An open world action RPG.

Genre: Action RPG

Game Narrative Design Overview

The Daemos Chronicles: Graduation Day is one installment of an ongoing series of stories. The entire collection, The Daemos Chronicles, takes place in the same Universe. Graduation Day starts like any normal day in the village, but as the narrative grows, the world starts to shift. As the player and the story progress, quests and missions will become available to enrich the experience and add further detail to a growing Universe. Following the timeline of a major character, players get to experience the history of the book series this game would serve as a prologue to.

Design Goals:

• Give players an experience of the life of a graduate student of the village
• Design and develop a character throughout the course of the game
• Create a community with MMORPG adaptation

Project Goals:

• Learn how to use the RPG Maker MV game engine
• Develop narrative design and game writing skills
• Develop an independently developed game
• Publish a working demo

Skills Used:

• Narrative Design: Scriptwriting, Quest Design
• Game Design: Game progression and gameplay
• Map Design
• Combat Mechanics Direction
• Graphic Editing
• Playtesting

Game Features

Character Creation

The character creation system was made using a plug-in that turns text messages into images and layered conditional branches. This allowed the player to pick a body type, skin color, eye color, hair style, and hair color. A total of 640 combinations were possible, with 320 outcomes for each body type.

For each outcome that was possible, an appropriate face and bust were generated. The character’s face was viewable while on the map and in battle, along with the character health and mana. The character bust was available in the status screen.

Examples

Character Creation Sequence

End Result of Character Creation with bust and stats

Class Selection

Early on in the game, players could also pick a faction (class) for their character. This would change their character’s outfit and base stats. With all 640 combinations, this was achieved with a plugin that used JavaScript to modify the base game engine.

Examples

Classes with Bust Changes

From left-to-right: Commoner (starting class), Monk, Herbalist, Warrior

Combat System

Battlers

Character Battler sheets are attributed to a character after their faction is selected. Some factions evolve and expand their skillset.

Examples

Examples of different faction battlers and their moveset

Monks learn magick and Warriors learn how to use weapons. Herbalists unlock new potions through an in-game shop.

Combat Mechanics

Following a turn-based system, multiple plugins made it possible to modify the system with written code in JavaScript. These plugins had preset snippets of script that could command a character to perform any animation from an entire character sheet and perform a number of actions, such as attack an enemy or cast a spell.

Examples

Character Sheet

Snippet Sample

<setup action>

display action

immortal: targets, true

WAIT FOR ANIMATION

</setup action>

<Whole Action>

motion escape: user

move user: targets, base, 25, offset x +75 y -10

face user: target

wait for movement

</Whole Action>

<target action>

motion thrust: user

wait: 25

animation 0122: target

action effect

wait: 5

</target action>

<follow action>

face user: forward

jump user: 50, 25

move user: return, 25

motion escape: user

wait for movement

immortal: targets, false

</follow action>

Leveling & Skills

Leveling Stats

Characters would level up in the standard fashion of acquiring experience points until their character would hit a milestone and gain a level. Players could gain experience by defeating enemies and completing quests.

Each character class had its own experience curve based on the skills their faction was known for, ex: Monks have more mana, Warriors have more Attack Power, and Herbalists have more luck.

Samples

Quest Journal

Experience Curves

Leveling & Skill Points

For every level a character gained, they would be awarded a skill point. This was a currency in-game that players could use to learn new skills. This came in the form of skill trees and skill masters.

Skill Trees

Each class had its own skill tree with a flow chart of skills that could be learned by purchasing them with skill points.

Example

Skill Tree

Skill Masters

As character classes evolve, some are able to learn more advanced skills. These characters could interact with Skill Masters in-game to learn new skills.

Merchants and Equipment

Merchant Shops

There are various merchants in-game who players can trade with. The game gas a trade-system where players can trade goods, such as fruit or animal carcasses for potions or items. They can find many fruits and plants in the wild, and once they have these seeds available, they can also plant and harvest these plants and fruits.

Examples

Marketplace

Farming

Merchant Shop

Equipment

Some merchants can trade armor and weapons for certain goods. The player can then equip these items to increase character defense and attack power.

Example

Equipping a Dagger

Map Design

Maps

Different map types were designed throughout the world of the game to give an open world feel whilst also providing a place to regroup like a home base (Human Village) and areas to harvest plants and farm experience in early game areas. These included forest areas, dungeons, and caves.

