How does the game sound to you? Like one you would play?


An online dev-journal/video updates can be found here: Youtube.com/channel/UCimrZpaXaYCQVLRf9RW788A/about

BE AWARE...we are too early in development for much beyond concept art and rough models visually, though we do feature 4 dev journals and assorted music, voices, and sound FX.

Silver Symbiosis: The problem with giving you the storyline is that it branches according to the player's decisions and the branching storyline makes it hard to give a particular one in any detail, but to sum it all up a machine malfunctioned and ripped holes in the space/time continuum and between alternate realities, including Heaven and Hell.

In addition to mortal creatures coming through and trying to get home, raid, or establish trade routes, Satan is also trying to come through and he is sending his soldiers through ahead of him.

You need to eliminate any and all demons you encounter and find the portal to Hell, defeat Satan in all 3 of his forms, and seal the portal in order to save ALL worlds.

It takes place on Earth in the future where/when the laws of reality have changed. Fossil fuels are useless. Due to this global economies crashed when oil became useless/worthless. Since then they have had about 20 years or so to recover but the balance of power has shifted irreparably in the mean time. Chemical propellants and explosives no longer function and military superpowers (USA, China, etc..) have lost their military superiority when their weapons and vehicles stopped functioning

In poor areas technology has regressed back to the level it was at in the 1700’s and transportation is via pack animals while in rich areas technology has progressed forward to the point that laser rifles are commonplace and all transportation is via electric vehicles, primarily hovercraft.

The game's main characters are twin brother and sister in their mid-teens, only one is playable, which that is depends on the gender selected at the start of the game.
The eye and hair color(after the fusion with the symbiote) of the main(player) character is metallic silver. Before that both hair and eye color are mahogany brown.

Rifts have opened all over the globe allowing creatures from other realities to come into our world. These creature have a multitude of goals and attitudes. Some of these creatures want to go home but cannot (ex. Dragon). Others want to establish interdimensional trade routes (ex. Gnolls). Some want to raid our world for resources not available in theirs (ex. Rock-Goblins and wood). Some want to destroy for the sake of destruction (ex. Wraith). Some want to conquer our world

The energy the rifts are giving off have awoken beings long thought fictional, such as Gaia, the spirit of the planet itself. The final rift to open leads to Hell itself and Satan(the final boss) is coming through.

You use an Psion-Sword(energy-blade) and Psion-Shield(energy shield) to fight. You also use a variety of magic-like abilities gained from befriending certain of the boss-creatures. You can negotiate with many supposed “enemy” creatures for trade and new skills, including just about ½ the Bosses(Fusion skills) and the Rock-Goblins and Gnolls(potions, gems, and precious metals)

You use 4 skill sets,
Personal(ex. “Hunt”, “Fish”, “Snipe”, etc…) Level-up through use
Psionic(“Psion-Sword”, “Psion-Shield”, and “Psion-Tether”) Level-up through “Upgrade” items
Fusion(ex. “Fire-Resistance”, “Aqua-Breath”, “Shape-Shift”, etc…) Level-up through use
Fusion-Combo(ex. “Glass-Storm”, “Scald”, “Sucking Mud”, etc…) Level-up through use, cannot exceed lowest level “Fusion” skill component

I hate when I get no replies, I can't tell whether people like, dislike, or simply haven't seen, whatever I posted!

I saw this yesterday. I didn't comment because there's not much to comment on yet, you don't seem to have much to show yet. The idea sounds interesting, but then so did the countless ideas I had for games as a kid. So yes, it sounds like an interesting game but that doesn't mean much until there's something to see I'm afraid.

Your setting is quite interesting, even at this rough stage. I like how you've blended sci-fi, fantasy, mythology, and the real world. I also like that you're giving the species of different worlds different motivations, instead of just using them all as differently-colored sword fodder. I will be interested to see how you flesh out the details.

One thing that bugs me, though, is that it's not at all clear why oil and gunpowder suddenly stopped burning. The rules have changed, yes, but that's an oddly specific (and narratively convenient) side effect. If molecules don't even interact with each other in the same way anymore, everything on Earth might very well just die in a matter of minutes. I also wonder what's changed on all those other worlds, and how their inhabitants were effected.

