The Epitome of Anima; Update

[Muraiko]

Alright, so my last demo link was like, really outdated, and for some reason, glitches and bugs came back from the dead, dunno why, so instead of just replacing my old demo, I'm also going to release the whole second quarter of my ABS game! It chronicles the next part of Manako's adventure, from Remoh, all the way to the capital of Earthencraft and back!


***Characters***


Manako Eklyps
Age:      Fifteen
Hair:      Black
Eyes:      Brown
Race:      Arifall?
Description:
Description:
   Manako has lived his entire life in the Monu Tribe, isolated from the outside world. Being born smaller and weaker than most boys his age, Manako constantly doubts his own masculinity and loses faith in his own abilities and prowess. In love, he wishes to marry Cailithia, but at the same time, is scared to death if his wishes were to come true.
   Manako can cast powerful magick spells to attack parallel foes. It’s hard to win fights as Manako at first, but after leveling up a bit, and gaining more anima and arts, you’ll see that Manako has the potential to take down fights even faster than fighter characters.


Cailithia Kareon
Age:      Seventeen
Hair:      Blonde
Eyes:      Blue
Race:      Arifall?
Description:
   Cailithia lives in the Monu Tribe alongside Manako. She keeps her own emotions and feelings to herself and refuses to let her ideals be known. She views Manako as a “younger brother” and wishes to support him as such, though she has become quite uneasy of his love for her.
   Cailithia can attack from afar with her musket. She’s a great character to win fights slowly, but safely. Her enemy critical techniques also help makes battles a cinch. When playing as Cailithia, tactics requiring patience are a must.


Davin Rade
Age:      Sixteen
Hair:      Brown
Eyes:      Blue
Race:      Earthencraft
Description:
   Davin was born in Earthencraft, but his family moved to Arifall to start new lives. His best friend is Sophie, who moved with him. He has an outgoing personality, and a somewhat too friendly attitude towards girls… None the less, he’s a loyal and courageous friend.
   Davin is probably the most basic character to begin with. His highest attribute is strength, so winning fights with only attacking makes him the best choice. His only skill is Filch, which steals money, or an item from enemies, or from regular townspeople.



Sophie Viracitee
Age:      Fifteen
Hair:      Pink
Eyes:      Green
Race:      Earthencraft
Description:
   Sophie’s family moved to Arifall with Davin’s at a young age. Her happy go lucky personality, along with her standing as the Bishop of Baliph, makes her one of the most famous individuals in all of Arifall. At times she may let her high social standing get to her head, believing she is entitled to good treatment.
   Sophie is really handy to have in the party as a supportive character, rather than a fighter to take down the bulk of the work. Her healing arts make her really important in any situation, whether it’s healing a comrade’s vitality, or curing a friend’s health from diseases.



Rellius Hugobum
Age:      Thirty-Two
Hair:      Red
Eyes:      Green
Race:      Earthencraft
Description
   Rellius lived in Earthencraft all of his life, but he moved to Arifall only for a “Templar” job, which he can make a decent living. He quickly showed high proficiency and climbed the ranks to a Templar Caption. This position, however, doesn’t put him on the good side of the Arifans. He is easily irritated and has a short fuse, But regardless, he can be a worthy companion to have.
   Rellius is the best example of a fighter character. His heavy sword can do major damage to enemy vitality, and his rock, solid, defense doesn’t allow attacks to be too much trouble for him. He also has an array of battle arts which add different parts of his attributes to his damage dealt. His arts attack in different formations and motions, making use of new tactics.



Phaeth Aethereus
Age:      Twenty-Three
Hair:      Black
Eyes:      Brown
Race:      Unknown
Description
   A strange a woman living at the snowy plains of Forgust. She appears to be traveling Arifall in search of something. She is secretive, and not willing to talk about herself or her mission much with others. None the less, is serious, and trustworthy. She seems to be hiding a secret about herself…
   Phaeth is an all-around helpful person to have in the team. When she’s not out, fighting off foes with her deadly wakizashi, she’s assisting the team with spells learned from other obake such as healing, instantaneous retreating, or even luring obake. Also can create magical bursts to damage all foes on the battle map. She is a good supportive character on the field and also useful to take into the fray.



