Master of the Wind

[ArtBane]

http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/motwlogo.gif

Downloads

Super Pack [Arc I + Arc II] (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=1)
Super Pack Non-RTP [Arc I + Arc II] (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=2)
Arc III (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=3)
Arc IV (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=8)
Arc V (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=9)

Story

Welcome! For those new to this project, Master of the Wind is a superhero game which takes place in the fantasy world of Solest. It is a story told in seven chapters, referred to as "arcs." (You know...like story arcs. It makes sense once you think about it a bit)

Cade Mistral and his best friend, a skeleton named "Bones," work as armor merchants in the beautiful seaside town of Port Arianna. Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, Cade also protects them as the spear-wielding wind mage known as Shroud. Bones joins him as Stoic, a mighty undead warrior who has lived through roughly one thousand years of history.

The story begins with our heroes keeping their fellow citizens safe from smaller threats like robbers or the occasional vampire. However, when larger and more organized foes begin to descend on their humble home, our heroes realize they are in for more than they bargained for. They will have to make new friends, confront deadly foes, and travel all over the world to deliver justice once and for all.

Reviews

Master of the Wind Arc I (Super Pack) (http://www.rmxp.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15791) by The Doctor
Master of the Wind Arc II (Super Pack) (http://www.rmxp.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15881) by The Doctor
Master of the Wind Arc III (http://www.rmxp.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16433) by The Doctor

Main Characters


http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Cade.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Shroud.png
Cade Mistral/Shroud: Born to a family inherently skilled in wind magic, Cade Mistral is a passionate and highly principled person. After years of wandering alone, he treasures his friends and his job as an armor merchant in Port Arianna. When the town is in danger, he grabs his spear and readies his wind magic, becoming the crime fighter known as Shroud.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Bones.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Stoic.png
Bones/Stoic: Though he goes by the name "Bones" in Port Arianna, Stoic the skeleton has lived through about one thousand years of history. He is a deeply private individual, but shares Cade's quest to keep those around him safe from harm. He also has quite a temper, and enemies tend to fear him a bit more than Shroud.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Finley.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Baron.png
Finley Donner/The Baron: Cade and Bones's next door neighbor is the ultimate "straight shooter." The combination of his earnest honesty and complete lack of manners can often prove explosive. However, Finley can sometimes display a surprising amount of insight, and may find his true calling as "The Baron."

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Auburn.png
Auburn Iliaca: A free-spirited bodyguard who catches Cade's eye when she struts into the shop one day. Beneath her charm and confidence lies a warrior's resolve, but she makes no secret of her desire for a less violent lifestyle.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Laurel.png
Laurel Hargrove: A young telepath being groomed to lead her hometown of Boreal. She joins our heroes in a battle against the villainous Ember Mages, though her modest dignity contrasts sharply with the loud and strong personalities of the others.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Bubba.png
Bubba: An aging kobold bearing both physical and emotional scars from the days of Gallia. He's a severe alcoholic, which makes him a source of comic relief for his friends, but what cost has it taken on him? His combat skills have not left him, and he is a formidable opponent, sober or not.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Gino.png
Gino Toro: A local blacksmith who designs weapons for Shroud and Stoic. This gentle lover of nature is the only person who knows their true identities.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Andau.png
Andau: An embittered vampire who makes a habit of terrorizing Port Arianna's citizens. Shortly after Shroud and Stoic became a team and pledged to protect the town, Andau emerged as one of their first true enemies. He is quite the escape artist, which proves frustrating to our heroes.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Kovak.png
Don Kovak: The owner of Equipment King. He moves into a huge mansion on Blue Tide Estates while trying to endear himself to the citizens of Port Arianna. Given the threat he poses to Torto's Shop, Cade and Bones are hardly his biggest fans. Kovak is a master of public relations, however, and will not be easy to expose.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Vec.png
Vec: Kovak's assistant. Many are fooled by his dull personality, but that hides both a cunning mind and impressive battle skills. He also serves as one of the primary mediators between Kovak and The Hand.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Marin.png
Cole Marin: A proud, driven historian who has had a life-long love of digging up dirt. A child during the reign of Gallia, he vowed to use his knowledge to keep them from rising again any way he could. To that end, he went undercover within The Hand for a full year, absorbing information that he later printed in a manuscript as yet unpublished. He remains in hiding, but when our heroes finally manage to contact him, he has some very interesting facts for them.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Ketsu.png
Ketsu: The leader of the mysterious cult known as The Hand of Arcadius. He often intimidates others by remaining eerily calm and composed, even while angry. The full scope of his plan is unknown, but for the moment he prefers to remain in the background as his subordinates carry out the early stages of it.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Danika.png
Danika: One of the Hand's top three officers. Danika is a lightning mage as well as a skilled illusionist. The deaths of some of her comrades have placed more responsibility on her, though Ketsu is careful to keep her fierce personality in check.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Gabriella.png
Gabriella Robin: A proud student of the Sacred River Monastery. She is very skilled in holy magic, but discovered the limits of her abilities after a disastrous battle with Stoic. She and Cade become unlikely allies and her true priorities are revealed.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Mystery%20Character.png
Sparrow: After a lethal battle at Fort Drake, Sparrow became Shroud's most feared enemy. On the rare occasions that he appears, he strikes quickly and with a ruthless efficiency. His true identity is still unknown, though clues may be found in his strange abilities.

