As a member of megaman community since 2003, I've been with you guys a looooong time. But I also have an interest in video game design, so, like any fan, I immediately combined to two, and turned to fangames. But year after year, I had no direction, and spun my heels and failed. But then I met JMC47, operator of the most successful 3D megaman fangame to date, Megaman Legends Expasion (MMLEx). We got to know eachother for a couple of years, and when my project and MMLEx both canceled at similiar times, we joined up with Fenix and Dash, developers JMC and I knew from previous ventues, and combined our efforts. The result is ASH - Another Story in Halcyon.
Another Story in Halcyon takes place in the Legends universe and is going to be a single player action adventure in a similar vein. But knowing how the landscape of gaming has changed, we aren't trying to recreate Legends style of gameplay. We're trying to renovate it, and bring it to and past the modern expectations of gaming. With all the unique enemies in Legends, along with the rich setting, so much can be done to fulfill the potential that many saw in the original games.
It uses completely original graphics, models, music, and the engine is coded from the ground up. It runs in Open GL 3 and has adjustable levels of graphics much like most modern games.
Our original plan was to keep development closed in, keep working to ourselves so we could unveil it all complete with a TADA to the fans. That decision came at a cost; it slowed development and put a lot of pressure on those who did want to help, while at the same time limiting our visibility. After seeing how strong the community really is, how they rallied together in these toughest of times, we don’t want ASH to be this lunatic project that seems so far away; we want to share it with everyone so we can all work to make it a reality.
As such, from this week forward, we will be releases weekly updates to the public. Each week will update you on the status of Another Story in Halcyon, as well as showing ideas and concepts we’re working with behind to the scenes so that we can improve what we’re doing and those of you watching can see the work put into every decision, as well as give your input. To make it easier for you, we've branched across numerous sites so you can easily follow our progress and give input.
This week, JMC47 created a small video demonstration of one of the elements we're working into ASH; dynamic Lighting. There are two versions, one with audio commentary, and one without. Both have the option for text commentary (Closed Captioning)
Audio Commentary
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn7TZweqb2g[/youtube]
Text Commentary[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN40VHJ8DUU[/youtube]
For those not interested in videos, here's a few screenshots. The first set demonstrates lighting within our random ruins, the ruins we use for testing and development. The first shot is one of JMC's favorites, showing how flare's soft light can brighten up a dark room all by themselves. The second demonstrates the shadowing from the flashlight; the shadows can be very stark and moodie even within the bare generated ruins.
Click the thumbnails to see the full size pics!
And here is our gallery of shots for our first completed ruin theme, the Furnace. Remember all these shots are in game, nothing was changed after the fact (minus the logo). They are in 1920x1080, so you really get to see the game in action!
Now, to answer one frequently asked question right away, Megaman is not emaciated! Why is the character so thin? It's not megaman. It's a
girl. Poor JMC has gotten so many emails asking why megaman doesn't eat more... we just used a similar color scheme for old time's sake. We'll be releasing a character bio on her later, when we get into story bit in our weekly updates.
Anyway, there isn't many of us, and we could always use some help. If anyone is interested in assisting, feel free to PM me, email or post! Thank you for your time.