Frequency: NOW WITH AWESOME TITLE THEME

[Ryuzaki]

This looks awesome! Can't wait for the demo.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

Deliciously original!
I'm very much liking this little game of yours, some of your concepts are mind blowing!
The one thing that bugs me the most, however, is the whole 'Instruments turn into weapons" thing-it just doesn't seem to fit. For example, you say that your meant to be 'silencing' your opponents rather than killing them which makes a lot more sense to me. Plus, for skills you are using riffs and such right? If your main attacks are slashing away at people's flesh then what the hell is a riff gonna do?
I'd much rather having instruments that emit deadly sound waves or somethin, but hey that's just my personal preference.

Other from that, really diggin this!
By the way, I'd like to see Kieth sprited next. I have a feeling he's gonna turn out to be my favourite character..

This is explained in-plot. Battle Instruments, Riffs, and armour strength is all fueled by Station Energy.

Imagine your music had a physical form, in the shape of a barrier around you. Now imagine someone else attacking you with a guitar, their sound drowning out yours. Your sound is diminished, and therefore your armour is diminished.

Now imagine your music being completely quashed by someone else's sound. Your Station Energy has dried up, meaning you can't do anything. You're silenced, and out of the battle. The game will explain this to you indirectly, as you get your battle instrument and your Station separately. One is useless without the other. Of course this does mean that someone with very little or no station alignment is prone to actual injury when fighting, but considering that everyone in Oratoria has musical ability to some degree, deaths from fighting are pretty rare. It takes active effort to have to make sure that someone has absolutely no Station protection, then actually kill them afterwards.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

Updating with the badass new official art for Airon by Farfallas.

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/2/aironzw9uk9.png[/img]

We're working hard on starting resource production for this project; but things won't realy get off the ground until we get a programmer. ;D

 

[Mirku]

Looks sweet, he's a little pale though  :tongue:
But I'm guessing it's supposed to be like that.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

In his original design, we couldn't decide on a skintone to give him, and I left it white. Although in his battle sprite there is a skin colour, it's kinda stuck with the large images. =P

 

[Fayte]

are you going to put goggles on your sprite?

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

The original design had goggles, and the first sprite I did had them too. I found it obscured things a little, but that's possibly because I implemented them poorly. I'll continue to experiment and find a way to make it work.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

Just a random character idea I had, and I thought I'd note it down before I forget.

Boss... Band?: The Metropolitan Brothers
The Metro Bros. are a band of 5 successful businessmen, maintaining a pretty popular chain of bars across Oratoria. Their father, Taupe Metropolitan, has recently fallen ill; and the heir to his legacy has yet to be determined. So there's more than a little bad blood between siblings, as they're all trying to prove to eachother who's the best buisnessman. They've all decided that entering the Wave Warrior market is a lucrative option, but they're all going about it in different ways...

Sangria Metropolitan
The oldest of the Metro Bros. He's decided to break into the Wave Warrior circuit by training to be one himself. If he can rise to the top, then the fame and fortune he'd aquire would cerainly sway his father! He's not too sure on what instrument would be best for him, though.

Cobalt Metropolitan
His deadly serious and cold attitude makes some of the other brothers a little apprehensive of him. His efficient and calculating nature has led him to become a Wave Warrior bounty hunter. By taking down some of the more infamous bad guys in Oratoria, the rewards generated would be substantial. Beneath his cool exterior, Cobalt hides a manic tenacity; and on more than one occasion, he's taken down a non-criminal Band with no mercy or remorse. People would try and correct him; but they've always been reluctant to for some reason...

Harlequin Metropolitan
He is, in a word, "Fabulous!". He has so much stylistic flair, it's rather overbearing. Ok, very overbearing. The upshot of this is he produces some amazing clothes that would surely give you a hefty boost in battle. He'd like nothing more than to sell his wears to someone who could beat down his brothers while wearing one. He'd fight them himself, but with the price he paid for his suit, there's no chance in hell he's getting it dirty.

Han Metropolitan
Out of all of them, Han seems to have the right idea. Instead of trying to capitalise on the music of others, Han is making his own sounds. He's opened a music store in a central location on the Digital side, offering remixes of popular riffs (ever wanted to use a riff, but it's not attuned to a Station you like, this guy might be able to accomodate your needs...), and a few of his own beats. He's at the mercy of Pirating, though. If he can't get a stable financial footing before all his riffs are pirated, he might go under...

Gamboge Metropolitan
The youngest of the Metro Bros. While originally rather babied by his older siblings, now there's an expensive legacy involved, Gamboge was unceremoniously dumped, and left to fend for himself. Previous attempts at entering the foray were swiftly blocked by his skilled superiors. If he has any hope of success; he's gonna need some help. Word is, he's a rather good Jazz musician.

 

[Perihelion]

This sounds really intriguing! Your premise is awesome and really original, and you have some great ideas. Instruments turning into weapons seems out of place to me, though, and sort of a step back towards the generic fantasy fare you've otherwise managed to avoid very nicely. The idea of weapons just doesn't really jive (pun intended) with using music as offense. If you wanted to just imply weapons with sound waves or notes or something in the attack animation, that'd be okay, but I'd revisit that if I were you.

Edit: Oh, I see you already addressed that. Still, implying the weapon is a possibility.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

My main issue with taking instruments as weapons too literally is well... have you tried hitting someone with a flute? Not much happens. Likewise trying to hit someone with a double bass; but for a somewhat different reason.

