The Discipline Thread... And More!

[Shurikane]

A quick text about the "magic"

There isn't magic in the game per se. What there is instead is a set of standardized Disciplines, roughly derived from the modern concept of psychic powers. This means I am halfway between reality and Dragon Ball Z.

This is why elementals can't exist for example, since I don't go strictly by the tradition of good ol' D&D magic and stuff. Yes, there's fire, ice, wind and earth there's six more of these so-called "elements" (referred to as Damage Types): Electricity, Body, Force, Psycho, Astral, and Faith. Each type is coupled with another, in so that you cannot learn Disciplines that are opposite to each other. So this means I'm not allowed to learn fire and ice at the same time. Game-wise, learning a Discipline will make you resistant to its damage type, but more vulnerable to its opposite - everything's relative. BUT! Some Disciplines have no assigned damage type. Instead, the type is determined for each attack skill. Circa Jewel is an example.

As a player, you are allowed to learn up to three Disciplines. One main, and two secondaries. The two secondary Disciplines can only be learned up to level 2, and the skills may be no higher than level 10 each. As a reference, a Discipline has 7 levels and each skill has 20 levels.



The monsters

Instead of uploading the sheet (which is still under development) I will be posting a quick list of the types of monsters out there:

-Human
-Mutant (that's a wide category. Can include abnormal humans, anthro animals, etc.)
-Reli (For PSO players, this is the equivalent to Dimenians and Delsabers. For others, imagine a crossbreed between an Alien and an android.)
-Android
-Negative (These are evil versions of you, in a sense. Most negatives are met as bosses.)
-Astral (Includes ghosts, wraiths and other supernatural beings.)

[BWS-1]

*twitch

Impressive! Dude, if you need beta testers for that, I wouldn't mind being one of them. I have plenty of times to do that anyway

...

*reads the weapon file

OMG, I know what weapon I'll be after at the beginning of the game

Hmm, now I'm wondering what I should be: Traditional, Samurai, or Spy ... tsk tsk, decision decision hmm.

[Shurikane]

I doubt beta testing will come anytime soon. My plan is to have the whole thing 3D. And to do 3D, you need a shitload of knowledge to build your engine and get the whole thing working.

[BWS-1]

Patience is a vertue ... and I am patient ... I only wish I could contribue in some way <_< ... hmm, I know my friend was dying to work for ubisoft as soundman, ya know, the guy that makes the game sound cool. Maybe he could help. I'll have to talk to him.

[Shurikane]

If I submit my stuff to UbiSoft, kill me! O.O Like they are right now, those guys couldn't even pull a good game out of their ass. If anything I'd like to stick with the true and tested, like Blizzard or Bioware.

[BWS-1]

[Shurikane]

TODAY: Experience, Monsters, Bosses, and a POLL!

Now, the player is of course going to have to kick his stats up before he can tackle the big boys. There were two ways I could go at it: I could either use the classic leveling system we all know about, or I could go into an extreme Castlevania-style where you need to find items that will boost your stats, with no levels. Those who recall playing Harmony of Dissonance as Maxim know what I'm talking about. But Castlevania has proved to have the right balance: use levels, but put booster items too. And thus, leveling becomes more a formality than a chore.

The player starts at level 0. Yah, zero! To get to level 1, the player will need to get 100 XP. The XP neeed for the next level is then multiplied by 1.07. Thus, it goes to 107, then 114, then 123, and so on and so forth. Everything's rounded off BTW. You can get to level 500 this way. The levels here will be smaller, quicker, and will reward less than traditional RPGs. Getting to level 500 will require 45,973,235,008,602,800 XP. And that's starting from level 499! If you start from scratch, at level 500 you'll have racked up a grand total of 702,733,735,131,498,000 XP!!

Next comes leveling up in your psychic skills. That's a different story altogether. I can't do like in Diablo II where you get a skill point per level gained. Try imagining a barbarian casting some rolling thunder and you get where it bugs. So, to save the day, here comes Discipline Experience and Discipline Levels. The basics are the same except that you need 50 DXP to get to level 1. The leveling goes up to 1000 here, but don't think you'll get all the way there. First, the DXP to get there is immense (11,307,430,103,785,800,000,000,000,000,000 DXP just to gain it) and anyways you won't have 1000 skill levels to use. Here's why: each Discipline has 33 skills, and each skill has 20 levels. 33 X 20 = 660. The remaining skills are those of your secondary Discipline, meaning those skills can only get to level 10. The remaining 340 levels are there for that, meaning you could technically max out up to 34 secondary skills. However, you'll never have that much. Some skills depend on Discipline Level though, so working your way to 1000 can be good!

