willed and loyal to those whose cause he believes in. In addition to pursuing his own
    magical endeavours, he secretly provides the resistance with any potions/antidotes/etc they need.
Sir Lloyd:
  • The guard that taught the princess combat and helped her to escape the castle. He give the resistance information from inside the castle such as the king's next
    moves and plans of action. He believes in doing the right thing but weaker-willed than a lot of the other characters and might do anything to save his own skin.
Sibylle:
  • A young woman that has been serving the princess since they were both children. She now works as a cook at the inn. She is incredibly kind and gentle and waits
    patiently on the princess even when she seems to be acting unreasonable. She is quiet and prefers to keep a low profile. It is through her that the princess learns
    important values such as grace and composure.
Maven:
  • A stout old lady that runs a popular local inn named The Weary Wanderer. She is very warm and friendly as long as you don't get on her bad side. She was not keen
    on taking the princess in when she first came begging looking for a place to stay, but her husband persuaded her to give the girl a chance. She has since become rather
    fond of the princess and her servant and sees them as her own children.
Last edited by Kirarya on Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:00 am, edited 6 times in total.

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Juno
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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#2 Post by Juno »

I love the concept of this game. I've always had a weakness for rebel groups and princesses in disguise, so this is definitely something I'm interested in. I also love how the protagonist has a very obvious personality, but seeks the advice of others because she knows she is rash. I like that the players choices will still influence her growth and personality at the end of the game as well.

Definitely looking forward to updates on this game.

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#3 Post by Kirarya »

Juno wrote:I love the concept of this game. I've always had a weakness for rebel groups and princesses in disguise, so this is definitely something I'm interested in. I also love how the protagonist has a very obvious personality, but seeks the advice of others because she knows she is rash. I like that the players choices will still influence her growth and personality at the end of the game as well.

Definitely looking forward to updates on this game.
Thank you for your comments! I haven't yet commented on gameplay I realise. I want to create a game that will allow quite a bit of player choice as the story progresses. Based on who you talk to and what actions you take the story can go in quite different directions. For right now it's mostly vent based gameplay but I'm debating adding a few basic stats that the player could use to their advantage as well. Thoughts?

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#4 Post by HiddenCreature »

This sounds like an exciting concept. The idea of romance amidst a war with such high stakes, not knowing if you'll survive the next day. That sense of uncertainty really adds tension.

Become a fierce rebel leader, or a tyrannical ruler? Sounds like fun. Especially all the room for character development based on your choices.

Is it pure story, or will there be some kind of strategical gameplay involved?

My only advice is to try and stay as true to character as possible. I've seen some characters there were "evil" just for the sake of being so, without real motivations. Watch out for that.

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#5 Post by Juno »

I think some basic stats could work pretty well in a game like this. And strategy-making decisions in-game would be pretty cool, as well.
HiddenCreature wrote: My only advice is to try and stay as true to character as possible. I've seen some characters there were "evil" just for the sake of being so, without real motivations. Watch out for that.
I agree with this advice. I would really like to see some really cool character development/personality of the tyrannical younger brother. I don't know what you have planned for the new king, but I definitely think that some serious character development should be done for him since he is such an important character.

Plus, even if he is a terrible person, actually going through with killing his sister (if she is caught) has to be cause him some serious guilt/dilemma. I think it would be more fun if he actually does care about his sister even if it is a misguided/abusive kind of love because that would seem more realistic to me. Plus, actually caring about her would give him even more incentive to find her.

Just my two cents.

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#6 Post by HiddenCreature »

I second what Juno said.

A concern some writers have when writing antagonists, is they'll create too much distance between the story and the readers, out of dislike for the character.

To avoid that, it's important they can see the character as a person, not just an obstacle to the protagonist. Even if we don't like a character, we should at least be able to understand why they do what they do. So while we may or may not like them, we can appreciate their role in the story (which is more important).

Lastly, I'd start with only three possible paths (at least at first). Making more is certainly possible, but it takes a lot of time, at least if you're planning on making them very distinctive. After that, if you feel the project can handle it, then yeah, move on to extra paths.

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#7 Post by Kirarya »

HiddenCreature wrote:Is it pure story, or will there be some kind of strategical gameplay involved?
Good question! I want to incorporate some sort of strategy, I just haven't developed a method to incorporate it smoothly yet. I'm thinking I'll try to include a few stats you can build that will affect the events that occur, or whether or not you are successful in certain attempts.
HiddenCreature wrote:My only advice is to try and stay as true to character as possible. I've seen some characters there were "evil" just for the sake of being so, without real motivations. Watch out for that.
This. I 100% agree. I haven't developed the prince's character all that much yet but believe me this is something I'm going to watch out for. Character development is one of my favorite writing aspects so I'm really excited to start bringing the cast together, and I hope I can present you with a believable villain.

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#8 Post by HiddenCreature »

If you want to keep it simple, there are two ways you can go about it: decisions, or stats.

The former is all about choices (where you go, what you say to whom) and often involve many different scenarios. This is for players that mainly enjoy character interaction and lots of dialogue choices.

The latter is more strategic, and works more on a pass-or-fail system. Think of it like this: it has as many trees as the former, but with less branches (fewer choice-dependent scenarios). Depending on what you specialize in (charisma, intelligence, strength) will determine if you can get the ideal ending.

Since character development is your focus, your game might fit better with the former.

So long as you try, it's hard to go wrong. Most characters (in my experience, anyway) are poorly made because writers are unaware of their mistakes. Knowing this beforehand saves a lot of trouble.

One more piece of advice on character development: pretend to be your character, and interview yourself. You'll be surprised how well you'll adopt the personality.

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure]

#9 Post by Kirarya »

HiddenCreature wrote:...

One more piece of advice on character development: pretend to be your character, and interview yourself. You'll be surprised how well you'll adopt the personality.
Thank you for all the wonderful advice so far! I'll be sure to keep it all in mind as I continue developing the game. Stay tuned for further updates! n-n

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure][updates!]

#10 Post by Writer16 »

I like this idea very much. A story about a strong princess, rebellion, and romance, is definetly worth following. Since this is set in medevial time, I'm thinking it might be written in medevial language, and might keep the culture and stuffs. Of course, since it's fanasty, there are ways to play around with that, but I personally think some aspects of the medieval period should be kept intacted. Anyway, I can't wait to see how this all unfolds.

-- Allison Diamond.
"You can fix anything but a blank page." -- Nora Roberts.

"An intelligent person can rationalize anything, a wise person doesn't try." -- Jen Knox.

"Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition." -- Abraham Lincoln.

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Re: Panacea [fantasy][romance][adventure][updates!]

#11 Post by Kirarya »

Writer16 wrote:I like this idea very much. A story about a strong princess, rebellion, and romance, is definetly worth following. Since this is set in medevial time, I'm thinking it might be written in medevial language, and might keep the culture and stuffs. Of course, since it's fanasty, there are ways to play around with that, but I personally think some aspects of the medieval period should be kept intacted. Anyway, I can't wait to see how this all unfolds.

-- Allison Diamond.
Thank you for commenting -- I certainly appreciate the interest! Recently I've been up to doing some research on medieval terminology, lifestyle, and the likes so as to incorporate historical factors into the game. I am going to attempt to remain faithful to the era while throwing some fantasy elements into it!~

I also just updated all of the links that I thought I had already fixed so the music and images should all be displaying properly now!

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