[Archaon]

Archaon is working on a game. A GRAND game of EPIC proportions.

What is the nature of this game, you ask?

Well, as you might have surmised, it is named "The Troubleshooter", and you can read some of the details on it below.

Mission Statement

This is a semi-parody/comedy game. It is designed to poke some harmless fun at the various aspects of roleplaying games, and indeed games in general, whilst (hopefully) still providing a reasonably entertaining plot and a fun, enjoyable overall gaming experience.

Plot

The multiverse of video games is a curious phenomenon indeed. The dimensional borders that exist between game worlds are thin enough that the beings contained within them are aware of the characters living in other worlds, but strong enough to keep each world discrete, completely sealed off from one another. You won't ever see Sonic the Hedgehog stomping Goombas in the Mushroom Kingdom, nor is Samus Aran, heroine of the Metroid universe, ever likely to find herself exploring the fields of Hyrule.

At least, not until recently, when the dimensional barriers began to weaken and dissipate.

Nobody is certain what brought this about. However, it is likely related to the sudden appearance of a mysterious substance known as "Glitchfire". This eerie, scintillating mist has a catastrophic effect on both living and inert matter in the video game world, causing horrible fractures in its very existence, then filling the gaps with the essence of other game worlds, spawning warped, chimeric landscapes and freakishly mutated creatures, many of which are rendered incurably insane.

Worse still, some of the more villainous characters have embraced Glitchfire, learning to harness its dark, chaotic power and using it to merge with like-minded evildoers to become super powered hybrids that even the mightiest of heroes struggle to fight off.

The result is total apocalyptic mayhem, the likes of which the multiverse cannot withstand. If it continues, all will be laid to ruin.

There is but one sliver of hope.

Sealed deep within an ancient labyrinth is a sacred weapon known as "The Debugger", created long ago as a precaution against this very disaster. It has the power to cleave through Glitchfire, purging it from the land and undoing its ill effects, restoring order to the world once again.

However, only one being is capable of wielding the Debugger; a single, divine warrior hailing from a dimension that remains a mystery to the residents of the video game multiverse.

The dimension of "reality".


None of this is known to you as a powerful thunderstorm rouses you from your slumber in the middle of the night. As far as you are concerned, video games are nothing more than an entertaining pastime with which you have an unhealthy obsession. However, as you muddle blearily through your decrepit, dilapidated apartment searching for something to occupy your time till the morning, you will soon realise that there is far more to these seemingly innocent virtual worlds than you ever could have imagined.

Game World

The game world of "The Troubleshooter" is, in a manner of speaking, "the game world". It takes place in an epic amalgam of video game locations, fused together by the chaotic influence of Glitchfire and often warped into twisted parodies of themselves. Chaos reigns supreme, with corrupted, bloodthirsty monsters running amok and geography seemingly having a mind of its own. Worse, there seems to be no telling when and where the Glitchfire will strike next; it appears to come and go as it pleases, and only a scant few safe locations remain. Even then, they are unlikely to remain safe for very long. Those who have not embraced the anarchy are rapidly beginning to lose hope.

This is not "post-apocalypse"; this IS apocalypse. The only question is, can it be stopped?

Characters
This is just a small selection of the multitude of characters that will appear in the game, as party members and otherwise. I may add more as time goes on, but I don't want to give away too much. Please note that listed skills/overdrives are not finalised, and are likely to change over time.

You

A student by name, but not really by nature. Your overwhelming obsession with video games has seriously compromised both your studies and your social life, and your part-time job as an assistant in a gaming store is the only thing allowing you to scrape by and feed your habit.

Recently, you have begun to experience strange dreams, dreams so vivid that you often have to take a moment to assure yourself that none of them are real after awakening. In these dreams you see visions of the worlds of the games you have played, peaceful and normal one moment and warped beyond comprehension the next. In others, you drift through an endless, dark void whilst quiet voices whisper in your head, asking you questions about yourself; questions that you invariably feel compelled to answer.

You have tried to shrug these occurrences off as a mere side-effect of your frequent gaming, but a small part of your mind that you are unable to silence insists, constantly, that there is something more to them. Perhaps your mental health is at stake, or perhaps it is something else...

