Movie: Phantasy Star Prime

[Kyrith_Ranger_Pso]

yah i know, brain block

[CaptainPlanet]

UPDATE: 3/21/11

Here we are just two days shy of a month since the last update. Sorry about the dry spell. The story has become so massive and deep that it's gotten to the point where it's hard to keep it all in my head at one time when I'm writing, so I've been working with others involved with the project to help me map out the story's major and minor plot points to aid me in writing the final version of the script, which makes the first "final draft" of the script look like a joke.

One of our concept artists has thrown me his pitch on original photon weapon designs for the film, as opposed to carrying over the exact designs from PSU (which would have been for homage purposes only). I really loved what he had to show me. He basically took concepts of existing Phantasy Star weapons and made them look a little more... prototype-ish, somewhat steampunk, if you will. Seeing as these are the first photon weapons ever created on Earth, it makes sense that they would have a lot of little parts and things to look at on them. They are the very first line of photon weapon after all (The villain codenames the first line of photon weapon, the 'Prime' line).

What really got my attention was the fact that each of these detailed photon weapons possessed a little pressure gauge of sorts. This is meant to build over time as the user uses the weapon in battle. Once the gauge is filled, the user can activate a special function of the weapon that causes the overflow of photons to amplify the user's aura to the point where they are able to perform things beyond that of a normal human being for a brief period, also known as... you guessed it, a Photon Art! But what happens when an entire party's gauges reach maximum capacity and they activate their Photon Drives all at once? Hmm... I guess you'll just have to wait and see in the movie!

EDIT: Also, the Photon Drives are programmed to work for CASTs at well, since CASTs are the product of FiestCorp in the film.

You can expect scans of the concept art of these weapons within the next week or so.

[Kyrith_Ranger_Pso]

photon blast? wait, don't tell me, i will see

[StormBlade]

If I can interject a little more into Mike's post...I've noticed how over time, and drastically since the first script I read (when I got involved in this project), the level of character development skyrocketed. Originally, I was playing the main CAST in the movies as well as a comical side character. Since the rewrite, however, I've become both a main hero (the CAST) and the character I believe to be the most ruthless, focused, and deadliest villains in the film series (who evolved from my original side character).

Needless to say, I'm pretty amped about the changes being made to the script and I for one can definitely wait for it to be finished and prefected.

[CaptainPlanet]

A word on my last post: Because of the fact that the ability is triggered by synergy between the weapon and the user and requires the build-up of a power gauge,and since this story takes place in an entirely different universe than PSU and PSZ, I've decided to stick with the term Photon Drive for the activated ability rather than calling it a Photon Art, even though there isn't much of a difference visually. A new mechanic deserves a new name I think. You can't call it a Photon Blast because that requires a mag to be present, and I can't exactly say that it's identical to a Photon Art, because those you can use repeatedly until the PP of said weapon is depleted, which results in the overuse of Photon Arts in-game (in my opinion). Plus, it also eliminates the question of, "Why didn't he just use that move to begin with?" The powerful attacks enabled by the Photon Drive must be earned, rather than given to the user to have his/her way with as often as they want.

Since the release of the Ambition of the Illuminus expansion, weapons were given the ability to build up the PP gauge of a depleted weapon simply by whacking things with it, so if you like, since these are first-gen, still somewhat prototype-ish photon weapons, you could even consider it a prototype Photon Art system. It makes no difference.

[Akaimizu]

I think the Photon Blast part of it was hinted with the last line of your last post. Those were the main things, in the Phantasy Star universe, that linked power and/or effects between people on a team. Used in two different ways between PSO and PSZ. Of course, for both of them, Mags were needed.

In PSZ, the starter person's Photon Blast dictated the actual blast performed. Others who went into range and activated theirs, would power up and/or change the effects of the original person's Blast. Having four people allowed a sort of Ultra-version of the effect.

In PSO, everybody's individual Photon Blast would go off in succession, however it would increase in power for each successive Photon Blast performed. So often, the buff-based PBs would be the first to start, and then the Damage Ones would end it.

Of course, going with a different terminology does work, since it basically doesn't follow the Mag rule of Photon Blasts. Kind of like how Mirage Blasts used a different terminology due to them having different methods of activation and the lack of link-aspects. Though they do resemble the technological summons.

[CaptainPlanet]

I was mainly clearing up the misconception that the Photon Drive was anything like a Photon Blast, aside from the principal of how it is charged. With a Photon Drive, the energy is charged over time strictly by using the weapon (no energy is charged by the user taking damage to his or her body. Again, we have to remember that this is still a movie and not a video game). When fully-charged, the user can activate the Photon Drive function of the weapon, allowing them to pull off what is basically a Photon Art with that weapon. The difference lies in the fact that this is something that needs to be earned over time rather than having the ability to spam Photon Arts the entire battle, which is what happens in PSU. It also makes the ability feel more rewarding and it keeps the film more grounded in reality (for what it is) than it would be if the fighting were bogged down with the use of nothing but Photon Arts (again, I'm looking at you, PSU). We want Photon Arts (or in this case, Photon Drives) to feel more special and less abused. These heroes aren't pampered with the ability to go crazy with flashy moves that no normal human can achieve, it must be earned. And what happens when all party members activate their Photon Drives is Photon Art-based, so I hope nobody is expecting some big leviathan to be summoned to beat face.

[Akaimizu]

Makes sense. It's pretty clear that Photon Drive is technically a new thing, or perhaps an early prototype for something else. Like adding a new thing to Phantasy Star that affects other uses of it, if activated together. Was only noting that PBs were the only things, in any of the games, where they could power link to each other in some fashion. So it's the only point of association by example.

[CaptainPlanet]

UPDATE: 3/25/11

I just got home from running around town to find a working scanner. Five new scans have been uploaded to the Done Right Productions Facebook page. All five scans can be found at the top of our page by following the link below. We would also really like feedback on the photon weapon style we're going with.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Done-R...35319923162726

More concept art will follow in the coming weeks.

[StormBlade]

Just dropping by like always. We're still working on the script whenever we can, but things once again have slowed us down, mostly life stuff. It's is getting done though, so no worries. Also, we're getting more concept art from various other associates and close friends and will have them posted on the Facebook page as soon as they're finished and submitted.