SaRahPG Development Blog 1 - Intro and Confirmed Guests

I've discussed it a few times in the Chatzy - now's the time to place some information in a more permanent place.

SaRahPG is the working title for an RPG Maker XP game. It is a fairly standard turn-based RPG heavily influenced by the original Final Fantasy, with some unique extra elements added to the field that are normally not seen in such a game. Work on it has been progressing off and on in fits and starts since December 2011, and there is no release date - I expect it will take at least another year before I'm done. At present I would estimate it is roughly one-fourth complete (remember that I did not and likely will not work on this nonstop). Note that game elements, screenshots and details shown and discussed here may be changed or omitted, as many things about this game are far from finalized.

The game revolves around a large cast of playable characters as their relaxing village life is interrupted by Northshadow, a sprawling complex located on a northern island that is part giant castle and part dirty slum. Among the first affected are the citizens of Mysidia (Mysidia is both the name of the country the game takes place in and the name of the town you start in - think of it like New York, New York). Among those citizens is a small, blonde white mage you're probably familiar with, and her black mage mother who you are also probably familiar with.

While Sarah, Celestia, the rest of the Sarahkin and other ZFRP characters are present, this game does not follow ZFRP canon and does not take place in the same universe. There are two main reasons: One is to allow for a new storyline that doesn't rely on players knowing exactly what happened in the clusterfuck we lovingly call The Bar - this game stands on its own without prior knowledge, although knowing the characters may increase your enjoyment. The other reason is to prevent people from having to worry about how their characters managed to make cameos. It's easy enough for David to toss in a throwaway reference to popping by Sarah's town to peddle his wares, but most characters aren't that mobile.

The new storyline and verse allows for a unique take on old characters and their interactions - one subplot featured heavily in the game starts with Sarah meeting Alex for the first time while running an errand for Celestia. Yes, Saralex is alive and well in RPG Maker if not in ZFRP, and it's here I plan to give it its' last hurrah before the pairing is essentially retired. I've gotten in contact with several of my fellow roleplayers (some of whom are reading this) to secure the "copyrights" to include their characters. Without giving too much away, here's what you can expect:

Gooper Blooper: Obviously, I can use as many characters as I want from my own stable with wild abandon. In addition to ZFRP characters, I've also populated both the playable and NPC ranks with many new characters never before seen. Three such characters are met in the first town: Vincent, a cocky red mage who fancies himself a ladies' man; Penny, a disgruntled maid fed up with her job and eager to go adventuring; and Violet, a skilled but lazy spellcaster who'd really rather just go shopping then deal with all this monster battling nonsense. Expect Sarah, Celestia, and all her sisters, plus some other characters from the Ensemble.

Harpy: This project wouldn't have gotten off the ground without Harpy. For the story I wanted to tell, and the game I wanted to make, I needed Alexander Triden. Fortunately, she was gracious enough to allow his appearance. Alex is the most important ZFRP character that's not one of my own characters. He has a large role to play and shows up very early on. Also making an appearance is Stella, as Alex's good friend and traveling partner.

Saberwulf: With Wulf's blessing and SteelKomodo's spritework, David Wulf will be making numerous appearances throughout the game as a traveling salesman. True to form, David sells things you can't find anywhere else, and their usefulness varies.

Dross: Another fun recurring cameo is Antoinette. When you first meet her, she'll kick off an energetic game of Hide and Seek that sprawls across the entire world. She could be hiding anywhere at any time, and every time you find her she'll reward you with an exclusive piece of equipment from the Warhammer universe. There might be someone else from Dross' catalog making an appearance as well...

RedSpy: I have gotten Spy's permission to include a few of his characters. They will likely appear as bonus bosses.

M Sheep: The Wooly One has also cleared the use of his characters. I have plans for one in particular that are not yet totally solid.

I have cameo ideas for characters belonging to Steel Komodo and Cornwind Evil, but I've simply not gotten around to actually asking you guys yet. Feel free to agree or turn down character use, or if you want more details (like who I plan to use), ask me. As for everyone else, I'd happily have someone of yours make a cameo somewhere if you'd like but I would need appropriate graphics - a very large factor in why I chose the characters I did was that graphics were available for them, or they were easily made. I'm trying to keep the art style somewhat cohesive, and don't want sprites to clash too much when possible.

That's what's nailed down so far. There's a lot more game info still in the pipeline, and I'll make additional Development Blogs later to cover other aspects of SaRahPG and its creation.