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Author Topic: ARCADIAN ATLAS  (Read 39625 times)
BBreakfast
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« on: April 06, 2015, 04:57:47 PM »




Arcadian Atlas is a 2D isometric tactical RPG set in the richly detailed pixel art world of Arcadia. Watch your footing & mind the elevations as you traverse the maps -- A turned back or tumble on the battlefield could cost you a friend’s life. Let the moody jazz soundtrack carry you through a thought provoking & ruthless story of love, deceit, murder, companionship & war. Meant to be a modern go at the Tactics Ogre / Final Fantasy Tactics game style, Arcadian Atlas was designed from the ground up to incorporate more challenging battle strategies, new & balanced job classes, and darker subject matter for a more mature audience.

  Featuring innovative job classes, character driven narratives that leave you invested & intrigued, strategic grid-based battles and a jazz infused soundtrack, Arcadian Atlas is a lushly handcrafted 2D isometric tactical RPG that takes the rich history of the genre and makes it modern.










The Hero:

Vashti Dahlman




Screenshots:


[newest mockup]


[first mockup ever]



Extras:







Log.



Interested?



No spam, just things like the musician announcements, future crew member additions, Greenlight/Kickstarter releases, and demo & official game release announcements will be sent to you.

Check us out online at www.arcadianatlas.com

Besides the official website where you can subscribe to blog post updates, you can also....

- You can check us out on IndieDB:

- You can "Like" us on Facebook: Arcadian Atlas on Facebook

- You can vote on our game concept at the Steam Concepts page: Steam Concepts

- You can follow me, Becca, (lead developer & artist) on Twitter: @TupelosHoney

- You can follow Taylor, the lead writer, on Twitter: @wtaylorbair
« Last Edit: February 20, 2018, 10:10:58 AM by BBreakfast » Logged

JWK5
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« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2015, 05:04:21 PM »

This looks really good, I will definitely have to keep tabs on it. I love a good tactics game!

What other classes do you have planned? How will the game differ (if at all) from TO & FFTactics? Are you going to add things like terrain and weather effects (obscuring rain reducing the range of bow/distance attacks, for example)?
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SrGrafo
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« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2015, 05:33:31 PM »

this looks really cool

are you doing the art and programing it?
also how are you planning the classes and jobs or subjobs or all that area?
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jamesprimate
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« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2015, 06:05:47 PM »

wow this sprite work is fantastic already!

and respect for keeping it real with this log:


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DarkWanderer
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« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2015, 06:15:22 PM »

Looks pretty cool, definitely a genre I wouldn't mind seeing more of.
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2015, 09:49:30 AM »

thanks for the feedback & support, everyone! Here's a raccoon bandit for you:



are you doing the art and programing it?

I'm the artist & currently the only one working in-game, though that may change soon. There's not too much programming to be done though because I'm using RPGMaker and tweaking some ready-made scripts with it.

What other classes do you have planned? How will the game differ (if at all) from TO & FFTactics? Are you going to add things like terrain and weather effects (obscuring rain reducing the range of bow/distance attacks, for example)?

The engine currently supports partial terrain/weather effects and will likely include things like a decrease in accuracy on ranged weapons before the game's release.

The plan is to start with 4 - 6 classes initially since there is so much stat balancing, skill planning, and so many art assets that have to be made per each job. We're trying to create starting classes that cover the basic needs of a battle (tank, healer, dps) without being cliche. For example, there's the Warmancer class which is a battle mage who specializes in rallying the troops with war buffs. As we develop the job classes we'll post the finished results here. :]

Edit: Looks like one of the sprites I put in my original post didn't work -- here's Wulff, the Queen's right-hand man:

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Faelim
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« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2015, 10:06:41 AM »

Tagging for awesome and because I'm really looking forward to what comes of this!
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RujiK
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« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2015, 11:00:18 AM »

Bandit raccoon is pretty dang groovy. I briefly dabbled with RPGmaker a few years ago, but I didn't know it could make tactics games.

Looking forward to some progression.
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Dewfreak83
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« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2015, 11:29:37 AM »

I always enjoy your tweets and artwork!

Looks like this new project has great potential - good luck!

What will the magic/skill system be like? What sort of customization can we expect?
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2015, 03:59:11 PM »

 Gomez Thanks guys! It's really great to see some interest in this project from the community.