http://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Cyneric.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Douglas.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Morias.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Tyranda.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Shadehorn.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Pilk.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Krom.pnghttp://masterofthewind.org/images/sprites/Grinfrak.png
Touten Corps: Led by the former orc general Cyneric, the Toutens are a gang of thieves whose membership is composed of non-humans displaced by the now defunct Gallian Empire. They take a very traditional approach to their mischief ("honest dishonesty" if you will) and Cade has a history with them.


Screenshots


http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcII/screenie2big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcII/screenie3big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcII/screenie4big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcII/screenie5big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcII/screenie6big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcII/screenie7big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcII/screenie8big.jpg


http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie1big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie2big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie3big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie4big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie5big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie6big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie7big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIII/screenie8big.jpg


http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie1big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie2big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie3big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie4big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie5big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie6big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie7big.jpg
http://www.masterofthewind.org/img/arcIV/screenie8big.jpg


Guide

Master of the Wind Arc I Strategy Guide (http://masterofthewind.com/guide/MotWGuide.htm) by The_Falcon

FAQ


How many arcs are planned?
Seven

So who does what?
ArtBane and I conceived the story together, and I write all the dialogue. ArtBane manages all aspects of the game's design, such as battles, items, dealing with scripts, and various other technical details. He also creates the elaborate dungeons you might have heard of...
In terms of mapping, we tend to split it evenly. I take care of most scenes heavy on story, and he maps all the dungeons himself. Though we have been known to mix it up from time to time.

Who does the battlers?
The battlers come from the extremely talented artist Enkur.

Who does the sprites?
Well, we use a wide variety of RTP-style sprites from various artists, all of whom can be found in the credits. The custom sprites designed exclusively for MotW are the work of Despain, ArtBane and Enkur.

The faces are pretty inconsistent!
Trust us, we know. We plan to have original faces at some point, but that's a big project we probably should have gotten out of the way earlier since the cast only gets larger with each arc. We've tried to find decent placeholders for the time being, but they are by no means permanent. We just didn't want to hold up MotW any longer than we already have!

Tell me more about those faces.
Thanks for the interest! Currently Enkur is on hand to draw the faces of the major characters, while Raven the Dark Angel has already begun to supply us with some great faces for the supporting cast. This face thing is still very much a work in progress....we always say we'll have it out for the next arc, but there's no guarantees. One day we'll have them....one day.

I can't craft anything!
To craft equipment, you'll need recipes for all the various items. Starting with Arc III, each town will have a shop where you can read recipes on how to make some new stuff. Be thorough! There are also many hidden recipes out in the wild...

Hey, I found a bug...
Good to know. Generally we prefer to hear about bugs via PM, but you can post it in the thread if you must (actually, if it's a game-ending bug, it's good to get the word out). Either way, make sure you provide details on where exactly the problem is or it's harder for us to fix it.

I don't want to start all over! Can I use my save file from the last arc?
Yes, you can! Simpy copy and paste your save file into Arc III's "saves" folder and it will work. Only save files where Arc II has been totally finished (as in, you watched the credits) are going to work.

I hit F12 to restart the game and it crashed on me! What's going on?
Don't hit F12. It screws up one of the scripts. If you want to restart the game, just close it and open it up again.

Tell me who Sparrow is! I won't tell anyone else, I promise.
Sorry, not happening.


For more details and goodies check out our official website www.masterofthewind.com

[DJ Jack]

Hey! Master of the Wind! I was waiting when you were gonna update it on this Forum. Looking good as always. :)

[Reives]

Indeed. Speaking of which, this is probably the longest RMXP project I've seen in terms of game-play length, when you add up all the arcs. Gotta give kudos for the commitment.

[ArtBane]

Thanks. Still more to be done. I am kind of jealous of those with smaller projects. Once you commit yourself to a project like this you are in for the long haul.

[Reives]

Heh, true. I wish I can just start making small project and pump them out in completed forms every month too. :<

Speaking of which, I am impressed how successful you and Volrath have been in terms of working together. In my opinion, two-people teams are, in a way, harder to cope with than either one man team or a mass recruited team. It's the line where creativity can come into conflict.

[ArtBane]

You would think Volrath and I would of at least had one squabble by now but no. There is no creative conflict between us. We intertwine our ideas to make them work in the game so that we are both happy. It really comes with being friends for so long. If you're working together with someone that you can't be completely open with there is bound to be tension.

[J.D. Slasha]

I'm very impressed with the longevity of your project, guys. I really admire projects that stand up to the test of time; this is clearly the perfect example. Again, Kudos.

-JD

[Anaryu]

Can you say longest going RMXP game ever?

