Friday 1 September 2017

LOI3 Story Revealed

Return to the world of Iconoclast for the sixth and final time in the largest, darkest, and the most epic adventure yet. Take on the role of a familiar hero remade for the remake and help him fulfill his valiant destiny.

Nearly a century has passed since the Scourge War, the greatest conflict in the history of the land since the War of Wizardry. Years of peace have come and gone since Logan helped turn the tide of the war and lead the world of Iconoclast to victory. Though Logan has not been seen since, his deeds earn him the legacy of being the greatest hero the land had ever known since Lazarus. A realmwide holiday called the day of Logan is celebrated every year to honor his deeds and how he forever changed the course of history for the greater good. The kingdom of Judgiollas is eventually restored to its former glory by Murlock and those he recruited. Yet the long forgotten land of Pandorium remains forsaken because of the dark magic that still haunts the continent long after the great conflict that occurred nearly sixteen centuries ago.

But history repeats itself and peace is a mere shadow of what transpired in the past. A mysterious new outside army has invaded the realm and seized control. This force, calling itself the Hands of Despair, are the successors of the Scourge. But while the Scourge focused on campaigns of fear, destruction, and genocide, the Hands of Despair instead focus on destroying the spirit of the population. They seize important resources, destroy trade ships, enslave able-bodied individuals, and impose martial law on the general population. Those who openly defy them risk the very destruction of all they hold dear.

Judgiollas suffers the worst as it is the kingdom from which the Hands of Despair have their main base, cutting them off from the rest of the realm. As a result, rumors spread throughout the remaining five kingdoms of Iconoclast, Dunkilus, Tamirtania, Arcanius, and Naphorphia that Judgiollas is in league with the enemy, further isolating them. No one is more troubled than Murlock who fears and suspects that his brother Raven Dark has escaped the magical curse that imprisoned him at the conclusion of the Scourge War.

Inspired by Logan's legacy, the fires of rebellion begin to burn within the hearts of the people. An underground resistance movement is formed realmwide. Some of its members consist of those who have nothing left to live for but the promise of vengeance against Despair and freedom from the enemy's tyranny. Others have lost their homes and seek sanctuary alongside their families. The rebellion has everything they need to fight back: bodies, weapons, spies, and supplies. All they need is a champion to aid their cause. A hero worthy of Logan's legacy.

Meanwhile on Earth, Vincent Valiant Orbison's life is on a downward spiral. His nyctophobia has once more gotten the best of him, this time during the Great American Solar Eclipse, bringing a quick end to his new career as a police officer and tarnishing his reputation. His friends, girlfriend, several of his relatives, and a fraction of the public turn their backs on him. To some, he is a laughingstock, to others, an object of scorn. But his life is dealt yet another blow when much of his extended family are massacred at a family reunion and he is suspected of being responsible. With nothing left to live for, his name in ruins, homeless, and without a friend in the world, save Engelbert Perdido, a mysterious homeless drifter, he embarks on a one man suicide mission against the killers of his family, to avenge their deaths or die trying. Regardless of the outcome, he has no intention of living another day.

What began as a vengeful suicide mission takes an unexpected twist and Vincent finds himself in a mysterious new world beyond his imagination. Vincent also learns that the killers of his family were in league with the Hands of Despair, the force that holds the general population of this world hostage. When it is discovered that Vincent is Logan's great grandson, the people depend on him to be the savior they need, and the resistance against the Hands of Despair looks to him as their champion. And Murlock eventually realizes that his worst fears have been confirmed.

Joining forces with the rebellion and helping the world fight back, Vincent makes new friends including Estella, the free-spirited rebellious princess of Iconoclast who longs for freedom beyond the castle walls, Rupert, a member of the rebellion who is trying to live up to the legacy of his great-grandparents who fought alongside Logan during the Scourge War, Giselle, a representative of Judgiollas who not only joins the resistance to help free her kingdom, but to restore her family's honor as it was one of her relatives who inadvertently released Raven Dark, and Murlock himself who continues to seek redemption for his past.

