Magic and Machines - Released

[HiddenX]

The retro RPG Magic and Machines has been released:

Magic and Machines

A retro fantasy RPG with turn-based battles, puzzles, and six unique characters.

Journey into the world of Magic and Machines with six unique party members on a quest to uncover the mystery behind a decaying world. Discover new areas, find the legendary items, solve puzzles to unlock secret buffs, and master the turn-based battle system with its Overload mechanic. It's perfect for players who grew up with turn-based RPGs and are looking for a new adventure, and also accessible for new players as it doesn't take itself too seriously.

Inspired by games such as Chrono Trigger, Golden Sun, and Octopath Traveler, the game is a nod to those influences of the past and present. At the same time it doesn't take itself too seriously. The game simplifies many RPG elements such as progression or equipment setups. There's enough mechanics so players will strategize but not enough that they'll need to reference a wiki to optimize. It's also quite easy to pick up and put down and is perfect in short bursts or a longer sit down.

"I wanted to create a game that would appeal to fans of nostalgic turn-based RPGs that may have busy lives, but also could be picked up by someone who's new to the genre."

Story
In a small quiet town a little accident leads to a dramatic chain of events. Years later, monsters run rampant, the world is slowly eroding, and the Sacred Stones are disappearing one by one. Initially, two childhood friends journey out of their small town to find a missing colony, but they uncover an even larger crisis as they cross paths with a colorful cast of characters. Form your party of three from six characters, explore and discover secrets, uncover hidden bosses and their legendary items, and use strategy to defeat your foes.

Gameplay
Turn-based battle system with an Overload mechanic. This mechanic lets you supercharge a move after you've used it twice. It can make attacks stronger, effects last a turn longer, and heals surpass your max health. Sometimes you may want to save it and sometimes you may want to use it right away.

In the Overworld, some characters can alter the terrain of the world with their elemental abilities. Use their powers to find new areas and solve puzzles. You never know what you'll find!

Characters
Blaer - Fire adept that's good all around.
Zmrzlina - Ice mage with strong magic.
Alda - Water mage with the best heals.
Toka - Earth adept that bolsters defenses.
Mphepo - Air adept that's the fastest.
Dian - Plasma mage that's an offensive powerhouse.

More information.

 

[Carnifex]

Picked it up, played about ten minutes yesterday and for some reason my entire computer shut down. Not sure if the game was the cause, as I've had the thing for six months and that's never happened before, right now I'm assuming it's the culprit. I'll wait a few days and see if a patch lands.

 

[Irien]

Generally speaking, unless the computer auto-rebooted because of a blue-screen-of-death (check Windows Event Log) a game shouldn't be able to trigger a shutdown (or restart).

As a precaution, consider checking cpu/gpu temps and make sure there's nothing abnormal. Also, consider downloading and running OCCT's PSU test, just to make sure the PC is comfortable under full load.

Of course, that begs the question why a game like this (shouldn't be CPU/GPU taxing) would be triggering a "protective shutdown" unless it is trying to run at 500+ fps or something daft.

 

[Carnifex]

Nod, I'm no computer specialist yet it seemed quite coincidental that something that hadn't happen before all of a sudden happened after a new game/purchase. I'm quite open to the idea that something else could be the cause.

 

[Redglyph]

@Irien has a good point: if they didn't synchronize the rendering with the video (VSYNC), the game can run at a very high framerate (it also happens with more modern games, for ex. with Unity).

You can force the framerate of a game with NVIDIA, from its control panel (same for AMD, I suppose). Set it to the framerate of your video, typically 60 FPS.

I had that with the enhanced version of NWN, and I was wondering why my GPU was humming audibly. It was apparently the coils vibrating due to the high framerate... I suppose that continuing to play like this would have eventually overheated the card, but the sound was worrying enough for me to stop and investigate.

 

[Irien]

Useful data points would be...

Did the computer "shut down" (ie. go through a clean shutdown sequence) or just instantly switch off?
Did the monitor turn off?

Did the computer immediately begin to reboot?

Was there any more fan noise than usual?

Are ambient temperatures higher than usual? (It is amazing how many computers work fine during winter then start failing as the weather warms up - my own work machine did last year, because the CPU fan wasn't quite up to the job. Fitted an extra case fan to help it, and rock solid since).

 

[Carnifex]

No more fan noise, nothing that I could detect anyway. Temperature was below sixty C, and it simply shut down, no sequence or anything. The monitor stayed on. And the computer didn't try to reboot itself, I had to hit the power switch. I have a monitoring program that shows me some relevant infor, like right now the CPU temp is 43.2 C.