Soulshine
Genres: RPG, Fantasy, Near-future, Mystery
Estimated Playtime: 20-30 hrs
Endings: 3
Features
- A modern Earth soon after magic was discovered, with an underground world to venture into.
- A grand mystery to unravel.
- Story and character first gameplay.
- Tactical RPG-style combat that rewards knowledge over stats.
- Friendly monsters?
- Made in Ren’py. <3
Story
Subterrania appeared in 2060, fifty years after the discovery of magic. It originated in northern China, and within hours formed a network of massive tunnels spanning across the eastern hemisphere. Nobody knows who created it or why, but inside stretched endless fields of farmland, caverns the size of countries, and strange monsters who claimed to be humanity’s friends.
Now it is 2084, the surface is at war with the underground, and humanity’s greatest magician Kay-Chan has vanished into the northern reaches of Subterrania. It is your job to enter Subterrania as a spy, befriend the monsters within, and learn what happened to her.
But along the way you will unravel Kay-Chan’s real motivations, the hidden reasons behind the war, and the true purpose of Subterrania.
Creatures and People of Soulshine
Characters
Pictures coming soon?
There are around ten major characters. Here are the ones you meet early on.
Benli Terrace
This is you, one of two magicians in the world with healing magic. By faking your own death you are able enter Subterrania as a spy, and through your healing powers you are to survive and discover its secrets.
(Gender/Name/Age/Appearance changeable.)
“Om nom nom.” -- Benli eating food because, let’s be real, healing magic requires a ridiculous amount of energy.
Pip
A young Gobli and your first friend in Subterrania. The fact that monsters don’t have souls bothers him, and he spends all his time learning about the surface world and its life to figure out what he is missing.
“So you’re a boy right? I just want to make sure because I haven’t really seen a human up close before okay?” -- Pip soon after meeting you.
General "Naptha" Wonn
One of the generals heading the war in the north. Earned the nickname "Naptha" because she makes excellent use of fire. She is the one who ordered you into Subterrania, and your sole point of communication with the surface.
“Hey, be careful, yeah? And don't let them feed you too much curry down there. You'll come back reeking of it.” -- Napatha, right before your descent into Subterrania.
Katherine “Kay-Chan” Shen
Without a doubt the most powerful magician alive and the only human to defeat a Sperah single-handedly. She is known by many names (”Sword of Heaven,” “Vancil’s Dog,” and her favorite: “The Blade behind the Stars”), but calls herself Kay-Chan because that's the nickname she gave herself when she was eight and convinced that she was Japanese rather than Chinese.
She vanished into Subterrania with a elite team of magicians. You must follow her footsteps and track her down.
“And you know what? You know what down there I bet I’ll actually find a few decent fighters. Ones better than your highness poop-head at least.” -- Kay-Chan to Hegemon Kaya before entering Subterrania.
Hegemon Kaya Vancil
The undisputed leader of the world, the second greatest warrior among humans, and the only other healing magician. She heads the war against Subterrania and the countries that support it.
Kaya is the third World Hegemon, the first being the inventor/discoverer of magic Alturi Childs and the second being his daughter Alita Childs. The world is still trying to understand why Alita willingly gave up her power to Kaya.
"It is unforgivable murder, but it will save so many." -- reputed last words of Kaya before ordering the destruction of Shanghai.
Gameplay
As for gameplay, there are three main modes, with about equal gameplay time each. These modes are heavily intertwined, and are often inseparable from each other and the story.
Early mockup of a combat screen.
Combat
Combat resembles traditional RPG combat, but where the most powerful tool is knowledge rather than your stats. To defeat even a weak foe you must know the capabilities of both the enemy and of yourself, along with the enemy's mindset. Half of combat is understanding of the world you’ve fallen into.
The combat is loosely modeled after my research on real life fighting. I hope to capture the efficiency and tactical metagame of it while at the same time keeping it fun and allowing for silly things, like characters monologueing during a fight.
Exploration
Every day you may explore, searching for clues and resources. As you explore you will discover new places and meet new characters which you will have to befriend, decieve, or fight. You can also send your party members off to do certain jobs, such as gather food or spread rumors.
At the same time you are being chased by a team of hostile Raben who know you've snuck into Subterrania, so you must constantly be moving forwards, deeper into the underground.
Character Interaction
What is there to say? Here lies heart of the game.To track down Kay-Chan you must be able to talk to the people of the underground and make allies and hear rumors. Breakfast and dinner are spent with your party, who will become your best friends and train you in combat and the Subterranian way of life.
Music
Soulshine will have it’s own OST. I have perhaps twenty tracks in various states of composed so far.
Development Status
I've been working on this for two years now, with focus on the plot, world, characters, music, and game play design. A fair amount of the behind-the-scenes code is also complete (inventory, combat engine, data-structures, etc) and I'm moving towards more exciting things like enemy AI and UI design. The current goal is to have a playable demo that shows off the combat and exploration system by the end of this year.
Launch Date
Hmmmm lets not talk about that.
(I tentatively estimate the game to launch in 2024, maybe as soon as 2022. Now the demo -- that might be ready within the next year.)
Questions
Here are some questions that'll help me refine the direction of the game and decide how to divide my time. Answer as many as you want, or just post a comment instead!
- What parts of the world would you most like to learn more about?
- Who is your favorite character?
- Out of exploration, combat, and character interaction, which do you care most about? Least?
- Out of art, music, and gameplay, which do you care most about? Least?
- Are you okay with black-and-white only art style and minimalist backgrounds? (Something like what is in the combat screen mockup.)
- Any other questions or comments? (Constructive critique is always welcome.)
Thanks for checking this out, and double thanks if you comment or answer any questions! This project is close to my heart, and it feels good to share after working so long on it in isolation. I'll be trying to update this thread every now and then when I have something to show.