Edit: It's been a while since the last update here and a lot of progress has happened after that. There's been some visual changes and more is on the way with the next content update ‘Islands of the Prophets’. That update will finally tie some loose ends and finalize the areas that has already been added to the game. This means more than just visual changes: the update will finally allow to enter buildings in Pramea and it will also add the second overworld area of the Lake Road, Islands of the Prophets.

Building interiors in the Castle Town will get visual enhancements and there will be new doors, shop signs, tables, chairs, ladders and road signs and more! The Old Tower will get new floor and ceiling textures, which means that the title screen will also look a little bit different.

The last update, which brought also some visual improvements, was the first of the two last updates for this year, and it made the first of the changes that will finalize the existing areas. The second update will be released before Christmas and next year will be all about new areas, starting with Autumn Valley. Hopefully it will also be the year when Chronicles of Vaeltaja will get the final release.

Meanwhile, there's some new screenshots below.

Itch.io: https://witchgrove-games.itch.io/chronicles-of-vaeltaja

Chronicles of Vaeltaja is a crpg in development by one man indie company Witchgrove Games. It takes you back to the golden era of pc-gaming when classics like Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Ultima and Lands of Lore ruled the world and home computers like Amiga and Atari ST were still alive. This first-person adventure-rpg is made with RPG Maker MZ enhanced with bunch of great plugins like Cutievirus' MZ3D which takes RPG Maker to a whole new level.

Chronicles of Vaeltaja: In Search of the Great Wanderer takes you to the kingdom of Twin Falls where strange menace is threatening the land that once lived in tranquil. You are hired by the King Menekses I to investigate strange occurrences in seaside town of Pramea where children have been disappearing and travellers are under constant attacks from bandits and beasts that shouldn't even roam there. Your job is to gather a party and find out who or what is behind this new threat.

The game's world and dungeons are hand-crafted from the ground with pre-made and custom assets, so there is no procedural generation. It aims to be one of the deepest and best looking games ever created with RPG Makers.

So ready your weapons and wits to take on a memorable journey across vast forests, fields, swamps and dungeons to bring peace back to Twin Falls.

Added Mechanics/content:

• Option to choose gender.
• Option to rename main character.
• Battle log.
• Auto-battle option.
• Auto/minimap (can be turned on/off in options).
• Added camera zoom to conversations.
• Full screen settings in Options menu
• Font change in Options menu
• UI colour change in Options menu
• New sprites for some enemies.
• New NPC and enemy sprites with side and back profiles
• New Stat and Skill system which is more in line with classic RPGs
• Part of the reputation mechanics have been implemented
• New NPC and enemy sprites
• Moving NPCs in towns
• Treasure digging added
• Day/night cycle
• Skill system re-designed
• Stealing
• Floor and Treasure Chest traps
• Disarm Trap mechanic
• Animated camping scene, which advances time
• New battle animations for Bats, Nikarus and Bandits
• Ability to choose gender for Hunters and Shadows when hiring them
• Ability to rename characters when hiring them
• New character class: Knight
• Female mage, male Priest
• Hour glass that tells the time of day
• Reputation mechanic added partly
• Clouds added
• Moved project to the latest version of RPG Maker
• New character class: Witch Hunter
• Witch character class is re-designed with new skill/spellset
• New weapons: whips
• New character class: Conjurer (sub-classes Summoner and Necromancer)
• Combat rows for the player's party
• Visual inventory
• New item & status effect icons
• Instant movement (optional)
• Quick bar for tools, such as torches, lanterns, camping gear, hour glass etc.
• Faster mouse plugin
• New enemies: Bandit Archer and Outlaw Marksman
• New shop: All Night Charms
• New torch animations (also town torches)
• Eye of an Oracle (works like lanterns, but also reveals things hidden with magic
• New treasure chests
• Overhauled building interiors
• New enemies: Etova, Dark Sentinel and Grinner
• New summons for Conjurer character class
• Quest Journal (can be assigned to hotkey as a tool or accessed through menus)
• Codex
• Optional dungeon mapping (can be assigned to hotkey as a tool)
• Improved crafting (now with more materials and enemy drops)
• Overhauled forest textures and tree sprites in Twin Falls areas and Lake Road
• Better day/night cycle
• New enemy: Ghost
• Improved minimap with player icon that actually shows the direction the player is facing
• New tool Spirit Lantern to protect against ghosts
• Last character class Guardian
• Potion crafting
• Castle Town interiors
• New weapon class Polearms
• Enhanced textures to the Great Forest and Pramea
• 3rd sister to Nine Sisters Shop
• Merchant who buys materials

Future updates:

• Content: new areas, dungeons, side-quests, npcs, enemies, skills, spells
• New battle animations for rest of the enemies

Additional details:

[*]First-person exploration in beautiful and colourful world created with 2.5D pixel graphics combining pre-made and custom assets.