Buijoh
Age:      Nineteen
Hair:      Dark Blue
Eyes:      Grey
Race:      Arifan
Description
   Buijoh is a proud Arifan, and has stuck close with the tribe for many years. He is opposed to change and keeps Tribesmen traditions near and dear. Highly racist to all claimers, he wishes to one day drive them out of Arifall, retaining the land back for tribesmen use only. Also is against all tribesmen who have befriended or have equal views with the claimers.
   Buijoh has the potential to be a valuable character in combat. When you first recruit him temporarily, he has no arts and would seem useless in battle. Later on though, when he joins your party permanently, he will obtain new powers that can increase the stats of the entire team. His supportive techniques can help make winning battles easy and fast.



Kichi Farrow
Age:      Fourteen
Hair:      Brunette/Red
Eyes:      Teal
Race:      Earthencraft
Description
   Born and raised in Telba, Kichi has always been a tomboy. She is one of the newly recruited pirates on Rishes’ crew, as well as his only female crewmate. Has always been somewhat of a friend of Davin after he joins, though she is often annoyed by him and his personality. She is direct, aggressive, and is secretly uncomfortable with her own sexual identity…
   Kichi may not be as proficient in battle as most fighter characters, but has helpful skills to manage the party’s money, items, and needs. She can instantly sell any furs you may have obtained in battle, as well as being able to spread any healing items to the entire team. Later learns skills to mend need statistics, such as hunger, thirst, and energy; ultimately saving the party’s items and money.



Grellberg
Age:      Unknown
Fur:      Red
Eyes:      Black
Race:      Kitsune
Description:
   Appears to be a simple fox spirit meandering within the Monu Forest. He is very wise, intelligent, and acts on his own accord. Grellberg comes and goes as he pleases and usually appears in times of need or counseling. He guides the party with a laze-faire attitude, encouraging one to do the first action that comes to mind.
   Grellberg is the only character to be all around balanced. He possesses two magick spells, Pitch Black and Vivid White. Equipped with the Pitch Black art, he can launch a random second-level elemental projectile, similar to Manako’s Arts. When armed with Vivid White, Grellberg takes on the role of a healer. He casts a random support spell, similar to Sophie. Having higher heat will influence him to cast Serenity instead of healing, which will lower the party’s heat to zero. Grellberg also has a physical attack art called Polar Metamorphosis which will cause him to dash forward with a circle of flames, much like Rellius’ Focal Strike Art. Using this art will also force him to shape shift. His form does not affect his stats in any way. With his skills, Grellberg can take on multiple roles to either aid the party or to demolish the foes.


The Seer
Age:      Looks mid-forties
Hair:      Black
Eyes:      Blue
Race:      Unknown
Description:
   A mysterious man who seems to have a very close connection to Manako. His true name and background are unknown. Through his visions, Manako is able to see, from a time past, The Seer and his struggle to obtain the trust of the three other Seers. The only fact that is certain is that the man seems to know a deadly secret that will one day cause the Patriarch’s death. When the party finally meets with The Seer, he is quick to display his tender affection for Manako and takes it upon himself to protect and teach the boy all he needs to learn. Because of his position, he is highly respected, though Cailithia oddly appears to be distrustful of him.


***Screenshots***
Very old outdated screenshots as of now… will need to get more current ones sometime…























***Features***

I'm going to repost all of my features again, but without all the detail. If you really want to know more about what each feature is, or what it does, then please refer back to my last game thread, as I explain everything there.

ABS

Vitaity and Anima Gauges

New Heat System

Character Switching

Day/Night System

Blinking

Jumping

Needs

Epitomes




***Demo Link***


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                                                                                        No up-to-date demo as of yet.
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[Fisherson]

Looks good, i'll try it when i'm not under "Nighttime only computer" punishment.
Looks awesome! By the way: No one's going to steal your resources ,bro. We have a Complaints department of
sorts. I forgot what it's called.

