We’re only going to do this once, and if it doesn’t work out, I’m not going to try again. Be civil, FEU.
In 2023, I began working on a ROMHack called Darius the Conqueror. Originally intended as a side project to keep me motivated to continue creating, it ended up stealing all my focus away from the main project I was working on, enough to the point that it became the first (and to this day only) FE fangame project I have finished the main story for. However, a number of aspects of the hack were left either uncomplete or woefully unpolished, to the point that while the hack was reasonably well-received by people who played it, I came to be unsatisfied with the end product. After discovering Lex Talionis and coming to better understand its capabilities, I decided that the time was right to make an attempt at remaking the project, taking everything I learned about making FE games from my previous projects and putting it to use to make something I’m truly happy with.
A quick disclaimer in this post for anyone seeking to try the hack out: I tend to like my fantasy on the dark and gritty, mature with realistic worldbuilding side of things (think Berserk, Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, etc.). As that’s what I like, it’s also what I tend to write, and thus, the tone of the story in this project is aiming for something similar. I am aware that this style of story is not everyone’s cup of tea; however, this is the vision I have for this project, like it or not. That being said, there shouldn’t be any content that people will find exceptionally objectionable or upsetting in this six-chapter demo I’m putting out. I’m going to trust all of you to be adults here and try to not to be bellends when making comments if you don’t like what’s on offer. I’m putting this proof of concept up here as a way to generate interest in this project, as there are several things I’m going to need other people’s help with in order to finish it. With all that said, let’s take a look at what’s on offer.
Story
Long ago, the continent of Angaron was beset upon by savage monsters known as Hellspawn. To combat the growing darkness, the Great Dragon Rasheverak taught the people of the island archipelago of Dragovia how to tame wild dragons and fly them into battle. With the power of dragons on their side, the Dragovians battled the hordes of monsters and drove them into oblivion. For a time, peace reigned; however, the Dragovians soon grew discontent with merely ruling over their island chain and would soon use their powerful army of war dragons to conquer a vast empire that spanned nearly the entire continent. Then, at the height of their power and glory, disaster struck the Dragovian Empire. A terrible catastrophe caused the archipelago’s volcanos to erupt in an enormous pyroclasm that sunk the Dragovian Isles into the sea, a disaster that directly led to the collapse of the empire. Over the following centuries, the various territories conquered by Dragovia would fracture and split apart, the dragonlords of the old empire would slowly die out, and the dragons they once commanded would be hunted to extinction.
In the current day; Year 493 After the Fall, the continent of Angaron has become a deeply divided realm, especially in the continent’s most northerly region of Aizengard. The realm is split into a confederation of city-states that compete with each other for territory and resources in a never-ending string of wars with one another. As they bicker back and forth, a number of bandit clans from the western wasteland of Vandalos have begun striking out from their desolate homeland to plunder from the common people of the “greenlands,” leaving destruction and misery in their wake. And there have even been reports that the Hellspawn have begun returning to the continent, preying upon travelers who fall afoul of them.
Darius Drakkengard, a young man living in the Stahlgard province of Aizengard, is forced to confront the harshness of this world when a Vandalosi clan led by the brutal warlord Havgan Hardhammer sacks his village and kills his entire family. Saved from certain death only by a miracle, Darius soon happens across a mysterious stone that shortly cracks open to reveal something he never thought he’d see: a baby dragon. Realizing that his new discovery has potentially made him the most powerful man on the continent, Darius channels his grief and rage into a new goal: to raise an army and take bloody vengeance upon Havgan and his Iron Horn Clan. However, as Darius will soon learn, life does not always accommodate the plans we make for ourselves… and fate seems to have far grander ambitions for him than he realizes.
Features
- An intricate and complex story set in a world with a rich history and lore.
- A large and diverse cast of 50 playable characters of all shapes, sizes, and races, including fantastical races such as elves and merlings.
- A completely custom soundtrack of original songs composed entirely by yours truly!
- Multiple different difficulty options and settings to allow players to encourage replayability, including Casual mode and multiple different growth rate settings.
- Several new classes both playable and enemy-only, including but not limited to: gryphon riders, mounted barbarians, war elephants, harpies, lizardmen, and more!
- Many new weapons, items and skills to take advantage of, including tons of new different spells.
- New gameplay mechanics including an MP system that spells draw from, Bonus Experience, and accessories that units can equip to give themselves perks in battle.
- Branching class promotions.
- Dramatically overhauled support system that should make getting support conversations easier than ever.
- Free-roaming towns full of NPCs that you can speak to to get hints, lore, items, and maybe even sidequests from.
- A turnwheel feature to let you rewind maps to undo mistakes.
- TO BE ADDED: A traversable world map that unfolds as the adventure does, with a base that will offer the player the ability to manage their units and read unique base conversations.
Screenshots
*Some of the portraits used here are temporary assets while I work on getting custom mugs for the characters (though I imagine you could guess that with one of the OCs just straight up being Lilina)
Content Warnings
- Strong/foul language
- Alcohol references
- References to sex
- References to blood, bodily fluids and functions
- Some references to physical discipline being used against children
Known Issues
- Certain spell animations have graphical issues or are missing sound effects
- A couple of gameplay mechanics are handled slightly unintuitively due to limitations of the LT engine. For example, MP, Leadership, and Con stats are not shown on the level-up screen. Not much I can do about this at the moment, at least not by myself
- Not really a bug, but PLEASE READ THE INGAME GUIDE REGARDING GAMEPLAY CHANGES SO YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT OFF-GUARD BY THEM.
