Major Improvements

There are two areas I will be focusing a large amount of attention on for the coming game: Performance and Gameplay.

Performance: It’s no secret that both Legend of the Void 1 and Legend of the Void 2 were absolute beasts when it came to CPU usage. This is mostly due to how Flash innately handles graphics and my own poor programming skills. Lucky for me (and you) the smaller project I’ve been working on was created with the sole intention of teaching me how to handle graphics in a new way which will hopefully increase performance 100x over. No more sluggish combat or having to turn graphics down to “low” just to play. This should make the next Legend of the Void accessible to even more people.

Gameplay: My #1 goal for the next game is to create a combat system players can really enjoy. This will involve overhauling many areas of the game including class balance, skill diversification, character specialization, the turn-based system, and the way characters interact with the battlefield itself. I want to give you as much control as possible over your party. I want the roles of each class to be better defined. I want to give you more skills worth using and remove the junk. I want battles to be much more dynamic. Why are all of these changes so important?

Multiplayer – Be Legendary

Fighting skeletons and demons is all well and good but ultimately lacks the strategic depth you get when you’re battling another intelligent person. Soon you’ll be able to try your luck against thousands (millions?) of other players to see who really is the best at building the most powerful squad in Calderia! Now nothing is set in stone yet, but I envision a system where resources are gained by winning battles which help to craft new armor and weapons, hire new party members, and customize your group to make them unique to you. I have a bunch more ideas on this topic but I don’t want to get into them too much since it’s all still very rough and uncertain.

My hope is that multiplayer will make the game “complete” for players. With LOTV1/2 you battle through the world, collect cool gear, learn new spells, etc but ultimately the game ends and you don’t have much to do with your decked out squad. By being able to fight other people using other strategies you will finally be able to put your squad to the test. You’ll need to try different combinations of classes/items/skills/strategies to work your way up the ladder and get the resources you need to upgrade your party. You want to see how a party of warriors fares against more balanced squads? Go right ahead!

Possible Removals

Along with what I’ve mentioned above, I’m really striving to make the next game as accessible as possible to players. I want to improve the overall clarity of the game. This means simplifying or possibly outright removing certain features to promote a more engaging gameplay experience. Here are some things that may get the axe!

The Overworld: Personally I love the top-down aspect of exploring a world. To me it’s the closest thing we can get to a first-person aspect in such a small Flash window. That said, the next game will focus much less on a detailed story in favor of really creating the best combat gameplay possible via the multiplayer system.

The Blackbox: Why does my warrior do this much damage to that rogue? Why is that monster resisting my spell? How much will this item improve my constitution? I really want to limit these sort of questions in the future by creating a much more approachable mathematical system for how the game handles all of the various numbers. My hope is that it will make it easier for me to balance and easier for you to understand. A win-win!

The Name: “Legend of the Void”. What an ambiguous name! While I’ll likely keep it as a super-title to pay homage to the games history, I will definitely be looking for a more descriptive and approachable name for what comes next.

What do you think?

Are you eager to get battling against the rest of the world?
Are you going to miss adventuring across the countryside looking for hidden treasures?
Got a cool name idea for the next game?

Let me know! Leave a comment below or for a more in-depth discussion feel free to make a post on the Legend of the Void Forums

Oh yeah… When will it be released?

Late summer? Within the year? I’m really not sure. I’m looking to partner with another programmer to help me handle some of the multiplayer stuff but there is still a ridiculous amount of work to be done (100%) so I can’t give any more info here .

Legend of the Void 2: The Ancient Tomes, picks up immediately where chapter 1 left off. You find yourself in the inner chambers of The Black Gate where Arch Mage Gazzen attempted to summon a powerful Voidlord to the mortal realm. As you fight your way back to the surface you discover the Tome of Rebirth, one of the four Ancient Tomes which had been lost for centuries. You also meet Alyss, a scout for the expedition sent to rescue you. With the help of Alyss and many others you must battle through the massive land of Calderia, including temperate forests, the snowy north, jungles, beaches, ancient caves, and even The Void, where the Voidlords which are leading the demonic invasion into Calderia reside. Your adventure climaxes on the volcanic island of The Infernal Spire, where your final showdown against the demonic forces of The Void will determine the fate of humanity in Calderia.

New features in Legend of the Void 2:

• 10x larger world to explore
• Rich story full of narrative and dozens of side quests
• Brand new art of a quality rarely seen in Flash games
• Full-featured character creator
• Custom 5 track soundtrack by DVGMusic
• New item system able to create an unlimited number of unique items
• Lots of new monsters including Golems, Void Witches, Oculus, and Hexopi

Premium Content:

Ever wanted to play as a Void Demon? Want to meet Minion Ghoth in battle once again? How about increased character customization with a full range of hair colors? If any of that sounds cool to you, or if you simply wish to support future development of Legend of the Void, I hope you consider purchasing the $5 Premium Content available in-game. I spent a lot of time adding some awesome bonus content for the true fan and I really hope it will bring your enjoyment of LOTV2 to the next level! 

Links:

Play Legend of the Void 2: The Ancient Tomes

Join the Legend of the Void community

First I want to thank the flash game community at large because without you guys Legend of the Void 2 would have never been made. All of the plays, comments, beta requests, etc really showed me that I had something special with LOTV 1 worth pursuing further. I also want to give a special thanks to the Legend of the Void Forum community for all of your ideas and support. The following people played an integral part in the making of LOTV2 either through work, beta testing, ideas, or donations:

• Jonas Planck (William Francus) – Without your amazing artwork LOTV2 wouldn’t be anywhere near as awesome as it is today.
• SoymasterYos (Vincent Popp) – You’ve been there since the beginning. Thanks for your phenomenal testing and feedback.
• MasterDoom (Keith Peterston) – The statistician, tester, organizer, admin, and more!
• Debirlfan (Deb Drake) – Great feedback from a woman’s perspective
• IAmAStegohSorus – Thanks for your testing and forum activity.
• Daedrion (Alex Camerons) – Thanks for your testing and activity too.
• Omnion – Forum Admin and tester.
• oOverlordOo – Forum Admin and tester.
• Dekheziel (Evan Arnoldi) – Tester.
• Rylith – Tester.
• Cobath (Isaac Bavido) – Tester.
• Failcard – Tester.
• Firefly – Tester.
• gundark – Tester.
• Ilyath (Olivia Prosia) – Tester.
• omeagfire17 – Tester.
• Kaliven – Donator.
• Quassa – Donator.
• SilencedColt – Donator.

I also want to give a big thanks to Dan McNeely of ArmorGames.com for your interest in sponsoring Legend of the Void 2. Working with you has been amazing and I hope we can continue to work together in the future! If you’re not a member of ArmorGames.com please go and join now so you’ll be able to play Legend of the Void 2 when it goes live this week! Also, they get 90% of the best games before anyone else so make them your #1 stop for flash games

Lastly, I want to give a big shout-out to determination and hard work. Just go back and look at my games from when I started developing (2 years ago) and compare them to what I’m making now. Pretty drastic improvement, right? Major changes are possible in life, it just takes time and hard work to make them happen. You really can do (almost) anything if you’re determined enough.

Okay that’s all for this post! Be sure to keep an eye out on ArmorGames.com for Legend of the Void 2′s release! I hope you have a great time playing once it’s out!

• Saving/loading characters
• Character creator
• Class selection
• Sound effects
• 3 of 5 music tracks
• Introduction story
• Map art and effects
• “Interaction objects”
• The Hexopus!
• Improved inventory sorting
• Male/female & skin colors
• New dialogue system
• Quests
• Shops
• Fast-traveling (Ruins)
• Map system
• Party system

And probably a lot more! Sorry it took so long to get out, I just kept finding new things to add/fix and I wanted this release to be as sexy as possible

Head on over to the Legend of the Void forums and sign up for beta testing if you haven’t yet. I’m probably going to go add 20 or so new testers at random (and a few according to their forum participation) so there’s a 1/5 chance you could be one now! And I’ll be adding more testers in the future with beta 3/4/5… So get on the forum and participate!

• Quest(s) – I’ve coded a new quest system which needs testing so I’ll be sure to add at least one.
• Interaction(s) – New to Legend of the Void 2 are what I call “interactions”, basically buttons or other things in the environment you can interact with for puzzles, doors, etc.
• Class Choosing – All 3 classes will be available for you to play with.
• The Face Creator – You’ll be able to fool around and see what kinds of faces you can come up with.
• Adventure Particles – Brand new particle effects for the top down Adventure mode.

Previous beta testers will also be able to see all of their suggestions fixed in this update.

Finally, you will get a sneak peak at the story behind Legend of the Void Chapter 2: The Ancient Tomes! This is something I’m working extra hard on to make sure the story lives up to the amazing art and combat surrounding it. I hope it surpasses your expectations and really helps bring the world of Calderia to life.

On another topic, I am not sure yet about what to do with imported characters. So much has changed from Legend of the Void Chapter 1: Journey to the Black Gate that I don’t know how to elegantly transition players will full stats/armor sets into the new story. Not to mention faces, totally new items, new and altered skill trees, a new saving system, etc. I may end up simply providing the player with similar looking armor, approximating the face, and weighing their skill trees to figure out which new tree to favor from the start.

Okay that’s all for now, I’ll put up another post when the next beta is released. If you haven’t yet done so, please sign up for the beta to secure your chance to participate: Official Legend of the Void Forums

First Beta This Week

Had it not been for my nasty cold last week it would be out already but I’m going to make it my #1 priority to get the first beta out sometime this week. Since it’s the first I’m going to keep the number of players fairly limited, mainly to those who have helped me out the most and the few that have donated. It will be 100% combat oriented with the main focus being a test on early balance. It will also be the first time anyone outside of the development team sees the awesome new art in action! I’ll be sure to release some public screenshots along with the demo so everyone can see the new look

Art Progress

I haven’t heard from William (Jonas Planck) in about a week so I believe he may be going through finals for school now. Leave a comment wishing him good luck and a speedy return to finishing the art for Legend of the Void 2! Speaking of which, we’re like 99% done with the combat art which is approximately 90% of the art in the game. The top down/adventure art should finish up much quicker and then it’s just some slick cut-scenes and a little GUI work. He deserves a real round of applause, Legend of the Void 2 is shaping up to be a 10 in the graphics department and makes Legend of the Void Chapter 1 look like a 4.

Sorry for development lasting more than “a couple months” for a Legend of the Void sequel, my original plan was to release Chapter 2 as a slightly upgraded Ch1 with a basic continuation of the story, but as you can see it’s really blossoming into a massively improved game and hopefully a better direction for the series.

1. Do you require formal voice lessons to be a “Voice Actor”?

Good question.  While, technically, I could say “no”, there are very few people out there capable of just “picking up” how to properly interact with the microphone, learn to “hear” how they sound, and make the right tweaks to their performance or delivery.  Even the highest tier of voice actors continue to work with coaches or other professionals to fine-tune their work.

Professional training is a great way to avoid a plethora of mistakes and bad habits, and cut right to what you should be doing in the booth (or in front of the mic).

Aside from the training aspect, it’s a great way to connect with professionals already in the industry.  You have no idea how many connections I made while training.

2. Before becoming a “Voice Actor” what should a prospective new “actor” know before hand?

That it’s work.  That it’s more than just spitting words in the direction of the microphone.  It requires an understanding of your own voice, your tools, and the needs of the client/project.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not “hard-work” in the sense of brute effort, it’s more like surgery combined with acrobatics.  You have to be willing to experiment, to fail, to fall on your face and sound like a total idiot, the whole time keeping tabs on your performance and what to tweak or try next.

In short, know your voice, your tools, your goal, and be an idiot.

3. While work is “job dependent” on average how much do “Voice Actors” normally receive for services rendered (ball park figure)?

That range is pretty much the entire spectrum one could imagine.  I’ll say this, there are union voice actors and non-union voice actors.  On the whole, non-union jobs considerably trump union gigs.  That said, some union gigs can pay out better than a solid year’s worth of non-union jobs.

I honestly don’t believe there’s an average.  Some people make virtually nothing (many), others make a comfortable living (some), others are filthy rich (very few).

4. What experience did you have prior to getting into the voice acting field?

I attended New York University (NYU) and received my degree in Acting and later trained in voiceover at Edge Studio (NYC).

5. What projects (game/commercial/etc) have you worked on previously?

Well, I just wrapped up recording a Lynx app ad, a presentation for a Lipton Ice Tea social media campaign, and was on two episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal (as Roku, ep 15/16).

6. Lastly, this is sort of an extension of #2, but what would you recommend other people looking to get into this field do?

To practice.  Know their instrument in and out.  And always keep pushing yourself to try new voices and vocal techniques.  A lot of working voice talent are capable to delivering a whole range of sounds and characters.  If you want to be a competitive player in the industry, you have to be convincing voice chameleon.

That’s it! I wish I had more questions to ask but I think this serves as a good introduction to voice acting for those interested. If you have any more questions for Mick Lauer, or would like to become a fan, hire him for a job, or otherwise contact him, you can do so via his website MickLauer.com and on NewGrounds. Big thanks to Mick Lauer for his time and I hope to be able to bring you guys more interviews with gaming/entertainment industry professionals in the future!

We’ve made some major headway in the past month on Legend of the Void Chapter 2. The combat system is now almost entirely overhauled with updated code, lots of new skills, and amazing new graphics which may make it the best looking Flash game ever created. I’ll have some screenshots for you soon once I tidy up the unchanged GUI so you can get a feel of just how much better the game looks compared to Legend of the Void Ch1.

Many Faces

Another big upgrade is the addition of a custom character creator which will allow you to create a male or female character with the facial features and skin color of your choice. This was one of the most requested features and I’m glade we’re able to bring it to you in Chapter 2. It also will allow for creation of hundreds of unique looking human inhabitants in Calderia. Quite a step up from the 10 or so default faces from Chapter 1!

Items! Items! Items!

I’ve created a system for Chapter 2 which is able to generate a near infinite number of unique weapons, armor, and items. Also, an upgraded inventory screen with sorting options you will love. I think it addresses all the issues with the inventory system in Chapter 1 without fundamentally changing it (since it really worked well despite the flaws).

Artificial Intelligence

This is something I’ve just begun working on (and will probably continue to tweak until release) which I think will have a major effect on the combat experience in Chapter 2. I’m working to make the enemies choose what actions to take in a much more intelligent way by having them analyze the current battle state and choose an optimal skill to use based on what’s available to them. Hopefully it will make for a much more challenging experience and less “Skeleton used Anger! Skeleton used Hatred! Skeleton used Anger! Skeleton used Hatred!”

Beta

I’m really working hard to have a beta up in April. Please remain patient and it will be ready ASAP! Testers will be chosen first based on contribution, then on a first come first serve basis.

Thanks for reading! Please leave any questions in the comments or on the Legend of the Void forum and I’ll try respond to them soon.