Queen At Arms: Deluxe Edition, on Steam Feb 4 (beta testing)

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Rosstin
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Queen At Arms: Deluxe Edition, on Steam Feb 4 (beta testing)

#1 Post by Rosstin »

2015 Dec 28th Update: We will soon be starting a beta test for Queen At Arms Deluxe Edition on Steam.

Update: Queen At Arms: First Edition is OOUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTT! You can buy it for $9.99 HERE-- on itch.io!

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Queen At Arms is a an adventure VN built in Ren'Py. Queen At Arms is about a young girl who joins a medieval army and has to survive a terrible civil war. In order to live, you have to make tough decisions, similar to Telltale's Walking Dead series.

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Eventually you become the army's de-facto commander, and you must manage the morale of your men and the lives of your troops in-battle.

The datable characters are the various army officers who you employ. For example, Rubus (the tall black man with the platinum-blond hair) is an Archmagus whose magical skills can provide clever ways to bypass obstacles in battle. Lucius the Head Cleric (to the left of Rubus, the pale man with the frosted blue hair) is an expert in medical matters and can preserve the lives of your troops with the right medicine.

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From left to right, the protagonist Marcus Cordale, Spymaster Fox, Lucius the Head Cleric, Rubus the Archmagus, Prince Alastor, your brother Nick, and James the Mechanist

A story of political intrigue, love, and war: Navigate a world rife with political intrigue, bloodshed, and uncertainty as a young soldier still seeking her place in the world. Form strong bonds with others to survive.
Every choice counts: Player agency is everything, and you can act as you please. But be aware—each time you make a decision, it has the potential to affect everything from battle outcomes to your relationships with other characters. And you may lose a friend or two before the war is over!
Prepare for battle: Before major battle sequences, the player has the opportunity to hone many different skills, including swordplay, medicine, and magic. What you take the time to learn can make all the difference in a future skirmish!
Relationships with others: The player's relationships with NPCs are more than just dry statistics—each character has a story to tell and secrets to uncover. Acting in a certain way towards one person may jeopardize or strengthen your relationship with another.
Complex themes: The story tackles matters of gender identity and diverse sexualities, and features the potential for relationships with characters both male and female, in a culture where standing out can at times be dangerous.[/list]

Features

• Over ten hours of gameplay with nearly a dozen endings
• Potential romances with five different characters
• Quick, action-packed combat sequences with timed decisions
• Sprawling battles with complex strategic choices

As you might expect for an Otome game, we have a predominantly female team. Emily So, Meagan Trott, and Lilinn Tan are our artists and Serenity Frost is our illustrious writer.
Last edited by Rosstin on Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:15 am, edited 49 times in total.
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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#2 Post by Sleipnir56 »

This looks really look. I'll keep seeing your up dates for this game. Good luck with it and nice job :D .

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#3 Post by akemicchi »

I'm expecting the game to tug at my heartstrings a lot hearing that there are difficult choices in it like Walking Dead. :'D Would you consider your game a drama? Or are there not too many difficult events to consider it as one? How many dateable characters are there?

Good luck on your game and Kickstarter! \o/ I'm looking forward to the demo!

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#4 Post by Googaboga »

I saw the Facebook page for this game awhile back. It's nice to see it pop up here on Lemma Soft too (I don't use Facebook so I can't do much with a Facebook page XD). The game sounds fun and the art is impressive. Good luck with production and I hope you Kickstarter goes well when you make it :3.
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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#5 Post by gekiganwing »

akemicchi wrote:I'm expecting the game to tug at my heartstrings a lot hearing that there are difficult choices in it like Walking Dead. :'D Would you consider your game a drama?
I was also wondering about this. If you're willing to write a story that delivers quite a few player punches, then I think fans will appreciate it. I've seen a couple threads on sub-Reddits related to visual novels in which people are looking for a mature GxB story that challenges the reader.

It sounds like magic is a real, recognized force in your world. Setting may not be the most element of a story, but it matters. Give us just enough information about the fantasy world, without infodumping, so that we understand it. Reasonable amounts of detail should give the setting its own flavor and make it seem plausible.

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#6 Post by sheetcakeghost »

Yes, there are quite a few planned punches. Also a few beatings. Your heartstrings might not make it.

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#7 Post by Haze »

This sounds interesting! I've seen the link to the FB page in your sig for a while now, asterazul, so I'm happy to see a thread here now!

