Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles

Started by Shining Riku, August 28, 2008, 06:02:50 pm

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Shining Riku

August 28, 2008, 06:02:50 pm Last Edit: April 29, 2009, 12:20:41 pm by Shining Riku
EDIT: After making so many changes and getting used to the ins and outs of working on this forum, I figured this post needed a complete overhaul. Some of the base info here like the background story will be left unchanged, but as I fix this I'll add to the credits, the snapshots, and basically update anything that needs to be done.

I'm trying to make this game a good one, so any help would be appreciated. The help I need the most is for you, the reader, to just test the game and tell me if it works. For those of you that have played this game in its early stages, thanks for doing that, and sorry I subjugated you to such pain.

I have updated many things in-game, but I still have a ways to go. I have to apologize in advance for my shoddy spriting skills, and I hope they don't annoy you too much. Most of the enemies you will see in battle are using placeholding sprites, which will stay there until I either get a lot better at spriting, or somebody helps me out with that. Chances are i'll end up using more of the RTP resources than I want to, and that will limit this game's originality. :P

Oh well. It's too soon to cry yet, so let's just see how this goes!

Background Story
Spoiler: ShowHide
Centuries ago, there was a Golden Age. A grand city of great majesty and beauty spread out on a plain below the view of a crystal the size of a mountain. This was the city of Vellenge, a city more beautiful than any other. Four races of people lived there in harmony, making the best of their prosperity. There were the peaceful, gentle Clavats, the proud warrior Lilties, the wise Yukes, and the athletic Selkies. Sadly, it was not to be.

Peace was shattered the day astronomers discovered a great meteor in the sky, headed right for their planet. The meteor impacted the crystal and destroyed it in a horrific explosion, and leveled the city in moments. The fragments of the Great Crystal were scattered to the horizon, and the people who survived by fleeing the city wandered without a place to call home. They wandered as nomads for many years, looking for places to live out the rest of life quietly. Danger escalated as the meteor that destroyed their home bled out a foul cloud of evil across the land.

The cloud was named Miasma. It took many lives as it washed over the land, and the people fled from it and the monsters it brought into the world. They then came across shards of the great crystal. The crystal's brilliance held the fould cloud of death at bay, and finally the people had a safe place to call home. Over time, the crystals faded, and the people sent out caravans to search for a cure. The soldiers they sent came back with a chalice of glowing water, something they chose to name Myrrh. The myrrh restored power to their crystals, and thus the Crystal Caravans were born.


Main Story
Spoiler: ShowHide
One day, many millenia after the meteor was forgotten in the darkness, Ichiro, Grandson of the village elder of Tipa, encounters a band of Goblins while exploring the nearby forests. He runs ahead to warn his village of their plans to raid, and bands together with his friends to fight back the menace. He and his friends are the village's new crystal caravan, and after they rescue their hometown, they set out to gather Myrrh to keep their village alive.

Ichiro and friends encounter many new allies and enemies as they journey, and after their first year they come back to find their home razzed to the ground by monsters. Now, with no village to rescue, Ichiro sets off to solve the mystery of their dark world and bring hope back to everybody as a sinister shadow works towards his plan for bringing the world to ruin, something he has not been able to do for centuries.

But can he overcome the haze that threatens to swallow life? Is he, the Chosen one of the Princess of Light, enough to vanquish an evil that has festered in one of the darkest craters for millenia? Or does this world know no hope?


Characters
Ichiro
Spoiler: ShowHide

Ichiro is the story's main hero. He believes in true justice, and once he sets his mind to a task he never gives up. He tends to be oblivious to the deeper feelings of the people around him but he does his best to stay on the best of terms with his friends.

Asuka
Spoiler: ShowHide

Asuka is the daughter of Tipa Village's resident tailor. She fights alongside her longtime friend Ichiro, who she secretly loves. She seems pushy and bossy sometimes, but she just tries to keep her airheaded friend on track.

Bishop
Spoiler: ShowHide

Bishop is a Yuke that is another of Ichiro's longtime friends. He is virtuous to a fault and speaks with a noble politeness. His research in light magic has given him the ability to heal allies and is only limited by his knowledge of the magic arts.

