[GAME][IDEA][SCRAPPED] - Frequency: Battle of the Bands

[GrooveMan.exe]

Frequency is a traditional RPG that incorporates mechanics from rhythm games to deliver a deeper, more complex game play experience. It's being made in RPG Maker XP. Although little material has been produced yet, I will soon be looking for staff to work on this with me.

The Game World
Music is a Way of Life!
In this game’s universe, music and sound is tantamount to human progression and survival. Everyone from retailers to warriors harness sound and its raw elemental properties for everyday life. There are 6 main ‘Stations’ that all sounds are divided into:
- Latin: Station of Strength. It’s used to produce heating in houses. In battle, it can cause large amounts of damage. It’s said that the performance-enhancing drugs on the market are exposed to energy from this station.
- Jazz: Station of Intelligence. It’s used to purify water, and it’s said to have an effect on weather patterns. In battle, it can lock down the abilities of opponents, along with the weakening of their attributes. It’s not uncommon for students to listen to nothing but Jazz, in preparation for exams.
- Hip-Hop: Station of Trick. Seemingly useless as a practical energy resource, it’s rare to see it put to common uses such as heating and lighting, but it’s rumoured that Hip-Hop Station energy is really beneficial to plants and animals. In battle, it causes foes detrimental ailments, and allies stat boosts.
- Rock: Station of Resilience. Anything reinforced with energy from the Rock station becomes as hard as… well, rock. In your face and straight-forward, in battle wielders can survive the harshest of blows. It’s just a shame that many who use the Rock Station are a little… hard-headed.
- Dance: Station of Speed. It supplies the entire continent with electricity, as an almost infinite power source. In battle, the damage done will be light, but executed super-fast. It can alter the speed of both your Band and the foe’s. Some of the hardcore Dance Station fanatics are a little… unhinged. Or at least rather excitable.
- Classical: Station of Life. One of the first sounds in Oratoria. To master Classical is to master Sound (such is the general consensus, but Jazz has proven to be more complex). Classical music has the power to heal almost any ailment, and in some cases, cause immense damage; but usually to the self-harm of the user. Some say that the Classical Station can reverse death, but those people are idiots; and you should point and laugh at them.
These all have their own Sub-Stations; the complex diversity of them all making the world what it is. The Stations all have Radio Towers – a mixture between shrines and power plants, which create resources from the Stations, and distribute them worldwide.

The Continent of Oratoria
Oratoria is the largest landmass in the known world; a continent split into two countries, Analogue and Digital.
Analogue is very traditional in their ideals, and solid in their ideas. Their cities and economy have held strong for centuries. Their government runs the largest Marching Band found anywhere. They have the Latin, Jazz, and Classical Radio Towers established there.
The country of Digital was barren for the longest time; until there became issues of overcrowding in Analogue, and a Band of pioneers set out to build and colonise this new land. In an ugly issue of civil unrest, the Radio Towers of Hip-Hop, Rock and Dance were torn town in Analogue, and transported. This was eventually resolved, and now free trade of all Station Sounds is done between the two Countries. It’s something of a taboo to bring up the incident, these days.

Fight with Music at Your Side
In this world there are Wave Warriors, musicians who can utilise the Stations through their instruments to their own use. Everyone has this ability to some degree, but only some to a useful capacity; and even fewer as a career choice. Wave Warriors can use their abilities in everything from Detective to Mercenary work. Clans of Wave Warriors are called ‘Bands’.
In recent times, the two countries of the world – Analogue and Digital – have fallen under political dispute, and talk of war has been thrown around - a Battle of the Bands. No one is truly certain what will become of it; but something big is going to happen. Oh yes.

A Seventh Sound?
In addition to the 6 main Stations, there is indeed a 7th –The Static Station. Static is to the other Stations as what Anti Matter is to cheap science fiction novels; It’s rare, extremely powerful, and has absolutely no practical use. But as with most dangerous phenomena, you get the choice idiot who hears ‘powerful’ in the description, and will become completely obsessed with it. Here, that would be White Noise. His motives for wanting to harness Static is so unclear, it’s debatable he knows himself. He’s popular though; his Band, Shattered Resonance is gaining new members every month. They’re hardly a threat at the moment, but if they really do mean to start using Static, someone’s going to have to set them straight.

Situations and Scenarios
At this stage, there is no solid progressive plot, but situations within the game have been considered.

Birth of a Wave Warrior
The main character is a rather generic, 18 year old Airon Shayne; friendly, fashionable, but otherwise ordinary. Interestingly, in a world of music, he isn’t much appreciative of the power sound supplies to the world. As far as he’s concerned, sound it nothing but a tool to supply your house with heat and light – nothing more.
Coming back from classes one afternoon, a friend offers to take him to a music concert. Having not attended a concert before, he agrees. The band playing (to put it bluntly) rocked him to his core. The underground rock ballad everyone in the arena bobbed and swayed to left a sizable imprint on his mind. Within a simple 3 minutes, he understood the true power of music.
After the concert, he walks home in the dark. He parted ways with his friend ages ago, and the streets are quiet. He starts humming to himself, the same tune as what heard at the concert. His humming seems to get louder, resonating with his whole body and the air around him. As he gets to the chorus – at this point in full flow – the ground begins to tremor. He stops, surprised; and the quake ceases just as quickly. Puzzled, he hums the chorus once more; and once more, the ground begins to shake.
It is, of course, him hitting the same frequency as the Rock Station. He has awakened abilities of music he never even knew existed within him. He smiles as he hums once more; as loud has he can muster. People start to turn on lights and look out of the windows of their houses. The tarmac begins to fracture slightly. He wonders to himself if he can afford a Battle Instrument…
He runs home, leaving a crowd of rudely-woken neighbours in his wake. The next morning, he heads to the nearest Battle Instrument store. All of the items are too expensive, even though there’s a sale! However, upon walking dejectedly back home, he come across a black merchant, who offered to sell him some starter Wave Warrior gear and some fake registration documents on the cheap.
Now, a more just man would have denied the offer, and set hard to work to earn some money, but who the hell is just these days? In short order our hero (or should that be villain now?) struts home with a Battle Instrument, a Sound Machine (a pretty old model, but who cares?), and a shiny, tiny, extremely illegal Wave Warrior licence.

Airon now has all the gear he needs to be a Wave Warrior; but something feels missing. Now at home, he goes through all the items he obtained from that shady street dealer. The Sound Machine he got looks pretty old and scratched; models like this one were in use around 5 years ago - but the market was limited back then, and not many were made. He powers the handheld on.
"...aaaaaAAAnd welcome to the Sound Machine Version 1.56: Artificial Intelligence Prototype. I'm going to assume that since my batteries ran out, and that I've never seen you before; that I was dumped somewhere, and you've stolen me."
"What?! N-no, nothing of the sort I just-"
"Well, it's of no consequence. My previous owner didn't put any security locks on me, so you're free to do whatever you wish"
"I don't recall Sound Machines being able to talk."
"What, models these days don't have the A.I. module fitted? What a joke, I suppose people were intimidated by a computer telling them how to run their lives."
"So you do more than just power Battle Instruments?"
"My goodness, yes! Not only do I store and manage Instrument and Riff data, I also take stock of whatever you're carrying, provide basic communication and organisation functions, and manage your fashion wardrobe."
"I doubt a computer would know about fashion."
"Judging by what you're wearing now, I'd say you'd need all the fashion help you could get."
"Hey, I'll have you know-"
"Oh, and before you go into a petulant rage, could you plug me into a computer or find a wireless access point? I need to backup my data and recharge."
With the (frankly rather rude) personal organiser under control, Airon takes his leave from Bakersfield Suburbs. Even with a Battle Instrument, Airon lacks a Station. Folk City to the south has a pretty large Riff shop, an ideal location to determing his Station, and pick up the last few bits and pieces before setting out to become the new musical phenomenon.