What is in store for you? Will you fulfil your destiny, or are you simply falling inexorably towards a "Game Over"?

Bobby

Bobby the Bob-Omb is not a happy bunny. Although most Bob-Ombs are simple-minded creatures not predisposed to pondering the nature of their existence, Bobby was born (don't ask) with an unusually keen mind, and quickly found himself growing thoroughly discontent with his inescapable role as a living explosive device.

The whole "Armageddon" thing hasn't done much to improve his mood.

Bobby is cynical, world-weary and somewhat foul-mouthed, but when you get right down to his highly volatile gunpowder core, he's not really a bad guy. He just has a short fuse.

Bobby's normal attacks might not pack much of a punch, but he more than makes up for that with his explosive skillset. Pick anything in his repertoire and watch as he obliterates your foes, but be warned; these abilities are costly. Exploding takes a lot out of a guy, after all.

SKILLS:
Short Fuse: Lowers DEF, but increases ATK and AGI.
Dud: Greatly boosts DEF, but Bobby cannot explode for the remainder of the battle. Use with caution.
Wind-up: Adds damage to next explosion attack.
Explode: A high-powered attack that punches through armour.
Incendiary Bomb: Deals heavy fire damage and enemy continues to burn over time.
EM Bomb: Stuns mechanical enemies.
Chemical Bomb: Inflicts poison damage and status effects.

OVERDRIVES:
Bombing Run: Attacks all enemies with an explosion.
Antimatter Bomb: Inflicts a massive MP drain.
Neutron Bomb: Heavy damage to all enemies with a chance of severe poisoning.
Bomb Squad: Ultimate overdrive. Summons a Bob-Omb horde to destroy all foes.

Navi

Yes, it's that Navi. The infamous, oh-so helpful fairy sidekick from "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time."

As patient and compassionate of a hero as Link may be, he is still only flesh and blood, and so it should come as no surprise that he has long since ditched Navi as an utterly insufferable nuisance. With little else to do with her life, she now seeks out other potential candidates to "assist" by alerting them to painfully obvious threats and distracting them at inopportune moments.

Unfortunately, not everyone is as tolerant as Link is, and what with the Glitchfire cataclysm threatening to consume the world, tempers are rising high. Also, flyswatters seem to be going for really cheap these days. Suffice it to say, she hasn't had an awful lot of luck.

Navi may be annoying, but at least in battle you can direct her towards your adversaries. She can harass, befuddle and enrage enemies, keeping them occupied while you busy yourself with chopping them up. Her ability to heal is not to be sniffed at either, and her small size makes her very difficult to hit.

SKILLS:
Distract: Lowers DEF of one enemy.
Heal: Restores HP of one party member.
Irritate: Causes one enemy to attack Navi to the exclusion of everyone else.
Infuriate: Inflicts Berserk status.
Mass Heal: Restores HP of all party members.
Z-Targeting: Affected enemy can no longer evade.
Bewilder: Inflicts Confusion status.
Fairy Resurrection: Restores one ally to life with full HP.

Kid Chameleon

A noble knight. A cunning samurai. A vicious axe-murderer. Kid Chameleon is all of these things, and more.

Years of assuming alternative personalities at the drop of a hat (in a very literal sense) have left Kid Chameleon with a severe case of "identity crisis", and he has begun to wonder if the tough, coolheaded teenaged boy that conquered an evil virtual reality game and freed countless other kids from its clutches is truly the real him.

This has been severely exacerbated through his witnessing of the effects of Glitchfire. Being unsure of himself was bad enough, but being unsure of the whole world and everyone in it as well has all but unhinged him. Will he be able to overcome his inner turmoil and collect himself enough to aid the Troubleshooter in saving the world? Only time will tell.

Kid Chameleon is an extremely versatile character, able to draw on the abilities conferred by his numerous power helmets to adapt to almost any situation. You won't regret making him a part of your group.

SKILLS:
Knight's Valour: Boosts DEF.
Samurai's Skill: Boosts AGI.
Murderer's Wrath: Boosts ATK.
Cyclops' Focus: Boosts SPI.
Berserker Rage: Huge ATK boost, but also inflicts berserk status.
Diamond Shield: Halves inflicted damage for one ally.
Cyclone's Gale: Blows one enemy out of combat.
Diamond Wall: Halves inflicted damage to all allies.