If you haven't played this yet for any reason, do so. The development team concentrated on improving instead of redoing, so the project has gone places and each Arc increases in length and quality.

[Volrath]

Yeah, I'm here too! If there's anyone here who's never seen this behemoth that I've (happily) devoted 2+ years of my life to already, I hope you'll give it a shot.

[Elias]

You already know my thoughts on this project...but.

This may be one of the best RMXP games I have ever played. :)

[Draken]

One of the most fun and challenging RPG's that I've ever played.

[Reives]

Wow, two years? That's longer than I thought. D: I wasn't around long enough to witness this taking off. By the way, was it rough at the start?

[ArtBane]

Yeah. Like most projects we didn't get much attention. We were just a couple of noobs with a new project. Fortunately Despain took an interest to it which helped us get attention in the beginning. Then by the time arc II came out we had a small following and it just grew from there.

[Skie]

It's sad to admit that I've seen this game at many places over and over for a long while...but not once have I tried any part of it. I don't know why either. This looks and sounds like it has a ridiculous amount of work put into it. I'll have to take the time to try this sometime. More like I should have a while ago...

[Reives]

Heheh, cool. Every great project starts from somewhere, and it's inspiring to new people to know that MotW was once where they were at too. :>

[ArtBane]

So silly me forgot to renew the masterofthewind domain and now I am paying dearly for it. For a few months it looks like I won't have any access to the domain even though the files on the server are still there. In the meantime, Despain has been kind enough to make us a subdomain on his site so if you are looking for the game downloads here are the links.

Master of the Wind Super Pack Non-RTP (http://www.motw.rhinocap.net/Master%20of%20the%20Wind%20Super%20Pack%20Non-RTP.rar)
Master of the Wind Super Pack (http://www.motw.rhinocap.net/Master%20of%20the%20Wind%20Super%20Pack.rar)
MotW Arc III (http://www.motw.rhinocap.net/MotW%20Arc%20III.rar)
MotW Arc IV (http://www.motw.rhinocap.net/MotW%20Arc%20IV.rar)

[Volrath]

Tis the season for fanart, I guess. I'm not sure if Wumpi's a member here or not, but she's produced some fun stuff.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/632/wumpiranasolikcolouryc5.jpg

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/204/baroncomicxk6.gif

Also, our site is temporarily hosted here (http://www.motw.rhinocap.net/index.php) at Rhino Cap until our domain issues get worked out. No forums, but all the downloads and other stuff is still there.

[Reives]

Again, I simply love the last part of that strip.

[Volrath]

Here's something for my sponge-friends:

MotW Arc V (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=9)

Few things:
1. If you're continuing your save file from Arc IV, be sure to drop it in the Saves folder like always.
2. Don't hit F12 for any reason.
3. If you'd like to talk about Sparrow's identity, please use spoiler tags so new players can still have the fun of the mystery.

Enjoy!

[Mac]

How kind Volrath :)

And yayyy Arc V! Shall play this later after i've finished sorting out a few things :)

[Ronove]

Wahhhh! I can waste my day away on MotW!

[alexia]

Sweet! I've been waiting for the next installment. To be honest, I wasn't able to complete part IV. I couldn't get past those monsters that spat out water on the bridges :upset:

**WHEE**
I finally found my char in your game:)
Voyd!

[Raven The Dark Angel]

hmm you have an F12 problem? I think I had a script lying around somwhere that cancled it so even if you pressed F12 nothing happens. Want me to drudge it up for you?

[Volrath]

F12 does something screwy with one of the scripts we have in there. ArtBane would know more specifics. But yeah, feel free to send us that script, that would cut down on frustration for folks who get frustrated after losing a battle and hit F12 so they don't have to go through the humiliation of seeing the Game Over screen.

@Alexia: I'm not sure if the character's name qualifies as a spoiler at this point, but I'm glad you got to see him. I remember looking through your spriting thread ages ago and just stopping and saying out loud.."There's Voyd." And he's been there ever since.

[Lene]

I'm playing this game for the first time. Oh my, the puzzles are challenging in a good way! There were some parts where I gave in and had to look at the walkthrough though (who did that anyways? they should do it for the rest of the arcs). I'm nowhere near the current arc though.

Cade, are you saying powerful and rich people can't do whatever they want? If so, you're waging class warfare!

*flatlines* XD XD XD

I like Finley even though he's a bit ignorant. Cade is a bit of an asshole and I don't think Emma and Cade will last all that long. It seems like a pairing out of convenience. Bones has to be my favorite character. I'm only at the very beginning of Arc II though, so it might change.

[Lowell]

I need to go ahead and start this game sometime soon~ Good job you two!

[Ronove]

OMG OMG OMG
That was my favorite Arc. :grin: I really felt it really had good meaning, not to say your other ones didn't, but this one REALLY had it. I really loved everything about it. I mean, BUT IT WAS SHORT. :crying: I want the next one now.

