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Time to try out this new poll thing
Sky's themes are those of the reincarnation cycle, but lacks in a true theme. In a hypothetical game like sky, what themes/ideas would you want to see explored in the lore?
Power/corruption
conformity vs individualism
Biding by the rules vs doing what's right
Is redemption possible for everyone?
combination of choices
other (plz comment or reblog with suggestions)
So the first character I want y'all to be introduced to for Current: Distant echos is....
Arel! (they/them). Drawn by the lovely and talented @decaying-lambx who you guys are probably gonna see a lot of because their work is so GOOOOOOOD and I highly encourage (if you have the time) send them a pack of candles in sky and you will get an amazing work of art
Before I get into who they are + their function, I'd like to talk about their design as an octomaid. I love octomaids. I really do. I think they're versatile and fun and you don't see them a lot in mermaid related works/drawings. With that being said, unfortunately, I don't think a mermaid tail could be a viable option for the player character simply because of how differently the tail it would operate. And not to mention skin color + markings (they're combined) will be harder to program on octomaids along with more traditional single tailed mermaids. So unfortunately, octomaids/squidmaids will be relegated to other npc's where you can't get the tail
Which brings us to Arel's function: they're a guide!
like sky, Current will also have seasons (and i'll get into those down the line). Arel's presence in the home base area will signify that there is a long term event starting or currently going on that involves new sirens coming to the realms of neptune, and they will give you hints on where the new sirens are, because unlike sky, they're going to be scattered in all the realms. There won't be a specific home base or area for these types of seasons, considering they might have specific ties with the already established NPC's. In addition, you can also unlock Arel's memories as well as their cosmetics. Their skin pattern will be permanently available to purchase, but they will have different accessories/hair colors every time they come around. Don't worry, though; their accessories/hair will rotate, and new players will be able to get their old cosmetics.
As for Arel's lore, they were a denizen of the coral fields, the second area within the game. They did, however, travel through the realms as a sort of messenger, delivering letters to whoever needed it. They grew up with their mother, father, and multiple siblings, though didn't see them that often due to their job. They also didn't have too many friends, but cherished memories of people they met during their job.
While the Exalted was making their plans (i know i used he/him for them, im still figuring out their gender gimme time), Arel still kept their head down and did their job. They tried to ignore the erasure of their culture and attempted to keep it alive, but after watching one of their siblings lose in a duel with the Exalted's protégé, they decided not to rock the boat anymore.
The Great Blight came suddenly for them, while they were out on the job. They had traveled to Great Ralo University to deliver a message on a routine day when suddenly, everything went to shit. A conclave beast emerged, enraged and on a path of destruction. Arel fled the area as fast as possible and managed to get outside Neptune to safety. They wandered around aimlessly, surviving off small fish and crabs they got until they found their father and a few of their siblings. As a group, they found Hydros, another area with realms similar to neptune, and they managed to settle there.
For years they laid low, thinking that all had been destroyed within Neptune and that the rest of their family was dead. However, they received news that nymphs (the players!) emerged from underground, signaling that not all was lost. What's more, they learned some of the sirens actually survived too, though they were petrified into stones. Arel decided to head back to Neptune, intent on helping the new generation rebuild and thrive.
If you have any questions on them/the world, just send an ask!
The Sea Game
So I mentioned in my intro post that I wanted to create a concept for a game like sky, but not exactly. And not just like sky, but improves on the game's shortcomings to try and make a better experience for everyone. Because not only do i want to practice my lore writing skills/character creator skills, but because it would be interesting to take a look at this new type of "chill mmo" and what games of that genre should be like going forward.
Since I have a love for mermaids and the sky was already taken, this game is going to be focused on the SEA. My current standing title for this game is Current: Distant Echos. This may change, this may not.
The four main inspirations for this game are Sky: Children of the Light, ABZU, subnautica, and AER: memories of the old. You will play as a Nymph, a being with a humanoid upper half and aquatic based lower half that travels throughout different realms of Neptune: the world you inhabit. The plot is loose and has a lot of wiggle room, but I definitely want toe gameplay to be more focused on exploration/piecing together the lore around the world around you/who you are.
