bulldozerman185

Well, I won't lie. Maradice Isle is coming along smoothly, now that my PC is back up and running! I've already started on the first batch of Equestria locations!

Just one problem, though: WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF SPRITES FOR THE NPC's!!

I had a large collection of sprites I made while the game was still in early development, but I've already used them up!

The rest of the development team is hard at work with their own tasks, so I can't bother them with this problem. And I've searched the internet and collected as many VX Ace sprites as I could find, but I've still come up short!

So ultimately, it's going to fall to YOU lovely folks to help populate the Equestria we know and love!

How? Simple! I've put together a set of files that will help you design some killer NPC sprites for the game! These files include:
- 2 Base sprites sets; One for adult ponies, one for the children.
- A blank sprite sheet to put the sprites on.
- An example sprite sheet using the main character sprites ( Melody, Embers, Storm and Nature, as well as Strange Tidings ). This will help you figure out how the sprite sheets are set up for use in RPG Maker VX Ace.
( All 4 files are available in a .ZIP folder for easy downloading of all 4 )

BE WARNED, however! There are some conditions to follow:
- The sprites must be RPG Maker VX Ace compatible, so the sprites MUST FIT within the sprite sheet!
- The characters can be either OC's or random background ponies that can be reused multiple times ( like how the show sometimes does ).
- No alicorns allowed! We already have all the alicorns from the show!
- NO MANE SIX SPRITES! I already have sprites of the Mane Six, along with Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, and Starlight Glimmer.
- The game is set in-between Season 8 and Season 9. So no characters from Season 9 are allowed ( it hasn't happened yet! ). Seasons 1-8, as well as the MLP Movie, are allowed.
- When picking a background color, try to pick one that won't be used by any of the sprites. This will simplify the task of picking it to be the transparent color when the sprite sheet is imported to VX Ace.

Certain high priority sprites I desperately need include:
- LOTS of background ponies for the NPC's.
- Spike with his wings.
- The Ponyville residents.

When you've finished with your sprite sheets, feel free to simply reply to this post with them attached, along with the name you'd like me to put in the games end credits ( gotta credit everyone somehow! ).

If we can reach 500 sprites in total ( non-duplicate, preferably ), I will share a special code that, when entered, advances the four player characters to level 99. This will be the only time this code is revealed to the public. So if we fail to reach 500 sprites, say good-bye to those level 99 heroes!

Good luck, everypony! IT'S TIME TO DRAW!!

Maradice Isle sprite files.zip

Quick update: Demo V0.1.2 is now live, with the hotfix included!

EDIT: WHOOPS! Didn't upload the correct build of the game! I'll get it fixed lickity-split! ( no pun intended )

HI-HO, everypony!

It appears there is a glitch in the current demo build of the game that's causing the wrong battle theme to be loaded in after the cut-scene where Instrument Strums chews out the two colts ( after the Vile Spider Queen boss ) in his office, resulting in the game crashing when you attempt to enter a battle!

Fear not! A hotfix has been prepared to remedy this situation, and a new demo build will be uploaded shortly to the games page on GameJolt!

In addition to this bug fix, this update will also included:

- GUARDS! The Maradice Royal Guards are finally in the game! You'll see them stationed around the island doing their normal thing.
- A new event has been added to the Mt. Winter Western Pass! Make sure to check it out!

- Monster stats have been fixed to properly reflect their classes. Ember monsters will no longer take less damage from Ember spells.

Keep your eyeballs peeled on the games GameJolt page for when this update goes live!

V1.0.1 is now live, complete with several fixes from V1.0! Be sure to check it out:

https://mega.nz/#!3c5HWYjB!W6Sd_Bhub8x4pp8-tn8IhuhzUqP8TKs2JDdpRK6Jsfo

An update for the game (Demo V1.0.1) is being uploaded now, to fix a few issues found with V1.0. I'll make some sort of reply to this topic when it's gone live.

In the meantime, here's some screenshots from the current demo build!

I was going to edit my original post to include this new info, but for some odd reason I can't edit that post anymore. If anyone knows why please let me know.

Thanks to the work of our wonderful volunteers, the demo of Maradice Isle has JUST GONE LIVE!!

If you wish to download the game and enjoy it up to the end of the prologue, you may do so here ( Don't worry; We checked and triple-checked it for viruses. It's clean ): https://mega.nz/#!CJRGWChD!U2MSQO-tD5JRSA6a3Qsza6_CSXAj8HTV-QyaaEcmhTM

Truly, if it wasn't for the amazing volunteers we found here on this site, this would have never come to be. And while the game does have a long road ahead until it's completed, we'll stand strong and see it through to the end, if for no other reason then so the game can not only serve as an excellent story of one young mares journey to save her island home from an evil she has no hopes of comprehending, but also as a nostalgic love letter to long-time fans of MLP: FiM, and one final hurrah to Generation 4 of MLP.

Sadly, I cannot guarantee you all of the features promised in my earlier forum posts about the game, mainly because they're simply impossible to implement into RPG Maker VX Ace. But rest assured, we will be thinking up unique and creatives ways to compensate for this lack of promised features!

We still need more volunteers to help us with the tilesets ( now that the project is moving onto Equestria ) and the character sprites, so if you think you've got what it takes, and are familiar with RPG Maker VX Ace and how it operates, please feel free to join our development Discord server to stay up to date on everything that's going on with the project! Or even if your not, feel free to join in with us anyway as a supporter. We could always use more friends to talk to and to pitch around ideas as development continues!

Once again, thanks a lot for making this happen, and I myself will see you back here real soon for the full release of the game!

***
NOTICE FROM BULLDOZER STUDIOS: While not exactly featured in the current demo release, this game is heavily story-driven, and will feature a unique storyline unlike anything you've ever seen in an MLP game before! Therefor, we firmly request/demand that all spoilers to the games plot be kept to a minimum, so as not to ruin the experience for those who have not played the game yet.

3 minutes ago, SparkleSan79 said:

Should I trust Discord servers?

Yes, you can. They're pretty rock solid, and we have a system in place where people cannot speak in the server itself until they're manually approved as "Supporters" by me. Helps to keep the trolls out.

36 minutes ago, SparkleSan79 said:

Can I show you what I have made for sprites so far?  

Sure, go ahead. If I like what I see, I'll let you join in on our development Discord server.

That little diversion to deviantART was very much welcome, as I not only have sprites of the Mane Six and Princess Celestia ( along with the bulk of Ponyville's residents ), but I've also got bases for both adult ponies of all races and fillies/colts of all races to work with ( something I needed VERY badly ). Thanks for pointing me in that direction!

Now if only I had someone else to help me design NPC sprites using these bases. Designing NPC sprites by itself is likely to take up 6 months of my time.

Maradice Isle: Dawn of Shadows ( now simply shortened to "Maradice Isle" ) is still coming along rather well. However, we seem to be at a lack of people who can produce quality sprites of the characters. We are in need of more people to help us put the game together.

If you have some time to dedicate to this project and help us bring it closer to completion, please consider volunteering some of your time to help us with the characters sprites.

Thanks!

It would be an escape from this crazy, cruel world, that's for sure.

A long time ago, while a friend of mine was playing on an MLP roleplay community ( before it got taken down for copyright claims ), the two of us had come up with the idea to make special cards based on the spells, and even some of the characters, from that RolePlay. From the major characters, to even the most minor of spells, I've made quite a few of these, a total of 82.

I can't access the rest of the cards at this point in time; My usual computer that's got the files is out of commission. But when I can, I will definitely post the rest of them here for everyone to see. I CAN provide a link to the website/encyclopedia she was using to archive her RP adventures ( which I will likely start using should a similar RP start up here to keep track of everything ), but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post that link here, so I won't unless I'm told otherwise.

I know some of the things these cards say may not make a lot of sense unless you read the information contained on said encyclopedia, so please try to bear with me here. Over half a month of hard work went into this whole thing!

Here's 6 of these cards I made. 2 Of them I grabbed off Gmail, the rest were snipped from the website itself. Hence the different sizes of the images.