[Volrath]

I'm really glad you were fond of it. Thematically, it was probably the best one I've yet written. I've been playing it through myself to update my personal save file and you're right...it is on the short side, despite the long flashbacks. The process of making it sure wasn't short, though...oy. Well, Arc VI won't disappoint in that regard. Expect like 9 or 10 hours.

@Lene: There's a whole layer to the game's dialogue that is usually unremarked on, but I've been putting it in the whole time. Someone as politically active as yourself will find a great many in-jokes made at the expense of annoying pundits. :evillaugh:

[Lunarea]

As I played the first two Arcs quite a while ago, I thought I'd refresh my memory and play them again. They were just as fun and challenging as the first time around.

I'm currently making my way through Arc III, and I love the progression. Both the story and the game play is progressively getting more complex, which makes it that much more exciting to solve a puzzle, win a fight or get a small portion of the answer.

So far, I've enjoyed:
- Getting 100 on the history quiz It was like a little testament to my reading comprehension/memory and it resulted in a hearty "Woohoo! Go brain!"
- The scene where Cade learns about how Dican's death affected Evrind. It made me feel so bad!
- Using skills and strategy to kick boss behinds! In particular, I love how useful status-effect abilities are (like blind and silence). In other games, they've often felt like an afterthought, or something added just so the player doesn't go 30 levels between useful spells. So, I really appreciated that it wasn't the case with MotW.

I want to finish the rest of the Arcs and gather my thoughts before posting anything big. But I just couldn't resist telling you that I'm really having a blast with it :aww:

[Lunarea]

Double post, I know, but it's the first time that I'm genuinely stuck!

The fairy at the fairy HQ asks you to gather some ingredients for the dispelling potion. I was able to purchase all of them except for a spicy meatball.

The logical choice seemed to be the cook or the meat mole vendor. However, the cook only tells me to sit down, while the mole gestures to the meat. I've tried other shops and talking to everyone, but I'm just stumped!

Am I missing a secret vendor or a special way to interact with one of the vendors?

Thanks!

[Raven The Dark Angel]

Luna:

If I remember right there's like an italian resturante around there some where I think you have to sit down. It's inside one of the buildings but I could be wrong.

[Lunarea]

Raven:
Well, there's a cook in the market where you sit down and pay 25gp and you get healed, but I never got anything in my inventory nor did he offer me a chance to buy anything.

I guess I could keep eating there or something, but it didn't seem to do anything other than heal me before.

Edit: I think I found the place. Thanks!
(To elaborate, there was a guard stuck inside the door that wouldn't let me open it, but he's gone after I reloaded the game XD)

[Volrath]

A guard stuck in the door? That's odd. But yeah, the man at the front of the restaurant is the one to talk to about the spicy meatball. Sorry for any confusion, and I look forward to your further feedback. Glad you're enjoying the game so far!

[Lunarea]

I think it was just a fluke, since reloading the game fixed the issue, but here's a screenshot just in case:

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/lunarea_album/Error.png

I assumed the guard was just guarding the building, but he was effectively gone to a different spot when I reloaded the game. Trying to interact with the door would just bring up the guard's dialogue.

I also encountered a couple other small bugs, but they weren't a huge issue. I can pm them to you if you'd like :smile:

[Volrath]

That is screwy....but we are fixing up the earlier arcs so this is the perfect time to notify us of bugs. PM them to both me and ArtBane for best results. B-)

[Lene]

So yeah I'm playing games as I always do at insane o'clock in the morning...and I go to download Arc IV and the site seems to be down!

I have to say Arc III was very good.
Cade and Auburn = love. I knew that Emma was not going to be sticking around long. Didn't think she would go for skeevy old guy though. Auburn is assertive enough to kick Cade if he gets pissy. I'm glad Cade is no longer the main healer...although since he's the only one so far w/ a spell that heals multiple people, I still use him a bit.

I got killed horribly when I tried to use Call to Arms. I thought it was the same skill as in Arc I (a group Intensify), which would have been handy. That was just plain old weird.

[ArtBane]

Wow you're really burning through the games Lene. Sorry Call to Arms gave you a nasty surprise. I am revamping the earlier arcs and part of the fixes I am making is making sure skill and status effects are more clear. Site's up now BTW.

[Lene]

I'm stuck in Arc IV!

I caved and looked at the guide for the room w/ the Rope in that abandoned castle. I was able to get Auburn & company to the next room. However...what about Cade? He's basically stuck there. I tried to get him to fall off so I could start at the beginning, but it refuses to do so.

[ArtBane]

You're going to have to send Aubies and co back into the rope room and plan it out so both teams can get through the room.

[Lunarea]

I just finished Arc IV. What an exciting ending! I am so glad that I've got Arc 5 to play right now, otherwise I'd have just too many questions XD

The secret ending with the fairy dossier ... I notice the images are from RM2K. Was that an actual project you had/have or just something you used for illustrative purposes?

[Volrath]

A bit of both, actually. Some of the images there are direct screenshots from Clean Slate, the RM2K game I made before MotW. Other stuff I created using RM2K graphics. In general, I wanted the whole thing to be very retro.

