Cry of the Fox, Development Blog

New blog over at Wordpress

2010-01-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

From this moment on this blog will not be updated, I have started a new more detailed blog
over at Wordpress, the reason is that Wordpress is not only easier to use but the blog looks more professional. Hopefully you guys understand and I can see you over there.

New Devblog

Cheers,
Sander

New screenshots!

2009-06-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

I'll be releasing a new demo soon. But for now enjoy these screenshots
showcasing some of the new features:

Cry of the Fox needs you!

2009-05-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well even though my team is awesome, I could use some extra recruits to help me handle the things I can't handle.

The Game
The project is called Cry of the Fox, it's a project being one year in production.
The genre is that of a classic "Epic Rpg" though the classic rules do not apply to this one.
Both horror and humor get a central place in this project, as does the psychology
and the morally greyness of characters.

The plot is full of twists and turns and based around viewpoints, one moment you're controlling
the soldier capturing a young man for stealing something, the other the young man is under your
control trying to escape.

For more information or questions you can always turn to the Development Topic.

The Current Team
I am quite proud of the team I already have, they are all very talented and nice people and it's
a pleasure to work with each and everyone of them.

Map-Reviewing: Woratana
Proofreader: Solistra
Storyline Advisor: Enelvon
Spriter: The InkFox
Musician: RoelfMik
Face Artist: GyroWolf
Artist: Crimson.Echo
Eventer: Professor Meow Meow
Frankenspriter: Sevith
Photoshop Artist: Hirashin (aka. Namashi)

The Jobopenings
Spriter

Someone who makes charactersets and edits to excisting characters from scratch or
with frankenspriting and recolours. Being able to make poses is a plus.

Scripter

Someone who helps me with the everyday scriptingquestions and problems as well as taking the lead
to think of interesting ideas to use the scripts for. Being able to script yourself is a plus.

Mapper

Mapping out areas based on charts I made or improving the maps I made.

Databaser

Someone who has great ideas for skills, items and monsters and helps me set up parameters.

What do you get in return?
You get:
-Acces to the Development Forum where all other members of the team are.
-The chance to work with a very enthosiastic and awesome team.
-To be able to test out your skills.

How to apply?
Post in the comments your application with a sample of your work and
your experience with rpg-making in general. Or if you
want to personally apply you can always send an e-mail to the following adres:
sanderf90@gmail.com

Questions?
if you have any questions concerning the openings or the project
feel free to post them here.

Happy B-day to ...???

2009-04-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Cotf is not dead people, not quite!
It's exactly celebrating it's first birthday.

Yay..
Party hats all around and a big thank you to:

Thank you Aërendyll
Thank you Aindra
Thank you AmberDragon
Thank you Antares
Thank you Atra
Thank you BigEd
Thank you Boogie-Knight
Thank you Closet
Thank you Crimson.Echo
Thank you Enelvon
Thank you Grandma Deb
Thank you Gyrowolf
Thank you Halik
Thank you Hirashin
Thank you Inkfox 2.0
Thank you Kav
Thank you KGC
Thank you Mack
Thank you Macy's Hero
Thank you Mithran
Thank you Mr. Anonymous
Thank you Pine
Thank you Prof. Meow Meow
Thank you Pyro
Thank you Roda/Moururi
Thank you RoelfMik
Thank you Scherzo
Thank you Sevith
Thank you Shurite
Thank you Silent Backstabber
Thank you Solistra
Thank you Soruve
Thank you Supergodjesus
Thank you Techie
Thank you TouchFuzzy
Thank you Twin Matrix
Thank you Weem
Thank you Woratana
Thank you ZPU

and probably many many more!

World Map Madness

2009-03-11T04:51:00.000-07:00

Hirashin our wonderful and ubernice, cool and very sympathic talented artist made for us this awesome, super icy cool and sizzling hot world map of Averta.

Character Spotlight: Marshal Lukas Xaver

2009-03-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a villain post out of this one, but I think his psychology
is complex enough to make him just a character, as he isn't the main villain (I'm
not even sure there will be a main villain though I have one now).

Name: Lukas Xaver
Age: 51
Appearance: Ginger hair, grey hairs scattered over it. Heavy built, muscular, an scar
covering his left eye.
Weapon of choice: Guardiansword
Talents: Strategist, weapon expert, leadership
Occupation: Marshal of the Askarin Guard
Hometown: Askarin.
History:
Born during the reign of the Duke Randolph. Lukas' father was a blacksmith, his mother was Colonel in service of the Guard. His mother Landel Verta soon became a symbol for many young women. His father, Lexan Xaver was concidered a weakling, someone that couldn't handle his wife. At the academy this idea also filled the head of the young Lukas.

