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Announcement
xxxxNecropolis stuffxxxx
I was running through some old papers and I noticed that I made this for Necropolis when it was first released. Which is a long time ago. I had meant to show Jude this forever ago, but it just escaped me. Little sketches are a way to show my appreciation for games and stuff that I like.
If you haven't played the demo I really suggest you try it.
http://rpgmaker.net/games/2581/
http://necropolis-rpg.com/
I also want to talk about the Rainbow Nightmare: Libra KickStarter(it bombed yo). But it's a lot of stuff, and I want to share my experience(good/bad) with the community but I am going to wait for a couple days because it's a lot of stuff. The intent is to give people a better understanding of the process and give an overview of the many mistakes that I made.
So I hope ya'll tune in for that.
If you haven't played the demo I really suggest you try it.
http://rpgmaker.net/games/2581/
http://necropolis-rpg.com/
I also want to talk about the Rainbow Nightmare: Libra KickStarter(it bombed yo). But it's a lot of stuff, and I want to share my experience(good/bad) with the community but I am going to wait for a couple days because it's a lot of stuff. The intent is to give people a better understanding of the process and give an overview of the many mistakes that I made.
So I hope ya'll tune in for that.
Announcement
super long mega friendship post
TFT
78 post(s) 
- 11/11/2012 05:34 PM
Game Design
Game Design
gunna jive about Love and War for a bit. i saved ya'll a seat.
DOWNLOAD THIS VIDDIOT GAM LOVE AND WAR OKAY BRO/BRONETTES
First off this must be addressed. Lavie and Ryan need to hook up! Throughout this whole video game experience this is all you want to see. And being able to have players care about what becomes of characters is just, incredibly rare!
Ryan is a tool for not wanting to get with a super babe like Lavie. Ryan gets the bird. -Bird-
Whoever did the voices of Ryan and Lavie have amazingly hot voices. Why can't everyone on earth sound like this? ~boing~
I am not a fan of doing reviews, giving stars, ranking a game, because that stuff is almost 99% not accurate/waste of time. So I'm going to just float around a bit and drop some information and opinions on the game. It's been re-released with:
Voice acting.
Improved mapping.
Battle system enhancements ????
My real question is, does it justify re-downloading and playing the same game with minor enhancements? I had downloaded the game right when it was re-released, thinking that it had extended content, but I haven't got the chance to really play through until recently.
To start to end, it does not have extended content. I think there were possibly sidequests? but I didn't do them. I'm a big fan of the game for several reasons, I can't say I was totally disappointed, but I really really wanted to see more content, versus, going over old content and fixing things, visually while other things weren't really touched on, that I'll talk about in a bit.
The mapping didn't really hurt the game or really improve it, simply because when you play a game like this from a players perspective, you aren't playing it for that reason. I know plenty of people who are very critical about voice acting, I thought it was a nice addition, to be honest with you it added a lot to the game. It got me to actually re-play through pretty slowly while enjoying the voice work.
Please do not expect visuals blending in harmony like Phantom Legacy.
One thing I don't understand is that, from my experience the battle balancing weren't touched at all. Uh, you understand very quickly when you play LAW it is mostly about character growth and not mechanics. The thing when you do this, you need to either take out battles or make them very very easy.
A short play through of the intro dungeon. 1.g8 voice 2. dat battle system.
In LAW, the battle system does consist of you bursting down many enemies with your most powerful skills. The problem is, there are usually large stacks of enemies and you gain absolutely no AOE abilities to be able to regulate large numbers of bad guys.
Skills often miss, while your enemies will be able to crit you often. Rendering your skills close to useless. Yeah, like I said, when the main battle mechanic is burning through your skills, but they're missing. You will die. You have no control over this. Probably the worst thing you can do with battles.
You can only go so far, until enemies will just drop you. You have no dedicated healer, so you need to rely on having one member of your team of 3 usually to spam items. There is simply not enough variety in abilities. I found myself having to go into the game, and balancing things out manually. If you're going to re-do a game and improve on maps, and add voices, uh it's probably more of a priority to either take out battles or balance them. Players shouldn't be frustrated over things they can't control, not because of bad choices, simply because of broken mechanics.
This will not help you.
That is the games biggest flaw for me, was really having a blast with the game but kept struggling with the battles, and eventually the enemies got so strong I couldn't proceed, and it jerks you away from the game.
These are really minor complaints, it's just kind of ???
Mixed art styles with some cutscenes. Old ones weren't replaced basically. Kind of awkward.
Main characters had cutom art portraits, but they weren't used except for Juno. I didn't understand the logic behind this.
Mapping and voice, while there were still a lot of clashing visuals. Purge all facesets.
Where da custom art brah? come on...
The most amazing thing about this game is, the creator introduces enjoyable characters for you to experience, and he actually gives you time with them, and they're allowed to evolve and bloom and it makes the experience that much better. That is something I don't see people doing, and that's giving time for the player to learn about the characters. And there is plenty of that in LAW.
Like I was saying earlier, by the end of the game you want certain people to hook up, or settle a score, or find some kind of closure, and that's really really good writing to be able to produce that effect. And half of that is because he gave room for the player to learn about the characters.
