[SHELVED] Ascension Revolution (RPG TC)

[XCVG]

This project has been shelved indefinitely. See this post.



CURRENT VERSION (RELEASED): Bastille Day Beta
CURRENT VERSION (DEVELOPMENT): 20140723_1823

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 hell 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.

---

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

---

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

MEDIA/DOWNLOADS

Ascension PCTARPG: Download

Design Document: Draft
Halogen Canon Documents: pre5

Vision Trailer: Video

dev20130830 Demonstration: Video
Followers Demonstration: Video
Powers Demonstration: Video
Standalone Demonstration: Video
dev20131201 Demonstration: Video
Oldschool Demonstration: Video
Arsalz Gameplay: Video

Development Builds: Repository
Release 0.1R: Download
Release 0.2R: Download
Release MS1: Download
Release Alpha 1: Download

[XCVG]

Setting

Ascension and by extension Revolution really takes place in a setting within a setting. Either the pseudomagical land of Rynn or the science-fiction Milky Way could be a complete verse in its own right. However, the two are combined and interconnected. The ancestors of the elves on Rynn are the ancestors of the space elves or Salveli. The mysterious race that brought humans to Rynn still occasionally visits. Both the Alliance (humans) and Salveli Republic have a presence on Rynn after first contact.

Specifically, Revolution takes place in a region of Rynn called Egaloch. It’s a mixture of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and French in a relatively small nation (about the size of Belgium but smaller ingame due to technical limitations). The Kingdom of Egaloch is not part of the overarching Empire (which is now in some serious hot water) although it is closely connected to it- thing intermarriage interconnected. It’s a standard absolute monarchy, with a lovely feudal system to match. Technology is mid to late Middle Ages, but mixed with magic, and with much more advanced technology being smuggled in.

Times are changing. The introduction of enlightened ideas has sent shockwaves through the academic community, through the military command, and through politics. Dissent is spreading. People are beginning to question the status quo. Modern technology is being put to use alongside magic, legitimately obtained or otherwise. Egaloch is relatively backwards compared to some other regions, but even it is not immune to the events unfolding across the world.

Plot

For years, an evil man and his army of minions terrorized the land. They attacked the King’s men, subverted the peasants, and generally caused as much destruction and chaos as possible. In the destruction, a great hero rose up, leading the armies of good to destroy those of evil. Finally, with his army crushed and most of his resources spent, the evildoer gambled and used the last of his forces to kidnap the Princess of Egaloch. The hero raced to save her and crush the villain once and for all. He succeeded, and the villain was arrested, stood trial and was imprisoned for his crimes.

That’s what they would like you to believe. History is written by the victor. The villain is the loser and the loser is the villain.

One year later, that villain gets up in his cell to begin his daily routine of eating slop and reading the few books they still allow him to have. Suddenly, the alarm goes off, and the guards go to full alert. There are several gunshots, and the guards drop like flies. An armoured figure strides in and hands you a gun. You follow them out, fighting your way out of the prison, releasing the other prisoners, and escape to a safehouse kept just in case.

It’s a second chance to start over. But is this about power, revenge, or are you actually trying to make the world a better place? Are you going to try again? The King’s men are willing to murder an entire town to find you, and you refuse to let that happen. A few short but intense minutes later, they lie dead at your feet, and suddenly, to the townspeople, you aren’t the villain anymore.

You’re the hero.

---

The Hero

The great adventurer that broke the Villain's reign of terror, saved the Kingdom in its darkest hour, rescued the Princess and defeated the Villain. A strong fighter with a strong resolve, believes very strongly in what is “good” and “right”. To the more cynical, a naive pawn to be used for solving problems. Now engaged the the Princess, he is fiercely loyal and will stick to his ideals, no matter how misguided they may be, until the very end.

Princess Sabell Lorrain

The Princess of Egaloch, who is next in line for the throne. She was planned to be married to a noble of the Empire but he was killed during the revolt in Skarval. Now engaged to the Hero, she faces the same uncertain future as her nation, a fact which she is keenly aware of.

King Gostav Lorrain

The King of Egaloch. The latest in a long line of rulers, can trace his heredity back for generations. Gostav believes very strongly in two things: his divine right to rule, and preserving the status quo, which may in fact be one and the same. Unlike the Hero, he is willing to negotiate and bend the rules if it benefits his agenda.

The Villain

The player character. A cynical, bitter rebel somewhere in the spectrum from anti-hero to villain, depending on how you choose to play.

