Soon…

After a short delay due to the need to add more content and check for bugs, we will be ready to add our game to the Appstore. So exciting!

Posted game on the finished side: Protect My Planet!

A side project by our lead programmer has been published! Check out Protect My Planet! which is reminiscent of the old Missile command in a way, but with a whole new view: That Is Earth you are protecting! Take a look, give us some feedback!

New Demo for Path of a Pirate!

Thanks to all those that have been with us for so long.  Right now, check out www.chaoticheartstudios.com/PathOfAPirateAlpha and test out the alpha version of Path of a Pirate.  We are still in development of the audio tracks as well as some of the visuals for the game, but look forward to having it on the iPhone, iPod, and iPad as soon as immortally possible.  We look forward to any and all feedback regarding this game, and hope to be able to implement what you, fans, friends, and family want.

Desso Faulkner

Hiatus

Sorry we have been gone so long.  Technical and scheduling difficulties have kept us from being able to serve like we ought, but soon we will have the first completed game from our soon-to-be well-known minds, and nothing is going to stop us from there.

Voting, Nerves, and the Future

So, the final dead-line to submit prototypes to the ImmUnity contest has come and gone. There are around 30 different entries as it stands. Muse Games is a bit vague on the announcement day, but I believe the public voting will continue until October 30th. After that, Muse Games will choose their winner from amongst the top five.

So, where do we stand, you ask? Well, as of writing this we held a tenuous place at 5th. We had 4th for awhile, and it looked like we would keep it. As has happened many times in this competition, though, a single entry suddenly skyrocketed in votes to pass everyone else up.

Needless to say, if you have not voted for us yet this is an incredibly good time to do such. We currently have a place in the final five, but our spot is far more shaky than any of us are comfortable with.

The nervous energy of waiting to see how it all turns out has been sapping most of us of our creative ability. That aside, our artist, Anna Faulkner, has done some amazing portrait sketches recently. We will get them up for everyone to view shortly. They really are great work.

On top of that, we have been brainstorming just WHERE we want to take “The Black Arena”. What things we want to add, improve, and innovate. Some of it is pretty obvious, like polishing the menu system and adding animations to everything. Some of it is not quite so obvious, but is pretty exciting to us. Some new, fresh ideas are coming out of the process. I thought I would share a handful of them with you. Some of the really nice ones we are keeping to ourselves for now… for obvious reasons. Hopefully, though, this will give you a taste of what is to come.

1. Multi-player PVP: This one is an obvious one, and we think a vital one. There are not too many real-time/turn-based RPGs out there that offer PVP. In fact, I do not think there are ANY. If done right, we envision this being a cornerstone of the game. A reason to build up your character, collect all that equipment, and hone your abilities. Naturally, you will not HAVE to do any PVP. Hopefully, though, we will make it so enjoyable that you will want to.

2. Full Inventory System: We always planned on having a real inventory system where you can collect items, switch them out as you see fit, and likely even trade them with other real players. We feel that just four wearable slots will be enough; not the 18 different wearable slots (19 if you count the belly-button ring) that some games overdue, but enough so that the players actually feel as if their character is different than everyone else. We also plan on having it so each item you wear shows up with its own individual look upon your character (something our team member, Desso, insists upon). If you have; and are wearing; that really bad-ass suit of armor then you are going to look bad-ass.

3. Destructible Terrain: This has been done to death in numerous other games before, but never really done in an RPG. Also, we are hoping to implement it in an entirely different way. Make the destruction of the terrain truly change the outcome of a battle. For instance, a battle may be taking place over the cooled shell of a lava flow. Do too many “area” attacks and you could crack the shell plummeting both you and your opponent into the lava flow below. If you are designed to resist fire, that might be a great thing. If not… hope you can heal fast. We can think of an infinite way to put this type of destructible terrain to great use. Frozen areas that lessen any fire element attacks until you have done so many that you melt the ice, forests that can be set ablaze, mountains that can be sent crashing down on one’s opponent, etc. We do not plan on overdoing it (A gimmick used constantly is no longer a gimmick. It is now a headache). Just using it as a way to add variety to the regular battles.

4. Customizable Characters: Obviously, you can customize your character with which attacks, spells, skills, perks, and items you choose. This refers more to the looks. There will be both male and female character selection, as well as possibly race selection. The portraits I mentioned above will be selectable avatars for your character, and will naturally display next to your name inside multi-player sessions. Also, the looks of the character model itself will have some customization options. We will do everything we can to make you feel as if your character is your own original creation, and not a carbon copy of everyone else.

5. Secrets, Unlockables, and Nuances: We are all VERY large fans of extra content. Each one of our team members have our own ideas of what type of “extras” we want to add, hide, and reward the player with. Just a taste of these would be a gallery of the fantastic art being produced, hidden bosses/quests/items/etc, optional mini-games that break up the repetitive nature of the regular game mechanics, and a very interesting and original “class” system we are keeping secret… for now. It would be fair to say that the final game will be literally overflowing with extra content and hidden surprises. So much so, that I doubt any one player will ever find it all.

