Jaden

Lol yeah it's been going a long time. The secrets of kankara, at least for this game, revolve mostly around magik (spelled with a k in the game). See, in the lore (most of which isn't in the demo, but is hinted at), magik users were nearly wiped out at some point in Kankara's history, and those who practiced it in the time during the game itself were hidden away in secret. These magik users weren't necessarily doing anything illegal, but common folk would be skeptical of them, solely because they knew how to use powers they didn't understand. There are a number of magical items scattered around the land of Kankara, some of which are very powerful, some of them dating back to ancient times (such as the traveling crystals) which were all created by magik users. The actual secrets themselves are the history of these items, which only a handful of people in Kankara know about. It's kind of like when you hear the phrase "secrets of a small town", it usually refers to something that happened years ago that nobody talks about. It's kind of like that but with hundreds of years, rather than a few decades. I hope that made sense lol.

UPDATE: Well, after many months of inactivity on this project, I'm finally back, and will continue work on SoK.

UPDATE: This project has taken quite a while to actually work on, and during the time I have been working on it, I've also been dealing with some stuff at home that has hindered my progress. While I do not intend on giving up on this project, I do, however, have to put it on hold until I can put the time I need to, into it. The demo will remain up (unless the link goes dead, but if that happens, please do PM me here), so you all can enjoy what's been finished so far. I will return to the project ASAP. I apologize to those who have waited so long for this game to be finished, but with my current schedule, it could take the rest of this year before it's even close. Thank you for your support so far, and please do stay tuned for my return, I will do my best to come back to it quickly.

I would totally use the Ace version once it's done. My current project uses a similar foundation (XAS), but I've never been totally satisfied with the current (and likely permanent) features. Looking forward to seeing what you guys can code in. Will you guys be using an Extra Frames script for Ace? (to allow more animation frames for the player and enemies) I think that would go a long way, especially with the custom sprites PZE uses. Anyway, good luck with the project guys, I know all too well how often delays can happen, and how much they can hinder a project's development, but you all have fierce determination, and that's what'll make you come out on top. :thumbsup:

Hey everyone! Jaden here. Just wanted to update you guys on what I've been doing as of late in terms of the project. As you all know I've been working on this project for a long while (maybe you didn't know that lol), and it's an ongoing process. I recently finished concepts for bosses and boss-pairs, though haven't added them yet. I also have been adding side quests and mini-games, as well as a mining system (to get materials for the smith's workbenches). While these new features won't be in the demo version, I thought everyone would like to know what will be in the final game when it's finished. I've also been working hard on areas and map finalizing, since some of the maps in the demo are rather plain and bare (like Nemus), adding trees and flowers to make it a more full forest as it should've been from the beginning. Two things for everyone as well, I have a bit of an announcement regarding the demo itself: There are three secret items in the demo: The Harp, which allows you to play songs for effects (though the version in the demo will change probably, and uses a script that someone wrote in inspiration to zelda). Band of The Warrior, Which increases your damage output. & Gauntlets of Defense, Which increases your defense. Enchanted armors like the Band of The Warrior, and the Gauntlets of Defense can only be equipped one at a time, so you can't have both at the same time. How to get these items? All I will say is it requires some bombs and waiting through the credits (after it takes you back to the game), the where is for you to find ;) I also added a short video showing some of the music in the game, not all of it is in the demo, though. Also, on that note, I realize that some are downloading the project strictly for the audio, you have to check the ending credits in the game to see their usage stipulations, as most of them are in the creative commons under a CC-BY or CC-BY-SA License, both of which require a link to the artist's page. Also, some of the music that is/will be used in the game was obtained through license purchasing, so not all of what's in their can be used legally unless you pay for it like I did. If it's not creative commons, it probably isn't safe to use without the license. Just a friendly warning, take heed or not. Well, I think that's about all I will post for now, happy hunting/playing, and I will try to keep everyone up to speed on the development of the game as I work on it. Thanks for your interest, and thanks for playing! -Jaden

When I first started doing anything related to video game design, I started small, doing a few projects at a time, but each with their own features and mechanics, and none of which would ever really take off. I did this so I'd learn how to develop different aspects of a game (I have no team). Approaching it this way took time, as most things do, but by the time I was done, I figured out the in's and out's of making the kind of game i wanted to make, which resulted in my current project: The Secrets of Kankara There isn't just one approach though, as long as you are enjoying yourself, you shouldn't worry too much about it. Of course, that doesn't mean go in full blast without at least a little experience, because experience will help you with making your game with minimal time expense (as opposed to making a project and not being able to figure out what's causing a simple bug that you might have otherwise found in a starter project that you use for learning). In the end, I don't think any of us can really tell you how to start off, because there are so many different ways to do it, and it really does vary from person to person. But, my advice is to learn your engines first, since they're the backbone of any project. I wish you luck in making your game. :) I recently started to look into Unity myself, and no, it's a very complicated engine. The tutorials that I have found are largely non-specific and unhelpful as well, which makes it worse. It'll be a while before I can use Unity for my own projects, but once that time comes, hopefully I'll have made some small name for myself lol.