The Merc

A tough woman of mixed Russian-Hispanic ancestry (actually from Iowa). An ex-Alliance Marine and now a mercenary, she broke the Villain out of prison hoping for a share of the reward. Unlike some others, she is willing to wait and stick with the revolution in the hope of a bigger payoff later. Equipped with an accelerator rifle and combat armor, she is the most powerful of your followers.

The Avenger

Large, powerful man hell-bent on revenge. An ethnic Skad, his family moved to Egaloch during his childhood. His brother Nels was executed when their family refused to pay their tithe to the Kingdom. As a result, he personally holds the King responsible wants him dead. With heavy armor and a Skad greatsword, he is very powerful at close range, but also loud and slow.

The Rogue

Known only as Shadow, this man is impossible to pin down. Steals secrets, treasures, and occasionally lives. Whether he only accepts jobs for the challenge or he accepts any work for pay is up for debate. No one has seen his face and lived to tell about it. Fast and stealthy but deadly with a punch dagger and crossbow.

The Elf

Viriila D'Asal is a high elf from the aristocratic D'asal family of western Vandermere. Rebellious as a teenager, she left home to seek adventure, eventually landing in Egaloch. Physically attractive, she also possesses a knack for analyzing people, knowledge of multiple languages, and powerful magic. Her light but durable armor and small but expensive dagger make her otherwise middling in combat.

The Trader

A reasonably successful trader in Remarius, Hadrae came to Egaloch to make his fortune, but was robbed and left without his goods. Unable to return to Remarius, he continued trying various unsuccessful ventures in Egaloch. Now he is in trouble with both the law and some people that don't believe in laws, but he can still get what a rebellion needs. With only an Earth-built revolver, he is the weakest follower in combat.

---

Cave Hideout


Cachot


Galia


Arsalz

---

Dagger

Short and light, this piece of steel can be swung quickly but doesn't do a lot of damage.

Handgun

This handgun is an old design, firing cased 5.7SA ammunition. It's still deadly at close range, though less so further away.

Bow

A classic weapon on Earth and Rynn. Slow and weak in comparison to newer offworld weapons, but very common and cheap.

Kalashnikov

The latest in a long line of firearms that dates back over a century, this rifle is powerful and reasonably accurate at any range.

Leather Armor

Made of hardened leather, this simple armor provides limited protection, but is cheap and common.

Ballistic Vest

This vest, made from woven polymers, is highly resistant to bullets and arrows but is not very durable or cheap.

Gold

Although other parts of the galaxy have moved to entirely virtual currency, Rynn still operates on the gold standard, and Egaloch is no exception.

[XCVG]

Okay, looking for some input and ideas. My usual sources are unusually quiet.

Leveling: This is what the skills set looks like right now:
1 - ???
2 - ???
3 - Companion Enhancement (passive) - makes your companions better
4 - Negotiation (passive) - gives the ability to convince people
5 - Combat Mastery (passive) - increases weapon strength and max health

Obviously, I'm looking to fill in the missing gaps. No idea what abilities to mix in, since the "villain" isn't meant to have any special powers.

Characters: There will be companions that are sources of exposition and key to the plot as well as teammates in battle. So far, I only have one conceptualized. Some spoilers.

---

[Major] Natalia Garcia {follower}
Age: 34
Height: 6'1”
Weight: 180lbs
Build: muscular
Eyes: blue
Hair: black
Equipment: Customized A97 Avenger, Kimber Legacy, Aegis Mk6 Combat Suit (LE Package)
A tough woman of mixed Russian-Hispanic ancestry (actually from Iowa). Claims to be a mercenary who left the Alliance- breaks you out betting on the hope that you have a stash somewhere. Is actually an Alliance Intelligence officer- they think it would be better if you were in charge. When you confirm this, you can tell her to leave, try to kill her (which results in your death), or shrug and move on.

I'm thinking one of the others will be in it for revenge, but that's all I've got right now. Characters are my weak point.

Weapons: List is tentative, but basically complete, if that makes any sense at all.

---

SLOT 1 (unarmed):
Fists - exactly what it says on the tin, weaksauce

SLOT 2 (melee):
Shiv - A prison shank you made in your cell. Starting weapon.
Knife - just a knife (combat? kitchen?) for hacking things up
Dagger - Prettier than the knife, pretty much the same effectiveness
Sword - Balanced melee weapon, standard medieval fare.
Longsword - More powerful, but slower. Knight's choice.
Axe - Crude but effective, similar to sword.
Mace - Cruder, also effective. Smashes things.
Mithril Sword - Sword of aluminum (mithril) with tungsten carbide (adamant) edges. Light and sharp.
Force Sword - Squeeze the handles to rip through things. Magic.

