Story:
Spoiler
In a world saturated with superstition, doubt and fear, one man must face his future before he can discern his past.
Unable to harness full control of the elemental power that flows through his being, Dacian emits accidental bursts of magic at inopportune moments. These moments typically arise when he has become enraged. As such, his adoptive parents have sought to hide his abilities; but their efforts have proven to be in vain. It has always been known that humans cannot use magic, as such, Dacian is an oddity; there are many that fear him, but there are those that revere him.
The winds have changed, and danger lurks on the horizon. Something has begun corrupting the minds and bodies of living creatures; and it's spreading rapidly.
In order to discover his true self, Dacian must learn to control and wield his magic properly.
Unable to harness full control of the elemental power that flows through his being, Dacian emits accidental bursts of magic at inopportune moments. These moments typically arise when he has become enraged. As such, his adoptive parents have sought to hide his abilities; but their efforts have proven to be in vain. It has always been known that humans cannot use magic, as such, Dacian is an oddity; there are many that fear him, but there are those that revere him.
The winds have changed, and danger lurks on the horizon. Something has begun corrupting the minds and bodies of living creatures; and it's spreading rapidly.
In order to discover his true self, Dacian must learn to control and wield his magic properly.
Setting:
Village of Mori located in the world of Valkyr (Val-kay-ear). Mori is a sleepy village tucked into a cove, protected from the ocean by a large barrier reef. It's beaches are a tourist hot spot. The natives that inhabit Mori follow the ways of their ancestors. The village itself does not utilize money but rather a trade and barter system. Due to the high amount of travelers and tradesmen, a few of the local shops accept currency, which is then used to import goods. Otherwise, all food and necessary goods are split evenly between each household.
Gameplay:
This story takes place during the week leading up to the Ceremony of Mana, a very important 'coming of age' ritual for Mori's youth. Play through Dacian's troubling dreams to help him learn to control and harness his abilities.
Spoiler
Common Lore:
"Many ages ago, Valkyir was carved from the cosmos by the Old Gods. Their breath became the air, their bodies became the earth, and their tears became the water. From their gifts, came life. Plants, animals and all sorts of wondrous creatures sprung forth unto the land. Before the Gods began their eternal slumber, they bestowed gifts unto the most precious of their creations.
Humankind were given courage, determination and intellect. Elfkind were given intimate knowledge of divine magics and taught to shepherd the souls of the departed. The Sheikh were bestowed with powerful mastery over the elements.
Once their energy had been fully spent on creation, the Gods slumbered, leaving their children in the hands of Njoror, God of the sea.
It is said, that the people of Mori were born from Njoror. Initially we were as fish, living entirely below the waves. Slowly we began venturing into the land where it was discovered that we could breathe the air. Njoror became enraged at this discovery and cursed his children with the bodies of humans, thus rendering us unable to swim with the skill and ease we once did. Over time we adapted to the land and embraced our new home.
Mother Earth welcomed the new comers and bestowed unto us knowledge of the elements and mana. Although the ocean is not prominently our home, we've retained the ability to breathe underwater.
Regular ceremonies are held to appease Njoror and assure him that we have not forgotten our father."
- Odakota Ravenwind
Elvish lore:
A prophecy was born that spoke of a time of much terror and death, an unspeakable evil that would blanket our world. Many lives would be lost, entire species obliterated; history erased. Two divine races, created by the Old Gods themselves, would turn on each other in a bloody war. One would utterly betray the other, bringing a time of darkness to our realm.
It was said that our only hope would be a divine child. It was our task to find this child, to shelter them; protect them.
We have failed...
"Many ages ago, Valkyir was carved from the cosmos by the Old Gods. Their breath became the air, their bodies became the earth, and their tears became the water. From their gifts, came life. Plants, animals and all sorts of wondrous creatures sprung forth unto the land. Before the Gods began their eternal slumber, they bestowed gifts unto the most precious of their creations.
Humankind were given courage, determination and intellect. Elfkind were given intimate knowledge of divine magics and taught to shepherd the souls of the departed. The Sheikh were bestowed with powerful mastery over the elements.
Once their energy had been fully spent on creation, the Gods slumbered, leaving their children in the hands of Njoror, God of the sea.
It is said, that the people of Mori were born from Njoror. Initially we were as fish, living entirely below the waves. Slowly we began venturing into the land where it was discovered that we could breathe the air. Njoror became enraged at this discovery and cursed his children with the bodies of humans, thus rendering us unable to swim with the skill and ease we once did. Over time we adapted to the land and embraced our new home.
