So, if I was to ever make a game, it'd probably look a lot like this game I made. I've also broken my sacred '108' post count to post this.

The last demo was under the name 'Universal Language' and was made up of an early version of Chapter 1, and because this still isn't the finished game I wouldn't really have posted it outside RMN, but I got some good feedback the first time around and thought I'd try for some more -  that, and I didn't want the UL demo to stick in people's minds. The basic story and structure is the same, but I've given a fair few maps a big facelift, changed a few of the concepts, fixed a lot of dialogue up, and tuned the statistics to balance better, among other things. And, obviously the continuation of the story in Chapter 2, which is pretty much the shortest chapter.

Although there have been significant revisions, there is a savefile for download at the end of Chapter 1 for those who played the 'Universal Language' demo to completion and don't fancy going through it again. It'll probably a a little while, to say the least, until the finished game, and I'll most likely include an 'end of Chapter 2' savefile in that so yeah, chances are you won't have to play any chapters more than once if you don't want to.

If you played the Universal Language demo, though, you should probably read this for a couple of changes in names, canon, concepts etc.

Anyway, if you like the look of it, give it a play and see what you think! Here's some information from the RMN gamepage.


Notes on the Second Mellynd War Demo - Chapters 1 & 2

Screenshots

Synopsis
In the years 303-304, the continent of Mellynd was torn apart by what is now known as the Great War – the country of Leyland fighting against the invading Orville, and their ally Edgos. Eventually, Leyland absorbed a small nation, Kilnan, and, Edgos defected after the succession of a new leader - allowing Orville to be defeated by Leyland and its new allies.

Now, eight years later, in the Leylandian industrial town of Fenheim, bright eighteen-year-old Amos Hardie attends the prestigious University of Fenheim. As one of the only grammar school boys there, he is finding it a less than enjoyable experience, and his only friends at the university are the other Fenheim resident, Eugene, and shy posh lad Lester. Having moved in with Amos and Eugene in town, Lester must now meet Amos’ blue-collar friends, including but not limited to saturnine Lawrence, put-upon Isabel and childhood-friend-turned-moronic-bitch Elvira. However, a bloody revolution in Edgos will change the lives of Amos and friends beyond recognition, and spell ill-fortune for the people of all three nations.

Meanwhile, Edgosian secret policeman Mark, recovering from a severe bout of insanity, tries his best to flee the country under its revolutionary regime, and young Leylandian lordling Cyril Avenbury takes a visit that doesn’t quite go as planned to one of his father’s political allies in the countryside.

Why you should play it
- Notes on the Second Mellynd War takes place in a vaguely tongue-in-cheek world inspired very much by 19th Century England (and the bordering countries may seem a little familiar, as well). The continent of Mellynd has a rich history and well-defined political landscape for Amos to explore.

- Has received praise for the plot, setting and dialogue. Probably a good thing, for an essentially story-based game.

- The idea of magic-like abilities only features minimally, in the ‘steamglove’ skills in battles, and other than that, the story is largely reliant on human conflict, and not reincarnated gods, magical demons, and the like.

- A traditional RPG using RM2K3’s DBS.

- A love-letter to Inspired by classic RM2K games. If you've been playing RPG Maker games for a couple of years, now, NotSMW will hopefully be nostalgic for you.

- The game will follow the ‘Suikoden’ formula of a large headquarters, a lot of recruitable characters, and occasional 'attack-defend-wild attack’ duels. In the demo, there is a maximum of 13 permanent playable characters… as well as a handful of temporaries.

- A feature of RM2K3 not many games seem to employ – rearrange your party as you choose, and control any member of your party whilst exploring.

- This game was created by a borderline obsessive! If you’re into speaking to bookcases and objects, good spelling and plot consistency, then you’re in luck!



This is to be the last demo before the full release. It is fairly long, and, unlike the last demo, contains the entire Chapter 2 – though the shortest chapter, and a bit of an atypical one, focusing slightly more on all of the politicians than the already-established characters. The chapters to follow should feel a bit like a cross between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.


Download


So, er... yeah. See what you think, I suppose!

This is an excellent game so far. I wasn't too impressed at first, what with the whole college student story satire or whatever, but then after the big slaughter in the town the game got a whole lot better. It shows that you are very talented in creating and developing characters, because watching Thomas and Isabel get murdered was just a HOLY SHIT moment. I'm only a little way ahead of that point but I'm truly impressed. We've seen the Suikoden RPG Maker fusion thing a ton of times by now but it works for any game with a great story and characters, so I'm looking forward to see how that turns out. Good job, and I hope you continue working on this!