OVERDRIVES:
Skycutter's Charge: Attacks one enemy. Heavy damage.
Diamond Rain: A hailstorm that strikes enemies repeatedly throughout the battle.
Maniaxe's Slaughter: Throws many axes at random enemies.
Juggernaut's Skullstorm: I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH. Ultimate Overdrive.

Simirror

Simirror is an rather vain and self-absorbed individual, which is really only natural when you spend so much time around mirrors. An inordinate amount of time, in fact; Simirror's obsession with mirrors and reflective surfaces of any kind borders on the fetishistic. He fancies himself to be a inspired poet, a refined artiste, and a variety of other things that he really doesn't even come close to being.

One thing he definitely is, though, is an extremely talented magician. If you don't mind putting up with his egocentricity, Simirror will make a potent addition to your party.

SKILLS:
Mirror Blast: Standard magical attack. Hits one enemy.
Looking Glass: Boosts Hit% of all allies.
Bad Luck: Sharply lowers Luck of one enemy.
Reflect: Bounces magical attacks back to the user. Affects one ally.
Invisibility: Enemies attacking an invisible character always have at least a 50% miss chance. Affects one ally.
Mass Reflect: Casts Reflect on all allies.
Mass Invisibility: Take a wild guess.
Hall of Mirrors: Confuses all enemies.
Improved Reflect: Reflects both magical and physical attacks. Only works once!

OVERDRIVES:
Mirror Clone: Summons a weaker copy of Simirror to fight for you.
Mirror Copy: Summons an identical copy of Simirror.
Self-Reflection: Summons an improved copy of Simirror.
Infinite Regress: Ultimate overdrive. Bombards all enemies with non-elemental magic.

Kano

He may be a brutal, backstabbing cur with an unquenchable mercenary spirit, but even Kano knows when a situation has become bad enough for men like him to put aside some of their more malicious tendencies for a while and try to set things right.

Kano is probably only interested in stopping the Glitchfire cataclysm in the name of self-preservation, but he values his own hide enough that this will be just enough to ensure his loyalty, should you manage to earn it. If you do then be prepared to sit back and watch him pummel your enemies into a bloody pulp with quick-fire combos and devastating finishing moves.

SKILLS:
Knife Throw: Inflicts a set amount of damage according to knife equipped, regardless of DEF.
Cannonball: A high-damage, inaccurate attack.
Knife Salvo: Throws knives at all enemies.
Uppercut: Removes one enemy from battle.
Shredder: Hits one enemy repeatedly with knife.
Lasik: Inflicts fire damage and reduces target's accuracy.
Cannonball Storm: Cannonball attack that hits all enemies randomly.
Spider Crush: Inflicts heavy poison damage and drains HP.

OVERDRIVES:
Dial-A-Combo: Input a button sequence for a three-hit combo.
Button Mash: Input a button sequence for a seven-hit combo.
Brutality: Input a button sequence for an 11-hit combo.
Fatality: Ultimate overdrive. Huge damage with a chance of instant death and light showers.

Please note that due to the damnable character limit, I've had to split this post in two. You can find the rest of it towards the bottom of this page.

[Solid Krono]

Sounds awesome man, I'll have to check it out.

[D-Lux]

In the bathroom, there's a part of the floor which has an invisible object. I'm guessing it's the game system? It took me to the Bob-omb dude and we fought stuff. Now anytime I go up or down, he's in my way so I can't go right. I'm stuck on the left wall now.

[Archaon]

Ah, crap. I could have sworn I got rid of that thing.

Don't interact with it. It was my first draft of the introduction, and it'll take you to a horribly messed up map.

The games console is just to the right of the TV.

[Archaon]

I'd just like to go ahead and issue an apology to anyone who actually deigned to download the demo in the first post.

It was pretty terrible. It didn't seem that way to me at the time because I was excited about it and I was only just starting out; I'm sure at least some of you know how that can be.

However, you have my assurances that I am working my armour-plated arse off to redeem myself and improve it, and to demonstrate this, I offer a before/after screenshot.

Forest before:


Forest now:


I will get this sucker whipped into shape, so bear with me.

