Quintessence - The Blighted Venom

[Reives]

Thanks very much for the detailed review, Calibre. I'll keep all those points in mind. I think for now, I'm going to take some time off and look over these 3 chapters before going onto the 4th. Spelling and grammar mistakes make me weep in shame, so I'll definitely have to look after those.

For the battle system, I think I'm going to stick with its basic structure for now and just improve upon it; for example making the controls more organized as Kemuri kindly suggested. I just uploaded v. 1.01 in place of 1.00 Chap 1-3, with some mapping and spelling fixes, as well as showing on the battle skill icons what control keys trigger each.


I think I'm going to work on a composition for the ending theme too, and make an ending credit video for it in place of current ending (the current intro credit video's credits are only the main credits). I have some ideas ready, and part of the music done. If I were to succeed, it should be better than the intro MV.


Edit: Oh and Zealex, here are a list of the pending names of the current semi-planned Chapters; they don't mean much but, *shrug*.

1. A Familiar Stranger
2. Past Acquaintance
3. Promise
4. Envy
5. Confrontation
6. Sinister
7. Revelation
8. Deja vu

That's about a bit over half the chapters of the whole series, I believe. Although, if I ever do actually finish the series in who knows how many decades, I do have a clear idea on the direction of the sequel (given that I don't end up incorporating those ideas into the first series to begin with). But of course, that's talking over my head since it's a long long way to go.

And as far as the story goes, I can say this; one of the reasons I like the show Elfen Lied very much is because it has some aspects in the story and certain character(s) that reminded me of Quintessence's later events.

 

[Lust Dragon]

Just finished download new chapter, i played Chapter One before and i really like what you done, especially battle scene. Will played next chapter soon :D

Agree with Calibre about face animation, its somehow wrong for me when see the animation.

Btw the time travel scene remind me for Dragon Knight 4

 

[Reives]

Thanks. Although, I'm sorry to say that I think I'll keep the face thingy; but I will definite restrain from overusing it in the future. I noticed too now that it came up way too often, especially in the later parts. Will have to edit those a bit.

What's Dragon Knight 4's time travel thing like? I tried to google its plot but didn't really find one.

 

[Lust Dragon]

Old PC game, the main character attack the bad guy and he lose all his friend and his lover, after that he been prisoned but he transfered back into past.
And now he accompany the younger version of himself.

This is the H-anime version

Spoiler

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b394/Lustdragon/elf_enter01.jpg[/IMG]

See the guy with mask, he is actually the kid with the sword.

 

[Reives]

Oh, so he actually transfers back as a different person and attempts to guide the older self? That's actually a pretty cool idea. :D

Mm'kay, I hope this isn't considered spam bump but it might help people struggling with the battle system to get a feel of what to do, as it is quite hard to get a hold of at first.

I recorded and uploaded a video of a battle with Q's CBS; but the recording process lagged the hell out of my comp and the video, so you'll just have to bear with the visual and audio lag. Just know that it doesn't lag like that during actual play at all. :|

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YinX3wA4f1w

I messed up a few times and used the AoE a little too much wasting skill points; but the general strategies should be evident. In real scenerios, it's best to avoid using the area of effect attack if possible and just kite with arrows; try to avoid getting hit at all. (But that was hard to do with recording lag )

Oh, and to make things easy, you can leave one enemy at the end of the battle and run around as your energy regenerate to full, then heal to full with Lunair before finishing the last guy off. That way you'll begin every battle with full hp and SP, as I haven't introduced items or levels yet.

Not spam, but still a double post. Use the handy edit button.
Peace,
Volrath

Volrath posted on my thread just above this line!!
[My bad.]

 

[Erichermit]

Wow, from what I see from screenshots, this looks positively AMAZING. I greatly respect your use of a fully event coded battle system as I too am about 75% through coding the even coded battle system for my next game. Nothing quite is satisfying (and flexible!) as something you completely made yourself, eh?

Do you have an estimate of when the 100% COMPLETE version of the game is? I would rather play the whole thing in a single sitting

 

[Reives]

Thanks. CBS eventers unite! *High Five*

As for the 100% complete version, I'm not sure we'll be able to live long enough to see it. :p But really, it's probably gonna take a while; and I wouldn't recommend waiting for it.

 

[Taylor]

Game Over takes you to the "true" Scene_Title, canceling out of the load screen returns to the battle then instantly game overs.