Yep, it is. There's no need to worry. When you boot up the game, you'll see several logos on the opening screen telling you that MLP and all related content is owned and copyright by Hasbro Inc, and that the game was developed by Bulldozer Studios. Very hard to miss.

If anyone else posts on these forums claiming to own the game, they are liars.

Hey there! It's Bulldozerman again!

Now, I'll be the first to admit it: I'm no real expert on RPG's or anything, although I have beaten a ton of them, from Final Fantasy to Golden Sun, and even Lunar. But I did want to come around here and give you guys a few helpful tips for how to stay alive in Maradice Isle: Dawn of Shadows, for you newbies.

This is for those of you who haven't played a lot of RPG's. If your interested in RPG's and are looking for a good MLP-themed game that'll keep you busy for a while, or if you just want to cruise through the game and see the story, but not suffer through it, then this is where you need to be.

THIS AIN'T YOUR GRANDDADDY'S FINAL FANTASY!

Now, this isn't your standard RPG like the original Final Fantasy on NES. This is a series of mysteries you have to unlock. From the true reason why Strange Tidings went evil, to learning how Melody's parents met their untimely fate, and eventually, discover a way to save Strange Tidings from the evil that's holding him, something you have to do to secure the best ending.

All of this takes time. You gotta explore the towns, you gotta talk to everypony around you, you've gotta read journals and the like, use magic to solve puzzles, and pick up clues along the way that'll help you get to the next part, and ultimately ( hopefully ) save the island from eternal evil.

BE COMMITTED!

You gotta be committed to play this game. This isn't some game of Pac-Man where your done in half an hour. This is saving Maradice Isle, and possibly the world, from eternal evil. And the Mane Six can only do so much to help you out ( if your interacting with them at all ).

It takes time. There's levels to be grinded for, there's puzzles to solve, shrines to conquer, and monsters to destroy. So be ready for it.

LEARN TO INSULT!

From the very earliest of the games development, it was evident that one of the biggest skills you would learn is the ability to hurl insults at the screen. This game lends itself to the player screaming profanities and the like at the top of their lungs.

I know, I know, cursing out the enemy isn't good sportsmanship, but believe me, when your walking through, say, a forest, and you get jumped by some monster from out of nowhere, and you know you can't run away from it, and your low on health, your going to want to let fly with a "Son of a Bugbear!!"

Also, there's something really satisfying about killing the boss monster that's been keeping you from the next section of the game after about a couple hours, and ripping out a good ol' fashioned "TAKE THAT, YOU SCRUB!!" You feel really good about it.

Some royal guard is keeping you from progressing, there's nothing wrong with letting loose with a "Hah! Royal guard? More like a royal pain in my flank!" That's alright!

DON'T DROP YOUR GUARD!

There is NEVER any downtime in this game, even in the towns. One of the very earliest bosses is going to take place in the dead center of Ponyville, so you can't afford to lower your guard and risk getting destroyed by something your not prepared for.

Also, if you happen to come across any baddies that are lying around randomly as you explore the world map, don't take any chances. Walk up to them, and use one of your spells to take them out while they're snoozing. Those monsters are going to get up eventually, and you might be in trouble when they do.

STAY HEALTHY!

One important thing you need to learn is what spells your party has, and how you can effectively use them to dispatch the opposition. Like, for example, you don't want to use a spell that hits all the enemies for fighting a single powerful boss, but those kinds of spells are VERY effective for clearing out crowds of foes ( something that your sure to run into A LOT as you near the Changling Hive ).

You gotta stay healthy, warrior! You don't want to be going into a battle, and start clicking on commands, and then realize "Oh, whoops! Now I gotta heal!" That's not good! If there's a brief pause in the action between battles, take the time to use healing items and spells to replenish your dwindling HP and MP reserves.

Because believe me, NOTHING is worse then getting caught off-guard by something you didn't see coming. If you get into a fight like in the image here:

Look at that. Your going to be trying to heal yourself on the fly in the middle of a battle, and that's a bad, BAD thing.

If you got plenty of healing items in reserve, you can use those to quickly heal up your team, and be ready to fight off whatever comes your way next. Unless you got a Nature Pony. They're pretty much able to keep the party healthy on their own.

SAVE OFTEN!

Your going to be wanting to save the game constantly, or you'll have to go back to the beginning.

Good times to save? You just got to a new town and got full health. Don't be saving when your party's only got, like, %10 health left and no healing items left. That does you no good unless your in a town, because your going to end up dying over and over, and then your stuck.

You just got some new key item? You just reached a new town or settlement? You just met one of the games main characters? All of these little milestones, your going to want to constantly save. You make it out of a dungeon, save.

It'll also give you a chance to rest your fingers, because BELIEVE ME, you will get a cramp!

BE CREATIVE!

Many items are hidden throughout the game environment. Your going to want to search every nook and cranny to see what items you can discover, because not all of the loot in a dungeon is going to be in super-obvious treasure chests, like most other RPG's.

Also, if you just got whooped by some boss in the later parts of the game, you may want to consider changing up your strategy. With seven character classes to pick from at the start of the game for your four party members, you should be able to form a solid, consistent strategy for dealing with enemies. Like one example, a party with a Frost Pony, Ember Pony, Thunder Pony, and Nature Pony. Use the Frost Pony to buff your teammates defenses, use your Ember Pony and Thunder Pony to quickly take down the bosses health, and the Nature Pony can keep the party healthy turn after turn. If somepony runs low on MP, have your Frost Pony use an MP restoring item on them while the fighters continue to hit the boss.

JOURNAL = GOLD!

The journals are very important. These are something your going to want to watch out for constantly as you go through the game.

A lot of times they're found in dungeons, and sometimes they're found close to boss chambers. The journals can give you tips and insight for how to tackle some of the games tougher enemies. Some of them even feature special dialog that can help you piece together some of the games more puzzling questions about the characters backstories.

While your main goal is to, of course, stop Strange Tidings, remember that your also playing detective and trying to solve all these baffling puzzles that constantly loom over your entire quest, so your going to want to collect all the clues that you can.

DON'T FOOL AROUND!

If your engaged in a battle, don't just stand there and spam the "Fight" command over and over like an idiot! Your a deer in the headlights; They're just going to take you out.

You can defend if your low on health. You can use "Super" attacks when your SP meter is full enough. You can use items. You can use the summons you find later on in your adventure.

You have multiple options at your disposal for how to defeat the enemy and continue on with your adventure. Don't think that your Ember Pony is useless at magic just because his "ATTACK" stat is higher then his "POWER" stat. Many of the Ember Ponies spells revolve around using both magic and their own physical prowess to damage their foes.

Also, I can't stress this enough: Pay attention to the descriptions of each of the seven classes at the start of the game! One of the keys to success in Dawn of Shadows is going to be recognizing each classes advantages, disadvantages, and how well they work with the other classes. Remember, you only have room for 4 characters in this game, so barring any duplicates of the same class, you can only take 4 of these 7 classes with  you per playthrough, so you need to learn and understand what each class can do and form a solid, unique party that can overcome the games later challenges. The Frost, Ember, Thunder, and Nature Ponies are a good choice for beginners, as it's the most flexible and offers up the most options for offense, defense, and support.

HAVE FUN!

So, there's your little intro into what to expect from Maradice Isle: Dawn of Shadows.

But listen: The only way to really learn how to play the game is to go and play it, assuming it's out yet ( which, as of the time I'm writing this, it's nowhere NEAR ready to come out yet ). And if it isn't, well, go play some other RPG's to help you get into the swing of how they're played and handled, and help you prepare for this game.

Just remember to keep your eyes and ears open, and use your head, because your going to need strategy as well as skill if your going to make it back to Maradice Isle alive!

So for now, goodbye, good luck, and try not to get yourself killed, will you?

Thanks to this wonderful community, I've managed to find an EXCELLENT sprite designer to help with the creation of Maradice Isle: Dawn of Shadows. I honestly wish I had known of this communities existence sooner ( much like the MLP franchise itself ). And a lot of the games core code and prefixes are now in place.