[Sag Ee Mana]

Hey Archaon !
I see "VX", so...

Is it ok for you to use the limited tileset system of the VX version ?
Or do you use a program allowing to switch between an illimited number of tilesets ?
Because I'm on a project since few months, it becomes bigger and bigger and sometimes I'm disappointed with the ABCDE (E=free one) tileset.

Downloading now your demo, I'm happy to try other people stuff.
Yesterday, I was creating a piano system like in FFVII (Tifa), so we can play a lot of things, and if we play a specific theme, we get a reward ^^. That was interesting to make.
Last day, it was the "steal" command...
RPG Making is really awesome to do, even if sometimes I see the life itself like a world of switches xD
Oh, about your screenshots, do you intend to make some fog maybe ? You should create a "fog" image and put twice your image in a large one. After you "slide" the image until it goes to the 2nd one, so the screen seems to "reset" the image. Then you loop it.
If it's only night, the first screen seems to be a good idea too.

Ok, let's try your game !

Wow, I love your ATB system ! We can even see the monsters HP at the top on the screen. Good stuff. Question : can we hide their life points if we want ? (ex : for a Boss !)
That's really better than the one I use :

(yeah I'm a frenchy)

[Archaon]

Wow. How long has that response been there fore? (YES I KNOW I CAN JUST LOOK AT THE TIMESTAMP IT IS A RHETORICAL QUESTION)

In answer to your questions:

1. I'm using a script that allows me to use as many tilesets as I need.
2. I have added fogs since the creation of this topic, yes.
3. Yes, life points can be hidden (as far as I know) and I intend to do so.



Just dropping in to say that no, I have not forgotten about this project, and yes, I am still working on it. I also put a fancy new trailer together. Check it out here.

The improved demo is on its way, so watch this space. Or don't, if you've been badly disillusioned by my first meagre attempt, for which I would not blame you.




Player Classes

(The class system is very much up in the air at the moment. Consider this the 'alpha' stage.)

At the start of the game, you are asked whether you want to align yourself with Nintendo or Sega. This, in turn, will affect the class choices you are presented with, as well as certain dialogues and other, miscellaneous parts of the game. The classes as of the time of writing are as follows:

NINTENDO KNIGHT
This class focuses on pure attack power and has access to many skills and abilities that improve its damage output. As you level up as a Nintendo Knight, you will receive bonuses to your Critical chance, techniques that add various types of elemental damage to your weapon, powerful strikes that can pierce the defences of any foe, and more.

NINTENDO WIZARD
AKA: Blasty McBlastwell. If the idea of incinerating enemies en masse with fireballs, crushing them with the force of the earth and calling lightning down upon them from the heavens gets you all excited, the Nintendo Wizard is for you. This is the "attack" oriented spellcaster, focusing on elemental damage and general blow-uppiness. Be warned, though, that the Nintendo Wizard is the most frail of all the classes, having very low HP and DEF. Keep them safe.

NINTENDO DOCTOR
The Nintendo Doctor is your one-stop healing shop, able to restore HP, cure status effects of all kinds, and even donate their MP to other characters. This class has access to the Pharmacology ability, which doubles the effect of recovery items and ensures that their healing potential isn't exhausted with their MP. They can also use the Diagnose skill, which gives a detailed readout of an enemy's status, as well as adding them to the Bestiary.

NINTENDO NINJA
A lightning-fast warrior that strikes from the shadows. The Nintendo Ninja is the only player class with access to the Hide ability, which allows them to evade physical attacks like nobody's business. Attacking whilst hidden will make you visible again, but you'll also get a hefty boost to damage from the Ninja's Sneak Attack ability. You'll also have access to FORBIDDEN NINJA ARTS, which include poison use, certain magical spells and the ability to escape easily from a battle gone wrong.

SEGA CRUSADER
The Sega Crusader is the toughest of all the classes, able to soak up a tremendous amount of damage even without putting its defence-boosting skills to use. As they level up, they become able to shield their allies from incoming blows, shrug off status effects and even become temporarily invincible. Their physical attacks are also powerful, although not as much as those of the Nintendo Knight.