It's one of those games that could rival Exit Fate. Well done on making this game.

I wouldn't say it would rival Exit Fate. The concept is the same, but technically the games are so much different. IMO, you should keep it as basic as it is now-- the best RM2K/3 games are the ones with fewer new or stand-out features.  You've got the story, dialogue, and characters down perfectly. Haven't played around with the battle system too much yet, but it's turning out pretty well.


Oh yeah, noticed a glitch: in the forest after the scene where Lester gets the ladder down, if you try to climb it, there's a blocked tile at the top and you can't get up there. I had to open up editor to get past that.

Nadgers! So there is. I've uploaded a fixed version (and a small patch for those who already downloaded the earlier version). Thanks. (Patch link removed, IRRELEVANT - new demo download)

Anyway, good to hear you're enjoying it! Thinking about it, the length of the Fenheim ‘arc’ was probably a bit risky, but I really did want to emphasise the normality of the characters’ lives… plus, I had fun writing it, and it was as good a time as any to get some worldbuilding in. (It meant I pretty much had to try and make the introduction action-packed, though.)

And I plan to keep it this basic! I'll probably move on from 2K3 after this, but in terms of graphics and systems, this game is going to be a 2K/3 game through and through! I know some people might think this isn't a very good atmosphere to try and cultivate, but I played those classic 2K/3 games for years, and they have a special place in my heart.

Nadgers! So there is. I've uploaded a fixed version (and a small patch for those who already downloaded the earlier version). Thanks. Get it now!

You didn't include the updated map tree and database files (.lmt & .ldb) in the patch. Those were changed too, when you made those bug fixes.

... oh. From my experience pasting things into different folders on the same computer, I wouldn't have thought that was necessary... anyway, I'm just making an updated patch, then. Haha.

I've been playing this for the last day or so. Must say, great job so far. I'm just about to head to the capital, so I've seen quite a lot of 'OMG!!!' moments so far. Your characterisation is really well done and this is probably going to be somewhere near the top of my favourite RM game list.

Great to hear! Y'all are helpin' give me drive to get on with the full version.

... you got to Chapter 2 in a day or so?! Either you're a fast player or you've been playing a LOT, heh. (Or... I'm incredibly slow...)

I had the day off and stayed up quite late. Quite, quite late. >.<

And I'm an awesome player. [/modesty]

I just finished the whole thing, and I am saddened that it's over.  However, I am playing it again just for the hell of it.. maybe catch some things I didn't the first time. That and because I am deeply in love with this game.

Honestly, I haven't been this hooked to an indie/RM game since The Way episode releases. I wasn't expecting much out of this, since I never heard of it when I first downloaded it. But as soon as I started playing it, I realized that I was playing a fine piece of work with some of the best storytelling in an indie game, ever. I love the dialogue, the way it is written, the characters (oh the characterization!), the flow of the story, and even some aspects of the gameplay itself. Obviously the game is more story based like you said, but a great story like this one helped motivate me to play the game smoothly and not rush through -- checking everything (I am as obsessive-compulsive as Honest Terry) and picking up as many chances to battle and level up as I could. The battle system is not the strong point of the game, but I liked the idea of coal as MP even though it was a bit hard/annoying to recharge it sometimes. Other than that, regular battles were extremely basic and boss battles were, for the most part, easy, save for the first boss and the last boss of the demo (both of which took me two tries). Actually both those battles, especially the last boss, were extremely epic and tense!

But let me get to the good part: the characters. These have got to be the best, most developed characters in an indie game that I've played as I've already said...but I may be wrong. The Fenheim cast are all well developed characters that I can relate to, because they actually remind me of real people, living daily lives. I know somebody exactly like Elvira, and somebody just like Geoffrey. And hell, I am pretty much Lawrence. Putting characters like this in the game, and then having them go through what they have to go through, is certainly interesting to see. I rooted for them throughout the entire game moreso than anybody else.  I'm looking forward to how they grow in the full game...especially Elvira, Lawrence and Amos.  I actually wasn't that big of a fan of Cyril, but that's just me. As for the villains, well, Blaumarsch is just too stereotypical evil, but knowing the development of characters in this game, I suspect we'll see a LOT of him in the full game. My favorite villain was actually Enoch Lovett just for the way you handled him. He was a complete douchebag, and just when I began to think there was some hope in him, he goes off and does something bad, all for the fact that he only cares about rank. That and he was a complete dick. It's deep for sort of a minor character.