Engle
Spoiler: ShowHide

Engle is another villager that is signed onto the caravan's crew. Unlike most Lilties, he is very shy and withdrawn, which may explain why he wears a bucket for a helmet. He fights like a bear in battle, swinging around gigantic spears that only a warrior could hope to lift.


There are many other characters, which will be introduced in the story, of course! It'd be best to let you play the demo and see them for yourself.

Screenies
Here's a cache of snapshots for you to consider.
Example of battle
Spoiler: ShowHide

Random screenies from running around
Spoiler: ShowHide

Spoiler: ShowHide

Spoiler: ShowHide


Credits
-Scripts-
Blizzard's tons of ad-ons
Stormtronics CMS
and the Party Switcher!
Legacyblade's Legacy Class Change
Blizzard's R\O Job\skill system
Valcrist's Rice Field CBS (From Rpg Rpg Revolution)
That about sums up the scripts. Thank you, Blizzard, for such good scripts! These are awesome!

Um...Let's see...
Square Enix and Nintendo for the original game
Creative Uncut for the heroe's battler pics.
Enterbrain for the things that came with RPG maker XP,
Square Enix for the FFX music I used,
Enterbrain again for the scarce amount of RPG maker VX graphics I used,
Me for the custom drawn monsters and bosses, bleah....
and Elemental Temple for the Crystal Chronicles main menu theme.
and unknown people for the FF1, 2, and Golden Sun battle music. (I got those out of a resource, and there wasn't any info on the composers. Love ya, whoever made this stuff!)

This list will be updated as the project progresses.

And now for your lurvely demo!

Demo
http://www.sendspace.com/file/j2caou
I updated the demo. I fixed a few cutscenes, adjusted a few weapons, adjusted a few characters, and adjusted prices of a few items and also fixed the Mine of Cathuriges Dungeon, which I stupidly forgot to put an entrance on, lol!

When I release the final version, i'll touch up the graphics a bit. The demo has at least three hours of play time, and it's only an appetizier in comparison to the final version! Let me know if you encounter any odd errors or awkward scenes. I'd like to fix them.

As far as a crew goes, this is a one man project. I've done all of this myself, not including the graphics and music i've had to import and all of that. Comments, criticism (As long as it's not too flamey, lol), and advice is much welcome! Please, enjoy. (If you want to use some of the graphics in the game, in other words the pics I drew, heck, help yourself. I don't own them. Credit would be nice....but is not necessary.)

EDIT: This is due another update. I've made huge changes (Removing MOST of that annoying bright stuff from the battler pics for example.)
I incorporated Legacyblade's class change script along with Blizz's R\O job skill system to create classes with unique sprites and dynamic stat changes, and I'm also using a CBS called Rice Field CBS. It's a lot like the battle system on FFX, and it makes excellent use of the class sprites since it uses the actor's character graphic. Note that these graphic changes don't actually change the appearance of the character's Status screen. Those battler sprites are just used for the status screen now.

I will update my information here soon to show my new resources and the new scripts I'm using, but since I am on a different computer that will happen a little later. The screenies will also be updated, and I will provide a new demo which should contain about 5-10 hours of gameplay depending on whether you like to goof around or just rush through the story.

On a final note for this edit, I fixed some stuff at the beginning of the game, mostly just general event improvement including key cutscenes and the backbone for an intro opposed to just chucking the player right into the game. (Hope that makes ya feel better, Starrodkirby. :^_^':)

Here's to hoping that this turns epic!
-Shining Riku-


Starrodkirby86

I really suggest, from the screenshots, that you remove the white binding from the characters. Use anti-aliasing if you have Photoshop and give those heroes a smooth shape. This doesn't seem to be bad, but we'll just see how it comes up well. At this moment, this has Main Project potential, but it's all on the demo, which I'll be playing a bit. Expect a new post/edit soon.

What's osu!? It's a rhythm game. Thought I should have a signature with a working rank. ;P It's now clickable!
Still Aqua's biggest fan (Or am I?).




Aqua

From the look of the screenshots, those custom battlers and sprites really don't have shading.