All I need now is those sprites, a tileset that fits with the shows setting, and the soundtrack. I hope somepony from around here can help out with those issues! For now, I'm using Final Fantasy music as a placeholder, which works, but I'd like to have an original soundtrack for this game, instead of using music from Final Fantasy. And do I even need to explain my issues with RPG Maker VX Ace's default tilesets?

As I said in my last topic, I now have a discord server set up where volunteers can gather to help with the games design. The invite link is "VabKgSC". Please keep in mind that the server uses a "Manual Approval" system in order to weed out trolls and general "Pain-In-The-Flanks", so you'll have to wait for me to put you in the correct rank before you can post or see messages on the server.

Hope everypony is having a great day!

Hey, everypony! We've got a fantastic sprite designer to help us with the games development, but it would be great to get some additional art designers to help out with the environments and the like.

We also need some talented ponies to compose the games soundtrack.

Shoot me a reply if you think you have what it takes, and are willing to volunteer to help out with the development!

17 hours ago, Rikifive said:

Jokes aside, you got me curious, what are you working on?

I posted a topic about it in Pony Games.

One that's as close to the show as possible, if that's alright.

Phew... saddle in (*RIMSHOT!*), fillies and gentlecolts, this one's gonna be a doozy.

So, a while back, me and a friend came up with this idea for a Final Fantasy-styled My Little Pony RPG that would involve characters and settings ASIDE from Equestria. But not in any way you've ever seen.

Ideas were tossed and turned, batted and cartwheeled, smashed and incinerated left and right, but finally, it was decided. The story would involve a young pony living on a remote island traveling to Equestria with her partner in an attempt to stop a power crazed maniac from destroying their home.

However, what's interesting to note is that not only is their island so far out of Equestria's boundaries nopony outside of the island is aware of it's existence, the island lacks many of the things that Equestria has, including deserts, dragons, and even alicorns.

And yes, the islands current ruler is a unicorn, not an alicorn. On the island, alicorns are believed to be only "Myth"; Make-believe beings created for the sole purpose of foals bedtime stories.

So imagine this young travelers shock and surprise when she arrives in Canterlot, and meets Princess Celestia for the first time. That's not going to give her a sense of deja vu, now is it?

Anyway, your ultimate goal in this game is to find the villain and put a stop to his evil plot, and sure, while you can just go straight to his lair and do that, you'd be missing out on about 80% of the game by doing so.

The real center stage attraction in this game is the sidequests, kind of like Zelda: Majora's Mask, where you don't HAVE to do all the optional side stuff, but doing so will not only net you a better ending, but multiple means to boost your characters strength and powers that'll give you the edge in battle.

Now, all of this is awesome to talk about, but there's just one problem: I'm a one-man force with little to NO budget to develop this game with! The best engine that I have to develop this game with is RPG Maker VX Ace, which is all fine and dandy ( it beats 2003 by a long shot ), but I can't create sprites for all the games characters ( whether they're from the show or not ), sprites for the background environments ( or ANY of the environments, for that matter ), or compose a soundtrack that fits with the style of the show. If I had those two things, I'd be working on this game from dawn till' dusk right now.

So, here's what I need help with: I need someone to volunteer their time to get me the character sprites, environment sprites, and soundtrack that I need to make this thing a reality. I'm sorry to make a request of this scale with next to no money to kick around, but it's all I got to work with right now. I'm just glad I was able to catch a Steam holiday sale and get a better engine to develop the game with then RPG Maker 2003.

If anyone thinks they're good enough to do that, PLEASE let me know and I'll get back to you as soon as I can with what I need.

Thanks a lot, and see you again soon!

Greetings and salutations!

Oh geez, I'm never great at introductions... the names Bulldozerman, and I'm an avid lover of video games. After so many years of playing them, I decided to take the plunge and get into making them myself. Though whether or not I'm great at it is questionable...

Anyway, following some recent events, I've decided it's time to start work on my biggest project yet. But I quickly came to realize that I wouldn't be able to do a game of this scale by myself. So, I came here hoping to find some help with this project.

Of course, I do plan to have some fun as long as I'm here. Because why not? Everyone needs a bit of fun in their lives.

Again, I'm not good at introductions, so I'm going to leave it there. Hope to see you kind folks soon!