[Skie]

So I actually got around to trying this the other day. I honestly just about got fed up with the game, but after clearing my head a bit, I took it out of the recycling bin and started playing again.

I've managed to get past that opening and to the cemetery. Things are only now starting to get interesting. Good thing I stuck to it. Anyways, The puzzles are pretty interesting so far. Not too easy so far, but I can see it getting harder, heh...

As for the battles, they're challenging enough. I remembered that 'raped by good-for-nothings' topic on RMXP.org so I applied the stuff I read about there to battles. It's not impossible, which is probably only because of the healing sources that are close by. If those weren't there, then this game would get a lot harder, heh.

As for the story. I don't really have much to say about that so far. It's the beginning, nothing has caught my interest thus far in terms on that yet.

Anyways, I'll keep playing and see what's what.

[Lunarea]

I got stuck at the Sparrow fight in Arc V. I will probably have to replay it to grind a few more levels, but I'm a tad short on time because I'm going on a trip very soon.

I did, however, want to share a few thoughts :aww:


I found that her joining with Andau was rushed. Because of her hatred for the undead, I expected her to not only go into denial (as she did), but to engage into some sort of self-destructive behavior. I could just see her standing on a cliff waiting for a sunrise to kill her, only for the survival instinct to kick in and whisk her away to safety. Then I imagined she would go attack Andau, only to lose to him due to her poor grasp of the vampire abilities.

I did find the scene with Andau's sister touching, but it was so brief! If I may make a suggestion, perhaps you could include some kind of dungeon area - something equivalent to a maze inside the mind of Andau where completing a puzzle opens up the "memories" that allow both Gabriella and the players who missed secret endings to sympathize with him more. I'm not sure if the vampires are capable of mind control, but it seemed like something Andau would allow - train Gabriella by allowing her to use his mind to train with.


The part of the story where Laurel and Stoic take a walk was so sweet!

Of course, right after it I had a passing (and juvenile! :grin:) thought about how it would spawn some awfully cheesy fanfic with a description like: Stoic's heart was as hard as his bones, but the love of a simple young priestess would make him melt!. That, in turn, led to much giggling over other horrible fanfic that could be written. Things like how the annoyance Shroud feels toward Baron is just lust in disguise.

Doesn't have anything to do with the game, but I felt obligated to share. And giggle.


Stoic remembering and retelling his past was very well done. I think you picked the perfect timing for it too. It wouldn't have had much impact if you had used it earlier in the game because the world hadn't been fleshed out entirely. And any later in the game, it would've felt like an afterthought added just to tie a loose end.

I would have appreciated a couple of chances to save, as some of the scenes were rather long. A part of it was because some of the self-closing text scrolled by fast, so I felt like I had missed a detail or two. The other part is simply because my 18-month old was running around getting into trouble. I did go back and watched the scenes again, but it did take me a lot more time than I thought it would.


I have to congratulate you on a fantastic job, there. That and the scene with the rain of fire are probably my favorites in this Arc. There is always a big possibility that a speech will sound preachy or boring, but you did a great job of evoking the right feelings for it - motivation, exhilaration, nostalgia. The music was also a great choice, it really fit the mood.

So, my questions are ... was the speech planned (Like the details written out before you wrote the speech)? And what kind of music were you listening during it (this, of course, assuming you're like me and find that atmospheric music enhances writing)?

I jotted down a couple more notes, but I have to find them in the mountain of paper that is currently on my desk. :grin:

[ArtBane]

That dungeon idea sounds perfect for a fan game. If you would be interested in doing something like that we could give you the tools.

[Ronove]

I got creamed too against him at first. So, what I did was, put Shroud with counterattack, and defend and heal. Keep putting counterattack on him, and make sure you keep him heal. My Shroud could rarely be hit though, so that was a plus (only the rocks truly hit me.) Good luck, Luna. ^_^

[Volrath]

I tend to use Counter-Attack and Inspire to increase the damage of Shroud's wind moves. And you generally have to cure constantly. If you have any crafted items that increase speed or evasion, I'd strongly suggest putting those on as well. You gotta beat him before you leave on your trip cause you're so close to finishing the arc!

I've heard a few times now that people thought the writing of the Andau/Gabe scenes in Arc IV weren't up to the standards of the rest of the story. The scene you described about the cliff sounds badass, though it's hard to imagine being able to include it now with that arc all set.

My thought process was that Gabriella's joining with Andau was in some ways an act of rebellion at her fellow Monastery students for treating her the way she did when she returned. Since a fair amount of them are prejudiced against undead [she was too, until recently], she's now ready to just swing the opposite direction...a bit like the girl who is overprotected by her parents growing up who goes to college and adopts a wild and crazy lifestyle. I also think she was just looking to be around someone who wouldn't run away in terror from her. She certainly didn't want to adopt Andau's misguided quest for vengeance, and she still doesn't like the whole vampire lifestyle, given her refusal to bite people.

