The Eye of the Storm (DarkMage is back!)

[DarkMage31]

Hello everyone! I'm happy to say I'm back for a while to announce the progress of my new game: The Eye of the Storm.

For those of you that don't know/remember me, I'm DarkMage31, ex-moderator and original founder of the game dev forum. Now that my ego is satisfied, to the nitty gritty details of my latest endeavor!
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The Eye of the Storm

This is an action-stealth game where you choose to play as an agent from one of three agencies: CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), NSA (National Security Agency), or the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency)

CIA
As a CIA agent you will be placed in a foreign country, given unofficial cover, and time to establish yourself as a trusted member of the community. Expect to be doing plenty of coctail party evesdropping. Perform well and you may be promoted up the ranks of covert operations to something more elite. Say, assassinations, or, the United States SAS?

NSA
The NSA is chiefly concerned with SIGINT, aka cryptography. With the codes becoming nearly impossible to crack, national security could be in peril. A secret initiative called ICE (Infiltrate-Complete-Extract) has been formed consisting of the most elite solo convert operatives drawn from the the CAG (delta force) and other special ops groups. Their mission is to gain all SIGINT related data the old fashioned way without ever being seen.

DIA
When you play as a DIA agent, expect to be dropped behind enemy lines to sieze battle plans and weapon plans.

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The path of the three agents will be intertwined throughout a politically-driven storyline.
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SCREENSHOTS






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VIDEOS:
Yes, that's right. I have a video.
Before you download, please read:

This isa short 2:09 trailer showing the first footage of The Eye of the Storm and boasts a few of the features. A few quick notes: 1) The video quality isn't great. It'll be clearer when you play the game 2) The HUD is still a WIP (work in progress) 3) You may see some lag. You will not experience that in gameplay. I have the video capture software running in the background to thank for that. 4) The music quality isn't great. It sounds canny and recorded... because it is. I had to play it back on a computer different than the one I composed it on, so it doesn't sound like it does normally, but it's still pretty good. I have compressed the video in .rar format. Please go to http://rarlabs.com and download WinRAR if you haven't already to open it. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

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OFFICIAL WEBSITE: (screenshot explanations, music samples (my own compositions) characters, updates, more)
Game site: http://projects.rpgi.net/eyeofthestorm/index.html
DM's site: http://darkmage31.freeserverhost.com
Forums: http://darkmage31.freeserverhost.com/forums

[Klonoa]

Oh well look who is back welcome back!

[DarkMage31]

I forgot to mention:

All the environments are pre-rendered full 3D made in TrueSpace 3.2
All the graphics are original made in iDraw 3 and/or GIMP 2.2
All the music is composed by me in Anvil Studios
I'm making it in RPG Maker 2003
Inspired by Splinter Cell

[Klonoa]

YOU ARE MAKING that in rpgmaker 2003 I always use Rpg maker XP!

[DarkMage31]

2k3 all da way! Actually, I started it before XP became readily availible and it was too late by then

I went great lengths to preserve the color depth as much as I could so it LOOKS 32-bit

[Sorye HK]

I'm glad to hear from you again, Darkmage! I'm sure Dawson will be pleased as well. This game thread has probably got to be the most detailed so far. Good work, mate! I remember seeing the game at the DMC. Hope to see more updates.

[Dawson]

w00t! It's good to have you back DM. Daegon's right, this is the perfect example of how a thread should be made. I love the idea of the game, I'm a huge Splinter Cell fan. The video was very well put together, though it was a little difficult to see what was going on because of the darkness in the game. The shadows looked amazing though.

[mattgcn]

Music in Anvil huh? I could try some stuff. Give me an atmosphere, and I'll try it out, since I need to practice my composition. Though, I think you should use MP3, if you can find a composer for it.

[DarkMage31]

Daegon> I noticed you set up the new rule about new game thread requirements and thought I'd set a good example

Dawson> I'll always remember you as Phoenix m8! Anyhoo, when you play the game it'll hopefully be clearer. Ya know, that was the major gripe I had with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. The graphics were so beautiful, but it was too dark so you could only really admire them without night vision in the really bright places where you're prone to being spotted. lol. Oh well.