Really though, the way the dialogue is written is pretty much perfect. Each character has their own personality and the dialogue helps show this... from Edward's "sup man" attitude to Jan's accent. The amount of coarse language in the game is up there but it really helps some of the people, especially Geoffrey, Lawrence, Enoch Lovett, and Raymond Paleoson. Keep it. You've also got a great sense of humor, as there are many scenes which made me laugh out loud. Jan, Geoffrey, and Raymond are quite funny people ("I'm awesome" hahahaha). I gotta applaud you for almost no typos in a text-heavy game as well.

You've done your research on politics as well. That's what made this story different - it's a fantasy setting but it has nothing to do with evil monsters and dragons, just man vs. man. Lots of politics involved, and I loved how it played out in the end. Perhaps the best thing is all the information about Mellynd-- there's LOTS of back story / history presented to us, and it makes this fictional country/continent that much more realistic. Though I'm not sure if you're loosely trying to base the four countries on real countries or your own fictional creations. Either way, it's amazing how much time you spent on creating this interesting world.

Alright, enough about the story and characters. I'll try to give you some feedback -- obviously you are a master storyteller and I hope to GOD YOU FINISH THIS sometime and release it, since at no point does the story in the game falter. The mapping is decent. Keep it that way. Just a lesson I learned from myself is that when I started caring about awesome-looking, detailed maps, my games stopped getting finished. It'll just take longer to create maps, that's all. But I'm just saying that the maps right now are not bad at all, so don't worry too much about them. Only place that looked "bad" was the mountain pass south of Melford, so that's something you can fix up a little. My only other complaint was Lord Watson's faceset which did not match his sprite and character persona. The music is all recognizable, but if you decide to change it, keep the battle theme, the BoF4 boss theme, the Suikoden Tierkreis boss theme, and that theme that plays in Fenheim when Blaumarsch burns it, and in Melford when the same thing happens.. Those were the great stand out ones.

I haven't caught any other glitches but what happened to Amos's diary? It disappears sometime around the time I got the Party Changer, which also disappears from the menu later on. It makes these items seem kind of useless in the end, and I question why they exist in the first place. Dunno.

So, in a nutshell, this game is a masterpiece, and has to be one of the best RPG Maker/indie games I have ever played. It's up around the top of my list, if not the top, and I can foresee it being my #1 game when finished. When do you think you will be finish it anyway? I know that's a pretty bad question, but I'm too hooked to it so I just had to ask. In any case, I'm going to support you all the way.  Good luck!

Hah, thank you very much! This is quite nice to wake up to. Yeah, first things first, I'd say there's a very high probability it will be finished, but unfortunately I can see it taking longer than a year (it did take me almost two years to make what you see here... but then again, I am horrendously inefficient, and am trying to work on that - and the story and world are pretty much worked out, which took a lot of hiatus-ing and retrospective editing in the early stages).

Um, a few things to respond to, then.

I'm inclined to agree with you about the Melford Mountain Pass, I sort of overlooked that area when I was going through my revisions! I'll try and go over it for the final version. And I actually thought Watson's face matched what I wanted his personality to be more than the body. I might have a look around for new graphics for him, anyway.

I haven't caught any other glitches but what happened to Amos's diary? It disappears sometime around the time I got the Party Changer, which also disappears from the menu later on. It makes these items seem kind of useless in the end, and I question why they exist in the first place. Dunno.

Amos' Diary was only for the Fenheim section, and it disappeared when you left. I felt Fenheim was the only bit that really needed something like that in case of long spells away from the game. The Party Changer was only for the time in Rapton, when your entire party was travelling around with you. After that, they usually find some sort of base to habitate, and you have to report to the fairly obvious story character of the moment to change your party (from Chapter 2 onwards, usually Nestor).

I am playing it again just for the hell of it.. maybe catch some things I didn't the first time.

From the sounds of things, you recruited one of the optional playable characters in Chapter 2 - in Ranechester - , but there's a chance you overlooked the other... (and it wasn't   Jan   , who joins you automatically later anyway) Anyway, there wasn't that much to miss in terms of concrete achievement (characters/items), but obviously in further chapters a lot of optional things and sidequests will become available.

Though I'm not sure if you're loosely trying to base the four countries on real countries or your own fictional creations.

I'd say Edgos is the only one that isn't loosely based on anything in particular. The revolution might seem fairly familiar to anyone interested in history, but the country itself just evolved from the ramshackle lump of plot I slapped together years ago in the short game which this follows, (the greatly improved remake of which you'll hopefully see in a few months) which is why its natives have names ranging from Mark and Pete to Oskar and Alexei, I suppose. (And nobody better point out how a soldier in the prologue says "Mikhail... ain't an Edgosian name!")