As time goes on the world and concepts will evolve. who knows what it'll be in one month, two months, or even a year from now?
Any and all suggestions through reblogs of posts/asks/whatever will totally be into account. Maybe they'll be implemented, maybe they wont. This is mostly just for fun, but maybe one day the game could be made.
Working on my ocean game right now, and i've sort of hit a rut working on the locations. I have a decent amount done, but i feel like i need to develop the characters + timeline more.
Stay tuned to that coming up, and there will be more information coming soon
Ocean Game: Plot and More.
So something I noticed in sky is that other than wandering around and getting wax, there's no real incentive for you to explore the world. And in an MMO-like game where combat is non existent, you really do need something else to keep the player entertained, because cosmetics and collecting them is all fun, but for a lot of players, it gets old fast, they drop out, and there goes your revenue.
The solution to this is easy: Lore. And since there's gonna be some dark lore, this game's going to deal with stuff heavier than sky
With Current, I want to make the player feel excited about the world. They should want to discover what happened to it and why it is the way it is. Upgrades will mean more chances to study the lore and how characters interact. So there's gonna be a lot of information in this one.
Let's start with the overall lore. Huge shoutout to @hallofharmony for talking this out with me and heavily influencing where the lore goes.
You are a Nymph, a fresh adult emerging from the underground caves where you've been all your life and are starting their own journey to help restore Neptune. Because what was once multiple little cities of vibrant culture and commerce are now gray, barren wastes filled with ruins and maybe a few fish and crabs. But as you explore, you see a weirdly shaped stone with light emitting from the cracks. You go over, and Boom! It's a siren, or a fully adult Nymph. It is unknown how long they've been stuck like that, but they explain that there are others like them, trapped and waiting to be freed. The sirens will be like the spirits, where you can go to them and get cosmetics, but more importantly, bits about their lore/relationships with other sirens.
So, what did happen all those years ago?
There was a powerful magic siren who's name i'll get to later. If anyone has ideas for placeholder names i'd love to hear them, but they found the realms of Neptune...divided. No one really interacted with each other other then some trading or traveling. One day, there were attacks from outside sirens that devastated all the realms, but many still survived. This angered the Siren. How could his people not see the obvious? So, he and a small group of his followers set out to unite the realms, either by force or by choice. And in his mind, if all the realms were to be united, they needed to look, act, and be alike. He and his crew set out to the realms taking down anyone that got in their way. They captured larger fish to use for mounts and other purposes and over hunted the natural fish populations. Corals reefs were destroyed to make room for more buildings to house weapons and more prisoners than needed. After years of this, and rebel forces getting almost nowhere, people cried out to the conclave of gods: giant beasts that were treated as myths, but many knew they existed.
The conclave heard the people's cries, and answered. Being giant beasts, they destroyed everything and everyone in their path. Not even the magic siren could stand against them as life was wiped out. Many innocent sirens perished, though some were turned to stone by one of the one of the conclave gods as an act of mercy. Some sirens fled to other realms, but many who rescued the eggs, hid in underground caves to raise the new generation (aka: the players)
I can write more about characters you'll find throughout the realms and the types of realms there'll be. I was actually thinking instead of more seasons, it's gonna be split. During one "era", there will be a rotation of traveling sirens that come to visit, and you can find them in different areas, befriend them, and get cosmetics/lore from them. Once they leave, there will be an era where a whole new realm is introduced with permanent spirits, new areas to discover, and lore.
I think next post im gonna go into more the currency and how that is gonna work, as well as other items you'll use to purchase stuff. If anyone has any suggestions/comments please leave them down below.
Ocean Game: some of the basics
Before we even dive into the fun stuff of the game we must first decide what some of the more boring mechanics are for the game. And like with all posts, I will absolutely take suggestions into account
Controls will be simple. Since this takes place under water, you have the full range of motion of where you can go. Up, down, left, right, diagonal. Whatever!
I'm still sort of debating whether or not combat should be in the game to make it more interesting, but if it was, there would be pretty simple mechanics (3 hit combo and thats it). You'd get a knife to fend off more evil beings that want to attack you.