Credits
Credits can be viewed ingame, but I might as well post them here to be safe:
Battle Animations:
Nuramon, ErrantShepherd, SageHapuiaJDJ, ObsidianDaddy, StrudelMuffin, Maximus03, Card, Leo_Link, Feier, Linkain Arakeist, Jj09, Mycahel, Seliost1, eCut, Skitty, Chi-Chi, Itranc, Flasuban, RRSKAI, Redbean, 7743, Shin19, UltraFenix, Greentea, RobertFPY, NamelessX, Sax-Marine, SALVAGED, Jey the Count, Huichelaar, BatimaTheBat, FPZero, Moocavo, Riku, Pushwall, Jj09, Raulster, Alice, Pikmin1211, Maiser6, Ukelele, SD9k, Temp, Black Mage, Wan, Orihara_Saki, Solum, Eldritch Abomination, Vilkalizer, Spud, Iscaneous, Temp, TytheBub, DerTheVaporeon, MeatOfJustice, Furious, GabrielKnight, MrNight48, Teraspark, HyperGammaSpaces, Orihara_Saki, SHYUTERz, CamusZekeSirius, Jotari, Apolo15, VelvetKitsune, StruedelMuffin, DATonDemand, Aruka, Vyland, Levin64, Ayr, Raspberry, Blue Druid, Feaw, St Jack, Alexsplode, JonoTheRed, Sable Mage, N426, knabepicer, BwdYeti, Luerock, Seal, SkidMarc25, Sphealnuke, Kramlack, Lenh, Pie1055, Marlon0024, Beansy
Portraits:
LaurentLaicrox, PlantAcademy, SSHX, Tom776, It’s_Just_Jay, Armory, Feier, amema003, CaringCarrot, Cravat, Cygnus, Der, CapibarainSpace, CherryBaer, Kanna, bwan, Splinterocke, Melia, ZeldaCrafter, JiroPaiPai, Nickt, Zmr, RandomWizard, Zarg, Valak, Smokeyguy77, Lonkfromcalifornia, SterlingGlovner, Atey, Vorgus, Citrus, Serif, Blade, Shamiyama, XPGamesNL, Claire45, Goldblitzx, Alexsplode, Lenh, Wasdye, Roxannity, L95, BoneManSeth, Fatman, monk-han, Mexicancactus2911, Armory, Ghostblade, DrGreen3339, DATonDemand, Miguel-Rojo, Dutch Introvert, Peerless, Frodo1990, Toa, Saas35, Trybel, Garytop, UltraFenix, Fuyu, Alice, ObsidianDaddy, BuskHusker, Cynon
Map Sprites:
L95, Warpath, Nuramon, Leo_Link, Shtick, Hanakko, CelestiaHeart, Feier, flasuban, Quinnabon, Dei, dondon151, Hypergammaspaces, CamusZekeSirius, SHYUTERz, Orihara_Saki, SALVAGED, Jay, Ryn, N426, Blue Druid, Rasdel, FEGirls, Der, Skitty, Pikmin, Leif, Eden, ArcaneEli, MeatOfJustice, ArcherBias, Unknown, Spud, LonkFC, TytheBub, Bowgun, Blood, Dutch Introvert, Estra, Kemui52, Seal, SkidMarc25, Sphealnuke, DATonDemand, Tanakakiri, Eldritch, Tarantino500, topazlight, Huichelaar, Alexsplode
Weapon and Item Icons:
Beansy, Lisandra Brave, Ereshkigal, SacredStones, MeatOfJustice, LordGlenn, Peerless, Stephano, Zane, Zelix, AtelierLabs, Zarg, Batima, CamTech075, Snakey, Celice, Seal, GabrielKnight, Purple, CardCafe
Class Cards:
Rasdel, SamirPlayz, Leif, Scraiza, Sword of Heaven and Earth, flasuban, TBA, Der, Spud, SALVAGED, RobertFPY, Nuramon, 7743, Pikmin, Jj09, Eldritch Abomination, N426, SkidMarc25, CanDy, Seal, Sphealnuke, Huichelaar, LaurentLaicroix
Spell Animations:
Bonzai, Blazer, Arch, Beansy, Mikey_Seregon, SHYUTERz, Orihara_Saki, CamusZekeSirius, Scraiza, St jack, FF6, Norikins, Sme, Compile, Aegius, Purple Mage, lovemachine, Alusq, HIROTO, Fenreir, Jj09
Map Tilesets:
Wave, RandomWizard, Beast, Zarg, Dark, N426, Leif0Claude, ZeN2002, HyperGammaSpaces, Flasuba, ZoramineFae
Other:
Lex Talionis engine created by Rainlash
Custom Lifelink item component (used for Corrupted Blood skill) made by Squid1003
Status Screen background by LordGlenn
TearRing Saga backgrounds ripped by Donlot
Special Thanks:
-The Lex Talionis Discord server for helping answer my many questions and putting up with me being incompetent at programming.
-Armory, Zappy McCraw, BLAZINGKNIGHT, Aesir: Playtesting
-Maps, story/dialogue, units and music made by Bahamut (aka Me)
Links
Download the game (go into the folder and click the Application file labeled “Game” to play):
Dowload Game
If you want to see a little bit of the game in action before trying it for yourself, I streamed myself playing it a couple of days ago:
YouTube
Link to a playlist of all the songs that appear in the demo:
OST Playlist
As mentioned before, I am looking for people to assist with aspects of this project that I can’t do on my own. If you or anyone you know happens to be good at any of the following, feel free to DM me if you happen to be interested (I will also look out for opportunities on my own):
- People with experience with the Lex Talionis engine to help with more complicated eventing, since I suck at programming.
- Portrait makers, preferably those who are good at making wholly custom portraits, since I’m going to need some of those.
- Battle animation makers; there’s still a few custom battle animations I need to get made.
- People to assist me with keeping the lore of my world straight; there’s going to be quite a bit of it.
That’s all for now. Hope you all enjoy yourselves!
-Bahamut
