Valis Chapter 1: New demo available!

[bush_monkey]

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edit 06.04.13
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CaptainD raised the question of whether Valis was still in development. I can confirm it is! I've started a wiki/lore book with backstories:

https://valis.fogbugz.com/default.asp?W10

whenever I get bored with coding, I'll be adding entries in there to keep my creative juices flowing.


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edit 01.09.10
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a new demo is now available from:
http://www.agsarchives.com/gamecard/475/valis.html
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/valis-chapter-1-demon-hunters/download/3402/

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After months spent creating my game and lurking in the forums, I thought it was about time I introduced the project I've been working on: VALIS.

Valis is going to be a RPG in the Final Fantasy mould. Now, I know AGS is not really the obvious choice for such a game, but so far it's been going surprinsingly well. The game features a world map, towns where you can visit bars, guilds, shops and other places of interest. You can equip various weapons and accessories to your characters. You fight monsters in turn-based battles and level-up your characters and their abilities (called chakras in the game).

The Story:

The story is based on the Hindu mythology of Kundalini. Kundalini is a condensed, primal force which lies dormant in us all. When released, it creates a vertical connection between 7 chakras located along our spine. Each chakra has a different property which in the game represents different powers for your characters (earth,water,fire,air,sound,light and thought). In the land of Valis, an evil force has released physical entities who use the Kundalini powers to steal human souls. They are called the Tamashii-seishin. Only those who have trained in their chakra powers can defeat them (the Ruahs). You play the role of two Ruah monks who are trying to restore order to Valis. This won't be easy because not only are the Tamashii very powerful but most Ruahs are corrupt. Knowing full well that the rest of the world depends on them, they have formed a guild which now controls everything and they are not about to let you ruin it for them!

features:
- turn-based battles
- non-linear quests with a reward system which gives you money and items depending on how well the quest went.
- town to town trading system in the Elite mould
- 12 towns to visit each with unique locations
- upgradable powers: choose how you spend your experience points Do you improve an existing power or do you save up for a brand new one?
- 7 different types of monsters and each of them with varying levels of experience to match your own strength so battles are always a challenge.
- 4 playable characters
- a gripping storyline with tons of dialogues

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edit 24.08.10
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Yep, that's right. Valis is the game that just won't die  :o It's still going and below are the screenshots to prove it.

new screenshots:

world map


battle


trading system a-la Elite


Entertaining the locals


Exploring underground caves


Story: 100%
Graphics: 100%
Music: 100%
Scripting: 80%
Testing: 30%

ETA: March 2011 (it'll only be 5 years late)

[Stickieee]

This seems really good. How much progress have you made? When will the full game be released? How long have already spent time on this?

Oh, the questions!

[deadsuperhero]

This looks really great...I sure hope the characters are colored in the final version.
I always loved RPGs.

[Ozzie]

I like those sketches very much, have style, wouldn't be bad if they were also in the final game (I think). The map screen is also nice, though the characters and the town icon stick out there.
The battly and level up screen look weird. There are so many graphical styles crashing together.
All in all, looks promising!

[bush_monkey]

Thanks for the replies.

Stickieee: The battle system is fully working but I am still not happy with  the GUI. The graphics still require a lot of work too. The rest of the game is about 30% done but it is considerably easier to do Time wise I have been working on it on-off since November.
Web spider: So far, the sketches are here to stay. I might change my mind at a later date but I think they're pretty cool that way.
Ozzie: I understand what you mean by different style, it's something I'm still working on. Suffice to say, the battles are gonna look very different when I'm finished. As for the clash between the map screens and the rest, I'm influences by japanese RPGs which always have a very stylised and cutesy map view but realistic close-ups.

here's some more screenshots:

Duvall has a heated argument with his master



sketch of a monster


another monster

[Ubel]

This seems very interesting. Can't wait for you to finish this. Good luck with it!

[monkey0506]

Interesting...I notice the main character from Shining Force on that map there...Max, isn't it?

At least it looks a lot like him in any case...But the game sounds cool.  Keep the screenies coming.

[Gregjazz]

You know what, this looks really cool!

Please finish this game. Too many good games have not been finished.

[bush_monkey]

Good eyes there monkey  I'm still working on my own sprite (walking anims from semi top-down view is bloody hard).
Anyway, here's more screenshots:

A town


A full-colour monster


Now I'm still debating whether to use this kind of graphics for the battles or to keep the monsters in Black and White. Any ideas/opinions/sarcastic comments welcome.

[Kinoko]

Wow, awesome. Good to see some more RPGs out there!

[big brother]

Colorize the monsters, but do away with the balck outlines, especially the interior ones (like on its eyeball). Is there any way you could shade them like the portraits? Do they need to be that big?

[bush_monkey]

okay. Here is a mock-up of how I want battles to look like.



the menu items are:
- Attack > self explanatory, deals damage with your weapon
- Absorb > similar to pokeballs in pokemon: allows you to absorb the soul of a weakened monster into a chalice. once 5 monsters have been absorbed, an upgrade crystal is formed. What that crystal can do depends on which monsters have been absorbed
- Chakra powers > similar to magic attacks, which powers are available to you are determined by which chakra you have set your character with. At the beginning of the game, you are given one chakra affinity by your master from a choice of 4: earth, air, water or fire. You then need to level-up both your character and his chakra abilities to gain access to other chakras. Once they become available, chakras can be assigned to your character but only between battles. changing affinities during a battle can only be achieved using an expensive and rare item.
- use item > self-explanatory.

any ideas, thoughts, questions welcomed

[monkey0506]

Good eyes there monkey  I'm still working on my own sprite (walking anims from semi top-down view is bloody hard).

Thank you.  I noticed it as soon as I saw the picture (I love that game).  And I understand your grieving... Just make sure that you do (at least some) of your own anims for the final version of the game.

[BorisZ]

He is never going to finish it.

A bit of pescimism may be a good push

[bush_monkey]

thanks for the confidence boris  and monkey, don't worry I already have done all the anims for the monsters, the hard part is making a human walk but i'll gte there.

[simulacra]

When I first saw this, I thought: "VALIS! Finally somone is making a game out of that weel-known book by one of my favorite SF-writers Philip K. Dick". But then it was all about FF... umm, well.

[bush_monkey]

the story is based upon Tao beliefs of God as divine energy and the nature of consciousness (all battles happen within the people's minds and the monsters are not corporal per se). So it seemed fitting to name the land after Philip K. Dick's novel which while set in our world very much touches upon these concepts.

[simulacra]

Interesting. Valis the RPG. Very interesting.

[big brother]

Ok looking at your battle mockup, I think I understand your approach better. Definitely go with the colored in creatures, they look wonderful. You have a very clean, unique style. I will eagerly await the release of this one.

[Ubel]

I just had to post again to say how much I like those graphics. The sketchy style is really unique and looks good. And those "eyes" are also very well drawn. Please finish this game! Don't you dare to give up!

~Pablo