The scene with Andau's sister is completely dependent on a player having seen that Arc III ending to have an emotional impact. That was why ArtBane added it to the beginning of IV...and I think when the current revamp of the first five arcs is done ["SuperDuper Pack"], it should be added either as a special feature in the menu or as an unskippable sequence that bridges the gap between III and IV. I do appreciate your input, and ArtBane's suggestion would be awesome if you considered it. We've had one little fangame made about MotW already, it's on our forums.

The music that plays during both of Volrath's major speeches (the one at the castle and the one on the cliff) went a long way towards shaping the way those scenes were written, as I listened to them many times before and during the production of that sequence.

The whole Volrath storyline is the most personal part of the game yet...and sums up a lot of how I feel about the world. Writing it all was a surprisingly emotional experience, and I thankfully was able to sit down at the computer and type out those speeches at the time when the inspiration hit me. I actually have a bunch of songs on my computer that I call "Volrath songs," which I think capture the spirit of his character and what he stood for. If anyone's interested, I can name some, but I've gone on long enough for one post.

[Lunarea]

That dungeon would certainly be something fun to do. I probably wouldn't be able to get to it right away (impending trip and all), but as long as there's no need to rush it, I'm game!


My problem with the fight is that Sparrow keeps vanishing on me! I keep missing with my skills/counters, plus he only uses Terra Firma and Rocket Lightning (I think that's what it's called anyway). I wish he'd use more physical attacks, 'cause those always miss! Then to top it off, he'll use Quick Fix three times in a row. Maybe it's just bad luck. I guess I'll just keep trying :grin:


I imagine we'll be seeing more of Gabriella and Andau in the last 2 arcs, so perhaps there's still room to add a few extra scenes in a flashback to develop them further. If, however, that's not in the plans, I can certainly use it in the fan-game (with permission of course).

It was clear that Gabriella had nowhere to go, so going back to Andau was a natural choice. I think the issue was that the portion of the story that deals with it is pretty fast-paced - whereas the other parts of character development had a more leisurely pace. Short of adding a few scenes, I can't really think of anything you would add to slow the pace. So perhaps revisiting some of the details in the next arc(s) would do the trick.


I think that one of the reasons the speech came across so naturally is because the views are something both you and the character share. The player can feel the passion in the speech because the writer felt that same passion when they wrote. And it certainly appears that you're invested in the character(s). That in turn makes the player feel emotionally involved in the story.

I would definitely be interested in what some of those Volrath songs are.

[Volrath]

There's only one arc left actually, but it's composed of the material that was originally going to be two arcs, so there's not much of a difference. And also, there's not any kind of time limit for a fangame. We're incredibly lucky to have any interest in such a thing, so we're not about to impose deadlines on it or anything so presumptuous. If you're interested, I can help you with any story questions and AB can supply with you any materials you'd need.

Vanish makes Sparrow immune to physical attacks, but not your magic spells. Blue Norther works particularly well.

They run the gamut all across different genres, but here's a few.
"Pale" - Within Temptation
"Misplaced" - Sonata Arctica (also kinda works for Andau)
"Nothing Else Matters" - Metallica
"Half-Truism" - The Offspring
"Carry on Wayward Son" - Kansas

There are also a handful of instrumental songs that I tend to associate with the character, too. In my very old projects, his theme song used to be a midi of the Hyrule Castle from Zelda: Link to the Past. Random, but I didn't think much about music back then. Another is "Forces" by Susumu Hirasawa from the "Berserk" soundtrack. I had considered that for Volrath's speech, but ultimately ruled it out as too techno-ey.

[Lunarea]

I will get in touch with you both in the next few days (once packing's done anyway!). I've got a few ideas already that I'll run by you too - possibly even a script of some kind if I get a chance to write it up.

I'm looking forward to it! :aww:

[Lene]

I TOTALLY CALLED AUBURN BEING SPARROW! It was her or Cade's brother, but I thought the latter would be too gimmicky and then I thought about Auburn's penchant for orange-type colors so I figured it would be her.

Oh wow, I hope Cade/Auburn ends well. I mean it'd suck for both main characters to totally fail at the love thing.

Wonder where Solik's going...you'd think they'd make sure he'd stay put, but I guess everything happened too fast.

Oh and is Yaled, Delay flipped around? The entire Fairy arc was interesting and I was *smh* at the bathtub drowning quote.

[Volrath]

I love having you play, Lene. You get all my politics jokes. Yaled is DeLay backwards, as in Tom DeLay...remember, they used to call him "The Hammer."

[Lene]

Ah whoops spelled it wrong! Apparently spelling things out backwards is an issue. o.O But that's is who I meant, LOL!

I gotta take the time and actually detail why I really think the story is great. The fact that MotW is able to support this social and political commentary without getting preachy and obvious is a credit to the writing.

[Anaryu]

Arc V: COMPLETED!

I'm back up to date on my Master of the Winding.

