Wind's Nocturne is here, and with a ton more developers!




Previously known as Wind's Whisper, this game has been re-invented, re-released and re-awesomeised ever since the first version was made waaay back in 2003. Since then, WN has had many different developers, many different engines and many different releases, but it's always been the same: A small, retro ORPG which has been charming the gamers every single time it's been announced. I've stuck by WN for many years now, and finally it's been re-invented on the quickest and most stable source yet. WN has historically only ever been worked on by myself, with Rory contributing his amazing skills to fulfil my every graphical whim. For the first time, WN is being worked on by a full team of the most talented individuals to ever grace the VB6 ORPG scene! We have plenty of people who're at the top of their chosen field, from programming to writing, all pooling together their skills and experience to create this cooking-pot of amazingness.


WN has been around since 2003, and has obviously been re-created several times. Originally known as Wind's Whisper, it has been re-branded in the latest version as Wind's Nocturne. The earliest recorded copy of Wind's Whisper was created in Elysium/Eclipse back in 2003/2004, and it's the first version which started using the FSM graphics which I've stuck by for the past 6 years:



Click to view full screenshot!

That version was dropped, and interest in Wind's Whisper was lost for nearly a year afterwards, when Naruto Realm was in development. Then, out of practically no-where, Wind's Whisper was re-introduced to the VB6 ORPG scene, with a fancy new base, some new skills in practise, and some incredible new features:



Click to view full screenshot!

This version is the longest running yet. It was dropped at least once, picked up again, and kept on kicking, being the first publicly released version. Eventually, the source was shelled out and released as the Essence source code. This version, however, started the quintessentially Wind's Whisper style, and has been re-invented several times. The interface was created by a, then young, Rory and has been laying itself down as a base for the interfaces ever since.



Click to view full screenshot!





Well, a section about myself. I could just blow my own trumpet here, but instead I'll settle for a brief history about my time around here. I originally joined the VB6 ORPG scene back in 2003. I found Konfuze whilst looking around the internet. I was a naive little 13 year old kid, with terrible grammar skills and only a couple of years of computer experience. After several months at Konfuze, I moved on to Elysium, where the source was finally released to use eager fans. I quickly grew sick of the problems which arose with the source code, and moved on down to Mirage, where I lurked around for another 6 months before finally posting some screenshots of my game, Wind's Whisper, and started releasing terrible tutorials onto the poor masses. Eventually, a kind soul known as 'Dark Echo' taught me how to do packets, which then sent me spinning into the world of programming. Since then, I've obviously improved by a large amount, but the same charm and simplicity which my original game was made up of is still there, never changing. I'm currently in my second year at college doing a Software Development course.


Jake (aka. Dugor) is a relatively new face on the block, but instantly gained respect when he kicked me off my post on Mirage Realms by fixing my targeting code. Since then, in a relatively short space of time, he's become administrator of Mirage Source, owner of one of the best publicly released source, Mirage Realms and his programming has made many of us re-think our own styles and habits. Since the MR game fell through, he's been a good friend to many, and has been working hard at his job to support his wife and his baby son. Works full time as a programmer.


Harold (aka. GIAKEN) has been around since the Konfuze Christmas release, and has been lurking around ever since. When he first found Konfuze, he was playing on a friend's game which got him interested in game development, and he went on to create Geonet Online. This game was converted over to every release of Konfuze/Elysium all the way up to ED2, where he finally learnt how to program. He dropped the game in 2005, and joined Mirage. Soon after, he became the rights holder to Elysium, helped release and maintain OGCore, before dropping everything and became the founder of Asphodel. He's a fantastic friend of mine, and it's about bloody time we did some colab work on something.


Rory (aka. Magdreamer) has been giving us fantastic graphics for many years. After seeing my work on Naruto Realm all those years ago, he's been working on his own Naruto-styled ORPG, Nin Online! NO has had many different versions, each one more fantastic than the last. Rory has been the only standing developer on WW/WN other than myself, joining the project during it's second reincarnation and doing all the interface and logo work every since. All game development work has taken a backseat in his life, as he's currently studying for his upcoming O level exams, but he's still found time to get addicted to GhostX, a new MMO, and has worked on creating his own fansite for it!


Konsty (aka. Punika) is everyone's favourite pixelling panda! I originally discovered this little number lurking around the Essence forums, back in the day. He quickly found his way into my heart with his fantastic attitude and his work developing the Essence Community Tileset, which was a fantastic resource which was developed by the community for free use with the Essence source code. He's released two games, SIN and ToW, both with 100% custom graphics. His pixel skills are very developed, but I've helped him through with advice and tips on interface development, and he's been working hard on creating a base sprite for the paperdolling system in WN. I promised him a copy of the final source code to create a game with, once he helps us out with his talents!


Max (aka. Egon) seems to have been around forever, but hasn't actually done much in his time at Mirage. He's been Liam's worker for the last 3 years, and has started work on a horse breeding/racing game with Harold. Eer... he's a crippled firefighter who once was in a big storm and took some pictures. He's also going to be working on ripping the items of clothing off some hawt pixelated girls and paper dolling them for our new base!


I've always taken great pride in my programming work, and this latest version is no exception. Here's a small breakdown of the core systems which'll make this such a fantastic gaming experience:

Byte Array Packets. That's right, all the data sent and received by the server is packed into little byte arrays! Not only does this cut down on latency, it'll cut down on bandwidth for both the clients and the server. As well as this, all the UDT Dump style packets (Such as sending a newly edited item) are done by simply passing Copymemory through the UDT and receiving it in the same way. This means the packet is designed as a one-off, and will do it's job without modification as long as the UDT structures stay consistent between both the server and the client.
Generic Resources. Ever since the 2005 release of Wind's Whisper, Woodcutting has been one of the large selling points of the game. Well, I've gone one step further this time and I've created a generic resource code, which allows for complicated objects to be created and placed on the map, each one with separate sprites, respawn times, rewards, tool requirements and difficulity. This system will end up being the centre of the game's entire economy.
Proper Memory Management. Mirage and it's offshoots have never been well known for being streamlined in the DirectX department. In this case however, the graphical engine is top-notch! It properly loads and unloads files when needed. No longer will a game sit on your computer eating up 300mB of memory. Now, it'll sit comfortably in the corner using, at best, 10mB or so of your precious RAM.
Dynamic is the new buzz-word! Dynamic, dynamic and dynamic. My favourite buzz-word at the moment, and one I can use a lot! Sprites, maps, data arrays... everything is dynamic! This means nothing to the casual gamer, but everything to a development. Maps can be any size I want, sprites can be in excess of 1000 pixels high, data arrays can be any size specified. It all adds up to a very cool development environment, which obviously means a higher quality product will be created!



Section in development. Instead, enjoy these screenshots.



Click to view full screenshot!



Click to view full screenshot!



Website: Website exists, but is set to private for the development team.
Forums: The Forums exist, but they're set to private for the development team.
Both of these will be opened up once we have more to show for our efforts. :]

Sorry about the double post, but the above is simply an advertising template I created for all the forums I frequent, and I thought I'd add a bit more 'Amaranth-specific' information.

As you can see, I'm using the FSM sprite set & tilesets. I've been using these for many years now, and it all stems back to when I first played that wonderful game: Ahriman's Prophecy!

The graphics really inspired me to get into game design, but I never really wanted to make a single-player RPG. I wanted to create a small, fun environment for me and my friends to mess around together. I think I've been successful with every single version of this game I've created.

I just want to give a big 'Thank you' to all those people pushing homegrown games out there. They're inspired me so much. Any time I get unmotivated, I just download the latest RPG Maker game and my enthusiasm is lifted.

Oh, and I realise this is my first post, but I've been lurking around for a good few years. :]

Robin, since you've been 'lurking' (I love that word), have you seen the Fourm Rules?

There are children on this site, and I noticed some content on your first post that isn't
kid-friendly, some not even PG-13.(Generally, this is a PG-13 site.)

Please read the rules and edit your post.

Also, try to keep this is a family site.(Family friendly)

Never been on the forums in my life, I just lurked around waiting for game releases.

And sorry, I assumed censorship would be done automatically by the forum software. I'll sort it out now.

oh, lol i did that for a little while, too.

Please don't forget to check the rules,too.

Oh, and thanks for getting to fixing it quickly.

Wow... Just... wow... You are taking RM2k3 to the next level!

You obviously have a great team. When do you expect this game to be released?

I'm not actually using anything from RPG Maker, or the Engine. I'm using the resources provided by FSM, as they're free to use in games which aren't created using the RPG Maker software, as long as I leave a link to their site in the credits.

The engine is programmed by Harold, Jacob and I, and is done in Visual Basic 6.0.

I really don't have an ETA at the moment. We all have fairly busy lives, so we'll see. I'll keep updating when stuff comes up.

It looks great. Well, Pandaba already stated that ; I can't wait!

PS: You know what's funny? I have an Uncle Harold and a great-uncle Jacob. lol

O_O hey! a double post! lol hurry to say you accidentally submit it twice so that moderators will not PM you! XD.
anyway is that free? i cannot see the price :l

Oh yeah, it's completely free, and always will be. The only reason I can see an excuse for asking for payments would be for help with hosting costs, but I can easily keep those up myself. Hell, if I couldn't I wouldn't have made this in the first place :3

Besides, as it's an ORPG the only way I could possibly charge is through monthly payments or a cash shop, both of which would seem out of place in a small indy game which we've created as a labour of love. :]

so where is the download link?

It's in the "In Progress" section for a reason.

Still going through various different systems for the game to run on, so there hasn't been much graphical change. I'm working with a close friend on the possibility of z buffering in DX8, although this cuts off the ability for us to use graphics with alpha channels. (on the lower levels of rendering, we could still alpha blend a user interface over the top.)

This would cut off the ability to use the new VX tilesets which are coming out, for example.

Latest screenshot:

i would love 2 play dat game right now it looks soooooo cool

Sorry about the lack of updates. Real life is hectic, and I'm still the only one working on this still, until I get the engine to the point where I can share the development workload. In the meantime, you can look at my cheap 5 minute DX8 conversion. Just rendering a layer of 32x32 grass tiles, a weird screen shadow and the logo. All alpha blended of course.