Pokémon: The Cerulean Sky

[Archayos]

Let's cut out with the foreplay, shall we? I mean, do people even read introductions to game threads?

Welcome to...

This is quite a fair question to ask me, seeing as how I never created a welcome thread for myself. I'm Archayos, and I've been a game developer since quite a while now. Recently I developed a liking for Pokemon, and so here I am, presenting my fangame.

A little more about me, I'm also the co-head of Neo Eras. Be sure to check that out when the thread is up; it's a really cool game! Also, I hope Houndoomed is looking at this thread right now. I really want you to see my game before you go. Yeah, that's about all there is. Ask me anything if you want!

Storyline

The story starts with you, the player, going the lower floor of your house. Your mother comes and tells you that Tim had come calling for you, and that he was in a hurry since he didn't want to wait inside.
When you go out, you're pounced upon by Tim. He tells you that the professor has been calling for both of you, but that he doesn't know why he's called for you; considering that you don't even have a Pokemon yet.

You go into the professor's lab and find another person named Terra there. She's the professor's daughter. He tells Terra, Tim, and you that a research has shown that the existence of Flying type Pokemon is reducing at an alarming rate. The number of species has reduced by a large number of 2000 in a short geological time of one year. After this, he assigns tasks to all three of you.
He tells Terra to go to unnamed city and inform the research team over there about the issue. A group of professionals' research would be much better than that of a home lab.
On the other hand, he tells Tim to go and keep an eye on the routes so as to see that nothing odd is happening which is causing the bird Pokemon to mysteriously disappear.
Lastly, he tells you to go to Sildote City and collect a diskette from his apprentice named Jack who lives there. He had informed Jack about the issue long ago, and the professor's sure that he would have put the research onto a diskette by now.

Now here's the odd part. When you go to Jack's house, you see a bunch of people dressed in blue colored cloaks take away the disk from him. A similar fate awaits Terra, who has to take on the same kind of people on her way to unnamed city. And Tim mysteriously just goes missing.

What's going on?

"With a new game, is it possible to NOT have a new region to explore?"

Welcome to the region of...


Arlia!

Custom Feature List:

Custom Battle System - Modified graphics and some additional systems.
Custom Menu System - With Transparency!
Day and Night Scrapped; because my custom graphics look crappy at night.
Custom graphics with re-colors.
Human - To - Human battling.
A completely new and more interactive region to explore.
No gym battles, or Elite 4. There are gyms, but fighting them is optional. The game is story driven.
Lots of story-based side-quests; all optional.
Certain Pokémon will give you certain abilities. Think of it as the HM system, except a bit different. For example, even if you've taught Marshtomp surf, you'll need a lapras to cover large distances.
A guild system [NOT in the first demo] through which you can join organizations which will help you through the game.

Yeah, and a lot more. Don't really want to write down all of it, and nothing's coming to mind right now either.

Locations of Arlia:

Cities:

Eleia Town - Where The Smell of new Adventure blooms

This is where the adventure begins; with Tim coming and calling you to the professor's lab, and the professor talking about the recent research. Click on the next spoiler for screenshots:

Spoiler:

Sildote City- The Paradise of Arlia

Welcome to Sildote City! This is called a city, but it's more of a village, really. It has only a few houses with a lot of trees and mountainous undulations. However, the greenery gives it its title: "The paradise of Arlia". Only a few people can afford houses in this area, hence it has a low population rate. Click the next spoiler for screenshots.

Spoiler:

Healnic City - Where two worlds collide

A modernized city which was made on an ancient ruin's site. The city, being modern, has an ancient culture. The houses are built with brown bricks and in most cases, with a matching roof top. This city is also the home to Arlia's biggest research lab.

Spoiler:

More to come. I'm writing this up as I actually finish the cities in the game.

Routes:

Routes 1 to 10
There's not much to describe here. From mountainous terrains, to plain grasslands, routes 1 - 10 have them all. They extend from Eleia Town to Heanic City. Click the next spoiler for screenshots. >.< [Main Screenshots are here.]

Spoiler:

More to come. I'm writing this up as I actually finish the routes in the game.

Poccil - For the starterkit. Without him, it wouldn't even be possible to make this fangame. Wonder how many nights it took ya to do this, dude.
OmegaGroudon - He's provided countless graphics in this game. Apart from the tilesets which I made myself, most of the custom graphics are his. : D
Krimm - He totally helped me, although he doesn't know it. My mapping has improved so much only thanks to the thousand maps that he had sent me.
WAH - For some tiles.
Pachel/Horus/BlackDragonite/Whatever - For teaching me CSS! :3
Avatar - For many numerous character sets which I'm using.
Kyledove - Some awesome tiles which I made recolors of. The side-stairs and the DP front stairs are his. You'll see some more tiles from him soon, too. :3

Oh, here's something important: Neo Eras and TCS have started a resource sharing system. Hence, if you see that some resources/scripts are the same, there's no need to mention that. Thank you.

Want to show your support?

1. Use the userbar. It's a great way to refer people to the thread. The more the referrers, the more the posts. And remember, it's the posts which are giving me inspiration to continue. :3

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk308/Archayos/TCSSupportBar.png[/IMG]

2. Donate
Now I know that nobody's going to bother with that, but it'd be really great if you did. Even small amounts like $2 can make big differences.
Yeah, so that's about all there is. Now I'm going to go along and hit the post button. Hope ya guys like the game! : D

Oh! I nearly forgot about the legal crap!

Legal Crap:
I do not own Nintendo nor Pokemon. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo/GameFreak. All non-custom work belongs to GameFreak as well. All custom work, however, belongs to Alpha-Makers Q inc.
If you haven't played the Pokemon games already, get yourself a Ninteno DS/SP/GBA and play it. It's worth it.

[Neo-Dragon]

I wasn't expecting to see a game from you. Nice surprise when I logged on today.
Really neat and well presented opening post.
The story sounds pretty interesting and when I was looking over the features- i actually have to say- the best is the idea that gyms are not focus of the gameplay. It's something that I think every fan game should do. Gyms have been the focus of every official Pokemon game. Even when they keep trying to make the story better, its still the main thing. If someone wants to play a Pokemon game like the official ones, they should just play one. Fan games should of a different experience in order to make people wanna play it. Your story makes me want to find out more and your region looks enticing so that makes me want to play it ha.
Your trees look cool (kinda look like the ones from one of my old games), but maybe your using them too much? Like on the routes, everything seems a bit claustrophobic. Like you might want to be going for routes that are easily navigated, but 2 square(tile) spaces is way to liner.

[mackoo]

It looks good but there's something which hurts my eyes - look at the mountains ending - it should be grass with mountain ends not the "rocks".

[EJames2100]

It looks quite good can't wait to play the 1st demo

[Wichu]

Hmm... I'm curious as to how the 'Human - to - human' battling works. Have you already got it implemented?

[Archayos]

Originally Posted by Neo-Dragon

I wasn't expecting to see a game from you. Nice surprise when I logged on today.
Really neat and well presented opening post.
The story sounds pretty interesting and when I was looking over the features- i actually have to say- the best is the idea that gyms are not focus of the gameplay. It's something that I think every fan game should do. Gyms have been the focus of every official Pokemon game. Even when they keep trying to make the story better, its still the main thing. If someone wants to play a Pokemon game like the official ones, they should just play one. Fan games should of a different experience in order to make people wanna play it. Your story makes me want to find out more and your region looks enticing so that makes me want to play it ha.
Your trees look cool (kinda look like the ones from one of my old games), but maybe your using them too much? Like on the routes, everything seems a bit claustrophobic. Like you might want to be going for routes that are easily navigated, but 2 square(tile) spaces is way to liner.

Heh. Glad to see that I could surprise you. Although I did mention on certain occasions as hints that I was working on a fangame. Thanks for the comment on my opening post too. Took me a lot of time to finish up this thread.
Also, I'm happy that you like my idea of gyms being completely optional. I was expecting comments like "OMG no gims omg dis gaem sux becuz witout gysm therel be no fun y u do dis omg omg omg!!1111oneoneoneone..."
The storyline is one of the main aspects of this game. Or rather, it is the main aspect. Coming to my mapping, all the credit goes to Krimm for the tutorials he's given me unknowingly. Ah, and the two square spaces aren't used all over. I just took screenshots from random areas, and they came out like that. D:

All in all, I'm glad you like this game. Getting this from such a great developer as yourself definitely makes me proud.

It looks good but there's something which hurts my eyes - look at the mountains ending - it should be grass with mountain ends not the "rocks".

I know. They're just place holders to be completely honest, until I get new tiles. As you can see, and as you will see; the tiles will get modified slowly as I post more screenshots. Those will be going as well.
I'm well aware of the issue.

Hmm... I'm curious as to how the 'Human - to - human' battling works. Have you already got it implemented?

Ah. I didn't want to spoil it because I was afraid of people stealing the idea. Although now that the question has come up, I'd rather just answer it. I'm happy to see that some people have actually bothered themselves with reading the complete thread rather than just looking at the screenshots and commenting.

As you know, there's quite a nifty feature present in the the Starter Kit, namely the Duel Minigame system. I haven't really seen this being used, although I don't know why. The Human - To - Human battle system is used to make the game seem more realistic.
For example, when you finish fighting one of the Team Aero grunts who's blocking the main hideout, do you really think that he's just going to walk away because all his Pokémon are defeated? Of course not, that doesn't make sense. It'll take you a few blows to get him down and out.

Thanks for the positive comments, everybody! : D

Next update when we hit 20 posts. Stay tuned. :3

[Vampire://Krimm]

Waaah~

I am mentioned in credits. Now I am feeling a little less useless XD The game looks fantastic, Twoie! The storyline is quite interesting and I have to admit putting the Gyms there as optional is definitely a good idea. I look forward to seeing some new screenshots ^_^

The only thing I'd have to remotely complain about are the hero's OverWorlds, mainly because of the shading. Other than that, the thread is fresh and original : D

[HeavyOctillery]

Interesting storyline setup; unique to say the least. Man, those trees are a bit bright, though; I can see why the nighttime graphics would look a bit screwy.

[Archayos]

Originally Posted by Vampire://Krimm

Waaah~

I am mentioned in credits. Now I am feeling a little less useless XD The game looks fantastic, Twoie! The storyline is quite interesting and I have to admit putting the Gyms there as optional is definitely a good idea. I look forward to seeing some new screenshots

The only thing I'd have to remotely complain about are the hero's OverWorlds, mainly because of the shading. Other than that, the thread is fresh and original : D

Hey, you know how my mapping was earlier, don't you? It's all thanks to you, ya deserve the credits~
The storyline HAS to be interesting, seeing as how it's the main factor in this game. Oh, and about the overworlds, you'll get used to them. Since many people have seen the same overworld with yellow hair, seeing him with red hair is kind of usual. It takes some amount of time to get used to.
Did you like his backsprite? I've shown it in one of the screenies, I think. : D *checks* Yep, I have. Second screenshot of "Routes 1 - 10".

Thanks anyway~ : D

Interesting storyline setup; unique to say the least. Man, those trees are a bit bright, though; I can see why the nighttime graphics would look a bit screwy.

Well, there's still the time system, only that the screen won't get tinted. Who knows, I might actually get around my lazyness and change the day/night/dusk/dawn tint colors. Definitely not in the first demo though, as you can see that I already have a lot of features to get working on.

20 comments and you guys will get to see some plot-revealing screenshots as well as one of the Human - To - Human battling system! Keep posting!

[Tsuin]

Looks good so far...I know it's already been said, but a story-driven pokemon game will be quite exciting. Nintendo's stories have always felt forced, so I'm looking forward to see what you have to offer. Keep up the good work.

[mackoo]

Jeez, thats why I wasn't asking for Human - to Human battle. I also thought its stupid when Grunts are going out just because of no useable Pokemon. I hope your system for it is different, not the same as mine...
But, I will see, maybe we are making 2 really different things (I hope so).

