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[Blink]

Hello everyone! I'm really excited about this. About what? Well, I've been making a fan game for the last 18 or so months, and it's finished now!



(this fine beauty was made by Winfriend M, aka DarkPlayer. It's a concept piece!)

Well, it's not completely finished, because we'll still work on it as we get feedback, but essentially, it's done. We're still considering stuff like multiplayer, visual revamps, more audio, but since we kept the project a complete secret this entire time, that wasn't really possible now was it?

Well you probably don't want to listen to me chatter about it, how about playing the game!

http://www.get--a--life.com/toc/talesofcorneria.zip

If the link doesn't work, give it another ten minutes or so to finish uploading. While you wait, check out the plot!

Four years have passed since Andross and the Venomian army were defeated in the Lylat Wars.  Thanks to the daring and brave pilots of the Star Fox team, the inhabitants of the Lylat System once again find themselves in a time of peace.

However, trouble is beginning to brew once more. The Great Fox has intercepted a distress signal from Katt Monroe, an old friend of Falco Lombardi. After tracking the signal to Titania, Falco brazenly rushed to the planet's surface to aid her, leaving the rest of the Star Fox team behind. Now, one member short, the Star Fox team must journey to Titania and find the reckless pilot and save Katt from dangers unknown. General Shears, the ranking officer on Titania's lone base, has offered to help in exchange for a mercenary mission of his own.

Of course, we have a few shortcomings here and there, but we hope to fix those up soon enough. We would have slapped this on the map screen, but, we couldn't get a map in time. And we couldn't find voice actors either! It's pretty tough working in total secrecy for a year and a half.

Anyways, I'll answer more questions as you guys shoot them at me, but above all, enjoy! It's not perfect, but I made this thing for you guys, not me.

EDIT1: I forgot to mention, this game is based entirely off the Star Fox 2002 manga, the one that preceded the Star Fox Adventures plot. If you haven't read the comics, go do so now!

http://www.arwinglanding.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=3

The plot is a 1 to 1, so everything should make a lot more sense if you read the comics. We've got all kinds of things going on in there that you'll say "Oh, I remember that!" to.

And another thing I forgot to mention: Tales of Corneria is, hopefully, going to be episodic! This isn't a full game. I should have said that before. The hard mode is about half an hour long, and easy takes about 20 minutes. It's short, but it does everything it's supposed to. We want you guys to know also that we're planning to do the next one WITH the community, but, we really wanted this one to be a surprise for you guys.

Oh, and to anyone who asked me if I was working on Flotilla again, when I said no, I totally meant it! Tales of Corneria is a totally different game, or, game/episode series. This first episode is known as Episode 1: Farewell Falco. The next one could be something completely different, maybe about Star Wolf on Fortuna!

And oh boy is this strenuous, because the file upload is taking WAY longer than I thought it would, so I posted this way too early! Sorry about that guys! I'll keep updating until it's loaded.

EDIT2: Now see, the problem is, I didn't remember to take screenshots. So I can't show you much of anything! Well, except this maybe...

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/8329/tocbannervz3.png

My new signature! I'm going to use this to link to the game. It's got a really nice screenshot on the right. It's actually touched up (ORLY?) and has focus effects added so you can tell depth, which is hard to convey in a 2d image. It also brings your attention to the Arwings, which was the idea. Anyways, I need to go make this my sig now!

EDIT3: I guess I should show you guys the original too though, huh?

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9564/cinematic01ly7.png

This was taken before the HUD was added. Things look nicer now, somewhat. Sadly, we just don't have the high quality graphics you can get in a big team project like Shadows of Lylat, which you guys can check out over here:

http://www.game-warden.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=16

They're a big fan game, and deserve a lot of attention, even if I did make my own fan game! But we do have one thing they don't, a release! Too bad it's not a very good one.

Wait, I shouldn't be saying that!