This is just a taste of what our brain-storming sessions have come up with. Looking at our notes, we have more along the lines of 30 different entries rather than the simple 5 I listed above. I am going to leave it there for now, though. Best not to give it all away at once, as they say.

If you have anything you want to add; any ideas you would love to see included; feel free to post them. That is what the comment section is for, after all. Once again, thank you to everyone who has voted and supported us. We are dedicated to making a game that truly is enjoyable and addictive to play. We feel that is the best way we can show our undying gratitude. To make a game you can all be proud to say you helped see the light of day.

P.S. A few new things added to the side-bar recently. Check out the mini-strategy guide for the prototype we put up at www.musegames.com (It is not a complete guide, but it helps). Also, check out our new weekly segment on Indie game reviews. This is where we will review our most loved… and most hated… indie games. Give a bit of praise and exposure to the rest of our struggling brethren out there.

“Order is always following the law, even if it is wrong. Anarchy is always breaking the law, even if it is right. Chaos is knowing the difference, and being free to choose the better way.”

The Time has Come

It is up. Our entry is now posted at the MuseGames entry page, and is ready to be voted on. Needless to say, this is both an exciting and stressful time for us. A lot went into making ‘The Black Arena’, and to see it up for the world to enjoy is quite a feeling. Of course, there is still the voting issue to be resolved.

You can help, though. We need each and every last one of you to go to the entry page and vote for us. Even a single vote can make a difference, so please do not hesitate. You will need to register with MuseGames, if you have not already, but that is all. Such a small thing will make a large difference.

Plus, this gives you a chance to play our finished prototype of the game. It will give you a better idea of what our finished game will be like. We plan to include leader-board ranking, saving of characters, multiplayer pvp, a full inventory system, hundreds of quests, as well as improve on a few things like animations, spell effects, menu, etc.

The final game, whichever wins, will be released as both a web browser game and a downloadable pc version of the game. This contest is definitely something we want to win. So, lend us a hand with that and go to the site and vote.

SITE ADDRESS: http://musegames.com/community/immunitychallenge/

Submitted

We have submitted our finished prototype {oxymoron, I know} to www.MuseGames.com. Now, it is just a matter of waiting for them to review it, approve it, post it, vote on it, give it the win, pay us our $10,000, turn the prototype into an actual game, and then finally bask in the accolade. When put that way, it all seems so easy.

Due to this, we have taken down the old build prototype. You can no longer play/test it at www.ChaoticHeartStudios.com. No worries, though. Soon enough, you will be able to play our end build at the MuseGames webpage. Of course, do not forget to Vote!

Until then, I thought it a good idea to share some of the art assets we used in the building of “The Black Arena”. We only had a little less than a month to work with (which is an incredibly short amount of time to get ANYTHING done), but a good deal of what came out of that insane, foggy, half-repressed time was very well done.

2D ART:
As with all RPG’s, 2D images of the characters is a time-honored tradition. Not including these would probably get us lynched at the next Dragon-Con. Trust me, a lynching done by cos-play freaks is like none-other {Shivers}. These images were done by our very own Anna Faulkner in record time… sometimes within the 30 minutes of me frantically calling her up going “I know your busy with the last 20 things I said I needed, but I REALLY need these two character portraits done… uhm… five hours ago!”. My personal favorite is the Sorceress, Ilhess. Hers was the Rakhasha Guard, Vyrence.

“Sorceress Ilhess”

Sexy, exotic, and completely out of reach.

Sexy, exotic, and completely out of reach.

Power, Speed, and Honor

Take what you can, and steal the rest.

His attitude is almost as hard as his armor.

MUSIC:
There are, currently, only two main pieces of music in “The Black Arena”. Naturally, the actual game will have more.

The first is “Four Brave Champions” by the magnificent Mr. David Orr. He was kind enough to allow us to use his work, and I have to say that it is about as epic of a battle-song as you can get. You an hear it, and a lot of his other great works, at www.davidorr.net/Blog/.

The other is a simple loop done in-house by me, Louis “Gryphon” Crochet called “In the Arena’s Shadow”. It is nothing amazing, but it has a nice melody and is easy to listen to. Unfortunately, we do not have it uploaded anywhere at the moment for you to sample it. I will try to get that sorted out shortly.

I hope you enjoyed a look into just a small fraction of the art assets used in “The Black Arena” prototype. Of course, the game is likely to expand on this a hundred fold. Keep checking back for updates and an announcement of when the final prototype build is posted up at www.MuseGames.com. Thank you, as always, for visiting.

Crunch time

I know it is the day I have been looking forward too.  Very soon everyone will be able to vote for your favorite  game brought to you by we here at Chaotic Heart Studios.  Keep an eye on this blog, as well as your email, for the final notice of the posting.  We are confident that, so far, even among the other candidates, we will have the most involved and interesting game available.  You can still test the game as we have it at www.chaoticheartstudios.com, but we have added more since that was put in place. Don’t forget to play the finished prototype once we put it up for voting  on www.musegames.com .  Keep watching and enjoy!

