Category Archives: roleplay games

Roger steel world: meet Neville

Here’s Neville, a new character from the Steampunk RPG Roger Steel.
Like for the other characters, the art is not definitive yet. In particular we’re going to change a bit the clothes colors, since both the writer, the artist and I noticed there’s too much “brown” in them 😀

But now, Neville’s introduction by the writer:

Introducing Neville – Itinerant Inventor

This week we meet Neville, Christina’s brother, Arthur’s best friend, and all-round steampunk nerd. Neville much prefers machines to people (less complicated; far easier to fix), but somehow clicked with the effervescent Arthur and holds a shy, cautious regard for mercurial Ann.

If you need equipment repaired, upgraded or just plain invented, Neville is your guy. Handy with a wrench, a wizard with a lathe, and most at home in a fully equipped forge pounding the bejesus out of some hapless piece of metal, adventures aren’t really Neville’s thing – but friendship and a protective instinct for his sister can lure a man far out of his comfort zone.

However, Neville is far more than he appears and, as Ann or Arthur perhaps discover, even friends you have known for years hold can dark secrets close to their hearts.

Bionic Heart on Steam

Speaking of dark secrets: my sci-fi visual novel Bionic Heart is now out on Steam. As always if you bought it directly you can redeem a Steam key from this site:

http://bestanimegames.com/steam/

and if you decide to buy it, buy directly from me to get a DRM-free version plus the Steam key 😉

Roger steel world: meet Arthur

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Time for another character from Roger Steel world. Please note that all those images are still work in progress: for example we’re thinking to make Arthur’s hair light brown to match Ann’s. His “devilish look” will still remain though 😀

Introducing Arthur

Up until now, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Roger Steel is a yuri title given that all the characters we’ve introduced so far have been women (not that there’s anything wrong with that!); but you’d be mistaken as our next character attests.

Arthur is a rather outgoing fellow who’s probably a bit too clever for his own good, especially with his tongue (and get your minds out of the gutter right now: that is not what I meant!). Along with his partner in crime, Neville, genius inventor whom we’ll meet in a couple of weeks or so, Arthur is something of a whiz with gadgets, although you, his esteemed players, might prefer to develop his sharpshooting, archery, martial arts, or sundry other non-combat skills.

Whether Arthur indulges in romance or simply becomes the star of his very own action buddy movie VN-TBS RPG, is up to you; as is whether he treats the rescue of his sister as a true coming-of-age, or simply a great excuse for a damn good time with lots of handsome gents and lovely ladies to party with during those long evenings camping beneath the stars in the wilderness.

Seasons Of The Wolf update

Work on SOTW continues, last week I finally had the last missing images for Dingirra, like the big Arena:

And the artist who was busy with another project now can resume working on this, he’s currently doing the 3rd Act tileset (won’t be more specific for people who didn’t play the game yet to avoid spoilers!).

Another big new feature was the improved AI, which gave me a whole new array of possibilities to make the player think “wow this computer opponent could even seem smart sometimes!” 😀

Currently coding battles against Ghosts and Wraiths, Zombies and Liches, and so on. (the background on the battle screen above is temporary obviously).

While I cannot give any estimate yet, also because a lot of art is still missing, I’m guessing that could be done with Act3 for end of September 🙂 I also have two new games approved on Steam (Roommates and Bionic Heart 2) so adding them to the portal will take some time too!

One last thing, do you remember that preview image I posted last week? still not announcing the game officially but I’m facing a tough choice. More info and a poll in my forums: http://winterwolves.net/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=3418

Summer (?) update

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In the image above, Tofu is looking for the Summer that didn’t arrive at all here

I know, usually during Summer I complain because is too hot and I can’t work. Well, this year, at least here in Italy, I really can’t complain about the heat… in the whole month of July there has been an average max temperature of 24-25°C where I live!!

Anyway, I’m only a bit pissed for my vegetable garden, because tomatoes don’t grow up well in this climate, but at least was able to work just fine 😉

Seasons Of The Wolf update

I’m making progresses, I just uploaded a new version recently, even if of course the story still ends at beginning of ACT 3. The biggest improvement is the new computer AI, which now can use a variety of skills like your party does. For now I only updated the AI of a few of the random enemy encounters (the four families of Dingirra) since I didn’t want to change too much what I have already done.