Just wanted to update everyone on a new feature I just coded in (and one that surprisingly is simple), it's 'Regional Windowskins'. Basically, the appearance of the menu will change, depending one what place you're in. For example: If you're in a forested area, it may look like leaves and green, if you're under water, it may look blue and with water-like designs. I'm still in the process of implementation, but so far it looks very promising. Also, you can follow my game page (detailed in the original post) for further minor updates.

UPDATE We now have a game page for this project! You can check it for a progress bar update each time I finish a new section. Check the original post for the link. Edit: I apologize for the double post, the first one was supposed to be simply edited, not duplicated and reposted. I'm obviously encountering some serious technical issues today, it's honestly on my last nerve.

UPDATE We now have a game page for this project! Check the original post for the link.

RETRO VS MODERN THROWDOWN Time for a throwdown, guys and gals. The topic is: Which do you prefer? Retro games, or more modern games? First, I want to classify what makes a retro/modern game (for the topic). Retro: For the sake of the topic, we'll say retro is pre-gamecube (tough decision, but honestly gamecube is so far beyond n64 it's not even funny). This includes atari, NES, SNES, Gameboy (all variations, I'll even throw GBA in there since it's all 2d), all sega systems, and pretty much all systems that came out before 2001. Modern: Pretty much everything that came out after 2001, it's not old enough to be considered retro yet, but give it a few years, it will be lol. ================================================================= Having grown up in an era of gaming that I've come to call the "Golden Age of Gaming", I've always appreciated older games. I grew up seeing the rise of the NES, and gameboy afterward, as well as the birth of such epic games that still, to this day, are just as good now as they ever were, such as "The Legend of Zelda" and "Metroid". Personally, I will always prefer older retro games over the more modern ones, though I do enjoy playing titles such as "Metroid: Other M", a title, that while wasn't received well, was the very embodiment of what metroid had been until metroid prime's first person perspective permeated the gaming world, and stole the hearts of FPS gamers everywhere. I didn't like the first person perspective aspects of "Other M", but everything else was a huge nod to those of us who had been waiting for such a metroid, since the release of "Super Metroid" back in the 90's. My only hope is that they continue using "Other M" as a template for future metroid games (minus the FPS missiles, use a button). I also enjoyed "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword". While highly skeptical at first, given how bad the normal motion controls for the wii are, I first tried this game when a friend of mine wanted me to help him with it (I have a knack for being able to beat a game, without having ever played it previously), and I found that the wii motion plus complemented the game perfectly. I later bought it myself. But again, I prefer the older games best, having grown up with them, before the time of internet, when your only guide was trial and error. What do you all think?

I agree, it really is a bug-ridden mess, especially on consoles. I've owned both the 360 version, and the PS3 version, both cause random crashes, both have different types of bugs, the PS3 version's solstheim won't let you leave (infinite loading screen), unless you disable "save on travel". The 360 version crashes the system totally almost every time you play it (overheats the system), the PS3's crashes are software problems (infinite loading screen in one place, or just freezes on loading screen). Not even to mention the horrible frame rate constantly dropping, I mean, it's a miracle that this game sold as well as it did, given the problems it has. I'm convinced that bethesda made it's money more on hype than actual substance in this case. I'm on console personally (no money for gaming pc). I agree, I hated that there was no spell making, I'm convinced that they only left it out due to laziness (especially since the game as a whole seems to only be slacked together haphazardly), and only after tried to say "we wanted magic to be more magical". They made it generic and boring. Having said all my opinions, I still play it from time to time, though I haven't picked it up in a few months. It's only about 30% of the time that I can sit and play it for an hour without it screwing up somehow. Having such an otherwise great game, mess up because of stupid bugs (that could've been fixed, but won't be), is frustrating. It's even more frustrating as the gamer because it makes me doubt future elder scrolls games.

Private browsing has actually been part of firefox for years. It's pretty sad that we live in a time where you actually have to take ridiculous amounts of time and effort just to protect your privacy, something that shouldn't even be at stake. Sure, people can use the "if you're not doing anything wrong/if you have nothing to hide, then it's not a big deal" bull, but seriously, we have the right to live our lives and do what we will without having major corporations (or the prism program for that matter) sticking their noses up our collective @$$es 24/7 just so they can spy on our daily lives. In any case, I trust literally no browser with my privacy, it's just a matter of the lesser of two evils for me. I'm not totally convinced that mozilla (and certainly not google or microsoft) has our privacy at heart, for all we know, they all could be telling people that these features and sites don't do what these companies and browsers do, just to get better PR, I mean, do we really know that firefox doesn't track us while private browsing? Afterall, before, we really knew that chrome didn't track us during incognito. We, the users, are essentially just pawn in their whole game, being used and told to take their word for it that they're doing something for our benefit, but we really don't know for sure, do we? Something to think about.

I've updated the topic with a gameplay video everyone. That shows you how the game is played (for those who hadn't previously seen).

I have a bit, though I haven't been too focused on it. I'm somewhat thinking about waiting until the game is fully done, but at the same time I don't want to wait too long. Any tips/advice would be appreciated in that regard :) I'm also thinking about finding some demo reviewers, who'd be willing to give their opinion on the demo, that way I can find common issues with it and hopefully fix them to better the project as a whole.

UPDATE: The project has been updated in it's totality. It has been moved to VX Ace and the XP version will be abandoned. A new demo has been included with the first 3 dungeons. Check the original post for details.