Samples

Home Base Village

Mountain Cave

Forest Area

Open World

To provide a sense of an open world for the player, all maps were interconnected.

Game Progression

First Act of Gameplay

During the first hour of gameplay, the player will go through an interactive tutorial that introduces to each faction by performing skills that belong to each – meditating to earn extra experience points, a battle tutorial, and a foraging and brewing task. After picking a faction, the players are introduced to the quest board and have several quests they can complete, such as finding a certain plant or resource for a reward.

Then, the players are made aware of a class of students that has gone missing while looking for a spider cave. The player is given a rescue mission to find the missing students. After finding and investigating the cave, the player saves all of the students and their teacher, and then must defeat the boss. After defeating the boss, Act 2 begins.

Second Act of Gameplay

After returning to the village, the Blacksmith approaches the player and asks for their help finding a resource material in the mountain cave. Upon finding the cave and collecting materials, the player is attacked by a golem but is saved by the teacher from before. The player and the teacher team up to find their way out of the cave. Along the way, they find a patch of crystals that light up when they near. They are mysteriously teleported outside the cave. The teacher and student return to the village, and they part ways after entering the village. The teacher claims they will talk to the monks about the crystals and to meet them in a study room later.

Script Sample

FADE IN:

Graduation Day

INT. – Temple Room- DAY

The student is in the Temple Room for graduation and is greeted by the Elder. They get to speak with leaders of each faction again before making a choice.

VILLAGE ELDER

Hello. Exciting day, isn’t it?

Now is your chance to choose your own path and pick which faction

of the Academy you would like to start your journey on.

There is Monkship, Herbalism, and the Army

Be sure to talk to the leader of each.

Then, come speak with me when you’re ready to choose.

[The player speaks to each faction representative in no specific order]

HIGH MONK

Hello there, young Junkuo.

Looking to continue your studies in Monkship?

This path will further improve your focus and understanding of oneself.
Monks may have less resilience, but we make up for it with large quantities of jenca.

ARMY GENERAL

At ease, recruit.

Do you seek to join the ranks of the Village Army?

Able to learn the art of Taijenfu, your power will grow and lead you to victory in battle.

No special treatment, you’ll start at the bottom, and only the strongest will make it past Rank 1.

VILLAGE HERBALIST

Hello, dear.

Would you like to learn the art of herbalism?

Open your mind and expand your knowledge on the power of plants.

Extract their secrets and blend them for the perfect potion.

[Following a short conversation with each representative, the player returns to the Elder]

VILLAGE ELDER

Ah, have you made a decision?

Take careful consideration. You won’t be able to change classes  for the rest of your journey.

[Choice: Yes or No]

[NO]

Take your time.

[YES]

Splendid!

Would you like to be a Monk, an Herbalist, or a Warrior?

Your education is only beginning. To further your studies in your chosen faction, find your respective Sensei in the village.

I know you’ll make us proud.

FADE OUT.

My Contributions

I am the senior narrative designer and writer of this RPG game. The engine supporting the development of this game is RPG Maker MV, and much of the coding and basic graphics are available from the start. I did, however, use this engine to design the game, and used plugins to enrich the gameplay experience.

Roles

• Scriptwriter
• Map Design
• Quest Design
• Character Creator Development
• Skill Tree Development
• Combat Mechanics Director
• Animator
• Graphic Editing

Preset Materials and Creative Commons

The RPG Maker MV engine offers a lot of tile sets for use in map design from the base engine. Many other tile sets used in this game were found on RPG Maker Forums under a Creative Commons License. Many structures were built using graphic design and editing of tile sets for use in the game.

Examples

• Village Academy
• Village Temple – Interior and Exterior
• Army Barracks – Interior and Exterior
• Army Training Field
• Blacksmith – Interior and Exterior
• Mountain Cave

Character Art

Sprites

The character sprite sheets came from a base sheet found on RPG Maker Forums under a Creative Commons License. All were edited by me to fit the characters and roles in-game.

Busts and Battlers

Commissions by Robert Pinero

Coding Commissions

Many plugins, plus the main menu and skill trees, were coded by a commissioned freelancer.

Take a look at The Daemos Chronicles: Graduation Day and download the demo available through the link below (for Windows).

Download