Eastbound Stars: The Drowning Halls [RPG] [FIRST PERSON POINT AND CLICK] [FANTASY]

[McRad]

Hello everybody! I'm here to talk about the game my staff and I are making, Eastbound Stars: The Drowning Halls. It's an RPG/Adventure game hybrid that's inspired by old PC-98 games.

PLOT:
In the year 0 AIA, a war broke out in a continent ruled by humans. The foreign humans and the non-humans of the continent joined together to overthrow the fascist governments. This occurred during an incredible astronomical event, an event that defined history for years to come; The arrival of IOS. IOS is a mysterious meteor that takes on the appearance of a winged humanoid and radiates magical energy. This energy was harnessed by the rebellion, granting them victory and the keys to a new age.

The old continent died out and was reborn, one of the old countries had transformed into Alzereth. This country was founded by Wolfkin and is home to many of them. However, it is now under immense turmoil. The country split into three parts, An empire, a Oligarchy, and a government which follows the whims of a supposed god. In 952, the demon invasion of Alzereth had begun. The weakened country was only suffering more pain, which prompted everybody to enforce newer practices. The Empire of Alzereth decided to allow people to hunt these demons. So the age of the Demon Hunters began, as several people strive to defeat the demonic menace. Yet the war rages on, yet to be disturbed.

Eastbound Stars: The Drowning Halls, takes place in 978 AIA (After IOS Arrived) or 4 years before the events of Eastbound Stars. You play as a customizable character who is a new assistant to the Empirical Laboratory of Alzereth's Demon research team. They've been tasked to find out everything about the demons in order to end the war against them. One of the lead scientists, Barbas Pultriz, has found an oddity inside of the Devil's Maw (the portal between Hell and Earth). This oddity is a demon larva, which he and his associate, Zanzer Kilanthrough, are planning to study. However, the experiment goes awry and you wake up to witness an lab overrun by demons. It's up to decide how to get out of this situation.

CHARACTERS:
Barbas Pultriz: The lead researcher in demonology at the Empirical Laboratory of Alzereth. He has been researching the demon larva, which he believes to hold the key to stopping the corruption caused by the demon's blood, otherwise known as Demon Liqour.

Zanzer Kilanthrough: The 2nd in command in demonology at the Empirical Laboratory of Alzereth. He and Barbas have a long history together, yet they constantly oppose one another. Zanzer wants to commence more "intense" experiments to see the results. He thinks that a cure for the mutation caused by Demon Liqour can be found by observing the corruption of other living matter.

Maylene Kumaken: The main character of Eastbound Stars, but is a party member in the game. After recovering from the traumatic death of her lover, she finally goes out and becomes a demon hunter. Her first task is to rescue people from the laboratory and kill any demons there. This task won't be easy for her... or you as well.

Maggy Lan: A famous demon hunter who's on her last job. After a string of murders took the lives of her other members, she decided to disband the group. Yet, this event was too big for her to not accept. She'll get it done... even if it does kill her.

MORE TO COME...


SCREENSHOTS:
So far, we only have these screenshots that use early placeholders:

They will get updated as time goes on, but this will be on the time of our artists.

GAMEPLAY:
This game is a hybrid point and click RPG. The game plays out like a dungeon crawler, except that instead of a randomized dungeon, you explore a vast building with secrets and puzzles to solve. There will also be many characters that you can talk to, some may even join your party as well. The stat system is a unique set of skills that can help inside or outside of battle.
Strength: Defines physical strength, carrying weight, and intimidation factor
Durability: Defines damage reduced and ability to go through hazardous areas
Magic: Defines magic skill and restrictions on what spells are used
Analysis: Defines ability to see hidden details and use persuasive techniques
Stamina: Defines Ki and restrictions on Ki moves
Fortitude: Defines focus for certain attacks as well as reduce the amount of anxiety acquired

Along with that, you also have the anxiety meter. This meter acts simular to a sanity meter in a traditional horror game, but it also defines role order in battles. The key to combat is being prepared and always planning ahead. Yet, this statement can also apply to exploration as well. You can cast spells outside of combat to solve (or bypass) certain puzzles or you can spot details with high amounts of Analysis.

I mainly wanted to make this thread to generate some interest for the game itself. We're really a small team, but we hope that we can get the money and talent to expand this project even further.

We're going to set up a kickstarter in the future once we get the game looking good enough to make a demo for. You'll get to experience the game up to the first mini boss, but it will take some time before we get to that stage.

Other than that if you have any questions or comments to make about the game please do so. You can also follow our twitter: https://twitter.com/EastboundStars or our Tumblr: https://eastboundstars.tumblr.com/where we will post things relating to the game.

You can also join our discord here:

https://discordapp.com/invite/WxF7NJH

[papillon]

If you want to inspire interest, it probably helps to give more details and description. What kind of gameplay are you planning to have? You said rpg/adventure but that can mean many different things. Can you describe an example of the kinds of things the player will do?

What about the characters? The world? You say this game takes place four years before the events of some other game, but we have no idea what that other game is, either.

[McRad]

If you want to inspire interest, it probably helps to give more details and description. What kind of gameplay are you planning to have? You said rpg/adventure but that can mean many different things. Can you describe an example of the kinds of things the player will do?

What about the characters? The world? You say this game takes place four years before the events of some other game, but we have no idea what that other game is, either.

Took your advice and added more to the post.

Sorry I didn't before, I was busy working on the game

[papillon]

Thanks! That's a much more helpful overview.

Good luck!

[McRad]

It’s time to discuss something about the game finally! What you see before you is an early build of the stat sheet/character customization screen. Not everything is in place, however, so it might be completely different in the final game.

Species in The Drowning Halls also work differently than in other games. Instead of modifying your scores directly, the species you play as will have unique “traits” that target the specific aspect of a stat. For example, Wolfkins are a “risk vs reward” version of elves

This is because the trait that Wolfkins have gives them bad fortitude and makes them take more damage than an Elf would. However, Wolkin will be able to use other senses like smelling, along with enhanced hearing.

There are also species that have unusual traits. Daemons are essentially glass cannons. Their unique trait, “Daemon Body”, allows them to be able to avoid damage completely rather than take it. However, this leaves them with little to no protection when hit. This means that any hit they take is likely to be devastating. However, they also get a boost in stamina, which allows for them to be excellent Monks.

Geraths also fit into this category as they have a skill that lets them toggle between being strength focused or defense focused. This is all due to their exoskeleton, which they can manipulate to their advantage.

The last sheet that you see determines the “Attitude” for your character. When you select a unique attitude, you’ll be able to choose unique responses to certain situations. This isn’t limited to one choice, you can respond a myriad of ways with any attitude.

That’s all we have to say now, we’re very busy on the game. However, you can check back with us for any updates that we post here or on our social media pages!

[McRad]

QUICK UPDATE:

Development is kinda slowing as I move into getting a job. However this will likely mean that you'll see some better assets popup in the game.

[McRad]

Here's a sprite from the game! We'll update this thread when the rest are done

[McRad]

Wow! Thanks for the 1,000 views everyone!

I'm working hard on the game along with more content for Eastbound Stars, we are developing the battle system for the game and we hope to show you some of it in the near future!

[McRad]

Quick Update:

We finally have a real prototype for the RPG system in the game. We're working hard on building it up more, but for now it's in it's most basic state

We hope to update to you soon about more exciting news on the game!