I'm guessing that you're using Paint?

Those crooked circles and white halos are very distracting for me.

If you don't have Photoshop, I could remove the white halo from the character battlers for you.

(And don't use anti-aliasing for the magic wand, Star.  Raise the tolerance instead)

Starrodkirby86

Fine, so I brain-farted. >_> Big deal.

So I decided to play a bit of it. I have to say, there are a lot of traits signifying this as...for example, one of the first games you made, or something. I suggest you should encrypt the game as well, that is, if you want. Other than that, the game is definitely long enough and fits many of the conditions. Just make sure you build on more of this and make it a spectacular work of art, at this rate, it's not "truly" a remake, you know? But that's okay, an RMXP adaption of Chronicles is still a remake, I suppose.

What's osu!? It's a rhythm game. Thought I should have a signature with a working rank. ;P It's now clickable!
Still Aqua's biggest fan (Or am I?).




Shining Riku

August 28, 2008, 06:30:50 pm #4 Last Edit: August 28, 2008, 06:34:16 pm by Shining Riku
Yep, this is my first game. :(

I know i'm gonna have to work on this better, but my RPG maker XP knowledge only grows. Trust me, i'm working on making this as much of a work of art as possible!

If that doesn't work, uh, shoot me. I may just be starting, but I don't want to do a bad job. :^_^':

Let me know what you think about it as ya go along. I was trying to make this hard, even just on Normal mode, or the 1st Cycle as I named it. (I shudder to think of the 3rd Cycle. :urgh:)

Starrodkirby86

Dude, those Paint/GIMP-like enemy battlers, if they are custom made, aren't bad looking at all. They just need some good shading and tone. You can improve on this as you start building off. It's not a bad thing that this is your first game, it's just that it's very easy to point that out...D:


Good luck, and I moved the topic, ;).

What's osu!? It's a rhythm game. Thought I should have a signature with a working rank. ;P It's now clickable!
Still Aqua's biggest fan (Or am I?).




Shining Riku

Thanks, Starrodkirby!  :up:
Yeah....lol! I'm playing through this again for the heck of it, and i'm finding all
kinds of stupid mistakes! (Then there's some issues with cutscenes and stuff, oh well.)

I'll notify everybody when I update the demo again, and thanks for moving the topic!
Sweetness! :D

Vell


Shining Riku

August 29, 2008, 10:39:42 am #8 Last Edit: October 21, 2008, 02:43:29 pm by Shining Riku
I updated the demo link, so look back at the first post for the lowdown on what I fixed.

Sorry, people, no graphics fixing yet. I'm kinda more concerned about it working properly, I hope ya understand. :^_^':

Still, let me know if something odd or weird happens. I'll keep updating the demo as people inform me of oddities and such. As an end note to this post, after I fixed all of my stupid errors and stuff, I got about 5 hours of playtime out of this demo. That third dungeon will run your characters completely raw in a matter of seconds if you're not careful! :urgh:

EDIT: Another update. Finished fixing awkward scenes....(Still may be a few of those...:urgh:) Included bonus content as a treat, 'cause it's just a demo, then i repaired a few of my maps so that you wouldn't get stuck. I hope people like this game........

ANOTHER EDIT: Looks like nobody's really interested...Oh well. I'm still working on this game if anybody still wants to play it. I'm getting a lot better at mapping areas and i'm also getting better at handling switches and events for creating cutscenes. I know i'm just starting, but I wish you people would have at least a little bit of faith in me. >_>

Still slogging along. Finished the fourth dungeon out of many, and the game has at least 6 hours of gameplay now. Aiming for 30+ if anybody wants to know. Preferably 40 hours. I'm using dial-up connection now instead of cable internet 'cause my computer's super stupid, so I won't be able to update my demo until after I get it fixed. I REALLY need beta testers!

Shining Riku

 :argh: I really don't think anybody's interested.

Can't some of you guys at least poke it with a stick!? :poke:

I may just be a noob, but doesn't every noob at least deserve a chance? I know i'm not awesome like Blizz, but please give me
at least one chance. If anybody wants to help me with this project, i've got a topic in the project recruitment section.

