2019-04-16 12:04:35

Morning everyone,

@number 198, thanks  for the post and positive  comments, it really means a lot that so many people are excited about Sable and our first game title too, so thank you very much for your comments.
@number 199,  thanks for the post and positive  comments, I’m really pleased to hear you’ve enjoyed all the videos in the series.  As mentioned in my previous comment, its great to see people excited about sable and our first game and also fantastic to hear people like yourself  that already have RPG games or concepts in mind that they want to create. I think there is so much creative talent within the community, we’re really looking forward to seeing people turn there ideas and stories into games.
@number 200, thanks for the post and also being the 200th post to the topic, its been great that the video series has generated so much interest. Good spot on noticing the version numbers of sable increase in the videos, I never even thought of that whilst I was recording the series, but yes we’re always busy working away on it adding tweaks, improvements and additions. As for the balance and story line, yep you’re right they are both pretty non-existent , originally  it was going to be a set of shorter videos , but because the topic seemed to generate a nice amount of interest we decided we would make the videos a little longer  but I didn’t really plan out the video series hugely in advance , hence the lack of balance and story, since it was more about showing off features than story and balance, we’ll leave that to Crimson eclipse. With the fire breath ability, yes I had the engine set to leave a small gap between each pain sound, I’ve been thinking about adding an option where leaving this gap or having no gap can be set by the creator of the game, so it can allow both styles.  I agree completely with the sound of the dragon body fall sound, I noticed that myself when defeating the dragon that it didn’t sound  like a huge beast hitting the floor. You can already set different body fall sounds for different terrain types, so for example defeating an enemy over water could have a body fall hitting water sound, but there isn’t a way of specifying how big a splash that would make, I like the idea of a system to specify the enemies size which would then determine the type of body fall sound used, like in the previous example how  big a splash  the body hitting the water would make, or adding an option for specific body fall sounds to the enemies individual sound sets , so thanks for both of those suggestions. As for shops, it is in Sable,  this was one of the features we didn’t get to show off in the video series. You can create merchants, these work much the same way as NPC’s like the inn keeper, so you can assign them speech either TTS or voice recorded, you can assign them trigger events too, but at the point of creation you can specify what items they sell. Another feature of merchants I like is that at the point of creation you can set their greed level as a percentage , so you could for example set it at 25% and the merchant would sell everything for 25% more than its worth, but would also buy equipment /items off you for 25% less than their worth. You can also use  minus values here too, so could have minus 25% instead and the very kind merchant would  then sell everything for 25% less  than its worth.

As ever a huge thanks to everyone for all the positive comments.

The Ebon Sky Studios Team
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ebonskystudios/
Twitter: @ebonskystudios

2019-04-16 12:09:57

God! This just keeps getting cooler and cooler! :-)

2019-04-16 13:30:17

loved it! while I can't wait for Crimson Eclipse, I can't wait to get  My hands on Sable even more. lol. I already have so many ideas for this program. lol. My nephew and I were coming up with ideas for an audio RPG for kids. lol. and I've already got one voice actor lined up. My Brother-in-law is a freekin G when it comes to doing voices. lol. anyway before I dash off, Lemm May I ask a question? so, I have sort of an idea where you start a game off as a kid, and grow up. would it be possible to create a character like that without using two separate party slots?

Blindness isn't a disability, but a diffrent way of seeing things

2019-04-17 00:53:12

I'd love to see Sable include some form of scripting. This would allow RPG creators to push the envelope nd do things in Sable that the team never envisioned, but it looks like the team is against this. sad

#FreeTheCheese
"The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him to the greatest extent of our powers." - St. Maximilian Kolbe

2019-04-17 02:26:34

Is it possible to give a charactor a namme when  you're creating the game. You might want to do this if you are making a story around a particular person

Power is not the responsibility of freedom, but it is actually the responsibility of being responsible, it's self, because someone who is irresponsible is enslaved by their own weaknesses.

2019-04-17 16:02:07

@205, apparently yes, from what I'm hearing from the video.

Kind regards!

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2019-04-17 16:15:06

Wow so exciting!
Hope it's released soon ish! smile

2019-04-17 22:44:13

Hi:

I've been watching this topic for a while now, and  decided to take a look at the videos. What I see here is a set of tools that anyone can get into, with zero problems. For scripters and coders,I guess this isn't necessarily your cup of tea. But I can easily imagine sitting down to write a great story and then using this engine to put together a game without having to worry so much about who is going to do coding, since I couldn't code to save my soul. As a way to write good RPGS, there probably isn't anything as intuitive on the market right now. RPG games like  A Hero's Call could become far more common, at least on windows, if this tool was widely adopted.
Now if only something similar could be made for Mac and iOS ...

