Spellcaster's Quest

  • High Concept: Use spells to seal away evil and avoid getting caught.
  • Theme: Bookworm.
  • Player Experience Goals: To fearfully face enemies with the power of spellcasting and seal them away with smart use of it.
  • Gameplay:
    • You need to seal away the enemies! Use spells to avoid them as you search the library for a way to seal them! Move with the arrow keys and press E to examine a bookshelf. To cast spells, hold either W, A, S, or D, then enter the 4-key spell code without letting go. For example, to cast Warp, hold W then enter s, s, a, a.
    • Spell List:
      • Warp: W~ssaa | Teleports you in the direction you're facing. (25 mana)
      • Tag: W~sasd | Creates a mark under you. If a mark is already on screen, warps you to the mark. Only one mark can exist at a time. (30 mana)
      • Distract: A~swsd | Creates an image of you at the specified location. (40 mana)
      • Stun: A~ssdd | Creates a shock field in the specified location. (45 mana)
      • Vanish: D~ssws | Makes you invisible. (40 mana)
      • Reveal: D~asas | Creates dotted lines indicating the location of each enemy. (20 mana)
      • Fade: D~sawa | Makes bookshelves and hidden passages see-through. (20 mana)
      • Shrink: S~wdwa | Decreases your size. (20 mana)
      • Special: S~awda | Unique character spell; see game for details. (55 mana)
    • Mana will slowly regenerate if you have under the max amount (100). While the special spell is in effect, another spell cannot be used. Cancel it early by pressing X.
    • There are four types of spells: Warp (purple), Aim (orange), Detect (green), and Special (blue). As aim spells are more powerful, you cannot move while casting them (the arrow keys will instead control a reticle for specifying locations). Distract only requires one location input (accepted upon completion of the spell code), but Stun needs two inputs for drawing an area of effect (1st point accepted halfway through casting, 2nd point accepted upon completion).
    • The two most recent spells used get their color in the mana gauge. Each time a spell is used, you get bonuses for the colors in the mana gauge which are different from the color of the spell you just casted. Bonuses can stack (if you use multiple spells of the same type in a row and then a spell of a different type), and they remain in effect until another spell is casted.
      • Warp (purple) bonus: Enemies move slightly slower.
      • Aim (orange) bonus: You gain greater range of sight.
      • Detect (green) bonus: Enemy range of sight slightly decreased.
      • Special (blue) bonus: Your mana regenerates slightly faster.

      • Find the Spell of Responsibility and excerpts of information about the enemies by examining bookshelves. The location of these things is random each game (bookshelf 1-20).
      • Seal Frank (the short overweight man) away by shocking him and revealing his location while standing in front of him.
      • Seal Bird away by shrinking yourself and then using the Spell of Responsibility while in front of him.
      • Seal Hiroshi away by getting him to see a decoy in the very top-right corner of the map (behind the bookshelf) and using the fade spell.
      • Seal Worm away by using the spell tag alternative to warp him into the little closed-off section of the library near the bottom-right corner of the map (first get there by warping diagonally).

  • Prototype Goal: Test a semi-realistic spellcasting system.
  • Features: Multiple playable characters, a unique bonus system, and the ability to use a wide variety of spells.
  • Setting/Premise: You are a young spellcaster who has entered an ancient library in search of an answer to the existential question! However, upon opening one book, you've unleashed an evil demon which has brought to life evil characters from the books in the library! You must now seal them away.
  • Target Audience: Fans of RPGs, stealth games, or magic.
  • Play Time: About 5-15 minutes
  • Tips/Strategies:
    • After an enemy sees you, try warping to the other side of a bookshelf to escape!
    • In a pinch? Make yourself small and hide behind the bookshelves along the top wall!
    • Plan on using tag? Try using an aim spell first; this way, you'll be able to return to the tag from farther away!
    • Having trouble casting one spell quickly after another? Try using shrink beforehand to increase your mana regen speed!
    • Try to make sure you don't cast spells incorrectly or try to cast them when you don't have enough mana. If you do, you'll lose your current bonus effects!
    • Mana does not regenerate when you are casting a spell. If you are full on mana, it might be a good idea to start casting a spell before you really need it so it takes less time to finish. Otherwise, try to complete spells quickly after you begin casting or you'll be wasting mana!
    • If you use your special spell, be extra careful as it makes you pretty vulnerable. Be prepared to end it early if you need to use another spell. If possible, don't be near any enemies when the duration ends!
    • When casting stun, make the area of effect as small as you can while still making contact with enemies; the smaller the area of effect, the longer the stun will last! Just be sure not to accidentally stun yourself.
    • For most users, special spells will be hardest to cast because A, D, and W must be pressed while holding S. If this is hard for you, try holding S at the top-right corner and press W in the bottom-left corner. (Proper spellcasting requires appropriate pronounciation.)
    • Are the enemies just moving too fast? Try using two warp type spells, then another type to slow them down!
    • Having trouble avoiding the shots of the demon? Either make yourself invisible or stun him!
  • Prototype Assets:
    • Music from the game "Cladun X2"; includes "Elegant Gypsy", "The Plot", "Underworld", and "Black Metallic Dragon". End game music is "Slicing the Wind" from "Cladun: This is an RPG!"
    • Playable chars from PatchCon: Defend the Library!
    • Enemy chars: Frank slightly modified from this image, Bird and Worm art by Avadan, Hiroshi and Ulrick are self-constructed using RPG Maker VX Ace, and the demon is from Digimon Battle Spirit.
    • Frog from Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns.
    • Background: self-constructed from art in Final Fantasy V.
    • Spellbook from this template.
    • Magic circle: self-constructed from this image.
    • Sound effects: thunder from this video, "Rain Heavy Loud" from YouTube Audio Library.
    • Everything else is self-made.
  • Prototype Closest Other Game:
      The closest other game is the previous version of this game. For this version, I've added more enemy characters, a new library environment, a boss battle, and an ending cutscene.