KickStarter Arcadian Atlas: FFT/Tactics Ogre inspired RPG

[Archibald]

Its not like only option here are "copy FFT or release hot garbage".

 

[breakfast]

Heya folks!

Let's work down the list of questions & concerns:

Siveon: Agreed on the scrolling, within the actual battle system the camera movements will be a lot more controlled and less jerk-y when you move up or down an elevation. We were considering releasing the map editor to the public, but it depends on whether or not we decide to make future games in the series or if there's any real demand for such a feature?

Damned Registrations: A little bit of all of these. Random battles will likely be kept moving along by limiting the number of monsters & units on the field. We've also been brainstorming a lot of different types of battle objectives to ensure each major battle feels quite different strategically. Some battles will be "Defeat All Enemies," some will be "Defeat These 1 - 2 Leaders," some will be Tactics Ogre style rescue missions, some will be surviving an onslaught of attacks to make it to the other side of the map where something (a bridge must be destroyed or a city gate must be lifted) has to be achieved. We have plans for morally difficult battles where you can either kill the confused attackers or try to survive their attacks long enough to talk it out and help them see you're fighting for the same team. Hostage rescue missions seem like a simple enough task until you find many of them have been killed & turned against you by their necromancer captor.

SCO: I understand your concern. First I just want to say thank you for suggesting those tactics games, I thought I had played a lot of tactics RPGs but I managed to miss all of those titles. Many of them look really great and I bet we could learn a lot from them, so I'm downloading Jeanne D'Arc & Wild Arms XF for my Vita as we speak. Also installing ZSNES so I can play a ROM of Energy Breaker!
I know I mention FFT the most often when comparing Arcadian Atlas to another game, but it's mostly due to the map navigation system (no out-of-battle map navigation, we will have a FFT-style world map & town system) and the base battle engine we will be working from. But because we haven't even started digging into the battle system code yet (due to uprooting to a new & custom engine, otherwise the game WOULD have been hot garbage) we still have time to play various tactics RPGs and gather ideas for the battle mechanics we like best. The idea isn't to make a FFT clone (despite what the title of this thread says), the idea is to make the ultimate tactics RPG by combining the best elements (without shoe-horning of course, it has to flow together just right) from all the best tactics games. We also have a poignant, smart storyline (don't want to say it's better than FFT, but personally i feel it's got a lot more going for it) with some of the most 3-dimensional characters I've ever seen in a game, a soundtrack so good I can't help but listen to the 1 minute song concepts at least daily, and an art style I've spent years of my life trying to get juuuust right. It's something we're already really proud of, even this early on in development, so I hope we can convince you it's more than just a FFT clone.

 

[Niektory]

We were considering releasing the map editor to the public, but it depends on whether or not we decide to make future games in the series or if there's any real demand for such a feature?

A map editor can significantly improve the longevity of the game. Obviously it's not a feature that will be used by all players, but many people like fiddling with stuff, and it only takes one crazy modder to produce some great additional content that can be enjoyed by everyone.

We have plans for morally difficult battles where you can either kill the confused attackers or try to survive their attacks long enough to talk it out and help them see you're fighting for the same team. Hostage rescue missions seem like a simple enough task until you find many of them have been killed & turned against you by their necromancer captor.

This sounds great. I'm very fond more complex scenarios that allow for multiple approaches. Just be careful to not add too much busywork that can result in battles dragging on for too long.

 

[amdus]

...
Also installing ZSNES so I can play a ROM of Energy Breaker!
...

Stay away from ZSNES unless you like effects like this http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,15077.msg220803.html#msg220803. Just grab RetroArch, bsnes/higan or at the very least Snes9x, any recent snes emulator is miles better than ZSNES.
ZSNES is only useful for retarded game hacks that rely on it's bugginess.

 

[Siveon]

despite what the title of this thread says

Hey, whatever catches the people's eye.

A map editor can significantly improve the longevity of the game. Obviously it's not a feature that will be used by all players, but many people like fiddling with stuff, and it only takes one crazy modder to produce some great additional content that can be enjoyed by everyone.

I concur. What's a better bullet point on a steam page, then a giant "WE GOT MODS", with a snazzy looking link to the steam workshop? Aside from Telepath Tactics, there's just not many SRPGs with one anyway.

For SRPGs I'd also want to bring up Front Mission for the SNES/DS. That one had a simpler combat system than most SRPGs, but made up for it with snazzy level design. One of my favorite levels was when you fought in a city, and got cover using buildings, or the level when you stormed an enemy fortress and got pelted by turrets. Nice stuff like that.

 

[Crooked Bee]

If the game is great, then a mod editor is a great thing too. But if it isn't, then it will remain obscure and modders won't pick it up or forget about it soon (and no one will play the mods either even if there is one crazy modder dedicated enough to make a good mod for a game no one cares about, which is a pretty vague possibility).

Personally, I'd suggest making sure the campaign is actually the best it can be before spending any development time on a modding tool.

Unless your map editor is already intuitive enough to be released to the general public, in which case, sure, do release it.

 

[breakfast]

Arcadian Atlas Team Visit PAX & Other Teaser Video News





PAX South - Teaser Video - Map Editor News


Apologies for the late update here! It's not for lack of news, it's actually due to quite the opposite. Progress on Arcadian Atlas has sped up exponentially now that the initial obstacles have been overcome. Our programmer has already almost finished the map editor, so now our maps can be the fully interactive & climbable experience we wanted for the game.
This is an early gif of how the editor was before the half tiles & abnormal objects (trees, rooftops, etc) were complete:

And here's a look INSIDE the editor, where we build the maps! (Still an early WIP):







Along with the programming milestones, we've also had the rest of the team working feverishly on the teaser video.