My favorite characters are Juno and Lavie. Juno is just so interesting, and you don't know if he's a jerk off or a nice guy, and he talks weird, and he has this clouded past that you want to know about.
The re-release is fun, I think if you're a fan and you haven't played it in a while it's worth downloading. If you simply haven't and want to play a game that has very entertaining characters I really suggest this game. Personally I would have rather liked a second act, vs the new maps and voice work, because the game isn't really about revolutionary battle mechanics, or well done mapping.
I wish this game could be experienced by people beyond the scope of the rm community, because it's such a nice ride, and I rarely get excited for rm games because they do much of the same.
Naturally it hasn't got very much buzz, so I wanted to take some time and talk about it because I really do think it's worth your time if you want to play a nice game.
I do very much applaud your work, sir!
If you like this sort of thing, please consider subscribing. Regardless if you're a drifter or a well known person here. Subbing gives me a general understanding of what kind of content to push, if any. Thanks!
Dat Lavie voice
First off this must be addressed. Lavie and Ryan need to hook up! Throughout this whole video game experience this is all you want to see. And being able to have players care about what becomes of characters is just, incredibly rare!
Ryan is a tool for not wanting to get with a super babe like Lavie. Ryan gets the bird. -Bird-
Whoever did the voices of Ryan and Lavie have amazingly hot voices. Why can't everyone on earth sound like this? ~boing~
I am not a fan of doing reviews, giving stars, ranking a game, because that stuff is almost 99% not accurate/waste of time. So I'm going to just float around a bit and drop some information and opinions on the game. It's been re-released with:
Voice acting.
Improved mapping.
Battle system enhancements ????
My real question is, does it justify re-downloading and playing the same game with minor enhancements? I had downloaded the game right when it was re-released, thinking that it had extended content, but I haven't got the chance to really play through until recently.
To start to end, it does not have extended content. I think there were possibly sidequests? but I didn't do them. I'm a big fan of the game for several reasons, I can't say I was totally disappointed, but I really really wanted to see more content, versus, going over old content and fixing things, visually while other things weren't really touched on, that I'll talk about in a bit.
The mapping didn't really hurt the game or really improve it, simply because when you play a game like this from a players perspective, you aren't playing it for that reason. I know plenty of people who are very critical about voice acting, I thought it was a nice addition, to be honest with you it added a lot to the game. It got me to actually re-play through pretty slowly while enjoying the voice work.
Please do not expect visuals blending in harmony like Phantom Legacy.
One thing I don't understand is that, from my experience the battle balancing weren't touched at all. Uh, you understand very quickly when you play LAW it is mostly about character growth and not mechanics. The thing when you do this, you need to either take out battles or make them very very easy.
A short play through of the intro dungeon. 1.g8 voice 2. dat battle system.
In LAW, the battle system does consist of you bursting down many enemies with your most powerful skills. The problem is, there are usually large stacks of enemies and you gain absolutely no AOE abilities to be able to regulate large numbers of bad guys.
Skills often miss, while your enemies will be able to crit you often. Rendering your skills close to useless. Yeah, like I said, when the main battle mechanic is burning through your skills, but they're missing. You will die. You have no control over this. Probably the worst thing you can do with battles.
You can only go so far, until enemies will just drop you. You have no dedicated healer, so you need to rely on having one member of your team of 3 usually to spam items. There is simply not enough variety in abilities. I found myself having to go into the game, and balancing things out manually. If you're going to re-do a game and improve on maps, and add voices, uh it's probably more of a priority to either take out battles or balance them. Players shouldn't be frustrated over things they can't control, not because of bad choices, simply because of broken mechanics.
This will not help you.
That is the games biggest flaw for me, was really having a blast with the game but kept struggling with the battles, and eventually the enemies got so strong I couldn't proceed, and it jerks you away from the game.
These are really minor complaints, it's just kind of ???
Mixed art styles with some cutscenes. Old ones weren't replaced basically. Kind of awkward.
Main characters had cutom art portraits, but they weren't used except for Juno. I didn't understand the logic behind this.
Mapping and voice, while there were still a lot of clashing visuals. Purge all facesets.
Where da custom art brah? come on...
The most amazing thing about this game is, the creator introduces enjoyable characters for you to experience, and he actually gives you time with them, and they're allowed to evolve and bloom and it makes the experience that much better. That is something I don't see people doing, and that's giving time for the player to learn about the characters. And there is plenty of that in LAW.
Like I was saying earlier, by the end of the game you want certain people to hook up, or settle a score, or find some kind of closure, and that's really really good writing to be able to produce that effect. And half of that is because he gave room for the player to learn about the characters.
My favorite characters are Juno and Lavie. Juno is just so interesting, and you don't know if he's a jerk off or a nice guy, and he talks weird, and he has this clouded past that you want to know about.
The re-release is fun, I think if you're a fan and you haven't played it in a while it's worth downloading. If you simply haven't and want to play a game that has very entertaining characters I really suggest this game. Personally I would have rather liked a second act, vs the new maps and voice work, because the game isn't really about revolutionary battle mechanics, or well done mapping.
I wish this game could be experienced by people beyond the scope of the rm community, because it's such a nice ride, and I rarely get excited for rm games because they do much of the same.
