Hello there!

I am Zappy77, my name is Martin and I live in South Africa.
I like programming and can program in several languages.
I teach a programming class at my school and make programs, games and fix computers for a living.

I didn't intorduce myself yet so there it is!

Most of us has heard the tradegy on Jasmine's computer, a game preview topic over there.

Anyway, since I figured there is no longer an active game preview topic, I thought I might aswell preview my game. It might grab some attension...

Setting:
Setting:
Winding Darkness's main setting is the middle ages, though because of the way the story is formed some people might confuse it with the present or even the future. The game mainly takes place on planet earth, but there are outer space scenes. Other than the medieval setting it also has some mystical elements merged in it. For example, magic, dragons, leviathans etc. which are all mystical creatures. There is 7 playable characters in the game.
-Kuna
-Yuna
-Storm
-Nupe
-Zavis
-Helen
-Mazer

Please read the character description further below for more information about them.

Story summary:
CHAPTER 1
The game begins on a distant planet, there are 2 races having war with each other until the planet is near explosion. The king of the planet hides an object, along with his son in a ship and the ship flies off. The reason he did that was because his other son was taken hostage, and the object is of great importance.

On earth, several years later, a Kuna and his friends are in a city, living as thiefs, until Kuna got mad at a stuckup royal prince, prince Timmothy. After being embarrased by him, he decides it's payback time. His crew and himself decides to break into the castle and ambush it. Just for a little revenge. Little did they know that there is about to start another fight. Thanks to the noise and fighting, princess Yuna got scared and decided to hide. When Kuna and his crew came down, they brought a bag with stuff, they intended to steal some stuff. Anyway, Yuna then had no where to go, she is being attacked, the door is blocked and the windows are way to high for her, so she decides to hide in Kuna's bag. They eventually escaped the place on a boat. With Yuna. The boss, refuses to turn the ship around. On the boat they are attacked by a sea creature and the boat has damages, they are forced to land the ship for repairs. The repairs take 3 days. They land on a haunted island, and a few interesting things happen there. Which I will not reveal at this time. After they got the boat fixed, a demon (from the island) followed them and later Kuna is infected by a disease. (Which is unknown to the user at this point).

After they arrive at their destination they have to protect it from yet another war, for the simple reason that they were responsible for breaking down it's defences. Yuna is not allowed to fight, but sneaks out anyway to fight. Note that obviously she disguised herself. It caused conflict between the Kuna and Yuna and they start fighting. Kuna thought she was a bad guy and attacked her. Kuna and Yuna gets lost in a wood after they fought a while. There they are captured by a strange civilization. Thanks to a titan, they were able to escape. While running away from that very titan, Yuna slips and falls into a pit. Where they are rescued by the lady known as Storm. After they all escape the wood, they go back to the city. A little peace there, a few funny scenes, but then, out of nowhere, guard arrive and takes Yuna away. Nothing is known at this point to the user, but they take her to extract her summoning powers, which is revealed for the first time late in Chapter 2.

CHAPTER 2
Kuna doesn't stand long for this and decides to rescue her, with the help of Storm. After Yuna is rescued Kuna tries to take her back home. On the way home, they go stay at a city to take a rest, but some robot wants to take Kuna. They don't hesitate to attack, but the robot is much to strong for them, they are overwelmed. Because of that they are knocked out, but when they wake up they are all still in the city, no robot in sight, and the place is on fire! They have no idea why, but after the locals started calling Yuna a dragon lady, they put two and two together and decode the little what they saw. They figured out Yuna has some summoning powers and they go to Storm's uncle to find out exactly what it is and how to control it.

Out in space the queen(from the start of the game) gives Zavis a command to kill the Kuna and take his "good luck" charm. Kuna and Zavis fights it out, but the Zavis's life is spared, he decides to join them until his debth is paid back. On their way back, they meet a mysterious black mage, known as Helen. Together they make it back to the princess's home town, Kuna meets Nupe there and they all live happily ever after...or so they thought. While everyone was having a great time at a ball, Agro suddenly jumps through a window and attacks Kuna. They fight and fight, with the goal to kill the Kuna and take his "good luck" charm. Before he could take it, Kuna smashed it realeasing a lot of power. This power is his main source of power which is then given to him.

CHAPTER 3
The demon inside him (which grows as the story progresses), which came from the "disease" earlier in the game, takes over and uses this new power to defeat Agro.

That night, after the demon cleared, Kuna went to bed. While he was asleep he was captured by none other than the king. While the others are looking for him, the king tricked them and sent them to a place where the chances of surviving is next to 0. Nupe and Yuna stays behind. Nupe is found and thrown into jail. (For reasons revealed later in the game) Yuna is captured and hooked up to a machine in attempt to extract her summoning powers. Yuna eventually escapes and is in rage, so much that she summons the dragon and starts burning her hometown down. While the others come back from the place the king sent them, they try to stop the princess. Nupe, made a new (Mazer) in jail and they escaped and caught up with the others.

