jack1974
Jun 08, 2011
Some news: spent the whole morning trying to calculate budget, amount of coding needed, and so on, since I'm at a good point, where I can start plan the actual game production and release schedule.
The bad news is that I won't be able to let player choose gender in the game. It would require too much investment (just think about all the romance subplots and CG that would need to be done x2!).
The good news is that I will be very likely able to release an add on / sequel (I like the name "Ace's Revenge") in which you'll be able to control Ace and date some of the characters that you couldn't in the first episode.
Check the flow chart below, this is how I'm planning to do it, you can see all the possible romances in the game. In practice 2 hetero and 2 homo romance for each good/evil main character!
http://i.imgur.com/V1V9Z.png" style="max-width:100%">
UPDATE:
Had to change slightly the romances for gameplay reasons, so there will be 1 less hetero option, and you won't be able to do "cross-alignment" romance (evil and good). You'll be able to change between good/evil Lily, but the other team members won't change alignment (I realized would be an insane amount of work to check all possible combinations).
Still there are 10 scenes for each romance, so: 10 scenes x 5 dateable heroes x 2 alignments = 100 romance scenes!!! this game will have the biggest romance subplots of all the one I've done so far!
pysali
Jun 08, 2011
This looks like an ambitious game, but really good. I have a real soft spot for superhero games and I really loved your other RPG so I'm super excited for this. I do think it's interesting that in Undead Lily one of the Evil Fire characters isn't a romance option while the other one is available for good/evil Lily and in Ace's Revenge it's the opposite Good Fire character. I think that's interesting. I also think some people will disagree with you on the possibility of Ace/Lily being able to find time to romance, but that's closer to the realm of writing fanfic and making fanart then needing to be included in the game.
Also I like that there's a good mix of good/evil across the genders. I've seen some of the character art from your other threads here and I kind of like the cheesecake risque of the female characters outfits. It looks cute and cartoony, while still being sexy and over-the-top a la comic books. Hopefully at least one of the male teammates is also in a sexy risque outfit to help counterbalance all the female skimpy outfits. :D I also like that many of the Elemental Avengers are bisexual, being straight in one game, but gay in another so yay implied bisexuality!
I don't mind Lily's evil outfit, it feels more...I think off the top of my head 'skanky' is the closest word I can think of, than her good outfit because of the exposed stomach and crisscross top to emphasize her breasts, but otherwise it is pretty similar to her good outfit with the stockings and garters. I think her good outfit just looks a bit classier because it's a bustier so for me the lines look cleaner, though her Evil ram's horns are bitching. I usually like playing as a female in games when I have the option because, you know I am one and yay female leads, but I will admit to being intrigued by Ace N. Eight as well. I'm curious to see where this game is going and whether it will be two episodes back-to-back in a continuous storyline or the same overall events narrated from different point of views and being skewed by Undead Lily and Ace N. Eights own personalities (kind of like they're both unreliable narrators so you can't quite trust either of their stories and one of them might imagine an event to be radically different from the other ones description of the event).
No matter what I hope it's successful and fun. I want more indie RPG's that can push the envelope in terms of gameplay and story and try out different genres.
Perch (I couldn't get that name for my User because it wasn't enough characters).
jack1974
Jun 08, 2011
Thanks and glad you liked the romance associations
The boys in effect are a bit more covered (except Humus, the Nature guy) but I promise the romance CG will be quite interesting!
I'm curious to see where this game is going and whether it will be two episodes back-to-back in a continuous storyline or the same overall events narrated from different point of views and being skewed by Undead Lily and Ace N. Eights own personalities (kind of like they're both unreliable narrators so you can't quite trust either of their stories and one of them might imagine an event to be radically different from the other ones description of the event).
Well is a bit weird to say "different story" because the whole story takes place in a sort of Limbo where time has no meaning, so it's like if the battles they fight repeat forever in an endless loop
but what I mean is that both games will have different dialogues for the various romance options, but as for the "main story" will indeed be similar, also because the game is more a RPG/strategy hybrid (there will be a sort of map to conquer). So while there are lots of romance dialogues (20 different subplots! 10 on each game) the main story will remain very similar.
Rebly82
Jun 08, 2011
This looks really good, with the characters perfectly unique! And I appreciate how there are more romance options for every kind of taste. Gazing at the chart, it almost seem as if you are promoting a new anime series than a game, which makes it more exciting.
jack1974
Jun 08, 2011
Thanks
together with Loren Amazon Princess, this is one of the most ambitious game I've ever made
SpectralTime
Jun 08, 2011
I can't say I'm crazy about having to buy an expansion to play as a guy, but I understand why you've made that decision.
