VXAce - Demo available! A Witches Heart - igmc 2018

A great rift has opened in the Witchfinders Keep, many have been sent to find out what has happened, and all have failed. You are the last hope for your village, entering the Keep to uncover the truth of A Witches Heart.



Welcome to Istolia Valley, a beautiful valley in the tropical country of Istolian, but the beauty has been marred; magical rifts expelling dangerous creatures from the Abyss have been opening. The largest of which has opened within the Witchfinders Keep.

The King, haunted by the death of his only son to a magical plague many years before, has outlawed the use of magic, but since the rift opened his Witchfinders have all entered the keep, never to return.



You, a simple villager, have travelled from your village to petition the king for aid against the creatures that have spawned across the land from the many rifts that have been opening to the Abyss. You are informed that aid cannot be granted as the army has marched to the Witchfinders Keep, the origin of the Rifts, and none have returned. Armed only with your wits, and whatever provisions you have managed to pack in your bag, you stand at the entrance of the Witchfinders Keep, maybe you will be able to work your way through and uncover the secret of A Witches Heart

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A Learn Skill feature for the main character, all other characters come with their own unique skills.
Skills are leveled in such a way that the player can affect battles, eg. using the intimadate skill to make enemies flee the battle, or sheild to buff defence, or at higher levels to deflect enemy attacks etc.
A series of different puzzles along similar themes.
A Gem system to add skills or defensive buffs etc.


1)
This is a further game in the World of Thorntop, my fantasy game world, set in a part of that world that is very ancient in it's traditions and designs. In our world they would be known as the Aztecs or Mayans, tribes we don't really see nowadays.

To this end I decided to use the wonderful Aztec character set *[Copyright](C) Degica, Co. LTD*, and also to make my own Aztec like artwork for certain scenes in the game. I hope this will interest the players and make my game stand out further.

2)
As the IGMC is looking for potential in the game to turn it into a fully fledged commercial game, Ii feel I should talk about the potential of the game. The game I will be submitting will start at the Witchfinders Keep, however there is potential to start the game at the main characters village, allowing for more interaction with the world, and to find out more about the history and the people that live there.

I hope that you will all see this potential

DEMO RELEASED! IGMC VERSION OF THE GAME IS THE DEMO! LOL

https://paladin-cleric-of-awesome.itch.io/a-witches-heart

UPDATE 1 -because I don't think I'll have time later to do this!

Day one of the IGMC (Indie Game Making Contest) 2018.

I thought long and hard on what I should do, and finally decided on A Witches Heart, a game idea I had which started life as some of its history.

“Healer (The Backstory)

A magical plague had swept the land, and there is no cure for it. The high use of magic in this valley in the past has opened the rifts to allow far worse than the usual monsters into the valley. The young Prince, safe in his castle cannot stand to see his people suffer any longer, and against his father’s wishes he leaves the castle to find the cure.

But the only way to cure the plague is to give up his life. The King, upon hearing of his beloved sons sacrifice bans all use of magic in the land, and founds the Witchfinders to find anyone in the Valley using magic and to stop them by any means necessary.”

This story then mutated into a completely different tale about a young woman going on a quest to save her younger sister from certain death at the hands of the Witchfinders. And while this take would be interesting, and I may go back and do this at some point, I had decided I wanted to try something slightly different that could tell the story of these sisters, and reference the original tale, but gave the player more of a chance to insert themselves into the story.

Hence ‘A Witches Heart’, where the player will take on the role of a simple villager trying to save their village from the growing threat of monsters from the Abyss appearing through Magical Rifts into the land, all originating from the Witchfinders Keep.

So I have been working hard today and have some interesting things to show you;



Yes! The entire intro into the Game! I worked hard on the art, and while I know it’s not the greatest artwork, I feel it really fits the Ancient civilisation vibe I wanted for the game! Thank goodness for Celianna’s Great Jungle tileset and the Aztec character set provided by Degica Games, which allowed me to have a completely different fantasy theme for my game.

One I hope that will make this game seem different enough to grasp your attention, so that the story can hold you until the end. And I hope I do the game justice, so that everyone who gives it a go will enjoy it!

