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Project Title: The Sword and the Fish (the second greatest story ever told)
Hello, I'm pretty new, but have been working on a project since my OAC 6 years ago. I have prepared a rather lengthy and involved presentation as a website is forthcoming, so here's a detailed report on just what IS "The Sword and the Fish" and what all the hype is about.*
* "All the hype" = "me hyping it a lot and nothing more."
TITLE: The Sword and the Fish
SUBTITLE: (the second greatest story ever told)
MAPS: 1534 (x2 if you count maps copied with modified content)
TRIGGERS: 2377 (more coming, not quite done)
LENGTH: Possibly as long as Final Fantasy III (VI)
HEROES: 12 (2 hidden, 5 temporary A.I.)
ITEMS: Roughly 400 made.
MONSTERS: Roughly 500 made.
SKILLS per HERO: 25 each.
ORIGINAL BATTLE ACTIONS: 170 made.
ORIGINAL SCORE: 20 songs composed RPG style.
FUN STUFF: Every FF3 hero hidden somewhere in the game.
PLOT:
You're CLIFFORD, a keen youth whose age is somewhat ambiguous. The plot meanders like a lost nomad - but in a good way. As the game is a combination comedy/adventure, much of it is pointed at making fun of RPG conventions - most likely often found in RPGs around Ultima Island. Thus its overall plot is so stereotypical it's suspicious. The key is it's dealt with in a fresh and fun manner. Tongue in cheek, as they say. The evil lord of the deep GWAR (coincidentally named after the 80's band) is trying to take over the world! We all know THAT cannot stand, thus quasi-haphazardly CLIFFORD assembles his cronies to eventually confront the demon, as well as purge his soul of a more troubling apparition. Along this path events of all shapes and sizes occur:
- A battle of the bands wherein CLIFFORD and the gang bust out some Weezer.
- A thwarted assassination attempt on a king obsessed with stabbing.
- A disease infecting the robotic future.
- An evil government that swears it's distinct from ShinRa MAKO RED awakening 7 ancient dieties.
- A brothel.
- A daring rescue of musician Kid Rock from his picnic in the Haunted Forest.
- A trial for the heinous crime of being a thuglet.
- A strenuous few days learning zen at the hands of a befuddled old man.
- An airship-to-airship brawl 12,000 meters up.
- A trip to the moon.
- A trip to the Lucky Dubloon.
- A subtley unfolded love story.
HEROES:
CLIFFORD J. SPARTICUS:
Degree: Punk Rocker, Zen Protege, Zen Master.
Focus: Holy.
Clifford is your hero, a ruddy hick from the small village of Ice Haven. He is naive about the world, but ever-skeptical and immoral. Hayseed in mouth, he's never void of a snide comment or the will to thump anything in his way.
EDGE SLASH:
Degree: Guitarist, Jam Master.
Focus: Thunder.
Edge is your band's guitarist, generally adept at hitting multiple enemies at once. Though an egoist, he gets along well with Clifford and helps the crew through their musician stage.
SASHA DUKE:
Degree: Bassist, Low-End Queen.
Focus: Earth, Healing.
Sasha is the backbone of the band. She generally works as the party's healer, though offers some heavy spells, includes basslines, in combat.
ZAKNAFIEN ZAKFORD:
Degree: Drummer, Vampire.
Focus: Dark, Fire.
The perma-hungry Zaknafien is a bit of a nut-ball. Joining and leaving your party speratically, he can be used as a mage with powerful damaging spells, or as a melee hero, bringing two weapons into combat.
CANDID ARMANDO aka SWEET C:
Degree: Thief, Pimpin' Thief.
Focus: Agility.
Sweet C is a fairly weak hero, but is entirely enjoyable to have around with his cutting wit and sleazy ways. Specializing in sneaking about and handling knives, C often gets you in more trouble than you need.
QUADLINK B. TINDERBOX:
Degree: Robot, Transformer.
