Last Cycle's Vision [GxB][Sci-Fantasy, Mystery] - 10/27/2012

[Lumella]

-- Updated as of 10/27/2012 --
This is a project between Lumella & Syn under the group Arcane-Clock.
Lumella is responsible for the all the concept, visual and written assets of the game.
Syn is responsible for the programming and pitching cool ideas in the midst of production.

STORYLINE:

• A young woman woke up and forgot the memories of her life. She now lives in Last Cycle, a seemingly Utopian world where everyone seemed so happy and contented. However, one night, she received a mysterious e-mail, which revolved around her old self and Last Cycle. It is now her task to unravel the mystery of Last Cycle and remember her past memories before it's too late.

FEATURES:

• • This game follows a linear storyline more primarily about the topic "Memory Recovery".
  • It's in a Utopian setting where it follow s a science-fantasy genre.
  • This game has a turn-based strategy system & battle system. Almost like an RPG.
  • It also follows a social link system, and a dating simulation system where the Main Character can go out with date-able characters.
  • More to come...

MAIN CAST:

• Main Character
  A young woman who lost fragments of her memories. She doesn't recall how she she ended up in Last Cycle; however, she could remember a portion of her memory on the moment she met an accident...
  
  
  The Assistant
  She's an NPC programmed to take care of her patient, the Main Character . For an AI, she unusually developed a personality inside the game.
  
  The Doctor
  He's one of the Head Doctors in Last Cycle. He's the personal doctor handling the Main Character while she resides in Last Cycle.
  
  The Patient
  He's one of the earliest patients to reside in Last Cycle. He doesn't seem very social and prefers to watch the sky alone. He can be found in the park often.
  
  
  The Detective
  He's a detective handling a case of a missing person. He suspected to find a clue of the missing person in Last Cycle.
  
  The Hacker
  He is an acquaintance (or side-kick) of the Detective. He's helping the Detective with the case, though it seems he has other other motives in Last Cycle.
  
  The Vagabond
  He's a new patient in Last Cycle. He dislikes the presence of a company and prefers to be alone. He frequently hangouts in the church in Last Cycle.

PROGRESS OF THE GAME:

• ► Plot: 75%
  ► Script: 15%
  ► CG: 0%
  ► Sprites: 90% / Battle Sprites: 10%
  ► Backgrounds: 30%
  ► User Interface: 10%
  ► Music: 0%
  ► Coding: 20%

[silenteve]

Wow, this looks really cool
I like how your main character looks, the backgrounds are interesting, and the text box looks really cool.
I can't wait for the release!

[PyTom]

Quick Question before we all start: Are we allowed to make a thread here in LemmaSoft about in-development story-based games even though it's not made from Ren'py?

Yes, this is allowed and encouraged.

[Lumella]

Awesome! Thank you, PyTom c:

Wow, this looks really cool
I like how your main character looks, the backgrounds are interesting, and the text box looks really cool.
I can't wait for the release!

Thanks! I'm glad you like them c:
I hope I can finish them on time~!

PROGRESS REPORT NO.1

We're already making in the midst programming and making the assets. Asset-wise, there's still a lot of places we need to fill out so placedholders are very handy right now. We're programming this project in C# since we needed the game to be really interactive and Ren'py isn't enough to handle my demands. xD;; Though, I initially started it in Ren'py, we encountered problems on the midst of its first phase of production and we needed to switch to another format.

In terms of its art, I've done character sheets describing the main cast of characters but only half of them are rendered right now. Considering I have to make a variety of facial expressions too, it will take "a lot" of time for me to finish alone so I'll contemplating if I should recruit artists who'd be willing to help me with this one, following a certain standard of quality according to what I envision the game to be. I'm also considering of 3D-in the background but I have to test out my uv-mapping skills if it's good enough. So far, I just made 2D ones first.

If you're curious what it has in store, it will contain Battle system & Statistics systems, and other various gameplay systems that we have on our minds that we have yet to finalize. We're also considering adding mini-games but we'll have to see first if it's applicable.

You can say our progress is still in its early stages (10%, I suppose). I'm finishing the first arc of the game. My game is consisted of four arcs so it's surely gonna be long. I'm trying to make it more accommodating for myself as assets are hard to construct all by yourself. I don't want to lose its quality so you can expect it to be more decent, I suppose.

Here are some lovely screenshots to prove its authenticity of its progress:

(One of the finished backgrounds on my game)


(A scribbled part and a preview of it in C#, courtesy of JR)


There we go! More progress reports to come! I mostly frequently update first in my Tumblr, so yeah. Just follow if you want to.

PROGRESS REPORT NO. 02
So here are some sketches of the three character from the main cast: Doctor, Assistant, & Main Character.