[*]Main questline where some quests give you a possibility to choose from couple of different solutions.

[*]Mythology inspired by ancient Gnostic writings.

[*]Six character party system with skills and stats that affect beyond battles and conversations.

[*]Nine character classes: Guide, Warrior, Hunter, Shadow, Mage, Priest, Witch, Knight and Witch Hunter

[*]Secondary classes for Mage (Warlock/Wizard) and Priest (Healer/Saint)

[*]Grid-based movement that takes you back in the golden era of pc-gaming.

[*]Turn-based battle system with animated enemies.

[*]Overworld areas full of exploration.

[*]Atmospheric and dangerous dungeons where different enemies delve and puzzles await.

[*]Fight against bandits, bats, skeleton warriors, zombies, leechers, dark mages and other creatures of evil.

[*]Boss battles that might have other solutions than violence.

[*]Hand-crafted game world with no procedural generation.

[*]Multiple side-quest that may even lead to optional dungeons or other hidden secrets.

[*]Branching conversations where your 'charisma' and speech skills are put to test.

[*]No tutorials, no hand-holding, no cinematic cutscenes - just pure joy of experiencing and discovering!

[*]Lots of equipment and items to help you on your journey - don't forget to buy at least torches as the dungeons are dark places to wander.

[*]Use mouse and/or keyboard to interact with the game world.

[*]Control battles with mouse and/or keyboard.

[*]Interact with NPCs to access side-quests.

[*]Inspired by the classics like Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Ultima and The Legend of Zelda

[*]Nvidia 3D Vision support for those who enjoy stereoscopic 3D gaming.

[*]Release 2024.

Assets used by this project:

- Music by Eric Matyas - Ancient Dungeons Base Pack Copyright © Celianna

- Animations Collection III Copyright © Degica, Co. LTD Resource creators: Andy Chen

- RPG Maker MV – Essential Set Copyright © Gotcha Gotcha Games Inc. Resource creators: Murray Atkinson, Michael Rookard, Archeia, Lunarae

- FSM: Woods and Cave Tiles Copyright © REFMAP Publisher: Degica, Co. LTD

- FSM: Town of Beginnings Tiles Copyright © REFMAP Publisher: Degica, Co. LTD

- Samurai Japan Castle Tiles Copyright © Degica, Co. LTD

- Tall Sprites by Wayward (https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/waywards-tall-sprites-advent-2022-dec-25-updated-everything-file-instructions.135139/)

Plugins used in this project:

- LTN_StatsAndSkillLevels by LTN Games (https://ltngames.itch.io/)

- TurnInPlace by mjshi - MZ3D by Cutievirus (https://cutievirus.itch.io/)

- JJMENET_CustomParametersPlus by JJMENET

- GabeMZ_EquipRequirements by Gabriel “Gabe” Nascimento

- MOG.TitleSplashScreen by Moghunter (https://mogplugins.wordpress.com)​​

-VMiniMap by Krizmn

VisuStella plugins:

- VisuMZ_0_CoreEngine

- VisuMZ_1_BattleCore

- VisuMZ_1_ElementStatusCore

- VisuMZ_1_ItemsEquipsCore

- VisuMZ_1_MessageCore

- VisuMZ_1_SaveCore

- VisuMZ_1_SkillsStatesCore

- VisuMZ_1_EventsMoveCore

- VisuMZ_2_PartySystem

- VisuMZ_4_EventTitleScene

- VisuMZ_4_AnimatedPictures

- VisuMZ_4_ButtonCmnEvts by Team VisuStella: Yanfly, Arisu, Olivia, Irina (http://www.yanfly.moe/wiki/Main_Page)