[Muraiko]

So, did you play it yet? Whacha think? I'd really like a review, to know what I did well on, and what parts still need a bit of work...

Also, I'd apreciate it if you told me if you found any glitches, like, if things look weird, or something does seem right. I am sure that I fixed all the bugs in my second time playing through my game, but they have a nasty habbit of reviving themselves for some reason.

[Fisherson]

So, did you play it yet? Whacha think? I'd really like a review, to know what I did well on, and what parts still need a bit of work...

Also, I'd apreciate it if you told me if you found any glitches, like, if things look weird, or something does seem right. I am sure that I fixed all the bugs in my second time playing through my game, but they have a nasty habbit of reviving themselves for some reason.

I haven't had time to dowlaod yet, it still takes awille on my PC, because it's full of chara set, sprites and..Other things...

[Flamehawk27]

Part 2! Wouldve like new charahters

[Muraiko]

Well, I could add in some playable characters... but you see, the thing is...
I'm a perfectionist, and I want things to be in order. All of the items, skills, and animations always have the character's stuff first, and then teh misc things. If I added a new character, I couldn't live with myself if I just a put them at the end...

I know, stupid reason, but, that's how I operate now-a-days. Those six are pretty much going to be the only ones, but I'm still thinking about having another playable character that's temperary...

[boozer]

Hmmmm looks really interesting, i think i may have a go

[Muraiko]

SUPER DUPER ROUNDHOUSE DRAGON...... *KICK*!!!


In case anyone remembers me, or my game, (I know, I haven't really been around lately...) I want you to know that I'm still working on this game! I've made MUCH progress since the last demo link, and improved in many areas (Like scripts, graphics, sprites, and definatly better maps than last time!) Some new things I've changed are:

*Damage Display: Now you can see how much damage you do to the enemy! Yay! It's really nothing more than default text thought, but it does blend pretty well, and you might not realize it's a text box. Maybe... I just thought it would be nice to see how strong your characters really are.


*Ancillary Teams: You were able to select a team of up to three characters in your team at once, but now I've made a new system that uses the other three you don't select. If you have more than three characters in you party, then you will be given the option of selecting an Ancillary Team, which is pretty much just a backup team. You hold up to three characters in your Ancillary, which means in a battle, you can actually involve all six characters! To switch to your ancillary team, just press 7 on the numpad, and your first, second, and third slot will be replaced with your ancillary team. You can switch back to your primary team by pressing 7 again.


*Anima Regeneration: What really added to my game's difficulty is the mere fact that Manako is like a black mage, and people were trying to win fight by using physical attacks only. It's my theory that whenever playing a new game, people will try to win battles at first witht he most basic action, attacking. And since Manako is more geared towards techniques, it's not a good idea. So from now on, whenever you attack physically, whether you hit your oppenent or not, you will heal one anima. This will help encourage people to use more spells, especially for characters like Manako, Phaeth, and Sophie.

*Half Elemental Weaknesses: I have changed how the enemies react to Manako's Black Magic spells. Now, each enemy will have an elemental weakness, strength, and new Half Weaknesses, and Half Strength. For instance, Wood is strong against earth, and weak against metal. But now wood is also half weak against fire, and half strong against water. Using a foe's half weakness will do more damage than usual.
                   I've also changed so that when casting an element that the enemy is direly weak to, instead of flashing teh screen a color, it will now just make a sound effect.

*Title Technique: Whenever you equip a technique, it will now show up as your chracter's title! So you'll have to no long be guessing: "I've just loaded my game, and I don't know what tehcnique I Have equiped..." It'll show up in the main menu! However, if you want to change which technqiue you have equiped, you'll still have to press 9 on the numpad, and select a new one...


*Storyline Changes: I've deleted or changed some parts of my game that were just stupid, pointless, or a sad attempt at trying to be funny. There weren't much, but there were some dumb scenes... So now I've made everything ALOT more serious. The begining, at the Monu Tribe, was espically filled with stupid scenes, so I've changed them all. The atmosphere is a bit gloomy at the tribe, and the only somewhat funny part will be with Davin and Sophie. After you pass them, and recuit Rellius and Phaeth, then the story will pretty much be serious for much of the rest of the game.

