#lyonstar

At first, I contemplated using the name “DragonStar”, but DragonStar already exists as a futuristic, magic-meets-machine D&D universe. I asked myself: "What is cooler than dragons on the moon?" The answer was simple enough: Lions on the moon. I wrestled with "LionStar" for a while, before finally settling on "Lyonstar". Today, I want to talk a bit about it.

The Lyonstar continuum is set billions of light-years away in the constellation Leo. The first game in the continuum, Lyonstar: Nomads,  takes place on a small, habitable moon (and one of five natural satellites) orbiting an ultramarine gas giant, orbiting a main sequence star in a binary system shared by a brown dwarf. The system's astrological bodies do not have names as of yet. The moon's landmasses form a "belt", stretching from the polar to subpolar regions. Its atmosphere is Earthlike, despite severe ecological differences. For example, the colour of its water is ultramarine, as is the colour of its grass. These differences are purely cosmetic; The four fundamental forces of nature are present in near-identical volumes—and no, magic does not exist. Magic types are the four fundamental forces, which can be controlled by those skilled in "techromancy":

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE

ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE

ELECTRONUCLEAR FORCE

COLOUR FORCE

The "genre" of the Lyonstar continuum is retro fantasy meets retro science fiction.  Think Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon... but its a JRPG. Remember how pioneers used to conceive of fantasy back in the eighties? Yeah, it's like that. That mixed with how they used to conceive science fiction back in the eighties. Overlay a retro electronic dance music (EDM) soundtrack similar to Lazerhawk or ActRazer, throw in laser-swords, colourful effects and ominous metal pyramids, and you've got the Lyonstar continuum! I want it to feel nostalgic, yet unique. The "genre" is heavily inspired by classic JRPGs like Phantasy Star IV and classic sci-fi games like Wing Commander III. Some have called it "cyberpunk", but I reject this classification. 

[The eighties flavour of science fiction exemplified by the Wing Commander screenshot below, is what I'm going for.]

That's the setting. But, what of the lore?

Thousands of years ago, a hyper-advanced race that ruled the moon (the Carthids) went extinct. But they left behind hyper-advanced technology—technology which is hunted down and hoarded by the rulers of the modern era. This ancient technology is not fully understood by the moon's sentient beings, nor can it be reverse-engineered. Ancient technology inspired by eighties technology, combined with an in-game culture inspired by retro eighties culture makes for a colourful post-apocalyptic technological wasteland. 

The moon's sentient (and nonsentient) beings are based on traditional JRPG fantasy, with a sci-fi flair. You've got (moon) elves, (moon) dragons/dragoons, (moon) dwarves, and humans. Each race has its own territory, society, government, etc.—although the first game does not focus on all of them. The first game focuses mainly on the human environment and human aspects of the world. In the outlying countryside of human territory, greater society is agricultural-based. At the epicentre, stands a colossal city, the capital of corruption, home of the ruling High Technocrat—a warlord who reigns over the former technocratic (technological democracy) government with an iron fist.

In the countryside, the people of small, agricultural villages struggle to survive. Crops are withering and dying. Terrifying monsters are multiplying. No one knows why. Much of the countryside is controlled by local Barons who collectively oppose the High Technocrat. The High Technocrat is determined to stomp out the Baron's hold using military means. His warriors are brutal and efficient. In the background, amid strange, underground reactors that dot the ultramarine plains—wandering rebel groups of technology-seekers called "nomads" have made this their scavenging-grounds. The High Technocrat commands elite soldiers to hunt down nomads with a sociopathic fervor.

Over the course of Lyonstar: Nomads, the central protagonist you play as, is an aspiring young farmboy who dreams of becoming a nomad. However, due to the widespread famine, his dreams are far out of reach. A sense of duty to his family and village prevents him from running away to search for a roaming nomad group to join. Instead, his future looks like long days of constant manual labour and struggle. Until his destiny is forever changed. In time, the young farmboy finds himself in the company of wandering nomads, facing an ancient, resurgent force of unimaginable doom, searching for lost technology, and being hunted down by an empire of power-hungry technophiles who want it all to themselves—and are prepared to destroy anything to get it all.

I plan for the game to offer about 30-50 hours of gameplay. That's my goal. And as I've said in the past, I plan to commission numerous artists, musicians, and programmers to make the experience truly real and everlasting. I want to have 100% custom assets—no stock RPG MAKER assets. Of course, it's going to take time and money. The Lyonstar continuum may take years to fully realize. In this time, I plan to make a less ambitious (and cheaper!) series of traditional fantasy RPGs. These will take about an hour to two hours to beat. The first game, simply titled TWO MAGES, I plan to release midway through 2014. 

Lyonstar is a sci-fi fantasy universe of my own creation.

It is inspired by the Phantasy Star games and is being conceptualized with them in mind. It is unique, it is vast, and it is breathing. I want to show it to you piece by piece. The first piece is simply called Lyonstar. It is the precursor novel to the future game. The book is meant to lay the foundation for the release of the game. A paperback copy will be available for purchasing, but the full text will be available for free online. The second piece is Lyonstar: Nomads, a non-commercial (free!) computer role-playing game built using the power of the RPG MAKER engine. This will be the meat of the canon. Everything that follows will build off of Lyonstar and Lyonstar: Nomads.

I plan to commission numerous artists, musicians, and programmers to make the experience truly real and everlasting!

However, Lyonstar and Lyonstar: Nomads are just the first of many Lyonstar projects that I hope will serve as the basis for the building of a prosperous fandom... or cult following... I would welcome either. I want the Lyonstar universe to flourish in our own. I miss the heartwarming days of classic Eastern console RPGs, and I firmly believe that the genre still has a pulse. My ultimate goal, is to create a universe people want to be a part of—by seeing dedicated fans write their own Lyonstar novels, create their own Lyonstar games, and carry the universe forward and into the stars. Twenty years from today, I want them to look back on the Lyonstar experience with warmth.