Progress Update!

UPDATE

Day 2 of the IGMC.

Unfortunately my productivity suffered today, I had a dentist appointment this morning, and when I returned home I found that other people were showing their awesome updates. I’m not going to lie, seeing other people’s amazing work just reminds me that my own game is miles behind, that I’m not quite as good as I want to be.

I always get that flash of jealousy when I see other people’s work. It’s not right, or fair to them, or to my own work, but it’s there. (I’m feeling that I need to be honest about how I’m feeling while making this game, and hopefully it’ll help me figure out where I let myself down when I work).

Anyway, onto what I’ve actually done so far.

I did a lot of mapping last night, and got the shell of the Witchfinders Keep, my first dungeon done. I’ve spent today putting some aesthetics into the maps, columns and wall decoration and stuff.

I have also started making a list of what I need to database. I have my skills generally worked out, as well as items, armour etc. Data basing is my worst enemy, so I’m hoping to make it fairly simple this time around. I have also chosen my enemy battlers, tiles, and the like. The battlers aren’t what I want, but if I have time at the end, I may try to make some myself. No promises though.

It is entirely possible that I may not even have an hour worth of gameplay, which means I may have to add something on, but we’ll do that if needs be.

But because I can’t bear to leave you guys without something to look at, here is the outside of the Witchfinders Keep.



There may not be much progress tomorrow either, as I’m babysitting my wonderful little niece, and then myself and my husband are curling up to watch some scary films and eat lots of junk food tomorrow afternoon/evening. However I hope to get more done on Thursday and Friday during the day, and Saturday I’m pulling an all-nighter (the husband is away for the night! So lots of game making in bed I think lol).

I’m hoping to have as much done as possible before I go back to work after Halloween break on Monday so I have plenty of time to play with the game to make it good.

Sorry there’s not better news today!

Update 3

I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday, I was baby-sitting and then did a binge watch of the Haunting of Hill House for Halloween, and couldn’t use my computer or the light would have ruined the atmosphere.

However I did do some drawing (awful drawing!) of the battlers from the game. I may use them, I may not, depending on how much time I have as my current chosen battlers don’t really fit.

Now I have much work to do today to make up for my two days of non-productivity. Roll on Saturday night! Lol.

Update -Day 4

Ok, so I spent the entire day game making (and watching various TV shows and films to have sound in the background). And what do I have to show for it? Well… it doesn’t seem like a lot, but I have my three puzzles on the Sunbird half of the Witchfinders Keep completed and tested.

As I was testing I had to laugh as I got through all the puzzles in less than 5 mins. It’s amazing how short a dungeon area can be without battles to break it up. But I don’t want to make anything too big for this game, because if I do I’ll get bogged down, and I want to give this the best chance of winning, so small will do!

No videos or screen shots I’m afraid. I’m too busy trying to make up for the lost time the last two days.

I also, like an eejit; I nearly completely messed up the whole game by not paying attention to Yanflys message script variables. So lesson learned! Check all scripts for hidden variables and switches that might mess up the game!

I feel bad that my update today is so short, but I feel like I’m on a roll, so I’m gonna clock off and keep working on my puzzles!

Update 5

I feel in this update I should discuss what I would love to see in the game that may not yet be part of it.

1 A Party – I have some ideas for a party design, not your usual group.

As you have no doubt realised, in this game you play as a villager with no special skills, no magic (as magic is banned from the land). You buy your skills as you go so that you can charm, intimidate etc. enemies (and later people you meet along the way).

Other party members will include (eventually)

- Merchant – his business is going downhill since the rifts, monsters are disrupting supply lines, and he joins you on your mission to ask the King for aid (and joins you further to seal the rift in the Witchfinders Keep). Can get the player discount in shops for items and other things.

- Old Warrior – A warrior that was so good in his day that he survived many battles, survived in fact, into old age. Now too old to join the Warrior troops he has lost his chance to die with honour. (he joins the group with the sole purpose of a last chance to fall in great battle)

- Healer – with the banning of magic, the healing arts of crafting draughts and poultices has soared, the healer can craft draughts etc. and use them in battle, a non-combatant in the sense they do no damage to the enemy.

