Silhouettes of Mana

[Ringleader]

Silhouettes of Mana
A tear is only water, a sigh is only air...

This is a campaign I've been working on for a few weeks now. I've made a few maps before but this is really helping me improve my skills. I'm trying a lot of things I've never done before. The idea of making a campaign has been eating at me for a while, and I finally decided to do it. I'll be creating it all from scratch with some help from an experienced friend for the harder bits. The demo will be released with two maps, a playable level and a cinematic Prologue.

Taking all ideas for quests, abilities, bosses, etc.
Website may be coming soon, depending on demand.

Synopsis
The story of a royal Mage who is shown the destruction of humanity in a dream - He must overcome evil, make new allies and meet startling revelations before discovering his destiny.


Featuring
SoM has a number of great features designed to make your gameplay more enjoyable.

• An interactive and immersive storyline following the adventures of seven brave heroes
  on a journey to prevent the downfall of humanity.
• A host of original enemies, locations, spells and equipment.
• Carefully created battle systems; each character has their own role, whether it be
  healing, damage, defensive or support.
• Detailed scenery and cinematics, from cold steel dungeons to lush green forests
  and remote, expansive deserts.

Questing
As well as the main storyline, heroes will often have sidequests which further character development. As a group help defeat the fearsome Ogre Lord for your freedom, or move alone through the shadows and stalk your Assassin's Mark as the Thief. These quests are entirely optional but contain some great rewards that you can use in the main story.


Boss Battles
No straightforward bosses in this campaign; each boss will have some kind of tactic or strategy to beat. You'll be dodging pillars of fire, tangling with electric totems and flicking switches to stop enemy invulnerability - every boss is different!


Heroes

• Play as a cast of unique heroes, each with their own personality and sidequests.
• Characters may gain sixteen levels with five skills, including a powerful ultimate.
• Heroes will interact through the storyline, forge friendships and make enemies.
• A variety of abilities and equipment means no game will be the same. Completed the
  game using the Paladin as a healer? Give him a shield and try tanking!

Gallery
In-game screenshots and views from World Editor, take a sneak peek at the forthcoming demo.

• Darkiron Prison - Where the demo begins.
  
• Pyromaniac Boss Battle - Dodge the flamestrike!
  
• The Creeping Dark - Hope you like spiders.
  
• Trashfinders - Savage beasts! (Until you have something they want)
  
• Item Description Sample - Featuring drop rates, history and stat information.

Progress
Working on: Chapter 1: Shackles of the Order

Terrain: 70%
Triggers: 70%
Quests: 100%
Units: 90%
Balancing: 70%


Current Version: 0.8 Beta
Since: 26th June, 2008

Project Initiation: 23rd March, 2008

 

[linamus]

You should work a bit more with terrain, but afterall I like the concept - 8/10 good luck ;]



-------------------------
Best Ideas Comes When You're Not Thinking
The Land Of Wonders: http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=86883

 

[Ringleader]

Thanks! Can you suggest any improvements I could make to the terrain?

 

[Sooda]

Sounds interesting, I hope you will finish such a gigantic project.

 

[linamus]

Make more detalized terrain, like add some doodads, and try mixing tile types, this helps a lot




-------------------------
Best Ideas Comes When You're Not Thinking
The Land Of Wonders: http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=86883

 

[Ringleader]

Hey everyone, just a quick update. SoM is now on version 0.8, and with this comes new screenshots!

The playable map is almost complete, once I have the cinematics done the demo pack will be released (featuring a cinematic prologue and playable first level).

A new hero has been introduced, bringing the total to seven. Not to mention the guest characters that will cross your path!

Feedback is, as always, greatly appreciated.

 

[thewrongvine]

Wow... the thread looks so interesting. It makes me want to pay just because of all those italicized words and stuff.

But yeah, the terrain is a bit... plain.

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=91609

is... um, my beginner terraining tut. Just some extra help...

Suggestions:

1) For bosses, it's a bit old - just going through obstacles (whether it be physical ones like dodging pillars of fires or it just be doing something to unlock vulnerability to the boss). Try something new, mix that idea in with something else. If I can think of a good idea, I'll tell you.

Until then, good luck. :thup:

 

[Ringleader]

Haha yeah, I can certainly hype something up.

About the terrain: I honestly don't know what's wrong with it. It's a prison, so it's hardly likely to have mountains or trees or rivers and whatnot. I have hundreds of doodads in the map and neither I or my beta testers have noticed a lack of detail with the surroundings. =/

I guess you'd just have to play the demo, maybe you might change your mind, I don't know. ^^;

There are more than just two bosses. For example, there's a boss battle where you have to "charge" your character with electricity and zap summoned water elementals. I really have a lot more ideas, but for the demo I wanted simple strategies that were newbie-friendly, then the strategies get progressively more difficult.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[131ackout]

Nice you're almost done..

About that screenshot of Darkiron Prison...

Shame on these people! Hahaha...

Good luck,

 

[UndeadDragon]

It sounds a fun concept.

Thread looks so professional...

I agree about the terrain though. It just looks too plain. I think that adding extra doodads, or at least a height difference in the map would make it look a lot better.

Good luck on this map :thup: