Greetings everyone!
Allow me to be the first to welcome you all to RobinWood Studios very first developer's blog!
My name is Xveas, the Director of RobinWood Studios and author of the 'Tome of Eternity'. For many of those who aren't familiar with RobinWood Studios we are a small group of like-minded individuals who came together almost ten months ago now to work on our very first visual novel. We are a very small international group that has managed to stay together over the past year working on what we each believe to be something truly amazing. Later on we can go into details about the staff at RobinWood Studios and who we all are. For now I will just get down to business and tell you everything you need to know about the Tome of Eternity project and why you should be excited about it.
We can start by doing some Q&A's that I made to answer most questions about the project.
What is 'Tome of Eternity' about?
I'll break this answer up into three parts; genre, setting and plot.
Genre:
Tome of Eternity is a psychological thriller, the root of which is heavily inspired by steampunk and a short novel I wrote a few years back. Although we have worked in elements of horror and h-scenes, the overall feel of Tome of Eternity will be that of an intense drama driven by a colorful cast of characters.
Setting:
The events of the Tome of Eternity take place on the world of Scrail. The planet is primarily uninhabitable due to thousands of years of war waged on the surface. Machine and magic; two elements that once existed harmoniously together, tore the planet asunder. The destitute people of Scrail are now forced to live in the only two remaining cities on the planet.
Mechadya, the mechanical city in the sky; and Selavya, the city of the Magi.
Each city ruled by oppressive organizations who still try to wage war with one another. Mechadya, able to keep afloat in the sky due to their technological prowess, is where the story takes place.
Plot:
The plot behind the Tome of Eternity centers around Dan Adams and Soemo Yamato; two students living in Mechadya, the machine city. Life in the floating city is hardly easy for anyone. The tyrannical rule of the Synth Order makes it impossible to feel alone even for a second. Their hatred for magic and the Magi is felt long and wide. Slaughtering any magic users and destroying any magical devices they uncover, the Synth Order aims to alleviate Scrail of this self-proclaimed abomination.
This makes life even more difficult for Dan and Soemo.
Soemo, being a Magi by birth, is capable of wielding magic with great aptitude. Dan and his family took him in at a young age and have been caring for him ever since. Life wasn't great, but at least they were making it by without anything terrible happening. That is until the day the 'book' found them and a girl came stumbling out of the pages. The girl said her name was Lyra and claimed to hail from a place known as 'Earth'. Dan and Soemo now found themselves in quite the predicament.
A lost girl was now helpless in their world; a book of immense power now rested in their possession; and to make matters worse unknown forces began drawing all around them. Some good and some malevolent, but all seeking the power of the 'book' they now had. As their world becomes unraveled around them and a more sinister force becomes revealed Dan and Soemo must find a way to restore everything to how it once was. And to help the young lost beauty who had graced them with their presence.
What perspective does the story take place from?
This is actually one of my favorite things about our project. Tome of Eternity can take place from two different perspectives that the player may choose from at the very beginning.
Experience the engrossing tale from the perspective of Dan Adams, who simply wants to save his friends and family from the evil that had infected Scrail to it's very core. Can he save them all?
-OR-
View the events of Tome of Eternity from Soemo Yamato's outlook, a misunderstood youth who's past is veiled in agony and emptiness. Will he care to see the world burn?
You as the player take the reigns as either of these two protagonist and decide the ultimate fate of Scrail, whether it be for good or bad.
Can we see some character designs?
Soon. Weekly character descriptions along with some artwork will begin to be released from here on out. Check back on our blog here every Saturday for a new character release!
We will also be posting some other interesting information about Tome of Eternity and RobinWood Studios in the coming weeks as well. So do check back often!
How far along is Tome of Eternity?
I put this question here because I know it is going to be asked. A lot.
The answer is both good and bad. Short answer: It will be some time. We work with a small group at RobinWood Studios and everyone has their hands full in their respective area. The good news is we are officially out of the planning stage and into the development stage, hence the creation of this blog.
To roughly break down our progress I can give estimates of completion in each area.
Programming: 1%
Story Outline: 95%
Script: 15%
Character Design: 95%
Sprites: 5%
CG's: 1%
Backgrounds: 1%
Music: 25%
I'll be doing progress reports on a monthly basis to keep you all up to date on the project. And even though we are out of the planning stage certain things will still be subject to change. Meaning our workload could get more intense or perhaps even lighten up a bit. Check back to learn more!
Looking for help?
We aren't in need of any dire help, no. We have one person assigned to each area of the project with the exception of myself. I oversee the entire project and do all the writing and programming. Tome of Eternity will take time to complete but we are determined to make it a success, so we are driven.
But if there are any talented background artists out there we may be interested in some help that area. The Sprites and CG's are proving to keep our current artist busy enough as it is. If you feel you have the talent to apply and find yourself intrigued by the story of Tome of Eternity then head over to our forum at: http://robinwoodstudios.forumotion.com/ and apply. The site is merely used for recruiting purposes but I do check it daily. Thank you in advance!
In Closing:
We are quite busy as you can tell, but very devoted to delivering the best that we can.
It may take some time, but I promise to bring you all a game you won't soon forget. Thank you.
~Xveas
