Estheria: A Realm Divided (WIP) (Character Creator Demo Updated @ 12,667 words!)

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Step Forth, Hero.


Estheria: A Realm Divided is an interactive medieval high-fantasy narrative RPG currently in development.

Experience a realm on the brink of war as one of five unique races. Choose your class, strike up romances, wield unique magick while honing the aether, and invest in building your own community as you set forth on your adventures.

In a world where each choice leads to an equal consequence, unravel more than a decade of built-upon lore as you venture into Estheria. Experience political intrigue as youā€™re introduced to the Eleven Kingdoms of Harmony, split into three Wards throughout the three continents of Arcanis, Dionys, and Valiance.

Gather your party as you befriend (or foe) a unique and quirky cast of characters. Develop your reputation for fame or infamy as you travel through the lands. Experience a dynamic, unfolding storyline spread over five acts.

Choose your fate. Fight, journey, survive, perish; the choice is yours.


Access the Demo Below!
Estheria : A Realm Divided (moody.ink)

Project Roadmap

Roadmap Inside!

A Realm Divided - Roadmap
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Warning

Inquire Within!

Estheria: A Realm Divided is considered a mature title. As such, the following can be expected

  • Heavy vulgarity and adult language is included.
  • Steamy Romance & Sexual Content may occur.
  • Extensive depictions of fantasy violence, including death, blood, torture, and gore.
  • Depictions of fantasy racism.
  • Depictions of kidnapping and non-consensual situations (these are not of a sexual nature.)
  • Depictions of fantasy misogyny in certain situations.

Current Status

[details="Step Forth.]
Currently:

  • The Character Creator Demo has been updated (0.4) as of 03/20/2023 at 12667 words (excluding commands)

Next up:

  • Update 1: The Shadow Elves is slated for release (date: TBD)
    [/details]

Plot Synopsis

Step Forth.

1021 P.D.

The Realm of Harmony is on the brink of war.

Two of the most powerful Kingdoms of the realm have locked horns over the disappearance of the Crown Princess, Adylisa. The Crown Kingdom of Maldium has accused the Arcane Kingdom of Veltar of high treason and kidnapping. Despite Arcanian insistence of the opposite, the Crown refuses to see reason. Thus, the remaining nine Kingdoms have been forced to take sides or risk bitter retaliation without an ally.

Summoned by the Veltarian Chancellor, youā€™ve been offered the unruly task of an unsanctioned act of recovery. As Veltarian reconnaissance would be struck down without hesitation, the Kingdom cannot act on its own. Bestowed with unique privileges through Veltarian lands, your party of misfits shall investigate the Crown Princessā€™s disappearance, rescue her, and bring her home. With a sole month to spare, the fate of civil war falls to your shoulders.

Despite the seemingly easy task, multiple armed skirmishes between the two Kingdoms have begun to erupt. Regardless of the peril to your timeline, you may be thrust into the fray as part of your mission. Shall you become a general of wartime? Or merely a pawn for a Kingā€™s war?

Save the girl, become the hero, or die trying.

Feature List

Step Forth.
  • Customize your character, using a robust creation system.
  • Play as a male, female, or non-binary character with romantic/sexual preference as straight, gay, or pansexual.
  • Experience a multifaceted, dynamic storyline told through four sprawling acts.
  • Pick from one of five races, each with their own starting point.
  • Choose one of three classes for critical combat situations, each with their own playstyles.
  • Level up your character, and allocate key stat points to strengthen your progression.
  • Experience bombastic romances, told through an intimate cast.
  • Gather your party, joining forces with unruly, quirky, and devilishly weird characters as you journey the realm.
  • Build a community. Make key investments, develop structures, and grow your skills across a series of dynamic systems.
  • Experience a world where choice and consequence collide. Every choice, regardless how small, impacts the world in major and minor ways.

A Section on Characters will be coming in the following months.

Links

Patreon

My Patreon can be accessed at Zach Kerr | Currently building Estheria: A Realm Divided | Patreon

Official Community Discord
Tumblr (Coming Soon!)

This will be edited once my Tumblr is available!

267 Likes
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This sounds like something Iā€™ve been waiting for!!!

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Iā€™m glad to hear it!

Many, many updates will be coming in the following months. Beginning with the first update for the implementation of the Shadow Elves starting path!

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I like the idea just also saves would be nice when you get more progress I would add saves the next update or whenever you can

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Hello!

So, the save system on Moody.ink (from what I can tell) requires you to have created an account. I did notice when signed out during testing super quick that the save option doesnā€™t appear. It appeared the moment I signed back in!