My time with the beloved cast felt shorter, though the game itself felt standard length. This is, of course, because of all the sub-story you added into it. I loved it, so I've got no complaints there. :)

I'll just mention the three little things that bothered me because honestly everything else was the normal high-quality MotW work:

1. Many times a character replied to a question with "Indeed." It seemed a bit over-formal and over-used, in some cases a yes or nothing at all would have sufficed as well or better. I only mention it because it stuck in my mind 3 times while playing, felt like it interrupted the flow of conversation.
(Once was Voyd in the early story, second was Stoic later, I forgot the third, I think it was in the middle, and I think there were a couple more instances.)

2. I had to wander around a LOT before I found the church section of Volrath's castle in the flash backs. Had it not been me accidentally realizing I could leave the dorms to get to the main training grounds, I'm not sure I'd have figured it out on my own. Finding the hole in the kitchen took me almost as long, even though I felt sure it was there and had to revisit it 4 times to only notice it by searching everything in the kitchen carefully one square at a time.

3. The wind in the Shroud Golf game sometimes threw me off right at the last second when I thought I had it. At times it could be very frustrating, especially since I couldn't figure out the exact amount it changed my distance so I couldn't take advantage of it. :)

Overall these were minor annoyances and made me feel some accomplishment when I completed them.

ps. Holy crap the revelation of the Sparrow caught me off guard.

Great job guy, I'm eagerly awaiting the shocking conclusion to the epic 6-Arc game!

[ArtBane]

I agree that the church needs to be made more obvious and that the pillar jumping mechanic has its slew of problems. When people time the jump right and still don't make it I usually just say Shroud must have slipped.

[ArtBane]

If anyone's interested the Super Duper Pack (arcs I-V) is available for download. If you've been waiting to play MotW this would be a good time to start as this will probably be the most definitive version of the first five arcs besides a slew of missing art assets. Link below.

Super Duper Pack!!! (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=11)

[ccoa]

I got really badly stuck and frustrated the first time somewhere in II and gave up, but I'm going to give it all another try.

[ArtBane]

A big part of the revisions was re-balancing segments players were having problems with so hopefully you'll have a frustration free or at least frustration less experience this time around.

[ccoa]

If I recall correctly, it wasn't so much a balance problem as not knowing where I was supposed to be going and wandering around until I died, then finding out I hadn't saved for a long time. But hopefully that won't happen again.

[Volrath]

It's a continuing irony that Arc II is one of the few segments which doesn't have a strategy guide, and it's arguably the one that most needs it. I'm trying to get Wumpi to do it, since she's basically become the point person for Arc II questions over at our forums.

If it was the infamous mine number switch puzzle, here's her (often copied and pasted) take on that:
In here Shroud's suddenly cautious and wants to check to see where the tracks go before hopping in the cart as if he's cared at all the last few times. Maybe he's just sick of crashing into rubble. You have no choice but to humour him so head right and another bandana dude will move the track. Jerk.

Go back to the switches. It seems like you're missing a number but in fact you're really not! Each switch is only used once. We already have 13 (switch 3 on row 1), 21 (switch 1 on row 2) and 42 (switch 2 on row 4). It shouldn't be a challenge armed with that information. Hop into the cart and whoosh over to the other side. Before you use the lever to put the track back how it was grab the treasure.

[supershigi]

Hi Volrath and Artbane... I just wanted to say thanks for that dungeon tutorial over at your forums. Valkyrz linked me to it because I was looking for ways to diversify my dungeons, and I thought it was really interesting :) Anyways... that's all :boogie:

[Volrath]

Arc VI is now available!
Arc VI Download (http://www.masterofthewind.org/ccount/click.php?id=12)

A few tech issues to note:

Some people have had trouble with extracting from the rar file...it can get stuck on the rgss102e.dll file, which is actually the last file that gets extracted. If that happens, stop the extraction. If you still have Arc V, copying and pasting the rgss102e.dll file there into the Arc VI will work fine and the game will play without a hitch. It's what I wound up doing, when I couldn't work. If you don't have that, I can hook you up (that's what's nice about spongen being a small forum)

Also, like usual, if you want to continue your save file from Arc V, create a "Saves" folder in VI and copy your file from the last game over. Hoping you all enjoy it!

[supershigi]

It's so cool that you two have been working together on this game for so long... I really hope you stick with it til the end. Congratulations on finishing another arc!

[rutix]

Owwwwww arc VI! gonna download it now. Its cool that you guys work together :D

[Cup o' Wisps]

Dudes I finally got a chance to play this, despite downloading it the day you posted it...
I just gotta say while I think (on it's own) it's the weakest arc so far, when taking it with the rest that is was quite a success. I felt there was a bit lacking in gameplay. Could be because I restarted from arc one on just recently, so I didn't really get equated with the separate arc feel - forgetting what playing arc 3 on it's own was, and such.

But crap, I wanna finish playing these more than ever now, and at the same time I'm kind of apprehensive. I want another 6 arcs, not one haha.

[Meep]

Nice to see you're still working on this!