He soon joined the Guard to prove to his dad not all men are weak, when his mother was killed during a skirmish with some rebel mages his father and him alienated from eachother. Lukas was now a Sergeant and guiding a young Corporal called Trevor. They became friends and then the civil war came. During the attack on Askarin a mage tried to burn the eyes of Xaver, this resulted in a horrid scar covering his left eye. After this attack he fled from the battlefield and hid. This was leaked in the complete guard and for years Xaver was seen as a coward, the Marshal had died during this attack and due to his status of a coward it was Trevor who became the new Marshal. At the day of his retirement, a very soon retirement Xaver was appointed his succesor. He had a hard time coping with the idea of being second. When Toren Iscaroth, son of Trevor became Sergeant way too soon he had it very difficult to hide his emotions.

Xaver is married with Margret Melase and they have a daughter Annie, Annie is very popular with young men but Lukas protects her like a treasure. Trevor's idea to let Annie marry Toren made him furious.

Teaser #2

2009-02-08T07:59:00.000-08:00

Teaser #2
Aargh! Where is the text?
Ah.. you got the font problem people noted to me.. just download the Font Fix.
Place the font in C:/windows/fonts

Why don't the faces fit the charsets?
The faces are placeholder, I have a faceset artist (Gyrowolf aka D-Pad) working on the faces.
You can see two custom faces in action in Teaser #2

Why are most custom charsets generated?
My spriter The InkFox and my frankenspriter are working to make
some sprites more custom, but a lot of the sprites in the game
will stay generated.

Why don't you have a custom titlescreen?
I will, but it's Work In Progress at the moment.

Why don't you have gameplay in the demo.
I'm trying to get all the gameplay systems on one line
and through that create a good experience. I hope I can release
a tech demo very soon.

Your game is crappy... why does it suck so much?
What exactly is crappy about it? Tell me so I can improve that.

I just released this small tibbit, not much impressive, it's basically to show off the custom faces I'll be using for my game.

Villain Portret #1: The Dandy

2009-01-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

Name: Daniel Everhard
Age: 57
Appearance: Black hair, here and there a grey hair, bushy eyebrows, small brown eyes.
A very expensive suit that earned him the dandy nick name but is now torn and dirty, a belt of small daggers. A dusty triangle hat.
Weapon of choice: A dagger in quick combat, in duels a rapier
Talents: Knows his way around the seas, great leadership, a true strategist.
Occupation: Retired commodore of Demenor
Hometown: used to be Kalego, now it's here and there, whereever his ship lies anchor.
History:
Daniel became sailor on a ship during his young age, his father was a rich merchant earning his
money from the trade with Askarin. When Daniel was a sailor he saw a lot of the world
but never forgot his home, in service of the Duke of Topas he was made commodore of
the Kalegan Sea Fleet, a duty he furfilled for many years until the civil war broke loose.
He took the side of Demenor and was the person after the ships of Demenor taking the Askarin Harbour hostage. When finally Topas admitted defeat he returned home and became a hero.
Thinking he could spend the rest of his life free from any lord, he couldn't have been more wrong. He was packed with juwels and gold and a mansion on the coast of Jaragotta, an island in not far from Demenor. But he was bored, he didn't have the right to sail free anymore, neither did he have a ship. One day he stole a ship that was harboured in front of the coast,
he left the juwels and gold for the owner and started sailing his own way. But the Demenorians didn't let this happen just like this! They were angered and marked him a pirate. Captaining a stolen ship, or sailing without license is piracy. He was furious and outran many ocassions with the Demenorian Navy. He began sabotaging the trade between Demenor and the continent Pharion. When the navy and the merchants started fighting back so did he, and soon he forgot his glorious past and became what they called him: "A pirate"..

New logo, new artist

2009-01-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

As you can see the COTF logo got a little pimped!
This was all possible thanks to this talented man:
Hirashin aka Namashi, you can visit his website here.

Wanderers

2009-01-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

History
The Wanderers are a group of nomads, they
travel from city to city. They are one of the few people that
do not believe in the Avertian Religion, according to their fate the Gods
of Averta are evil and have banished the real Gods from The Halls to the Underworld, at Ragnarrok they will finaly take their spot back as true Gods of Averta.

The Wanderers first popped up in the far west of Ryo, in the Kerren dessert,
they lived by the Stear River and had their own tribemaster Razam,
as life continued around the delta of the Stear, Razam gathered his people
and announced he would soon die and be reïncarnated in his first born son.
Age after age a new Razam would take his place as economic, cultural and religious
leader.

But soon the Emperor of Ryo, Druk the fourth, demanded immediatly that the tribe of Razam would convert themselves or leave. Some converted, but Razam and thousands of faithful followers left the dessert and started to wander around Averta.

