Flare
Combat prototype
This is not a normal demo. It’s not a beta release (finished except for a few bugs). It’s not an alpha (feature-complete but very buggy). It’s earlier than that.
A prototype is an idea rendered in code. If Crayon Physics Deluxe is a finished $20 game, this is Small Red Shaving.
Instructions
Defeat 4 waves of monsters.
Flare’s combat system is reminiscent of Final Fantasy VI. A character may act when her timer is full. Actions are performed one at a time in the order they were entered.
Start by selecting the character or monster you want to target. That filters your choices to aggressive actions if you target a monster, or defensive actions if you target a character.
Monsters in this game are very powerful. To defeat them, cast spells in a chain to reach a Cataclysm. For example, cast Singe and Blast to reach Wildfire. Then trigger Wildfire up to 3 times to deal large amounts of damage. Your characters will receive MP refunds every time a cataclysm is triggered.
Magic
While all spells damage a monster, they may not be immediately eligible to continue the chain. If you see a red X below a monster, your spell did not “stick.” Hit the monster with a weapon to get the spell to stick (illustrated by a green checkmark). After the spell sticks, use the Grove menu to help pick the next valid spell in the chain.
Your chance for a spell to stick is illustrated by the four dots next to its name. One lighted dot means a 25% chance. Two dots means 50%, and so on.
Disclaimer
The commands “Defend” and “Run” do not work. Spells in the “Boost” menu do nothing. There may be additional bugs of which I’m unaware. The game may not run for you. It may not even be fun!
Flare is still years from being finished. If you say, “huh, that was mildly interesting,” that’s the highest praise I can hope for.
When Flare is released, you’ll have a blast.
Download
To play, download and install:
The demo is 54 MB.
Controls
Move the cursor with the arrow keys. ENTER accepts. ESC cancels. Plug in an Xbox 360 controller to use the digital pad and A & B buttons.
Screenshots
Support
None available.
Flare requires a graphics card capable of Shader Model 1.1.