Our own production pipeline

[EduardoGaray]

Oh yea I remember realizing that back when I was messing with pixel animation. I just really like the look of 2D sprites though. Azure Dreams was cool in that it combined 2D sprites with simplistic 3D environments. You could rotate the camera and the sprites all had turn arounds that changed as the angle changed. I realize its more work that way but its got such a strong nostalgic appeal to me because so many games I loved where like that.

hehe i'm actually like that too, Xenogears for the psx is my fav game ever, and it mixed 2d sprites for the characters with 3d models and backgrounds. But as much as i love pixel art, its way too much work. xD

I thought about doing that too! We must think alike haha! Like what Nino said about Chrono Trigger was exactly what I was thinking. Also had this weird idea to make a game with a western style setting and characters like Diablo that travel to another dimension which is Anime style Akira Toriyama-esque reality. And some of the characters are vaguely aware that they exist inside a game to entertain a god like being which is the player.

Indeed! i was thinking of Chrono trigger too. Behind all the cheerful colors and relentless optimism it had really dark undertones, and lets not talk about Chrono Cross...

That was something I was thinking about too. With the character Angus having this past he doesnt want to talk about. While hes putting up this flimsy persona of an ultra bad ass hes really a scared little boy. When he gets really angry he shouts out shit like "No Daddy! I dont wanna!" to which the enemies have a look of fear and confusion as this huge axe wielding maniac with a giant arm charges at them.

Also the priestess character is this innocent sexually confused nun who fawns over this pretty boy knight Sir Lance who has an ambiguously gay relationship with his squire, the swarthy Francisco.

haha thats awesome, i wish i had a talent for comedy, my very first game idea was very humorous (a game like advance wars about the second world war with the world leaders like roosevelt and stalin as little anime girls xD then i realized i just cant do comedy.

My idea for that was that hes pursuing this bandit that killed a shop keeper. The old shop keeper was the only person who was ever nice to Angus when he was a kid so hes on a revenge mission. The bandit originally has the demon arm attached to him but during the fight Angus loses his arm but still kills the bandit. The arm then attaches to him. Its a sort or revenge story that turns into a redemption story. Either Angus is consumed by the demonic arm and loses himself to its will or he finally breaks free from his hatred. I even have game play mechanic in mind for this concept. As he uses special attacks with his demon arm it fills a meter. If the meter fills completely he essentially loses himself and becomes completely taken over by the arm. He has to get blessed by a holy character to empty the demonic meter.

Also since he had to enter the tower to fight the bandit hes now trapped in the tower until he can defeat the bosses at the top and bottom. Thats just a rough idea but my ideas for what the tower is and how it works go a lot further than that. I could try to explain it all right now but I think I've typed enough.

Cant really say i like the revenge start, it has been too overused over the years. Maybe if you could add a darker twist to that it would be more interesting.
And the demonic arm mechanic is pretty awesome, you have a really great premise for a game here:
"you are slowly turning into a monster and losing your mind"

The player can be in the middle of a level or a difficult boss fight and only think about using the demon arm as a last resource, because using that power is really dangerous, and every time you use it you are one step closer to your doom. So you are asking the player, how far are you willing to go? how much are you willing to risk? of course a compelling storyline to make all of this matter would be needed. xD
But if the demon arm can be emptied, then its just "oh the bar is almost full, time to go visit the cleric"

This approach would work for the "happy exterior dark interior" route though, and i imagine it would be kinda heartbreaking to see the protagonist losing his mind, his body and mind beign devoured but his own arm, make him call for his mother while all of this happens, just like when he is being hit by enemies but the change in context would make it disturbing and horrifying instead of hilarous.

Just wanted to give you some ideas haha