Speaking of gameplay I also completely changed the way traits work: after a long discussion in forums with testers, having the traits unlocked by specific attribute levels wasn’t making much sense, it was like getting Constitution to 50, only to get a bonus that gives even more HP (Constitution attribute indeed already influences the HP).

With the new system instead, you “spend” one of the skillpoints you get leveling up to unlock the trait. Traits effectively become a sort of permanent passive skill, and offers more variety, since for example you can give a HP bonus to a Mage, or a SP bonus to a Warrior.

Also I changed the way they work for the ones giving bonuses to the base stats: now they scale based on level. For example Toughness doesn’t give a generic +15% HP increase, but adds 3HP every level of the character. This should prevent the traits to become too much powerful… at least in theory! 😉

Art-wise, I got some very nice backgrounds like this one:

But sadly not much else, since the artist working on the tileset is currently busy with another project. I also have a few enemies and backgrounds still missing, so let’s say that things will go a bit slower until I get the new art, but I should be still able to code the new enemies encounters while I wait.

Last but not least, people who follow me on twitter already saw some interesting images about an unusual (for me) game in the works. I’ll make a proper post later when I have more stuff to show, but for now enjoy this:

Mizuki and Samuel. The uniform style should give you a hint about what game world the game is about… 🙂

Roger Steel world: meet Svetlana

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Time for a new member of Roger Steel world, Svetlana! There are also males obviously but we’re going with the images the artist has finished first 🙂

Svetlana – From Russia with Mystery

Roger Steel and the Human Element plays against a background of seismic shifts in technological achievement and the fetid swamp of geopolitics. Taking advantage of the former whilst trying to avoid the perils of the latter is a hazardous undertaking in itself. In the game, as in real life, the Russian and British empires have long had a turbulent relationship. Although many on both sides admired the culture and achievements of their rivals, there is no doubt that those in power will stop at nothing to advance their interests, especially in the wake of the great cataclysm of 1837 that sent the future careening in a new direction.

When Ann or Arthur embark on their great adventure, rescuing their sibling from the clutches of a formidable foe, they can rely only on their steadfast friends, Christina and Neville for help. However, they soon find an unexpected ally in Roger Steel who believes that the kidnappers might be connected with a case he has been pursuing for several years. But it isn’t long before more enigmatic strangers appear on the scene. Are they drawn to Steel himself? Or the mystery he is investigating?

One of them is the flame-haired Russian agent, Svetlana Ruskaya. Self-confident, mocking, and unfathomable, Svetlana is not one to fade into the background. When Ann or Arthur first meet her, it is apparent that she and Roger Steel know each other, but the exact nature of their relationship is unknown even to Steel himself.

Implacable enemy; invaluable friend, or much more – it is up to you to define the relationship that Ann or Arthur builds with Svetlana. Whether she reveals her past; how she came to join them on their adventure; and what it is exactly that she wants… it all depends on you.

Nicole on Steam!

Last but not least, the otome version of Nicole is now out on Steam! Like always if you purchased the game directly from me just head to this site:

http://bestanimegames.com/steam/

to redeem your key 🙂

SOTW act 2 beta and Heileen 3 on Steam

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A dialogue in the infamous “bathhouse scene” between Althea and Chalassa, the yuri romance

Two big news this week, though as always if you follow me on the social networks you likely already know about them 🙂

Seasons Of The Wolf beta

First of all ToA: Seasons Of The Wolf ACT 2 is now ready to play/test. I can’t provide a direct link to the download since changes continuously (because of the updates!) but you can always find the latest news/link in my forums here:
http://winterwolves.net/viewforum.php?f=40

It was released the 12th July, so even early than my own set deadline of mid-July! During this week I’ve fixed and improved the game greatly, even if now I’m taking a break and I don’t plan to add any new features, because this game, gameplay wise, is already a HUGE LEAP FORWARD compared to Loren’s system 😉

I plan to resume working on ACT3 towards the end of month though, to have it ready for end of August or September. The final game very likely will be done around October/November (just a guess estimate though!).

Heileen 3 on Steam

The second news is that Heileen 3 is now available on Steam too. Like for Spirited Heart is the “complete version” so both male/female romances.

Previous customers that bought both versions can get a Steam key here as usual:
http://bestanimegames.com/steam/

That’s all for now, stay tuned for more news next week! 🙂

Computer Games

Development diary of Celso Riva