Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (RPG, Project Exile)

I_Eat_All

Plasma Beam!
[Thread Resurect...]

Novo RPG para a NDS:

Project Exile

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Está fantastico :wow: claramente muito inspirado em Chrono Trigger nos sprites e estilo... mais uma pitada de Star Ocean na engine e caixas de dialogo, com um pouco de FF6 nos cenários (especialmente na neve)...

Se os gajos tiverem um bom argumento para o jogo... wow...

Site do jogo:
-> http://www.studioarchcraft.com/index.htm

Video/Trailer:
-> http://youtube.com/watch?v=PioZ3ievw-c&search=project exile
(Streaming)
-> http://www.studioarchcraft.com/movies/projectexile_pv.wmv - 10.8 MB -
(Fazer "Save As...")
 
Sim senhor, a Nintendo a ser senhora dos RPG's como há muito não se via. :D
Mas não interessa a quantidade. Interessa saber se chegam cá! :D
 
*thread ressurect*

Project Exile to be published

Hello Hello (hello! and thanks!) sent over a heartwarming tip that Studio Archcraft’s labor of love is coming to a store near you. Last year they announced Project Exile, an active time tactical combat RPG very much in the vein of Japanese RPGs, for the Game Boy Advance. Later Studio Archcraft mentioned they were porting the game to the DS, but they never mentioned if they had a publisher on board. As much as I wanted to play this, at this point the project seemed like it was on thin ice.



Out of the blue, Graffiti Entertainment announces they will publish the DS version of Project Exile. It’s scheduled to come out in the first quarter of 2008, initially in two languages: English and French. Studio Archcraft, I tip my hat to you for living the dream. Score one for indie, sprite RPGs!
Fonte: http://www.siliconera.com/2007/10/18/project-exile-to-be-published-as-a-nintendo-ds-game/


Da press release:

"Project Exile is a fantastic Japanese style RPG. With over 50 hours of fun game play and stunning graphics, RPG fans will really enjoy this game. We are very excited to add this RPG to our growing list of published products," said Kenneth Hurley, CEO of both Signature Devices and Graffiti Entertainment.

Features that are unique to Project Exile:

Beautiful and vivid environments create a realistic yet imaginative landscape filled with attractive and detailed scenery. There are complex worlds full of realistic characters struggling for control of their inner powers. Dark secrets and powerful plot twists fill an epic tale with imagination and life. The player controls a team of 8 fully developed playable characters armed with over 100 different abilities, skills and combos, as they progress through a rich, colorful world, filled with magic and adventure
Fonte: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071016/latu162.html?.v=13
 
Lembro-me de ver este jogo no ano passado aqui no forum,e ao ve-lo de novo fiquei com receio que tivessem desenterrado o topico para anunciar o seu cancelamento mas felizmente fizeram-no pelo motivo contrario :D. Gosto bastanto dos graficos,como o I_Eat_All disse os sprites foram inspirados no chronno trigger (que e o meu rpg favorito :)) e alem disso tao bastantes bons(e sinceramente prefiro engines 2D puxado ao maximo do que uma engine 3D de boa qualidade para a Ds como o caso do Final Fantasy III)
 
Novidades:

March 8th, 2008 - Studio Archcraft inc. announces that Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (formerly Project: Exile) will be delayed until Q2 2008, due to unexpected delays in production. Unfortunately, putting the finishing touches on the product took longer than expected. However, while we regret this delay, we have good news to go along with the bad. Specifically, Studio Archcraft has begun preliminary work on a second project. This second project will be developped in parallel with Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled, by an entirely different team. In other words, we are switching from developping one project at a time to two at a time - a significant milestone in the growth of Studio Archcraft inc..
Fonte: http://www.studioarchcraft.com/index.htm

Nome novo, adiamento para o segundo trimestre e anuncio de segundo jogo em planning stages.


EDIT: Entrevista:

First of all, can you tell our readers how big the team is on this project, and how long the game has been in development?

Vincent Dehaut:
We’ve been working on Project: Exile for a pretty long time – we started the basic groundwork in 2001 or so, and began serious production work in 2002. We were still in school at that time, and the team was (and still is) fairly small considering the scope of the project. Overall, around twelve persons contributed to the project, excluding testers, and of those only three (the lead programmer, the lead artist, and the lead businessperson) worked on the project for the full duration of the project.

What made you choose to bring the game from GBA to Nintendo DS? And what are some of the hurdles you have faced during the transitional period?

VD:
The Nintendo DS is a really interesting platform to develop on – the moment it came out, we started thinking about making a project for it. Then we realized that Project: Exile would probably work even better on that console, and that the GBA would probably not be the most commercially viable choice for the game when finally came out.

The biggest hurdle in porting the project to the DS was actually on the design side. When we made the decision to port the game to the DS, we had to figure out exactly what changes we would make. Let’s just say that it’s very tempting to change the whole game when a big chance like that comes along. We toyed with many ideas, over maybe a month or two, some of which are really ridiculous in retrospect.

Ultimately, we realized that just about everyone who saw the game loved it as it was. Adding gimmicks would not have improved the game. So we decided to focus mostly on using the new console to enhance the game, instead of adding unneeded elements which would have changed the entire game experience.

"Project Exile" – is this a codename for the project, with the name set to change before its final release, or is it locked in place now? (If a codename, any chance of exclusively revealing the final name?)

VD:
Project: Exile is a working title. The game will be published under the title “Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled.”

Given the added power and unique features of the DS, has this allowed you to expand upon the original concept considerably? If so, could you please give a few examples (such as possible menu navigation using the touch-screen)?

VD:
As I mentioned, we really considered many options. We chose to use the DS solely to enhance the game experience. Concretely, this means that while the game itself didn’t change, we’re going to make the full game playable with the stylus only. We’ll also support the standard control pad and button mode if the player prefers to use that, or any combination of touchscreen and buttons.

"Active-Time Tactical Combat RPG" is a bit of a mouthful. Can you break it down a bit for our readers? Looking at early footage of the GBA version, it appears to be a mix between Secret of Mana and Chrono Triggers styles – is this in any way accurate?

VD:
The easiest way to approach this is to break it down in two parts. The system is “Active-time” – it’s not turn-based. The battle runs at all times, whether or not the player inputs commands. That said, it’s not an action game: while excellent reflexes might give a player a small advantage, they’re not needed to win the game.

The game is “Tactical” – issues which rarely crop up in RPGs, such as the position of heroes and monsters, weapon types, or terrain type, matter in Project: Exile. For instance, some spells have areas of effect: if you keep your heroes in a clump, they’re more vulnerable to it. Or in some battles, you can position your fighter-type hero to prevent some monsters from attacking your wizards, maybe by putting him in a narrow spot between two cracks in the ground. Of course, cracks in the ground don’t bother flying enemies… or archers.

And can you talk a little about the epic story that will be included and about the world of Bel Lenora?

VD:
That’s pretty hard to do without revealing spoilers… Basically, Bel Lenora is a land where almost everyone can use magic. In fact, only two persons have been known for not having any magic: our hero, Kairu, and a man named Vai, a man who betrayed Bel Lenora and led an army of demons and demon-worshippers against Bel Lenora. The country is now recovering from that devastating war.

Kairu, a war orphan, was raised by the man who defeated Vai. Obviously, as the only magic-less man alive, Kairu is not well-liked by the general population (although it’s clear his foster family likes him, as do most people who know him.) However, Kairu’s lack of magic creates lots of tension…


Other than the main adventure, the team has revealed there will be several side-quests available. Can you provide an example? And what else is included to help extend the game?

VD:
The sidequests we included go all the way from extra areas to explore which are totally unrelated to the main story, to supporting character-related tales, to ending-altering game segments focusing on the various characters and on the history of the world. In addition, we’re planning many extra challenges to be tackled.

You have shown off character art for six characters, but it has been stated there will be eight main ones in the final game. Can tell us a little about the group on offer and the two not yet shown?

VD:
Again, that’s hard to do without giving spoilers, so I’ll focus on the characters’ abilities instead. Each character is unique: for instance, one fighter is very powerful and tough, but slow, while another is significantly faster, but more fragile. Some wizards focus mostly on damaging spells, while another focus more on curses and other weakening spells. Finally, the game has no dedicated healer-type character. Many heroes have access to various healing abilities, but we don’t have a character specifically focused on healing.

All of that was intended to let the player selects which character to use as much as possible. All characters are useful at all time – even against an enemy immune to fire, the fireball-throwing mage can do something.

