Starting a new Phantasy Star III Game

Hi guys,

I'm new to these forums but have been playing Phantasy Star since I was a kid. Phantasy Star III was my first RPG ever and will always be among my most beloved. The rest of the series stands as the finest examples of what an RPG should be. I just got myself a copy of RPG Maker VX Ace and have decided to make a game of the Devastation Wars prior to the events of Phantasy Star III. I have always wanted to see the exploits of Orakio and his battle against Laya. So my game will feature Orakio as the protaganist and of course Laya will be his main adversary until the discovery of the influences of Dark Force. I haven't decided whether to follow the Japanese or English timeline. It's my understanding that the Japanese timeline takes place 1000 years after PSIV while the English takes place around the same time as PSIV (correct me if I'm wrong here).
I will explain the origins of the Mi-Type Android and how the Orakians and Layans came to be bitter enemies. Most of the foundation for the story has already been outlined in the legends of Phantasy Star III so I'll be sure to follow it as closely as possible while at the same time introducing new characters to make it a more complete story.

This will be my first game though so I hope you will bear with me while I do my best to actually make it as close to a Phantasy Star game as possible. I'm no artist so Ill be doing my best to get by. There seem to be quite a few resources though, including all the character sprites from the original PSIII as well as the others in the series. Since PSIII didn't have a plethora of NPC sprites and enemies I may borrow from others in the series to give it a more varied look. I'm still learning the program so this will be a long term project but I fully intend of finishing. Some of the characters that will be in the game will include:

Orakio
Miun
Siren
Rulakir
Laya
Alair
Lune

Right now I'm in the research stage of development. So I'll be learning the program first before I start on the actual game. But I have a basic outline of the story and how I want to go about it. Wish me luck guys and thanks.

Good luck I always thought there should be a prequel to PSIII, I'm excited to see how it turns out

Welcome to the community and good luck with your game. I always thought this event would make for a great game, also. I entertained the idea of trying to make one myself once, but decided I wouldn't have the time to complete it. I look forward to seeing your take on the story one day!

Thanks for the support guys. I've been trying to hammer out a basic outline of the story and I'm making some progress. I've come up with a few interesting plot developments that I think work well with the future events of Phantasy Star III. One involving the creation of Siren.

But I'm not clear on something. Were there sentient cyborgs/androids around the time of the destruction of Palma and the exile of the World Ships? According to the this timeline posted by PSCAVE Wren(PSIV) was created two years after the events of PSII. So that would mean the technology at least to create sentient androids existed already right?

Also what timeline do you prefer, the Japanese or English?

I still haven't decided which one to follow. But I'm leaning more towards the Japanese if the PSCAVE timeline is accurate.

If you guys can clear this up for me I would appreciate it. Thanks guys.

Oh yes, the technology for sentient androids definitely existed around that time. The first known case would actually be 16 years before PSII's events, in Phantasy Star Adventure. That android in that game is even a dead ringer for Mieu. You could also go back to PSI for this, if you want to consider Hapsby as sentient. He doesn't have as much dialogue as the cyborgs/androids, but that robot displayed enough character that I think of him as sentient.

Wren's age is given as 998 in PSIV, so he would have been activated in AW 1286. That is around two years after PSII.

As for the English vs. Japanese timelines, I'm not really picky personally. The trick with the English timeline is to remember that while it says only 1,000 years have passed since both PSII and the Devastation War, that number is a loose estimate. In Rhys' time, people say it's been 1,000 years since the War. Then in his grandson's time, about 30 years later, people still say it's been 1,000 years. Clearly, they're not giving out exact numbers there. Plus, we're told that Dark Force supposedly destroyed 398 ships, some the size of the Alisa III, between the launch and his defeat in the War. Even for a creature like Dark Force, that task would have taken a while. So, if you do decide to use the English timeline, you could easily have the War taking place several years after the ships launch.

Great thanks for the input. I didn't get the chance to play Phantasy Star Adventure so I wasn't aware of that android, I may have to play it to get a more complete picture of the series. Ive been toying with the idea of having the devastation war occur several years or a decade or two so they would still have access to advanced enough technology to produce sentient androids. But also I thought that maybe the technology for android production on board the Alisa III could be somewhat out of date cause of the urgency to evacuate Palma before the explosion. Might be a way to explain Sirens less than human appearance in relation to Wren. Like Sirens design being more of a prototype since Wren was supposedly modeled after Siren himself. Or maybe the Alisa III had an incomplete database for android production and they had to make do with basic plans. Honestly there's so many ways I can go with this. I would like to work Alis into the story in some way, perhaps having her appear as a holographic version to represent an artificial intelligence of the Alisa III. I think that would be a cool way to include her.

i hope im not late, but good luck!

Welcome! Good luck with the game! BTW:I dig your sig pic alot!!!

I am curious as to whether this ever got out of the "forum posting stage" that unfortunately most great idea RPGs wind up. I was also considering using the chipsets from PS3 and doing the Layan/Orakian War as my theme

Its all a matter of getting the party up, enemies and plot. I would think population would be greater so villages larger and whatnot. Course I have never been a fan of royalty, so would probably set up town governors with uber houses lol.

I had also thought of a sequel to PS3, where technology was lost over the millennium, so no wren, mieu, laser weapons, etc. Perhaps the world they live on has new material to create weapons.

I dunno lol

I'm surely a bit late too here but good luck if this project is still on tracks ! Always interesting to speak and have things about Phantasy Star 3, that is really a masterpiece in the serie and in the RPG galaxy ! The Orakio/Laya war is a great starting point as it was still very mysterious (I've read a fanfiction about it and it was great ! But I can't remember the name of it now....)
PS : Yes ! I've found it back on the Phantasy Star Pages ! The name is "In the Name of the mother" by Michael Hahn ! That was a great fanfic which tried to explain this Orakio/Laya war, even if my souvenirs for it are far away !