You will be able to collect orbs hidden around the world which can increase your speed boost meter. Every orb collected increases your energy meter so you can dash for longer. The meter recharges slowly overtime, or you can recharge it faster by collecting the In Game Currency (which will be shells, the more rare currency will be gems) or by standing near underwater hotsprings
The game will be free to play of course with IAP's, as we gotta make our monee somehow. You'll be able to purchase in game currency, a season pass, and IAP cosmetics. I'll be looking more into how TGC does their IAP's and figure out how to improve on those
As for the different areas, I think we'll go with something like sky and have a home area for your character where you can change cosmetics, interact with friends, go to each different world, etc. I'll be describing those worlds on a later date because I already have a lot of ideas meant for them
Each world will be one connected to the previous one, and you won't be able to access all of them at once at home once you go through rebirth the first time, again, like sky. The one thing I would change from sky is that each base world will be just one fully open space with several branching paths that are blocked, and some subsections are harder to get to than others
I'm still debating the general look of the protagonist, if I want all of them to have one universal skin/hair color or if there should be a little bit of variation. I think unnatural skin patterns (aka fish patterns) would be limited and rare, simply because there's gonna be a wider array of customization for tail type, hair type, shirt tops, extra accessories/props, and even size (but that'll be unlockable)
So yeah, that's it for now LOL
Ocean Game: Currency
I would like to start out by saying my opinion of sky's currency has changed a lot. At first, I thought the system was limiting and frustrating, where days would go by and you would get little for your efforts. Hell, there's even an actual limit. But now I see the system as it is, but it took me a while to understand how it works. So moving forward, Current will have its own version
The currency in this game is shells. You run around the world breaking rocks and picking up pieces to collect shell bits that will form shells once you have enough. You can also collect shells in Afk areas, aka small caves in each area where shell bits will spawn from the ground. These, of course, can only give you a max of 1000 bits collected over a long period of time, but they are good for those who can't actually run out and collect every single day.
You can also get shell bits from mini games you can find in each realm! Each realm will have their own mini game, where you either compete by yourself (matching games, candy crush like games, etc.) or with other players (racing games, hide n seek, simon says with emotes, etc). While single player games guarantee at least some shell bits, multiplayer games have the bigger cash out, especially when more people are playing. This will incentivize player interaction, people having fun, and earns people shell bits. It's a win/win/win!
Aside from AFK, you'll be able to get 20 shells per day fairly easily if you hit up most of the realms/do a few mini games. You can get more, but it will become increasingly harder and you will have to grind.
There will be at least one week per month where shell bits produced will be worth double, as there won't be any seasonal currencies. However! To decrease FOMO, all those mers/cosmetics will come back around some other time. For two weeks at the end of the year, all previous limited IAP's will come back and be available to purchase, but will be a little more expensive than the previous time (like we're talking a dollar or two more, and no cosmetic will exceed 15$ because holy shit you should not be spending 20$ on a single fake item).
So in game, other than cosmetics, what can you spend shells on? Well, there's two big things.
The first is memories from the sirens you come across. Not only can you purchase their cosmetics, but you can also purchase bits of their memories to see what they were like before everything went to shit. Once you purchase everything you can, you'll unlock a special new cosmetic you can purchase from them, but it won't be cheap.
The second is restoration. Put in enough shells in an area and you'll be able to rebuild either a reef zone (and unlock new fish that swim around) or a new building (that unlocks more memories and/or will sell certain spells to you).
Now, there's actually something to work towards over a long period of time. 100% both of these things will make the conclave beast associated with the realm come out of hiding and start swimming around the area. You'll earn their tail cosmetic for a much cheaper price.
And I think that's it for now! Next time I'll delve more into the realms and seasons and how those are gonna work. Any suggestions/comments, please leave below!
Before I delve more into the Ocean game...
Sky fans, I want to know what YOU would want to see in a new type of chill MMO. What mechanics/storylines do you want to see in this type of game? What elements did TGC put into Sky that can feasibly be improved upon? Send in an ask and I'll get to it!