Naturally it hasn't got very much buzz, so I wanted to take some time and talk about it because I really do think it's worth your time if you want to play a nice game.
I do very much applaud your work, sir!
If you like this sort of thing, please consider subscribing. Regardless if you're a drifter or a well known person here. Subbing gives me a general understanding of what kind of content to push, if any. Thanks!
Dat Lavie voice
Game Design
How come people don't explain their features? They just..
- TFT
- 17 post(s)
- 09/23/2012 04:29 PM
*insert smithing mini feature because I hear it's cool w/o any reason*
I have been thinking things over, and trying to re-work my Tumblr page to give people a better understanding of how the game is represented, how does it feel, and what the game feels like in certain ways. I made kind of a crude image and I want to go over a few of these.
The point of this is, I'm trying to grasp certain aspects of game design and utilize these for my own project. So in a way, I feel if you like these games on some level, you might very much enjoy Rainbow Nightmare: Libra.
I mean, in a weird way it's sort of a list of features. But really, it's me kind of explaining why I have these features in place. So, to tl;dr
Features
-RPG that will focus around robots and machinery.
-Bright visual style.
-Robotically themed characters.
-Class dancing battle system.
-Different game mechanics on the fly /driving/platforming/exploration under one theme.
-Giant FRIKKIN BOSSES WITH TIMED PATTERNS!
-Branching character stories for you to choose from.
-Absurd cast.
-Game themed around robotics, humanity, scientific evolution and growth.
what dew? if you do not subscribe you do not like things like mega man or contra. how is tat possible????
I have been thinking things over, and trying to re-work my Tumblr page to give people a better understanding of how the game is represented, how does it feel, and what the game feels like in certain ways. I made kind of a crude image and I want to go over a few of these.
The point of this is, I'm trying to grasp certain aspects of game design and utilize these for my own project. So in a way, I feel if you like these games on some level, you might very much enjoy Rainbow Nightmare: Libra.
- Transformers:The way the Transformers are represented in comic and tv series is more that they're robotic humanoid people. They have personalities, likes
and hates, etc. That is really what I love about it, they're actual people but just happen to be robots. and they play on it a little, calling their eyeballs optics, etc-etc and they just happen to "transform" which has very little to do with Transformers.
I write my characters like this in a sense, where I don't want a city full of BEEP BOP BOOP robots, they're just like people. I don't see people doing this very often, they'll minimize the idea of robotics. If it's in a game, it's always in a factory, and it's a small section. And 99% they are infact "beep bop boop" type. I haven't seen a game yet designed around machinery and robotic humanoids. DEY BLEED OILZ
- Breath of Fire 2: This is more of a visual representation. I always like the bright pixel style to this game. I always felt like the BOF series in itself were terrible RPG's. I adore the graphical style, and the direction they take characters because they aren't usually humanoids, and they're interesting in that sense.
You play BOF because of the animations and the bright visuals.
- Mega Man:Mega Man is another example of utilizing games that are themed around robotics, and mechanical locations. MM series is one of my favorite game series ever, much like a lot of people. So references a lot of things from this, and trying to bring something close to MM through an RPG format. Not so much gameplay, but the spirit of the concept. Visual design basically.
- FFX2 LOLUMAD??FFX2 has a great battle system. I had a lot of fun playing though it. The concept of utilizing classes and dancing between a bunch to maximize combat was incredibly refreshing. There were some crucial flaws with this system, but overall it was a fun experience. I want battles to have a strategic impact, but at the same time an enjoyable experience and not a pointless grind.
- Battletoads:First off if you have not played this ancient relic, gofrurselfff!!!!!!!!!! Battletoads is, and in my opinion still one of the most interesting and enjoyable concepts in video game history, especially for the time. This game utilized many different styles, fighting, platforming, driving, under one theme and man was it incredible. That's what I want to do is bring different playstyles into one RPG format.
- Contra:One of the best game series on the SNES/SEGA/NES of all time. This game series basically shoves down the concept of giant large bosses with patterns is a REQUIREMENT to make a game fucking rad down your throat. And, yes it's true, when you have a game series that has a giant FUCKING ROBOT RUNNING ON THE SIDE OF A TRAIN AND THEN STOPPING IT WITH ITS BARE HANDS! You know it's good.
- FF6FF6 had a beautiful and amazing branching character system that, for some reason got left in the dust. Having the choice of picking specific character groups and having them branch to explore different places, meet different characters, etc was great. RN:Libra has character branching at the start after the tutorial, and you'll get to do something similar.
- Wizard of Oz:Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz are two of my favorite movies. Um, The concept of grouping together with unlikely friends and obscure heroes is so appealing to me. And that is the reason I liked the movies so much. You group with a tin man, a scarecrow, lion, moosehead, chicken, etc.
I love abstract grouping because of these movies. Characters teaming up most likely won't be normal "aged samurai w scar across face"
- Metropolis:I should have put this first, but this is kind of the original concept design for the whole thing. If you haven't seen this movie, shut up, go download it because you just, have to watch it. I cannot even explain in words.
I mean, in a weird way it's sort of a list of features. But really, it's me kind of explaining why I have these features in place. So, to tl;dr
Features
-RPG that will focus around robots and machinery.