The battles are easier than they were in the CBS demo, but I'd find it easier if C/Space/Enter was for attacking and Z was used for main skills. That's what I'd use myself in a evented CBS. (I did a Evented CBS once actually, lagged horribly though. XB)

Loving this game still. Especially the darker shade of RTP.

 

[Reives]

Ah right, that true Scene_Title thing gives me a headache; I'll have to ask for some scripting help with making it just restarting the game sometimes. Glad you pointed it out, I almost forgot about it. :D

The battles are sorta easier than the CBS demo earlier, but that's probably because in the CBS the only real battle was vs. a boss, heheh. In Chapter 3, the hardest battle (for most I think) is probably the one where there are 4 large scorpions together. But it's basically just a dodge and run battle for that.

Thanks for the suggestions on the control keys; I'm still thinking about that. I've gotten several advices on how to reorganize them now, I'll have to test it out sometimes to decide.

And thanks for the feedback!

 

[Erichermit]

Thanks. CBS eventers unite! *High Five*

As for the 100% complete version, I'm not sure we'll be able to live long enough to see it. :p But really, it's probably gonna take a while; and I wouldn't recommend waiting for it.

=)

Well then, I suppose I had ought to just download it Chapter by Chapter or however you do it. Maybe I'll learn some mapping ideas from it :thumb: And best of all, im sure i'll have tons of fun! I'll give you my true opinion in a bit though.

Coincidentally, do you have an AIM or MSN?

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Finished watching Chapter two together today. Happy to say, this project continues to hold my interest. XD Still very interested in seeing more of the story.
I'll probably play chapter 3 tomorrow so I'll be able to comment on the battle system then.
Still some odd grammar moments. *debates replaying chapters 1 and 2 to try to be more specific on that*
Also a couple mapping passability errors. But I always forget them when playing this game, because the story sucks me in. XD

One thing I did notice is that in the song In the Steps of Sacred Land there's like...a windows error sound about 40 seconds in seconds in.

Other than that, keep up the good work! I'll be back tomorrow with my comments on the battle system! n.n

 

[Afro Samurai]

I just stopped in the ruins (Chapter 3) for now.
First of all congratulations, I'm sure you put a lot of effort on this project. And it is well paid, good work indeed. Before I forget, I got a bit away from the community, so I asked some users what was going on, one of them told me to download Quintessence, and I do not regret it. Every single byte of it.
The story is indeed catchy, I just didn't like one of its bit. The one Vikon is listening to the conversation in Kardian's place. It does in fact remind me of LOTR, where Sammy is listening to the conversation between Frodo and Gandalf, and then enrolls on the journey. Whereas in fact that is one thing you don't see in every game, but I would avoid it, don't get me wrong, it is well thought.There are very small grammar mistakes in some dialogs, if I can say so, but nothing that can make your project going down. I adore the atmosphere on some scenes, mainly the ones near the edge during the night. Truely powerful.
I haven't had the time to play chapter 3 untill the end, so I cannot comment on the battle system yet. But by tomorrow I think I'll have a different view on it.

Good stuff. Keep it up, and I wish this will be in the near future a complete game.

 

[CloudCorrupted]

Just played your demo and here are my comments

Positive: Good story and very captivating. Maps are in my opinion well done. Characters personalities are widely different but come together well. and last but not least you certainly leave me wanting to see what happens next. I love the interactive environment and harvesting. At first glance I was worried about path finding but the arrows helped out a great deal.

Negative: Very few mapping errors one thing I did notice was in one of the houses the bible on the desk (in the basement I believe) the desk is overlapping it. Also you should change it so the butterflies are passable insted of being on the same layer as the player I had a rough time getting through some of the woods. Just a note not a complaint near the end the woods are very dark and hard to get through maybe you can have the hero carry a lantern or torch of some sort. In my opinion that would also help in the realism of the game. Most people don't travel blind in the woods in the middle of the night. If you wish to keep the sneak aspect of the scene just have him put it out near the cut scene.

Keep up the good work my rating so far would be a 6.5 only because of the few map event issues and how hard it is to find your way around in the dark.

 

[showman]

I can't imagine this! Another amazing game!
What's up with this forum guys? It seems like all the best of the best is here and this game is no exeption.
If I want to play a great game they are all here on the first page of this forum. And a few a few pages down!
If all you guys *You (Reives)Volrath, real estate barrel?, The Man, Artbane, Chain's of fate, bla bla* got together and did a project you would all be rich.
OK. This game reminded me of watching a movie. That's a good thing. You really know how to tell a story and deliver your characters. What else can I really say? This games shines in almost every category. Sure, a couple errors but the games still in development. I can't wait to see this game to the end.
Thank you for a little of enjoyment.