I'm contemplating of changing the designs for the Doctor & Assistant. I realized late how he poses like a model instead -_-;; He has to look respectable & intelligent, so I'll prolly change his posing & perhaps his clothes instead. As for the Assistant, her bright colors doesn't suit the overall appeal for the game. Since they're still initial designs, I'll change them soon enough. c: Do you think blonde suits her or perhaps light blue?

Anyhoo, moving on. Here's another WIP of a background. This is the main character's bedroom. I haven't finalized the colors yet, so I'm splashing colors here and there. I'm aiming for a futuristic clean look for this background. I might add more stuffs in it to make it more personalized.

[Ginger]

Wow, first things first, your art is gorgeous. When I first browsed through this, I was a little iffy on the 'memory loss' thing, having seen it quite a bit before. But the fact that your using science and scifi to back it up, and using a Utopian setting is very excellent.

Your backgrounds are very pretty. For now at least, until I see the finalized sprites, I think that 2D backgrounds will be better. But hey! I could be completely wrong, so do whatever you see fit! One nitpick I do have is the text box on the second screen-- it appears a little bulky. It takes up a good third of the screen (perhaps a little more) so if you could, thinning it out or making the back part more opaque could lessen the intensity of it.

But really, all and all, this looks rather amazing. I'm excited to see more progress on this in the future.

[Lumella]

One nitpick I do have is the text box on the second screen-- it appears a little bulky. It takes up a good third of the screen (perhaps a little more) so if you could, thinning it out or making the back part more opaque could lessen the intensity of it.

Thank you for the feedback! c: I've re-updated the GUI now. I agree it takes too much space & the fact it's bulky adds it up. I decided to alter the design as the colors of the backgrounds are bright, it might blend in too much with it. c:

PROGRESS REPORT NO. 03

Updated the GUI design for the dialogue, location, & date box with something less cluttered/bulky. I decided to stick with the predominant colors somewhat based from the logo of the game. I'm pretty contented with it, but I'd like to hear feedbacks from you guys c:



Aside from the interface, I've been working on the sprites recently. I haven't finished one yet, but I'm releasing a sketch sprite for the mean time. Down below is a sample sprite of the main character (or let's just call her MC). I have yet to render the rest of the characters as my perfectionist side is killing me bit by bit. -_-;



Story-wise, I might have to look for a proofreader for this game. It's just a thought for now, since I've revising the half-of the sequence of events in the story to something relevant to the topic. And yes, I'm planning to make my guys are date-able on my game.

There you have it! Till next progress report. Comments, Suggestions, & Feedbacks are welcome c:

[Asterisk]

Wow this looks so good! I'm digging the character designs.
I'm awaiting new development~~ nice!

[leon]

The BGs and the sprites are just beautiful.

The GUI looks great and professional. I think the color looks good. I would prefer even more transparency on the text box. I hate to see good looking BGs and sprites obscured.

[dechorus]

This looks great! The GUI reminds me so much of Persona 4. If the game is leaning in that direction of sim-type gameplay, then this surely will be one to look out for.

I too have made a work in progress thread for my own C# developed interactive story, though I haven't made nearly as much progress. I think it's interesting that you're doing the same. Very few here seem to work outside of Ren'Py.

The artwork looks great. You're very talented! Look forward to updates.

[Syn]

Alright a short intro is in order... Basically I'm the programmer in this project xD

So what do I do? In this case I'm in charge of updating the progress in the backend or framework part of the project
For those who are curious I'm coding this in C# with the XNA 4.0 framework...
Right now I'm still making the framework part of the code (Yeah a framework on top of another framework )

Anyways my goal right now is to create a framework where adding scenes and battles easy and less troubling like...

Code: Select all

public class TestBattle : BattleScreen
    {
        public TestBattle(GameOptions options)
            :base(options)
        {
            Party.Add(new MC());

            Enemies.Add(new TestEnemy());
            Enemies.Add(new TestEnemy());
            Enemies.Add(new TestEnemy());
            Enemies.Add(new TestEnemy());
        }

        public override void LoadContent()
        {
            base.LoadContent();
        }
    }

There that's how a battle scene is made with our MC vs 4 enemies.
But all in all I think the code for a simple battle is over a thousand already that not included xD

So this is how it currently looks like ( Sorry haven't worked on it that much >..< )


Yeah I know there are a lot of missing stuff... >..<
I'll try to finish putting them together this week and then I'll update you guys xD

This looks great! The GUI reminds me so much of Persona 4.

