As it is getting near time to start full development of Survival III, I figured it would be time to start a development blog of this game. Also, since Survival II is still not 100% in the go yet, this blog will double as a development blog for it as well.

Aside from the periodic updates of Survival III, I will also be posting lore and other info that I have created for the Survival series. Before I start, I will clarify this though: there will not be any lore related directly to the plot of Survival II or III in this topic. All lore will be extended universe material. It may factor in the atmosphere and flavor of the games, but there will be no story spoilers in this topic.

That said, I will accept any questions or comments regarding any information posted here. I may not clarify some things if it spoils the story, but beyond that I will answer anything you might want to know about.

Without further adieu-

11/5/13

For my first update, I will direct you to the test play video I had done for Survival III, uploaded about a week ago. NOTE: Any and all videos regarding Survival III will also be under the game's page in the RPG Maker VX Ace section in RM Vault.



As of right now, my work on Survival III is limited for two reasons. The lesser reason is that I do not own the full version of VX Ace yet, and as such I am on the Trial version. But until then I am going for a good working tech demo that will be representative of the full game when it is done. The second reason is, simply, I will not do so until Survival II is finished.

As you may have noticed, it looks quite different from the MagCon Demo I had sent in back at MagCon Prime '13. At the time I had only been working on the Lite version which, for those of you who don't know, limits you greatly in exchange for being free. While you can do many things such as using custom tiles, the demo really showed Lite's limitations. For one, there can only be 10 events on a given map. This is why there were so few enemies. Custom scripts are disabled, so I couldn't modify the game in any way.

That is all in the past now, though. For the computer that I was using lost its HDD, and here is me not backing up the SIII demo. It kinda made me nostalgic for the days back in the early 2000s when my crummy third party PSOne memory card would delete my RPGM1 saves. It still stings knowing I lost a total of at least 1200 hours on Varmilia.

Still, when I got into VX Ace again, I was able to activate the Trial version, and have been making the most out of it since. I know I could have used this time to make a new game, but Survival III was calling me.

On to Survival II-

Let me start by saying: I will no longer be giving out release dates. That is not to say that it is going to be a long time from now- on the contrary, I plan on releasing it very soon- but I, like many others, have had a bad history with not releasing games (*cough*MENCARAREVELLE*cough*). So I'd rather just get it done instead of leading everyone who have patiently waited for this game by the nose and giving false hopes. It happened last year when Ix released Survival's 10th Anniversary Edition, and I'd like to avoid repeating the same thing again.

So, what am I doing with Survival II at this moment? I'm sure you're wondering!

Well, in the 5 years that I have been calmly plucking away at this thing, it has become a sorta obsession with me. Anyone who heard me talk about it in the chat kinda has the idea that I had this obsession. For one, I have written enough lore and material to fill a book or two. Granted, half of it is unimportant fluff that would probably never factor into the games, but its there nonetheless.

Also, I let my biggest enemy grab ahold of this game: perfectionism. He got Varmilia and Mencara Revelle (Mencara Revelle the game AND novel) and he sure as hell got Survival II. Ever heard the saying that perfectionism is a gift and a curse? It's not a gift; if it was, my games would have been released.

Then again, there is a mindset I got back when I first started, and it is still relevant today. I figured if I was still using a decade-old medium where to play the games people would have to go through the trouble of going through a 12-step program just to play a single game, I was going to make it worth their time. I mean, they would need to put away their Xbox 360s and hook up and dust off a console (or emulator) 3 (now 4) console generations past their prime.

Right now I am putting the finishing touches on Survival II. I am also trying to get the last few bits of custom art for it, so the delaying of this game is partly a waiting game on my end as well. So right now I am using any downtime for bug-fixing... and trying to resist the urge to change things.

Coming soon: All of the ideas I had axed from Survival II.

11/17/13

There is not much in the ways of updates for Survival III. Right now I am holding off further development until Survival II is finished. Until then, here are some ideas that I had- or would have- implemented in Survival II at some point. I will also be going over why they were axed from the final product. This isn't all of the axed ideas, though- I will go over those another time. Also, the first piece of Survival lore at the end!

