Valis Chapter 1: New demo available!

[bush_monkey]

It's this time of the week again: Weekly update time. Firstly, my dad has provided with more music which greatly enhances the overall atmosphere. Graphically, I have added 3 more rooms, new characters to talk to and introduced brand new monsters.
I have now fully plotted episode 1, and I can now roughly estimate my progress of the story at about 30% done. Apart from some major dialogue scripting, my other major piece of work is still the Chakra spells :p ...I will get round to implement them soon. I'm hoping to get a second demo out once the spells are ready just so I can get players' feedback on the overall feel of the battles. It is a very important part of the gameplay and I feel that my success in that area could make or break the game. Thank you to everyone for their positive comments. I can't stress hard enough how much they've helped me plough through this 

[bush_monkey]

Hey all!
Sorry about the lack of updates lately, I have been busy with real life and things  : Valis is still on track but progressing a tad slower. I have been working on monster art a lot. I've had this sudden burst of macabre inspiration which is concretely turning into cool monsters.
I also played a lot of Galaxy Of Fantabulous Wonderment (which I highly recommend) to see how similar both games were. Thankfully, they are very different. Isn't it always the same, wish for a RPG "stroke" adventure to come out and two show up at once 
Story-wise, I have been reading a lot about the Ying and Yang philosophies and sooo many ideas are forming in my head... Maybe I'll wait till episode 2 to implement them... The real trick in game-making is knowing when to stop 

[Lordhoban]

The story sounds real promising.... I could buy the look, but the combat system seems to be cut from the same cloth as any other console rpg combat system in existence. Which is to say, dissapointing to think about.

Come on, you couldn't come up with something more akin to say, Fallout, if not something a bit more original? It has a turn-based system, but it remains as one of the best combat systems I've ever seen in a computer/video game RPG. It acts more like actual figurines in a real world, pen and paper game, giving it a much more strategic aspect. Or Balder's Gate, which does the same, except you pause instead of taking turns, and it lacks the hexagonal placement.

And, I sincerely hope you don't leave things in a sketchy state. It makes it look unfinished.  I'm hoping the story rises above the combat system, like Septerra Core did (it, too, had a console combat system, but I loved the story enough that I could look past it). And from what I've heard, the story sounds like a winner. I just fear the game will have too much of a consolitus rpg feel to it.

Couldn't get the demo link to work...

[bush_monkey]

Hmm Microtech is where my files were uploaded and it doesn't seem to be working right now. I don't have the demo file handy so I will have to upload it somewhere else in the next couple of days. Sorry about that. As for your comments, I happen to like the turn-based Final-Fantasy style battle system  As for the sketchy style, it was only temporary but I've had so many positive comments about it and so many requests to keep it that way that it's now here to stay. When you play, I think it works really quite well because every hotspot changes into a colour version when the mouse hovers over it and that gives Valis its unique style. 

[Lordhoban]

I'll check it out, but I will say I'm skeptical. I like the basis for the game, though, but can be quite picky when it comes to presentation for rpgs.

[bush_monkey]

Okay folks, my weekly update is on. Firstly: the demo is down for a while. I was using Microtech but unfortunately they have shut down temporarily, they have this system starting soon but it's not ready yet. I figured that rather than attempt to find another place to upload it to, I would just create a brand-spanking new demo. So much has been added to the mechanics of the game that I need people's opinion on the direction things are taking. So hopefully that will be out in a couple of weeks. In other news, I have yet again updated my battle system  . I had a brain-storm after some comments I've received about the turn-based engine and I have come up with something that while it keeps that classic FF feel, more strategy is now involved in the process. I won't say too much, people can make up their mind about it when they play the demo  .

And just to tide everyone over, here's a sneak peek at my new title screen:

[Kinoko]

Wow, it looks beautiful I have to say, I love everything except the font. Its alright but... doesnt really seem to fit in. If I were you, Id sit down with a pencil and paper and draw the title. Youve got a lot of creativity which is obvious from the game itself, I reckon you could come up with a gorgeous title font!