To gain DXP, you can do either of those two things: One, you go and fight. Each SP spent on doing a skill will give you DXP, providing you hit the monster with it and at least one of the skill's effects works. This also works for defense skills, some general skills, and monster-hindering support skills. The second method is by buying your DXP. A master trains you and you gain your DXP this way, fast and easy.

--------------DA MONSTERS!--------------

I already gave a brief description of monsters before. Now's the time to get specific. PLEASE, if you have any ideas for monsters, no matter how generic they are, tell me about it! Here's a list of the more interesting monsters I've thought up so far...

DESERT RUNNER
A tan-colored humanoid lizard mutant, which likes to rob travelers and caravans. Desert Runners live in closed-off communities and strongly believe in that the mutant race should rule the world.

URBAN LIZARD
This silver version of the Desert Runner is a bit weaker but has better weapons. You'll most likely meet those guys within abandoned buildings.

SKELETON ROBOT
The name says it all. A skeleton made of metal.

MILLENIUM KNIGHT
This tough and agile reli mofo has a saber for a left hand and a Diapason Sniper for a right hand. They're the Reli's main attack line, so be prepared to kill those guys often.

COLUMN SNIPER
A Reli monster armed with a long gun, standing on four legs and able to slide on the ground at will. Get too far, and he'll catch you with his gun. Get too close, and he'll attempt to swing one of its clawed legs at you.

RED COAT
Recall Juste Belmont from Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance? Well here's the dark version of him. A humanoid Reli monster wearing a red coat and using a battle hammer.

CANNON DOG
This part-organic metal canine has a beam cannon for a head!

STREET DEFENDER
A giant robot with two rocket-shooting arms and puncher hands. This bot was originally used for war, now it's you against him! Ouch...

BLADE MASTER
The monster that gave android Shurikane her signature bladed hands! This quick Reli dude will grab you and tear you apart with its hands if you're not quick enough for him.

MAD GEAR
This weird android resembles a smaller version of the Dodge Tomahawk. It will attempt to run you over until death follows.

SHATTER
This really odd Negative looks like a woman's statue, which will use its innate powers of Earth to attack. Land a hit on her, and she'll break apart only to re-materialize at a safer distance from you.

CALLER SPIRIT
This astral being is able to control huge machines with her sheer will. Able to teleport all over the place, she's quite a hard one to hit, but when she drops dead, so does the whole animation going around you.

BLACK JUNKER
An android design from Department Twisted. Standing on coupled legs and with the face looking halfway between a skull and an Alien, it will use its twin guns to shoot you down before you can land your hit.

EYE GUN
This caterpillar android has twelve arms and sneaks up on walls and ceilings, using its tail-mounted gun to catch you. It loves to stick in dark areas since its black body merges with the scenery.

USHAKU
This dude looks much like Dark Falz from PSO: messed-up proportions, vortex cape, and a long sword embedded in each arm.

--------------DA BOSSES!--------------

Of course, I keep the most twisted designs for the bosses!

ICARUS
A wolf gifted with six wings and the ability to talk. Unfortunately, he isn't friendly...

KODE FUTURE
This dark man inhabits the terrifying dungeons of Meathook Boulevard and often attacks lone rangers in the Middle Eastern desert. He then proudly displays his trophies in his lair. Master of dark powers and wielding a pole completed by two diamond-edged chainsaws, he fights with immense aggressivity.

AIMAN VOLTAR
He'll fight only if requested to. The leader of the Reli Millenium Knights, Aiman is one of the few Relis to be gifted with a soul and thus the ability to think for himself. With his humanoid appearance, he could easily pass off as a mutant, but don't be fooled. He fights with skills only a Reli monster could use.

NOVEMBER ECHO
This sweet young woman is gifted with so many psychic powers, Uri Geller would get a hard-on. Able to control two guns at once with her mind, she lives within an abandoned submerged city.

PLATFORM 9
This android controls an entire oil rig for himself. He thus mans all the protector cannons and systems leading up to the top floor where he resides. And it's not over yet. Platform 9 will then attempt to blow you up by using his massive tank gun at point-blank range.

NIGHTHAWK & WHITE JULIA
Those beautiful twin androids are rumored to share a strong telepathic connection. They work in perfect coordination, using the accuracy of their sniper guns to get the better of you.

GEAR ARSENAL
You are standing on a vertical circular platform. Above you is a circular machine with eight different weapons: laser, beamer, bomb dropper, machine gun, lightning gun, energy gun, saber, and hammer. Destroy all the components to escape.