SLOT 3 (sidearm):
Glock - 9mm pistol, fairly weak and inaccurate. Given during the prison escape.
Magnum - Either a big handgun or revolver in something like .44 Magnum or .50 AE.
P92 - Micro-scale accelerator. Powerful, carries lots of ammo, not that accurate.
Energy Pistol - Salveli weapon. Uses energy cells, hitscan and melts things.
Skorpion - Machine pistol. Inaccurate but rips through things.
S7 Tempest - Micro-scale accelerator PDW. More accurate and powerful than pistols.

SLOT 4 (main):
Bow - Usual bow and arrow. Weak and short-ranged, but arrows are plentiful.
Longbow - More powerful, slower bow. Same arrows.
Crossbow - Powerful but slow. Fires bolts instead.
Kalashnikov - Still around in the 23rd century. AK variant in 6.8SA (6.8SPC in real life)
S97 Avenger - Accelerator rifle. More powerful and accurate than AK, with a fancy sight.
Pulse Rifle - Salveli energy weapon. Powerful, limited accuracy and range.
R970 - Classic pump-action shotgun. Fires 12 gauge buckshot.
S99 Sabre - Magazine-fed, fully automatic military/police shotgun.

SLOT 5 (special):
RPG2100 - Russian anti-tank rocket. Unguided but powerful.
Starfire - Guided anti-air missile, used only in scripted events.
R700 - Classic bolt-action rifle. Fires 8.6SA (.338) rounds

AMMO TYPES:
arrow
bolt
9mm
.44
6.8SA
12ga
slug
cell
RPG
Starfire
8.6SA

If I'm missing anything, by all means point it out. Still not sure how I'm going to do all those - I do not want this to be a ripfest.

Setting: To give you an idea of what this world looks like, here's a section from the design document. Possibly minor spoilers, but probably not. Major spoilers for the original Ascension though.

---

The best way to describe the setting remains what I determined was the best way to describe the original Ascension to newcomers; with these quotes.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Arthur C. Clarke
“Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from technology.” - Larry Niven

(yes, I know the second one is misattributed)

Ascension and by extension Dysprosium really takes place in a setting within a setting. Either the pseudomagical land of Rynn or the science-fiction Milky Way could be a complete verse in its own right. However, the two are combined and interconnected. The ancestors of the elves on Rynn are the ancestors of the space elves (calling the Salveli space elves is like calling black people niggers but calling Rynn elves elves is generally okay). The mysterious race that brought humans to Rynn still occasionally visits. Both the Alliance (humans) and Salveli Republic have a presence on Rynn (after first contact, of course).

Specifically, this takes place in a region of Rynn tentatively named Egaloch. It's a mixture of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and French in a relatively small nation (say the size of Belgium, or perhaps Austria- I suck at scale). The land is not part of the overarching Empire (which is now in some serious hot water) although it is closely connected to it- thing intermarriage interconnected. It's a standard absolute monarchy, with a lovely feudal system to match. Technology is mid to late Middle Ages, sort of.

Times are changing. The introduction of enlightened ideas has sent shockwaves through the academic community, through the military command, and through politics. Dissent is spreading. People are beginning to question the status quo. Modern technology is being put to use alongside magic, legitimately obtained or otherwise. Egaloch is relatively backwards- but even still some things are sneaking in.

Some background: Play Ascension.

More background: I came up with this at midnight one day and it was originally a Skyrim fanfic.

More more background: Personally, I'm partial to the one with the big Windows logo in the middle.

[XCVG]

Building some maps. This is the castle prison level. Architecture is about 90% done, but that's the easy part. It's all the scripting to bring the level to life that's the challenge. I'm using some textures from Blasphemer- the eventual goal is to use only free or original textures.

---

Interior of your cell. Sparse, I know, but I felt any sprite-based thing would cheapen the effect, and I haven't made any appropriate ones yet anyway.


Staircase. The design is basically a wild guess on my part, since I don't know anything about medieval architecture.


Great Hall. Don't get excited, the doors don't open.

I haven't even started on the outside yet. I'm doing this Bethesda-style, using either separate maps or teleports to completely divorce the interior and exterior sections. The upside is that I don't have to worry about how interior and exterior architecture interact- I can do whatever with either. The downside, of course, is that you can't see or interact with the outside work from within a building. I know ZDoom isn't Creation, but I guess they are similarly limited in this regard.