 

[Ratty524]

Original music, Not-too-bad looking facemaker graphics, great screenshots that make me drool at their sight. I can smell the sexiness of this game already, when I get my speakers back I'll download.

 

[Reives]

@Erichermit
Sure, hope you enjoy it. I do have MSN, it's Kg_Reivier@Hotmail.com (What're the chances? Most of my usernames are Reivier/Reives-inflicted; and no, I named it after the character and not named the character after me; just so I can have a somewhat universal net-name. :p)

@Makio-Kuta
Hahah, I totally missed that MSN popping sound in that soundfile. I'll have to re-record it sometimes. :D Thanks for the heads up. And I uploaded a sample video for the battle system by the way, that might help with the learning curve as it's apparently pretty annoy to learn it.

@Afro Samurai
Heheh, someone pointed that LotR resemblance part pointed out too about 2 years ago back when it was still just a story. I do feel somewhat bitter about the resemblance, but I guess it's still a little different in the aspect that instead of joining the 'journey', Vikon takes over it completely and steers Reiv away from the said travel. I might do something about this in the future, probably as final tweaks before completion (probably a long time from now though).

Glad you enjoyed it though, and I'm rather flattered that someone mentioned the project.

@CloudCorrupted
Ah, that's a good idea with the lantern. Several people have noted that the night-play during the first chapter was too dark, and I lightened it up a bit for this release; but I guess that's still too much, heheh.

Oh by the way, all the butterflies are passable; the ones that you couldn't pass through are chicks (if you press action key on them, they'll squeal/whatever-that-chick-sound-is-called). And I don't think I'll fix that, since it'll be like stepping on them.

@showman
Thanks, glad you liked it! This forum does have a lot of amazing projects going, many of which inspired me much. Back when I was a lurker, I always looked up to those that you mentioned as what I wanted to be one day, heheh. I'm getting closer to that, I hope.

@Ratty524
Sure, thanks for yer' time then. Your project is coming together with noticable improvements when I checked it out a while ago, by the way. I'll comment on it in the near future.

 

[Ratty524]

Um, thanks! :D

 

[CloudCorrupted]

Oh my apologies, Yea I wouldn't make the chicks passable lol. But the darkness is probably no big deal for most people I just have a hard time focusing I suppose. But anyways great game thus far I cannot wait to see the new release.

 

[Reives]

Heheh, okay, thanks Cloud.

----------------------------------------------

Mm'kay, while fixing some stuff up, I've also somewhat started the 4th chapter, pending title 'Envy'. Just semi-finished composing a short simple little BGM, 'Matter of Time'. It's in the attachment if anyone wanna check it out and give a feedback.

I'm going to try to make a few more original BGMs every chapter just to have a fresh feel.

(Unfortunately, this is for Quintessence only due to the promised 100% original music thingy , sorry.)

 

[ArtBane]

Even though I am not the one assigned to review this game, I decided to play through it anyway. And I am glad I did. This game has a very unique feel to it right from the title screen. Speaking of the title screen, I was hoping since it was a map that there would be a seamless transition from selecting a new game to a scene on the map like in God of War II. That would of been real cool.

Quintessence is a very visually pleasing game with a lot of nice panoramas filling up most of the map backgrounds. The use of filters also added a unique look to your maps. Not much else to say in this department except that you really got a handle on the look for your game.

The story was a tad slow and got a lot more interesting once you went into Alden's history. I am usually not a big fan of faces made in the face maker program as they often look very generic, but the way you used it for different facial expressions actually added a lot of personality to your dialog. I also liked the way you blew up faces occasionally when you were focusing on one of the characters. That was a very unique story device.

The score for this game is real beautiful. I am amazed that it is all custom made. I think the music can get a little melodramatic at times though. But it is probably the best custom score I have heard in a RMXP game.

The battle system was very simple although I am sure it wasn't simple to make. It was easy to outsmart bad guys by laying traps or hiding behind objects and taking them out with arrows. Still it was fun which is important. It wasn't like a lot of games where the encounters felt like a hindrance. The battle opening scene had a nice catchy tune too that is still stuck in my head.

The one puzzle you had was real cool. I'll admit it did take me a little while to figure out. I wish there were maybe some secret treasures to find though by going a specific way. As it was there seemed to be only one right course to take despite the several different paths you could take. Still it was real good for your first puzzle of the game.

I will definitely be staying posted for the next episode.