The Sickest Lyricist
The Band of musicians come across a club – Flow ‘n’ Go – the owner of which is holding tryouts for new lead performers. They go in to see a rapper – going by the name of Trick-Master S - trying out.
“I’m the sickest lyricist
With more brains than an astrophysicist
And in the thick of it
I throw my verbal twist into tha’ mix…”
The judges panel doesn’t look to impressed.
“That flow was wack, yo. Where’s da gangsta image? Where’s da bling? Where’s da hoes? Get yo’ broken self off my stage. Daymn.”
Dejectedly, he shuffles off stage, and encounters the Band. At first he’s rather uptight and more than a little annoyed, but after some dialogue (and a battle against him), he loosens up.
It turns out that he’s something of a travelling poet from a small village on the Analogue side – one of the few Hip-Hop establishments that hadn’t migrated to Digital. He’d been slightly successful in his exploits, but the money had run out, and the desire for regular meals and a place to stay had overridden the need to spread the word of his people. The Band agrees to assist him in some training to get him a slot at Flow ‘n’ Go.
Problem is, someone else is trying out; Suga Shaniqua, a young yet horrifically buxom girl with a Pop routine so sugary, you could get cavities just listening to her. But she looks hot, and that alone is more than enough to sway the club owner. In a desperation attempt, the rapper decides to have a war of words against the pop-princess-going-rap-diva. After a heated match, the rapper is victorious, but instead of taking a place at the club, he decides to travel with the Band – providing they can supply food…

Game Mechanics and Abilities
Band Member Recruitment and Plot Progression.
You start the game with a single Wave Warrior, and recruit more to form your own Band as the game progresses. Eventually, you will have 6 other Band Members. This leaves the game open to multiple playthroughs; trying new combinations. However, in order to progress the plot, a minimum number of Band members will be required at certain stages. There may also be extra plot chapters to experience, provided you have the right Member (or Members) with you. Think carefully before you recruit someone! To make this a little easier to understand, observe the following diagram:


Stats and other Number Crunching
The stats in game are as follows:
- Volume Points (VP): This is the HP of traditional games. You start out at maximum Volume (full health), and as you are dealt damage, your volume decreases. Some events may cause a character to fatigue, and their maximum volume is reduced temporarily. When a character’s Volume reaches 0, they are Silenced, and unable to battle. As you’d expect, if all members of a Band are Silenced, they are defeated.
- Rhythm Points (RP): This would be the Magic or Technique Points in traditional games. In order to use character special abilities (Called ‘Riffs’), Rhythm Points must be consumed. Many Riffs require an Action Command to execute; and successful attempts drain less RP than unsuccessful ones. Falling out of Rhythm can be dangerous, at it leaves you only with a basic attack! But don’t worry; your Rhythm slowly recovers over time.
- Amplitude: This stat is used to determine how much damage is done by attacks. Of course all attacks and Riffs have their own damage value, but the damage done to the opponent is calculated from this base stat.
- Wavelength: This determines by how much damage from enemy attacks is reduced by. Some Riffs and items can cause modifiers to your overall defence.
- BPM: The BPM decides the turn order when there are multiple characters in one battle (which is almost always the case…). It sounds unimportant, but landing the first hit could be vital in most cases. There’s no real calculation; the character with the highest BPM goes first.

Status Effects
- Silence: When you run out of VP, you are silenced, and unable to battle. When the battle ends, you’ll get a reduced amount of experience, and will be revived with 1 HP outside of battle. That said, if all participating Band members are Silenced simultaneously, it’s Game Over…
- Groovin’: Sometimes an attack will force the victim to start dancing helplessly along with the beat. While in this state, you can’t act. It’ll wear off in a few turns, however, and if hit, you’ll snap right out of it.
- De-Sync: Sometimes, an attack will disorientate a victim, raising their Rhythm consumption rate significantly, and attacks may go astray, hitting your fellow Band Members.
- Noise Cancel: Sometimes, an attack will block a victim’s sound. They can still act, but they’re completely unable to inflict any damage, and Riffs can no longer be activated. It’s a nasty status effect, but it will wear off after a while.
- Fatigue: The stronger attacks can cause Fatigue; either in the user or the victim. Being hit by fatigue will lower your Maximum Volume temporarily, by about 10%. This figure is cumulative, so if you use too many fatigue-inducing attacks (or get hit by them…), you’ll find yourself rather easy to Silence. However, nearly all consumable food will remove Fatigue by varying degrees. At the end of a battle, all Fatigue is cleared.