[twinkieman93]

While I understand this is a story driven experience, it's kind of lame if you choose to kill her when she reveals her true alignment and then you get instagibbed. You should be able to actually kill her.

[XCVG]

While I understand this is a story driven experience, it's kind of lame if you choose to kill her when she reveals her true alignment and then you get instagibbed. You should be able to actually kill her.

In truth, I'm undecided on this. I'm seesawing internally on whether she should be killable, kills you, or something else, and whether it will apply to others or not. But it's not until quite far into the game, so I don't have to worry about it yet.

On a related note, I've kind of settled on four main Lieutenants, each with their own specialty and quest arc. They are Intelligence, Influence, Supplies, and Action- names definitely subject to change. Not sure where I want to slot Garcia into or if I want to keep her separate, since she is the first follower you get.

[XCVG]

I've mostly finished the architecture of the Prison levels. I still have to do all the scripting- that's the hard part- but I threw some monsters in and made it into a playable wad as a bit of a teaser.

---

You can download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/y2bdm ... astle1.zip

[Sgt. Shivers]

Those jail stages pretty cool! I like the battle with the cyber demon.

[XCVG]

I've added a showcase section, although there's not much to put in it right now. There's also a new dev build. JAIL01 and JAIL02 aren't accessible conventionally, you have to use console commands. They're basically the same as the castle01.wad versions, but without monsters.

[XCVG]

First draft of the design document is up. You can view it here. Warning: Serious spoilers. If you want to avoid spoilers, here are some (mostly) spoiler-free excerpts.

---

The best way to describe the setting remains what I determined was the best way to describe the original Ascension to newcomers; with these quotes.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Arthur C. Clarke
“Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from technology.” - Larry Niven

(yes, I know the second one is misattributed)

Ascension and by extension Dysprosium really takes place in a setting within a setting. Either the pseudomagical land of Rynn or the science-fiction Milky Way could be a complete verse in its own right. However, the two are combined and interconnected. The ancestors of the elves on Rynn are the ancestors of the space elves (calling the Salveli space elves is like calling black people niggers but calling Rynn elves elves is generally okay). The mysterious race that brought humans to Rynn still occasionally visits. Both the Alliance (humans) and Salveli Republic have a presence on Rynn (after first contact, of course).

Specifically, this takes place in a region of Rynn tentatively named Egaloch. It's a mixture of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and French in a relatively small nation (say the size of Belgium, or perhaps Austria- I suck at scale). The land is not part of the overarching Empire (which is now in some serious hot water) although it is closely connected to it- thing intermarriage interconnected. It's a standard absolute monarchy, with a lovely feudal system to match. Technology is mid to late Middle Ages, sort of.

Times are changing. The introduction of enlightened ideas has sent shockwaves through the academic community, through the military command, and through politics. Dissent is spreading. People are beginning to question the status quo. Modern technology is being put to use alongside magic, legitimately obtained or otherwise. Egaloch is relatively backwards- but even still some things are sneaking in.

Some background: Play Ascension.

More background: I came up with this at midnight one day and it was originally a Skyrim fanfic.

More more background: Personally, I'm partial to the one with the big Windows logo in the middle.

3.1 Locations

Cachot
The prison castle where you were held.

Lasalz
A village in the eastern part of Egaloch where your first hideout is.

Lochlorraine
The capital of Egaloch.

---

The Avenger – Dagfinir Birgfelc {follower} {Lieutenant: Action}
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Height: 6'
Weight: 240lbs
Build: powerful
Race: human: Skad
Origin: Skarval
Eyes: blue
Hair: blonde
Equipment: greatsword, bow (only if gameplay demands), leather/metal armor
Large, powerful man hell-bent on revenge. An ethnic Skad, his family moved to Egaloch during his childhood. His brother Nels was killed by knights when their family refused to pay their tithe to the Kingdom when he was 21. As a result, he personally holds the King responsible and has wanted him dead for the last several years. There will be a situation where he wants to kill at the expense of the Revolution and you will have to talk him down. Equipped with a two-handed sword and metal armor, Dagfinir is the toughest and most powerful of your followers (except for Garcia).

The Rogue - “Shadow” {follower} {Lieutenant: Intelligence}
Age: ?
Gender: probably male
Height: ~5'6”
Weight: ?
Build: slender
Race: human/?
Origin: ?
Eyes: dark
Hair: dark
Equipment: punch daggers, crossbow or laser pistol, leather armor
Secretive thief type. You don't know much about him, although you get a little bit of info after completing his loyalty mission. Steals secrets, treasures, and occasionally pulls off an assassination- any work is good. Intelligent but secretive and borderline paranoid, hides under dark hood. Decent fighter with punch daggers and crossbow.

