For Whom the Seasons Cycle
Started: October 2014
Estimated: 2015-2017, or later, if ever
Starting tileset: Demonlink's DoR upgrade
Placement:
Since this takes place in the same universe as the Ellivenia and BB games, 16 years after BBIV: Guardian Mother, just 2-3 overworlds away from GM's main overworld, FWSC is going with BBV prefix, though it could be its own series that I'd call, say, "Rival Sisters" or such.
Gameplay reason:
I wanted to make a not too long, or even sort, season centered quest where you can play ALL the dungeons in free order.
-Making BBII: Seasoned Blood hasn't satisfied my season needs for 2.10 limitations.
-I wanted a short(er) quest as part of a series consisting of big(ger) quests.
-I wanted to further experiment with player freedom.
Story/plot reason:
I couldn't finish GM while still thinking of it as the end of something, so I made some BBV-VII plans. By the end of GM, I came up with ideas that I readily could utilize and liked much. I also wanted it in a way that doesn't overshadow the entire playtime, so the player doesn't need to read walls of text between dungeons, doesn't have to keep a main villain in mind and isn't being tired by continious twists that turn everything upside down each time they happen, especially as I see in help threads even honest/sensible players tend to completely ignore strings.
I also wanted the main character be completely alone, instead of often talking with other main characters (let alone travelling with them). I also wanted this main character be entirely pure and not hero or anti-hero. The complex personalities of some previous BBII-BBIV characters were taken as entirely evil or undesirable, so I wanted a more relatable one this time.
Technical reason:
To utilize 2.50.1 as much as possible, which means far more than a barrage of scripts in a qst file that would be fewer than LoZ without the scripts. Though there are tons of scripts inside already. I also want to bring in new things, especially things that weren't in my quests, especially in BB quests before. I try to avoid mainsteram, so I want FWSC to be rather like Valami than like BB. There are mixed results so far, but I can't complain.
Story:
Bell is living alone, her sister being taken away for training and her parents practically being counted dead. Her lazy lifestyle, that is despite the fact that she is descendant of heroes, and her bad mixing with other children creates a situation where she feels she is looked down upon or even hated by others, especially by the other children. When she accidentally learns that she can change the seasons, she decides to start adventuring to restore the natural cycling of the seasons, so that people would like her. And so she sets out...
Gameplay:
One central overworld including a modernized town + 4 dungeons, 3 of them with their own minioverworld + possible caves/interiors/mini overworlds for optional/secret content, ALL done in any order you want. Depending on what I place as the endgame area, I might make it accessible without having any of the main dungeons beaten, even if probably you can't beat it like that. You will also lose items instead of just linearly gaining them and I plan many more things that make this all less 2.10-ish and also less mainstream-2.50-ish. And again, this isn't utilized only with scripts. Though they help immensely.
Main character:
More art to come, hopefully. I actually tried to make drawing my main hobby instead of ZC, but I keep falling back to this.
Videos:
Season change display through screens
Actual gameplay video comes when the main character tiles are fully complete. I tell you, these tiles are one of the most important
things in the project. Somebody talented is currently making them. Revealing comes when everything is done.
What has been finished so far:
Most things that you can do in town and the main overworld without the dungeons, including the way to a dungeon and to the mini overworlds of the other 3 dungeons. After some more touch ups, it's really off to make the sidequests or one of the 4 dungeons, whichever I feel like.
The future:
It's not even sure that I finish this. I have 16 quests finished not including all those LoZ quests (completely playable and enjoyable ones) that I made long before I knew there were communities for ZC. More than enough...
But I still have visions for what have I the mood for in the future. I have a strong idea for this BBV-BBVII story arch that even could extend to a BBVIII, each of these quests having completely new mechanics. Like, after this completely free BBV, I have plans for a completely linear BBVI, even much more linear than BBIII: Cousin of Powers was. But nothing is set into stone, I won't ever make that mistake again.
I also have certain ideas that could totally be realized as BB quests, simply because they focus on lone characters and their abilities who are also a bit "against the world" in some sense, nothing about them tieing into things I made in other series or to things that would require a new series altogether. But still, I could make these ideas as other quests.
I still have many other completely-non-BB ideas, like a better vision of Banjo-Spyrooie, the quest version of the Ellivenia story I kept speaking about between 2008-2011, also a better vision on the Other Elements idea I was speaking about, as well as some completely new ideas probably requiring their own series, but some also being able to be placed into the Valami universe. Generally it can be said that most of my ideas revolve around magic and various types of magic users.
Also, surprisingly many people asked for, or at least told that it would be a good idea, to make an alternare SB where you control Alma and see SB's events from her point of view, including the revealing that there's still a dungeon below SB Coral's house and there's a pink Trinexx as boss. SB contained enough of Alma's backstory to have this be immediate canon, instead of an idea rework. I'm actually surprised of this, I'm not used to that considerable people are actually interested in what I plan to make, even if they (seemingly) enjoy what is already finished, nor that they are interested in the actual story/plot background and in "what if"s. I should value when that still happens.
I made this thread mostly because I'm still not used to not having a QPF (an entire forum dedicated to 2-3-4 persons projects) and felt the urge for a development announcement. I'm not expecting replies and I will add updates only if the oldest post in this thread isn't TOO old when I want to add said update.
"I have a heart ring, I have a heart ring and guess who's life will be gradually refilling! :)" by Bell of FWSC
Edited by CastChaos, 20 June 2015 - 04:09 PM.