Anyway, it's really good to get this feedback! It's certainly a boost, and I'm steadily working on the full version. Hopefully work on the prequel shouldn't slow it down too much, but it'll only be a couple of hours long, so... yeah. Glad you liked it.

Anyway, good luck with your game, also thank for beta tester for helping. I did like one character the most Ronaldo.

It seems that the download link is down.

RMN3 has just been released - you might have caught it in the period the transition between 2 and 3 was taking place because the link works fine for me now.

From the sounds of things, you recruited one of the optional playable characters in Chapter 2 - in Ranechester - , but there's a chance you overlooked the other... (and it wasn't   Jan   , who joins you automatically later anyway) Anyway, there wasn't that much to miss in terms of concrete achievement (characters/items), but obviously in further chapters a lot of optional things and sidequests will become available.

If you mean Ronald then yes, I got him too. Kept going back to him until he joined me. I also managed to find and do the optional Edward ability mini-quest at the very beginning...


EDIT: if you need any help developing the game, I'd be willing to lend a hand or two...like maybe adding extra maps for locked houses or whatnot, heh

What was the optional Edward ability mini-quest at the very beginning?

What was the optional Edward ability mini-quest at the very beginning?

I'll just say that it can only be accessed in Fenheim on day 2, in the extremely narrow timeslot between Edward leaving when you return to town, and taking Hortence to the university. Also, it's fairly boring. Anyway, I'm actually fairly surprised that someone found it!

if you need any help developing the game, I'd be willing to lend a hand or two...like maybe adding extra maps for locked houses or whatnot, heh

Actually, the majority of locked houses were once enterable, but I got rid of them to make the towns a bit more manageable/compact/realistic, and put the most important NPCs from within standing just outside of them (and a handful of them will be enterable later). It is a good offer, though, I'll keep it in mind for if something of that nature ever comes up, heh! Oh, and if you feel like it when the time comes, I probably will be looking for some additional beta testers for the full version.

The screenshots don't work. Nonetheless, I'll give this a shot.

EDIT!:

Uh... I honestly cannot see what everyone is praising here. I haven't gotten very far. I managed to get passed the introduction scene and was stuck in a really monotonous conversation with three students. After a few passages I found myself holding down Shift + a in order to get through this boring conversation, but the end didn't seem to come fast enough.

Does this get better later? The dialog I've seen thus far is just... mediocre, with a few of the supposedly ranked officers speaking in a very childish manner. I'll see if I can get a little farther to maybe give a better impression here. Im essentially forcing myself to play through this painfully boring intro again just to see if I'm wrong. Both gameplay and story wise this game is pretty dull so far.

I'm really not trying to be mean here, but what do people see in this; exactly?

I'll just say that it can only be accessed in Fenheim on day 2, in the extremely narrow timeslot between Edward leaving when you return to town, and taking Hortence to the university. Also, it's fairly boring. Anyway, I'm actually fairly surprised that someone found it!
Actually, the majority of locked houses were once enterable, but I got rid of them to make the towns a bit more manageable/compact/realistic, and put the most important NPCs from within standing just outside of them (and a handful of them will be enterable later). It is a good offer, though, I'll keep it in mind for if something of that nature ever comes up, heh! Oh, and if you feel like it when the time comes, I probably will be looking for some additional beta testers for the full version.

Definitely. I'm pretty good at mapping......I think   ​

Does this get better later? The dialog I've seen thus far is just... mediocre, with a few of the supposedly ranked officers speaking in a very childish manner. I'll see if I can get a little farther to maybe give a better impression here. Im essentially forcing myself to play through this painfully boring intro again just to see if I'm wrong. Both gameplay and story wise this game is pretty dull so far.

I'm really not trying to be mean here, but what do people see in this; exactly?

Once you get past the first part of Chapter 1 (Fenheim), the game gets LOADS better. Not saying that part is  bad, however. I actually enjoyed the dialogue because it seemed more like real people having a real conversation and not forced like in most games. Plus, there's lots of humor, especially later on. Though, I guess I can see why people will dislike it, what with there being swearing all over the place and all... and just a warning: there's lots and lots of scenes/dialogue due to the game being extremely story-based. If you don't like that then this game might not be for you!

But..yeah, trust me, I was slowly making my way past that part, but after I got past it, I looked back on it and realized it was quite enjoyable.