Illusionaire v1.0.0 in progress!

Thank you so much for checking out this project! I have loved working on this project up to this point and have been working on it since 2021. I am on my third rewrite of the introduction of the story, and Salosine has already produced a TON of music so far! I'm still working on getting the project page and everything set up right now, and I am hoping to at least finish chapter one before releasing it, but I am so excited to share this project! So far, I have finished writing the prologue and am around halfway done writing chapter one. Both Salosine and I are in college right now, so we are going to be working on getting stuff released a bit more slowly over the next few months.

The script.rpy with all of the dialogue and story stuff is at 3,123 lines right now, and I have thousands of lines written for the battle engine, battle screens, methods to manipulate fighter objects/statuses/skills, and several other game elements. I have created a lot of character art for Allemande, Rose, Brutus, Zorio, and several other characters you may be hearing about over the next few months (you can see some of the art already in the teaser screenshots). My ambition for this project is to create a combat-focused RPG visual novel with custom(izable) player skills and reactions. I want to have multiple story routes (I am mainly thinking of a "good" and "evil" route right now) and different skills/stat boosts you can unlock based on the choices you make for Allemande: the character you play as in the story.

I am planning on having three difficulty modes that double as Allemande's class archetype:

• Phantom (Easy): The player gets larger stat upgrades when leveling up between chapters.
  • Good at hitting and dodging
  • Gets significant stat boosts at level-up
  • A good choice for people who don't like to think when playing RPGs
• Artist (Normal): The player can create custom skills. Custom skills may include attacks, buffs, debuffs, heals, and turn manipulation (e.g., stuns, gaining additional turns/actions, donating your turn to an ally, etc.). While you can take a lot of different directions with setting up the custom skills for this archetype, the archetype is considered "good at buffing" because the non-custom skill unlock options available for Allemande will be themed around buffing. Skills are generally unlocked throughout the story as you (a) attend university classes, (b) make specific story choices, and (c) level up.
  • Good at buffing
  • Gains new buff skills at level-up
  • Can create unique custom skills for combat
• Cultist (Hard): The player can create custom skills and custom reactions that trigger under specific combat conditions. Custom reactions may include counterattacks, healing/reviving allies, buffing allies, and debuffing enemies. Notably, none of these skills or reactions will come for free; you will always have to pay a cost when you use one (e.g., lose HP,  become stunned, debuff yourself, lose a buff, etc.). You will be able to choose the abilities' effects and the costs you pay with a point-buy system. The "equivalent-exchange" aspect of the cultist archetype makes it especially challenging to play.
  • Good at debuffing
  • Can debuff self in exchange for powerful buffs
  • Gains new debuff skills at level-up
  • Can create unique custom reactions for combat
  • A good choice for people who want maximum playstyle customization
    

Needless to say, creating a game where the player can make custom skills is challenging to balance and code. Phantom will likely be the only difficulty mode that is finished when v1.0.0 is released. I am still working on updating the battle engine to manage skills that are single-target vs. multi-target vs. AoE, which is taking a while to finish.

We are looking forward to releasing what we have so far, and we appreciate your support!! :)