Mother Earth welcomed the new comers and bestowed unto us knowledge of the elements and mana. Although the ocean is not prominently our home, we've retained the ability to breathe underwater.
Regular ceremonies are held to appease Njoror and assure him that we have not forgotten our father."
- Odakota Ravenwind
Elvish lore:
A prophecy was born that spoke of a time of much terror and death, an unspeakable evil that would blanket our world. Many lives would be lost, entire species obliterated; history erased. Two divine races, created by the Old Gods themselves, would turn on each other in a bloody war. One would utterly betray the other, bringing a time of darkness to our realm.
It was said that our only hope would be a divine child. It was our task to find this child, to shelter them; protect them.
We have failed...
Spoiler
Dacian (Day-Shan)
Age: 24
Height: 6'4"
Weight: approx 160 lbs
Class: Shadow Mage
Elements: Shadow, Electric, Wind.
"I just want to be myself."
Bio: Adopted by the Blackfoot family. He was found wandering on the outskirts of the Ebon Glade, a cursed forest, when he was just a baby. Uncertain of his exact age or birthdate, the family celebrates his 'adopted day' rather than a birthday. Many villagers believed him to be a bad omen, especially with the powers he possesses; but there are many that feel he's destined for greatness.
Typically keeps to himself. Spent the vast majority of his childhood with his adoptive brother Keith. The two quickly became synonymous with mischief, mainly due to Keith's clumsiness. Unable to breathe underwater like the other natives, he and Keith concocted several ideas and inventions in order to help Dacian breath underwater. Most of their attempts failed miserably; one attempt resulted in Dacian's near drowning and has instilled a deep fear of water that lingers to this day.
The son of the village elder, Mikasi (Mee-kah-see), and his group of friends have always been Dacian's main antagonists. In order to escape from them, when he's not working at the inn, Dacian enjoys visiting a nearby oasis that has always held a unique draw on him.
Keith Blackfoot
Age: 24
Height: 6'2"
Weight: approx 185 lbs
Class: Tribalist
Elements: Physical.
"I will protect her with my life."
Bio: Headstrong and clumsy. Has always been very protective of his family and friends, and is quick to intervene if he sees anyone harassing Dacian. Disapproves of people that make quick judgments of people, based on their outward appearance. Trained as a Tribalist from the time he was 11 and became one of the youngest teachers, mentoring other young Tribalists in the arts of the beast and blade. One of the main creators of the Beastial Aspect training that is now incorporated into Tribalist training.
Has a major weakness for sweets. If he's protective of family and Dacian, he's definitely over protective of his baby sister, Naomi.
Is the only one of the three siblings to have ventured far from Mori, typically on training missions or accompanying travelers safely across open territory. Deeply concerned by the amount of animals that have become increasingly aggressive over the years.
Naomi Blackfoot
Age: 19
Height: 5'9"
Weight: approx 135 lbs
Class: Mana Binder
Elements: Physical
"I don't understand, why all the fuss?"
Bio: Naive, pleasant and outgoing. Shed her youthful shyness in her mid teens, and is attempting to embrace the woman she's becoming. A talented Mana Binder and adept in combat, although there's not been much opportunity for her to prove herself with Keith getting in the way. Spent most of her days lazing around the underwater gardens with friends, or toiling away the evenings on the beach enjoying the sunset and the sound of the waves. Longs for adventure and to prove herself to be a strong and capable fighter in the eyes of her older brother.
Excitedly awaits the Ceremony of Mana which will mark her graduation from an adolescent to a woman, and regarded as an adult by their tribe. She's trained for this day for the last 5 years, working hard to hone her abilities.
Harbors a secret that she's not told a single person; one that she fears could shake the foundations of her family.Mana Binders use Mana Cards and Elemental essences to unlock their skills. Each ability uses 1 card, 1 essence a a few energy points. As seen in the screen shot below, the cards and essences are colour coordinated to their elemental alignment, based on the Table of Elements.
Age: 24
Height: 6'4"
Weight: approx 160 lbs
Class: Shadow Mage
Elements: Shadow, Electric, Wind.
"I just want to be myself."
Bio: Adopted by the Blackfoot family. He was found wandering on the outskirts of the Ebon Glade, a cursed forest, when he was just a baby. Uncertain of his exact age or birthdate, the family celebrates his 'adopted day' rather than a birthday. Many villagers believed him to be a bad omen, especially with the powers he possesses; but there are many that feel he's destined for greatness.
