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[stocki]

Hi there!

Brief Introduction of the Project

I am currently working on a project called Tales of Hymna - Death & Resurrection which is a Zelda-inspired action adventure game with RPG elements.

The project is part of my university work and will be worth 60 credits by the end of this academic year, which is why I obviously want it to be really really good. (No I'm not only doing this to get a better mark, but yes it is part of my motivation)

Anyway, I would be really really grateful if you could download and install the current demo version of the game and play it. A playthrough takes roughly 30 minutes depending on what your reading speed is like and whether you do any of the optional stuff.

The demo is available for download from: http://toh.stockerdesign.com/dr/download.html

Video

If you just want to have a look at what's included in the latest demo, please feel free to head over to YouTube, where a trailer-like video of it is available:



For those of you who like reading... A longwinded Introduction of the Project

Story Outline (taken from the project website)

"After the assassination of her parents the young Sofia is crowned empress of the country of Hymna, an archipelago of several islands scattered out on what its people call the Great Wide.

Soon after her succession to the throne the young empress meets Ariel Calvinoff who is the head of “The Union of Scientists”. He tells Sofia about his search for a mineral called "Fenn" that - after what he says - could be used to modernise Hymna and strengthen its defence.
Tempted by the idea of her being able to take revenge for her parent’s death she agrees to provide funds for Ariel’s research project.

It is by chance that George Montgomery discovers Ariel’s true intentions of taking over the kingdom of Hymna.

With the help of his former teacher, George tries to find a way to stop Ariel and embarks on a dangerous quest. On his journey he will not only learn about Hymna's past but will also be the one to shape its future."

Screenshots


In longer cutscenes, images are used to illustrate what's happening better.


The beginning of the game, George and his father James are waiting for a delivery of wood for James' shipyard.


Dungeons are full of traps, puzzles and enemies

Controls

In Tales of Hymna - D&R you control George using your mouse. Just move your mouse into the direction you want George to walk in, and he will follow it. If you want to talk to a person, or attack an enemy, just click and George will usually know what to do. Jumping is handled automatically, so just walk or run (which is what you do when you hold the left mouse button down) towards a ledge, and George will jump if he feels comfortable enough to do it. (well if I told him to... It's not like I'm an AI genius or anything. )

In the main menu you can use your keyboard to navigate between the different menus, but you can just as well use your mouse to do so. It works just like in any other application on your computer.

If you need to pause your game just press the "P" key on your keyboard at any time.
In case you want to return to the main menu, press "M" while you are in game.

The game is saved automatically after every map change, which means that you can always continue where you left off, even if your game crashes or if you die on a map.

System Requirements

The game runs on Windows Vista, 7, or 8 but not Windows RT and on Mac OS X Lion and Mountain Lion. (I would be really grateful if somebody could try and run it on Snow Leo, because it might work on this one too, I just haven't had a chance to test it)

You will also need at least:
200 MB of free disk space
512 MB of RAM (depending on your operating system and other tasks running in the background, the game might require more)

Open GL 3.0 compatible Graphics Card
Sound Card
Keyboard and Mouse

Attributions and Thank yous

All the music in the game comes from Kevin MacLeod.
I think he is an amazing musicien and if you like the music in the game please check out his website at http://www.incompetech.com/

All his music is licensed under the Creative Commons 3.0: Attribution licence and is free to use.
http://toh.stockerdesign.com/dr/credits.html

If you read all the way through to here: well done and thank you very much

I very much look forward to hearing how you like the game. I will be sure to listen to your feedback and make the game more fun to play over time.

[starsrift]

I didn't download, just watched the video.

A few points
- I liked the visual style
- Isometric jumping concerns me, even it is auto-triggered - see Ultima 8 for why. And if it's auto-handled by the engine, why include it?
- Movespeed seemed very slow. While you want to make movespeed slow enough to provide the player with a sense of travel and distance, you have to remember that moving around is idle time between action or story events that spike the player's interest.
- combat needs more UI feedback. Screenshake? Color flash? More sounds? More dramatic animation on hits? Something!
- I noticed some grammar errors in your text, you'll want to give it a pass-over or talk to one of the dirty hippy lib-art English majors to give it a once-over before you hand it in.

[stocki]

hi starsrift and thanks for your feedback,

- Movespeed seemed very slow. While you want to make movespeed slow enough to provide the player with a sense of travel and distance, you have to remember that moving around is idle time between action or story events that spike the player's interest.

I've ben told that a lot and will have to find the right balance still. As you said it is quiet hard to find the right balance but I'm trying.

- combat needs more UI feedback. Screenshake? Color flash? More sounds? More dramatic animation on hits? Something!

Good point, I'll think of adding some flashiness into the combat, when I get a chance to.

- I noticed some grammar errors in your text, you'll want to give it a pass-over or talk to one of the dirty hippy lib-art English majors to give it a once-over before you hand it in.

Oh yes definitely. I have all the text in external text files, which should make it easy to improve.

I will have a look at the jumping as well.

Thank you very much again