So anyways, the file finished uploading now, and all you gotta do is open it up and click on the white Arwing silhouette, just like the one that's in my avatar! So there you go, and since it's all uploaded, I'm turning in for tonight.

[Bill Winters]

Sounds interesting, congratulations on your release.

[StealthFox]

This was a really big production for Blink, guys.  I encourage everyone to check it out if they can.  The system requirements are pretty low!

Minimum System Requirements:
1.5 GHz Single Core Processor or better
128MB RAM
100MB Hard Drive Space
64MB Video Card
DirectX 9 or better


Recommended System Requirements:
2.0 GHz Single Core Processor
256MB RAM
100MB Hard Drive Space
128MB Video Card
DirectX 9.0c

You can read more about Tales of Corneria on our front page, www.arwinglanding.net and on the soon to come Star Fox PC section article!

[Zaxx Bandaries]

I'll check it out when I get the chance. Currently on a government comp...probably shouldn't be here.

[StealthFox]

Weevil also made a cool banner for the game, but sadly there aren't any Wolfens in this story (or are there...?).  Anyway, I made a smaller version of it for anyone to use on aL:



Also, for anyone fiddling in the options panel, High Resolution mode is currently not working.  This is supposed to switch the game into 1280x1024, but we're working the kinks out on that.  Sorry!

[Weevil]

*Insert anything other than Wolfen*
It seemed appropriate at the time!

But yeah, play ToC!

[Hoshi Kitsunuki]

I would have played the release version, but I already played it six thousand times beta testing it.... I'll play the release version tomorrow when I have sleep and I don't want to stab out my eyes with an ice pick...

ToC is a beautiful game though, really... Blink worked his tail off on this one.  He got himself some great people to help and it turned out really *really* smooth.

I am actually looking forward to continuing further on the project?  In the future --> *silly gigglish girly laugh*

[Akio]

Just played it, but didn't beat it. It's difficult, with the lack of obtainable health, bombs, very few laser upgrades, and very little or no indication that you're actually hitting something you're supposed to on the bosses.  The enemies, levels, the character portraits, and the Arwing all look great, and the music is awesome. The controls also take time to get used to, and losing a wing doesn't help at all. The game is fantastic overall X3 And to think that it was a complete secret all this time. I'm looking forward to the next episode. More to be said later, but to warn others, don't try opening Windows Task Manager to get out of the game. My mouse was spazzing and I couldn't get it out of the top left corner of the screen without restarting my computer >.>

Complaint (meh, I guess they're spoilers): That bioweapon thing that takes Slippy: It takes a long time for it to actually come close enough to actually see it, as it enjoys moving back into the darkness. The second time I played this, I choose to continue fighting it, and somehow, PASSED through it. So when I was supposed to continue fighting it, I was just flying with nothing to fight, and Peppy kept telling me to shoot the tail.

More: Andross is unusually annoying. His hands and whatever the thing after the hands are nearly/completely impossible to dodge.

[Super Avaunt]

Whaa--I guessed "fan game," you infinite arse!

Anyway, I will give this a shot, but ten bucks says my computer won't run it.  Unless by some miracle my embedded video card decides 32-bit color is an option, that is.  -_-

[Qualitas Dsynphoria]

I like it.  THere's a few bugs here and there, but they've already been mentioned, heh.

[Chiro]

Hm. I'll check it out sometime. I'd like to play it on my computer, but the thing happens to be a piece of crap, so I'll try and see if I can give it a whirl on my brother's computer later. Looks cool though. Nice work, Blink. =)

[Dragon Jedi0]

Very nice.  I agree with Akio, though.  Maybe you should do what SF64 does to simulate damage on the enemy.  It would certanly make it easier >.>

[Lord Garcia]

hey nice game. sadly it runs far to slow on my machine...

i think ive also run into a bug trying to set the resolution to lowest. it got me out of the game giving me a sound error o.0

oh! spoiler!

however all missions sometimes just strech ridiculously into the lenght and i think this somehow could be shortened (for example flying behind that whatever called ship where falco shoots you. it doesnt take damage some many rounds flying around and there is hardly anything else to do... except evading falco, thats it ^^) but maybe its only because of my computer being so slow.

also it is right. on the andross battle the hands and the thing after it really are annoying. you never know if you hit them or not... they dont show up to be damaged. and if you 'destroy' them they fly towards you. 


however i think it is a nice attempt. and really enjoyed. even if it runned very slow on my machine (yeah i cant stop to remark that ^^)

[LionHeart]

wow, Blink.