[Aqua Mudkip]

Aqua Mudkip: This is one very awesome game which has a very different plot besides most fangames! Very good!

[O.G. Duke]

Finally the game posted here!
And what can I say is --
WOW !!
You really did a nice post with all of information from you game.
I like those sweet screenshot too!
Anyway, this is a great game.
I'll keep an eye on the game.

[Archayos]

Originally Posted by Graconos

Looks good so far...I know it's already been said, but a story-driven pokemon game will be quite exciting. Nintendo's stories have always felt forced, so I'm looking forward to see what you have to offer. Keep up the good work.

The reason why they felt forced was mainly because of the tremendous amount of focus on the gyms. Even when the storyline was in its most important stages, gyms would still be the priority. Making the gyms optional makes room for a plot driven game. You can call it an "interactive show", if you will.

Jeez, thats why I wasn't asking for Human - to Human battle. I also thought its stupid when Grunts are going out just because of no useable Pokemon. I hope your system for it is different, not the same as mine...
But, I will see, maybe we are making 2 really different things (I hope so).

I'unno. I'm using the Duel Minigame system which is present in the starter kit with modified graphics, text and other stuff. What are you using? Well, either way, it doesn't matter; seeing as how none of us have stolen our ideas from each other.

Finally the game posted here!
And what can I say is --
WOW !!
You really did a nice post with all of information from you game.
I like those sweet screenshot too!
Anyway, this is a great game.
I'll keep an eye on the game.

Thankiez! : D
About the first post, you might want to check it out now. Also, I'm glad that you like my tiles. Some people *coughsaikocough* hate them.

Alright, the first post has been modified with CSS codes and stuff. Check it out, if you may.
So that's a thread update. Wait until we hit 20 posts, then you guys actually get to see a game update. : D

[Waudby]

I like the storyline, I just think it's a little bit too forced.

The way the bird pokemon have been disappearing over a year, someone would've noticed before?

But also, it just seems like the storyline was made up, just so that you could say the it didn't feature gyms.

Also if i remember correctly, you always asked "why this one person out of all the trainers in the world." well the same is true for this game.

How come the professor picks you if you don't have a pokémon?

the storyline just seems a bit thin so far.

[Archayos]

Originally Posted by Waudby

I like the storyline, I just think it's a little bit too forced.

The way the bird pokemon have been disappearing over a year, someone would've noticed before?

But also, it just seems like the storyline was made up, just so that you could say the it didn't feature gyms.

Also if i remember correctly, you always asked "why this one person out of all the trainers in the world." well the same is true for this game.

How come the professor picks you if you don't have a pokémon?

the storyline just seems a bit thin so far.

The way the bird pokemon have been disappearing over a year, someone would've noticed before?

Not really. Every research is taken over either a
a) Month's average.
b) Year's average.
c) Decade's average.
d) Centuries average.

Seeing as how it'd be difficult to see much a difference between short months, the average was taken over the year; which turned out to be pretty less as compared to the earlier year.

But also, it just seems like the storyline was made up, just so that you could say the it didn't feature gyms.

I wouldn't say so. For every game I make, I pre-plan the story before hand. After which, I suddenly thought, "Hey, this storyline is pretty solid. I think I'll be removing gyms as they shouldn't get in the way."

The removing-gyms idea wasn't a preplanned one. But when it struck me in my head, I realized that it's a pretty good thought, considering that practically every fangame has them, and it's over clichéd now. Besides, like Neo said, if one wants everything to be identical, they should just play the official games. Fangames are SUPPOSED to be different. After which what matters is the scale of difference, which I'm trying to make high.

Also if i remember correctly, you always asked "why this one person out of all the trainers in the world." well the same is true for this game.

I never said that the hero was the savior, did I? Read the storyline, all the hero actually has to do is collect the disk. I've mentioned about how the Tim's gone missing, and Terra had to fight those people, but did I ever say that the hero rescues/has to rescue them in some way or another?

How come the professor picks you if you don't have a pokémon?

Mentioned in the story. ._.
He assigns tasks to all three of them, and he needs another capable person to walk to another town. Who's better to ask than a 14 year old? Also, he gives you a Pokemon for the task.