Moritz is cooking up a tune & some sound design for the teaser, so everyone is really excited to hear what he's got in store for the video!

I myself (Becca) am finishing up all remaining sprites, icons & UI needed for the video.

Here's a couple stills from the teaser video Taylor has been working many a late night to choreograph & animate:











Going to PAX South this year?





Come find us Sunday 31st for an EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at the teaser!
(we'll be wearing Arcadian Atlas shirts, can't miss us)


Not going to be at PAX but still want to see the teaser as soon as it's finished?

Sign up for the email newsletter!


Next blog entry will be to celebrate the teaser video release.
Until then...!

Just posted this update on our dev blog. Check there for proper formatting! Hope to see you guys at PAX South this year!

 

[breakfast]

Got our business cards, goofy Arcadian Atlas shirts and teaser video ready. See you guys at PAX South tomorrow (SUN 31st)!

 

[Abu Antar]

Everytime is see the bearded fella, I think about Gafgarion.

 

[felipepepe]

breakfast may I ask what are your plans regarding job/classes? What I enjoyed most playing Knight of Lodis and FFT is how your characters end up all feeling "yours", as they get unique badges or mix class skills until they are something of your own creation.

Itemization also plays a big role in this - while the Disgaea series is fun, their linear "trade +5 weapon for +10 weapon" pattern gets really tiresome. Most Tactical RPGs also have a somewhat linear equipment progression, but at least there are cool legendary weapons to pursue. But really, the best possible scenario would be entirely composed of weapons with their own up/downside - like a powerful cursed blade that deals damage to its owner, or a boot that makes you walk one square further but kills you in 5 turns... I love items with self-contained challenges.

Also, games looks really nice, good luck with it.

 

[Invictus]

This looks sweet, love FFT and yesh Felipepepe nailed it; the ability to customize your chars accroding to your taste was one of the best parts of the game, the combat system while fun wasnt particulary deep but the job system is what made the game so memorable...plus having cutesy chars having a very Game of Thrones story of betrayal always helped it stick in my mind

 

[Damned Registrations]

Itemization also plays a big role in this - while the Disgaea series is fun, their linear "trade +5 weapon for +10 weapon" pattern gets really tiresome. Most Tactical RPGs also have a somewhat linear equipment progression, but at least there are cool legendary weapons to pursue. But really, the best possible scenario would be entirely composed of weapons with their own up/downside - like a powerful cursed blade that deals damage to its owner, or a boot that makes you walk one square further but kills you in 5 turns... I love items with self-contained challenges.

Vandal Hearts 2 did a great job of this. It totally broke the game if you found all the best stuff, but it was really cool having things like a powerful weapon that crippled your movement, or something that crippled your hp in exchange for a huge movement buff, etc. SaGa Frontier had good itemization as well, though it was pretty subtle, especially since I think a lot of the descriptions got lost in translation so things had hidden attributes.

 

[breakfast]

Thanks for all the great suggestions you guys!

-For job classes we are going to do a combo of stat point allotment & learned skills thru Job Points (...and hopefully if we can overfund during the KS, also branching skill trees)
This will mean you can make an all-around average fighter that can sample all the various base job classes if you choose, or you can make a specialized magic user that you could eventually (again, hopefully) branch off into one of two more powerful higher-tier magic wielding job classes.
-Also on the topic of character customization, we really want to offer customization for the hired soldiers (skin tone & hair color) but that would be a bridge we would cross after the Kickstarter
-As the artist & 1 of 2 devs for the game, I don't want to write item descriptions & draw icons for a bunch of boring items. So yes, cool equipment with interesting side effects are definitely in the works! (I specifically remember Saga Frontier doing this also, I spent all Asellus's Life Points on Asura and it made the game so much harder)


And now, the teaser video!

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Alright, that looks interesting.

 

[breakfast]

Just some game mechanics gifs we made to help explain the game for Kickstarter. Speaking of which, our Kickstarter launches April 5th

If you want to be reminded when it launches, subscribe to our email list.

 

[Roqua]

Nice, controllable stat allocation and skill selection with opportunity costs. I'll have to pick this up.

 

[breakfast]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1266693296/arcadian-atlas-tactical-rpg-inspired-by-classics
Arcadian Atlas is now LIVE on Kickstarter!

 

[Ninjerk]

Good luck

 

[Zdzisiu]

Well, this looks like a genuine effort by a bunch of likeable people. The goal is not too high, the idea seems consistent, and the artstyle does not make me cringe with how infantile it is, as many indie games do. All seems to be set well for a successfull campaign.

But, there are no stretch goals on the main page, and you talked about them in the video. Do you plan to unveil them after achieving the basic goal?

 

[Jimmious]

I'm probably backing this. Even if it ends up to indeed be an FFT clone...hell why not? It's not like we have a lot of them.

 

[Zetor]

Yeah, backing this... there can never be enough (good) tactics games for the PC, after all. I noticed that the KS seems to have some cheap-ish tiers with physical rewards ... beware the evils of backer fulfilment!

(also, will that raccoon have a BFG and/or a treant sidekick in the release version? Asking for a friend.)

 

[kwanzabot]

fft(first one) was the only gook game i've ever liked, will look into this when it launches


dont really see a problem is it's an fft clone, as long as they dont copy the gameboy games which were dogshit compared to the ps1 game imo

 

[Riskbreaker]

Backed. Loved original FFT and (especially) Tactics Ogre, so what I've read/seen so far pushes all the right buttons. Here's hoping that this campaign will be a success for you guys!

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Backed. Because why not?

 

[Siveon]

I wish you guys the best of luck.