Focus: Defense, Electricity.
Quadlink teleports back in time to help Clifford, a comes in handy more than once. His advanced technology is good early on, and his high HP and defense makes him a pivotal tank in your party. Yet to udnerstand "love", Quadlink battles his despise for technology while aiding the gang.
FORGOR, son of LYSANDER the Sun King:
Degree: Pilot, Navigator.
Focus: Air, Wealth.
Forgor is who you head to when you need the funds to support your bands early gig. The wealthy gad about has a passion to rebuild the airhsips or old, and he and Clifford eventually team up symbiotically to achieve both their goals. Forgor's natural leadership makes him a standout amongst Clifford's companions.
PRINCESS ANNA HEADBUTT:
Degree: Princess, Royal Skull.
Focus: Headbutting, Cold.
Princess Headbutt is the undutifull daughter of the king of Quesenart. In typical fashion, she wants out from under her dad's thumb for adventure - in untypical fashion she headbutts like a Mongolian! Shyly becoming Clifford's love interest, Headbutt keeps anyone and everyone in line.
RISCO RAH:
Degree: Samurai, Bushido.
Focus: Swordplay, Chicken-related.
Risco Rah is the Zambookan General when you are brought in to stop one of Gwar's generals, Rembrandt. Dangerous in battle, especially late game, Rah attacks with multiple weapons and for some reason a variety of chicken related attacks. He is rather mistrustful, even of the friendly Ghost Pirates.
3 more heroes I prefer to leave in the dark: Penelope, Presto Mundo, and Quinn the Eskimodo Dragon. They also come to help Clifford later on in the game.
VILLAINS:
GWAR:
Gwar, the terribly over intense bat-like villain appears at various time to coax on his chief minions and mock the heroes. It's up to you to make sure he gets his come-upins.
HEXAHABULOUS:
Hexahabulous is waiting for you the moment you step out of bed. Channeling to Clifford through mirrors throughout the land, the demon's soft words attempt to wring Clifford of his sanity and take control over his physical form.
HAROLD:
Harold is a kid who wishes HE was the hero of the game and not Clifford. Being the generic hero icon, he's jealous of Clifford's success, especially since Clifford's so apathetic. Once a protege of Risco Rah's, Harold strikes a pact with Gwar to become more powerful than his arch rival Clifford.
APOCALYPSO:
Every RPG needs a good comical villain, in this case, Apocalypso, the foolhardy red knight continually attempting to prove he's the evillest being there is. 2 "Boyz" keep him company and act as yes-men, further inflating his already magnanimous ego. Hijinx ensue!
So, there's a basic yet thorough overview of my game. I stress that the game's strength lies in its humour and in its mockery of RPGs in general. It's weaknesses lie in the fact it isn't super pretty all the time, especially the earlier levels. As I learned so did the game improve. I'm also tehcnically not the most adept computer language editor, so some of my methods might be archaic. But the net result is if you're enjoying it for its story and fluff, those elements are less important.
Hope this might excite a few people. I've seen some neat stuff since I got here, and I've barely even looked. I was just going to release this to my friends on CD, but released I'd worked too hard on it to keep it so localized.
Any questions, comments, etc. -> feel free to post them here, I'll check back frequently. Even reading this POST is a trial, so thanks if you made it to the end. :D
BTW: Just for funniness, here are some names of spells and items:
SPELLS:
- Gut Displace
- Unhappy Spanking
- Axe of Health (smite your ally!)
- Shout Profanity
- The Hurling of You
- Communism
- Attract Groupies
- Exploding Face
- Accidental Summoning
- Bass all up the Face
ITEMS:
- 40 of Malt Liquor
- Collinder
- Gangrene Toe
- Don Quixote
- A herd of Buffalo
- Carnation of Trouble
- 90's Grunge Phenomenon (cures "Poison" )
- Rod of Brutal Orange Thumps
- Joseph's Amazing Technicolor DreamPlatemail