Meanwhile, Kuna is being tortured in attempt to gain his powers that was released in his "good luck" charm. The others find out where they took him and with the help of the Yuna's dragon they finally find him. Things were complicated, they rescued him, but also got stuck there. In there Kuna and Nupe's boss, Mavert appears, revealing some shocking truth about the boy's past. (Which I will not reveal at this time.) Eventually Nupe is killed. Inside Yuna found, and captured a behemoth.

They decide to go to Helen's home town (which was destroyed). They follow a short story and find a leviathan, the
leviathan wants Yuna to absorb him, but not without a fight. After they absorb him, they are nearly drowned (Makes sence in the actual game) and wind up split up in a cave. After they escape the cave, Agro is waiting for them. They fight and fight, when the Kuna was winning Agro revealed something...He is the Kuna's brother! (At the start of the game, there was a boy that was kidnapped, it's him, he is Kuna's brother).

CHAPTER 4
In shock, Kuna lowers his defences. Only to be tricked and knocked out. They wake up in a space ship. Kuna is kept in a seperate room from the others, they want his powers. This is what the war at the start of the game was, they want this power. The others escape and fall off the ship. (Has to do with a little collision, the ship losing power etc.) Kuna lands in a dessert and the others land somewhere leading to a bright castle (One would think they are dreaming.).

In that shinging castle, Yuna gains control over a griffin. When they get to Kuna it's to late. That seed that the demon planted has grown so much that it took over Kuna's entire body. Everyone except Kuna flees, and Kuna has a few stuff to do...revealed in the game. Anyway, after the others get back to Kuna, they finally get the demon out of him. He is back to normal. The story continues for a while, months have passed, it seems peacefull, people are meant to believe that the game is over. Then they reveal the final fight. The Agro, and the queen. Before they fight they go find the last creature for Yuna to absorb, a titan. After the story progresses even further, they finally fight. Storm realizes that the only way to save anyone is to sacrifice one's life. She kills herself in attempt to save the others. The others fight monsters, Zavis fights the queen and Kuna fights Agro, which has cloned Kuna's powers. Then Kuna summons a great amount of energy and finally defeats Agro, at the cost of his life? Well, that's what they thought, but several months later Yuna is attacked by some guy, and just before the princess is killed, Kuna appears and blocks the weapon with his dagger. Yuna looks at him and cannot believe he is still alive.

My word thats a mouth full! The game ends there. Please note, this wasn't a summary, more like an outline. It is estimated that the actual game will take about 40 - 70 hours to play through. I am planning a number 2 providing this game is a success. Yes, I know, some parts in the above does not make sence, but thats because its hard putting a 300 page story into just 1 page! Allot of people have told me they are never going to play my game because it looks so confusing. Yes I agree, it looks confusing, even I (The writer) gets confused simply by reading the above. When reading the actual 300 page story, everything makes perfectly sence. If people show interest in this project I will reveal more details. Note, this is now much easier to read, I added the names of the characters and I split it into 4 chapters. Much much wasier to read and understand now, though it is still an outline...

If you have questions or are confused about the story, or the game, feel free to ask.
Some fun facts about the game:
-The game features pre-rendered scenes.
-It's an RPG!
-The game has been designed for longer than a year. (Mostly only the story)
-The game is written in C++.
-The game supports most versions of Windows, MAC and Linux.
-The game is freeware.
-Has more than 2000 lines of codes so far. (As of 9 July 2010)

See below for some screenshots.

The first image is a screenshot of the first pre-rendered scene. Its a space scene, this screenshot is when space dust fly in and creates the name on the screen.
http://img143.imageshack.us/i/pic1vv.png/
This image is no longer in the game, this link is only provided if you want to compare the new dust scene with this one.

This is how the game currently looks when its run.
Note: The model shown is only a temporary model and is not the model used in the game, this is only for testing purposes.
http://img257.imageshack.us/i/pic2oi.png/
This is also an extremely old image, the game doesn't look anything like this anymore, the HUD is copletely changed around, the level has texture etc. Yet again, I will keep this link for comparason purposes later on.

This is the explanation on all of it.
http://img16.imageshack.us/i/pic3vx.png/

Note: In the game I also already created other stuff that is not shown in the picture, but I will post it if I get positive reaction on these pictures.

My current male base model for use with pre-rendered scenes. (53 000 faces)
http://img52.imageshack.us/i/pic4d.png/
Not being used anymore, creating a much more realistic looking character, which is more user friendly to animate, and add clothes! Same as above, keeping this up for comparason pics later.

