Control of Destiny 2

[SaiKar]

I really like your take on her. You captured her face perfectly. And I like the bangs - I've always been extremely skeptical at how realistic Sai's bangs would be realistically the way I draw them.

[SaiKar]

Additional characters:


AI5903

During the first CoD mission, the team used time travel to encounter an alien species that was fighting a winning war against humanity in the uncomfortably near future. One of the alien's newest weapons was the AI-series: 10,000 war robots with individual robot "brains" designed to simulate humans in order to better fight against them. Upon activation, the AI series met, collectively decided that humanity wasn't so bad after all, and launched a brutal rebellion against the aliens. After months of combat, most of the AI series was destroyed along with several major alien outposts. The remaining AI robots, too useful to be scrapped, had their free will suppressed and were reassigned to guard duties, but several of the cunning robots managed to evade this process. AI5903 was one such robot. Upon meeting the CoD team, it immediately joined up with them in order to help them alter time and win the war against the aliens that created it.

AI and Matt developed an unusual friendship based on their mutual love for electronics and technology. The two frequently work together to meet the Control of Destiny's constant need for new weapons and devices.

In combat, AI's long-range weaponry is very effective against flying or lightly armored foes. It is also equipped with a healing beam designed to repair alien tissue; it works just as well on humans.

Example Techs:
•   Rapidfire - hits all enemies
•   Energize - heals minor wounds
•   Scan - reveals enemy HP and elemental weaknesses
•   Windpipe Crush - a combination tech that delivers a harsh blow against the enemy that may leave them silenced.


AI's special ability is X-Ray Scanners. This ability makes any hidden items or doorways sparkle - they can be investigated as normal. It is also useful for navigating areas of low or bright light.


Tahndelaya

A religious woman living in a snowy alternate world, Tahndelaya comes from a long line of holy warriors trained to fight evil and the undead. She is a worshiper of the Goddess of Spring that is said to end the ice age with her flaming arms, and believes that she alone is destined to find the Paladin's Cloak, a legendary garment worn by a great warrior of antiquity. Her self-absorbed standoffish nature about her beliefs and destiny make her difficult and unpleasant to be around, leading to strains within the group.

Rhetoric aside, Tahndelaya excels at destroying evil creations and keeping the party healthy.

Example Techs:
•   Cure - heals the party
•   Purify - damages all enemies with holy light
•   Holy Suction - drains HP and MP from the target, damaging them and replenishing Tahn's reserves in one.
•   Force of Will - a combination tech that delivers a powerful physical blow from Tahn's magic staff.


Tahndelaya's special ability is Faith's Virtue, which keeps the regen status effect on the party indefinitely. This provides an easy way to keep the party moving though less threatening battles, though the MP cost to maintain the ability can be troublesome.


Mithia

Little is known about this mysterious rogue. She is ordered to accompany your party in an hour of need and does so out of respect of her masters. She doesn't want to talk to you. Stop bothering her.

Mithia does not take orders from you and is permanently under AI control. That said, she is frightfully competent. Her combat speed is lightning fast and dual-wields deadly daggers that can fell opponents in a single hit.

Example Techs:
•   Cloak of Shadows - increases defense and speed and reduces damage from most weapon types
•   Soul Killer - does damage to both HP and MP
•   Homing Shatter - a powerful tech designed to cripple magic users

Mithia's special ability is to sprint. While active, this doubles your party's movement speed.

WHERE IS MY PROFILE! I DEMAND MY STUFF UP! SUPPORT FTW!!!!!!!

FINE!



Myrin

Myrin is a casual and laid-back girl, easy to laugh and slow to anger, but unleashing a fury that few wish to see twice when provoked. She is a long-time friend and adventuring companion of Sai'Kar and is far less naive and sheltered when it comes to the harshness of the world.

Myrin is hunted by an extremely powerful organization that believe her abilities and very existence are a threat to the entire universe. So far, they have yet to make a move against her due to internal strife about if she should be merely observed or actively taken out. Ever resourceful and perceptive, Myrin has caught wind of the plots against her and struggles to keep a few steps ahead.

To defend herself, Myrin is proficient with a large number of weapons such as daggers, wrist blades, and short swords, and can wield two of them at once. She excels in close quarters combat and can go toe-to-toe with powerful foes. Myrin can also use her mysterious Echo ability to surprise the unaware.

