Echoes - Secrets Of The Mercer

[macubex]

Hello Hello... The name is Macubex. I've been around this website from time to time and it's been quite useful to me on many occasions. I don't visit the forums to often but I may do so more now .

I guess that's it for the introduction. Let me post the game I'm currently working on now.... Errr I have other games I put on hold but their is no point displaying those until I get working on them again, right?



April 13th Update!

Here is a small showing some of the characters in the game as well as some samples of the musical composition artist I'll be working with in the future.

Screenshot showing some of the many characters of the game.



Larger Version:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/6830/charactersesom1xrx7.png


MUSICAL COMPOSITION SAMPLES BY ERIC:

To Play, just click link and then press play.


http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=Sample_2.wma

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=Sample_3.wma

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=Sample_4.wma

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=Sample_5.wma

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=audio&file=Sample_6.wma




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      ECHOES: THE SECRETS OF THE MERCER



                                                                      Introduction


     Now let's get started here. First off I would like to say that this game was intially just a side project while I try to find   some free time from the harsh reality called life. Well it isn't rough but I have been going to school full-time and going to
work full-time and it's leaves only a little time to get anything else done, let alone creating rpgs. I had two projects I was working on prior to this side quest and I decided to put those on hold until I either finish the school year or quit my job. Of course me not working on anything would not do at all. So I decided to pull up a little crazy script I wrote a while back when my creative juices were in the works. As I started piecing things together and deciding how I'm going to get each thing done. I've found myself creating a game I not only think can be great, I enjoyed making more then my other games as it was less work when your not making a top priority! This game slowly shifted to my main project and I decided to spend more time on it until I complete it.

                                                                       Concept

 My original goal was to make a game that will keep the interest of the player at all times... Well MOST of the time at least!How I decided to accomplish this was creating a game where we can have three worlds we interact with and live in. One world being the modern world and dealing with problems we would find in our ordinary lives. The second, world would consist of a world that shows no boundries and we can basically accomplish many things that we would never be accomplished in the real world. I also wanted to include a place that was not in between, however, not really resembling either of the two worlds. With such vastly different settings and different tasks at hand, I believe the player would have fun trying out new events and would be entertained right through to the end of the game.



                                                                       Story

The story begins with a boy name Xan. Xan is a boy who lives in a small port town called Oak Ridge, which is right outside the big city called Isabella. Xan, like most of his friends who lives in Oak Ridge, takes a bus that goes from Oak Ridge to the big city to go to school everyday. At this point in time though, it is summer and the  whole gang is enjoying themselves in their hometown. This doesn't seem to be the case with Xan though. He  just can't get his mind to relax at all, for everyday, at 6:00pm a news broadcast that is aired from Isabella is shown. Infact this news broacast is only shown in Oak Ridge which is strikely odd since it is produced in Isabella. Xan does not mention it anymore but this politician appears to be the guest star that appears on this show everyday.  This man is liked by the entire town. They praise him when ever he is on T.V... There is no one that dislikes him. Even worst everyone in town will mostly likely stop what their doing and casually find their way to the television. It as if they plan their day around this ridiculous show. This man that everyone is watching everyday named Idgras. Idgras is also the mayor of Isabella and has been improving the living standards of the city every year. This man, however is not human... And he is also a murderer who has killed Xan's father. The scary thing is Xan can't prove This because he doesn't know if it is true himself. He has been having visions for the last 3 years and is going insane!

One day, on the Butterfly Festival (You'll see this yourself). Xan bumps into a ghostly apparition... This ghost takes The appearance of a small girl in a Kimono. The ghost who addresses herself as Luchia tells Xan that she can grant  him any wish he desires. Xan, suprised at first looks at this apparition and gaze in her eyes... And ask for only one wish. He wishes for the death of Idgras... The apparition who appears to withold any signs of emotions tells Xan that Idgras is a monster with powers beyond any human on this planet. She then tells Xan that if he follows her she can guide him to a world where she can grasp a power strong enough to defeat him...



                                                                        Setting

Like I mention above you'll be in many different settings that will keep you occupied  . On a grand scale though. There are three places you will most likely be in. The modern World, which is called CROMA. The other world that you'll find yourself transported to sometime in this game - This world is called Prada. Finally, last but not least, Mezzari... This will is better known as The Void. This game will progress and you'll find yourself in either one of these vastly different enviroments.

Croma is the modern world where you'll see cool cities, modern world landscapes, railways, towns, and many other great sights. I've already started the world map but I won't post it until I'm done. You'll find yourself here in the  beginning of the game and will come back here quite often so be prepared.