The various locations in the old GBA screenshots shown so far look as attractive as Squaresoft SNES classics such as Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. Is this where your inspiration is coming from, or other sources?

VD:
Obviously, we were inspired by those games – the SNES era was really the “Golden Age” of console role-playing games. That said, the game draws a lot from other games, too – some older, some newer.

And how upgraded will the graphics be now you have the power of the DS behind the project?

VD:
Project: Exile pushed the limit of what the GBA could deliver graphically. This gives a good idea on how good we want the game to look. We intend to keep improving Project: Exile’s graphics until we deliver the Gold Master version of the game. This means that we’re going to add more art assets, improve existing ones, and generally make the game more spectacular until the people at Graffiti pry the Gold Master disk from our fingers.

It was announced back in October that Graffiti would be bringing the game to the US in February. Has this changed, or is that locked in place now? Also, what are the plans to bring this game to us Europeans eager to get a taste of RPG goodness on DS?

VD:
As of today, a February ship date is of course impossible. Since Project: Exile is our first project, many hurdles which seem simple at first glance turn out to take quite a bit of time to overcome. Project: Exile enters beta in early April, however, so those hurdles have been overcome.

As for Europe, we’re delivering the localized versions a few weeks after delivery of the English gold master. So assuming the publishing and distribution process takes the same time for Europe as for North America, the game should be available in Europe and Japan a few weeks after it’s available in North America.

What stage are you at in the project and considering Vincent Dehaut has told fans the company has ‘plans’ (pleural), do you already have one eye on a potential follow-up? Or is there anything else you can reveal to us?

VD:
Studio Archcraft intends to continue developing games, plural, after Project: Exile is published. Obviously, Project: Exile 2 is one of the options we’re considering. The next big step for us is to start developing multiple games at the same time, and we’ve already started doing some preliminary work on that.

What are your thoughts on WiiWare? Will Studio Archcraft be actively looking to support this service? And do you see a future for your company’s games on Wii and DS in general?

VD:
Anything which makes it easier for new developers to enter the market is a great thing. We’re certainly going to take a serious look at WiiWare, especially as a stepping stone to Wii development.

We’re already at the concept stage for future DS products. We would also like to try developing games for Wii, although that’s more of a long-term plan – we don’t have the resources in place to seriously consider it at the moment.

Finally, what are some of your favourite RPGs from the past?

VD:
I’m a huge fan of the old SSI games for PC: the Gold Box series, the Eye of the Beholder series, etc. I also enjoy replaying the old NES RPGs once in a while. Dragon Warrior 4 was the birth of the modern story-driven RPG, and it’s a surprisingly deep game. And, as I mentioned, Final Fantasy 4 and 6 and Chrono Trigger are masterworks.
Fonte: http://www.cubed3.com/news/9913

Hmmm... estou a gostar

EDIT: Trailer:

-> http://graffitientertainment.com/downloads/BlackSigil/BlackSigilOfficialTrailer.wmv
-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFcHvakg4-M

Imagens:

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Fonte: http://graffitientertainment.com/index.php/games/black-sigil
 
Última edição:
:wow: Atrevo-me a dizer, já não era sem tempo que um jogo me fazia lembrar o Chrno Trigger, parece que está delicioso o jogo!! Acho que vou pela 1º vez, apreciar um RPG a 100% :x2:
edit - Após ver o vídeo, ainda fiquei com uma melhor impressão! Parece que temos história de alto nível e com bons detalhes, jogo muito inspirado em Chrno Trigger e Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 3! :D
 
Última edição:
^ Até que enfim, tava a ver que este jogo passava despercebido a toda a gente, andava a despejar informação ao tempo e ninguém demonstrava interesse, até já estava a pensar que o problema era meu :D
 
WANT! Só agora vi este tópico, e parece que vamos ter RPG à altura! O visual está lindo, mesmo. Estive a ver o video e as batalhas lembram bastante Chrono Trigger, o que é bom. O pequeno resumo do argumento só nos deu uma vaga ideia do que nos esperará (nada muito original ou fantástico, mas nada de muito mau também), mas daquilo que li, espero que eles tenham alguns twists para aprofundar muito bem a história que decidiram fazer.
 
