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Below is a new tileset I'm constructing.
If you downloaded the demo I released for Syzygy on CP, I'm sorry. That demo was more of an attempt to motivate myself to keep working than it was a serious demo. At the time I was under a lot of stress, but I was determined not to let this game die like other OHR games that I've started and never finished.
I should explain that last comment. I've actually been using the OHR at least since the Paternoster version (maybe even earlier) but my fascination with game making has always been off-and-on at best. I was not even aware of the community around the OHR until a couple of years ago, and at that time my interest in game design was overshadowed by various other passions. Not any more
OK, with that out of the way I want to tell a little bit about the setting of Syzygy. Since I've spent a good six months developing the story now and it has become quite large, I think it is best to release small parts of the setting at a time. So here goes:
First, a definition. A syzygy, in its broadest sense, is any coming together or alignment of two or more things. It is commonly used to describe the alignment of planets or other celestial bodies, but this definition has nothing to do with Syzygy's storyline. But rather than narrow down how the term syzygy relates to the game, I think I'll just leave it broad for now.
Originally, Syzygy was supposed to be set in your typical swords-and-horses fantasy world, which is reflected in the graphical theme of my CP demo, but I decided to spice things up a bit as you can tell by the screenshot above. Now Syzygy is set in a technologically advanced world that has developed without gunpowder or fossil fuels. Instead, nearly all of the tech in this world is based off aether manipulation. If you are not familiar with what aether is, this and this might help.
In the fictional world, the aether is essentially a particle that exists in unimaginably large quantities per square inch everywhere, but it is so small that it is invisible to the naked eye (I think there is a theoretical particle already like this, but I can't remember what its name is). It has its own energy 'signal' that it responds to that the human brain does not naturally produce, but the recent invention of the Aether Manipulation Device (AMD), which converts brain waves into signals readable by the aether, has given people the ability to manipulate it at will. Aether also acts as a philosopher's stone in that in can become any other form of matter/energy/heat/etc. as long as the right information is programmed into it. Essentially, this gives a physical explanation for the metaphysical phenomenon of magic. However, what limits people from doing anything they want is that they must not only have sufficient energy to create aetheric signals, but they also must have the knowledge as to how/where/when/what to tell those signals to do in order to reach their desired manipulative effect.
- catches breath -
Before anyone begins saying "they've already done that in ________!" believe me, I do not care. I've spent a lot of time researching the material I've written and I have tried as hard as I can to not replicate too closely anything anyone else has done of which I am aware. However, that is very hard to do, so I'm OK with it being similar or exactly the same as something I have not heard of.
At any rate, I believe I've written enough for one post, so I will reveal more later.
Email contributions to the OHR Collab project to:
ohrcollab@gmail.com
All contributions will be recorded in the credits.
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