As his efforts uplift the spirit of the people, Vincent finds himself the primary target of the Hands of Despair, as well as uncovering a conspiracy within the royal family of Iconoclast, romancing Estella who becomes Murlock's apprentice, discovering a family that he never knew existed, and slowly uncovering the secrets of Engelbert, who is revealed to have formerly lived in this world. Through it all, he slowly rediscovers a renewed purpose and new reason to live.

His journey will take him through forests, countrysides, train stations, lakes and streams, manors, caverns, cities, crypts, temples, shrines, castles, trains, swamps, submarines, mills, logging camps, ocean rigs, frozen tundras, mountains, a hidden base at the bottom of the sea, and an enemy airship. His travels will even take him to the forsaken continent of Pandorium where he discovers a history that has been long since forgotten by the rest of the world. But when a powerful new enemy arises to plunge all humanity into eternal darkness, Vincent must force himself to overcome his fear to be the savior humanity needs. Otherwise the legacies of his great grandfather Logan and ancestor Lazarus will be destroyed, the work started by Murlock's brother and father will finally be complete, and a doomed humanity will die cursing his name.

Tuesday 1 August 2017

New Details About Part 3

Today, I will release some details about the third and final part of the LOI Trilogy remake.

Part 3 will be entitled "Valiant Destiny" and will reintroduce us to Vincent Valiant Orbison from the original as the protagonist. He is Logan's great grand-son. Other known character from the original will appear including Estella and Valkereye, who like Vincent will all have improved characterization.

Part 3's story will be darker and more epic than that of Unfinished Business. The game will have more than twenty-eight levels, making it larger than part 1 or 2. Unlike the original, there will be a few levels set on Earth. Ideas I have so far for maps include the following, some of which have not been seen yet in the series (or the history of the Build engine) so far:

-countryside
-airship
-train station
-train
-lakes and streams
-shrines and temples
-grain elevator
-submarine
-undersea base
-ocean rig
-frozen tundra
-bayou

New characters introduced to the remake are Estella's mother and two older sisters, the oldest of which is a half-sister and a minor antagonist, several members of the resistance, and a couple of restless spirits.

On my next post, I'll release the plot.

Sunday 18 June 2017

Plans For LOI3

More than a month after the release of LOI2: Unfinished Business, downloads are still slow. I'm still a little disappointed by the low number of downloads. All together on all sites where the file is, only about 150 people have downloaded the game.

But fear not faithful Bloodlites. This does not mean I will cancel plans for the third and final part in the remake trilogy. As you all know, the original LOI3 was considered the best in the trilogy. It was the biggest and the largest segment of the trilogy. And the same will happen with the remake to LOI3.

Continuing the tradition of Scourge of Humanity and Unfinished Business, part 3 will be made better. The story will be improved, as will level design. I'm still gathering ideas for the story, but in the end, the story will be more complex than that of Unfinished Business. Who knows? I may need more than twenty eight levels.

Part 3 will introduce us to a familiar hero from the original (no, not Caleb as he's more of an anti-hero and a lot of people didn't like his transformation to a hero in the original). Part 3 will tie up the loose ends left at the end of Unfinished Business. Like Unfinished Business, most of the levels will be remade or even replaced altogether and adding new levels. There will be new music, new sounds, and the overall game will be more complex, epic, and darker. The story will introduce new characters not seen in the original LOI3, and those who appeared will be redone.

Overall, it will be a worthy and satisfying conclusion to the LOI remake trilogy.

Sunday 7 May 2017

Unfinished Business Released!

Finally, after five years of waiting, the community of bloodlites can rejoice! The day is here when the next chapter in the remake of the LOI trilogy is available for download! This actually comes with an installer to keep your Blood directory cleaner (unlike Scourge of Humanity). So far, this collection of maps for Blood is my best work so far!