Riffs
Riffs in this game are the Magic and Techniques of other games. Riffs are not learned through levelling up of characters, but are found, bought, or made in the game world. There is an overall Riff Library where all Riffs obtained are stored, but each character has their own Sound Machine (usually located within the instrument they wield), where the Riffs are arranged and utilised.
Each Riff sounds unique, and when used in conjunction with others, they sound impressive! Collect many riffs, and not only will you be powerful in battle, you’ll sound great, too!
To begin with, the number of Riffs a character can hold won’t be very large, but it will increase over time. Some characters have a naturally larger Riff Capacity over others.
Riffs may change and become stronger if they’re used often enough.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5086/...ncyan9.png
(N.B. I did this mockup long before I decided to use RPG Maker, so it's not a very accurate depiction.)

The process for equipping Riffs is simple. There is a menu screen called the Sound Machine, where you can create the Riff sets for your Band members. Upon choosing one, you get a grid, and an index listing of all Riffs you own. There is a ‘Palette’ window showing what Riffs you have selected for this Band Member. You can fill up as many or as few as the Palette slots as you like, but be aware there’s a finite number. Once in then Palette window, you can drag and drop the riffs onto the grid. Each Riff has a sound, and if you hit the Play button next to the grid, it will play the riffs in the arrangement you have selected, from left to right. Each square is a second long, so you can have 8 seconds of Riff Mix. The Riff Mix will play at key points in battle, so make sure it sounds good!

So, What Riffs Are There? I'm not certain on the specifics at the moment, but if I could have 50 Riffs in the game, shit would be so cash. Most riffs have 3 different versions of increasing strength and complexity. Where Final Fantasy has Fire, Fiara, Firaga, Freq has Chord, MadChord, PhatChord. Occasionally you'll come across Riffs that have only a single version, usually ones dropped by Bosses, or have unique special effects. Riffs are divided across the 7 Stations (i.e. including Static), with a set of non-attuned Riffs for balance. Using a Riff that matches the Band Member's Station will deal bonus damage, but there's always a disadvantage of not having a varied skillset.

Weapons and Armour
Armour in this game behaves as you would expect, but Weapons are slightly different. All weapons in this game are instruments, which transform into a more traditional weapon in battle.
- Lead Guitars turn into axes.
- Bass Guitars turn into halberds and spears.
- Microphones turn into staves.
- Woodwind instruments turn into one-handed swords.
- Brass instruments turn into heavy swords (Undecided. May become Guns).
- Drums turn into hammers.
- Viols turn into bows.
What Kinds of Weapons Are We Treated To?
Each weapon has a version to attune to each Station, along with a Basic (non-attuned), Static, and Ultimate version. The weapons are all very similar in power, and only excel minorly in certain areas. This means you can interchange between them freely, without worry of nerfing yourself. However, the Basic versions are somewhat weaker than the rest, and the Static Versions are decidedly stronger; although they come with drawbacks. Ultimate Instruments are a tad weaker than Static Instruments, but they don't come with a drawback, and are often Dual-Station attuned.

Armour in this game is clothing. With Wave Warriors being in vogue this season, the latest outfits are all reinforced to some degree, so don’t worry about your outfit getting ruined in the heat of battle. Different shops around Oratoria will stock different clothes; usually suited to the most popular music genre in the area. These clothes will give you some resistance against a Station, so don’t be afraid to cover your bases, and mix that Classical Tuxedo with those Hip-Hop hi-tops. Clothing is split into Headgear, Tops, Bottoms, Shoes, and Accessories. Anyone can wear any item, although it might be argued that not all clothing is suitable for all Musician types.

Shops, The Internet, and Piracy
What with Oratoria being in a high-commercial age, nearly every town or city you'll visit will have food, clothing, and item shops of some description. While the names and types of items will most likely vary, you'll very rarely be in situations where you're denied a common service or item.
You'll also encounter computers and wireless signals often throughout Airon's travels. Your Sound Machine can hook up with these, letting you backup your data (essentially saving. If your Band gets wasted, you'll restart at the last place you connected to the Net), and perform a few online functions. You can check a newsfeed (that'll fill you in on important events, more often than not the event that you should be involved in to progress the plotline), and later on access a Pirate downloading service.
This service will let you obtain Riffs for free, and the listing of Riffs cycles often, yielding even some rare ones. However, don't think this comes without consequence. Because of the way the economy works, buying (or should I say STEALING D=<) anything from the Pirating service will raise prices in shops everywhere else. Use Pirating with caution; overdo it, and you won't even be able to afford basic healing items any more...