They didn't find a home anywhere, authorities of other countries refused to listen and they were banned from almost any land. Soon they began to travel from place to place staying out of authority's way and trying to stay long enough to survive. The constant traveling made them popular with the people living outside the civil world, the ex-prisoners, fugitives, orphans, even mages fleeing from the Inquisition sought some form of protection with them.

Wanderers soon became ignored by major authorities, under the rule of, "they leave me alone, I leave them alone" but the stealing and illegal hunting still aggrivates the public.

Falling part of the Razam Culture
As the reincarnations of Razam led the people from place to place, soon a problem occured,
Razam had become the father of an identical twin, as it was unterminable which child was born the first, they both claimed to be the reïncarnation of their father, some people followed one of the twins, others followed other influenceable people and soon the once great Razam People had falled apart.

The Guards

2009-01-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Provinces of Topas
Ages before there was talk of a civil war or even a unified Topas, each city had their
own kind of army. When finally the cities of Topas united under one banner
the country was devided into several provinces:

The Island of Demenor
Askarin and surroundings
Port Jazema and Ortaliaz Harbour
The Ramas Vally
The Island of Harim
Capitol Zone (Partino and surroundings)

Each province got to keep their own flag, their own smaller capitol and a governer
and ofcourse their own Guard.

Ranks of the Guard
RECRUIT
The recruit is the lowest rank of the Guard, they have to go through a period of 6 months of trial.

SOLDIER
A soldier of the Guard is a recruit who did a fine job for 6 months. They are in almost
any other way equal to a recruit.

CORPORAL
After 3 years of service (or an act of extreme courage) a Soldier can apply for a Corporal's exam.
If the jury decides the person has the capacity to be a good corporal they
are allowed to live with the rank of corporal. Corporal work directly under a Sergeant, and they command a group of 4 soldiers. The longer the Corporal is in service the more soldiers they
have under their command.

SERGEANT
There is no sergeants' exam, a sergeant gets to be appointed by the Marshal or the Colonel and has to be at least Corporal. A sergeant commands a group of corporals, at least 2 but it can be more. They also take decisisions together with other Sergeants and the Marshal.

MARSHAL
There is only one Marshal in a Guard, he can lose his rank when he decides to resign or when he is pulled out of service for other reasons. When he resigns he can appoint his succesor from one of the Sergeants. When he is pulled out of Service the Colonel decides it. A Marshal is the leader of the Guard, they take the important decisions and do the paper work, some Marshals do some field work but not too much.

COLONEL
The colonel is the little connection between a Province Guard and the Army,
he is appointed by the Seat and doesn't interfere too much with the Guard's working.
A Colonel can pull a Marshal out of Service if the Guard doesn't work like it should.

The Inquisition

2009-01-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

A flaming blue T, symbol of the cleansing of Topas, the mysterious Inquisition.
Excisting out of priests, nuns, soldiers and ex-convicts alike they were for several
years the bane of every non-human in Topas.

When the young Azemar was taking hostage by Pecurias Valtimez, the household mage, priest
and oracle he lost both eyes in a flaming attempt of escape. When he eventually
became Duke, he punished Pecurias, aka Azur of the Cult of Esiaphot, for constantly
hypnotizing and manipulating his family with death by burning.

Soon disturbing visions reached the Oracle of Averas' daughter, visions of a destroyed, post-Ragnarrok Topas, to stop Ragnarrok from happening too soon he demanded more details
and heard of a rebellion of lesser races, a last war. So he decided to banish what for him was lesser: elves, dwarves and mages.

The elves and the dwarves were driven out easily by the army
of Topas, but the mages who were able to hide themselves in the human population,
so to find these Hidden Ones, he started a small group called The Inquisition.

Officially they work for the church, but there true loyalty lies with the Duke. Soon the Inquisition were able to find and burn several mages before and during the Civil War until suddenly a strange accident happened, they were found every single one of them death by stabbing yet no sword was in their presence. It was later found that this was one of the last and most horrible ritual by the Cult of Esiaphot.

The group was disbanded until a few years after the war: Duke Ector decided it was needed again.

Rewriting History

2008-12-26T14:30:00.000-08:00

As I noticed the history I wrote when starting this project became not relevant to the plot
at hand I rewrote some parts.

Expect some articles on:
The Inquisition
The Town Guards
Wanderers
Cult of Esiaphot
Keepers of the Lorgrim
Archer's Guild
Demenorian Paladins
Seat of Topas
Karetas Pirates

These are the organizations responsible for what
Topas became, so I hope you look forward on some of
their backstory.

Concept Art

2008-11-29T02:02:00.000-08:00

Some wondeful concept art, by my wonderful artist Gyrowolf (aka D-Pad).