[Mitchman]

Post 17 aka 3 post to 20.
Ok wow this is good I saw it but I didnt comment. Also the css is a nice touch and wil help your way of presentation a lot. Also human-to-human means that after his pokemon are down you get into a fist fight? Or am I thinking the wrong thing.

[Archayos]

Originally Posted by darkcookie_93

Post 17 aka 3 post to 20.
Ok wow this is good I saw it but I didnt comment. Also the css is a nice touch and wil help your way of presentation a lot. Also human-to-human means that after his pokemon are down you get into a fist fight? Or am I thinking the wrong thing.

Yep, you're thinking the correct thing. However, it'll only take an indecent person to do something like that, won't it? The Human - To - Human battling system only works occasionally, when you beat people like Team Aero grunts, etc. However, not all Team Aero grunts will get down to fists. Only some of them.

Thanks about the comment about the CSS.

2 more posts to go! Then y'all get to see some story-revealing screenshots as well some of the Human - to - Human battling system! : D

[Wichu]

When I first saw the words "Human to human", I thought you meant PvP, as in online play :(

[mackoo]

At least 20th post :p .
Well man, you don't need to worry - I'm thinking about something really different, but I don't even know will I use anything like that.

Something about tiles - I think they are very nice and match good with R/S/E ones. Maybe trees are a bit too bright, but for me they're just "Peyi stylled".

[Vampire://Krimm]

I believe this makes the 20th reply, not including the original topic.

In any case, I'm posting this just in case Twoie is strict on that thing. Now it is official 20 xP Go Cerulean Sky~!

[Lollypop]

Wow nice game! So the starters Eveee. Anyway is there a heronine.( i'm not a girl)

[Archayos]

Yep, there's a heroine, although she'll be a bit buggy in the first demo, seeing as how so many of her graphics aren't done yet. For best performance, I'd suggest playing as the male in the first demo.
----------------------------------------
Alright, so we've hit 20 posts. Unfortunately, I'm postponing the update to 30 posts. :3
...

Just kidding, just kidding. xP

Update: Saturday, May 17th, 2008.

Here are some screenies of the Human - To - Human battle system! I'll upload a video later, though. It's tough to explain the system by taking screens.
PS: I'm not an idiot, and I do realize that the sprites have to be recolored. These screenshots are showcasing the system and how it works; not my sprites. Please note that before telling me that my sprites need recoloring.

Here are some screenshots in-game, showcasing new stuff and giving some hints the storyline. Enjoy. :3
Oh, before I forget. Krimm and I have started a resource sharing system. I'll be putting that in the first post right about now. So if you see any resources which are common between our games, there's no need to fret.

Credit to Wichu for the idea of a transparent menu. :3

Next update when we hit 35 posts. And remember, the updates will gradually keep getting bigger and better. So keep commenting! :3

[« Extraho »]

I am surprised Archayos, awesome improvement since your last game!
Your motto should be like PTC The glitch free game(At least the story is glitch free)!

Anyway is there a heronine.( i'm not a girl)

By the way... it's heroine not hero nine!

The removing-gyms idea wasn't...

So you plan on breaking the cliché, eh? Good thinking. Will the hero have a dad?(That'll be awesome!)

Nice idea for player vs player and good luck for the games production!

[Archayos]

I am surprised Archayos, awesome improvement since your last game!
Your motto should be like PTC The glitch free game(At least the story is glitch free)!

PTC? You mean TCS, I assume? It's not that hard to remember. :3

So you plan on breaking the cliché, eh? Good thinking. Will the hero have a dad?(That'll be awesome!)

Nice idea for player vs player and good luck for the games production!

Not exactly breaking the cliché. That came as an after thought. I just thought that the story would be a lot better if the gyms weren't the main focus. It's rather annoying to have to keep battling them even when there's something a lot more important to do.

Also, the father has an important relation with the story. No, he's isn't the leader of Team Aero (something that people would expect as soon as I said that). Although I really don't wish to spoil that right now. :3