Having attacks done completely non-physically is possible, but it's a little boring (and the only beef I have with Magical Starsign. I like being the spellcaster as much as the next guy; but when you do nothing but, it gets boring); and it means anyone who's unarmed, or who doesn't own a Battle Instrument is massively screwed. And that's just not fair. D=

 

[ShadowFish]

This sounds jaw-droppingly awesome.  And the timing is great, considering the current popularity of rhythm games. 

I'd offer to help, but I work in VX  :down: 's too bad, because we might've been able to share tilesets (assuming I'm right in thinking this game is in a modern setting).  I can help with ideas?  If you want, you can PM me something that you've got writer's block with, and I can see if I come up with anything.  That, and it helps just to have people to bounce ideas off of.  :lol:

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

Haha, that's true enough.

Tileset assistance would be p. awesome, but you don't need to worry about that.
BUT CALIBRE AND WUMPI CAN SHARE TILESETS WITH ME, M I RITE =D

We recently got some equipment and battle scripts in the mix, along with a custom windowset. All 3 need tweaking, but we're making progress - so I'm happy.

 

[Perihelion]

My main issue with taking instruments as weapons too literally is well... have you tried hitting someone with a flute? Not much happens. Likewise trying to hit someone with a double bass; but for a somewhat different reason.

Having attacks done completely non-physically is possible, but it's a little boring (and the only beef I have with Magical Starsign. I like being the spellcaster as much as the next guy; but when you do nothing but, it gets boring); and it means anyone who's unarmed, or who doesn't own a Battle Instrument is massively screwed. And that's just not fair. D=

Well, are you going to be able to have your battle sprites actually come forward and hit the enemy? If not, I think ranged attacks look better than swinging a sword and it somehow hitting the guy halfway across the screen, and you can still animate the "manifestation" next to the enemy as a sword and have it make sense. I think it'd be more natural-looking rather than boring. I'm envisioning this as sideview battlers, just fyi; it doesn't matter too much if you're using the default. Except I think hitting them with notes or waves or whatever is more interesting than a generic sword slash. More work for you, though. Speaking of that, either way you go, it'd be cool if you saw notes or waves or something coming off of the blow somehow. Like an explosion on the enemy, or maybe like you'd animate blood, except it's music stuff instead. I mean, the main concern I have with this is you having this awesome, unique weapon idea and then turning it into generic fantasy content. If you DO make them weapons, make sure you spice them up enough to keep the game's flavor.

Also, if you need resources, I have a few modern tilesets I've scrounged up from around the Internet in my endless search for SF material. I have no idea where most of it comes from, and I make no promises that it matches at all, but I'll be happy to throw some of it your way if you're interested. Well, once I get done with this 1000-word essay that's due in three hours and determines whether I'll have to take a writing class in the fall and which I have not started. Oh god, do they have a Procrastinators Anonymous, and if so, where do I sign up?! Maybe I should turn off the Internet!

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

I'm using that Animate Battlers script that's popular right now (It's not completely working, but that's a different matter entirely), so yes the characters will move in close for short-range attacks. Music-esque special effects is more or less a given.

As for resources, I was kinda kidding there - I'll try and have the majority of art done in-house. I'm currently using a method of scanning stuff in and scaling it down, which works really well.

 

[ShadowFish]

As for resources, I was kinda kidding there - I'll try and have the majority of art done in-house. I'm currently using a method of scanning stuff in and scaling it down, which works really well.

I'm doing this myself.  You get much better-looking things than drawing from scratch, though they usually need some touch-up.  The only problem I've had with this method is that sometimes my perspective is weird.

I also tend to agree with Viridian Moon - the fantasy style weapons seem a little out of place.  I don't have much to suggest in their place, but I personally think using notes or waves would be fine.  I think you mentioned something along the lines of it being more satisfying to actually go up and hit people earlier.  Personally, I don't find that to be true.  Additionally, seeing that you have to suspend belief to play the game in the first place, it would be fine to have the characters physically hit the enemies with their weapons.  I don't know if you've played Earthbound, but that used ridiculous weapons (e.g. yo-yo) to good effect.

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

I don't know if you've played Earthbound, but that used ridiculous weapons (e.g. yo-yo) to good effect.

"Enemy: Tricksta
Not everyone in Oratoria wields an instrument as a weapon - some use even stranger items. Take the Tricksta, for example; who abuses and ensares his foes with a razor-edged Yo-yo. He lacks a Station (He doesn't play an instrument, but his musical preferences give him some slight resistances), but that doesn't make him a Pushover by any means. A well-aimed shot can incapacitate a Band Member easily.
Station: N/A (Slight resistance to Dance)
Weapon (Not Instrument, hurr): 'Bleedin' Edge' Yo-yo"

Nope, never played Earthbound in my life. :V I said it's a more varied experience to have both long-and short range attacks; nothing about how satisfying...

 

[Tachiba]

Wow, this is going to be one kick-ass game!  I thought once of making a music game.  But, I thought it would crash and burn(didnt think it would work.).  Cant wait to see the final release.  I dont know if this has been asked, but is this going to be free or commercial?

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

Free. I rage when I have to pay for a commercial indie game, I don't want you guys to feel the same way.

 

[Tachiba]

Oh, thank you.  There IS a Lord in Heaven!

 

[GrooveMan.exe]

lawl