Battles and Special Attacks
Battles operate in a standard RPG fare; your Band of characters is pitted against a Band of enemies, and combat takes place until one Band is Silenced or flees. The battle is turn-based, the fastest character going first.
On a character’s turn, they have the option to use their weapon’s standard attack, an equipped Riff, or a Symphony.
With any attack, an action command must be used to make is successful. These are similar to the action commands in Paper Mario, with timed button presses, direction tilts, or some combination of the two. More powerful attacks require more complex action commands. The sounds that Riffs produce give something of a clue as to what kind of rhythm you need to perform the commands.

The Symphony Command
A Symphony is a special attack that can only be performed if 2 or more characters are able to battle. They can’t be previously engaged in any other moves (you can’t perform a Symphony with another player who is casting a spell, or defending, for example). The Symphony can only be instigated by the Band Leader (which is defaulted to Airon Shayne, although you may change this if you wish).
Symphonies are learned from Scores, which are found all over Oratoria. You only need to have a Score in your Inventory, and you’ll automatically learn the Symphony. When one has started, a cinematic of the attack takes place, along with a more unique action command minigame, longer and more complex than the standard ones. The more characters participating in the attack, the harder the action command minigame gets, but the damage output will be much higher.

Characters and Locations
Band Members
The initial character you play as will be the one described in Birth of a Wave Warrior. The game will let you choose your initial instrument type, and Station. Later in the game, you will be given the option of learning a second instrument.

There would be say, 20 scenarios in the game, around 15 of which revolve around a character that will join your Band once the scenario is completed. You band roster caps at 6 (10 is a little high in retrospect), so you can't have them all. You don't have to accept them into your party straight away, but once you've committed a member to your party; you're in for the long haul. Maybe you can switch them around in the endgame.

Party members have a preset Station, and usually only a single weapon type, although some can use two. On very rare occasions, a character will have a unique instrument that cannot be upgraded, or switched.

Band Leader: Airon Shayne
Instrument: Variable
Genre of Choice: Variable
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/2411/...ynekk1.jpg
18, from Bakersfield, Analogue. Very much the easy going guy, and more or less completely disinterested in music. That is, until he sees a Band perform live, and gets some Wave Warrior gear on the cheap. Now he’s all about getting the most kickass Band in all of Oratoria. Thing is, he’s not totally sure why. Will he get himself embroiled in the war of the two countries? Despite not looking androgynous per se, his choice of attire has had him mistaken for a girl once or twice.

Member 01: Keith Steelmaw
Instrument: Bass Guitar
Genre of Choice: Alternative Rock
http://art1.server06.sheezyart.com/image...724920.png
27, an unemployed ex Band member of Screamin’ Typhoon – a fairly decent Death Metal group. He was ejected from the Band, under a strategic decision (They decided to replace him with a second drummer. Completely unnecessary music-wise, but they liked the extra attack power. There’s also the issue of him diverging in genre, but he’d gloss over that if you asked him.); so now he hangs out in a rather… unkempt apartment downtown in Candlemass, playing out old riffs from back in the day. He seems rather content, but surely there must be something that can rekindle his sense of adventure?

Member 02: Wallace Slade
Instrument: Microphone
Genre of Choice: Rap
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4074/...udedk3.png
21, although he looks around 16. Hails from East Coast, on the Analogue side. Charged with imparting the tales of his ancestors to the rest of Oratoria (they do this with one choice individual every generation; interestingly, they don’t return…). He started out with great gusto, but distance and lack of money has made him a mixture of irritable and hungry. Hating his given name, he insists on being called Trick-Master S, but most just call him Slade.