Prada is the other world that you'll be journeying in to find the ultimate weapon to defeat your foe in the modern world. You'll be in a world that will have varies terrains from dessert towns to big capital cities to ancient ruins. You'll also meet some worth companions along the way that will aid you.

Messari is basically a timeless zone that appearances vary drastically. You'll pretty much never can expect what you'll see in this place. The monsters here are ridiculously strong so watch out. Most of the monsters here are mutants as well. The story base visits to The Void will be beatable, I'll make sure of that . But I'm going to try and implement a more challenging side quests sometime in the far future once this game is complete.


                                                                Systems & Features

Where to start, just so you all know. I just love trying things no one has tried yet. I like being as creative as possible and if I can do it in a timely fashion, I'll most likely include any feature I think of in my game. The biggies are going to be CMS, CBS, Etc and other common ones of course. How I will go about implementing this is not written in stone just yet though. I have all the menu icons, menus, and everything graphically (except for poses) and I don't think it will take FOREVER once I get at this portion. I do have a great Idea at the moment that I will elaborate more once I get to this portion. I don't want to leave this portion of the topic completely blank so I'll add one feature I'm currently working on.

         Aid System

What this system essentially is a system that works both in battle and during gameplay. There will be about 3-5 main characters in the game. I haven't decided 100% yet if I will make this a fact or not, I may add more playable characters later in the game. Anyways, the aid system will basically assign each character a "Captian". These  Captains you assign are playable characters you group to each main characters. Each captain has abilities and strategies you can assign to your main characters. Once you assign a captain to a main character they'll add abilities to your characters in battle and out. Their is also the option of Altering Stats rather then adding abilities. Captain Class characters ARE YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS. The only different is they don't physically participate in battle. They will be there through out your game and will be active players in the game's story.

         Field Action

Think Zelda! You'll be able to do certain actions that are not in battle through out this game. Each of the main  character will learn abilities that only they can do. There are abilities though that will be classified as "Shared Action" which can be used by any of the players. Captains can also be used for field play and they have their own moves necessary to proceed in the games story. You'll be able to access these moves by switching the physical character on the map just like BOF2 and FF2/4.
         

     *NOTE

         I'll be updating this forum with Characters, Movie Clips, MoreFeatures and Music Samples... But now SCREENSHOTS!



                                                            Movie Clips

A short clip from one of the scenes from the intro. THE TEXTBOX IS TEMPORARY.

UPDATE: April 10th/07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s590YpmzqFU

Older: April 09th/07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hmEdTtUpBI


                                                          Screenshots

[Cosmos]

It seems interesting, in a good way. ^^

[macubex]

let me add the rest of the pictures, it's driving me nuts editting my original post...

[Cosmos]

lol, ok. Also, when you do the codes like they have to be in caps.

[Bluhman]

Damn, that's a nice looking game. Saw your youtube movie a few seconds ago: Everything looks marvelous. However, I think the night vision should have a less extreme visual effect, because it's very distracting.

Other than that, the entire game looks splendid. Just fabulous.

[Ace of Spades]

I just watched your video as well. That's some pretty neat stuff you have goin. Your maps are gorgeous and the game looks really good. I love that trail effect you have on the desert one, sweet job. In some ways I agree with Bluhman about the night vision effect, but it's also kinda cool at the same time. Heh, I dunno, just do what you want to do. Overall this game looks pretty damn impressive, I'll be sure to keep tabs on it. Oh yeah, I also fixed the small code errors you had in the post. ^^ Keep up the good work!

[Robotam Plus]

Macubex as in The Macubex from Get Backers?  :p

Your game is a shining gem in the large pile of dirt this forum is. Keep it up, man.

[*-^-CociCookie-^-*]

This is awesome, keep it up! Those videos are quite cool and I don't see how the nightvision would distract me enough. Also is the dark part timed? Just asking because of the strange 'ticking' noise in the background at that point.

[ZeroKirbyX]

See, it's game like this that make me want to get back to work on my game(s).

[aboutasoandthis]

Now that I've finally read it all, I wanna say I'm very impressed.

My one gripe is that the screens kind of...I don't want to say deteriorate...in quality. That's just me. I've already watched your videos.

Keep it up.

[Meiscool-2]

Took me awhile to read everything :p

Loving the work you put into the customs man. Everything about this just screams greatness.

[Osmose]

Cool as HELL.

[macubex]

Thanks for all the comments!

I just got in touch with one of the best composers I know today, been awhile since we last talk. I'm real happy because I'm expecting some time in the future this game will have some more awesome tunes .

[macubex]

Well not the biggest update but still and update . Check above.

Edit:

Also I've been told quite by quite a few people that the modern world charsets don't look too good or detailed. Because of this I'll be redoing them, Chow