I have no other thoughts on other allies yet, but it might be interesting at least to have some non-typical characters for a party group.

2 Further exploration of the world;

- You start in your own village, and make the decision to travel to the Kings castle beyond the jungle. You will get to learn all about the Sunbird, the creator of the world, the dragon of the Abyss, and the beliefs of the people of Istolia. You will get to hear more about the magical plague, and the Prince. Hopefully it will also allow for some more immersive details.

3 Skills, like the Dungeons and Dragons kind.

- A few of the skills you get to play with in the game are Charm and Intimidate, you get to level the skill up to 5 levels, and each level allows you something more. Egg. Intimate level 1 allows you to lower the defence of your enemies; level 3 makes lower level enemies to flee.

- I also want to make it so you can use the skills outside of battle i.e., able to charm someone into giving you information, or intimidate someone. I want the player to be able to choose skills they think will help them play the game, like push/pull, jump, climb etc. A lot of stuff I can’t put in yet as I want to be able to finish the game in good time! But when I do go back to redo the game I think this is something that will be added in!

Now to what I’ve been doing today.




All puzzles in the first dungeon done, each one slightly different than the last to show the potential of the game. Spending some time with my mum this afternoon so won’t have too much time to do a lot later. However my goal for tonight and tomorrow is to move on the next part of the game, where we meet an important character and learn some more of the backstory.

I’m hoping I’ll have another set of cut scene pictures done for tomorrow evening. Because my Saturday night all-nighter is going to be spent madly attacking the database!

Next week, I’m hoping to have the second area done and dusted so I can focus on polishing what I have after this, and if I have time maybe add some more areas.

We’ll see.

Update 6

Ok, so I worked hard last night, and had my second full art cut scene done! So proud of myself! So today I focused on the two things.

The Database.

I hate data basing! So very much! I hate trying to figure out how to balance enemies, make skills, items, armour and weapons that work! I really, truly hate it. But I knuckled down, and I think I did it! All my items, armours, weapons, enemies and troops.

I’m not 100% sure what else I need to do database. So I’m going to leave it for a while, and go back to it the second last week and hope there’s not much else to do!

The Second Cut scene


Ii set up my second cut scene! So the only really big cut scene left is the last one, and it’s not going to be fully arted, just eventing, and I will hope for the best!


Future goals

Ok, so as tonight is the night my husband is away, I can lie in my bed with my laptop on my knee, working away at the game! So I am either going to get loads done, or I’m going to fall asleep. Lol. So we’ll see!

Update 7

Week 1 complete! And I think I’ve done very well.

The entire first dungeon is complete, play-tested, databased and everything. The only thing I have left to do is mess about with lighting overlays, but those will be saved for last, I want to get the rest of the game done and working first! Unfortunately it only takes about 15-20 mins to complete! Lol. But that’s ok, the rest of the story should beef it out a bit.

I don’t have a lot to tell you today, most of my day was spent playtesting, and trying to figure out where I was going wrong that my enemies weren’t doing any damage! But that’s all sorted now.



My goals for next week are to get the Kings Castle done and dusted to the same level as the Witchfinders Keep.

Third week will be spent deciding if I’m going to add a different starting area, or some additional maps. We’ll see how that goes. But if the two maps I’m doing now will take me up to an hour gameplay I’ll leave it at that, but we’ll see.

Update 8

Ok, now that I’ve been back at work a few days I feel more energetic when I come home. It’s awesome. So I’ve done a few maps to connect the Witchfinders Keep with the Kings Castle. If I have time I will maybe add some other things for the player to do, we’ll see.

I don’t have time to write much, so have some mapshots!

These maps are the main road in Istolia Valley, with connects the various towns and locations of the Valley, hence why it looks so open, in my head it was all once jungle that was slowly cleared away for the roads, leaving only the larger jungle to south of the Valley, which is technically Istolia Jungle, which is dense and definitely way more jungly.