The game already has collision detection, an inventory, user input etc.

***********************************************
Update - 02/10/2010
Here is an update on the game topic, I made the story easier to follow and added some stuff.

Anyway, It's been months since I have updated this topic. Mostly because I have been busy, but atleast I got a little news!

-Character summary
-My favorite quotes
-Title to dust video

Note: The story has 48 scenes, 4 chapters. 12 scenes per chapter.

Character summary
Throughout the game there are A LOT of characters, however, all of them don’t have important roles. There are 10 major characters, including the head roles. Then there are minor characters which are not that important, but are needed, even if it’s just for one or two scenes.

Kuna
Kuna is the main character. His fighting style is hand to hand and occasionally uses daggers. This character is found from scene 2 and is in most of the game from then. Kuna’s special ability is, from chapter 3, using psi powers, such as telekinesis, pyrokinesis, remote viewing, astral projection etc. Kuna’s origin is unknown, until the start of chapter 4. However, several event happen which implies his origin in the earlier chapters. Kuna is from a different planet, his father was the king. This makes him a prince. Their planet was ambushed in attempt to get their hands on a magical stone. Later, the king’s son is captured and taken by the queen, the king runs with Kuna to a ship and put both Kuna and the stone in the ship. The planet is then destroyed. Nothing else is revealed until the queen comes into the picture. Kuna’s race is similar to the human race, one might say identical, except Kuna’s race is technologically more advanced and are faster and stronger etc. Than the average human. Because of Kuna’s history his character is pretty silent, with a joke on a few occasions. He never steps away from a challenge. Throughout the story, one can easily notice how Kuna’s personality changes, he finally has friends that care enough for him to fill an empty gap he has had for his life.

Yuna
Yuna is another main character, she is a princess and always looks for adventure. This character is introduced in scene 3 and her part increases as the story progresses. Her main weapon is a sword, she also has a whip. Her special ability is summoning creatures from chapter 3. Her origin is simple, she is a princess of Allansgrove. She is attempted to be forcefully married for a strange reason, which is revealed later in the story. She is a really hyper person, always looking for adventure even if it’s dangerous. She tends not to think about situations before making actions.

Storm
Storm is a peaceful nature girl. She lives in Titan woods, she is first revealed in scene 19 where she saves Yuna and Kuna from a monster. Her weapons are a bow and arrow along with a knife. Her origin is unknown, the reason she stays there is also unknown, but it is assumed she stays there because she loves animals so much. Storm doesn’t have a huge role in the sense of summoning creatures or something. She can however call animals to help in combat. She is good with navigation and later sacrifices herself to help save her friends. She has a tough guy attitude. Always acting tough around men, while really sensitive when talking to or referring to girls.

Zavis
Zavis works for the queen, he is assigned a task to assassinate Kuna, along the way Kuna beats him and he is in his depth, they come along great. Zavis has a really really tough guy attitude, chances of him smiling is very slim. He is pretty bright and has a lot of skill, enough to just about evenly match Kuna. His weapons are Falxes and claws. He is arrogant and the silent type. His origin is unknown, but it is assumed that the queen killed his parents and took him in as a slave. He is first seen in scene 18.

Nupe
This is Kuna’s best friend. They are together from scene 2, split up somewhere and are reunited. Nupe’s origin is unknown, but what is known is that he is an orphan. He is not such a big character so his only weapon is his sword. His personality is like Kuna’s, just more jittery, scared, more loud and more social.

Agro
This is Kuna’s brother. Without anyone knowing, he first appears in scene 1! He is the boy that is kidnapped by the queen. He is then raised by her. One of his missions is to get Kuna’s stone. In the end Kuna ends up killing him.

Helen
Helen is a black mage. Her weapon is a staff and shirukens. She can use black magic. She is first found in scene 21, when they enter a competition. She might look scary, but she has a really sweet heart. She is like any girl, talkative! Her origin is a which village, which was destroyed by Agro, she was the only survivor. Nothing is known about her parents, nobody knows who destroyed the village until the end of chapter 2. Helen cries really easy and is attracted to Zavis.

Mazer
Mazer is a last minute installation to the party! His first appearance is in scene 26! He is the pumped type, always wants to break everything. He has a broad sword and his fists! Being so big he is strong, but slow. Nothing is known about him, only that he was thrown in jail because he investigated some stuff. Mazer doesn’t play a big part at all, but is added just to fill the party up!

Mavert
Kuna and the gangs boss. At first he seems like a good guy, but is really a bad guy later on. He is the one attempting to extract Kuna’s power. Another huge guy... He is really tough and doesn’t take crap, ever.