If this ends up being a point of contention in the community, I will look at a potential reversion to DashingDon, as long as the outdated CS there doesnā€™t prevent game functions. :slight_smile:

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@Zaxwlyde my bad I forgot the last I played on there was a long time ago

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Donā€™t hide the link! My suggestion is replace the above with the markdown below.

<big>[Play Demo](https://moody.ink/play/zaxwlyde/estheria-a-realm-dividedā€”public-branch/mygame/)</big>

It would look like this:

Play Demo

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I appreciate you so much! I was trying for more than twenty minutes to figure out how to do that! :joy:

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Very good cant wait for more chapters.

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Looks kinda poggers!:grin: Hope for the best, donā€™t forget to take ā€˜you timeā€™ okay.? Mental health is important.!:+1:

1 Like
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Really interesting! I have a few suggestions:

For the name selection, Iā€™d recommend separating the choice of first name and last name.

This may be too many variables, but I think hair length and texture should be separate from hairstyle. You never know when you might want to mention the length of the characters hair, but then you canā€™t. It also opens up the possibility for the characters hair to not be in its usual style, if the character just washed their hair or something

For the skin tones, I would suggest adding ā€œfairā€ or ā€œrosy.ā€ Itā€™s darker than porcelain, but pinker than beige (and yes, this is a selfish suggestion :joy:).

For the backgrounds, is ā€œmerchantā€ the more charismatic/diplomatic job? I assume so, but I thought Iā€™d ask.

I think thatā€™s allā€¦ I thought it was interesting! Keep up the good work. Iā€™m crossing my fingers that Elves arenā€™t too far down the production order! Theyā€™re always my favorite

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Glad a demo is out for this now

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Looks interesting so far! I actually adore character creation, so this is right up my alley.

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@Zaxwlyde tried to check stat page, got this:

Screenshot 2023-03-08 082701

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Hello!

Itā€™s quite late where Iā€™m from, so my reply may be a tad more brief than normal. In the morning, Iā€™ll add a disclaimer that the Stats System is not yet implemented proper. Itā€™s one of the first planned updates in the coming week or so.

Its implementation will be quite iterative in nature. As such, the first iteration may be a bit more unkempt!

Have a great evening. :slight_smile:

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Lovely character creation you have so far (although, to be honest, I am waiting for the human origin XD). I like how you weave narration with customisation. Keep it up!

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Iā€™ve been waiting for this!

Good luck in all future updates, because this character creator is way better than it realistically has any business being. And if the character creator is this damn good, then the rest of the game can be good. I look forward to future updates! :slight_smile:

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@Zaxwlyde ā€“ Congrats on the reveal.

May your milestones be paved with gold and your map fly by without a hiccup!

The one small suggestion I have at this point is to implement a placeholder stat-page. There are two reasons to do this.

First, if a reader does hit the stat button (on purpose or not) it will crash the game, as you know. A placeholder would prevent this from happening.

Second, it tells your readers (both the informed, and the uninformed) that it is a future feature and not ignored, forgotten or inept implementation.

One thing you may not be aware of, is that there are hundreds of readers that read demos without visiting here or the various social media resources you have set up.

They are sometimes inspired by what they read to join the discussion, but most of the time, they are a silent audience. With a ā€œbrokenā€ stat screen, it may lose you future costumers.

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Thanks for the feedback as always, Eiwynn.

Iā€™ve released a small update amending the Stats screen just now. Upon testing, the crash has cleared and placeholder text is in place foretelling of the upcoming update.

Appreciate your kind words!

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Hey, Anna!

Thank you so much for the suggestions and feedback. I plan on making some changes today. These include:

  • Name Selection separation for polish.
  • Stats page placeholder inclusion (just went live!)
  • Addition of a proper diplomat background. I originally had one prior to the gutting of the first backgrounds iteration, and forgot to include it. That said, Merchant definitely has its perks. The game is split into 5 core Stats. One of these is Wisdom, which carries its own benefit. By selecting Merchant, youā€™ll actually increase your starting Wisdom stat.
  • Other general cleanup elements on a quick pass through. (Primarily text polish, dialogue/grammar, etc.)

Iā€™d also love to point out that anyone whom wishes can join the official community Discord. Iā€™ve setup a quite detailed bot there that allows for amazing logging and communication via feedback, bug reporting, and more to come. Not necessary, of course, but surely adored!

If youā€™d like to join, the link is here! Estheria: A Realm Divided

4 Likes