For me, though, it's the mechanics that sell games. What sort of game is this going to be, exactly? "Action/adventure/RPG" can mean a lot of different things.

You said a lot about the setting but not much about the gameplay.

If by Action-RPG you mean dynamic combat like Secret of Mana, I would be interested, if you meant point-and-click combat like Diablo, then sadly that isn't my cup of tea.

So far the team is composed of
One Programmer who is making the engine from scratch so there will be no compromises or workarounds.
One SFX Engineer, Professional level
Two 3D Modelers, Professional level, one for props/environments and one for creatures
Three composers, one Master Degree student and two professionals
Assorted concept artists of varying skill levels from beyond excellent down through barely able to get their point across. The energy the rifts give off doesn't stop them from burning completely, it just slows down the rate of combustion, from explosively fast to a slow burn.



As to the combat system, combat is totally active rather than turn based. You have to actively dodge attacks or block them with your shield, your enemies can dodge your attacks, different body parts take damage differently, for example a leg injury will slow you down until it heals, an arm injury will weaken your sword or shield, depending on which arm it is. etc...

You can watch the webcasts about it here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCimrZpaXaYCQVLRf9RW788A

Or simply read their scripts here: (the scripts go further than the actual webcasts do so far)

Any other questions? Just ask and I'll try to answer as best I can.

Webcast 1:

Hello, my name is Charles Hillman. I am the designer and lead developer for the indie game company “Golden Dragon Studio”. We are the group behind the development of the Action/Adventure/RPG titled “Silver Symbiosis”.

Today we will be talking about the game’s storyline.

The game’s story is basically that in the near future, the next 50 to 60 years, a machine is made that malfunctions and begins tearing holes in the fabric of reality. These holes act as portals between various versions of reality that many different creatures are coming through. Some willingly, some not so willingly!

Furthermore, two of the holes opened from Earth to Heaven and to Hell. The portal to Hell is allowing Satan to send his demonic troops through onto our world while the portal to Heaven has allowed an Angel to be sent through to aid you by granting you a power against the demons.

It is up to you to figure out what is good and what is evil, and there is no way to tell ahead of time which category a creature will fall into. You must defeat the evil, befriend the good, and destroy the demonic. Can you tell the difference?

You have to destroy all of Satan’s hordes, defeat him in all of his forms, and seal the portal to Hell in order to save ALL worlds. Failure means not only our own world being conquered by Hell, but all other realities as well! Are you up to the challenge?

This is Charles Hillman, signing off for now!

So viewers, until next time!



Webcast 3:

Hello, my name is Charles Hillman. I am the designer and lead developer for the indie game company “Golden Dragon Studio”. We are the group behind the development of the Action/Adventure/RPG titled “Silver Symbiosis”.

Last time we talked about the Personal skill set, today we will talk about the skill system again. As you may recall, there are four skill sets in all, but today we will be specifically focusing on the “Psionic” skill set. For those who don’t know what psionics are, they are psychic powers; In this case, pure psychic energy given physical form. You would not be far off thinking of these as your basic combat skills, but one of these can be used for much more than combat!

Psionics only have ten levels and do not level up from exp, instead they are upgraded by acquiring certain items. These items raise only one skill to a time, but you get to choose which one to apply each one to.

Having only three skills, this is the smallest skill set by far, but it is also the most important of them all. All Psionic skills affect physical enemies but they also deal additional 50% damage to energy beings such as Wraiths or Banshee.

First and foremost of the three is the Psion-blade.

Extending from your right hand, it is your primary weapon throughout the entire game and can be used in combination with either of the other two. As it levels up it will change its shape at specific points, these being levels five and ten. The initial form is that of a simple blade, but the second form includes a small forearm shield which then grows in the third form to include a spike extending past the elbow.