A couple of questions:
asterazul wrote:Eventually you become the army's de-facto commander, and you must manage the morale of your men and the lives of your troops in-battle.
Will you always become the commander, no matter what you do? Or can you choices dictate you dying before that can happen, staying at a low rank, etc?
asterazul wrote:The datable characters are the various army experts who you employ.
Since the MC and the obtainable characters are in the army, will being close to them impair your judgment as commander? For example, if you're close to Lucius, and game comes to a point where someone's life has to be sacrificed for a greater good, will you be unable to choose Lucius to risk his life, and can only choose, say, Rubus or some unnamed army member?
asterazul wrote:Queen At Arms is about a young girl who joins a medieval army...
What is the recruitment age for said army, out of curiosity? Is the MC a special circumstance, or is she just old enough to join?

Ok, I think that's it for now. I'll be looking out for the demo! :D
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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#8 Post by Rosstin »

Haze wrote:
asterazul wrote:The datable characters are the various army experts who you employ.
Since the MC and the obtainable characters are in the army, will being close to them impair your judgment as commander? For example, if you're close to Lucius, and game comes to a point where someone's life has to be sacrificed for a greater good, will you be unable to choose Lucius to risk his life, and can only choose, say, Rubus or some unnamed army member?
I plan to answer all these questions when I have a chance, but this one caught my eye! There will definitely be situations, especially later in the game, in which you have to make difficult choices about the welfare of a certain character versus the welfare of the army. For example... you can send the Archmagus out on dangerous missions. The stakes of those missions get higher as the war becomes more dangerous and complex.

There's a thread elsewhere on Lemmasoft where they're talking about player agency versus character agency, which is something I think a lot about for this game. We're always working on a delicate balance between giving the player as much agency as we can, and giving the main character her own unique personality. For instance, early in the game there is an event where the main character questions her choice to join the army, and the player has a say in exactly how she reacts to her inner struggle. As the person in charge of branching paths, I have to consider whether to allow the player to say "screw it, I'm going to go become a farmer" or not. In this particular case, we're considering a situation in which you leave the army prematurely as a valid conclusion (although probably not one must players would choose! :D )
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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#9 Post by Rosstin2 »

akemicchi wrote:I'm expecting the game to tug at my heartstrings a lot hearing that there are difficult choices in it like Walking Dead. :'D Would you consider your game a drama? Or are there not too many difficult events to consider it as one? How many dateable characters are there?

Good luck on your game and Kickstarter! \o/ I'm looking forward to the demo!
Would you consider your game a drama? Or are there not too many difficult events to consider it as one? I'd consider it a war story or coming-of-age story with romance. I think there are enough difficult events to satisfy player... it's not nearly as sadistic as Hanako's Long Live the Queen, but you can die, and important people can die.

How many dateable characters are there? I think it would be spoilers to give you an exact number, but I'll say there are more than 3 and less than 9.

Good luck on your game and Kickstarter! \o/ I'm looking forward to the demo! Thank you so much! Image

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#10 Post by sheetcakeghost »

Looks like I'm gonna get to those other questions first, Mr. Producer.
Haze wrote:Will you always become the commander, no matter what you do? Or can you choices dictate you dying before that can happen, staying at a low rank, etc?
Yes and no. You can die before you get to that point, and you could decide not to rise completely up the ranks, but you will reach a certain point first.
Haze wrote:What is the recruitment age for said army, out of curiosity? Is the MC a special circumstance, or is she just old enough to join?
15, and it isn't special. The MC was rounded up along with the other boys of age from town. Forced to join would be a better way of phrasing the MC's involvement in the army, actually.

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [Warfield Fantasy]

#11 Post by Rosstin2 »

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [War] [Fantasy]

#12 Post by Sugar-Junkie »

It sounds dynamic but not too distracting which would be a problem when you have to concentrate on strategy (it's a battle theme, right?). There's an epic side to it as well without being obnoxious. I like it!

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [War] [Fantasy]

#13 Post by Rosstin2 »

Screenshot-of-the-day.

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [War] [Fantasy]

#14 Post by Rosstin2 »

What do you guys think of the design for this character, James? He's the young, cheerful boy who gets promoted to head of the Mechanists, the faction that provides weapons and armor to the soldiers.

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Re: Queen At Arms [GxB] [War] [Fantasy]

#15 Post by Sugar-Junkie »

Actually I thought it was an eyepatch with maybe some magical/mechanical mechanism inside that allowed him to see ^^'

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