Maybe I'll do a celibate run, if the system's interesting enough...
Anyway, thank you and good luck.
Moonstruck Muse
Jun 08, 2011
Sounds fun! I am glad to see lots of variations in the romance options, both gender-preference wise and good vs evil wise! This definitely has me very, very excited for the game!
jack1974
Jun 09, 2011
I can't say I'm crazy about having to buy an expansion to play as a guy, but I understand why you've made that decision.
Maybe I'll do a celibate run, if the system's interesting enough...
Anyway, thank you and good luck.
Well, I might simply sell two separate versions (have to decide yet). Like the first game $19.99 when is out, then the first+second $29.99 or if you don't care about playing the female version, you can just get the second only for $19.99 again.
The one to come out first will be the "female version" though since that plot has been already written and some romance CG are in the works
Sounds fun! I am glad to see lots of variations in the romance options, both gender-preference wise and good vs evil wise! This definitely has me very, very excited for the game!
Thanks, hope the idea I have for the gameplay will also be fun, since is something quite new for me
jack1974
Jun 16, 2011
A small update:
Had to change slightly the romances for gameplay reasons, so there will be 1 less hetero option, and you won't be able to do "cross-alignment" romance (evil and good). You'll be able to change between good/evil Lily, but the other team members won't change alignment (I realized would be an insane amount of work to check all possible combinations).
Still there are 10 scenes for each romance, so: 10 scenes x 5 dateable heroes x 2 alignments = 100 romance scenes!!! this game will have the biggest romance subplots of all the one I've done so far!
(also edited first post to reflect those changes)
pysali
Jun 16, 2011
I can understand the not wanting to do cross alignment (I'll admit I was excited at the idea of having someone be a 'secret' boyfriend/girlfriend for Lily/Ace from the opposite team and have to struggle to juggle being team leader and liking someone they're not supposed to like) that would probably be a logistical nightmare to code making sure there aren't constant errors being thrown like having Evil Undead Lily randomly getting into a relationship with someone that is supposed to be exclusive to 'good' Lily.
So each alignment now gets 4 dating options 2 hetero and 2 homosexual? I don't mind this split and that would mean that canonically Good Air (Superfoxxy?) and Evil Water would be gay and Evil Air and Good Life would be hetero. That's a lot of romance options for players of every flavor in each game. That's a crazy amount of romancing per game (is super excited).
Elmsdor
Jun 16, 2011
Although I'm generally a good aligned player, what happened to the charts?
Oh, what do you mean by no 'Cross-Alignment' relationships? Half of that is fun, unless there is a powerful reason behind it? I mirror Pysali's thought too.
I'd assumed most of the other heroes have static alignments and the PC would have to define one for the later part of the story?
I was about to comment that Female Good Life only has passion for Evil Death, which made me go, wha?
Cheers.
jack1974
Jun 16, 2011
I need to explain more the reasons indeed
Since this is primarily a strategy game with RPG, the game takes place in a sort of chessboard (who remembers the awesome game Archon for C64?). As each team conquer a "cell", which is a sort of virtual zone in the Limbo, the team increases power.
The heroes though can either teleport or move from the headquarters to the battlefield, but would be practically impossible for plot reasons for the LEADER of the opponent team to "infiltrate" in the enemy base. While a secondary character could come into Lily's base, would still be weird since they're at war
It wasn't an easy decision of course, I would have liked for example Lily Good and Angel (life good), or Ace Good and SuperFoxy (Air good), but I was running out of ideas and budget! is my most expensive game to date, think that just in the first game there are 10 romance ending CGs beside animated backgrounds, battle poses, etc!
In the second/alternate version, Ace's Revenge, you can have different combinations, even if you play as male, there are some that could be interesting I think.
Elmsdor
Jun 16, 2011
Hah, I can appreciate that kind of battleground, where the pro/antogonists are fighting for territory in some defined area yes? Although, I need to see an idea on this reinforcement/infiltration system.
Oh I assume the teleporting about are the dialogue times?
You mentioned secondaries.
Oh promising, are you saying, the expansion will also add more lines for existing relationships AS well as add in Ace? Or you only play as Ace? Agreed, I was looking forward to Good Lily + Angel but that's something to wait and cheer on then
Budget and timing are always key.
I like how this is shaping up to something I like too. Intrigue. But in a more heroic fashion, unlike our politicians!
Cheers.
jack1974
Jun 16, 2011
Oh I assume the teleporting about are the dialogue times?