An Update and a Chance to Play-test

Okay… so as most of you probably know, we have been working on a prototype game for the ImmUnity contest being hosted at www.MuseGames.com. The contest requires contestants to build a working prototype, which will then be voted on. The winning entrant gets $10,000 to finish the prototype and turn it into a finished game. Needless to say, that $10,000 would go a long way to getting our fledgling studio up off the ground.

The original dead-line for entrants was October 1st. We put in some serious all-nighter hours to get our prototype ready by then… and, in fact, just got it to a “satisfactory” state yesterday… just to be told yesterday that the contest deadline was pushed back to October 21st. Needless to say this is a blessing and a curse.

It is a curse because we were pretty confidant we could beat out all the competition currently submitted. The extra 21 days now means we will have possibly better competition submitted to contend with. That, and the all-nighter I pulled to get it ready in time was basically wasted effort. Ah, well. Just means I did my part to keep Starbucks in business.

The blessing is this now gives us more time to polish the game. It is meant to be just a prototype, so it does not have to be perfect… or even near perfect. With that said, we developed our prototype to a point that we felt it was playable and; more importantly; enjoyable to play. There was still a ton more we would have liked to do with it, though. A lot of things that we left out, and a ton of things we would have liked to tweak. Better graphics, more balanced game-play, a bit of extra content, etc. We are going to use this extra time to add some of that in.

To help with this, we are putting up a web player version of where the game stands as of right  now. This will let you play it, and hopefully give us some useful feedback in the form of comments on this blog. We are looking for things like any bugs you find, any particular parts that need further developing, what you liked, what you absolutely did not like, etc. We know your time is important, so; to all who do this; we give you our undying gratitude. Hopefully, the process will be more than a little fun for you, as well.

To play the prototype, just go here: Chaotic Heart Studios – The Black Arena

You will need the Unity web-player plug-in, but if you do not have it you will automatically be prompted to download it when you visit the above web page. Do not worry. The plug-in is 100% safe, and is even used for games like Cartoon Network’s “Fusion Fall”. No spy-ware, mal-ware, ad-ware, etc. It is equivalent to downloading a Flash plug-in. A ton of other games and web-sites use Unity as well as the Unity web player plug-in, so if you are an avid gamer it is something you should probably have, anyway.

We truly hope you enjoy “The Black Arena”. Just remember, it is still in its prototype phase. It is playable, and even fun, but it is far from a finished product.

This version starts you out with 50,000 experience and 50,000 gold, just so you can get a feel for all of the skills/spells/attacks/etc without having to “level grind” for hours. One of the most enjoyable parts, is experimenting with character builds. I.e. buying certain skills/spells/attacks that work well together like the Tempest Attack, the Stealth Skill, and a ton of points in the Mental Stat. This basically makes you a Critical-hitting Assassin. Not a lot of Health, and not a lot of regular damage, but a ton of damage from Criticals.

A few other builds I like:
Battle Mage – Buy the Nova Spell, the Forceflow Skill, the Tome-delver Perk, and a ton of points in Spiritual Stat. Two powerful Nova Spells will destroy just about anything.

Enhanced Fighter – Buy the Cleave Attack, the Limber Skill, the Haste and Strength Spells, the Blood of the Behemoth Perk, and a lot of points in the Physical Stat. Cleave does a ton of damage, especially with a high Might. Only downfall, it is a little slow. Hence the use for the Limber Skill and the Haste Spell.

Corruptor – Buy the Weaken, Slow, and Poison Spells. Also, buy the Forceflow Skill, Tome-Delver Perk, and any of your favorite Attacks. Dump a ton of points into Mental and Spiritual Stats. You do not do a lot of straight-out damage, but the negative effects of the Spells; especially when used with Forceflow, more than make up for it.

If you have any other builds you love, feel free to post them. Once again, thank you to everyone who plays and submits feedback, and we TRULY hope you enjoy.

Hello world!

Hello World! The birth-cry of every fledgling programmer since the dawn of delta.time. Now, it is the  birth-cry of Us. Who are We, you ask? Like most simple questions, the answer is not so simple. Complex, aren’t we all?

We are a roiling, rolling, ravenous chaos tripping through the lines of digital creationism. We are story-tellers, visual artists, symphonic invokers, and binary builders. We are more than half filled with hope, dreams, inspiration, and aspirations; and a little less than completely overtaken with insanity, egotism, and unpredictability.

In short, we are Chaotic Heart Studios.

Welcome to our diary of a mad deity. This is our web-blog, and our home for our musings, rantings, ravings, and general babbling. We will be posting any announcements, information, and probably more than our fair share of non-sense here. We hope to give a bit of insight into the process of starting a fledgling gaming studio from scratch, and turning it into something even we can be proud of.

If it entertains you, good. If it humors you, great. If it educates you, excellent. If it happens to help relieve some stress and keep us just a bit more sane along the way, even better.

So, without further ado…

Hello World, from us here at Chaotic Heart Studios! Expect to hear a lot more from us in the future.