Typically keeps to himself. Spent the vast majority of his childhood with his adoptive brother Keith. The two quickly became synonymous with mischief, mainly due to Keith's clumsiness. Unable to breathe underwater like the other natives, he and Keith concocted several ideas and inventions in order to help Dacian breath underwater. Most of their attempts failed miserably; one attempt resulted in Dacian's near drowning and has instilled a deep fear of water that lingers to this day.
The son of the village elder, Mikasi (Mee-kah-see), and his group of friends have always been Dacian's main antagonists. In order to escape from them, when he's not working at the inn, Dacian enjoys visiting a nearby oasis that has always held a unique draw on him.
Keith Blackfoot
Age: 24
Height: 6'2"
Weight: approx 185 lbs
Class: Tribalist
Elements: Physical.
"I will protect her with my life."
Bio: Headstrong and clumsy. Has always been very protective of his family and friends, and is quick to intervene if he sees anyone harassing Dacian. Disapproves of people that make quick judgments of people, based on their outward appearance. Trained as a Tribalist from the time he was 11 and became one of the youngest teachers, mentoring other young Tribalists in the arts of the beast and blade. One of the main creators of the Beastial Aspect training that is now incorporated into Tribalist training.
Has a major weakness for sweets. If he's protective of family and Dacian, he's definitely over protective of his baby sister, Naomi.
Is the only one of the three siblings to have ventured far from Mori, typically on training missions or accompanying travelers safely across open territory. Deeply concerned by the amount of animals that have become increasingly aggressive over the years.
Naomi Blackfoot
Age: 19
Height: 5'9"
Weight: approx 135 lbs
Class: Mana Binder
Elements: Physical
"I don't understand, why all the fuss?"
Bio: Naive, pleasant and outgoing. Shed her youthful shyness in her mid teens, and is attempting to embrace the woman she's becoming. A talented Mana Binder and adept in combat, although there's not been much opportunity for her to prove herself with Keith getting in the way. Spent most of her days lazing around the underwater gardens with friends, or toiling away the evenings on the beach enjoying the sunset and the sound of the waves. Longs for adventure and to prove herself to be a strong and capable fighter in the eyes of her older brother.
Excitedly awaits the Ceremony of Mana which will mark her graduation from an adolescent to a woman, and regarded as an adult by their tribe. She's trained for this day for the last 5 years, working hard to hone her abilities.
Harbors a secret that she's not told a single person; one that she fears could shake the foundations of her family.Mana Binders use Mana Cards and Elemental essences to unlock their skills. Each ability uses 1 card, 1 essence a a few energy points. As seen in the screen shot below, the cards and essences are colour coordinated to their elemental alignment, based on the Table of Elements.
Features
PTB (press turn battle) combat system:
~ exploit your enemies' weak spots and earn extra turns in battle
~ put status ailments to work and launch combo abilities **
~ battle unique items to assist during combat
What is PTB?
Spoiler
PTB combat system is a different turn-based combat, where the point is to 'win' extra turns in combat. You get 1 turn per character in your party, the same for your enemies. You can win turns with critical hits, or exploiting an enemies' elemental weakness. ALL enemies in-game are colour coordinated to their elements as shown on the Table of Elements. Therefore, a water enemy will be dark blue. A fire enemy will be read. An electric enemy will be yellow etc.
Hidden Items and Events:
~ explore the world and discover hidden items, you never know where they may be!
~ question mark indicator to tell you you're close to a hidden item
~ an exclamation mark indicator to tell you you're close to a hidden event
~ some hidden events are simply for back story, others will help you through tough puzzles
~ Collectible Moogle Plushie's earned for each found Hidden Event. What happens when you find them all?
Spoiler
Gotta find 'em all!
Spoiler
~ full control over stats for each character using Mana shards, gems and crystals (only HP and EN increase by small amounts on level up)
~ equipment and weapons can be improved with socketable gems
Skill leveling:
~ seek out training from scholars located in schools or libraries to increase the level of certain skills
~ purchase scrolls to level up skills when you're unable to find a scholar
~ increasing a skills' level will lower costs, increase damage/healing, increase accuracy etc
On-screen enemies:
~ no random 'invisible' encounters
~ enemies will spawn with random levels adjusted around the characters' level, for variable difficulty
~ enemies will respawn on their own
Merchant upgrades:
~ each merchant is upgradeable via selling items
~ the higher the shops have been upgraded, the better quality items/equipment, will have other radiant effects that will be noticeable around town
Decision making consequences:
~ almost every decision (or lack of) will directly affect the end game scenario
Front view battle system with player and enemy battlers
Custom Sound track
Custom Sprites
Spoiler
This image will be accessible in-game as well, for a quick reference to the elements and their weaknesses. The elements are broken into two main categories; the Major and Minor Arcana. They do not have an affect on each other, so they are neither strong nor weak against each other. For instance; if you were to attack a Shadow enemy with Fire, it would do base damage (whatever the spell is supposed to do) and vice versa.