Member 03: ???
Instrument: Drums
Genre of Choice: Salsa

Member 04: ???
Instrument: Brass
Genre of Choice: Jazz

Member 05: Cecilia Loreto
Instrument: Lead Guitar
Genre of Choice: Electronica
A girl with a bright and peppy disposition, but she is occasionally prone to violent outbursts. She had a rather successful child-star career, but it was cut short due to her brutally rending her stage manager (apparently she brought her the the wrong outfit...) Several years in prison and rehab later; and upon release, any knowledge of her had faded completely into the background. She's suppressed her... unhinged tendencies with investing her time and money in fashion and complex reverse-engineering projects. Her weapon has long been scrapped, but she'd love nothing more to go back into the Wave Warrior circuit. Here's hoping her rage doesn't resurface...

Member 06: Vanessa Cava
Instrument: Strings
Genre of Choice: Neo Classical
36, hometown undisclosed, although she has accomodation at Digital Palace. She's been a hired gun for the longest time; and as a result, she can comfortably say that she's "seen it all, done it all". Vanessa enjoyes her work (as much as you could enjoy killing people for money, anyway), but the lack of surprises leaves her very easily bored (I want to say she has Ennui, but I don't know enough about the condition. I'll research it). She has very little interest in the affairs of other people - it helps to not get attached to potential hits. While her station grants healing capabilities, she'd be damned if she used them of her own free will... Her skills are formidable and useful, but persuading her to join Airon's band is going to take some work.

Members 07 – 15 are as of yet unconfirmed.

Enemies and Bosses
During the journey, Airon and his Band members will encounter some foes, who will (obviously) try to hinder progress. With nothing else for it, you must fight them! Many foes use the same kind of instruments your Band can wield, but there are other, more unique instruments that you might encounter.

Enemy: Violent Violinist
An Orchestra member with a seriously bad attitude. Someone must have spilt his caviar. Despite having a long-range weapon, they favour straight-foward, powerful attacks, as opposed to sideline fighting. As they take more damage, their attacks get more ferocious to compensate the diminishing volume. Take them out in as few blows as possible!
Station: Classical, Latin Influences (While their main station is their 'element' per se, Influences allow them to use abilities normally reserved for other stations.)
Instrument: Violin Crossbow

Enemy: Cymbalina (Tambourina)
Wielding her instruments with deadly grace and beauty, the Cymbalina foe subverts her opponents with dainty dance moves, then follows up with a super-sharp CymbalChakram attack. If you want to survive, you're gonna want to stop her from dancing. Any misgivings you may have about hitting girls may hold you back... Her big sister, Tambourina, is also one to watch out for.
Station: Dance, Rock Influences
Instrument: CymbalChakram (TambourineChakram)

Enemy: Mr. Mariachi
There's no time for a siesta when fighting this jolly gent - completely true to the Latin Station, this guy hits for high damage with his Maraca-Tonfas. He'll try to boost his attack before landing a blow sure to send your Volume packing. There has to be a way to turn his sheer attack mentality against him...
Station: Latin
Instrument: Maraca-Tonfas

Enemy: Tricksta
Not everyone in Oratoria wields an instrument as a weapon - some use even stranger items. Take the Tricksta, for example; who abuses and ensares his foes with a razor-edged Yo-yo. He lacks a Station (He doesn't play an instrument, but his musical preferences give him some slight resistances), but that doesn't make him a Pushover by any means. A well-aimed shot can incapacitate a Band Member easily.
Station: N/A (Slight resistance to Dance)
Weapon (Not Instrument, hurr): 'Bleedin' Edge' Yo-yo

Enemy: Home Run Thug
The Varsity Baseball team has gone bad. Having spent all their funds on sporting equipment (and purchasing illegal steriods), they don't have the cash to buy Battle Instruments. Instead, they fall back on their set of re-enforced Baseball Bats. A hit from one would hurt a whole lot, but thankfully most lack the strength and speed to cause too much damage. Using projectile attacks would be ill-advised; they'll smash 'em right back at you!
Station: N/A (Slight resistance to Jazz)
Weapon: 'Bases Loaded' Aluminium Bat

Enemy: Nosegrind Thug
A very clique group of individuals, NG Thugs don't warm kindly to anyone on their turf. Thing is, they consider EVERYWHERE as their turf. The skateboards they ride make them swifter than most; it'll be an effort to outspeed them. That said, a good hit will knock them to the ground; a sitting duck for your well-composed punishment.
Station: N/A (Slight resistance to Rock)
Weapon: 'Shred Devil' Skateboard