Anyway, you can clearly see I’m getting tired, so enjoy the pics, and goodnight!

Update 10

Ok, now all connecting maps are done, including a village, a plantation and the main city area of the game. This will allow more exploration for the player, and if I have time I will be adding in a few NPC’s to chat to, and maybe some quests to fulfil (obviously when I go back and fix the game up after the quests and stuff will be done before you reach the Witchfinder keep.

I’m trying to think of what else I can let you know about the game, but all I’ve really been doing is mapping like crazy, I’m hoping this weekend I’ll get the Kings Castle maps started and finished and then spend next week sorting out the cut scenes and other interesting stuff for the game.

Then the last week will be spent fixing everything, and adding in NPC’s and added info etc as we go.

Remembering not to go overboard is the hardest part, there are so many things I can add and do and I’m sort of looking forward to after the contest (and after I finish Corruption) when I can do everything I want to do here.

I still hope I win though. That would be nice. I somehow have to figure out how to get people really interested in my game enough to give me lots of positive reviews and have the judges love it for being awesome. Not making my life difficult at all am I? lol.

And here is my City map! (by city I mean place where houses are made of stone, not wood, therefore richer than your average village lol)

Update 10

Ok, so my knee was hurting today so I took the day off work to save myself from further injury. So I took some time to finish off the City Map and start the Kings Castle. I’m really happy with what I’ve done so far today (which is good because I’m heading to my parents for a TV night!).

This week has been a long one for me; trying to balance being back to work and game making and spending time with my family. Not going to lie, it was hard. But now the first week is over I think I’m getting back I the swing of things.

My goals for this weekend (I may not be able to update for you all), is to finish the Kings Castle. I am also going to give some serious consideration to changing where I start the game. Although starting the game at the Witchfinders Keep throws the people playing the game into main heart of the story, I’m not sure where the game can go after that, except to the ending.

But if this is to show what can be done with the game, then… I just don’t know. I’ll have to do a big think on the matter.

No screenies to show today I’m afraid, I have to leave something for your imagination. lol

Update 11

While at my parent house last night they story ot the game finally clicked fully into place. I’m not sure if the completed game (ie the one I’ll finish up later after Corruption) will be able to still be called a Witches Heart, but we’ll see, because I’ve realised the story is so much bigger than just this one part, and knowing that is… staggering…

I think if I planned it right it could become something amazing!

A Witches Heart I think may have to be Chapter 2 of the overall story, Chapter 1 will be the gathering of the Party (which we don’t have for the IGMC), and Chapter 3 on will take the story into a slightly different direction, and round the whole story off. I hope!

I’ve spent today finishing up the Kings Castle and starting the dialogue for the big scene at the end of the game, can’t seem to get it quite right. Also need to figure out how to do a battle at the end… but a battle doesn’t really fit with the ending.

Anyone have any thoughts on that? Would it be a disappointment to anyone if you played a game with battles and then the ending doesn’t have a big boss battle?

Update 12

Week 2 complete! And I think I’ve done really well. I have the plot done, I’ve reworked everything so that A Witches Heart works well as the start of the game, so the player can be dropped right in the action. Love it a lot I have to say.

All my main maps are done, all my main story dialogue is done. One more art scene and the main is done, then it’s all eventing. This week is going to be finishing off the main story, polishing all the database and fights, and once I’m happy with those I will be going back and populating the game with NPC’s and maybe the odd quest from them and stuff.

I’m glad I’ve finally properly figured out my dialogue and plot and I’m so happy with that.

Anyway, have another progress table!

Update 14

Sorry about no update yesterday (though I’m sure you were all glad for the rest. Lol. I’ve been coming down with a cold over the last few days, sore throat, mouth and feeling so tired and worn out. But I did manage some work yesterday, and today.

The big final cut scene is done, I would love if I was able do proper art or animation, because I think the final scene would have looked 100% better is it was done in pics or awesome animation. But ah well, I work within my limitations!

So. I now have the main part of the story nearly finished. Two more scenes and it’s done. Then I’m gonna play about with the database and add in NPC’s and some story information and stuff. It’s a long old job, but somebodies gotta do it. Lol.