The movie quality wasn't too hot, hopefully it'll be better when you get to play the demo. I'll really only get the chance to work on the game on weekends, so don't expect rapidfire progress updates.

mattgcn> Anvil Studio is the best freeware MIDI compose I've found yet. I have a few more sitting on my computer I haven't tried yet, but I still like it a lot. It can be slightly annoying at times, but it gets the job done. About MIDIs versus MP3s, I think MIDIs for me are easier to make without having to worry about samples and all that stuff, but how it sounds depends on the computer playing it, plus the quality isn't great. I was thinking about MP3s, but I couldn't find any good freeware programs for it. The best ones like Fruity Loops and Cakewalk are rather expensive.

The composition process is lengthy, so if you'd like to try your hand and some pieces of your own for this game, feel free! I could use the help, actually. Atmosphere = stealthy, perhaps cavernous, delicate, etc. idk.

[bu_doko]

Hey DarkMage welcome back!

I have heard about you and you are DA BOMB!
By the way I can't download Pokemon Lunar from your site....

THANKS
-bu_doko-

[charmander,eleon,zard#2]

Hi I wanna say two things to you DM:
1. Your game totally ROCKS. I have always been a big fan of Splinter Cell. So I guess I will surely be fan of your game too.
2. There is a progrm called CDEX, with it you can convert the audio formats. I dont know if its illegeal.

[Krazy_Meerkat]

Hey DM I wasn't here when you left but it's great to see you back here. This game looks amazing, I always knew you would take that 3D gaming to the next level
I can't wait until you release a demo buddy

[Dawson]

Originally Posted by DarkMage31

Dawson> I'll always remember you as Phoenix m8! Anyhoo, when you play the game it'll hopefully be clearer. Ya know, that was the major gripe I had with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. The graphics were so beautiful, but it was too dark so you could only really admire them without night vision in the really bright places where you're prone to being spotted. lol. Oh well.

And I'll still always be Phoenix around here too XD That's what bugged me about Splinter Cell: CT too, but I'm sure your graphics will be a whole lot clearer when we get to play it anyway.

[DarkMage31]

Thanks for the warm comments everyone.

charmander,eleon,zard#2> CDex looks like it doesn't support MIDI, but looks useful anyway! Nice find!

krazy_meerkat> Yeah, 3D is so much cooler :D
I'm not going as crazy as I did with the CBS thing last time though. All those hand drawn frames... my god. I can't believe I finished.

Sorry about the PKMN Lunar thing. It's not all that great anyway, you're not missing much. I'll see if I can find a working download. I lost the original files in a crash a while back (I saved EOTS, w00t)

[charmander,eleon,zard#2]

I wanna ask if you need any help if so fell free to PM me (any help about GFX and other small thngs like that). And my bro told me about CDEX.

[DarkMage31]

Here are some CMS pics condensed into one pic.


I'll be posting more images now and then.

[Peekimon]

All your screenshots look very professional! Very unique and very indepth detail!
The menu is nothing more than a wonderful effort. It rocks! Keep up this brilliant work!

[DarkMage31]

Why aren't the screenshots showing on the first post? Did a mod take them down?

[Blizzy]

Originally Posted by DarkMage31

Why aren't the screenshots showing on the first post? Did a mod take them down?

i think the host, where you uploaded the pictures is down,
or it has bandwith problems.

anyway, this project is awesome!

[Sorye HK]

I think virtual's right. Phoenix and I haven't taken down any of your screens. Anyways, the CMS looks great.

[Dawson]

I think I saw those CMS pics on your forum before, they still look awesome though.

[DarkMage31]

Yeah, I'll be posting pics from time to time I've already posted elsewhere. I'm distributing them to keep the hype active and buy me time to release a demo

Let's start with some 3D renders:

The first render. too long and looked too much like binoculars.


I did some rescaling and editing, and began adding the strapping that goes over the head


Same from the back


Night vision mode (I ruled out infrared for the game)

NOTE: The above are really old renders. I'll be showing the latest ones later.

[Esai]

.. this game is too awesome for words.. the screens rock!!

[RM2K3kid]

It's nice to see you back DM. Your game is looking impressive. The 3D is also looking nice. Anyway cya round and good luck with this.

[Sorye HK]

Well, the goggles look nice. I remember seeing them before, but there was a head there before.