The Original Character Progression System

When I first began Survival II, it was going to be much simpler than it is now. Rather than the custom Emblem system it has now, it would have had a Task Progression System. Honestly, this system is kind of inspired by the Achievement system for the Xbox 360. (Hey, it was new to me in 2007!)

Most activities the players can perform would reward the player with an upgrade should they do it enough. For example, once they win 100 battles, they would get a +10 increase in Health. Other tasks such as lockpicking, sniping enemies, and even sleeping in beds would upgrade a stat once done enough times.

Had Survival II been released for the Sequelpalooza contest, it would have had this system. Don't misunderstand me, though- had it been released then with this system, I would have been proud of what I had done. But after the contest was over, I figured I'd go for something more complex than that. Plus, the old way means every event would have at least 10 pages of content, and there is just not enough memory to worry about all of that.

Fishing mini-game

In the first incarnation, Survival II was to have a fully implemented fishing game. It should come as no surprise why it was axed- namely, fishing mini-games are old hat by now. That, and the devastation caused by the viral outbreak would be kind of undermined if there were large uninfected sections of Crescent Hill.

Now, I was going to make this game the best I could, and I think it could have been fun. I had a full character graphic for fish, which would move and swim within the water. Then the player would actually move the lure and chase the fish within the lake with it. But in the end, it just didn't fit with the 'survival horror' aspect of the game. That, and I wanted that character slot for something else.

Slot-machines

I had this idea fully implemented at one point. I actually had spinning reels, and you'd get different, specific rewards for whatever symbol you'd get three in a row with. Even had the Lucky Day emblem affect your chances at winning! AND better rewards for successive wins!

It was taken out mainly because of the taxation of memory. It was like 14,000 memory it used up. No thank you.

NPCs

Originally, there were to be other zombie hunters you can come across while
exploring Crescent Hill. You could talk to them, help them out, or they can temporarily join you for a price (they'd leave once you reach any exit).

They were axed because 1.) It undermined the atmosphere of the game and 2.) Most of the characters planned really weren't that deep of a character and were just... there.

In the final game, there are some NPCs you can talk to, but they are at a certain place and not always accessible. I'd rather they get to be important characters that affect the plot rather than just random people running around.

Random Events

Last idea for today. In the MagCon 2010 demo, one of the emblems you could get was the Special Events. These would unlock the chance for Rebecca to come across strange cutscenes throughout the game.

In the final game, instead of the emblem I just made these actual cutscenes you come across normally. There was too many with too much wasted space for the player to never come across them, you know?

Now for your first piece of Survival lore!

NOTE: Cailleach is an actual Celtic mythological figure. The basic description came from Wikipedia or something, but the connection to Survival is mine naturally.

Cailleach (Demon)

"Cailleach is the Celtic (Irish and Scottish) Goddess of disease and plague. A Destroyer, or Crone, Goddess, she was also called "Veiled One." As the Crone, she ruled with the Maiden and the Mother. Monsterous dogs guarded the gates of her afterworld realm where she received the dead. Celtic myth has her gatekeeper dog named Dormarth, or "Death's Door". Irish bards who could curse with satire were often called cainte "dog".

The poisoned lake waters of Crescent Hill (Survival II) are named after her, known as Waters of Cailleach.

The wild dogs present in each MN-VST viral outbreak (in Ubson, Mainfield Island, and Crescent Hill) is believed by some Thierry Spiritual Foundation acolytes to be related to Cailleach's influence on the virus. Since dogs guard her realm, it is theorized the stench of death caused by the virus attracts and agitates canines within the vicinity."

Now you know my explanation for the 'wild dogs.'

Well, seems you've been putting quite a bit of thought into this, Revelle.I might have personally liked the random survivors temporarily helping you, but, yeah, would have undermined the tone set by the name of the game. ^_^

Looking forward to busting some zombie heads, man. Ever since the 2010 demo.

Thanks.

The NPCs system is going to be in Survival III though, where memory is not an issue. They will all be important, recurring characters though.