WANT! Só agora vi este tópico, e parece que vamos ter RPG à altura! O visual está lindo, mesmo. Estive a ver o video e as batalhas lembram bastante Chrono Trigger, o que é bom. O pequeno resumo do argumento só nos deu uma vaga ideia do que nos esperará (nada muito original ou fantástico, mas nada de muito mau também), mas daquilo que li, espero que eles tenham alguns twists para aprofundar muito bem a história que decidiram fazer.
Hmmm... olha que nem por isso... as batalhas são incrivelmente reminiscentes é com o Star Ocean da SNES. ;)

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Se tiveres duvidas dá uma olhadela ao youtube (por exemplo)

Mas tem muitas outras influencias fortes do Chrono Trigger sem duvida, possivelmente a mais forte fora das batalhas (todas as personagens/sprites) enquanto que também tem a ocasional pitada marcada de FF6 e Terranigma (nos cenários).
 
I_Eat_All o problema ao era teu mas sim do pessoal, que andava distraido. :D

Existe alguma data final para o lançamento?

Melhores Cumprimentos
 
^ Não, apenas um vago "2Q 2008" e a informação que é um lançamento mais ou menos mundial, sendo que na Europa sairá "umas semanas" depois da América. :)
 
O Star Ocean faz-me lembrar muito Tales, ou melhor... os Tales fazem-me lembrar Star Ocean, já que joguei primeiro o Star Ocean para a SNES, mas por exemplo, no minuto 03:25 e 04:20 (do trailer), os efeitos da batalha e o combo, fez-me lembrar Chrono Trigger. O sistema em si não é idêntico, expressei-me mal.
 
O Star Ocean faz-me lembrar muito Tales, ou melhor... os Tales fazem-me lembrar Star Ocean, já que joguei primeiro o Star Ocean para a SNES, mas por exemplo, no minuto 03:25 e 04:20 (do trailer), os efeitos da batalha e o combo, fez-me lembrar Chrono Trigger. O sistema em si não é idêntico, expressei-me mal.
É natural que faça, grande parte da equipa do Star Ocean... é a equipa do Tales of Phantasia, mas o Tales of Phantasia é anterior, por isso devia ser o oposto... Star Ocean fazer lembrar Tales :p Sem contar que a engine em questão é praticamente idêntica; mudando claro os cenários e o modo de batalha (este ultimo de forma radical até)
 
Ora bem, como parece que só o nosso I_Eat_All se lembra das pérolas, e nós feito palhaços estamos a deixar escapar este jogo, cá vai mais qualquer coisa sobre o jogo, que diga-se, só a música já parte os outros todos :P Deixo a relação ao Chrono Trigger de lado!


Features:

* Vivid environments create a realistic yet imaginative landscape
* 30+ hours of game play with tons of side-quests
* Dark secrets and powerful plot twists create an original and intriguing story line
* Strategically customize your 3 person party from up to 8 unique characters
* 100+ different physical and magical skills/combos
* 100+ different weapons
* 200+ different pieces of armor



Ilustrações

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Boxart

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Data de saida:
-> 15 de Outubro segundo a Amazon
-> 15 de Setembro segundo vendedores do eBay e suas pre-orders.

Dia 2 de Junho o jogo entrou na sua fase beta. É uma questão de dias, ou mais de 1 mês, até jogarmos esta pérola que ai vem!
 
Esta entrevista não é nova (tem uns 2 meses) mas acabei por não a postar na altura...

Entrevista:

Quite a few of us here have been following Black Sigil since it was "Project Exile" for the Game Boy Advance. How did this team get together and what inspired you to create Black Sigil?

Vincent Dehaut:
Pierre Leclerc, the lead programmer, and I are long time friends. We had toyed with the idea of starting a game development studio since high school. Prior to starting Studio Archcraft, Pierre had attempted several programming projects, during one of which he met Maya Anderson, who became our lead artist for Black Sigil. Eventually, we just realized that there was no point in waiting to launch the studio, so we did.

Being such a small studio, what challenges have you had?

VD:
The first and foremost problem was funding – no publisher is going to fund a first project from scratch, so you need either a provable revenue stream or assets and/or people willing to secure a loan to obtain funding from banks. We had none of those, so we had to make do with basically whatever we could scrape together, and do all the work ourselves.

Our lack of experience was the other big hurdle – reading books on game development and writing design docs during math class does not prepare anyone for the reality of game development.