Secondly, surrounding the left hand is the Psion-shield which is your only true means of defense. Like in many action/adventure games, but unlike in most RPGs, this must be used to block attacks rather than just passively boosting defense. As it levels up it does not change its form, but instead simply grows in solidity so that it blocks more of the damage from attacks, by level ten it can completely block almost all normal attacks, but even then it can only partially block most special attacks. This can be used in combination with the Psion-blade only.

The third and final Psionic skill, extending from the left hand, is the Psion-tether. At level one this is used much like the Hookshot tool from the famous Legend of Zelda games. You aim it like a ranged weapon and fire it toward something. It has a limited range however, a mere one hundred feet.

You can use it to pull light enemies toward you or yourself toward powerful fliers and/or heavy enemies. It deals no damage at all to physical enemies, but energy and spirit enemies are a different matter. They are stunned and take a small amount of damage from contact with it.




In addition to combat this can also be used to draw yourself towards heavy or anchored objects, allowing you to swiftly scale walls and trees or draw light unanchored objects to you, and from level two on you can generate two of them at once, one from each hand! Levels five or higher, they can even be detached from you and attached to other objects to temporarily bind them together. If this sounds useless to you, just consider such a thing as binding a strong animal like a bull to a heavy object to have it pulled out of the way!

As it levels up the length stays the same, but it can be maintained for a longer period of time, and at level ten the time limit is removed completely!

This wraps up the Psionic skill set. Next time we will talk about the Fusion Skill set, but unlike the Personal and Psionic skills set, I won’t go into detail as to what they are, instead I will talk about how you can acquire them!

This has been Charles Hillman, signing off.

Until next time!

Webcast 4:

Hello, my name is Charles Hillman. I am the designer and lead developer for the indie game company “Golden Dragon Studio”. We are the group behind the development of the Action/Adventure/RPG titled “Silver Symbiosis”.

Last time we talked about the Psionic skill set, today we will talk about the skill system again. As you may recall, there are four skill sets in all, but today we will be specifically focusing on the “Fusion” skill set. Due to the relatively extensive size of this skill set, as well as the mystery of what you get each of the powers from, I will not be discussing individual skills in detail. Instead I will discuss the method of acquiring these skills and the cost, that’s right, the cost, of using them.

Fusion Skills can be raised up to level 50; unlike Personal Skills they will only gain exp when used, never from you leveling up.

These Fusion Skills are gained by fusing with the various boss creatures throughout the game, and unlike the Personal or Psionic Skills, Fusion Skills cost energy to use. To fuse with a creature you must first make it your friend through negotiation. However, negotiations can backfire if you respond incorrectly or try it on a truly evil enemy.

Truly evil boss enemies will sometimes actually pretend to be friendly but when negotiations conclude, rather than becoming your friend and fusing with you, they will instead take advantage of your lowered guard to do a one-hit kill!

Bosses aren’t the only ones you can negotiate with, though they are the only ones that will give you new skills. Normal creatures can be negotiated with as well. Successful negotiations result in everything from them merely letting you past without a fight, through trading for rare items that you can’t get anywhere else!

Wrong responses will make the creatures angry and the angrier they are the less they like you. The less they like you the more likely they are to attack rather than run.

Truly evil enemies, of which there are many, will take advantage of the lowered guard following a supposedly successful negotiation to deal double damage. While far less than a boss, this can still make the difference between life and death!

Be aware that the movement skills (phasing through solid earth-based objects and/or flying through the air) cost more energy than attack skills do and running out of energy to fuel them while still inside an object or high in the air will result in the death of your character. However, if you run out of energy while using any other of your skills it will simply result in you being unable to use the Fusion Skills until you have rested.

Certain items will partially restore energy but they will do so at a price, they will temporarily reduce the strength of your Fusion Skills. Your skills will return to full strength upon resting but be aware that the detrimental effects of using items to restore energy are accumulative, every time you use an item to restore energy rather than actually resting, the strength of your skills will be reduced by a little bit more. This will continue each time you use them without resting in between but will reset when you finally do rest.

This wraps up the Fusion skill set. Next time we will talk about the Fusion COMBO Skill set. Like the Fusion Skill Set I won’t be talking about specific ones, but rather I will be talking about the system you use to acquire them!