There are 10 scenes each hero. 5 of them will happen in the headquarters (every hero will have his/her own room). Other 5 will happens while visiting the battlefield/traveling to battles. So player will need to find out the combination hero+battlefield to unlock those 5 extra scenes
Oh promising, are you saying, the expansion will also add more lines for existing relationships AS well as add in Ace? Or you only play as Ace?
The other will be a separate fullgame, so not really an expansion, more like in the first you play as Lily (female) while in second you play as Ace (male). In the second there won't be extra lines for Lily since you won't be able to play as her.
Obviously if the game does well can consider adding expansion or DLC or other stuff like that!
Elmsdor
Jun 16, 2011
Aye that's what I thought, two different games and alter egos altogether, and fingers crossed too
But wait, that means the Life and Death heroes will never interact in a romantic way?
Particular for Lily if we don't revisit her.
And finding out the dialogue triggers will be fun, can't wait
Cheers.
pysali
Jun 16, 2011
Okay that makes a lot of sense, both in budget/time constraints and for purposes of playing if they never have a neutral area where they can interact they don't have the chance to develop anything more than some offhanded comment about finding someone attractive. And like you said if it does well, there's nothing to stop DLC or an expansion to include the missing relationship options or have a neutral zone where other relationships can develop or even just some special subplot that includes a threat so huge that it can only be defeated by combining squads!
I'm excited to know there will be two separate, but parallel? games from both leaders points of view. With all the art you're getting/time you're investing it makes sense to use it across two games, it adds to the in-game universe and overall story and it's nice to see how the squad members attitudes and personalities towards each leader change depending on which game you're playing as well as which side you're on.
I agree with Elmsdor about it shaping up to have some intrigue and that's really interesting and the idea of having to figure out how to find all the hidden romance scenes will add to the sense of community and drive completionists crazy (in a good way) especially if it's reflected in things like trophies.
jack1974
Jun 16, 2011
But wait, that means the Life and Death heroes will never interact in a romantic way? Particular for Lily if we don't revisit her.
The Evil Lily will interact with Evil Life (Alpha). The Good Ace will interact with Angel (Good Life) and Evil Ace with Evil Life (Alpha).
The only missing combo is the GxG Good Lily and Angel. But to do that I'd have had to sacrifice either Aquaria or SuperFoxy... and couldn't (SuperFoxy romance has been already written for example).
Some anticipation of the dialogue in the game where both the life heroes are first introduced:
Mantras “These two are the good and evil avengers of the life element, Angel and Alpha.”
“Angel’s eyes settled upon me immediately and she walked over to stand beside me. Alpha, on the other hand, walked over to stand near Ace. It seemed as though they knew which group they belonged to.”
Angel “Hello, Lily. I was a volunteer for humanitarian missions in warzones. I was often stationed very close to the frontlines in battles, but it was always my priority to save lives.”
Undead Lily “Glad to have you with us.”
“Angel nodded in response, her expression imperturbable.”
“Ace nodded to Alpha, expecting a similar introduction.”
Alpha “I was a medic practicing euthanasia when I was alive.”
Ace “Hope you’ll be able to keep up with us.”
Alpha “You needn’t be concerned with that.”
Superfoxy “Wait a minute. How is it possible that a Death avenger can be good, or a Life avenger evil? It just doesn’t add up.”
Mantras “The Death and Life elements only refer to the special powers the individuals has at their disposal. For example, a Death avenger can give life back to a creature using their power to raise the dead. It can return the life into a fallen body. In reverse, a life avenger can destroy a creature using a banishing spell.”
Superfoxy “I see…”
jack1974
Jun 16, 2011
And like you said if it does well, there's nothing to stop DLC or an expansion to include the missing relationship options or have a neutral zone where other relationships can develop or even just some special subplot that includes a threat so huge that it can only be defeated by combining squads!
Yes as said above I'd definitely like to do a DLC/add-on with:
Good Lily & Angel
Evil Lily and Kraken (the Male Water element. He has FOUR arms! hehe)
Maybe somehow (like introducing a new winning/losing condition in the game) even Lily / Ace romance with all combination possible
But for now will just finish the main games and see how it does!
jack1974
Dec 17, 2011
I decided that the "Evil" version of Ace wasn't really EVIL but more like HORROR MOVIE
which are two different things (you can be Evil but still look good/attractive!!). So asked artist to change him and this is the result:
http://p.twimg.com/Ag3SL2qCEAIwmOH.jpg:large" style="max-width:100%">
fleetp
Dec 17, 2011
He definitely looks evil. Kudos to the artist.
very respectfully,
fleet