Marshal Xaver
Jax

Gyrowolf's Lair

It has arrived!

2008-11-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

The demo teaser to Cry of the Fox has arrived!
Demo
FAQ
Aargh! Where is the text?
Ah.. you got the font problem people noted to me.. just download the Font Fix.
Place the font in C:/windows/fonts

Why don't the faces fit the charsets?
The faces are placeholder, I have a faceset artist (Gyrowolf aka D-Pad) working on the faces.

Why are most custom charsets generated?
Because I have no spriter at this moment. I hope I will find one soon.
If you are a spriter and are interested in joining. Please contact me.

Why don't you have a custom titlescreen?
I will, but it's Work In Progress at the moment.

Why don't you have gameplay in the demo.
Because not all gameplaysystems are ready to be released for the demo, though I hope to release something playable
by new year.

Your game is crappy... why does it suck so much?
What exactly is crappy about it? Tell me so I can improve that.

Looking for: Spriter and Mapper

2008-10-10T09:20:00.001-07:00

Cry of the Fox is recruiting,
I have a very decent team together but two vital parts still miss.
Vital as in at least one of them not having is fatal.

So first and foremost the most important part of the team that needs to be recruited is:

ONE SPRITER
Why?
I can hear the question rising: "Why don't you use RTP/ the random japanese site?'
Well if the sites would be sufficient , I would. And overly they were sufficient. The problem is, some characters are really specific and hard to make.

What?
It would be around 10 sprites/sprite parts used for frankenspriting. The project is now being held back by scripts that are in the making so concider a 2/3-month period before I actually NEED any of the sprites. For the sake of making things easy I will ask earlier and you can see when you find the time.

Level of experience?
All edits will be RTP ones, some might need some from scrap spriting. So I concider the level needed for this high. I know finding someone willing at this level is hard, as I've learned not many are up for the challenge or to commit them to one project. Though , I will try to keep the level as low as possible with frankenspriting and recolours.

ONE MAPPER

Why?
I'm a decent mapper, but decent can be better. Also the maps are greatly in number.

What?
Little fyi: I will be mapping all or if I'm not able 3/4 of the maps myself, this person needs to give me some c&c on my maps, check them for the regular flaw and f improve them is possible.
So this person doesn't have too much work since I won't be sending all maps only really vital ones.

Level?
I would appreciate someone with a decent to very decent level. I map stuff myself and had some possitive reviews on the maps I made. Also some negative ones but if you aren't a good mapper then don't bother. Also experience with Mack's Tilesets is appreciated but not necesarry.

How to Apply?
Post in the comments in this post, do not use the chat box since I won't be checking that one. Also please note that I won't be recruiting anyone who uses l33t talk, I want a decent application or at least someone who is nice, I'm not expecting Dear Mr. Sander... but I don't want "Lolzro yeah sure illl join ur projectz XD' this will be ignored.

Payment?
None! Please concider I am an 18 year old student having costs enough already. I won't be paying for any of my project. Since I won't be asking any money for it either. I will however pay my (not eternal) gratitude.

History: Archer's Guild

2008-09-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

Origin
The Acher's Guild aka. AG was a group of elite hunters started by the Duke of Topas during the time hunting was needed to gather enough food for the court. They were the royal hunters in return they had the privilige to eat at the table of the Duke and his family that's why it was first called the Royal Hunt Guild.

Members
The first members were regular hunters from towns and villages in need of some food and gold, they were recruited by the royal messenger based on their skills with the bow. Later on the royal messenger had so much candidates tryouts were needed to rate the new members. When the court of Topas was rich enough to gather it's own food only people of the rich were allowed to join the guild.

Famous members were many of the ministers as the minister of hunt is the guildleader. Also it's been a long tradition that the Duke joins the Guild as a honorary member.

Military
Topas has been known for it's great army, from the ships and soldiers of Demenor to the local Guards in every city. Under Duke Azemar the cleansing of Topas was started this resulted in the need of enlarging the army of Topas, so the Royal Hunter's Guild became the Archer's Guild the elite archer's of the army of Topas.

Post Civil War
After the civil war, the Archer's Guild became forgotten, it lost many members during the war and was never really reinstated. Duke Ector didn't care as much for military as his brother and ignored the fact of the degrading numbers of the Guild. It is feared that the Guild may dissapear soon.