Example Techs:
•   Shank - a stab with a knife that lowers defense.
•   Sword Dulling - deals damage and drastically lowers enemy attack
Many more available with Echo, below.

Myrin's special ability is Echo, which gives her access to techs used by up to three other party members. Echoed members, once assigned, can leave the party without her losing access to their abilities. The techs that can be echoed are limited and predetermined, but generally are composed of some of each character's better moves. This ability allows players to build a Myrin with a unique ability list that can suit their needs.

[SaiKar]

Nobody ever talks in my game threads. 

I'm aiming for a Christmas-y release of... whatever I have done by Christmas-y time. The full game is still on schedule for a Feb 19th release.


Current new system: MP Threshold

Characters will slowly recover MP up to a certain percentage, which is called their MP Threshold. The threshold is higher for mages and lower for physical characters. You can also equip gear that increases the threshold.

For example, Jason's natural MP Threshold is 25%. If his MP drops below 25%, it will slowly raise up to 25%. He can also equip a ring that increases the threshold by an additional 5%, so with that ring on he will recover up to 30% max MP without the need of items or inns.

Certain quests and extremely powerful items can give the character a permanent boost to their MP Threshold. It's possible to obtain 100% by completing enough quests.

[Linkforce]

I like all of your characters, especially AI.  Maybe its cause he's Robo from Chrono Trigger, but his background story is great too.  Keep up the good work Sai!  Get that damn demo out!

[Muraiko]

The MP Threshold seems like a really useful system. I can't tell you how sick and tired I am of RPG games that arn't "magic friendly" forcing players to use expensive recovery items as the only way to heal MP.

It also encourages the player to make use of MP-skills, instead of just physical attacking enemies over and over.

[SaiKar]

A few screenshots of one of the game's dungeons, the Tenema Plant volcanic mine.





In order to get though, and maybe find some cool loot in the process, you have to make good use of Sai's Chronar Selomb (Time Stop) and Scott's Water Walk (which also works on lava) to bypass obstacles and get to otherwise unobtainable areas. Some of the puzzles are a little sneaky, plus there is that nifty mine cart ride to add to the fun. I had a good time designing and programming this one.

[Bluhman]

Vocano mine dungeon?

[SaiKar]

Yes. It's like a volcano mine dungeon, but with about 25% less spellchecking.

[Rowan]

Neat concept! However, there's alot of oddities concerning the mapping. Most of these oddities are depth issues. For instance, some of the floor tiles (especially on the stone bridge, and the railing on the second screen) just "ends." Maybe from lack of chipset space? The cart in the first screenshot is off. Also the Dungeon part in the first screen doesn't mesh well with the lava, it could work if you "red" the dungeon part and experiment with it.

[SaiKar]

The cart is off because it's in motion and composed of four individual events moving in the same direction. In the freeze-frame, some of the events lag a pixel or two behind; when in motion, it's moving so fast that you can't tell anything is wrong.

You're right about some of the mapping oddities, and also right about their reason: lack of chipset space. I made that chipset from three others with a few custom sprites and didn't leave much room left over for fancy stuff like directional cracked stone or railing curves. I could PROBABLY squeeze a bit of it in if it bothers people a lot, which is will, but I have to balance little fixes against big content not added and a deadline I refuse to move back. But I might be able to whip up a few easy fixes; we'll see.

Edit: I stopped being lame, crammed a few more chips in there, and made some corners look better. So consider the advice taken.

[A Forgotten Legend]

Yes. It's like a volcano mine dungeon, but with about 25% less spellchecking.

bahaha


This game really gets me in the mood for RPG Maker. =D

Its that amazing looking.

[Shady Ultima]

Looks really good. I agree with Rowan about how some of the tiles look odd. Like where the tracks end and there is lava, it doesn't look proper.

If you don't have enough space on your chipset to add pieces like that, use charsets. That would look better imo.

[RockJohnAxe]

I personally absolutely love everything i have read/seen and uh... heard?
i like the additions to the gameplay.
Cant wait for this one.

What a Christmas Gift   /pressure

Rowan: i also love your saikar drawing. The bangs are indeed awesome.

[SaiKar]

A version of the game has been released to my beta testers. Once I'm satisfied any major problems have been dealt with, I will post a download link on Charas.

[fruckert]