-Bright visual style.
-Robotically themed characters.
-Class dancing battle system.
-Different game mechanics on the fly /driving/platforming/exploration under one theme.
-Giant FRIKKIN BOSSES WITH TIMED PATTERNS!
-Branching character stories for you to choose from.
-Absurd cast.
-Game themed around robotics, humanity, scientific evolution and growth.
what dew? if you do not subscribe you do not like things like mega man or contra. how is tat possible????
Progress Report
giant dick rocket.
yeah, so the character page here on RMN has been updated sort of. Just a little cleaner in my opinion. I had made these for my tumblr, so hopefully I can get that updated character page as well, but who knows, seriously tumblr is a d---- and does nothing i want 99% of the time.
this place is very casual for me in a writing sense. i try to keep my own tumblr updated with stuff i find interesting, it's a weird balance, and i find it difficult to blog in multi places and not just "cut and paste" job. someone asked how the game is coming along and i will answer kind of lazy/seriously.
time is really short for me, it keeps getting taken away from me left and right. i mean, it is difficult to explain this to people sometimes, because they think i am a teen hume with 0 things on my plate. i think the rainbow nightmare game for what it is right now, is very good. um, i think a crucial reason for this is because i am not pushing anything. i've been around and the hype phase isn't really a problem, sometimes people want to push a product because people want it bad enough, and you rush, and ultimately the quality suffers.
it literally inches along. um, sometimes you have to sit down and realize what people and designers are really doing. um, the main goal is to provide someone with an entertaining experience. to create something for other people to enjoy. uhh, dick stroking isn't really anything, a circle jerk isn't anything. if you think about it we don't get nothin'. i mean for me personally it's half and half. i get to be a creative human, i get to touch on all these mediums, as an artist it's just the fucking eden of creation.
you get to produce storyboards
you get to produce pixel art
you can produce music
you get to produce character writing
location design
story
gameplay mechanics
it's just, a treasure trove of creativity. i don't need people telling me it looks good, or you know pats on the back because it's not about that. it's a means for me to create and at the same time touch another human(sexually lolno) through an interactive medium. um, that's fucking cool dude.
i know there are people out there who make things for circle jerking, or round of applause, i mean, i've seen it. it kind of makes me laugh when i hear people bitching about how stressed they are over game design, how their script isn't working, how their mapper bailed from their 10 team core design team(lol) and it's just, dude some people miss the big picture and i just laugh, and i know for a fact that there are some people out there laughing too. please don't tell me you're stressed by trying to mix stolen chipsets or upset your mining script from yanfly isn't working. nothing is more annoying than that. please, you're doing like 2% of work(accurate statistics check www.dadstats.com).
it's totally cool you use these methods. idc, but please don't say it's stressing you out. like, it's insulting. sometimes you just need to accept that you're doing half of the work, and that's totally fine. it's like, i tell people i love FF7, but i don't blindly tell them i love EVERYTHING about ff7. because i think the midgar part is cool, and everything else sucks. don't say you're stressed or overwhelmed, it's ridiculous.
as an artistic person you expand yourself through different mediums trying to figure out what's right for you. as a kid i wanted to do film, i wanted to write comics, um, i wanted to publish books, and all sorts of things and it would take me to one side of earth to the next seeing where it could fit in and i was never really content.
video game design, as i said, a shower of mediums all over you, it's like mateui in the GW mod forum, and there are 1000 babes waiting to be modded -boing-
it's that good, and i want every one of you who happen to stumble on this blog, to take a step back, relax, think about what you're doing and pat yourself on the back. you've arrived to the best medium on earth.
also....subscribe lolfg.
this place is very casual for me in a writing sense. i try to keep my own tumblr updated with stuff i find interesting, it's a weird balance, and i find it difficult to blog in multi places and not just "cut and paste" job. someone asked how the game is coming along and i will answer kind of lazy/seriously.
time is really short for me, it keeps getting taken away from me left and right. i mean, it is difficult to explain this to people sometimes, because they think i am a teen hume with 0 things on my plate. i think the rainbow nightmare game for what it is right now, is very good. um, i think a crucial reason for this is because i am not pushing anything. i've been around and the hype phase isn't really a problem, sometimes people want to push a product because people want it bad enough, and you rush, and ultimately the quality suffers.
it literally inches along. um, sometimes you have to sit down and realize what people and designers are really doing. um, the main goal is to provide someone with an entertaining experience. to create something for other people to enjoy. uhh, dick stroking isn't really anything, a circle jerk isn't anything. if you think about it we don't get nothin'. i mean for me personally it's half and half. i get to be a creative human, i get to touch on all these mediums, as an artist it's just the fucking eden of creation.
you get to produce storyboards
you get to produce pixel art
you can produce music
you get to produce character writing
location design
story
gameplay mechanics
it's just, a treasure trove of creativity. i don't need people telling me it looks good, or you know pats on the back because it's not about that. it's a means for me to create and at the same time touch another human(sexually lolno) through an interactive medium. um, that's fucking cool dude.