What will the magic/skill system be like? What sort of customization can we expect?

- Currently we are researching various methods we can go with. There's a couple different JP & experience systems we're looking at, including the FFT style JP gaining system where you can "purchase" abilities using gained JP, as well as the Ragnarok Online method of fully customizable classes with ability points in various stat locations (STR, AGI, INT, etc). We will be able to provide more info on that in the coming months, so stay tuned!

For now, I've whipped up a logo we can use until we finalize the design:



More to come soon!
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2015, 10:44:57 AM »


trying out a hand-painted style for the text box portraits... it isn't complete yet, but do you guys like the new style of the left pic, or the original style of the right pic more?
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Cakeprediction
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« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2015, 10:49:48 AM »

The handdrawn portrait looks good, but kinda clashes with the overal pixel style of the game imo
« Last Edit: May 14, 2015, 09:51:54 AM by Cakeprediction » Logged

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« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2015, 10:51:09 AM »

The new style looks  better imo , but i also think it might clash with overall game visual.
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oldblood
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« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2015, 11:12:37 AM »

I think more indie games should try and break away from pixels. In an odd twist on what existed 5 years ago, it's now easier to make your game stand out when its NOT pixelart... Not condemning pixel art. Just notating my opinion.
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2015, 07:35:25 AM »

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Still undecided on which style of portrait to go with, so we'll have to see how they both look in-game before we make any decisions. Here's the finished portrait just for fun:


In the meantime, we've got the official website up! Be sure to subscribe to our blog posts to receive updates straight to your email! www.arcadianatlas.com
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #15 on: May 01, 2015, 04:51:03 PM »


Gif to show off the first battle location. You will move in a FFT grid-based manner during the actual gameplay so the screen jitter will not be present for that. Also font & UI is still a WIP.
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2015, 08:59:00 AM »

hope you guys like looking at art assets cause that's mostly what i'll be posting here  Shrug

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BBreakfast
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« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2015, 10:34:39 AM »



yup. some rocks.
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2015, 01:26:19 PM »

Our writer / my brother wrote up a dev blog post detailing the future plans for Arcadian Atlas:
(it can be found with all its original, pretty formatting here)

It's Dangerous to Go Alone





Don’t let our charming demeanor fool you. We’re totally selfish. As much as we love everyone (equally and fully and forever and ever), we’re making Arcadian Atlas for ourselves.
And that’s good, in fact. A certain amount of selfishness is to be encouraged, though maybe not applauded, in game design. The evidence doesn’t lie: people make better games when they want to play them themselves – it’s that creative drive so many developers feel when they start building something, digging their hands into the dirt to form that first brick. It’s gritty and tangible and glorious.
But our team is also older and wiser now – a lot of our towers of brick have fallen apart – and we know that it’s exceedingly dangerous to go alone. We are, at the end of the day, just a couple people lost in a ruin of bricks.
So we realized early on that this process depends wholly on community. Juggling full time jobs, developing a game, and seeing human beings in real life for at least five minutes out of each day takes a lot of effort, and we know we can’t survive this alone.
We need help.
Which is why we want to talk about our approach to Arcadian Atlas, and how you, the community, are an integral part.





Our Master(Sword) Plan

Link wasn't just born ready to bear the Master Sword. Nope, that lil’ dude had to work up to his big-boy-britches slowly, and our plan for Arcadian Atlas is much the same: a slow build.
All of game development is a juggling and allocation of resources – time and money being the most vital. We feel as developers that there’s nothing more important than transparency, so here comes a shocker: we have limited time and money.
I know, crazy right?!
Just like everyone else in the world, we have to make trade offs, which is why we want to focus the next few months on creating a strong foundation for Arcadian Atlas that, if the community is willing, can be built upon in some spectacular ways.
And, of course, there’s no better measuring stick for community interest than crowd funding. After all, people support what they love. So yes, somewhere down the line (likely in April 2016) we will be doing a Kickstarter for AA (alcoholics anonymous!? No.)
What does that mean for Arcadian Atlas? Well, it means it will get made no matter what happens – because we want it to be made – but we have to focus on telling the core story with the limited resources we have. That means it can be made faster and better (to our wildest, craziest, most nut-so expectations) if the community wants it.
So below you’ll find our approach to some of the main game design areas of Arcadian Atlas, including ways we want to expand the core ideas as we get more time and money for the full game.