Graffiti Entertainment's Mazes of Fate distribution was rather limited. How wide can we expect the distribution of Black Sigil to be? Will this be available online only or might we see Black Sigil in retail stores?

VD:
The plan is to distribute Black Sigil worldwide, in retail stores – so anyone interested in the game should run to their local game stores and make sure they know there's a market for it!

On a more serious notes, the current plan is to distribute in North America first, then in Europe and Japan as we finish the localization for those regions.

What has been the biggest challenge in taking Black Sigil from the GBA to the DS?

VD:
The biggest issue was doing the actual programming changes. The related design choices were easy to make when compared to the work required to make the changes.

Other than adding data to the top screen, have any other additions been added to the DS version?

VD:
The other large change is that the game is fully stylus-compatible: you never have to use the buttons if you don't want to. We thought about going over the game design itself, but we decided against adding new gimmicks just for the sake of making changes. We instead focused on improving the game and user interface, so that the DS capabilities are used to improve the game experience instead of diluting it in new "features".

What role will the DS stylus play in and out of combat?

VD:
You can use the stylus for everything, or in combination with the d-pads and buttons. So, for instance, you can select your action with the d-pad, and select your target with the stylus. Or you can use the stylus only, or the D-pad and buttons only.

We've watched the trailer, but could you expand on the game's premise?

VD:
It's hard to do without going into major spoilers, but a large part of the game is about discovering the various relationships between the heroes, the history of the world, the other characters, and so on. We tried to maintain a really tight story – everything you see in the trailer is significant to the larger tale.

Can you share some information about Kairu and the game's other playable characters?

VD:
Without going into story elements, one thing that springs to mind is that we've tried very hard to make sure every combination of characters can be used efficiently. You don't have any dedicated healer-type characters, so you're not forced to always keep a specific character in the party. The characters have a role where they perform better than others – for instance, Kairu is tougher than Aurora, and stronger, but that doesn't mean his abilities are subpar. Aurora is among your weakest physical attackers, but she can still hold her own if she runs out of magic.

We've read that there are eight available party members. Does each character have their own unique set of skills and abilities or is there character customization available?

VD:
Seven out of eight characters have a definite skillset – the last one can be customized to a great extent.

Could you describe what active-time tactical combat is via a typical combat session? We've been wondering if battles take place in real-time or if there is a turn-based element to them.

VD:
The battles are not turn-based – if you don't input any commands, the monsters will eventually defeat you. However, you have some time to think about your actions – it's not a button-mashing game by any means. You can play Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled as a traditional RPG – you're never forced to think tactically, it's merely a bonus to you if you do.

How does the encounter system work? Are enemies visible on-screen or are encounters random?

VD:
Encounters are random – we like the tension that creates.

How would you rate the overall difficulty of Black Sigil? Is this a game that someone new to RPGs would be able to play and enjoy or will it be giving even veterans a rough time?

VD:
We're aiming for Super NES era difficulty. Concretely, we made the game so that at any given time, the player can either go on to the next challenge, or have a way to improve his character a bit before proceeding.

Please tell us there is a quicksave feature. Please.

VD:
There is a quicksave feature.

How are save points handled? Are there only certain locations that you can save?

VD:
We've gone with the classic "you can save at specific save points, or anywhere on the world map." It's the only way to ensure that the player won't be stuck, unable to escape or continue forward. However, you can quicksave at any time – that way, if you have to stop playing, you don't lose any progress.

We've seen screen shots of the world map. How large would you say it is overall? Perhaps an estimate of a number of towns and other locations.

VD:
The map is quite large – while traveling on the world map is not what takes the most time, it is a factor to consider when planning your next expedition. I would say there's around 50-60 different locations in the game, some of which change over time.

Are there vehicles that will assist with travel?

VD:
Yes. There are several modes of travel available.

Approximately how long do you expect the beta testing process will take?

VD:
I don't want to commit to any deadline on that – we've made a lot of progress, but this is our first project.

Any hints as to Studio Archcraft's second project? Can you at least tell us if it's an RPG?

VD:
It will almost definitely be an RPG. Beyond that... there's not much I can say. We're beyond the "Hey! I have an idea for a game!" stage, but we're not done with the official design documentation yet.
Fonte: http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/nds/projexile/projexileinterview.html
 
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