i know there are people out there who make things for circle jerking, or round of applause, i mean, i've seen it. it kind of makes me laugh when i hear people bitching about how stressed they are over game design, how their script isn't working, how their mapper bailed from their 10 team core design team(lol) and it's just, dude some people miss the big picture and i just laugh, and i know for a fact that there are some people out there laughing too. please don't tell me you're stressed by trying to mix stolen chipsets or upset your mining script from yanfly isn't working. nothing is more annoying than that. please, you're doing like 2% of work(accurate statistics check www.dadstats.com).
it's totally cool you use these methods. idc, but please don't say it's stressing you out. like, it's insulting. sometimes you just need to accept that you're doing half of the work, and that's totally fine. it's like, i tell people i love FF7, but i don't blindly tell them i love EVERYTHING about ff7. because i think the midgar part is cool, and everything else sucks. don't say you're stressed or overwhelmed, it's ridiculous.
as an artistic person you expand yourself through different mediums trying to figure out what's right for you. as a kid i wanted to do film, i wanted to write comics, um, i wanted to publish books, and all sorts of things and it would take me to one side of earth to the next seeing where it could fit in and i was never really content.
video game design, as i said, a shower of mediums all over you, it's like mateui in the GW mod forum, and there are 1000 babes waiting to be modded -boing-
it's that good, and i want every one of you who happen to stumble on this blog, to take a step back, relax, think about what you're doing and pat yourself on the back. you've arrived to the best medium on earth.
also....subscribe lolfg.
Game Design
Steam Greenlight overview. UMAHBRAH???
WAT IT DEW YOLO!!!
Yeah, so if you've been living under a rock, Steam Greenlight is absorbing our existence through digital technology. If you don't know what Steam Greenlight is (???) It is basically people (the masses) vote a game that is submitted on Steam and if it gets enough votes (although I have heard from "various" sources that is not a total deciding factor)it will be released on Steam.
Now, there was a very-very small window of opportunity to submit your game for free. But as the RTP/joke/knock off games came rolling in the first few days, Steam Greenlight almost instantly installed a 100 dollar fee in order to post your game to regulate the garbage circulating in. Basically, what I'm saying is all of the baddies, with 1hour projects fucked it up for the rest of us. I knew a few people lucky enough to get in on this before they shut the door, and it's a shame I couldn't get in as well. It's hard to blame SG for anything, except trying to establish quality control.
The 100 dollars gets your project up and running, much like a well needed advertisement. Why do I say that? Because the 100 dollars does not assure you that it will be caught by Steam.
Now, the 100 dollars goes to charity if you decide to submit your game. Do I care that it goes to charity? Not really, it may sound cruel, but to be honest with you dude, there are rich people throwing money into charity daily, please put that money into circulation for indie devs instead.
The only problem I have with this, is all of those shitty joke games, the RTP RPG garbage that literally fucked the rest of us, still get to be placed in circulation. So, free ride for them. I really do not understand the reasoning behind this at all. So yet again, YOLO RTP GAMES! From what I've seen, a lot of them have vanished, so it is working as intended with the 100zenny price tag, and a certain quality is being established.
On the upside, I knew a few people who got their games in, and I'm relieved. There are a mixed bunch of games at SG right now. A few look interesting to be fair.
Flash forward, Steam Greenlight has released their first 10 games:
Black Mesa
Cry of Fear
Dream
Heroes & Generals
Kenshi
McPixel
No More Room in Hell
Project Zomboid
Routine
Towns
As it stands now I think Steam Greenlight is a VERY VERY powerful advertising tool, but beyond that, not much else. The fact of the matter is, if your game is good, regardless, Valve/Steam will find it.
What are your opinions on this so far? Is the price tag too high? Do you think SG dun-did-gewd by dropping the price tag to insure that it's for serious devs only? Is that the kind of regulation you like to see? Do you even know this existed?
If you like to be kept up to date and in the "know" please subscribe, comment etc, the fact of the matter is I can't compete with the blogs here, so please fo-da-lov-o-g subscribe!
PS: Tumblr is updated check it ya'll!
Yeah, so if you've been living under a rock, Steam Greenlight is absorbing our existence through digital technology. If you don't know what Steam Greenlight is (???) It is basically people (the masses) vote a game that is submitted on Steam and if it gets enough votes (although I have heard from "various" sources that is not a total deciding factor)it will be released on Steam.
Now, there was a very-very small window of opportunity to submit your game for free. But as the RTP/joke/knock off games came rolling in the first few days, Steam Greenlight almost instantly installed a 100 dollar fee in order to post your game to regulate the garbage circulating in. Basically, what I'm saying is all of the baddies, with 1hour projects fucked it up for the rest of us. I knew a few people lucky enough to get in on this before they shut the door, and it's a shame I couldn't get in as well. It's hard to blame SG for anything, except trying to establish quality control.
The 100 dollars gets your project up and running, much like a well needed advertisement. Why do I say that? Because the 100 dollars does not assure you that it will be caught by Steam.
Now, the 100 dollars goes to charity if you decide to submit your game. Do I care that it goes to charity? Not really, it may sound cruel, but to be honest with you dude, there are rich people throwing money into charity daily, please put that money into circulation for indie devs instead.