You guys need to promote this more, didn't have a clue the next chapter was out. I just tossed it up on the front page of a 2k visitors per day VX blog... will leave it at the top for a month or so. Hopefully it gets many more people enjoying MotW :)

*downloads arc 6*

[Volrath]

ArtBane and I decided to conduct a phased release with this arc, in order to catch potential bugs before it was spread to a huge audience. We put it out on our site (www.masterofthewind.org) first, and then moved it to spongen about a week later. This past weekend, AB put it on rpgmaker.net and I was trying to post it on rmxp.org, but that site's login issues are causing problems.

Also, can you show me where this blog is? I wanna check it out.

[Meep]

Ah :)

The blog isn't worth linking - it's been dead for awhile other than visitors. You'll find it in your website stats soon enough, or you can search for vx resources if you're really curious.

Finished your game, fun! Poor Andau got struck by 100 arrows. I thought it was the last one though... argh @ Evil Finley

Couple bugs:


Couldn't find the dude in the Harrol weaponshop that was supposed to sell craftstuff, but I might've been blind.
Script error during Voyd fight. Only caught it once on my 3rd try, he was casting shadow burn. Wasn't the usual type of error message... a bunch of memory error codes only programmers'd understand. Also got a ton of lag whenever he used his text moves.

Is the donation link on your website still valid?

[Ronove]

I think that the lag during battles is all RPG Maker XP's fault--it always seems to just go I WANT TO LAG! :eek:

[Volrath]

I think I've stumbled on the blog you were referring to, thank you for the kind words!

Not being able to find all the spear components isn't necessarily a "bug," but I've heard it can be difficult. To get the Tool Steel (which I'm assuming is what you were searching for) talk to "Heath," the guy selling the weapons in the shop. Make sure you have enough GP (I think it's only 150 or 200).

The Voyd battle, as you might imagine, is heavily scripted, so I'm not hugely surprised that there are still a couple potential errors. We caught most of them during testing, but I will relay this to AB and hopefully we can track it down.

Unless I'm told differently, the "Donate" thing on the site still works.

...Evil Finley finds your disappointment delicious.

[Meep]

thank you for the kind words!

Thank you for the games! :)

Make sure you have enough GP (I think it's only 150 or 200).That'd be it then. I had blown all Cade's hard-earned money on Mass Potions & armor.

Tell Artbane there's a few pennies in his paypal... that's all you folks deserve after that excruciatingly bad Master dialogue! Mwa-ha-ha :D

[supershigi]

I was talking with Rye earlier about how I was up to 300-something maps in my game, and she told me you guys were on like 900... my gosh, that's so insane! I mean, it makes sense... but wow, you guys are so dedicated. What are you planning on doing when you reach 999? Or will the game be over by then...

[Ronove]

I think they are under 900. XD Let me clear myself up!

[ArtBane]

* Script error during Voyd fight. Only caught it once on my 3rd try, he was casting shadow burn. Wasn't the usual type of error message... a bunch of memory error codes only programmers'd understand. Also got a ton of lag whenever he used his text moves.


Unfortunately without a screenshot or steps to reproduce I can't really figure out what is causing the crash. Also, the lag you refer to is probably caused by the transition effect I have whenever Voyd teleports people in and out of the room.

Tell Artbane there's a few pennies in his paypal... that's all you folks deserve after that excruciatingly bad Master dialogue! Mwa-ha-ha :D

It's probably so bad because I wrote it! Thanks for the shillings kind sir. I shall throw them into the ever expanding Master of the Wind piggy bank until we can find a good reason to hammer it open.

What are you planning on doing when you reach 999?

Break out that bottle of scotch I've been holding onto since we made our first map!

In the case that we actually do hit the map cap and can't expand into four digit territory, there are a TON of unused maps that I've kept over the course of the project that can be taken out. Some of them are for reference but most of them are for sentimental value.

[supershigi]

In the case that we actually do hit the map cap and can't expand into four digit territory, there are a TON of unused maps that I've kept over the course of the project that can be taken out. Some of them are for reference but most of them are for sentimental value.Ah, that makes sense. I have a few maps here and there that I should probably clean out, but I'm so afraid that I'll delete them and then screw something up that was somehow connected to it :P Do you guys have any tips for minimizing file size concerning maps and tilesets?

[ArtBane]

Do you guys have any tips for minimizing file size concerning maps and tilesets?

Nope. If anything we're an example not to follow. I often create maps just for organization purposes. Since most of our file size comes from our copious amount of songs, most of my focus has been on figuring out on how to cut the fat there. It just didn't seem worth the effort to save a few megs by decreasing the filesize of the tilesets.

[Meep]

Unfortunately without a screenshot or steps to reproduce I can't really figure out what is causing the crash.

Yeah :( I hate those no-message bugs. It reminded me of something I ran into a few times with VX... if other people have problems with "Viewport", "Sprite/set", or something to do with an "effect" it's probably the same thing

I'll reply to your mail when I'm back after the weekend! Wanted to mention that before I forgot. If you or anyone else does run into map limit problems, pop me a pm. It's a 1 minute workaround to add another 1000 :)

[ArtBane]

If you or anyone else does run into map limit problems, pop me a pm. It's a 1 minute workaround to add another 1000 :)

Sounds easy.