Enemy: Fashionista
A mobile phone in one hand, a multitude of rings and bracelets wrapped around the other; the Fashionista is always in the know. Whether she is actually stylish is a different matter. Being so involved in the fashion world, she's developed a very sharp tongue. So sharp, she can use it as a weapon. Indeed, her insults take physical form, and claw away at your self-confidence (and volume)! However, she's not especially resilient, so hit her hard before she cusses you on your hairstyle.
Station: N/A (Some resistance to Hip-Hop)
Weapon: 'Silver Server' Sharp Tongue

Boss Band: Royal Flush
A Jazzy Rock 'n Roll band, employed as the main attraction at the Gambit Stave Casino in Swing City. The band members are simply known as Diamond, Spade, Club, and Heart; refusing to divulge their true names. They work best as a team - their signiture move, The Shuffle - does more damage with more participating members. Cutting down one of them will reduce their effectiveness, so focus your attacks!

Diamond is the band leader. Confident and headstrong, he has a major adoration for all things expensive and shiny. His custom-built (read: diamond-studded) Schmitar Sax is always kept shiny and sharp. Try not to get cleaved in two.
Station: Jazz, Rock Influences
Instrument: Schmitar Sax

Spade is something of a dark horse, but his straightforwardness, and his apathetic attitude to everything but himself makes him popular with a lot of (foolish) young women. Too bad he's dating Heart...
Station: Rock, Jazz Influences
Instrument: Stratocaster Spear

Club is very quiet, but few can drum louder; his Volume is extremely hard to reduce. Because of this, he tends to fade into the background on many occasions, but has a certain... aura about him that drives his fellow band members onwards. Underestimating him would be unwise.
Station: Rock
Instrument: Great Gaia Drumkit

Heart is very much a femme fatale, but more than a little grouchy and miserable. Her good looks and stunning voice has netted her many previous boyfriends, but they all get swallowed up in her personality (This may or may not be literal). Spade appears to be getting on just fine, however.
Station: Jazz
Instrument: Phono Whip

Boss Band: Popul'aire
An ambient electronica duet, taking the Analogue indie scene by storm (albeit a little slowly), all the hottest clubs are playing their music right now... just not at peak hours. Phillip Trille and Gustav Santur have been partners for a good 5 years on this project, and although they're only surfacing now, they've at least enjoyed each other's company.

Phillip is the ambient side of the duo. His flute has been passed down in his family for generations, but Gustav gave it a technical tuneup, making it capable of producing synth-generated sounds. In battle, it turns into an electrified rapier. A good jolt may short-circuit your Riffs...
Station: Classical
Instrument: Rapier Flute GS2

Gustav is the electronica partner. From a background of a family working in an electronics repair company, he's always been good with gadgets, but the firm always had a No Battle Instruments policy, so there was no real work; except from some of the more shady jobs he did on the down-low. He was eventually found out by his father, and essentially kicked from both the family, and the business. Down and out, he met up with Phillip, was offered lodging and food in return for company and his handiwork (hey, we all get lonely); and they've been tight ever since. His portable keyboard converts into a laser rifle. Despite it being portable, it's a little heavy, so it's Phillip's job to cover him while he takes shots.
Station: Dance
Instrument: KeyShot 3000

Boss Band: Ghetto Rainbow
Just a solo artist, but that doesn't mean she should be underestimated. The sound is admittedly rathe unique, but whether it's to everyones' tastes remains to be seen.

Suga Shaniqua, a pop princess/urban diva looking for employment at the Flow-n-Go Bar. What she lacks in musical skill, she far makes up for in DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE BOOTY. This makes her rather popular - provided she doesn't start singing. Her microphone is attached to a set of blinged-out Brass Knuckles; so she really packs a punch. If she thinks she's winning, she'll finish it with the 'Suga Rush'. In which case you can just kiss your butt goodbye.
Station: Hip-Hop, Dance Influences
Instrument: 'One-Two, One-Two' MicrophoneKnuckles

Boss Band: ???
We know next to nothing about this band, except one thing. At least one of it's members is Death. Yeah, I'm scared too.

