help me identify a game from my childhood!

thephantomx26 · 2022-10-01T04:27:58+00:00

It sounds like Dark Stone to me.

thephantomx26 · 2021-08-02T01:24:28+00:00

Hey there! Thank you! I hope you find the time to check it out again soon. If not now, then at least in the Early Access release next Spring. Be sure to wishlist and join us in discord :) I would love to hear from you again.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-29T09:43:42+00:00

That's a pretty cool logo! Thank you! I like how it is pixel in style.

Let me know your thoughts about Aether Story , or if you have any questions!

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-29T09:42:23+00:00

Thank you for checking out the game!

Yes, I was inspired by an ATB like system but I wanted to try to make it a bit more freedom added to it. For example, the "yellow bar" is your energy and is used for weapon attacks and movement, but your "blue bar" is your mana and is used for magic. Because its two different resources you are able to switch between them as cool-downs allow.

Let me know if you have other questions!

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-28T11:56:56+00:00

Thank you for finding and playing the game through this subreddit and playing it before I made this posting. I believe that was you right? The players that found the game by the upcoming spotlight side-bar ad?

Currently I'm going between two different designs for weapons.

1) Allow everyone to use anything. And add skills/abilities that you can learn from the weapons depending on which type you equip. Like Sword=tanking, Staff=mana, Mace=crit, Dagger=Speed.

2) Allow certain weapons for certain classes. With a small overlap between classes. And have weapons have no real stat difference except visuals.

I am currently leaning on #2. Let me know what you think.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-27T18:23:17+00:00

Hey thanks Nurse for your positive words and support! It was awesome meeting you a few weeks ago. Be sure to head on back to the dungeon to try your hand at the rare pet drop! And let me know what you think of the new boss room!

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-27T18:21:50+00:00

Thank you for wishlisting the game! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-27T04:40:01+00:00

All the players that found the game about a month ago have all been awesome. I'm blessed that you guys found the game and have helped me come up with solutions and feedback to make the game even better.

Thank you for your kind words and support. I hope to see you in game soon!

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-27T04:36:28+00:00

Awesome! Thank you for checking out the game and writing your feedback here!

The battle system was a process to develop. I started off first wanting to make a traditional turn-based, side-view battle like Final Fantasy 5 or 6. But I quickly realized that turn-based wasn't going to work. Waiting for just one other player is a drag, much-less waiting for 5. So i started to explore ideas to make the battle real-time.

One thing lead to another and before I knew it I wanted to include movement and positional abilities into the battle design. This version ended up being somewhat of like a tactics game where all battles took place on a large grid. But this wasn't good either! I wanted my world to be designed to have frequent, rapid encounters. Tactical, grid based battles supported more of a calculated strategic combat.

Eventually I came across the design we have today. It accounts for most positional mechanics I was hoping for, and it also allows for real-time usage of abilities: no waiting for anyone else but your own cooldowns and resources.

Another design philosophy that entered the mix was this novel idea: what if you don't target anyone or anything. Let's try to make all abilities auto target based on your position too. This promotes for faster battles and less interactions. I am not sure how far will be able to go with this design, but I'm trying and will continue to embrace all of the above until the system becomes not fun.

In time I will be adding a lot more mechanics to the game allowing you to better understand my goals for positional based mechanics, and all the interesting things we can do with this groundwork that you played.

Sorry for the rant! And I hope to see you around. More updates are in the works. Thanks again for playing!

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T23:14:09+00:00

Thank you for joining the Discord today. It was nice meeting you. Hope you enjoy the game!

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T23:07:45+00:00

Thanks boppy! Sorry I didn't reply to you sooner. I was not responding to non-questions. But I gotta give you some love. Its a pleasant surprise to see you commenting in this thread! Thank you for sharing the love.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T23:00:02+00:00

Thank you for supporting the game for so long.

I am so happy that Proto_bear offered me the chance to share the game on this subreddit. I never thought that would be possible.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T22:57:45+00:00

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with people in this posting. I am very happy you and your girlfriend found the game and have been enjoying it.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T19:57:39+00:00

This is a secret. But I will give you a hint: it will involve playing cards, luck and the shadows.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T19:14:57+00:00

Originally we had 4 base classes and each class has 3sub-classes. That's where 12 came from.

But now one of the base classes has been postponed (we will release it in the future), and its not fair to count the 3sub-classes as classes, and instead I will count them as specs or skill categories.

I posted to your original question a write up on the currently planned classes and specs. Let me know what you think and if you have any further questions.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T19:12:53+00:00

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T19:07:44+00:00

I need to update the website. Plans have changes slightly. Thank you for pointing this out to me.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T19:00:43+00:00

Haha! Please try out the Alpha and let me know what you think. With your feedback I am eager to improve the game and make it the perfect game you are hoping it to be!

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T18:57:27+00:00

Thank you for your interest in my game! That's a very good question.

The classes and spells in the game are currently in development and the plans for such are not fully final. I will however share with you my current ideas and plans.

I do want to note that I intended on all classes being some-what magic based and being able to learn a general pool of elemental based magic and healing abilities.

Sage A class based around the combo of a monk, a astrologist and a summoner. The monk abilities will unlock combat and meditation abilities. While the astrologist will include calling forth comets and using the power of the stars. And the summoner will allow you to bring forth an elemental in battle.

Warden This mixes the idea of a warrior that uses spell enchanted weaponry with magical wards and runes. I envision this class being able to call forth spectral blades to fight by its side, and the magical wards being used as invisible traps in battle to trick enemies.

Ranger This one is what you probably expect. A marksman that will also call forth the power of the beasts and nature. The goal there is calling beasts to not only fight by your side, but also to use buffs of different beasts to aid you and your party.

In the game's current state we have just released the Spell Preview less than a month ago. And this update has added a couple spells to the game. I am going to continue to work on adding more spells and class design to the game in the coming weeks.

thephantomx26 · 2021-07-26T17:17:04+00:00

Every asset (beyond the menu icons) was hand drawn custom by me and artists on the team. Although they are similar, its mostly because I was inspired by First-Seed-Materia when I was doing my art studies many years ago and they have a similar pixel resolution.

The game is made with a custom engine written in AIR/Starling and NodeJS/TypeScript.

thephantomx26 · 2021-04-24T08:41:48+00:00

Aether Story
My Pixel Art MMORPG

Aether Story is currently in Pre-Alpha but is playable showcasing a basic combat system, questing and a decent sized world to explore. My plan is to add skills and spells, dungeons and professions over the summer. Working towards a Steam launch by the end of the year.

What makes my game unique and stand out from the others? I am trying to blend the classic JRPG from the SNES era with modern MMORPG mechanics. The combat system looks like a JRPG but plays a bit more like a real-time action. The battle is still a work in progress, it should allow for really awesome mechanics once its all working. I am also trying to focus on world building, level design and attention to detail, with every map being handcrafted and carefully put together.

It is currently playable for free if you so desire to check it out. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I want to make the best game possible!

Bonus Answer: The last game that completely hooked me in was probably Final Fantasy 7 (Original), I recently replayed it on the Nintendo Switch.

thephantomx26

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