If you've been trying to download my "latest demo" I apologize, but it's too old and not any representation of the current demo. That being said, I'm hard at work remaking nearly the entire game.
From the very beginning I've been striving to be as gender inclusive as possible and sensitive to people who have been excluded from representation in general. I attempted this before by making a gender fluid main character who cross-dresses. However I've deviated from this in a better way. Before, it wasn't obvious that the character didn't have a real "gender" in the sense of being strictly male/female. So now I've changed the whole idea of it. The character can still cross-dress and wear any outfit that exists, but the gender is a bit different. I've done what I have not seen anywhere else, thanks to @cilerbaa when you choose your gender, you have 3 options:
Male, Female, Other. When choosing male or female, the game automatically changes all pronouns to be male or female respectively. However, when choosing "Other" you are given several text options where you type in anything (up to 16 characters) for "His/hers" "He/she" "Him/her" "Himself/herself". In this way you can called anything you want, if there are specific pronouns you prefer to be called, ANY pronoun you WANT to be called YOU WILL BE CALLED IT. Or, if you prefer to have a silly name, and want to make the game say ridiculous things to you, go for it, by all means, you have 16 characters to work with, instead of saying "She chose a squirtle" you can have it be "Why would you chose a squirtle" it's a game, have fun or feel represented.
Furthermore, I'm implementing new ideas and concepts more reminiscent of RPG's such as a "PULSE" which is the characters stats: Perception Utility Luck Speech Empathy. At the beginning of the game when you choose your character you also get to choose your PULSE. In the game's lore, everyone has Aura (this is a bigger deal I assure you!) and the wavelength of everyone varies. (you see, your pulse refers to your aura wavelength, yeah I know, I'm very clever)
Continuing this, Aura will be playing a much larger role in my game. It was meant to be a major story element, but it sort of got lost in what I've been working on lately, so, in reworking everything, I've been working with the idea that Aura is the CENTRAL key to the story. Everything revolves around it, and stems from it. As of late, I've been very much involved in working on Gen 2 aspects, and nearly changed Litharreon to Gen 2 entirely. However, I love the Gen 3 work I've done, and I love those OW's as well. As a way of satisfying both of these aspects, while changing the gameplay and story elements I've decided to make Time Travel a lot more prevalent as well! It's accomplished through Aura, and becomes a key feature for how you look at puzzles in the world. From being able to change things in the past to affect the present, to getting to different areas in the past through cleared paths in the present - the use of Time Travel is a lot more streamlined and hopefully will make for an interesting gaming experience.
Originally, the rivals were the group Agatha and Oak were apart of, with a third member who was an OC. The game as a whole takes place in the past, and it would have young Oak and Agatha. But the prospect of making an original game with established characters is not only difficult, it's pretty awkward to play with; which brings me to my next point:
RIVALS
The rivals are no longer established characters, instead you will have 3 rivals with more information coming later.
For now, you can think of the male rival as one who is "rough around the edges." He's from one town over, and not actually your friend, instead you happen to get your first Pokemon at the same time, and just become friends. He's nice, but doesn't open up until later on and after you spend more time with him. He looks like a 50's greaser, but is actually nice when you get to know him, it's only at first that he seems rough and unfriendly. There are optional quests and things you can do with him which increases your friendship with him, and this is where you learn more about him and who he is. He has higher stats in Utility and Empathy but lower in Speech and Perception. [He will replace Selena's role]
The other rival you meet nearly immediately is a girl who is best described as a sweet little watermelon. She is adorable and sweet but incredibly intelligent, independent and rather nerdy. She is very outgoing and sweet to people, but also trivializes most things, as she feels she is too smart to really take them too seriously. She replaces Oak's role as the one who gives you the Pokedex, as she has been researching recent technological advancements, and found a way to make a catalog of Pokemon that you encounter. The more you get to know her the more she'll start to take thing seriously and take on greater responsibilities. She is an independent woman who doesn't require validation of any other character or figure to be established as one herself, but she grows as she comes in more contact with people who, while not as smart as her, have values where she lacks greatly herself. She has very high stats in Perception and Empathy but very low Speech and Luck.
The third rival is more of a mystery for a reason, she is a true rival to everything you are trying to do. She stands in your way at every turning point and every major story point. She, like you, is an Aura Reaver. This term is new to most, if not, all of you - but has existed for so long. It was meant to be a plot element revealed later on, but will be revealed in pieces a bit sooner than planned. Her being an Aura Reaver means that the things you do can be done, while in a different way, by her as well, and the attempts you make for good, can be undone by her as well.
Finally, the Evil team has been reworked. Before they were members of silph in an alternate timeline, where in attempting to create the ultimate pokemon, they used Eevee instead of Mew. while this is still their initial goal, it's no longer the "alternate timeline" version of Silph. Instead it's was the first attempt of the members of [REDACTED]. However, after this failure, they have shifted their focus to the use of Aura to achieve their goals. After their failed attempt, their organization took a major loss. The remaining members changed their focus to try and create peace through different means rather than with power. Their goal is now to "Create the most amount of peace and prosperity amongst the greatest number of people." However, the way they go about this, with the use of Aura, will surprise you! I hope to create a compelling antagonist group with cool ideas, and gray areas that challenge how you look at them in reflection.
This is just some of the things I've been working on lately in the development of Litharreon. I hope you can see why, with all of this underway, I would be embarrassed of the "latest demo" of Litharreon. It in no way represents my vision anymore, and doesn't show my skill as a developer anymore. Good news though! a lot of this is either existing, or being worked on, and I hope to have a playable demo within a month or two. There is no definitive deadline or anything, but the demo is coming very soon. I have a lot on my plate, but should have a lot more free time coming soon, so I hope to work more on this project! I hope you enjoy this announcement, it is in no way EVERYTHING I have been working on (I'm a little sneak) but everything will be revealed some day! Enjoy your weekends everyone!