The only problem I have with this, is all of those shitty joke games, the RTP RPG garbage that literally fucked the rest of us, still get to be placed in circulation. So, free ride for them. I really do not understand the reasoning behind this at all. So yet again, YOLO RTP GAMES! From what I've seen, a lot of them have vanished, so it is working as intended with the 100zenny price tag, and a certain quality is being established.
On the upside, I knew a few people who got their games in, and I'm relieved. There are a mixed bunch of games at SG right now. A few look interesting to be fair.
Flash forward, Steam Greenlight has released their first 10 games:
Black Mesa
Cry of Fear
Dream
Heroes & Generals
Kenshi
McPixel
No More Room in Hell
Project Zomboid
Routine
Towns
As it stands now I think Steam Greenlight is a VERY VERY powerful advertising tool, but beyond that, not much else. The fact of the matter is, if your game is good, regardless, Valve/Steam will find it.
What are your opinions on this so far? Is the price tag too high? Do you think SG dun-did-gewd by dropping the price tag to insure that it's for serious devs only? Is that the kind of regulation you like to see? Do you even know this existed?
If you like to be kept up to date and in the "know" please subscribe, comment etc, the fact of the matter is I can't compete with the blogs here, so please fo-da-lov-o-g subscribe!
PS: Tumblr is updated check it ya'll!
Game Design
Announcement
I need to drag Vacant Sky through the mud one more time.
- TFT
- 19 post(s)
- 08/25/2012 06:19 PM
LETS DO DIS!
So, in my previous blog I kind of railed Vacant Sky hard. I don't regret doing it, but as I read it a few days ago, I wasn't as constructive as I could have been. Uh, It's not my motivation in life to rag on people or their creations, like, sometimes it just comes out that way. The idea of creation is a beautiful thing, and that's what sets people apart in many ways.
I wasn't really addressing Vacant Sky as the sole reason for that post, it was several things on Kickstarter, and, I like to talk about Kickstarter a lot. It's a blessing for indie devs to get their foot in the door, and before that many people did not have the option available to them. It's incredible. A lot of people use it with bad intentions in mind though.
It comes down to people who want to create content, for other people to enjoy. And in the society we live in, it's pretty much an uphill battle. I think it's getting better, I was watching things on Youtube, they get sponsored and people create content for you to enjoy, and that's awesome. Like, I watch Youtube content more than I do T.V or movies, because a lot of the time, people just make more interesting things than Hollywood. They're rewarded for it, it's not handed out either, because a lot of the times your channel has to be of a certain quality, they don't get paid instantly, I've talked to a few popular people on Youtube and, like, they worked x years to be able to get funding to basically entertain human beings.
I have plans to Kickstart my own project. It would give me the ability to do things I couldn't do before. I won't be hiring 10 people, uh, everything will still be pretty much the same, but improved on to provide an entertaining experience. It's just not within my realm of ability right now, because I don't have the time like I did when I was on GW. Back then you could churn out content. Someone had actually flat out asked me, what the game would be like, and I thought about for a while, because the guy was a hardcore RM kid, and I said it's pretty similar to AAG. In terms of design, and gameplay. Now, I haven't taken any kind of inspiration or anything from AAG, but it just happens to be similar to AAG in playstyle. I liked the game a lot, and I think RN:Libra was in development before AAG. So, if you want to get an idea of how the game is, it's like AAG.
So, as someone like myself who wants to utilize Kickstarter, seeing people with unrealistic goals, lacking content, and all of that stuff, it gets on my nerves a little bit. I mean, like I said, Kickstarter is a big deal, people are donating to you to create something for them. So I take the idea very seriously.
I would really love to see rm games and developers utilize that website, but I really think there has to be a certain quality to it.
I am really bad at advertising, it's something I don't enjoy doing. I've been trying to do it a lot more, but every time it kills you a little because you look a d-bag dropping his stuff.
While I do plan on doing a Kickstarter, I don't really plan to ask for something ridiculous like 50k because we all know development isn't that expensive, despite what people think. A minimum goal would be 10k to get it done, let me accomplish what I need to do.
What's good is everything will be created in rm, because that's all I know. The problem lies within the restrictions. If a few things were fixed, it would be an amazing tool. I have to look towards other methods though, through funding.
But like I said, as it's being prototyped by myself in rm, I'm able to make the prototype content for free, so everyone can play it and enjoy it. It's not about me making a ton of cash and just hiring all this talent I don't know what the fuck to do with, I keep design in a scale and within my abilities.
The only downside is, the prototype content won't be as good. It's not my vision, as rm goes the battle mechanics will be broken, certain scenes will be cut, and it's like half a game. But it'll be free, it would be stupid for me to design stuff and put a price tag on it. So yeah, I just wanted to talk a little bit about that, Blogs are really lacking here, this is something that I usually post on my Tumblr, but I get a few emails and a few requests to post here more. I do my best to do so, to try and improve the quality of the website with what I have. Like I said before, it's very difficult to stay relevant in this community, you know it's a different group of designers, like I had said in some nobodies post about how bad RMN is.
Times change, people change, direction change. It's something you just deal with. That's life.