This has been Charles Hillman, signing off!

Until next time!


Webcast 5:

Hello, my name is Charles Hillman. I am the designer and lead developer for the indie game company “Golden Dragon Studio”. We are the group behind the development of the Action/Adventure/RPG titled “Silver Symbiosis”.

Last time we talked about the Fusion skill set, today we will talk about the skill system again. As you may recall, there are four skill sets in all, but today we will be specifically focusing on the last and most powerful of these, the “Fusion Combo” skill set. Due to the relatively extensive size of this skill set I will not be discussing individual skills in detail. Instead I will discuss the method of acquiring these skills and the cost, that’s right, the cost, of using them.

The Fusion Combo skill set draws upon the same energy bar as the Fusion skills do. This means that as far as use of them is concerned they are effectively stronger Fusion skills. However, rather than being acquired through negotiation with bosses, you actually MAKE these skills by COMBINING Fusion skills!

I keep reading through the OP several times, and it may be that it is late now, but the first thing that comes to mind is:

"soooo.... what kind of game is this?"

Do you have an elevator pitch?

What I've seen so far is a giant pink face and walls of text, now I don't work in sales but something tells me that doesn't make for a great pitch.
How about a five sentence description and some bullet points or something?

ok, that's a start.

So it is an ARPG, with some crafting and survival elements? You have the option to befriend enemies, some skills relay on this skill, and some upgrades do so to. Is this optional? do a player not going down this path handicap himself?

The settings is destructible / changeable (fully or only in certain places?)

Is it 2d or 3d? First person or third person? Is combat real time, tick based, strategic? you get to befriend enemies - do you build a party? Is it quest oriented? Puzzle oriented? Sandbox? is narrative driven?

The setting is nice, but I do care more about mechanics to start with, sorry :)

Don't worry about it, I appreciate constructive criticism and that is what this is, helping me to rewrite this so it makes more sense.

The only crafting elements are combining skills to make new ones (my fave is the 3-piece "Glass-Storm" skill :p)
There are 2 enemies that literally canNOT be beaten without the Fusion and/or Fusion Combo skills, but they wander the map and can be avoided.

The environment is fully destructible and that i in fact how some of the skills work, by manipulating the environment to handicap your enemies or help you.

It is 3DVisuals = Over the shoulder(Normal movement and combat), 1st person(ranged weapons), and Overhead(Hovercraft)
Action = Short and sharp, heavily reliant on player reflexes to avoid damage
Motivation = a combination of;
 From the start:
 Exploring the changes in both his/her person(the powers granted by the symbiote) and the world itself
 Finding out what caused the changes
 Making new friends
 Later:
 Defending those who cannot defend themselves, no matter the species
 Sending Demons back to Hell whenever/wherever they can be found

Weaknesses =
• discerning the difference between friendly, unfriendly, combative, fearful, good, and evil (some species can vary between multiple categories from one individual to the next)
• Environmental hazards such as temperature extremes and/or drowning
• Starvation (must eat at least once per game-day to maintain health
.
You CAN gain the ability to transform into 12 different creatures along with assorted variants on those creatures.

You have the option of gaining a single ally character, if you can first beat him in battle to prove yourself worthy.

It draws from several genres...
It is quest oriented but open world, with a branching storyline that is driving me crazy to write, but it means you can do what you want and have it effect how the story plays out much like a sandbox..

Anymore questions? I'll be happy to answer, I just know what interests me, not what interests you.

Some if it sounds almost Dark Cloud-ish.
It sounds interesting, if perhaps a bit much and Molyneux-y.

It is a massive project, which is why I have assembled the team that I have.

So far the team is composed of
One Programmer who is making the engine from scratch so there will be no compromises or workarounds.
One SFX Engineer, Professional level
Two 3D Modelers, Professional level, one for props/environments and one for creatures
Three composers, one Master Degree student and two professionals
Assorted concept artists of varying skill levels from beyond excellent down through barely able to get their point across.