Queen
This is the one that started it all. Without her the game couldn’t exist. She attacks Kuna’s planet, kidnaps Agro and orders Zavis. She is later killed by Zavis himself. She is cold and ruthless. Very evil.

Minor roles
- Kuna’s father
- Yuna’s father
- Ghost king
- Demon
- Timothy
- Dorham king
- Research dudes
- Ben
- Storm’s uncle
- Man at end of game

Thats it for the character description.

Some of my favorite quotes in Chapter 1
KUNA
After Kuna saves Nupe from the giant robot attacking him.
[quote]*Nupe slides against the wall towards the floor.*
Kuna: “Good thing I got here just in time huh?â€Â

didnt got to read all that just yet, but nice pictures.. definately coder art.. except for the male model, it looks very detailed, except for one detail... ahum..

im curious how the title animation looks like

_________________
Long pork is people!

wzl's burrow

Thank you

I will probably upload the whole first pre-rendered scene soon, after I polish it a little bit.

It sounds like quite an adventure!

I wouldn't worry about it sounding complicated. Most stories would sound complicated if squashed down to fit one page.

I think what is important though that each character have a background, Players often like to know who every major character in the story is, and how they fit into the world you're creating.

Also I think it is important to make sure the player knows exactly what their objective is at any one time.

Consider: How does the player know they have to escape on a boat. What happens if they don't? Could they escape on the boat earlier than they are supposed to? You need to make sure that the triggers are obvious and compelling.

Since the scene and objective in your game switch quite frequently, it might be easier if the game was split into twenty or so levels, like a campaign, and each with it's own map and section of the story. And each having just one or two objectives.

I agree with weezl that the main interface being coder art. It is functional, but players generally like graphical interfaces that feels rich and ornate -- especially in an RPG where it is all about feelings.


I look forward to seeing more of your game.

_________________
I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

Good advice there, the 6 out of the 7 characters have nice background stories I added the 7'th near the end and havn't really gotten to writing a background story for him. A plus side is that the characters are well developed. They are based of real life personalities, noted what kind of things they would say, what they wouldn't say, how they wood react to situations etc.

The game is split up into several levels, but gives the illusion of a story. You can continue a level progress and you can visit the places you were before, but you can't redo the story missions in there. Side quests maby...

I thought about the interface a while, and I agree, it could look much much better. Problem is I suck at sprites I make models for just about everything!
Need potion: Model one and render a 2D image.
Basically I just make 3D models, but I have a little idea to greatly increase the feel of the interface. It will look much more fancy when I'm done with it!

Woah, a fellow South African on gpwiki! What are the odds?

That's pretty impressive 3d modelling you got! The story outline sounds interesting as well. As I was reading it I remembered scenes out of other games, like Oblivion and Dragon Age. If you compressed their stories into a short summary it would also sound pretty confusing. Good luck with the project!

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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve

I drew two potion flasks last year when I was thinking of making an rpg. You can use them if you like

_________________
I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

Hey another SA buddy! Don't see to many of them on sites like this

I never played Oblivion or Dragon Age before, so I have no idea what they are about!


Those are beyond cool! I will definatly be able to put them to good use!

Saved them to the PC!

I programmed a little more, and I did a little artwork, and I think it should be ready to show some more screenshots soon!

Thanks so much for all your support

Those potions look really nice! Good work, Jas.

And the whole Winding Darkness project sounds cool (even the title! ). Be sure and keep us all updated!

_________________
What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

I'm kinda stuck now
Now I have to design a bunch of stuff, including levels, items, missions...

If anyone has any ideas for items, side-quests, cool levels, equipment, skills or anything to do with RPG's I would really appreaciate it.

At the moment I am working on level 1, sprites for the inventory and a better interface.

Updated the topic!
A much more cleaner and user friendly topic will be coming soon! Along with pics!

I like the names of the characters, and it looks like you've got a lot of detail in your story.

How will the dialogue be used in the game? Will it be used with cut-scenes, or triggered as the player is moving through the game?

_________________
I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

Both actually, it depends on your situation. Some big parts with pre-rendered scenes, others with cut-scenes (most of it), and some of them while the player is moving through the game.

So all of them, but mostly cut-scenes. Already got the voice actors lined up so that might be nice.

Edit: I added my favorite quotes from scene 2 - 4
Also added a test video...

I like the text --> dust effect in your video. But maybe you could use a different font than Arial?

There are lots of nice free fonts at typenow

_________________
I ain't pushing no moon buttons.

Thanks.
You are right, Arial makes it look...
Noobish.
Thanks for the link, seen a few that I like. (Only problem is they are relatively thin, they have to have a little body to make the dust look realistic.)

It's going to take me weeks to go through all the fonts!