THE ENTRAPMENT
You're surrounded by a circular wall of spinning blades! Sometimes, part of the wall will move towards the center and take the shape of an android, who'll attempt to strike you with a long sword. Destroy the android to disassemble the Entrapment.

SHURIKANE Z
This zombified android has mastered the Pain Cannon, the ultimate weapon of hate. Destroy her before she can use her cannon on you, or else you'll pay dearly...

SHRIKE B
A female zombie who can bleed infinitely! She'll use her blood powers to infect you will all sorts of diseases.

SHRIKE R
One of the toughest bosses on the grid, simply because she's a secret boss. Shrike R is armed with a dual laser sword with each blade six feet long. She can teleport, dash, summon, fly, or even roll on top of you since her head and back are adorned with long sharp spikes! But most likely, she'll kick your ass using her ultra-powerful sword comboes, or maybe she'll throw it like a boomerang, or maybe she'll explode only to re-appear somewhere else, or she'll do mad sword spins since her hands can do full rotations forever without a sweat. And if that isn't enough, she can also accomplish the Neverbird: a quick and powerful beam that takes your resistance to Wind damage as a vulnerability! Yes, that's right. So if you are 50% resistant to Wind, get ready to survive 150% the damage!

RICOCHET BASE
A laser cannon mounted onto a wall. Several balls floating in the air at different locations. They will flash once in order, and then a laser will hop off the cannon, pass through the flashed balls, and come back to the cannon. Afterwards, the balls change places. Your goal: hop on a ball close to the cannon to attack it. When destroyed, the cannon spits out a trail of fire, passing through every sphere, destroying them, and coming back to finish off the cannon.

SHURIKANE LEGION
Picture this: you are within a sphere. And in the center is a huge mass of dead androids fused together in a ball. Embedded within the Legion: two immense circular saws. At first, the legion will attempt to shoot rays at you. It's not that bad, until you get through that stage. Afterwards, the Legion drops to the floor, and the nightmare begins: she will try to roll on top of you. She will loop at high speed and slowly change direction to sweep the entire sphere. She will loop the sphere's equator and suddenly drop to sweep over at you. She will suddenly split in two to fire a sweeping beam at you. And that's not all. Whenever she hits you, Shurikane's broken and mocking face flashes on your screen accompanied by a terrifying laugh. If that doesn't scare you, then what will?

MASTER
North America's main end boss. The president of Department Twisted, Master knows the inside and out of several skills and powers, and will merrily test them on you! He is 8 feet and 4 inches tall, his sword is seven feet long, he has a rapid-fire laser gun able to fire 300 rounds before empty, he can do an energy sweep all across the room, he can do dash-swings, he can use all ten damage types against you, and for style, he can also stab his sword through your body, and slam you on the floor with it. Ownage. To complete the stage: you are in a UFO-shaped room, and the walls are windows. Kinda dizzy for a landscape, since the room appears to travel at ultra-high speed while spinning.

--------------POLL!!--------------

Now for an important part. I have two choices as to what to do with the core design of the game. What should I plan for?

A) 3D STYLE. This is much like Zelda 64, with skills and magic and all, and you will work your way using Zelda-like controls, and use guns like a Quake or Unreal player. Though very effective, it will require engine, lots of programming, and a lot of planning.

B) 2D PLATFORMER. This will resemble Castlevania. The good thing is that you don't need to bother yourself with complex 3D models and fancy maps. However, that means you will either have to make sprites, or do away with some of the fancier appearances. Though the scenery won't be 3D, we can always do impressive backgrounds, something we can notice in the Castlevania GBA games if you recall. It will also allow for easier planning and coding of skills. However, no 3D means it's harder to aim guns, and it's also a little on the bad side for 360-degree hit skills.

So, what shall I do?

[BWS-1]

I'd go for the Zelda 64 engine-style ... Ok it might be a pain in the arse to manage to do it right, and do it with style, but hell, I think it's one of the best 3D adventure game engine we have out there!

[Shurikane]

New discipline: Soul!

This one's for all you hardcore psychic power fans. There's just one amendment on it. The skills Field Sense will be replaced by something to absorb SP, since someone who intends on mastering Soul will be like the team's fuel tank and stuff.

http://www.geocities.com/mistertabarnak/Soul/Soul.htm

[Shurikane]

Here, I uploaded a new version of Soul, with the skill tre this time. I luvz it! ^.^ It looks so well-ordered and harmonious!

Now for a bittersweet: Reli-Style Holy.

http://www.geocities.com/mistertabarnak/Soul/Reli-Style_Holy.htm