Progress List
Dialog Framework: Only the functionality of the mini-menu and the auto and skip buttons are missing
Battle Framework: The battle is basically functioning ( You can attack them to death now but other than that still working on it)
Anything other than that... Lets just say untested xD

My To Do List:
Complete battle UI
Maybe some animation helpers / functions o..o

Thats it 'till the next update xD

[Lumella]

Alright a short intro is in order... Basically I'm the programmer in this project xD

Hi Syn! Thanks for posting an update for me. You're a big help!

This looks great! The GUI reminds me so much of Persona 4.

Thank you! Actually, Persona 4 and Persona 3 Portable were couple of my pegs for this one. I'm actually leaning into that direction, while altering a bit of the gameplay to make it more diverse compared to these lovely existing titles. C# was suggested to me by Syn when we were already having troubles with my game document for this one. I owe it all to his programming skills in making this game alive c:

I would prefer even more transparency on the text box. I hate to see good looking BGs and sprites obscured.

Thank you for pointing that out! I'll have to check and see if I could make a slight change on the textbox. The background can be too bright and busy the text inside the content of the dialogue box has a tendency to be to be too distracting or overwhelming for the content. c: Nonetheless, thank you for the comment!

Wow this looks so good! I'm digging the character designs.
I'm awaiting new development~~ nice!

Thank you! I hope you tune in for more of our updates c:


PROGRESS REPORT NO. 05

Hi guys! I'm back. Been busy these days so updates on my side is very minimal. The sprites are unusually difficult since I'm doing most of the visual assets in this game & my perfectionist side is killing me. I've updated an official sprite for the Main Character. Here it is:


I'm glad I finished majority of her expressions for the first chapter of the game. As for the rest of the characters, I'm working on them right now. They're a LOT, so they're really going to take time.

On another note, I decided to change the character design of the Assistant. What's your verdict?

I personally prefer the second revision better, since her design seems to fit the whole idea of the sci-fantasy Last Cycle. I'd like to hear your opinion about it. Anyhoo, 'till next update!

Progress List

• • Final UIs for the Battle System (without sprite sheets yet)
  • Final UIs for the Dialogue, Options, Right-Click options, and other miscellaneous stuffs.
  • Placeholders for the Turn-based Strategy UI, and some stuffs.

My To Do List:

• • Other Character Designs & Sprites
  • More backgrounds (possibly with Day, Afternoon, Night variations)
  • And um... choco-chip cookies?

[misamane]

Ahh this looks really interesting! The GUI and the art looks really nice too. I'll be keeping my eye on this~

[Tsundere Lightning]

I have to say that I'm loving the art direction for this game, and that it's kind of refreshing to see adult characters in visual novels.

[Syn]

Hello Syn here xD

Sorry for the kinda delayed update o..o;
And no its not because I'm marathoning FFXIII and XIII-2 for the past few days... I think?

Anyhows before I get sidetracked here is the major update!
I finally finished encoding 2 scenes of the prologue from the game! (YEY!)

Thats 2 scenes out of god knows how many xD
But atleast there's progress ^^;

For the screens:



Actually this is where I got kinda stuck for a while, debugging the choices part (Which I also noticed some stupid mistakes in the code which I also tried to fix in the process)... And again its not like I'm marathoning Neptunia and Neptunia Mk2 for the past few days... I guess? xD



Actually I can sorta release the first two scenes already as some sort of demo BUT...

I wouldn't one of the reasons being that the art is not yet final and some of the stuff you guys saw there are placeholders so you guys will have to wait for a go from Lumella xD

And here you thought I was going to play Atelier Totori again instead xD

For the other parts... I havent worked on them YET... refer to last progress except for the dialogues part xD

'till them next updates

[Lumella]

Thanks for posting on my behalf, Syn!
I've been busy *coughlazycough* these days, so I haven't got much updates. I'm partially distracted with my other priorities, sadly. Oh well.

PROGRESS REPORT NO. 07
Anyhoo, I have new user interface designs, primarily in the Options and Name Input side accordingly.



On the image above, I decided to go for something clean, yet more futuristic. The "Options" label hovers while the user is idle in this page. I have yet to do the other pages, but at least you have an idea of the initial design I'll matching it from.



As for this one, the gears on the background actually rotates. I might redo this part later on though. I'm hoping to make it more matching to the options menu, but at the same time, not overwhelming to look at.

Pretty much that's it for now. We'll be adding a turn-based strategy soon, but I have to work on the backgrounds and sprites first.

Progress List

• • Final UIs for the Battle System (without sprite sheets yet)
  • Final UIs for the Dialogue, Right-Click options, and other miscellaneous stuffs.

My To Do List:

• • Other Character Designs & Sprites
  • More backgrounds (possibly with Day, Afternoon, Night variations)
  • And um... choco-chip cookies?

Yep, death is upon me. I can feel it.