I attached an edit to the Dreadnought that may be more satisfactory. I was surprised to read that Iambian and Geekboy didn't seem to have knowledge of how to make map edits with CalcGS. (or perhaps I misunderstood)

For future reference:

* File > Open > select the Escheron tileset ("tileset.gsm", in the \calcgs_maps directory)
* Set the tileset resolution to 16x16 from the Tiles > 16x16 drop-down menu
* Map Editor > Open from the drop-down menu to open the map editor

The rest is straightforward.

Remember that the player's POV extends 3 tiles (or two-and-a-half) from the left and right, and 2 (or one-and-a-half) from above and below. All the maps are designed with these boundaries in mind, so out-of-bounds sections usually contain no tiles, or generic background pieces like dirt or cloud tiles. "Missing" tree halves or buildings that appear "broken" are intentional - I blanked out-of-bounds areas for my own reference.

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Regarding my absence: I don't like to broadcast my personal life online, but I struggle with depression among other serious shit. It's very hard to focus on long-term goals and projects, and I feel terrible about leaving Iambian and Geekboy in the dust. I really hope they understand.

I rushed to cobble together the remainder of the game's scripts and assets so these guys would be able to finish the project on their own, and that took more willpower than I frankly had.

This post isn't intended to be any indication that I'm returning to the project, but maybe I'll check in on Omnimaga on occasion to see if Iambian or Geekboy need some quick fix from me.

Geekboy1011 and I have been in talks about making a move toward other platforms, so I don't think we'll be developing Ultima Memoria for the z80 after all. 2D B&W hardly does any justice to my vision of what Ultima Memoria should be. Ideally, we'd like to create a fully interactive 3D world with a real-time battle engine - a modern post-apocalyptic Dark Souls / Fallout crossover with tons of cutscenes? I'm not trying to stick my head in the clouds, but maybe we can hash out a proper development team, set up a Kickstarter and actually get something off the ground. One can dream, at least.

I'd nonetheless like to use existing z80 assets to produce a game that follows a similar theme, so maybe something in the likeness of Ultima Memoria on z80 will eventually come to fruition. It would be a shame not to do something more with the Escheron engine before retiring it.

Quick update on my end...

The game is now fully scripted. All of the character dialogs and cutscenes are written, but their actual incorporation into the project make take some time, since working with the cutscene engine is a nightmare in itself. (And luckily, that task falls upon Iambian and Geekboy1011 instead of me, since I'm not as technically oriented with the systems)

So, is there any sincere interest in this project, guys? I keep pushing Iambian to post these updates so the community can be up to speed with our progress, but here we are with little to no community feedback. We practically had to beg for beta testers, and trying to solicit any bug reports was like kicking a dead horse. The whole ordeal only detracted from the game's development. I've since taken on the additional workload of handling all the testing myself.

It gets under my skin, really. Iambian (especially!) and Geekboy1011 have poured their hearts and souls into realizing this project, and very few people can be arsed to offer them any positive encouragement? A little lip service here and there isn't doing anyone any favors. We'd love to see some real feedback for a change.

In case it's not clear, we ain't churning out some BASIC + xLIB "Super Autism Quest!" shit - Escheron is a goddamn behemoth of an ASM app that was forged from the blood of dragons, and you better believe Iambian's busted his balls off to get this game where it is now.

Let me reiterate that this project has come a very long way. All the underlying groundwork is there, and now all we need to do is finish scripting cutscenes and balancing the game's difficulty level. I do apologize that the biggest delay has been finishing up the writing, but Escheron has a novel's length of character interactions. Unless I start dropping amphetamines, I can't type this shit up any faster than I already am. But rest assured that Iambian, Geekboy1011 and I are proactively working our asses off to get this game off the ground.

tl;dr - A little encouragement goes a long way toward boosting morale, especially when games of this magnitude demand such an extensive amount of time and energy that they practically consume your entire life. Also, let me impart a word of advice to other aspiring indie devs: Be prepared to sacrifice your soul in the name of whatever creative vision you may have, assuming you don't want to settle for anything less than a *good* game.


(Also, don't take my little tangents personally. I'm just tired from all this goddamn writing. And I really, really need some caffeine right now.)

Double post, because why not?