Sunday 9 April 2017

Unfinished Business Storyline Differences From Original

-Character development has been improved.
-Set almost two months instead of twenty years.
-There are two new lands: Judgiollas and Pandorium. Parts of Judgiollas are explored.
-The action takes place over the course of nearly two weeks instead of one day.
-There is no plan to unite the kingdoms of Iconoclast and Dunkilus.
-The prince and princess of Iconoclast are removed as is the prince and princess of Dunkilus. Minerva however is one month pregnant.
-Kain is now the prince of Tamirtania instead of the king of Dunkilus.
-Gwendolyn is now Edward's sister.
-Leoric does not escort Logan into the area where the enemy fortress is located.
-Penelope is the only one of the four heirs to appear, but instead of the princess of Dunkilus, she is now a guard of Iconoclast and Captain Leoric's daughter.
-Albrecht is no longer a one-time only character who was arranged to marry Agnes. He is now a watchman of Naphorphia and Minerva's cousin. He does fall in love with Penelope, and vise versa.
-Instead of being devastated as it was in the original, Dunkilus is spared due to surrendering its elemental sword.
-Protagonist's friend is now second in command of the enemy army instead of its commander.
-Protagonist's people are unaware of his deeds.
-The family of the protagonist's friend do not appear or appeal to the protagonist. Instead, the wife of the protagonist's friend died together with her unborn children during a botched mugging.
-Protagonist is now involved in attempting to prevent the elemental swords from falling into the enemy hands. He is also involved in the recovery of the Sword of Darkness and indirectly aids in the restoration of Raven Dark.
-Raven Dark's character is vastly changed and improved. Instead of a dark lord type, he is now a tragic sympathetic villain whose motives have changed. Instead of the first king of the land, he is a former knight of another land.
-The Sword of Judgment plays a much larger role and is introduced much earlier in the story. Its powers are revealed. It is destroyed during the final battle.
-Murlock's character is expanded and more of his past is revealed.
-Agnes is introduced much earlier in the story. She is now an innkeeper's daughter of Arcanius and has a much better relationship with her father. Her friendship with the protagonist is much more developed.
-Protagonist is not ambushed and critically wounded during the first confrontation with his friend.
-Instead of a cathedral, the protagonist recovers in a monastery.
-Protagonist actually meets the spirit of Lazarus, unlike the remake of part 1.
-Lazarus' past is changed and explored.
-Protagonist interacts with the previous installment's antagonist when he appears in spirit form.
-Other than Agnes, the hostages imprisoned in the fortress are Edward, Gwendolyn, Albrecht, the protagonist's mother, and a scout employed by Iconoclast who is ultimately revealed to be a spy working for the enemy.
-The antagonistic relationship between the protagonist and Raven Dark is much more expanded upon.
-The mystic gods do not appear. Instead, a story is told about seven deities who ultimately surrendered their divinity. One of them forged the Sword of Judgment, the others created the Obsidian of Souls.
-The Obsidian of Souls is mentioned, but does not appear. Pandora's Amethyst and the Eye of the Beholder are not mentioned. Antagonist is ultimately defeated with an enchanted dagger forged by Lazarus.
-Instead of a transformed Iconoclast castle, the castle used as Raven Dark's base is castle Judgiollas.
-The revelation that Murlock and Raven Dark are brothers is revealed later on in the story.
-Valkereye, the antagonist of part 3 is mentioned.
-Protagonist's friend is arrested, put on trial for his crimes, and is nearly executed. It takes a meeting with the spirit of his deceased wife to start his path to redemption.
-The battle of Iconoclast is greatly expanded.
-Leoric dies.
-Instead of a magic spell, protagonist gains entry to the floating castle using a restored fighter plane.
-Murlock takes part in the final battle as does Albrecht and Penelope. It is he, not the protagonist who engages in a swordfight with Raven Dark.
-Agnes trains in the usage of protagonist's weapons.
-Protagonist interacts with the spirit of his lover not on the floating castle but in Iconoclast bedroom.
-Agnes is not possessed by Raven Dark's spirit.
-Protagonist's mother invites Agnes to return home with them during the ending.
-Instead of sacrificing himself to complete Raven Dark's seal, protagonist's friend sacrifices himself to destroy the power of the Sword of Judgment.
-Murlock takes part in forging the Sword of Iconoclast, binding the sword to his lifeforce to keep the power of the five swords together.
-Minerva and Edward remain king and queen in the ending. The wedding at the end is for Albrecht and Penelope.
-There is no Dark Light.