However, if you're to attack a Fire enemy with Water, it'll do double damage. If you were to attack a Fire enemy with Earth it would deal an extra 50% damage. Forget what you know of pokemon elements (water is strong against fire, for example). In my project, Fire and Water are weak to each other - they will deal double damage. Same with Wind and Earth, they will deal double damage to each other.
Supporting elements - represented by the green bars, will heal their counterpart for 50% of whatever damage would have been done. For example, if you attack a Wind enemy with Fire, and the spell would have done 50 damage - the enemy will be healed for 25.
Physical is the neutral element, it does not take any extra damage from any other element.
To ease possible confusion, all enemies will be colour coordinated to their elemental icon shown on the table.
Spoiler
Each characters' skills is broken down into 3 tiers.
Base skills.
Combo skills.
Rage overdrive skills.
Base skills can be leveled up at schools and libraries or with scrolls. Some of these skills also inflict status ailments against enemies; once an enemy has been inflicted with an ailment, the combo skills will become available.
Generally combo skills hit harder/more often. Most require enemies to be inflicted with a certain ailment (such as paralysis), but some (very few) will not.
Keep in mind however, that your enemy can exploit your weaknesses as well.
Combat Screens:
Base skills.
Combo skills.
Rage overdrive skills.
Base skills can be leveled up at schools and libraries or with scrolls. Some of these skills also inflict status ailments against enemies; once an enemy has been inflicted with an ailment, the combo skills will become available.
Generally combo skills hit harder/more often. Most require enemies to be inflicted with a certain ailment (such as paralysis), but some (very few) will not.
Keep in mind however, that your enemy can exploit your weaknesses as well.
Combat Screens:
Title & Intro:
Spoiler
Menu:
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
Videos
https://youtu.be/uWvYfkXpFpo
Download
Spoiler
Please be advised: This is an ALPHA demo!
This means:
The first portion of the demo is complete and pretty much polished. Once you return to the main town, Mori, it is not complete. The exterior maps are all done and you can explore them, but only a few house interiors are completed. There are some placeholder graphics in-place for the 3 NPC's you'll be able to interact with. We're working on replacing the artwork as quickly as we can.
Download link: updated!
http://jmp.sh/j4cQQ1r
Install Instructions
First of all, I apologize for the size. Custom OST and parallax maps have inflated the game file size. You'll notice 2 files inside the .rar file. One of them is the audio file this contains all the sounds for the game. You must move this file back into the main game folder once you've extracted Dacian.exe.
Enjoy, and please share comments, bugs, critiques. :D
~Lit & the Valence Studios team.
This means:
The first portion of the demo is complete and pretty much polished. Once you return to the main town, Mori, it is not complete. The exterior maps are all done and you can explore them, but only a few house interiors are completed. There are some placeholder graphics in-place for the 3 NPC's you'll be able to interact with. We're working on replacing the artwork as quickly as we can.
Download link: updated!
http://jmp.sh/j4cQQ1r
Install Instructions
First of all, I apologize for the size. Custom OST and parallax maps have inflated the game file size. You'll notice 2 files inside the .rar file. One of them is the audio file this contains all the sounds for the game. You must move this file back into the main game folder once you've extracted Dacian.exe.
Enjoy, and please share comments, bugs, critiques. :D
~Lit & the Valence Studios team.
Original soundtrack by: Zackwell - NOTE: ALL CUSTOM AUDIO AND MUSIC BELONG TO ZACKWELL VALENCE, DO NOT RE-DISTRIBUTE.
Game logo and topic headers by: Zackwell ValenceVoice actor for Dacian: Zackwell Valence
Sprites: RHL Studios, edits by Literarygoth
Videos: Marian Frae
Scripts:
~Originalwij
~Yanfly
~KGC
~Omegas
~Synthesize
~BulletXt / Kylock
~Woratana
Sprite Templates:
~The Panda
~RTP
Tilesets:
~Mack
~Lunarea
~Celianna
~Haisennman
~Enterbrain
Faces:
~Literarygoth & HK Project
***if there's someone that I've not mentioned in the credits, please send me a pm so I can update and credit appropriately***