So yeah, about Vacant Sky, remember I was going to talk about that before I just rambled? Like I said I wasn't as constructive, and I thought I would share honest critique about the trailer and how to improve it. I'm not an expert, but the thing is people circle jerk a lot, people will say things are rad and cool when they aren't. Annnnd I hate that.
Now I'm using Chrono Triggers game intro, as an example and as my own personal tool to make a trailer with my own game. The thing is, CT intro is just clear, clean and it gets the point across. It's the bare minimum, because it was made in 1995, we've advanced very much, we're able to construct things that took 50 people down to maybe 2 or 3. Now you're probably thinking "LOL CT VS VACANT SKY U BAD BADDIE" I'm not really stacking the games together gameplay, story, character wise or anything like that. I'm just addressing the intro and what makes it so engaging. And you know, maybe someone might agree.
Man, I watch this now and it still stacks up, it's so good. Like I said earlier it's crisp, it's clean, it shows the different locations, and scenes, and game mechanics. And it really does get you pumped, man. And it's so simplified.
So let's talk about this. I like the logo, it's very clean, I don't have an issue with that at all. I joke about the music, personally but I don't think it's too bad, although I laugh. Now with the voice actors in the trailer, people either really hate voice acting if it's not professional, or are just easy to please. Like I said, it's fine, stuff like that doesn't bother me unless it's just god awful. And it's not.
People like Anime images, that's just reality. I personally don't like Anime visuals(most of the time), because you get gangbanged by Anime images daily. So, I don't think it really hurts or helps, you just kind of bob your head and go, okay. One of things that cripple the trailer for me, is the video editing software, you know with the shit rotating and cool effects, it doesn't stack up with the actual game content. Let me explain, it's like making an 8 bit game, and using an orchestra. It doesn't fit, like it jerks around with the atmosphere. It's by far a crucial flaw. A lot of games do that too. And the gameplay, the visuals. It's not really engaging, when I watched it, I just felt like, Oh RTP game with char moving up. Now I posted CT, because look how engaging it is, it puts all of the coolest scenes in the game into one mini trailer, and it just delivers.
With Vacant sky, it's just char move up. Is that really how you want your game represented? Is that a clear representation of what the game has to offer? It hurts me very much to say, but Sin's I think by Harmonic is slightly better, I mean don't get me wrong, I think it has almost as many flaws, but it really does make an attempt get grasp your attention.
Create different locations, Show the gameplay mechanics, There's no cool factor, it's just a char moving up through tiles. As a designer, that's something you need to do your best to basically avoid. It's one of the weakest parts about RPG's having to travel around, unless the locations are just really really engaging and interesting.
Study, SNES games, not specifically RPG's, just in general, study the locations, and improve on that. There are so many options. Do I think Vacant Sky is good based off that trailer, absolutely not, I feel like it would need a REAL fucking revamp in a lot of areas to appeal, but listen, it's not a personal grudge, I don't know the guy, unlike a lot of people I can respect good game design, even if the guy is totally awful.
I experience stuff like that as well, people say my art, my game, my pixels are bad, and it's good to admit when they really ain't "all" that, it makes it easier on yourself to take crit, because you aren't the best, you won't be the best, but it's important to be proud in your design choices and creativity, to an extent where you don't think you're better than everyone else, because you ain't.
So I felt like talking about that a bit, do something that can actually impress people you know, you can't use excuses like "it's just a prototype" or "that's what we need the money for" "everyone else is doing it why can't I get paid" etc-etc. Use your brain, use your creativity, especially if you have like 10 humans doing work for you.
If you want to rage, approve, agree, you know, feel free to do so. Games that go on Kickstarter and are commercialized in general represent your community. So, If you have garbage floating around, it kind of effects you, because the fact is, outside into the indie dev community, people do infact think RM is a joke, and it's not, but it's thanks to games like Aveyond and Unemployment Quest that pretty much assure that it's hard to take seriously.
I type "like I said" a lot. Also, if you find this interesting, or want to follow my own game journey, and have a Tumblr, feel free to check my personal blog:
RN DEV BLOG
(ps: reposting images/posts is gh8)
PPS: If you like this stuff, please subscribe to the blog, there is just no humanly way I can compete with other bloggers who post "lol crat game" so these blog posts vanish very quickly. Thanks.
So, in my previous blog I kind of railed Vacant Sky hard. I don't regret doing it, but as I read it a few days ago, I wasn't as constructive as I could have been. Uh, It's not my motivation in life to rag on people or their creations, like, sometimes it just comes out that way. The idea of creation is a beautiful thing, and that's what sets people apart in many ways.
I wasn't really addressing Vacant Sky as the sole reason for that post, it was several things on Kickstarter, and, I like to talk about Kickstarter a lot. It's a blessing for indie devs to get their foot in the door, and before that many people did not have the option available to them. It's incredible. A lot of people use it with bad intentions in mind though.
It comes down to people who want to create content, for other people to enjoy. And in the society we live in, it's pretty much an uphill battle. I think it's getting better, I was watching things on Youtube, they get sponsored and people create content for you to enjoy, and that's awesome. Like, I watch Youtube content more than I do T.V or movies, because a lot of the time, people just make more interesting things than Hollywood. They're rewarded for it, it's not handed out either, because a lot of the times your channel has to be of a certain quality, they don't get paid instantly, I've talked to a few popular people on Youtube and, like, they worked x years to be able to get funding to basically entertain human beings.