Soul Shinigami (A.K.A. Opereaper); the Groovy Grim Reaper, a Funky Fiend with powers over death. Not a whole lot is known about this entity - mostly because those who encounter Soul tend to die horribly. No, I don't mean Silenced; they actually DIE. It's baritone voice is a real killer. Really real.
Station: Classical, Jazz Influences
Instrument: ???

Locations
Oratoria is a large, and diverse place, with many sights and features; both natural and human-influenced. Explore everywhere and make discoveries both musically and geographically!

Bakersfield Suburbs
Home to Airon Shayne. It’s a small area, with only a couple of residential buildings; but it has a cafe/grocers, a general store, and a high-school. The university is in Folk City, to the south. To the north are the Bluegrass Hills. A bus route runs through the area, and can take you to a couple of locations in the vicinity, but if you want to leave the province; you’re going to have to find your own mode of transport.

Folk City
As cities go, it’s pretty low-scale. It has all the amenities you’d want or need; it’s just not done in a particularly flash manor. Hey, it’s not like it matters; the residents are nice enough. Although recently there’s been something of a crime wave, with small gangs surfacing here and there. They might be good targets to practice wielding your Instruments on.

Bluegrass Hills
Gentle, sloping grassland, completely un-ironically tinted blue. That’s the nature of Station Energy for you. You can take the main road that runs through it to get to the next town, or take a side-road, and leave the province. It’s a popular meeting place for rookie Wave Warriors, so you won’t be alone (or out of practice).

Swing City
An expansive mass of concrete and skyscrapers, home to some of the snazziest entertainment venues this side of Oratoria. You won’t want to pass up visiting the Gambit Stave Casino, where you will surely be parted from your troubles. And your wallet. Hey, it was weighing you down, anyway.

East Coast
A stretch of buildings, parks, and temples in a pleasant maritime setting. The town’s people have a tradition of sending a vessel out into the world, so he or she can impart the wise knowledge of their people to others. No one has ‘failed’ in this task per-se, but none of the candidates they send out return. Where on earth do they all go?

Candlemass
To say the general feel of this town was ‘morose’ would be something of an understatement. All of the residents you’ll run into (that is, the ones that care enough to venture out into the sunlight) will be some of the most depressed-looking people you’ll ever meet. They have a well-developed sense of style and comfort, however. There’s a large range of shopping facilities and restaurants, a couple of their fashion labels have taken nearby cities by storm, and the apartments (no standalone houses here. It’s high-rise or the highway, my friend) redefine ‘luxury’.

I'll update this with Sprites and other information in due course.

[Geo the Fox]

Holy christ. ... Uh. I'll read it later and give a better comment. ... Wow, that's a lot.

[Rakia]

Lemme know if you need any help.

[triptych]

holy cocks thats a lot to read

edit: from what i skimmed through though, this looks like it'd gonna be amazing when you finish. can't wait to see more

[Nemica]

Okay, that's a lot of text. But it sounds good. Hell, it's A LOT
better than the "Alex saves the world" crap you're reading in
RPG Maker forums. With XP that's gonna be fun. If you need
some Ruby scripts, I might find some.

[Yoder]

I like the combination of Paper Mario (or Elite Beat Agents, as it were with Symphonies) action commands with Mega Man Battle Network's grid equipment system.

This looks like it'll be a great game.

I did notice one thing. While most of the genres of music you listed are pretty all-inclusive, Latin is very specific. Maybe Latin could be called Ethnic, being divided into Latin, Asian, Middle-Eastern, etc...

[GrooveMan.exe]

I went for Latin over Ethnic so it's pretty clear and obvious what's being conveyed. Although it's nice to have the terminolgy complex, I still want it to be clear as to what I mean (Amplitude, Wavelength and BPM were plain old Attack, Defense, Speed before I was needled to go with a more stylised choice). People find it easier to pin down what Latin 'is' as opposed to Ethnic or World music in general.

But your point is duly noted, I may well change it.

[Yoder]

Being able to associate with the names genre is important, so I see your reasoning.

Just a random idea: If you plan to incorporate aerial enemies (and have them attack and be attacked differently), you could call attacks that are able to hit them "treble." Attacks that can only hit ground enemies would then be "bass." Attacks able to hit both could be called "clef."

[Alpha Six]

remember that i'm here if you need me to hash out some designs, bro.

i'm hella watchin this project.