Classes

We had a central concept in mind when approaching class design: character personality and class are linked. Almost everyone has classes in RPGs and tactics games that they identify with: some love the swashbuckling bravado of a thief, some the sheer power and pomposity of a mage. But whatever it may be, that class says something about us.
So we begin with 4 core classes that define that identity (more on these in later blog posts), which you choose at the outset of the game and develop, rather than switch. What this looks like in practice:

   - All skills are useful and have specific tactical applications in battle – no more stepping stone classes

   - Core classes have multiple approaches and play styles (want to sacrifice mobility for sheer power as a Ranger? Equip a longbow and invest in skills that take out foes with arrows designed to split armor. Or equip a recurve bow and go all-out Legolas on everyone – with beauty and grace, of course.)

   - Idea Expansion: create splitting specializations for each of the core classes that give players even more creative outlets for carnage; more core classes and splitting specializations for them!




Party Formation

Arcadian Atlas is about a tight-knit group of soldiers and the two people who lead them. Des and Vashti’s story is just as much the story of those they fight alongside. Loyalty, honesty, and the rigors of battle draw people together, so shouldn’t we have a say in the people we raise swords with?
That’s why we want players to have an option to mold their party (their ENTIRE party) according to their own wishes. No more random, take-what-you-get soldiers (unless that’s your thing). These people are your troops, your brothers and sisters in arms, which means you can decide who they are and how they fit into your army. What this looks like:

    - Tailor the classes of each of your troops

    - Permanent death – once gone, they’re gone forever, so tread lightly!

    - Idea Expansion: custom relationships between party members that give bonus skills and stats when in battle together; secondary party members that contribute to conversation based on the class and skills you’ve selected

    - Full Customization: ideally, we want to have hair styles, skin tones, and clothing styles customizable for each of your party members






Setting & Characters

Arcadia is a place of lush forests, ancient ruins, cliff-side villages, and snow-packed hovels. Each of these locations brings different tactical challenges: rivers raging too fast to cross, cliffs that put you at the mercy of enemy bows, and snow that a man could get lost in.
And that’s not to even mention the cutthroat inhabitants of Arcadia. From a disenfranchised princess dabbling in things she cannot hope to control, a soldier so torn between her family of blood and her family of war that she breaks, and the very human (and therefore brutal) story of a royal family born in lies and the terrible toll it takes on a kingdom. And that doesn’t even touch on the central plot.
But creating the art assets for all this takes lots of time and makes Becca’s hand curl up into a claw, so we’re focusing on the essential maps and sprites we’ll need to tell the storyline in the most economical way with the resources we currently have.
Going forward, we are excited about the following:

    
- Settings that show off the mesmerizing sights of Arcadia – maps and scenes that are a feast for the eyes

    - Characters that breathe, are rooted in reality, and speak to what is most true in human nature – both the beautiful and utterly depraved

    - Idea Expansion: more sprites, more maps, more story; expanded animations to bring character interactions to another level




The Road Ahead


So the next few months will see us forming that core experience, and we want you to be involved. We’ll be sharing screenshots, blogs about classes, skills, features, and story details, and gifs of Vashti slapping characters for our demented pleasure – all the while talking with the community about the things they love most about gaming.
Inspiration comes from everywhere, so throughout this process we want to hear from you.
Whether you’re a gamer, a fellow developer, press, or a cat puppet terrorizing Gametrailers.com, we want to chat. Shoot us an email or follow us on Twitter – because we spend a lot of time on Twitter. I mean really… way too much time on Twitter. It is neither healthy nor prudent.
But whatever you do, don’t be a stranger. Follow Becca on Twitter here and me here, and don’t be shy.
And did someone say PAX South?! I’ve heard some rumors… but that’s all I’m going to say for now.
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BBreakfast
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« Reply #19 on: May 20, 2015, 08:49:06 AM »

Ranger




The Ranger uses a variety of debilitating ranged attacks & weapons to take down their foe. Disabling the enemy through a knee shot or a poisoned bear trap are just a few of the ways you'll be able to gain the upper hand.
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