SEGA MAGE
While the Nintendo Wizard focuses almost exclusively on blasting foes, the Sega Mage is a more versatile spellcaster, able to enhance their allies with numerous beneficial spells as well as maintaining a degree of the Wizard's raw power. They are also more sturdy than their Nintendo variant, although it still wouldn't be wise to let them get hit too often.

SEGA MEDIC
The Sega Medic can still heal allies, although not quite as effectively as the Nintendo Doctor. However, they make up for this with a variety of biochemical attack skills, allowing them to bombard their enemies with deadly viruses. Like the Doctor, they have access to Pharmacology and the Diagnose skill.

SEGA PIRATE
Arrr. If accumulating wealth is your first priority then look no further than the Sega Pirate. Not only can they use the Steal skill to pilfer valuable items from your enemies, but they are also the only class with access to the Loot ability, which increases the amount of gold you receive after battles.

Increasing profits isn't all the Pirate is capable of, however. They are also capable combatants, with a moderately powerful physical attack and access to various water-based spells.

Power-Up System

Rather than utilising the standard Weapon/Armour/Shield/Boots system, The Troubleshooter instead uses "power-ups", which are all-purpose accessories that can be equipped in any slot. The majority of power-ups can be used by anyone, but certain unique items are only usable by individual characters. Such power-ups are very rare and often greatly boost the power of the character using them, so be sure to seek them out.

XP Bank System

With the amount of characters that will be available in the game, you might be concerned about the issue of grinding. Do you really want to have to go off and spend hours "levelling up" just so you can get that new character you just met up to speed and start using them? Probably not.

For this reason, The Troubleshooter makes use of an "XP Bank". At a certain point in the game, the option will become available to you to send up to 50% of the experience you gain in battle into the Bank, whereupon it can be re-allocated to any character you wish. Now it's even easier to stick with your favourites!

Other Features

- Huge roster of party members drawn from a wide variety of games, each given their own entertaining characterisation and unique abilities.
- Chrono Trigger-style Dual Tech system, allowing characters you'd never have expected to see on the same screen to team up and dispatch their foes with powerful skills.
- Do battle with a massive array of Glitchfire-corrupted enemies, including that most fearsome of throwaway minions; the Waddle Deemon.
- Explore familiar territory in a whole new way. See Hyrule, Zebes, the Green Hill Zone and many more locations as you've never seen them before.
- Create your own avatar to take on your adventure. Choose your name, gender, class and (if I can get it to work) appearance.
- Bring a smile to your face with amusing character interactions and dialogue.

Screenshots

Apartment by night.


Visiting the inn.


Exploring the verdant woods.


New battle look, showing the protagonist having chosen the Sega Pirate class.

MUSIC BY:
Malice Mizer/TheScreamer
Sega
Masahiro Andoh
Sung-Woon Jang
Kenji Ito
Yoshitaka Hirota


DEMO

Download it here.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS DEMO IS OLD. IT CONTAINS A LOT OF BUGS AND IS NOT ACCURATELY REPRESENTED BY THE SCREENSHOTS AT ALL. I hope to have this rectified in the near future.

TRAILER
Troubleshooter Trailer.

[The Pezman]

How many steps down is RPGMaker from actually coding a game?

I've some experience with XNA. One of these days, I WILL code a game...

[42]

I like where this is headed, it's like Brawl meets Final Fantasy
Needless to say, I was sold at Nintendo Ninja.

[Archaon]

Originally Posted by The Pezman

How many steps down is RPGMaker from actually coding a game?

That depends on how much fancy stuff you plan to tack on. If you're just going to use the absolute default system then the answer is "pretty far down". A small amount of coding experience would be helpful in understanding the intricacies of loops and variables, but otherwise, you're basically just clicking on what you want to happen, when and where.

If you're going to do something like rebuild the whole battle engine from the ground up, however (which is entirely possible) then it would be fairly code-intensive.

That's what I've found I like about the program. You still have a good portion of the freedom you would have in programming a game from scratch, but the basic system is there for you. You don't have to worry about the simplest of things like generating maps or getting your player to move around.

Originally Posted by 42

I like where this is headed, it's like Brawl meets Final Fantasy

The idea actually came to me in a dream wherein I witnessed the Light warriors of Final Fantasy I engaged in a battle with Meta Knight, so this is perhaps more accurate than you realised.