I've been working on some mockups of how the animated title sequence will go, although its implementation may be a ways off. Iambian and Geekboy1011 seem rather superstitious about rendering the title screen until the game approaches release state. Something about other projects ending up development hell. Anyway...



The in-game rendering may differ slightly, but this is the general idea. I may do a further mockup including the "New game / Continue" screen that follows, then additional mockups of the opening backstory text that proceeds any in-game cutscene rendering.


In related news on my part, I'm working out a few ideas to expand upon the Underdeep. Currently, the dungeon consists of nearly a dozen pseudo-random floors that all follow the same theme. What I plan to do is have the dungeon randomly select a few static floors that will be interspersed between the pseudo-random caverns that account for most of the dungeon. These static floors will have fixed positions where treasures can randomly spawn, and in some cases, the system will select groups of NPCs and mini-quests to be present on these floors. The execution is going to be similar to the bonus content found in the "Dawn of Souls" version of Final Fantasy I.

Due to some existing concerns about space constraints, I decided to orphan one of the maps and event sets from an optional area that was planned to appear in the game. Personally, I felt the area was superfluous and didn't really add anything to the already numerous side-areas available. The quest is nonetheless going to be integrated (in a slimmed down form) into one of the Underdeep's static floors, so it's not actually cut from the game after all.

"Yeah, yeah. That's nice. When the fuck is this game going to be released?!"

We're actually not that far off from release state. What's left? Iambian and Geekboy1011 have the groundwork for battle animations implemented, and are working out details in regard to the actual animation sequences spells will use. After that, we have to finish rendering the rest of the cutscenes in the game, balance out character statistics versus those of enemies, slap a title screen onto the game, and presto! Everybody will be playing Escheron in all its glory.

Sadface about the TI-83+ support for the moment. 

The lack of 83+ support isn't a definite thing. It's hard to say as of yet. Of course, Iambian and Geekboy1011 will probably try to optimize the code just before release to see if we can't maintain compatibility with the 83+. If worse comes to worst, we may consider cutting some of the game's optional content, but only as a last resort.

Some of the icons were indeed a pain in the ass to draw, but I managed. Actually, you can feel free to use any of those assets in your own projects, if you like. I've attached my current revision of the game's font.

(... or maybe more aptly Escheron on crack)

Since the Escheron engine (once released - still a ways off) will give us a complete framework for future projects, I've been brainstorming ways to squeeze the most potential out of it. Although any formal announcement would be premature, I thought I would nonetheless tease a few details.




— Setting and Characters —

Ultima Memoria is set in a post-apocalyptic present, abruptly following the events of a nuclear holocaust. The story centers around Brennis, a 29-year old psion accompanied by his traveling companion Seschet. Brennis' past isn't very clear, neither to Seschet nor himself. Together, Brennis and Seschet aimlessly explore the ruins of civilization in hopes of triggering Brennis' memories and better understanding the cause of his amnesia.

Meanwhile, the surviving population is facing several threats in the form of lawless gangs, maddened occultists and an opportunistic faction of slavers that has declared martial law in the absence of any continuity of government. Brennis and Seschet must inevitably cross paths with these figures, potentially bringing Brennis closer to the keys needed to unlock his past.


— Features —

· The "Link" System - By coming into contact with certain places or events, Brennis may experience flashbacks, allowing him to recover repressed memories and abilities. Brennis' skills and physical status are largely shaped by how the player chooses to explore and interact with his surroundings.

· Very detailed setting with extensive character development. The story explores many existential and downright controversial themes as the cast struggles to adjust to the harsh conditions of a desperate world.

· Massively open environments. The player can freely travel anywhere at any time, unlocking Brennis' memories in a completely non-linear order. The player can also take quests from any number of factions, or ruthlessly conquer civilization for themselves.

· The remains of civilization are complete with several environmental hazards. The menu has a "rads" display that indicates characters' exposure to harmful radiation. As a character's exposure increases, all of their physical attributes begin to diminish. The player can find and trade chems that alleviate the symptoms of radiation sickness.

· A variety of psionic powers that both Brennis and Seschet can master - instantaneously regenerate wounds, move from location to location in the blink of an eye, or even cause enemies to combust spontaneously.

· A large selection of sci-fi implements at the player's disposal, including vibro swords, Gauss pistols, power armor and improvised arms - and plenty of mutant species, manmade constructs and other futuristic foes to unleash them upon.