Seriously, I need testers...Please? :plz:

Blizzard

You should post a tester recruitment topic then.
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legacyblade

November 03, 2008, 06:39:50 pm #11 Last Edit: November 04, 2008, 11:36:14 am by legacyblade
I'd play it, if it didn't use the Front View battle system. I personally am a deep hater of that system, and only play blizz's game because of all the graphical niceties. I'd go with a side view system, there are quite a few good ones. (there was one that you didn't even have to make sideview battlers, it manipulated position of the weapon icon and the charset. It was made by Ccoa if I am correct.)

-edit, that sounded very harsh and critical. This is a lot better than most beginner games, and I think it shows some potential. I just loath the DBS, XD

Mightylink

Keep up the good work.

I have the original game but it was very disapointing, square totally ditched the traditional battle system and went action rpg, it really sucked.

I look forward to your remake, I hope you fix all the features square soft went wrong with.

Shining Riku

Well, if anybody's still reading this i'm still working on the game! Huzzah for persistence!

Thought I was dead, didn't you? Nope...Not in the slightest.
This post's purpose is to announce that I changed the battle system to something like FFX, if anybody is familiar with it.
Personally I like it a load better, and it is no longer DBS, or front view, or whatever. It looks a lot like the older FF games, like, say, V and VI!
Mwah ha ha. If I get any interest in it i'll post another demo featuring the new system, but not quite yet. I'm using a lot
of placeholding sprites, which will be fixed when I get off my lazy butt and actually sprite what i need!
(BTW...I'm not a great spriter. Yowch.)

......................................................It's hard working on this game by myself. If there's anybody here that has played FF: Crystal Chronicles and happens to be good at spriting, i'd love your help. I'm more of a plot-writer and director than anything, and I sure could use some help with sprites. If you're interested, visit my team recruiting topic in the appropriate section. Gosh, I sound cheesy.

Thanks for reading. I sure hope I don't disappoint anybody with my new changes.  :(

Starrodkirby86

Glad to see this game isn't dead yet.

It's interesting to see that you changed it into that similar system. I hope the game looks more visually appealing and beautiful this way. And more fun too...Well, good luck with spriting. Phasedscar made an excellent tutorial on how to sprite, check it out if you haven't yet. :3

What's osu!? It's a rhythm game. Thought I should have a signature with a working rank. ;P It's now clickable!
Still Aqua's biggest fan (Or am I?).




Shining Riku

I'm still working on this game. I have a few issues at the moment so I have to postpone this one til I get my computer fixed.

I was watching cartoons, and my computer got fried. It isn't...CRASHED, per se, but it's a cripple now! NOEZ! :'(

So after my poor little computer goes to the hospital and gets better, I should be back up and running. As far as I know the game doesn't have any fatal bugs that makes it crash, but I do have a few issues to kink out still. (I THINK the battle script i'm using interferes

Now for project updates! When I was still working on it I went back and refurbished a few of my older maps, redid some of the events, and overall generally improved the introduction. I still have a lot of work to do, but It's no big deal to me. I EAT GAMES FOR BREKERS!

Not really. I just hope the computer can get fixed soon. I'll be sure to tell you guys when I'm back up and running. Keep your fingers crossed for me, aye?
-Shining Riku-

Punn

Crap.. another FF fangame... good luck, and don't let this game go to shame with all the other FF fangames

Shining Riku

Bump-pada-BUMP!

Still working, but making huge progress. I Haven't worked much on the actual storyline and mapping but i'm making a load of changes to make the playing experience more enjoyable.

If you'd like to see the changes, check the bottom of the first post since I JUST updated it.

....And this is completely random but one of the main reasons I made this game is 'cause personally, while Crystal Chronicles could be played at the player's own pace, I found that the game could have had WAY more story elements to it. (There was no shortage of history to dig up.)

I figured: Inject CC with a good plot and some characters that the player can actually get attached to assuming they're good characters, and it already sounds better. :<_<:

...Yeah, and now I sound really stupid. To be honest, this is a total overhaul of the original CC game, not a remake. Not anymore.
I'm having a blast working on it, and I can only hope that other people enjoy playing it.