Jax Bio

2008-09-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Name: Jax (unknown last name)
Age: Unknown (estimated around 20)
Appearance: Jax is a skinny boy, and his blond, spiky hair covers his face and bright green eyes. He has a pointy nose and a constant grin.
Weapon of Choice: Jax would answer that it's surprise, because aalthough he sports a small knife he only uses it in emergencies.
Talents: lockpicking, stealth, pickpocketing
Occupation: Jax is 'a gatherer of forgotten and misplaced goods' (in other words, he's a thief).
History:
Jax is a very quiet person, and, like many of the slumpeople of Askarin, lives a beggar's life. One child begged for food while the other stole goods from the pockets of passerby. The duo consisted of Jax and Dwane. Jax has lived in the slums for over 15 years. He doesn't have any known family. He was left in the slums as a toddler by a young woman who told the people "His name is Jax". Why a desperate woman sought shelter for her son in the poorest parts of Askarin is unknown, but since that moment Jax has been the son of every Slumwoman.

He learned the skills of pickpocketing and stealth from the wrong people, and it soon became a daily routine for the Askarin Guard to chase Jax and Dwane around the slums. Dwane's ways changed, as when he hit 15 Dwane's mother became sick with an illness called Arethel's Curse. They were forced to close the shop they owned, and Dwane started taking care of his younger sister Kela. But Jax didn't change.

Jax wanted to help Veronica (Dwane's mother), as she was like a mother to him as well, and Dwane was like his brother. Kela, on the other hand, didn't like him at all. He promised to help pay for the medicine, which cost more then the average small house. But Kela soon discovered that stealing and lying were involved in his plan. When Dwane was held prisoner after hunting in a restricted area, Jax came up with a plan to set him free. However, it was Fox who succeeded.

Dwane was home again and the family was reunited. But Jax kept telling everyone how Fox made too many mistakes; how the Guard would find him right away. Later that evening a group of Soldiers including Marshal Xaver came after duty to demand the identity of Fox. Since they couldn't answer Dwane, was killed in a fight between the people of the slums and the guards.

Jax was furious that Fox did not do anything to prevent the conflict. When a few nights later he saw Fox sneaking through the slums, he ran towards the Guard House with the idea to claim the reward on Fox's head and buy the herb for Veronica.

A brief History of Magic

2008-09-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Introducing the first non-human character namely a magician, Jarotek! A post about him will follow soon. I hear you yelling Magicians are Humans! Well I beg to differ, they were humans but are now concidered traitors of the human race so non-human.

It all begin in the city of Oaser deep in Darmor, the city now a ruin was once a glorious city built upon a mountain, close to the gods.

Oaser was the window to the God's World and people from all over Averta came to seek assistance with the Gods, the Gods granted some a magical ability used for healing, they became the first Clerks, this gift came with a strange changing of the hair colour some would be bright white others blue or purple but they never found their original hair colour again.It seemed that this gift stayed with the people over the generations and some would use this power to destroy, gain money so they were banished all upon Darmor, the ancient city of Oaser and it's history was forgotten. Soon the people of Darmor were just concidered gifted. Until the Oracle of Averas retold this legend the Duke of Topas discovered this truth and this started what eventually became known as the cleansing of Topas the banishment of all non-human except for the original Clerks who were concidered holy and protected.

Kela Adriac bio

2008-08-31T12:32:00.000-07:00

Name: Kela Adriac
Age: 18
Appearance: Kela has light brown hair tied back in a ponytail so it only covers the back of her head. Her eyes are light blue. In an old myth, Kela is the name of the guardian of the Seas. Her parents poetically named her after that guardian as her eyes resemble the sea glittering in the sun. She has a very pale skin and a rather unhealthy look. She is very small but wears old and cheap armour that is two sizes too big. It is dented and broken in some places and once belonged to her elder brother Dwane.
Weapon of Choice: As a young girl Kela used to go hunting with her brother. She learned the skills of the bow from him. The talent of archery runs through the family, as her father Jacob Adriac was a famous member of the Archer's Guild.
Talents: Kela has great talent with the bow, but is relatively weak in hand to hand combat. For a girl of the slums, she has had a good home-education from her grandfather.
Occupation: Unoccupied, though she used to be shopkeeper of a local herb shop.
History:
Born from the union of Veronica Martiles and Jacob Adriac. Veronica once was a wealthy girl living in Askarin, being the daughter of Alfred Martilles and an unknown Ryan girl. Alfred was a famous scholar and later minister. He settled the marriage between War Hero Jacob Adriac and his daughter. But during that time the Duke started the civil war with Demenor. Alfred tried to stop the Duke, and was fired from his job as well as fined for high treason. He and his daughter had to move to the slums where they started an herb shop. Veronica was pregnant and gave birth to a son they called Dwane. Jacob stayed home to take care for the boy until he was ten, when the tensions between the province and the seat became high enough for the ships of Demenor to attack Askarin. The Archer's Guild was called to help the Askarin Guard and Jacob perished defending his town, not knowing that he left his wife pregnant. Soon after Jacob's death, Veronicea gave birth to Kela. Kela had eyes as blue as the seas which were the grave of her father, so she was named after the defender of the Oceans.

