[Demo] Eternal Paradise

[Ephiam]

Check out the Game Page over at RMN!
http://rpgmaker.net/games/1914/




You can also read random updates about various things (this game included!) on my Twitter!
http://twitter.com/DragonFantasy



ETERNAL PARADISE


"High above the clouds—high above all of God's
divine creation sits a single stationary island;
Venaitura, palace of the damned. Shrine to the
ancient Goddess of Darkness: Celes.

Four youths have banded together to travel
to this cursed place—journeying forth with
one thing in mind: revenge. Their destinies
have been intertwined with that of a single

man—their ultimate goal—to which
they seek to break their bonds. Life has
given these individuals terrifying hardships
and dreadful ordeals... but what awaits

them within that dark and cursed place is something
far beyond their understanding.

Salvation...
Destruction...
The end of all things.

Or...
The beginning...?"







"Eternal Paradise," my latest project using RPG Maker 2003, chronicles the adventures of four youth who have ascended to the palace of Hell in search of one man that all of them have come to find a deep loathing for. With their pasts, presents, and futures all intertwined with one and other, the following hours could very well be Earth's final moments.


It's a dungeon-crawler of sorts with heavy focus on story. It is not going to be a very long project, because I feel that shorter projects are so much more worth it in the long-run. They're also much more enjoyable to work on, too.








CHARACTERS


Andrew
Age: 23

Andrew is a young man who, on Earth, was engaged and married to Maria, one of his travelling companions. They had a child together—a baby boy—who they named Evan. Sadly, Evan passed away due to an unknown cause, which marked the beginning for the couples descent in to hell. From that point forward, both Andrew and Maria's lives became a living nightmare to which there was no escape.

Andrew is kind-hearted and willing to listen to a friend if they are in need, but he can become very short-tempered in stressful situations and usually does not think too well under stress. Both he and Maria tend to help one and other out in next to every situation they find themselves in, be it good or bad. It is because of their close relationship and strong bond that they were able to pull themselves out of the depression of losing their son.

Andrew, like Maria, mysteriously came upon the same conclusion to the mystery of what, or rather WHO had killed their son: a man by the name of Ephiam. In pursuit of this man, the two lovers ventured to Venaitura with the aid of two close friends: Laura and Alexander.


Maria
Age: 22

She is very sweet  and kind, but also very fragile. She has difficulty accepting pain and truths that she finds hard to believe believe, and sometimes allows her emotions to manipulate her in to doing or saying things that she would later regret. She has adapted some of Andrew's care-free and light-hearted spirit, but still slings to her semi-serious ways.

When faced with problems herself, she often tends to lose herself to her emotions and the swirling array of choices and decisions she has to make, or has already made. However, when confronting someone else's problems (mainly Andrew's) she is much better at voicing her true opinion and offering a helping hand.

Ever since her child died from a mysterious cause, she has been a different woman. She has since then, however, recovered a great deal from the effects of stress and depression.



Laura
Age: 29

Laura is a very strict and powerful mage. She's been studying the dark arts ever since she was a young girl (or for as long as she can remember), and has had to adapt a serious and punishing attitidue for herself in order to help her live an easier life in a world that has come to shun such magics. Out of the three other character's she spends most of her time with, she is definitly the most iron-willed of the lot and can usually keep her calm and speak her mind regardless of the situation at hand.

Laura had tried to settle down with a man every now and then in her life, but found that she could never deal with the daunting amount of tasks linked to relationships and building a strong love-life. Instead, she chooses to live freely and could never care less whether or not she finds the “perfect man” or not.

The link between Laura and the Palace of Hell also rests within Ephiam, a man whom all of the character's seem to have connections to. Again, here these connections are also grim and involve the loss of life, although Laura has never (knowingly) talked about the incident with either Andrew, Maria, or Alexander.


Alexander
Age: 23

Alexander is a “unique” case. He is a very non-serious person, and there will rarely be a moment where he does not try and change the topic at hand, if it tends to deviate off in to something serious, on to a more humorous one. Because of Alexander's uniqueness in this way, he has earned a great deal of dislike from Laura, although Maria and Andrew still tend to find a soft spot towards him and his odd ways.

For whatever reason it may be, Alexander is always allowing his mind to wander and will never truly join in on a serious discussion. He will either add something completely unrelated, or try and mix things up a little by adding his own humorous spin to whatever the the current discussion is about.
Perhaps there is a little more to Alex's tom-foolery...?








CREDITS:
Graphics: Kentona and Jaymonius. (For gathering and having the resources, not for producing them).
Story/Editing/Testing: Ephiam.








Screenshots:




















DOWNLOAD:

http://rpgmaker.net/games/1914/

[Ephiam]

Hello everyone! I am coming to deliver a slew of juicy updates for Eternal Paradise your way!


UPDATES FROM DEMO TO NOW:
+Fog overlay is toned down.
+Inside of caves is much easier to navigate and see though.
+Small edits to character dialogue.
+Edits to monster stats.
+Edits to monster sprites.
+HP for the four main characters was adjusted ever-so-slightly.
+Adjusted EXP gained and some items earned from early enemy encounters.
+Roughly 15-20 maps more than before. I'm on a roll!
+Renamed some of the spells, and changed one of Laura's spell scrolls so that you learn Omega Ice instead of Omega Fire (again).
+Edited out and replaced some enemy actions.
+In terms of story, it has taken a very quick dive in to a much more serious mood, generating a much more haunting atmosphere.
+Very fast-paced story (this game is going to be short, after all).
+Changed a lot of the music around. Added some, removed some, and just reduced their size overall.




And here are a few new screenshots for the lot of you:





















And two new videos! These are simply battle-oriented videos for entertainment purposes only, and to show off a few of the songs and character abilities.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7OENi0PR30
Video One ^ (Early game)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fJs0d1LUaY
Video Two ^ (Midpoint game)










I've recently finished eventing the turning-point of the game. From the boss that separates the beginning portions from the end, everything takes drastic turn. This ranges from the story and characters to the music its self. It is turning out to be a much more dark and serious tale than what was shown in the demo, and is definitely much funner, too (thanks to the variety of equipment and abilities you'll have by then!)

I've entered the final stretch, and hope to possibly get this game out by the end of this Month, or at least the beginning of the next! There will be no rushing things though, so don't worry about that,

[Ephiam]

So I went ahead and made a little seven minute video of Eternal Paradise today. I wanted to show something a little more than just boss fights, so I simply opened FRAPS and hit the record button while I wandered aimlessly for a while.

As said in the video description, the music on the field is subject to change, as I'm experimenting around a bit at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfNHPQJoncs