This it it, everyone! The entire finished game. Only took six and a half years.
This is meant to be a complete collection of all the arcs, so "New Game" will put you in Arc I. However, ArtBane has taken great pains to make sure save files from previous versions of the game are compatible. So if you still have your file from when you completed Arc VI or the revision package (which had a section of Arc VII in it), you're good!
Estimated Length (Total Game): 25+ hours File size: approx. 500 MB (apologies in advance to those with slow connections...)
Welcome! For those new to this project, Master of the Wind is a superhero game which takes place in the fantasy world of Solest. It is a story told in six chapters, referred to as "arcs." (You know...like story arcs. It makes sense once you think about it a bit)
Cade Mistral and his best friend, a skeleton named "Bones," work as armor merchants in the beautiful seaside town of Port Arianna. Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, Cade also protects them as the spear-wielding wind mage known as Shroud. Bones joins him as Stoic, a mighty undead warrior who has lived through roughly one thousand years of history.
The story begins with our heroes keeping their fellow citizens safe from smaller threats like robbers or the occasional vampire. However, when larger and more organized foes begin to descend on their humble home, our heroes realize they are in for more than they bargained for. They will have to make new friends, confront deadly foes, and travel all over the world to deliver justice once and for all.
Main Characters
Chosen from a cast of dozens!
Cade Mistral/Shroud: Born to a family inherently skilled in wind magic, Cade Mistral is a passionate and highly principled person. After years of wandering alone, he treasures his friends and his job as an armor merchant in Port Arianna. When the town is in danger, he grabs his spear and readies his wind magic, becoming the crime fighter known as Shroud.
Bones/Stoic: Though he goes by the name "Bones" in Port Arianna, Stoic the skeleton has lived through about one thousand years of history. He is a deeply private individual, but shares Cade's quest to keep those around him safe from harm. He also has quite a temper, and enemies tend to fear him a bit more than Shroud.
Finley Donner/The Baron: Cade and Bones's next door neighbor is the ultimate "straight shooter." The combination of his earnest honesty and complete lack of manners can often prove explosive. However, Finley can sometimes display a surprising amount of insight, and may find his true calling as "The Baron."
Auburn Iliaca: A free-spirited bodyguard who catches Cade's eye when she struts into the shop one day. Beneath her charm and confidence lies a warrior's resolve, but she makes no secret of her desire for a less violent lifestyle.
Laurel Hargrove: A young telepath being groomed to lead her hometown of Boreal. She joins our heroes in a battle against the villainous Ember Mages, though her modest dignity contrasts sharply with the loud and strong personalities of the others.
Bubba: An aging kobold bearing both physical and emotional scars from the days of Gallia. He's a severe alcoholic, which makes him a source of comic relief for his friends, but what cost has it taken on him? His combat skills have not left him, and he is a formidable opponent, sober or not.
Gino Toro: A local blacksmith who designs weapons for Shroud and Stoic. This gentle lover of nature is the only person who knows their true identities.
Andau:An embittered vampire who makes a habit of terrorizing Port Arianna's citizens. Shortly after Shroud and Stoic became a team and pledged to protect the town, Andau emerged as one of their first true enemies. He is quite the escape artist, which proves frustrating to our heroes.
Don Kovak: The owner of Equipment King. He moves into a huge mansion on Blue Tide Estates while trying to endear himself to the citizens of Port Arianna. Given the threat he poses to Torto's Shop, Cade and Bones are hardly his biggest fans. Kovak is a master of public relations, however, and will not be easy to expose.
Vec: Kovak's assistant. Many are fooled by his dull personality, but that hides both a cunning mind and impressive battle skills. He also serves as one of the primary mediators between Kovak and The Hand.
Cole Marin: A proud, driven historian who has had a life-long love of digging up dirt. A child during the reign of Gallia, he vowed to use his knowledge to keep them from rising again any way he could. To that end, he went undercover within The Hand for a full year, absorbing information that he later printed in a manuscript as yet unpublished. He remains in hiding, but when our heroes finally manage to contact him, he has some very interesting facts for them.
Ketsu: The leader of the mysterious cult known as The Hand of Arcadius. He often intimidates others by remaining eerily calm and composed, even while angry. The full scope of his plan is unknown, but for the moment he prefers to remain in the background as his subordinates carry out the early stages of it.
Danika: One of the Hand's top three officers. Danika is a lightning mage as well as a skilled illusionist. The deaths of some of her comrades have placed more responsibility on her, though Ketsu is careful to keep her fierce personality in check.
Gabriella Robin: A proud student of the Sacred River Monastery. She is very skilled in holy magic, but discovered the limits of her abilities after a disastrous battle with Stoic. She and Cade become unlikely allies and her true priorities are revealed.
Sparrow: After a lethal battle at Fort Drake, Sparrow became Shroud's most feared enemy. On the rare occasions that he appears, he strikes quickly and with a ruthless efficiency. His true identity is still unknown, though clues may be found in his strange abilities.
Touten Corps: Led by the former orc general Cyneric, the Toutens are a gang of thieves whose membership is composed of non-humans displaced by the now defunct Gallian Empire. They take a very traditional approach to their mischief ("honest dishonesty" if you will) and Cade has a history with them.
Some Arc V screens!
Check it!
More Info
Master of the Wind has kept the RRRB fairly busy. Flash has reviewed four of the arcs and those write-ups can be found here. Also, a long time ago we got a "T" (Teen) rating from them, if anyone's interested in that.
For anyone having trouble with puzzles in Arc I, here is the strategy guide by The Darklord/Falcon. Guides for Arcs II, III and IV are in development.
If you want to check out a few more screenshots from Arc III or see other random MotW stuff, definitely check out our site.
So who does what? ArtBane and I conceived the story together, and I write all the dialogue. ArtBane manages all aspects of the game's design, such as battles, items, dealing with scripts, and various other technical details. He also creates the elaborate dungeons you might have heard of... In terms of mapping, we tend to split it evenly. I take care of most scenes heavy on story, and he maps all the dungeons himself. Though we have been known to mix it up from time to time.
Who does the battlers? The battlers come from the extremely talented artist Enkur.
Who does the sprites? Well, we use a wide variety of RTP-style sprites from various artists, all of whom can be found in the credits. The custom sprites designed exclusively for MotW are the work of Despain, ArtBane and Enkur.
The faces are pretty inconsistent! Trust us, we know. We plan to have original faces at some point, but that's a big project we probably should have gotten out of the way earlier since the cast only gets larger with each arc. We've tried to find decent placeholders for the time being, but they are by no means permanent. We just didn't want to hold up MotW any longer than we already have!
Tell me more about those faces. Thanks for the interest! Currently Enkur is on hand to draw the faces of the major characters, while Raven the Dark Angel has already begun to supply us with some great faces for the supporting cast. This face thing is still very much a work in progress....we always say we'll have it out for the next arc, but there's no guarantees. One day we'll have them....one day.
I can't craft anything! To craft equipment, you'll need recipes for all the various items. Starting with Arc III, each town will have a shop where you can read recipes on how to make some new stuff. Be thorough! There are also many hidden recipes out in the wild...
Hey, I found a bug... Good to know. Generally we prefer to hear about bugs via PM, but you can post it in the thread if you must (actually, if it's a game-ending bug, it's good to get the word out). Either way, make sure you provide details on where exactly the problem is or it's harder for us to fix it.
I don't want to start all over! Can I use my save file from the last arc? Yes, you can! Simpy copy and paste your save file into Arc III's "saves" folder and it will work. Only save files where Arc II has been totally finished (as in, you watched the credits) are going to work.
I hit F12 to restart the game and it crashed on me! What's going on? Don't hit F12. It screws up one of the scripts. If you want to restart the game, just close it and open it up again.
Tell me who Sparrow is! I won't tell anyone else, I promise. Sorry, not happening.
Major Announcement! With the advent of RPG Maker VX, we suddenly have an opportunity to bring Master of the Wind closer to the totally cartoonish world we initially planned! You see in our original vision, Shroud and Stoic were much more...SQUARE like. Now, since everything new is good by definition, we have the opportunity to realize this by re-creating the 20+ hours of gameplay we've already crafted onto a BRAND NEW ENGINE! Moving forward? Pff. Redoing stuff we already worked hard on to satisfy rapidly changing trends....there's the rub. Here's a screenshot we've crafted to show off the new greatness.
Also, our new title screen, which is no way inspired by any other RPG series.
More screenshots and images to follow!!
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Last edited by Volrath on Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:02 am, edited 7 times in total.
Here is a new comic to read while you wait for the game to download. The story takes place about a thousand years before the events in Master of the Wind. It is a short look at one of the events that led to Volrath Blacksteele's rebellion against the ancient Knighthood.
*************************************** Due to a lobotomy attempt, the data in this post was unable to be recalled. Since this post was edited at some point, the author can go take a nap, have a strange uncomprehensible dream, and replace this message with that information. Otherwise, please pretend you never read this and erase it from whatever personal memory you may have. The Enkur apologizes; he has taken measures to ensure that he will not be allowed near a computer again. ***********The Enkur**************
Well, I finally made my way into Arc II, (Arc I was fantastic by the way, I had a great time playing it. ^^) and I've come to a puzzle that is thoroughly kicking my butt. So, I've come to beg a little help.
Content Hidden
In the mines, I'm at the part where you have to flip the switches in the proper order to progress. After a bit of thinking I went back and checked on the thugs I left laying around.
The sleeping one was 21. The other two were 13 and 42. Since the two together had each number (1-4) between the two of them, I figured I could use the odd one out to figure out the puzzle. Since his number was 21, I figured the missing number would be either 43 or 34, following the same pattern of using each number on the switch.
I've tried every combination of those numbers to no avail. 2143, 2134, 4321, 3421. I even tried 1342 and 4213 with no luck. So...I'm throwing in the towel. Clearly, I missed something, and any hint someone could give me on this would be appreciated. ^^;
Oh, and don't forget to put any answer in spoiler tags so that we don't ruin it for anyone else. :)
Glad you enjoyed Arc I. I'll help you out, Arathe. We gotta get this thread active again!
Content Hidden
You're actually much closer to the answer than you think. I don't think you want me to come out and tell you the exact number, but I will say that out of all the guesses you've made, "3421" is the closet. Work with that for a bit. ;)
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I'm pretty sure the foreman isn't standing in the same spot as he was when I first entered the room. I think (I did it yesterday or the day before, so I'm not sure) that when I first entered the room he was standing on the track, facing me. At that point, I think all I did was turn around and save my game again. Also at one point I went back to look at the other foremans I had defeated, but I'm not sure if I saved my game after doing so or not.
Anyhow, after entering the correct code, I hop in the mine cart. It jumps the gap, but the game completey freezes when I reach this point:
I just went through it myself. I see what happened. After the foreman pulls the switch, he moves and stands on the tracks, putting him in a good position to be hit by the mine cart later. The problem is that when you leave the room, he returns to his original position...off the tracks and right below the switch.
This is really embarassing. I can't believe that in all the time we tested that dungeon, we never came across that. It'd be an easy fix too if ArtBane wasn't in Europe now. If you don't have a save file from before you walked into that room for the first time, you may have to start over. :( Sorry.
Now that you know the combination, you should be able to get through that room in one go. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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I'm surprised no one else who played Arc II has found that yet either. Either I'm the only one who had such a tough time with that code, or I'm just a bug magnet. ;)
Ah well. I wasn't really too far in, so starting over won't be that bad, hehe.
Dang, finally able to download this. And let me tell you, I am thrilled to play. If it's even half as good as arc I, then I'm gonna be satisfied. Knowing how much work you guys put into this though, I know it will be alot better than the first arc...
Glad to see you back. Enjoy Arc II. My advice is to save often. Not just because the difficulty of some areas, but also cause there's at least one bug in the mine dungeon that Arathe found which can be pretty crippling. I wish I could fix it, but I won't be able to until ArtBane returns in about two weeks. Yo, get on AIM sometime!
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The first one. I don't know what to do. Church is locked so I go into another room which has entrances to many rooms having a book on a table. At the end is a door which has a barrier. What do I do then?
A similar question came up before...I could refer you to that if the forums hadn't been hacked. What a pain in the balls that has been. Go to the door with the barrier on it and then listen carefully for a knocking sound.
Content Hidden
If you don't have sound on your computer like another person who had trouble with this, simply inspect all the coffins again after checking the door with the barrier.
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S Vegeto, there are some outside as well. Took me FOREVER to find the last one since it was so dark. You'll recieve a message when you've killed them all.
lol volrath you've already won my heart with this one. so many funny lines and as good of gameplay/puzzles as the last. still in the mansion currently but after i just got the line of "let me guess, i need 7 of these to save the world" i couldn't stop laughing and i just had to post. thanks for the entertainment again.
I am still in Italy but I finally got a chance to check out the forums again after the grand hacker attack. It is sad to see posts were hacked that I never got the chance to read, but for the ones that didn't, I really appreciate your feedback! It is good to see Volrath has been vigilant with his posts even though I am away. The few bugs that have arisen shall be squashed upon my return next Tthursday. Until then, take note of them and try to work around them. For everyone that is still playing, hope you are enjoying yourself.
OK guys! I'm now in a room where there are 4 torches each with a piece of history of Arcadius. How does the story go? BTW, Volrath/Artbane do you people like Naruto? Half of the soundtracks seem to be from Naruto OSTs.
If you found all three history pages, you'll have no problem with that puzzle. Just read them all carefully and you'll have an idea of the history progression.
ArtBane and I were huge Naruto fans for a while...but sadly, that series has been churning out subpar filler episodes for almost a year now. We've always liked the soundtrack, it has a lot of quick and effective action songs. My brother (FinleyFan, creator of Finley) picked out Finley's theme song from that OST as well.
We have a wide variety of music that we use for MotW, as you'll see in Arc II and the later arcs. Still, that Toshiro Masuda, quite a talented guy.
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