Oh, and another bit of trivia:

I had not finished the script for Survival II for the longest time. I had asked Duel if he wanted to help with it. He never got the chance as I didn't get these things down in time. But I would have had him help with NPC interactions if it worked out that way.

12/6/13

Today's update is going to be a bit shorter than the first two. Currently I am doing Part 3 of the Fallout LP and (hopefully) finally getting the last two pieces of art for Survival II. Aside from that, there is not much else to tell. However, a few weeks ago I posted on YouTube one of the few custom tracks for Survival III. It was made cheaply, and it sounds a lot better in the game than the video, but... what can you do?



On the subject on my other projects, I have completed the script for Credence. Now I just have the arduous task of putting it all in the game, and you know how the dialogue input system of RPGM3 is.

If I have the time, I will also be submitting a game for RPG Maker Pavilion's Winter contest. I have chosen a combination of "Point of View 2" and "The Evil Inside." This means the playable character will not be the 'hero' of the story, and the villain has down-to-earth, realistic goals. I will most likely make it on VX Ace, using the custom Final Fantasy Tactics-style battle script.

12/20/13

Just two quick announcements.

One, I am trying to soon get an acceptable 'demo' for Survival II, in which I would like to know if anyone would be interested in beta testing this thing. Just keep in mind that nobody is to say anything to Ixzion about what you see as he will be Let's Playing it when it is finished.

I am mainly looking to see if the story is well told enough, the rules of gameplay made clear enough, and the battles fair enough for someone who hasn't been playing it for six years.

Also, second of all:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/V ... e/Survival

^ Yeah.

4/23/14

So... it's been awhile since I've made an update. I decided to be quiet about Survival II and III, mostly because I don't want to start repeating myself. The 'finishing touches' on Survival II are taking much longer than I wanted, but I only need one more piece of art to complete that. That, and some playtesting (whether that is just me or be an public beta-testing has yet to be decided).

I have been working on Survival III however, mostly inputting all of the systems that I wish to incorporate. Don't think I'm pushing Survival II to the side, because it is not. Once I get it out of the way, Survival III should be good to go to put everything I can into it.

Soon I will post more Survival lore, but this will have to be all for now.

2/18/15

Okay, so I haven't posted any Survival lore 'soon' after last April's update. Instead, I have been working on putting them into articles for a to-be-made-public-at-a-later-date Survival wiki instead.

Survival II is close to being finished. Still no release date as I seem to have bad luck in keeping those but there you have it.

On a side note, on RPG Maker VX Ace side of things, Decrepit Progeny's main scenario titled New Blood is now in full development. It will be released for the RPG Maker Pavilion's Anything Goes contest. Survival III will be in full development following both Survival II and Decrepit Progeny's releases.

11/23/19

Still going!

I'll be real with this update... my enthusiasm for Survival 2 did take a hit when this site died down. BUT still going to see it through if just for myself. (And some LPs.)

Not to mention a little thing called depression and not being able to do much physically thanks to impairments.

But I'm still here. I never left, despite the silence. But I do want to get around to doing stuff for this site.

Completing my games, yeah. Writing articles too. One thing I am planning on is a full review of Arc Arath.

One last thing; its possible I will remake Survival 2 on a pc maker after the RPGM1 game is done.

Unless anyone here thinks I should just do that now? I like RPGM1, but the limitations plus the pains I have to go through just to boot up a save thanks to the huge amount of data is one of the biggest factors in this thing never getting done.

What do you guys think?

11/24/19

Well, screw it. Survival II on PC it is.

BUT... I am going to release what I have on RPGM1 as a... preview?

So, hopefully that is sometime soon!

Hopefully it's a smooth transition. I've only dabbled in pc makers but they are super nice in how quickly you can get work done. A shame about the RM1 version being just a demo, but you gotta do whatever keeps you working on a project.

Edit: Also I have the setup to LP it, so I'll do that when it comes out.

Cool.

But yeah, I think it will be smooth. Honestly, its really difficult to go back to RPGM1 (developing anyway) after using PC makers. Limitations got too much really.

Still, the RPGM1 data I've done won't go to waste though.