Youve been wanting a fan-game since Command sucked. (or before) I bet its pretty big for you.
Congrats.

This might be hard...
But can you make it multiplayer?

That would be sweet, not to mention I could put my specialty to practice. 
I could make cutscenes and all... or, I can recreate certain scenarios... or how about "Customize your furry self" Mode?

...Oh, sorry. Putting too much onto you. And obviously, I mean, this is an incredible fan game.
(And if it doesnt bother you if I ask, what programs did you use to make it?)

[Lusankya]

I just joined the forum and haven't had a whole lot of time to play the game yet (with school and everything) but I thought I would post my initial impressions of the game. For the most part, I agree with what has already been said. I think the music is great and the graphics are pretty good too. The only problem that I have found is that the game has moments where you just sit there, waiting for a boss to come back. Kind of annoying but not too bad. That and I have found it difficult to figure out what I am supposed to do against some bosses. It can be hard to tell where to shoot them. All things considered, it is a great job. Everyone involved deserves a "job well done"

[Infinity]

Hmm its not bad, I'll tell you that. Spoilers and critiques ahoy. The barrel roll is a bit broken though, as if you spam it you are immune to basically every attack and that kind of removes the skill of flying around and makes it really easy... I do like how there are different things that can happen when you play it again, for example the first time around I just faced the ship boss and then the first boss for me on my second run was Falco. I am curious to see what other things I've missed. Some things like how it skips around with the plot it didn't seem to exactly flow. One moment its like "Fox come back to the ship for briefing" and then it just cuts to the next level and just jumps in plot. You could have had a cutscene with the characters just talking to cover load times, but I know you've all pushed yourselves to get this done, so I'm not going to complain about it.

I had fun.

[Simba Maliki]

Wow, this is a really good game....
I know that when most people ask this way they get a straight "No" but if you need any help on the second episode. LIke Graphics, I believe I could be of some help there. And Voice Acting!! I could try and help there as well.

[Blink]

We're willing to accept anyone who is willing and able to dedicate time to this project, we'll always try to find some way to get you guys involved.

...but not until we start work on the second episode. XD

Sadly, loading screens aren't something we have much control over at this point, we could stick in a loading bar, but it would have about two stages: waiting and finished.

And yes, I do realize that the plot jumps around, the game is hard, the boss battles are slow, and the barrel roll is cheap. We had about three or four people total testing the beta, all of whom knew entirely what the project was about and were all veteran Star Fox fans, so honestly, we didn't find it too hard at all. XD But I do intend (now) to make an easier version with items dropped by the enemies since you guys want that. I can't do much about the boss since we don't have an animator, and we can't do the plot briefing without a map screen (which needs a map).

To answer some more specific questions: We may consider multiplayer in a ToC Ep. 1.5 if people want it badly enough, we DID design the engine to allow for multiplayer, but it's not programmed in any way beyond that, so it would take a month or two to get it even up and running. The game was made in Dark Basic Professional. The game is a lot more boring when it runs slowly. XD And changing the resolution is BROAKEN. WTF? I don't know what happened there, and don't worry guys, I'm looking into it. The boss passing through you is a known glitch with unknown reasoning... I have NEVER been able to recreate it myself, so I appreciate as much detail on that as I can get. And... yeah, because we had no animator, we ended up having to create an alternative final battle... which wasn't all that great. But we WILL get an animator before we release episode 2, I garuntee that.