*Faces are colored now!: My custom facesets before weren't exactly a finished product. I've finally got around to shading the faces realistically (Like making high points lighter and such) and also colored their hair right, instead of just making it a big blob of color. I'm actually quite proud of them myself, even if no one else is, so I'll pretty much be using them to the end.


*Fixed Scene Bugs: There were a couple of scenes that messed up when you viewed them, and didn't let you progress the game anymore (Especially the stupid Telba Event after the music concert! IT USED TO ALWAYS MESSES UP, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I'VE FIXED IT!) Well, not anymore. I've played through my entire game that I've made so far, twice actually, to begining to end, and fixed everything. It seemed to move smoothly for me, so I can only hope the demo will go just right for everyone else. I should also apologize, the last demo link I gave promised the game all the way to the half way point, but it gets cut short, due to glitches. Sorry! Hopefully it won't happen again!






                                                           THE DEMO LINK
It's updated now, so feel free to download it from the first page. Cheers! ()

[zuhane]

B-E-A-UTIFUL! I think a demo's in order like now! This is the kind of game I've been waiting for.

[Rahl]

It looks really good. I think I would get rid of the white bg around the facesets though.

[Fisherson]

Yay! Nasty flashes are gone, well for spells at least. Glad to see you're still awokring on this and that you're still active. I still haven't beaten the first demo, but oh well, we'll just see how this one works.

[Myownpath]

The game looks good.....no not good GREAT! though something about the facesets .. I don't know something just bugs me about the facesets you have for some of the people but I won't judge a game souly on facesets, can't wait to play it though

[Red Giant]

I am highly against all kinds of theft

Wow, you bought rpg maker, did you?

[Strawberry]

This looks pretty average, you should work on your mapping!

[Muraiko]

The game looks good.....no not good GREAT! though something about the facesets .. I don't know something just bugs me about the facesets you have for some of the people but I won't judge a game souly on facesets, can't wait to play it though

If you ask me... I think that only Davin and Phaeth's face look a bit "strange" compared to everyone else, but I really like the work I put in to making them, and to my eyes, I love the way everyone looks. So I'm still gonna be using them. I also still want to keep the white background around them, because I think it looks nicer in-game. Instead of just having a head floating there, the box kind of divides the portiat and map from each other. Just my oppinion.

I'm still gonna be using the realistic faces. That's not gonna change. But If I need to take time to make them look nicer, then I will. (Sorry, just that I don't want to settle for anime, cartoon, or generated facesets.)

Wow, you bought rpg maker, did you?

I just don't like theives. You can argue if they have the right to steal, and if I legally can't say or do a thing about it, but I'm not so enthusiastic about the idea of working so hard on something that somebody else will just take. I'll be highly offended if someone just steals my resources or scripts without even asking me, and I'm sure there are other people out there who wouldn't like it either.

Yay! Nasty flashes are gone, well for spells at least. Glad to see you're still awokring on this and that you're still active. I still haven't beaten the first demo, but oh well, we'll just see how this one works.

I'm pretty sure that all the flashes are either gone, or censored. I'm not entirely sure. I know for a fact that the spells, scenes, and party management are in the clear, so I'm glad that would be of help to you.

This looks pretty average, you should work on your mapping!

Yeah... mapping isn't really my strong side... but hey, at least it's decent, and not so ugly anymore that you just want to rip out your eyeballs. I know that my mapping isn't the best in the world, but at least it's not the worst either. I'm still working at it.




As for everyone else, thanks for the helpful compliments! If everything goes as planned, I might have the demo up tomorrow. I've also extended the the demo, so you'll get a bit more gameplay before the demo ends (It's gonna end with a shocking twist! So pay close attension to the story!)

For those of you who already downloaded my game before, and played it, then I must ask you to please stop, and wait for the new demo. The old one is just gonna mess up somewhere anyway. I would also advise you to start a new file, because I've changed ALOT of things at the begining, things you don't want to miss. The story won't make much at all anyway if you just keep continuing your file from whereever you are at.