The Elf - Viriila D'asal {follower} {Lieutenant: Popularity}
Age: 21
Gender: Female (probably)
Height: 5'11”
Weight: 110lbs
Build: slight
Race: Vel/Anril
Origin: Vandermere
Eyes: green
Hair: grey/white
Equipment: magic, dagger, light armor
An elf from the aristocratic D'asal family of western Vandermere. Rebellious as a teenager, she left home to seek adventure, eventually landing in Egaloch. With her aristocratic background, physical attractiveness, linguistic skills, an a knack for analyzing people, her role is to convince others of your cause. Which she's willing to do, because it's something interesting and different. However, her family is still trying to bring her home. Viriila is capable of Force Magic and Elemental Magic, though she has not mastered Dark Magic. She also carries an elaborate dagger from her family, and wears light but protective (and expensive) elven armor.

The Trader - Hadrae Quintis Antonis {follower} {Lieutenant: Materiel}
Age: 39
Gender: male
Height: 5'6”
Weight: 200lbs
Build: obese
Race: Altiin
Origin: Remarius
Eyes: brown
Hair: balding
Equipment: revolver, linen armor
Trader type. A reasonably successful trader in Remarius, Hadrae came to Egaloch to make his fortune, but was robbed and left without his goods. Unable to return to Remarius, he continued trying various unsuccessful ventures in Egaloch, some more legal than others. Hopes that you'll repeal some of the laws that made it impossible for him to make money- and wants a hefty bonus. Equipped with an Earth-built revolver and very light (if any) armor, the worst combatant of your followers.

---

These missions are issued by Garcia, who has a stack of dossiers. Each one unlocks a quest/story arc associated with the character. All recruitment mission are fairly simple, in contrast to, say, Mass Effect 2, where they are very complicated.

Recruit the Avenger: Garcia mentions that there's someone more pissed off at the King than you are, someone who is willing to do your dirty work. She's tracked him to a pub in a small village. When you get there, he's gone, but someone tells you where he went. He's staying at an inn in the neighbouring village, and you can recruit him there. As long as you're going after the King and his knights, he's willing to join you. Unlocks the Action quest arc.

Recruit the Rogue: Garcia hands you a dossier, which is oddly almost blank. She tells you that this person is a thief- a stealer of secrets, secrets that you could use. She had no idea where he is, unfortunately, but knows where a potential target is- there is a conference of mages in a nearby village, something Shadow would be very eager to listen in on. You manage to catch the thief on his way out, and convince him to join, “just for the challenge”. Unlocks the Intelligence quest arc.

Recruit the Trader: Garcia points out that you're going to need supplies, or more specifically, someone who can get what you need. The man you're looking for is an unscrupulous Remarian trader, who she has tracked to the coastal village of *. The mission is basically making him an offer, and though you can get a better deal if you know what to do, it doesn't significantly affect the game. Unlocks the Materiel quest arc.

Recruit the Elf: This mission is different. After recruiting two other Lieutenants, she comes to you, wanting to join your group. You can accept her right away, or reject her, in which case Garcia will intervene. They have a short conversation in a strange language, and Garcia points out that she could be useful. You agree to give her a shot. Unlocks the Popularity quest arc.

---

7.1. Total Conversion
For the time being, Dysprosium is being built as a Doom mod, against DOOM2.WAD. Very soon it will shift to a Freedoom base, with the eventual goal of being built into its own IWAD (or IPK3 since that's what all the cool kids use nowadays).

7.2. Development Tools
SLADE and (GZ)Doom Builder all the way. This isn't 1994. Also there's some Notepad++, Photoshop, WinFF, and Audacity mixed in. I remember building levels for Legacy with DeePsea and thought it was cool- no wait, even then I thought it sucked. My heart goes out to you old-timers who hacked around with DEU and DeHackEd. Yes, I'm not old.

7.3. Engine
It should be pretty obvious that I'm using ZDoom, or more specifically GZDoom. It should (mostly) work with the former but I have no plans to officially support it. My internal logic is something like this: Naturally the best choice would be RPG Maker for someone with my (lack of) skill set so I immediately broke out SLADE and Doom Builder and got to work. My friends say that I shouldn't use DOOM because it's an old engine. I direct them to the last GZDoom SVN (Git, now) commit date.