Last but not least: If you ever exit the program without properly quitting, you may have problems. All you need to do is open the program up again, ex. Alt Tab, then close the program manually (Alt+F4 or Esc + Quit, etc). Minimizing just doesn't work. I'll try to fix this someday...

[Akio]

The boss passing through you is a known glitch with unknown reasoning... I have NEVER been able to recreate it myself, so I appreciate as much detail on that as I can get.

Well, I was getting annoyed by how long each phase of the boss took, so I kept boosting over and over, before, during, and after the part where you have to hit D and A and then W. Before I even saw that well thing, which you'd apparently go into if you don't continue fighting, I saw the boss running and passed through it. I went past the well thing and then I just kept going. Those flames that are on the ground during the second phase weren't there, the music kept playing, and the cave goes forever. Then I quit.

Last but not least: If you ever exit the program without properly quitting, you may have problems. All you need to do is open the program up again, ex. Alt Tab, then close the program manually (Alt+F4 or Esc + Quit, etc). Minimizing just doesn't work. I'll try to fix this someday...

I was wondering what keys to press to get back into it >.> I only tried to minimize it so I could edit my first post in this topic.

[Lusankya]

And yes, I do realize that the plot jumps around, the game is hard, the boss battles are slow, and the barrel roll is cheap. We had about three or four people total testing the beta, all of whom knew entirely what the project was about and were all veteran Star Fox fans, so honestly, we didn't find it too hard at all. XD But I do intend (now) to make an easier version with items dropped by the enemies since you guys want that. I can't do much about the boss since we don't have an animator, and we can't do the plot briefing without a map screen (which needs a map).

To answer some more specific questions: We may consider multiplayer in a ToC Ep. 1.5 if people want it badly enough, we DID design the engine to allow for multiplayer, but it's not programmed in any way beyond that, so it would take a month or two to get it even up and running.

Dang...you took the words right out of my mouth. 

As for multiplayer: multiplayer can NEVER be a bad thing (unless it sucks of course...)

[Lord Garcia]

oh also i think i forgot to mention: it seems for me that boosting doesnt really make you getting faster to somewhere... i mean it looks like being pointles. or mabe its only because its hell of slow here.

maybe someone could record a small part and host it on youtube or something so i know how fast it should be?

=D or i somehow get a new computer .. that'd be it

[Weevil]

Boosting does move you, what it does it it makes you further away from the camera so you can fit through gaps, the camera doesn't move, it's the same when braking

[Dragon Jedi0]

I need to mention that you should add the option of changing the sensitivity level in the option menu while you're playing the game.  I know it's there when on the main menu, but when I played the game, I paused it to increase it because the Arwing was moving to slow it wasn't there.  I had to quit the game and change it from the main menu. :\

[Blink]

^that sounds like a good idea. XD I'll get on that...

[LionHeart]

Hmm, Well I got tons of time on my hands...

Anyway I can help?

[picano]

Woo!



I'd love to play more but... impossibly hard without my mouse. (Touchpad / it's buttons tend to be unresponsive, and well.. the keyboard only controls crash with some object error anyway... so blah!)

That and I bypassed that one boss with the A+D then W keys... ouch.

But, glad I could submit to some part of this! Can't wait to get a new mouse...

[Hoshi Kitsunuki]

I did the same thing last night... it's a problem that was apparently missed.

Blinkface, next time before you make a release on things, you should have us test it one more time... *shakes her finger*

[picano]

Oh also... forgot to say...

Any way to make it not screw with my desktop?

Running Vista with a 1280x800 resolution. Every time I play... all my desktop icons are moved around. x.x

[ST64Loonitic]

Um, I'm dead on how to dodge the skele-Goras-thingy when facing Andross.

I chose to chase the Goras, by the way.

[Blink]

Urk. Alright, I'll try to find it sometime this (long) weekend. Sorry about that guys.