After the civil war, Veronica was shopkeeper in the herb shop they had started. Dwane went out hunting using his bow together with Kela, and the two of them were homeschooled by Alfred.
But the people of Askarin started to stay away from the slums and the shop went under. Alfred died and Kela and Dwane had to support their sick mother. Dwane went hunting in the back yard of Ex-Marshal Iscaroth but was discovered and sentenced to death, a punishment not nearly close to the act.

That same night he was set free by the mysterious Fox and hidden by his family. But the angered Askarin Guard broke the rules and a small company of the guard including the current Marshal Xaver went to the home of the Adriacs and threatened to kill Dwane if they didn't reveal the identity of Fox. Watching upon this horid scene were Kela, Veronica and Dwane's best friend Jax. As they were unable to give the identify of Fox, Dwane was killed.

A few nights later both Kela and Jax spotted Fox sneaking through the slums. Jax went to warn the Guard and claim the reward on Fox's head, but Kela went to warn Fox...

Promising Games

2008-08-16T04:09:00.001-07:00

WALKING THE PLANK
While the development of my game is on hold due to technical issues and work (I'm getting everything together to continue the project don't worry nothing was lost). I think it is time to explain why Walking the Plank is in the supported devblogs, the reason is that the game looks promising and is being developed by one of the most talented people on the rmvx scene: Aërendyll.

I had the pleasure to read through and proofread the story and I can say without giving too much away that it really seems like a great story, the concept-art is impressive but expected from someone like Aërendyll who also made some beautiful sprites for her game.

I'll keep my eye on WTP and await the demo that will hopefully come soon.

the link to the devblog is in the sidebar of this blog or for the lazy people:
development blog

I'm planning on making posts for promising games on this blog,
the list now includes but does not completely consist out of:

Armve'x Twillight
Dark Horse
Leviathan

If you know any promising game post in the comments-section and I'll look into it and may post something about it too.

Chapter 1: Everlasting Paradise? Coming Soon?

2008-08-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Presenting with small proud, but more proud reserved for techie who made this awesome logo. Chapter 1: Everlasting Paradise. This is going to be the first chapter of 15 (may change) that will make my game. At this moment the mapping is finished (screenies will be added as soon eventing is done) Events at are 75% (+-), spriting at 0% (no luck with spriterhunt), art at 0% (luck with artist hunt, but can't make them slave too much). Music at around 30% (RoelfMik has finished some wonderful music pieces already).

Depending on how fast everyone works this Chapter can be released really soon.
note: Chapter 1 is planned completely as a cutscene

LOOKING FOR BETATESTERS!
Yes, I'm looking for betatesters and not the type that just joins to play the game and doesn't give a decent review :( anyone who wants to apply and play the crappy version of the game (music/graphic-less but bug/glitch/irritation-full) can apply by putting their e-mail in the commentbox or if one wants to keep their e-mailadres secret just put your rpgmakervx.net/rpgrevolution.com nickname and I'll send you the link. Please note that anyone who spreads the beta earlier then planned will be banned from being betatester ever again :p

BETATESTERS
-Aërendyll

Progress?

2008-07-26T03:39:00.000-07:00

A good question that is asked a lot is how far are you? Well I'm working in chapters so I give you the progress of Chapter 1: Everlasting Paradise.

Please note, I have no spriter so it is hard to tell when Sprites will reach 100%.

Storyline
Storyline for Chapter 1: 100%
Storyline total 60%

Dialogue Chapter 1: 70%
TOTAL (chapter 1): 85%

Mapping out:
Partino Castle Interior: 100%
Church of Aretas Interior 75%
Aretas exterior 0%
Askarin Interior 100%
Askarin Exterior 100%
TOTAL: 75%

Events
Partino Castle Events 100%
Church of Aretas Events 20%
Askarin Events (without cutscenes) 100%
Askarin Events (cutscenes) 20%
TOTAL 60%

Scripting
Battlesystem 100%
Advanced Message System 100%
TOTAL 100%

Spriting
Main Characters Sprite 0%
NPC Sprites 10%
TOTAL 5%

Art
Facesets: 10% (10% is the rtp only)
Titlescreen 100%
Game Over 0%
TOTAL 36,5%

Music
planned music is being made by composer, unknown progress
TOTAL 0%

Database
Chapter 1 is cutscene so, no database progress
for total game:
Actors: 100%
Classes: 75%
Skills 40%
Items 40%
Weapons 40%
Armours 40%
Enemies 0%
Troops 0%
States 60%
TOTAL 43%

