XCVG
ModRetro Legend
This project has been shelved indefinitely. See this post.
Apologies in advance: I copied this straight from my post on another board, and the markup and intended audience are both different. Give me a while to fix things up.
ZDoom.org thread: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=37114
CURRENT VERSION (RELEASED): Alpha 1
CURRENT VERSION (DEVELOPMENT): 20140524_2022
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: ascensionrevolution.com
Project Dysprosium (tentatively titled Ascension: Revolution) is a sequel to Ascension, my programming class text adventure RPG (yes, that's what I call it). It takes place in the 'magical' land of Rynn- a land plunged into turmoil by the sudden revelation of aliens and advanced technology. Less dramatically, it was a stereotypical fantasy world until the Terrans (as opposed to Rynn humans) showed up and introduced a lot of new ideas. Initially, the player is put into the shoes of the RPG fantasy hero, a pure and good type, but the tables shift after the title sequence. I'd say the strongest themes are the relativity of morality and the inevitability of change.
Gameplay-wise, Dysprosium will (hopefully) be like (a really, really ghetto version of) Skyrim, with some (horribly mutilated) Mass Effect thrown in. In other words, hybrid RPG. The player will have to complete quests to advance the storyline, delivered through static cutscenes, dynamic cutscenes, and gameplay. There will be a leveling system and an inventory and all that RPG stuff, though it will not be heavily emphasized. The actions of the player will directly affect the outcome of the story. To put it another way, the emphasis is on storytelling rather than shooting things or leveling up.
I started seriously considering doing a sequel or spinoff to Ascension when I cleaned it up for distribution back in July. The natural choice would be to hack something together with RPG Maker, but I was hesitant to do so for several reasons. My work wouldn't really distinguish itself, I didn't like the combat system, and it's $60. Still, it would have been the logical choice for this project. Me being me, I dusted off SLADE and Doom Builder and got to work.
It goes without saying that this is one Heck of an ambitious project and that there's no way I can do it alone. I'm terrible with any sort of art and worse with music, and I'm only so-so at coding. In the coming months, I will be putting out various requests here and elsewhere. For the time being, though, expect a lot of placeholder assets.
Licensing is tentatively CC BY-NC-SA, with the story itself CC BY-SA and the code under its own license (ZDoom’s licensing is... complex). It will be open source and derivatives will be allowed. I don’t believe in shrouding the development process in a veil of secrecy, and in fact you can already download development builds. It will never be a commercial game and it will always be free.
[spoiler=Planned Features]Total conversion. Nothing less will do. Expect placeholders for years though.
Cinematic conversation system (like Mass Effect but with low-res static sprites)
Full or partial voice acting
XP and leveling system (duh)
Inventory (also duh)
Dynamic and useful companions (and you can have more than one at a time)
Immersive and intelligent storyline (or so it claims)
Wide-open, nonlinear and interlinked environments[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Current Features]One incomplete chapter
A few sample and demo maps
One piece of a working game world
Two partially complete chapters
Tons of placeholder graphics
Awkward but working conversation system
Leveling system with working menu
Quest system with journal
Kludged UI
Ugly, but working companions[/spoiler]
MEDIA/DOWNLOADS
Ascension PCTARPG: Download
Design Document: Draft
Vision Trailer: Video
dev20130830 Demonstration: Video
Followers Demonstration: Video
Powers Demonstration: Video
Standalone Demonstration: Video
dev20131201 Demonstration: Video
Arsalz Gameplay: Video
Development Builds: Repository
Release 0.1R: Download
Release 0.2R: Download
Release MS1: Download
Release Alpha 1: Download
Apologies in advance: I copied this straight from my post on another board, and the markup and intended audience are both different. Give me a while to fix things up.
ZDoom.org thread: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=37114

CURRENT VERSION (RELEASED): Alpha 1
CURRENT VERSION (DEVELOPMENT): 20140524_2022
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: ascensionrevolution.com
Project Dysprosium (tentatively titled Ascension: Revolution) is a sequel to Ascension, my programming class text adventure RPG (yes, that's what I call it). It takes place in the 'magical' land of Rynn- a land plunged into turmoil by the sudden revelation of aliens and advanced technology. Less dramatically, it was a stereotypical fantasy world until the Terrans (as opposed to Rynn humans) showed up and introduced a lot of new ideas. Initially, the player is put into the shoes of the RPG fantasy hero, a pure and good type, but the tables shift after the title sequence. I'd say the strongest themes are the relativity of morality and the inevitability of change.
Gameplay-wise, Dysprosium will (hopefully) be like (a really, really ghetto version of) Skyrim, with some (horribly mutilated) Mass Effect thrown in. In other words, hybrid RPG. The player will have to complete quests to advance the storyline, delivered through static cutscenes, dynamic cutscenes, and gameplay. There will be a leveling system and an inventory and all that RPG stuff, though it will not be heavily emphasized. The actions of the player will directly affect the outcome of the story. To put it another way, the emphasis is on storytelling rather than shooting things or leveling up.
I started seriously considering doing a sequel or spinoff to Ascension when I cleaned it up for distribution back in July. The natural choice would be to hack something together with RPG Maker, but I was hesitant to do so for several reasons. My work wouldn't really distinguish itself, I didn't like the combat system, and it's $60. Still, it would have been the logical choice for this project. Me being me, I dusted off SLADE and Doom Builder and got to work.
It goes without saying that this is one Heck of an ambitious project and that there's no way I can do it alone. I'm terrible with any sort of art and worse with music, and I'm only so-so at coding. In the coming months, I will be putting out various requests here and elsewhere. For the time being, though, expect a lot of placeholder assets.
Licensing is tentatively CC BY-NC-SA, with the story itself CC BY-SA and the code under its own license (ZDoom’s licensing is... complex). It will be open source and derivatives will be allowed. I don’t believe in shrouding the development process in a veil of secrecy, and in fact you can already download development builds. It will never be a commercial game and it will always be free.
[spoiler=Planned Features]Total conversion. Nothing less will do. Expect placeholders for years though.
Cinematic conversation system (like Mass Effect but with low-res static sprites)
Full or partial voice acting
XP and leveling system (duh)
Inventory (also duh)
Dynamic and useful companions (and you can have more than one at a time)
Immersive and intelligent storyline (or so it claims)
Wide-open, nonlinear and interlinked environments[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Current Features]One incomplete chapter
A few sample and demo maps
One piece of a working game world
Two partially complete chapters
Tons of placeholder graphics
Awkward but working conversation system
Leveling system with working menu
Quest system with journal
Kludged UI
Ugly, but working companions[/spoiler]
MEDIA/DOWNLOADS
Ascension PCTARPG: Download
Design Document: Draft
Vision Trailer: Video
dev20130830 Demonstration: Video
Followers Demonstration: Video
Powers Demonstration: Video
Standalone Demonstration: Video
dev20131201 Demonstration: Video
Arsalz Gameplay: Video
Development Builds: Repository
Release 0.1R: Download
Release 0.2R: Download
Release MS1: Download
Release Alpha 1: Download