SlimeQuest: the dragon is outWhat is it?Well, it's a Free-Movement Tactical RPG being developed for Android and iPhone. I might do a PC release, too, but I'm not sure.
What's so special about it?First of all it will be (as it stands right now) the first Android RPG with Commercial level touch screen support (and I think the first iPhone one, too, but don't quote me on that). What this means is, no more wasted time and accidental touches trying to hit some kind of tiny button out in the middle of the screen, and no more using an onscreen directional pad to move up and down in your item list.Touch an item, you're good to go. When you get close to an NPC, a talk bubble appears above them. Touch it to start the conversation. When you get close to a hidden treasure, a question mark appears above it, touch it. Plus, an 360 degree PRESSURE SENSITIVE virtual joystick (Yes, and this part is already done so I'm not just spewing BS here).
The second thing about it is that the gameplay is semi-non-linear. As part of leveling your character you can increase your stats, like Strength (Melee/short range and HP), Agility (Long range attack and movement distance) - but you can also increase Wisdom (Light Magic and MP) and Intelligence (Dark Magic and MP). This is where it gets special, because increasing these traits changes your alignment, giving you "Honorable" and "Chaotic" characters. If you're a Chaotic character and you hit an enemy from the BACK you get a chaotic experience bonus, if you're an Honorable character and you hit someone in the FRONT you get an honorable experience bonus. The opposite also applies, ie if you're honorable and you hit someone in the BACK, you get a chaotic experience bonus, which actually takes AWAY a large portion of your experience.
Finally, each battle has Main Objectives, and bonus objectives - and completing bonus objectives grants you bonus experience, but the main objectives is not always to defeat the enemy.. You may have a main objective to a.) distract enemy soldiers and pull them away from their home, so you can b.) sneak a character around the back and steal their battle plans, and finally c.) escape with the battle plans. Now keep in mind the alignment - stealing is a BAD thing, so you'll want to do it with a Chaotic character to get a chaotic experience bonus. You can still do it with an Honorable character, but you'll lose exp. Also, in the above case, the bonus objective would be to defeat the enemy soldiers.
OK, OK, I get it. So whats the story?It's a quirky, brow-raising and sometimes a little serious RPG that satirically pokes fun of the traditional (cultist) RPG traditions.
And... I don't want to give too much of the story away just yet, but here goes:
You are Blue, a young slime heading out to complete his final exam at Slime School.
But a cave-in separates you from your little sister. You find your way out of the cave only to find that your sister has been found... and sold to a traveling merchant who is going to make JELLY out of her! You set off, tracking the merchant in hopes of saving your sister, along the way being continuously attacked and harassed by religious nutcases, each claiming to be some prophetical "Hero" out to save the world.
You meet allies as you become more and more engulfed in a hierarchy of corruption, and along you begin to wonder how slimes ever got such a bad rep.
So is this just a concept? How much of it is done?2/7/2011 - Well, the battle system is mostly finished, putting the finishing touches on the enemy AI, and working to leave open a hook for special events in battle - like bosses talking or the map changing, etc. The entirety of the touch screen interface is done, the movement and mapping system is done, dialogue system is done but needs some tweaks to become more versatile (just added the ability to have a dialogue message give you an item :-D), several aesthetic systems are done (like the system that shows the map name when you first enter it, or the one that shows a notification at the top when you get an item).
Haven't even begun working on the game menu system yet, thats my next task after the AI and battle events hook.
Special ThanksThe Breeze Revolution team, Green Raven and RPG RPG Revolution for the breeze tiles I'm using.
Screenshots! (In order from newest to oldest)Keep in mind, this is in DEVELOPMENT, so as the game is fleshed out and work continues, the screenshots may not all match, just bear in mind the screens are in order from newest to oldest.
CLICK IT!
Thoughts?I'd love some feedback, opinions, questions, or anyone to stop in and give me a thumbs up to keep working on the project.
Thanks!