GRAND TOTAL for Chapter 1: (not including database)
39,5%

Agra Motey bio

2008-07-26T02:57:00.000-07:00

Name Agra Motey
Age 25
Appearanceblond long hair, never combed but wild, tanned, small, green eyes. The build is of someone who worked her entire life she looks and is strong for a girl of her age, heck even for a boy. Even though she is 25 she looks barely 18, she wears the shiny armor of the Guard with proud.
Weapon of Choice Agra is skilled in the sword. She’s been fighting with sword ever since she joined the guard at the age of 16 and seems to have a talent for it.
Talents Soon as Agra joined the Guard they discovered she had a great agility. She runs faster then many trained athletes. Agra is a perfectionist and doesn’t quit after failing.
Occupation Full time member of the Askarin Guard.
Hometown Askarin
History
Agra was 6 when the civil war raged through Askarin, she lived in the slums which almost certainly saved her life. The soldiers were trying to take out the rich parts of the town and ignored the slums almost completely. After the war her parents were scared to stay in Askarin, but the 8 year old Agra rebelled against there mother and decided to stay left with her grandfather.

At the age of 16 she decided to join the guard, and soon got the rank of Private. Years later a young boy called Toren joined and within the year he had a higher rank then her. In the beginning she was frustrated but soon befriended Toren. After the death of her grandfather she moved to the slightly richer part of town but never lost the touch with the slums. She paid the rent of a small house with the wage that she received from working with the guard.

She learned that Toren fought against the poverty and helped him, she shared the failure in "The Seat of Topas" and helped the poor now to find new political ways. She also thinks that serving The Guard is helping the poor.

She sees Fox as a big menace, and a danger. Since The Guard has put every crime in Askarin in the hands of the vigilante she believed him to be a murderer and a thief...
She received the rank of General and helped Toren chase the Fox after his many failures she took over that position.

Screenshots?

2008-07-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yes! Screenshots, well not much but at least the first tease. The character sets may possibly be used 'till the end but I handle them now as placeholders.

Askarin Harbour (not ingame footage XD)

Fox at night

Toren during daytime

Battlefield scene

Toren Iscaroth bio

2008-07-25T02:43:00.000-07:00

Name Toren Iscaroth/The Fox
Age 21
Appearance A young scruffy man, his black hair covering the back of his neck and his forehead. Deep green eyes piercing as shiny emeralds. His clothes are unwashed and torn hiding away a most expensive armour only one of great fortune could buy. The man's skin is tanned by the many hours of walking guard in the sun. He doesn't have the air that other rich have and tries to hide away his origin. He is reluctantly the sergeant of the Askarin Guard where he has to wear a shiny red armour with a massive golden A on the chest.
Weapon of Choice As every member of the Guard, Toren is trained in the long sword.Though he can use any sword as his father trained him when he was young.
Talents As a member of the Guard Toren has learned the skill of not only sword fighting but also basic hand to hand fighting and stealth. He uses these skills also during night-time where he is known as The Fox. He isn't the person you would find in a crowd.He usually hides in the fields where he draws landscapes a talent he got from his mother.
Occupation General of Askarin Guard working under Marshal Lukas Xaver.
History
Toren is the son of Elena (née Fradrich) and Lukas Iscaroth. Elena left her homecity Partino to search wealth and a job in the economic hart of the country, the port city Askarin. Not only did she find wealth but also love with the young Askarin General Trevor. But suddenly and terribly the Island of Demenor reacted against the long time repression, and the Cleansing of the Countries wich would take the life of their beloved Cardinal. When the Armada of Demenor hit shore many men where to schocked to actually understand what was going on, many people died defending their city. When the fleet turned tail, few stood fighting. Trevor who had defended the city until the bitter end was honoured and granted the title of Marshal due to the death of his predecor. When eventually the time came to retire he was granted a nice bit of gold.

Toren lived in wealth and luxury a privileged life, as a young boy he used to sit at the edge of his father's hunting fields to draw the many animals and landscapes. As most topians Trevor and Elena believed in incarnation and that a human if living a good life may ascend to the rank of God himself as privileged as they were they believed an eternal seat among the Gods shouldn't be far anymore. Toren had his doubts, the Gods were there to protect the weak while the only thing he saw was the strong protecting weak. He once saw a wounded fox, fighting on her last lifeforce defending it pups from an enraged bear..

As young boy Toren learned many sword techniques from his father all with the idea of the boy becoming Marshal himself. At age 18 he joined the Guard and rised in ranks easily. Enraged at this sight was Marshal Xaver, a soldier of Askarin who fought besides Toren's father and had to wait for years to get a spot in the army he envied only to discover that his usurper might be his son. But as General Toren soon discovered that the Guard's ranks were filled with rich and privileged and that the poverty was ignored, enraged with this idea he went to the main place of authority the Seat of Topas, not getting a decent solution he felt the only choice was to make up for his deeds during daytime as The Fox during nighttime.