Looking forward to Crimson Eclipse, both as a new RPG andas a demonstration of Sable's capabilities.

When the wandering fire strikes the heart of stone, will you follow? Will you take ... the longest road?
Guy Gavriel Kay

discord: tayo134

2019-04-18 00:28:48

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the positive comments, I’ll try and answer a few of the posts below:
@number 202, thanks for the post, its great to read such positive  comments and see people so excited about the project.
@number 203, Thanks for the post, its great to hear people are already thinking about games they could make using Sable. You Having someone to voice act I’m sure you’ll find really helpful ,personally I’m absolutely rubbish when it comes to voice acting, I’ve done it a couple of times for test maps and it turns out badly  every time haha. As for your idea about the kid growing up in game, I don’t see why that couldn’t work. I imagine a lot of his growing up would happen or the player would notice through story, but you could also set him to learn certain abilities as he levels in game, similar to how a kid might start to learn more abilities as they get older. Hope that helps answer your  question.
@number 205, it’s a good question. So currently in Sable it is set up that the player sets the parties name at the start of the game, but this is just because this is how it will work in crimson  eclipse. We do however have plans to add a feature so the creator  could  choose to specify an actual name for their party members, as I appreciate  sometimes the creator may not want the player choosing the party members names for story purposes. So come the release of Sable both methods will be available dependant on what the creator of the game wishes to use.
@number 208, thanks for the comment and watching the videos. yes, that’s exactly why we made Sable as we did,  as it allows anyone even with no coding  or scripting knowledge to be able to turn their own ideas and  stories into games. Hopefully Sable opens the doors to everyone who’s ever wanted to create an audio game. Even without coding there is still a lot that goes into making a good RPG, it takes  a good idea, good game design, balance and a great storey , but I know we have a ton of talented creative individuals within the community so we’re all really looking forward to seeing the games you  all create and our hope with Sable is that it gives you the tools to do just that.

Again, huge thanks to everyone for all the comments and messages of support

The Ebon Sky Studios Team
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ebonskystudios/
Twitter: @ebonskystudios

2019-04-18 01:36:51

Is it possible to kill off a member of the player's party at a certain point? Useful if say, someone sacrafices themselves to buy the rest of the team time to escape.

Power is not the responsibility of freedom, but it is actually the responsibility of being responsible, it's self, because someone who is irresponsible is enslaved by their own weaknesses.

2019-04-19 00:05:53

@number 210, its not something currently possible in Sable, but it is definitely a good idea . I’ve Seen this frequently in RPG’s where no matter what you do, one of the party dies  as its just part of the story, and if done well a good way of evoking emotion into a story line too, so like I said it’s a good idea.

The Ebon Sky Studios Team
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ebonskystudios/
Twitter: @ebonskystudios

2019-04-19 12:22:54

Hay Lemm, what's the party limit in Sable, as in, how many members can be in a party at any one time?
Also, is it going to be possible to have extra party members that you; as the creater; can swop in and out as the story progresses?
And, one last thing, is it going to be possible to let the player enter names at later points in the story instead of doing it all at the beginning?
I understand that some things are set up for your first game, and that's completely
fine, I'm just asking these questions in the interest of the feuture of Sable.
Later!

2019-04-20 18:16:44

Hi guys,
Here  is another question. I'm not sure if it has been answered already but here goes nothing.
When you're walking towards an MPC, can you set a dialogue where they introduce themselves and their name and when you walk up to them Sable will report their name instead of a generic character description?
Here is a scenario to help you understand if you don't already.
You walk up to a person.
Sable reports, "Young boy."
You interact with the MPC.
They say, "Hi, my name is Richard."
you decide to walk away and back again.
Sable reports, "Richard" instead of, "Young boy".
Hopefully you understand

If you for whatever reason wish to contact me, the best way to do so is through Discord (Minionslayer#2980). You'll get the quickest response times, and by extension, a higher priority. I also sometimes post my thoughts (for the better or worse) over on Twitter at @Minionslayer2.

2019-04-21 20:24:46

Also, it would be nice to be able to make sound sets for every possible type of object you could create, instead of only having one sound for them to allow people to have a random ammount of sounds for sable to choose from for every thing, weapons, container open and close, ambient sounds, abilities, items, etc.

Power is not the responsibility of freedom, but it is actually the responsibility of being responsible, it's self, because someone who is irresponsible is enslaved by their own weaknesses.

2019-04-23 14:31:07

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late reply, what with this recent weekend being the Easter weekend, plus my little boys birthday, I’ve just been a little nonstop. Below are answers to the posts that have come in:

@number 212. Regarding your questions around party members, as you mention in your post we have this set up for how we want it to work for our first  title, so  its an area we want to expand  upon before Sables release . We have various ideas of things we’d like to add here, but since they aren’t currently in Sable its nothing I can confirm  at this stage, but your suggestions are all good ones and stuff we’ve discussed. Regarding party member maximum  size, again because we have this set up for our first title and internal testing, there isn’t a party limit at present, but there will be before Sables release, but we haven’t decided on what that limit will be yet.
@number 213. Thanks for the post, regarding your question, so you can set unique radar sounds for each NPC you encounter, plus you can set the sound played when you reach the NPC too, in the demo series all the NPC’s have a radar sound of people talking with the NPC coughing/clearing  his throat once you find them, you could set different sounds for these, so for example if you wanted say a child NPC you might have the radar sound something like the sound of children playing and then when you actually find the child instead of a cough you could maybe have a child laughing sound instead, or you might have the child introduce   themselves. As for your question regarding whether it is possible to have the name of an NPC change once you have interacted with them, this isn’t currently  possible, but it’s a good suggestion.
@number 214, thanks for the post. We’ve already added sound sets to quite a lot of stuff such as containers, NPC’s, armour, weapons , enemies, terrains etc, but I think you’re right there are some other places sound sets would work well as its nice to have the option of having either just a single sound or multiple sounds, which is why we introduced the concept of sound sets into sable.

The Ebon Sky Studios Team
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ebonskystudios/
Twitter: @ebonskystudios

2019-04-23 16:11:52

Hi,
I have a question, although I don't know if it has already been answered:
How much will Sable cost when it is released?
I also wanted to say that I find it great to see such a tool being developed and am waiting to see what amazing games come off it!

Greetings and happy gaming, Julian

If you say you never lie, you're a liar.
Oh, and #freeGCW

2019-04-23 22:43:36

I have a few more idewas. An ability to create an ability that could affect another charactor over several rounds like draining health or paralising them.

Power is not the responsibility of freedom, but it is actually the responsibility of being responsible, it's self, because someone who is irresponsible is enslaved by their own weaknesses.

2019-04-24 23:25:13

Hi,

I have several ideas for games which I'm hoping to make with this tool, and am extremely enthusiastic about its continued development. Reading this thread, I do find I have a few questions. I made notes of things which were said in the thread that I wished to comment on, but unfortunately don't have full post numbers for each sourced comment.

It has been mentioned that two extremely important features were not in the initial concept, these being dialogue trees and recruitable companions. These are both fairly standard in the rpg landscape, and in truth, I feel would be essential for any of the stories I could imagine building.

This is mitigated somewhat by "@number 205, it’s a good question. So currently in Sable it is set up that the player sets the parties name at the start of the game, but this is just because this is how it will work in crimson  eclipse. We do however have plans to add a feature so the creator  could  choose to specify an actual name for their party members, as I appreciate  sometimes the creator may not want the player choosing the party members names for story purposes. So come the release of Sable both methods will be available dependant on what the creator of the game wishes to use." Would you also be able to select the mandatory class/gender/etc of these pre-made party members?

I could see the dialogue trees fitting well with the prompt-based system Sable already employs. Something like, "Do you wish to allow possible responses to this dialogue/event? Yes/no?" Then either "list how many dialogue options you wish to have?" As a text field accepting numerical input. Then a final prompt for filling in each possible choice and the ability to set lines of dialogue as response.

This would also potentially enable branching narrative options, something else which I feel would be important in many rpg's.

a trigger  event that would move the player either to a different map or location has come up previously...

I would love to see this make it into the final release, and in fact would say this is nearly as high a priority as the other concepts mentioned here.

I recognize that these are all slightly more advanced features, but they impart a much greater sense of narrative control and deeper lore/worldbuilding for the player if implemented.

2019-04-25 11:00:54

Hi Everyone,

@number 216. Thanks for the post and the positive comments about the project. Regarding costings, its just a little to early to say at this stage, since these decisions just haven’t been finalised yet.
@number 217. The two abilities you mentioned would fall under status affects, this wasn’t something demonstrated in the video series, but everyone will get to see status affects in more detail in our first  game title.
@number 2018. . thanks for the post and positive  comments, its great to hear about people already thinking about games they want to create. Regarding party selection, this is an area we want to expand upon before Sables release, we just currently have it set up for how we want our first game title to work, but there will definitely be more options here before release.  Sable is still in its prototype stage, so there is still plenty  of stuff we would like to add.  Regarding recruitable characters, the additional trigger events, dialog trees and branching narrative, these are all things we have discussed , but as mentioned previously in the topic we are weary of confirming details of anything not already in Sable, sometimes  stuff happens outside of the control of a developer and even the best laid plans don’t pan out. So I can’t confirm details of what will or won’t make it into future  iterations of Sable, since we just don’t want to over promise or commit ourselves, but they are things we are definitely discussing. I apologise if my answer seems a little vague, but hopefully you understand our reasoning. Again, though, I want to thank you for your positive comments and enthusiasm as it really is great to see people so excited about the project.

The Ebon Sky Studios Team
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ebonskystudios/
Twitter: @ebonskystudios

2019-04-25 16:38:27

I was wondering, does Sable create an executable when you tell it to build a game that you've set up?
I'd guess so.
Also, would there be, like, necromancers with abilities like in Entombed? Those were fun.

2019-04-26 11:29:05

Hi,

@number 220. Thanks for the post. It’s a little to early to be confirming details about packaging  since Sable is still in its prototype  stage, these kind of finer points  will be detailed nearer to Sables release, at the moment all our focus is on our first game title. Regarding your question around class’s, firstly I’m a huge entombed  fan, it was one of my first audio games I played, it’s a real shame Jason Alan never got round to finishing entombed 2.0, I’ve always hoped at some stage he would come back  and continue working on it. As far as class’s go in Sable, we currently have this set up for how we want it to work in our first game title, I don’t want to give away specific details about in game class’s just yet(as I don’t want to spoil all the surprises haha), but  you’ll definitely get to see all of this when  we release more details about that first title.

The Ebon Sky Studios Team
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ebonskystudios/
Twitter: @ebonskystudios

2019-04-26 18:23:31

I assu,me Sable's going to be able to compile games into executables, unless you plan on having people run your first game through Sable engine it's self. I have a few more questions. Is it possible to make a quest then have it a second one trigger after a cut scene, example, Please get the file called plans from cabinent 4. You go get it, come back to the person who gave the quest, then a cut scene happens where you hear him reading it and inputting data into a computer, then he says go put it back where you got it. Next, will it be possible to have certain parts of your game that require you to go back to another map, like maybe you leave your town, do some  quests, then find out that you need to go back to do something else without  having to rebuild the map again as a new one to Sable? Next, how about the ability to have taunts from either you or the enemy before or after they use a weapon or ability. What about attacking, I assume you will allow us to change the sounds for hand to hand combat. Finally, will you be able to change the name of the currency that your story uses? A Sci-Fi themed one wouldn't really have gold... yeah.

Power is not the responsibility of freedom, but it is actually the responsibility of being responsible, it's self, because someone who is irresponsible is enslaved by their own weaknesses.

2019-05-09 06:18:41

Any update for more video?

Hearthstone Tag ID: RobotWizard#1265216

2019-05-13 17:57:28

Hi Everyone,

@number 222, sorry for the late reply to your post. I’m not always active on the forum, especially since the video series ended I’ve been pretty nonstop with Sable and Crimson Eclipse, so not had much spare time to myself, but also for some reason I never got an email notification there was a new comment, so didn’t realise you’d posted, so apologies for the late replies. To answer your questions though, firstly remember that Sable is still in its prototype stage, so this means stuff is still being added, so it’s not possible to give exact answers to all of your questions, since there are still additions and amendments which will be added before Sables release. The video series, was only ever designed to give a brief overview of what Sable is capable of, when we release our first game title it will allow people to see in more detail some of the stuff Sable is capable of. Anyway to answer your questions, Currently you can only set one quest per NPC, but the suggestion of multiple quests  for an NPC has come up before and is a good suggestion. Yes, it’s possible to have to return to a previous  map to go do something   you are tasked to do later on in the game, without having to rebuild the whole map again. You can set your own sounds for hand to hand combat, there are sound sets for this in Sable. Currency is currently set to gold, but we have had the suggestion come in from some others that it would be good for the user to be able to create their own currency  types, which again is a good suggestion.  Regarding status affects (you mentioned taunt, which would fall under status affects in sable), I want to avoid going into specifics of what status affects can and can’t be done at this stage, since this is an area we are  constantly adding to in order to add more flexibility for users creating status affects. but everyone will get to experience status affects first hand in our first game title once it is released.
-@number 223, thanks for the interest in the project, Sadly video 10 was the final video in this series showing Sable. All our focus is now on our first game title ‘Crimson Eclipse’, I don’t have any more information to share on this yet, but as soon as we do have more  details on that game we’ll be sure to post here and to social media with any updates and news, there isn’t a release date for the title yet but again as soon as we have this we will be sure to share with everyone.

As ever thanks to everyone for all the positive comments and interest in the project.

The Ebon Sky Studios Team
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ebonskystudios/
Twitter: @ebonskystudios

2019-05-13 18:58:36

Why did you call it Sable?