The RMVX project is now defunct. I decided to focus instead on The Gladiator Project and on the Ars Mechanicum novels.

As of 31 March, 2012, this blog will be deleted.

Progress on the novel is going at full steam, but progress on the game is virtually at a stop. I’d like to get at least the first novel written before developing the game further, since the two will be a natural progression of one another and will tie up some loose ends.

In the beginning, when I first started writing the novella, it was meant to be a tie-in with the game anyway, with the game literally starting right where the story left off, but as the plot developed it became increasingly more complex. It was apparent that some additional background into the storyline was needed because without it, there were more questions than answers, even with the information being released in the game. So the starting point for the novella was a brief introduction to the characters and how they came to be at the tavern at the very beginning of the game.

As the novella developed, however, it started expanding rapidly. Further plot and story ideas gushed out, new characters and their histories entered into the picture, and the mythos behind the novella was further elaborated upon.

Thus, the novella has developed into a full novel. Depending on how the story evolves, it may become a trilogy. The working titles for the Ars Mechanicum trilogy would be:

Edit: 3 Sep, 2011

• Genesis Legacy – Where it all begins. The prequel to the game.
• Legacy Genesis – The after-shocks of Genesis. The game is loosely based on this one.
• Endgame – The culmination of events and loose ends tie-up.

There is no fixed release date on Legacy, as I’m still writing it. It’s about a quarter of the way completed, so we’ll probably be looking at sometime next year before anything concrete happens.

That said, I may be releasing a sample chapter earlier than that, depending on the results from RPG Maker Times. If interested in viewing the sample chapter, make your vote count (no closing date yet).

This is a video demo of some of the in-game features, including the intro through to the Status Menu. The intro will be changed later, however. Don’t forget to read the footnotes below too.

The video has been truncated from its original. Sound quality is not that good in the beginning. I also added subtitles to better explain some of the features. [New video updated soon.]

Most of the scripts have been tweaked to integrate properly into the AMG system. The characters’ profile information is incomplete yet, as is the “Extra Stats” page. A complete list of scripts is available here, updated as other in-game scripts are updated.

A playable demo will be released soon – though no sooner than next year – and I’ll upload it then. Watch this space, I guess!

I was asked recently on this blog when a demo will be available.

The answer is: Soon! Edit: 1st December, 2010 – Video Demo.

With Version 0.9 Private Release, the current version, I’m putting the finishing touches to the menu system, working industriously on script integration and overall aesthetics. Once that’s done – and I’m satisfied with it – I’ll upload a movie clip demonstrating this part of it, along with some additional screenshots. Version 0.9 also does not have any content yet because I’ve been working on that as another, separate project prior to putting the whole thing together in Version 1.0 Public Release.

Version 1.0 is nearing completion, with some of the maps already in place. I’m in the process of customising some of the graphics and fine-tuning the map scripts, as well as two minigames. Events take place immediately after the eponymous novella (almost finished) ends. When this version is released, which I’m estimating will be around Christmas or New Year (time permitting), it will be a playable demo.

The project has been given a major overhaul. Being the perfectionist I am and to clean up untidy code, the entire script being reworked from scratch again. This is also to iron out some anomalies in the previous version, which had been conflicting with other scripts.

Rework on the Status Menu/Status Screen has begun and is progressing satisfactorily. Most of the other display areas have been finalised, with tidier code and improved aesthetics.

In Version 0.9 (Private Release), there may be an intro movie (playable from the title menu), as well as in-game movies. The only disadvantage with the movie script is that movies will not play in full screen, or without certain plugins, so will either probably be disabled when playing the game full screen or removed altogether.

At the moment, the plot is rather sketchy but progress on the game itself has also started and that will continue throughout the month.

I decided to rename the title to something else because, at the time of coming up with a title, I was unaware of Atlas Games’ Ars Magica tabletop RPG series. The rename will (hopefully) avoid future confusion and stepping on trademark and copyright toes.

The RPG Maker VX game was so named because “ars magica” is Latin for “magic(al) art”, since that is the essence of the story. I had thought of renaming it to something like “Magicum Antica” (ancient magic), but settled on “Ars Magia” instead – essentially the same meaning, but I think it’s much more appropriate since it infers mages as well as magic.

Well, I’ll keep it thus for now and see what happens and how it pans out.