Sorry to crit though I assure you I only do it when I have such faith in the majority of the project or the ability of the artist. The games looking better and better all the time though, keep the good work ... up, as they say!

[bush_monkey]

Thanks for the crit, Kinoko. And don't feel bad, a well-intentioned critique is far more useful than a half-hearted compliment  I was going to try and give the screen more of an oriental feel because right now it is a bit jarring compared to the rest of the game, so a new font in that kind of style could be the way to go.

[bush_monkey]

sorry everyone about the lack of updates lately but a nasty worm virus had corrupted all my game data. Luckily, I had back-ups. Not so luckily, I had done a lot of work since my last back-up!! It disheartened me for a while and my thirst for game making died down...But my love for programming got the better of me, and I'm back ready to tackle Valis once again. I have been making slow progress lately and largely boring behind the scene stuff (especially regarding my revitalised battle sequences...But that's still Hush-hush  ) and this post is mainly to let everyone know that Valis is still going, and I will finish this, dammit! 

[scourge]

that's badluck. Hope you get back on track soon. Your game looks very cool

[bush_monkey]

I'm back! It's been a while but honestly I have been working hard on Valis..Promise! There hasn't been an update in a while because to be honest, there has been nothing worthwile to mention in a while (or at least nothing I want to divulge yet  8) ).
I thought it was about time to dig the thread out and let everyone know that a new demo is on its way. I just need to iron out a few bugs. Why a new demo, you ask? Well, I have a brand new battle system in place. I am quite proud of it, if I dare say so myself... And I am itching to get feedback on it. As far as to how far the game is to completion, I would say about 30-40 % done on the initial chapter. But once that's out of the way, the other chapters will be done in no time...

[Ubel]

Hey, great to hear you're still progressing nicely on this! I'm really waiting to get my hands on that new demo and check your new battle system.

Oh, and:

sorry everyone about the lack of updates lately but a nasty worm virus had corrupted all my game data. Luckily, I had back-ups. Not so luckily, I had done a lot of work since my last back-up!!

Always remember to make back-ups!! I had a hard-drive crash some time ago and lost all my files too. Don't let it happen to you again! Now, after you've read this post, go make the backups.

[A�rendyll (formerly Yurina)]

Ooh, I like this game a lot, and a new demo soon? Yay!!!

Back-upping is neccissary, like Pablo said, but I, too, have problems with doing that in time... '

How will the new battle system be? (Or do I have to play tyhe demo to know? )

[Nikolas]

I may sound stupid and this is off-topic but htf can you back up music files (around 20Gbs worth of DATA), without a DVD writer? Help me cause I'm starting to feel a ltitle worried about my own computer.

As for Valis (on-topic now), I'm eagerly waiting for this game. I'm a big big fan of RPGs and this game sounds amazing. Hopefully the new battle system will be better... (If I remember corectly).

Anyway everything I've seen so far indicates a great pro looking game!

[bush_monkey]

Yurina: You'll have to wait till the demo to find out, I'm afraid  As for the whole backing-up thing.. I wish I could say I've learnt my lesson but it's far from the first time it's happened to me..And probably won't be the last!! :

[A�rendyll (formerly Yurina)]

It's alright Bush_monkey!

I still love your game!

[bush_monkey]

I just noticed that the AGS awards are open so I've nominated Valis for Best Demo. I've re-uploaded the old demo for the occasion  See link on first page

[A�rendyll (formerly Yurina)]

I voted on Valis too, if I remember correctly, but I don't know or I voted for best demo...

EDIT: Yay, the demo is up again! Now I can FINALLY play! ^.^ *jumps a hole in the air*

[bush_monkey]

Thanks Yurina. And when you've played the demo, tell me what you think.

[Kaelem Gaen]

Eh, I gotta a crash when I made it to level 2, I forgot to copy it down cause it might be like the level 3 bug... but maybe it was just my system.

I'll play through again to see if I still get the bug, also the game looks really good,  I especially like the Face portraits(Sp?).  I can't wait for the new demo with all the updates though