The Elemental Stone

by Pyro_dragons
The Elemental Stone
An ancient power has been unsealed and mana fuels the world yet again. Can you control the mana and master the elements?
ID:107658
 
Well, it's been quite a long time since I've made a post here. That's partially due to work and college and such. But this time, it's here to post the updates to my first game, which sat on the back burner for about 4 years or so.

For those of you who don't know, or don't remember, The Elemental Stone is a MMO-style RPG game. That being said, it still is in the alpha stages, so things shown below are subject to change.

Recently, I've been cleaning up the interface quite a bit from the original interface BYOND gave it before 4.0. It looks much better layout-wise.
NOTE** I haven't gotten in touch with a GFX artist yet, so its not very pretty as far as looks are concerned. **

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1916/screenie1p.png

Most of the recent improvements to the interface include the character screen, buying, banking system and trading systems.





Not only that, but the brand new quest system is in place now as well. If you've played any other MMO type games, then you should be familiar with how it works.

Various NPCs are (and will be) scattered around the world and may give out quests. Whether or not they do could depend on your level, class, element, whether your in a guild or now, and various other variables.


As you can see above, NPC that you meet the requirements for will have a gold ! about their head, signifying that they have a quest available you can take. If you don't quite meet the requirements, but will soon, the ! will be silver. After you accept a quest, the icon will change to a silver ? to signify such. The gold ! will not appear if there are other quests available from that NPC, but you can still take them if you click the NPC again.



When you select a quest, information will show up in this window. You can see the objectives, the rewards, and accept or decline it. The big empty space under rewards is a currently non-visible grid where item choice rewards will go, which are currently not available.



You can view quests you have accepted within the quest log, and choose to abandon them if you wish.

As you complete objectives, the bottom output will display them and let you know when you've completed a quest. NPC's you have completed a quest for will have a gold ? over their head.

Among other minor updates, this is how the game is coming along so far. Still in alpha, as there is still alot to do, but it's coming.

Comments and criticism is much appreciated. Again, note that the interface has not been beautified yet. It is still getting it's layout settled before that.
nice stuff, i remember playing this game in ye olde days. when do you expect to make it publically playable again?

are the "?" buttons meant as "what is this?" buttons or are they just temporary? they look a bit odd

do you plan to remove the ugly default window graphic around the interfaces? oh, and fix all the little typographical mistakes like "equipement" and "us [we] soldiers"
Test servers have been and will be going up frequently to test the new additions and such, so just watch for them.

The buttons themselves are permanent, but the ? is not. Clicking on the button shows you what you can make/harvest with that profession and fills out the grid on the right.

And, yes I do intend to update the interface. If you read completely, I mentioned twice about not having a GFX artist yet. And naturally I'll fix all the little mistakes. That's a given.
I understand that you're waiting for an artist. However, is there any chance that you could change the banner to something with original content? I have not seen the game in action, but it looks like Guilty Gear's Ky Kiske could be unnecessarily holding you back from better on-site promotion. (Granted, I don't know what the staff's feeling on RPG Maker graphics is either. I'm just guessing that gradually replacing things will leave you in the clear.) =)
I had never planned on developing this far with those graphics, but for whatever reason I can never get a spriter and actually keep them longer than one sprite, if I'm lucky. I'm pretty sure I've seen Sigrogana legend advertised before, which uses the same graphics, though. But as far as the banner goes, I know that needs to be replaced.
This is a pretty badass game. Once i'm finished with my pixel artist and graphic artist, i'll see if there willing to come your way and help you out. I now have two pixel artists, but considering my game needs nearly 3,000 icons... They'll be busy for a while. There very good at what they do though.