I also played about with my world map (as I am slowly building the world of Thorntop, I feel that making maps really helps me come to grips with the world, it’s looks, customs and stories. Haven’t finished all of Istolia, but am making good progress at least!




My IGMC game takes place only in Istolia Valley, the Great Jungle and anything below the Kings City has not been fully added because I’m still figuring out where the rest of the game should go after the Jungle and Swamp area.

I’m still hoping to have everything done by the end of this week so I can spend the last week fixing the bugs and adding in little flourishes. I’m also hoping to have some videos of battles and some gameplay by the end of the week.

I would also love to make a trailer, but am not too sure how that would work. I mean, what do you add to a trailer? I really need to learn this stuff. Lol.

Hope you’re all having fun. So many of you are making amazing stuff! I literally don’t have time to list you all, but I am so impressed by everyone here so far, and am getting really nervous by how good all your work looks and sounds!

Until next time!

Update 15

Somehow, and I truly have no idea how, I appear to have actually finished.

I’m not going to lie, I was terrified to play it through in case there were any game breaking bugs, but I made myself and I haven’t found any. The whole thing seems to work ok. Now all I have to do is get some play testers to run through it and tell me if they think it’s too hard/easy. And if they find anything I’ve missed! (If you would like to be a play tester please let me know)

So… Now what do I do? Aside from playtesting the hell out of it, and seeing what I can do to polish what I have so far of the game. But chapter one of A Witches Heart is complete, and hopefully anyone playing it will see it’s potential.

But seriously! What am I supposed to do now? I’ve never before finished my IGMC game with so much time to spare! I’m feeling a bit lost now.

Have a really bad trailer.

It's weird because the font color should be white by default. Check in the settings in the scripts you are using. Else (it's been a long while since I've used VXA) it should be something like "\c[0]" to make it white but that will be time consuming as you will have to place them in every show text command.

Yeah... White would be perfect. How on earth can I fix this. I'll have a look

The font color caught my eye immediately in that trailer too.
The default font color is NOT white. It's the first color on your windowskin's color palette. I suppose that color is changed on your windowskin, that's why you get that dark one instead of the usual white.

I can't see any of your screenshots unless I reload the page several times, btw. Not sure if it's the way you link them, the image hosting site itself, or it's something on my end.
Judging by the amount of blocked ads when I open this page, I have a feeling that my ad-blocker is blocking that site and any links to it.
Just wanted to let you know. It's probably not your fault, but it might be good to know how others see your posts about your game.

I will be honest here... The main reason I checked this topic is the project's name.
I am by no means an expert in English grammatical rules, but this title sounds weird to me. Maybe because English is not my native language.
I just want to make sure what this title means exactly, for my own sake, because it's driving me nuts. :D
So, is this the equivalent to "A Witch's Heart", "The Witches' Heart", or something else?
If the "A Witches Heart" is really correct grammatically, than I learned something new, and I am thankful for that.

Sorry, this is probably not the thing you wanted to see from a post here, but I promise that I will play your game when it's released and give some proper feedback to make up for the disappointment from it. :D

Nope. Your right. It is not grammatically Correct and I did not notice that! Lol. May have to be changed. But thanks for coming into the thread anyway!

Lol. Thank you!

Update 16

Ok, so I’m currently bug fixing. I’m pretty sure I’ve address all the bugs my first testers found for me. I’m hoping it’s all of it anyway. Of course I will be getting more playtests done.

I have made some changes to the game that I felt weren’t working quite how I wanted them too. So I’ve been working hard. I’m a tad stuck at one ending scene because there’s no real way for me to show a scene that’s important with the sprites. If I was good at art I would draw it, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Anyway, what I’ve done today was overhaul the skill learn system, fully evented, and I’m quite happy with it. I’ve also removed the ability to access the skill learn system anywhere, you must now access it through a crystal in the main entrance of the Witch finders Keep. Which will hopefully force players to really consider their skills and options. I have also removed the Save option and made that a crystal as well.

I think it makes the game more interesting, but that might just be me. Lol.