But the Fox story soon took mythic proportions, Fox was shown as a murderer and the Guard unknowingly of this lie started a hunt for his head. At the lead of this hunt was Toren self, and the Marshal enraged at Toren's continued failures replaced his place with Agra Motey. Fox received unimaginable support from the many poor but inevitable somebody collected the reward and betrayed the Fox.

Chapters and Stories, how I see it

2008-07-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

The plan is to make the storyline in parts I have planned now 15, 30 minute chapters starting with Chapter 1: Eternal Paradise, which will basically be an overview of the history in that world until the moment you start playing. When this will be finished is unclear I have written the complete chapter including dialogue and am now fiercely working on the events and the maps.

All the chapters have already a title that may change overtime and there is with every chapter an idea of where I am going with it.

The storyline is almost finished I'm tying the knots together near the end of the story so there is a possibility that some things may change over time. I haven't worked out all the characters yet but those vital to the story have their role to play.

I hopefully can come back to all of you with the bio's of all the characters posted two posts earlier soon.

I should've done this first

2008-07-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm kinda ashamed by myself I didn't post this earlier, anyway here is a list of the people who helped me until now with my project.

SilentBackstabber for making a wonderful logo, and editing the titlescreen to fit it in.
Aërendyll for helping me out with basic advice, supporting me and how can I forget? A beautiful game icon and taking time and effort to explain spriting.
Touchfuzzy and Atra for proofreading parts of my topic on rpgmakervx.net
Solistra for proofreading some of my topic on rpgmakervx.net and helping me with my storyline.
Boogieknight for writing dialogue, and giving input and ideas for my game
Qusaflupi for letting me request a music piece in his shop
RoelfMik for helping me with the music in my game
Touchfuzzy, Mr. Anonymous and KGC for the wonderful scripts and the translations
Syvkal for some wonderful scripts
Mack and Aërendyll for respectivily making and compiling of tilesets
Kylock for translating the takentai battlesystem and making add-ons
Crimson.Echo and D-Pad Art and facesets
http://usui.moo.jp/rpg_tukuru.html for the great facesets and charsets
IRC-members for keeping me company during the development
Everyone who took the time and effort to read and something in my topic.

and everyone who I forgot and will add later.

Welcome + Characters

2008-07-24T17:27:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the development Blog of the upcoming game Cry of the Fox,
the game is about the struggling city of Askarin crawling out of a shadow after a long civil war with an Island called Demenor.

The main characters (real bio's will follow in individual posts)

Fox, the vigilante who protects the poor with risk for own life, also known as the young General of the Askarin Guard, Toren Iscaroth. Who is in control of the search for Fox, due to his many failures that search came under command of General Agra Motey..

Agra Motey, also a general of the Askarin Guard, she helps Toren in his political struggle and starts a fierce investigation on The Fox, who according to the guard killed several people, she worked her way up from the slums to a rather luxurious life.

Kela Adriac, a daughter of the slums. Her brother got killed after the Guard demanded the true identity of Fox. Even if her brother died, she doesn't hold a grudge towards Fox and saves his life...

Alzar Jarotek, a magician. Since Topas started what was called a cleansing of their country only true humans were allowed. This among other things led to a Civil War where the magician Alzar fought on the side of Demenor, the side attacking Topas. After that period he worked for the Askarin Guard under cover hiding his blue hair a true sign of magic. Eventually this was discovered and he was set prison, only kept alive because his alchemy skill was handy for the Askarin Guard.

Jax, a young boy of unknown origin living in the slums. After he hears about the cashreward on the head of Fox he keeps an eye open for him, planning to deliver him out.

Stephan Artor, an exiled ex-Marshal of Demenor now sword for rent, he lives in the underground of Askarin as a shady merchant being one of the only people who still is able to get Demenorian goods.

Duke Azemar de Loas, the former Duke of Topas a very religious man who led Topas into a cleansing of all non-humans. Was deposed after the destruction of Askarin and rots away in a cell in Partino Castle for crimes against humanity.

Duke Ector de Loas, the current Duke of Topas, as religious as his brother but less cruel. He tried to rebond with Demenor which failed hopelessly, he is so busy with the international situation he doesn't care what happens in the city of Askarin.

Marshal Lukas Xaver, Lukas Xaver was the Marshal the followed in the footsteps of Toren's father Trevor Iscaroth. Even though he envyd the position for years. During the civil war, even though glorified as war hero he actually chickened out. This rumor spread among the Guard and held him back becoming Marshal himself until years later.