7.4. Sprites
Gonna need custom companion sprites for sure. Strife edits would work for villagers but I am unsure of the legality of it. Ditto Hexen for some of the conventional medieval types. Going to need to get some elves- very similar to Elder Scrolls elves in appearance- was Daggerfall sprite based? Weapons I can probably get some of them, but will have to make others. Ideally, though, I want everything original and properly free, not a ripfest.

I suck at anything artistic.

7.5. Textures
Similar situation as with the sprites, but not as bad because more general or less edited ones will work. Mostly, I'll be pulling from Freedoom and Blasphemer, which are both BSD licenced and free to use.

7.6. Music
Mixture of royalty-free tracks (Incompetech has lots of good ones) and custom music. Really only the title theme, credits theme and maybe menu theme need to be custom, and mostly similar to boot. I know the sort of theme I want, I can actually hum most of it pretty well, but I haven't a clue on how to actually make it into usable music. All will be OGG or MP3- no MIDIs here because consistency.

[XCVG]

Drew some really bad concept art.

Slot 2 Weapons: http://imageshack.com/scaled/large/843/5hov.png
Slot 3 Weapons (real): http://imageshack.us/a/img594/1272/9iz7.png
Slot 3 Weapons (drawn): http://imageshack.us/a/img844/7259/z3yc.png

I hate the designs of all the swords, basically. The longsword and normal sword are too plain, the mithril sword and Force Sword are oddly proportioned. The P92 and energy pistol I'm reasonably happy with. The S7 Tempest I'm not; it looks like someone tried to draw an MP7 but failed at it.

I am not looking forward to trying to draw the characters.

[XCVG]

Demonstration video is now up.



There's not much to see at this point. The demonstration map works, showing off some of the functionality in the earliest stages of implementation, the prologue sequence is ugly but playable, and a few maps are in, but incomplete and empty.

On a side note, I've been trying to figure out how to do the overworld without introducing ridiculous slowdowns or running into hard limits. I plan on dividing Egaloch into regions or districts, with several fixed border checkpoints to cross between them. I'm not sure how it will work out story-wise, but gameplay-wise it also adds a sense of progression as more regions are unlocked. Thoughts?

[XCVG]

I know it probably seems like I haven't been doing anything, but rest assured Ascension Revolution is still being worked on. I've got the followers in now, and they mostly work, although they are of course missing proper sprites.



I wanted to offer more control over followers, but unfortunately my script-fu is far too weak for that. I can't even figure out how to make followers revivable. I wanted to do it like Saints Row did- move next to them and help them up. Now, I'm not sure if I want to make them invulnerable (kind of unbalanced) or provide either an inventory item or go back to your headquarters to get your followers back. I'm not happy with either of the latter solutions- the first isn't lore friendly and the second is kind of lame gameplay wise. But on the other hand, invulnerable followers would be ludicrously strong.

And before you suggest it, permadeath for followers would present severe storyline issues.

EDIT: Short demonstration video.

[TheMightyHeracross]

[caleb]Ooh, this promises to be fun![/caleb]
EDIT: OK what is this?
There's some Hexen-looking guys mixed with railgun zombies that actually act like normal zombies, they all say "Stop" in an awkward voice on sight, the Hexen guy makes a strange yell on death and has Strife pain sounds, the Zombie falls down, then explodes into gibs on death, the mod doesn't seem to want to make up its mind whether it is medieval or modern, and I got killed during one of the cutscenes.
I really don't understand this mod.

[XCVG]

[caleb]Ooh, this promises to be fun![/caleb]
EDIT: OK what is this?
There's some Hexen-looking guys mixed with railgun zombies that actually act like normal zombies, they all say "Stop" in an awkward voice on sight, the Hexen guy makes a strange yell on death and has Strife pain sounds, the Zombie falls down, then explodes into gibs on death, the mod doesn't seem to want to make up its mind whether it is medieval or modern, and I got killed during one of the cutscenes.
I really don't understand this mod.

Before you slam it, RTFM. Awkward sprites and sound effects are placeholders for eventual custom assets. In the earliest builds, those Hexen-looking guys were just Imps with a different attack, but I found them just too atrocious. Medieval or modern is actually explained in the lore- it *was* a nice medieval fantasy land before some asshole crashed their spaceship on it. Now it's a mess where new and old ways of thinking are clashing and futuristic technology exists alongside ancient tech... and magic.

Getting killed during the cutscenes, THAT is odd. Could you explain that in more detail? Exactly which cutscene, circumstances, what engine and IWAD you're using, that sort of thing?