Project VEIL

Project VEIL is a working title for the Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy genre SRPG (Strategy Role Playing Game) in development by Fenris Ulvr (previously known as 'The artist previously known as Hex' within the SRPG Studio University community). The game is being developed with the software SRPG Studio.

The game began development in earnest in early April 2020, after the developer returned from a year long break from SRPG Studio and its community.

Current Developmental status
Presently, the following items are undergoing work: Presently, the following items are complete:
 * The game is in the early stages of development.
 * Character halfbodies
 * Character Portrait sheets
 * Character Sprite sheets
 * Map Assets
 * Main Plot Skeleton
 * Essential Character profiles

Developer Goals
The Developer Fenris Ulvr intends to outsource as little creative work as possible during the creation of this game. All art assets, including sprites, maps, backgrounds and character art, are being created solely by the Developer.

The Developer will also produce the game's soundtrack in its entirety.

Conversely, the Developer is outsourcing Script and Plugin development.

Ultimately, Fenris Ulvr hopes to achieve a unique graphical presentation, utilising hand drawn art assets in his own style to create a visually distinct and enjoyable SRPG.

Notable Elements
Project VEIL is being designed to present a different take on the genre from well known titles such as the Advance Wars and Fire Emblem series' established wide-scale battle approach.

The differences can be best summed up as the following. This list is subject to change:
 * A greater focus on the plot arcs and character development of a smaller main cast.
 * A smaller scale of combat with limited deployment, forcing a more thoughtful approach to player decisions when selecting Units for battle, with regards to both EXP availability and niche ability usage.
 * More attention to storytelling devices and methods within the limitations of the SRPG Studio engine.
 * A more visually detailed map and character approach than typical SRPG titles.
 * Full-art battle scenes as opposed to sprited representations.
 * A much wider variety of character Unit types and roles, alongside 'disposable' Unit archetypes.
 * Unit Transformation mechanics - temporary powerup abilities that affect both character visuals and combat flexibility - with varieties ranging from 'Stances' to full blown physical changes.
 * No Weapon Triangle - to replace it, Techniques such as 'Slash', 'Strike', 'Stab' and 'Sweep', applicable across all Weapon Types and each presenting their own benefits and deficits against various Armor Types.
 * An atypically wide variety of Buff and Debuff Spells, as well as limited-use 'Tactic' abilities unique to character Units.
 * A 'Resolve' system, that will manifest special temporary equipment or abilities for any given character Unit when certain trigger conditions are met in battle. These bonuses disappear at the end of the chapter, and will usually require a high level of situational risk to activate.
 * A 'Support' system typical of games of the genre, to reflect a level of trust between two given character Units. When Support levels between the Main Protagonist and a character Unit reach a sufficient milestone, extra chapters can be unlocked centered around that character Unit, to present further backstory or lore information and reward the player with either a unique equipment item, or boost of some form to the stats or abilities of the character Unit in question.

Plot
Presently, the Main Plot of the game is not known publicly. However, the Developer has written the following passage as a teaser:

"Long ago, a dreadful war waged between two powers of excessive strength. A war of magick and iron, that seemed doomed to see no clear victor.

Leading his countrymen through campaign after campaign, a great and powerful King sought to reclaim his land from the influence of two otherworldly Queens.

This war continued for many years, seemingly dooming its participants to a future of violence and loss, the cause of which became no more than the ghost of a memory.

The King and his Knights, the Queens and their Courts... Neither party possessed the will to continue in earnest. But both parties refused to submit in defeat.

Thus, it was decided that this conflict would come to a close with a game of riddles. A game which no magic or blade could influence in any way.

The game ended in victory for the King.

The Queens, having agreed to the terms of the game, were banished with all of their ilk. They returned to the place of their origin, and a powerful Veil of spellwork was weaved, sealing them there with no way to return.

Too late, it was realised that this place was the place from which magick itself had come. Now that the way was closed, that force seeped away from the land, and away from all who could use it.

Sacred artifacts became mundane objects. Tomes of spells and rituals were rendered useless, their authors now powerless, and the King came to realise just how much he and his people had grown to depend upon this now-absent resource.

For as long as men knew of its existence, the King reasoned that they would seek it out. He knew that the risk of allowing the Queens and their kind to return would never be worth the resurgence of magick, and

so he decreed that all record and mention of it or its use should be destroyed.

Time passed, and with it, so too did the King. His named entered into myth and legend, along with the nature of magick and all memory of the war that he had waged against the Queens and their Courts.

Mankind strode onward. Reliant now solely upon itself, new technologies and cultures sprang forth. The old ways persisted, but their dominance gave way to the march of progress. Revolutions came and went, a Golden Age of wonder and connectivity was born, and it seemed as though the great Kings wish would forever be secure.

But all things that are born must surely die, and no spell can hold fast forever. The Veil started to wear thin, and those that it had kept away for so long began to plot their return..."

Credits
The game will utilise Scripts written by the following SRPG University community members:

Lady Rena

McMagister

Cubes

Nera

While the SRPG Studio University community as a whole will feature a separate credit for simply existing and providing a wealth of motivation, knowledge, advice and support to the development of this and many other games.