I have plans to Kickstart my own project. It would give me the ability to do things I couldn't do before. I won't be hiring 10 people, uh, everything will still be pretty much the same, but improved on to provide an entertaining experience. It's just not within my realm of ability right now, because I don't have the time like I did when I was on GW. Back then you could churn out content. Someone had actually flat out asked me, what the game would be like, and I thought about for a while, because the guy was a hardcore RM kid, and I said it's pretty similar to AAG. In terms of design, and gameplay. Now, I haven't taken any kind of inspiration or anything from AAG, but it just happens to be similar to AAG in playstyle. I liked the game a lot, and I think RN:Libra was in development before AAG. So, if you want to get an idea of how the game is, it's like AAG.
So, as someone like myself who wants to utilize Kickstarter, seeing people with unrealistic goals, lacking content, and all of that stuff, it gets on my nerves a little bit. I mean, like I said, Kickstarter is a big deal, people are donating to you to create something for them. So I take the idea very seriously.
I would really love to see rm games and developers utilize that website, but I really think there has to be a certain quality to it.
I am really bad at advertising, it's something I don't enjoy doing. I've been trying to do it a lot more, but every time it kills you a little because you look a d-bag dropping his stuff.
While I do plan on doing a Kickstarter, I don't really plan to ask for something ridiculous like 50k because we all know development isn't that expensive, despite what people think. A minimum goal would be 10k to get it done, let me accomplish what I need to do.
What's good is everything will be created in rm, because that's all I know. The problem lies within the restrictions. If a few things were fixed, it would be an amazing tool. I have to look towards other methods though, through funding.
But like I said, as it's being prototyped by myself in rm, I'm able to make the prototype content for free, so everyone can play it and enjoy it. It's not about me making a ton of cash and just hiring all this talent I don't know what the fuck to do with, I keep design in a scale and within my abilities.
The only downside is, the prototype content won't be as good. It's not my vision, as rm goes the battle mechanics will be broken, certain scenes will be cut, and it's like half a game. But it'll be free, it would be stupid for me to design stuff and put a price tag on it. So yeah, I just wanted to talk a little bit about that, Blogs are really lacking here, this is something that I usually post on my Tumblr, but I get a few emails and a few requests to post here more. I do my best to do so, to try and improve the quality of the website with what I have. Like I said before, it's very difficult to stay relevant in this community, you know it's a different group of designers, like I had said in some nobodies post about how bad RMN is.
Times change, people change, direction change. It's something you just deal with. That's life.
So yeah, about Vacant Sky, remember I was going to talk about that before I just rambled? Like I said I wasn't as constructive, and I thought I would share honest critique about the trailer and how to improve it. I'm not an expert, but the thing is people circle jerk a lot, people will say things are rad and cool when they aren't. Annnnd I hate that.
Now I'm using Chrono Triggers game intro, as an example and as my own personal tool to make a trailer with my own game. The thing is, CT intro is just clear, clean and it gets the point across. It's the bare minimum, because it was made in 1995, we've advanced very much, we're able to construct things that took 50 people down to maybe 2 or 3. Now you're probably thinking "LOL CT VS VACANT SKY U BAD BADDIE" I'm not really stacking the games together gameplay, story, character wise or anything like that. I'm just addressing the intro and what makes it so engaging. And you know, maybe someone might agree.
Man, I watch this now and it still stacks up, it's so good. Like I said earlier it's crisp, it's clean, it shows the different locations, and scenes, and game mechanics. And it really does get you pumped, man. And it's so simplified.
So let's talk about this. I like the logo, it's very clean, I don't have an issue with that at all. I joke about the music, personally but I don't think it's too bad, although I laugh. Now with the voice actors in the trailer, people either really hate voice acting if it's not professional, or are just easy to please. Like I said, it's fine, stuff like that doesn't bother me unless it's just god awful. And it's not.
People like Anime images, that's just reality. I personally don't like Anime visuals(most of the time), because you get gangbanged by Anime images daily. So, I don't think it really hurts or helps, you just kind of bob your head and go, okay. One of things that cripple the trailer for me, is the video editing software, you know with the shit rotating and cool effects, it doesn't stack up with the actual game content. Let me explain, it's like making an 8 bit game, and using an orchestra. It doesn't fit, like it jerks around with the atmosphere. It's by far a crucial flaw. A lot of games do that too. And the gameplay, the visuals. It's not really engaging, when I watched it, I just felt like, Oh RTP game with char moving up. Now I posted CT, because look how engaging it is, it puts all of the coolest scenes in the game into one mini trailer, and it just delivers.
With Vacant sky, it's just char move up. Is that really how you want your game represented? Is that a clear representation of what the game has to offer? It hurts me very much to say, but Sin's I think by Harmonic is slightly better, I mean don't get me wrong, I think it has almost as many flaws, but it really does make an attempt get grasp your attention.
Create different locations, Show the gameplay mechanics, There's no cool factor, it's just a char moving up through tiles. As a designer, that's something you need to do your best to basically avoid. It's one of the weakest parts about RPG's having to travel around, unless the locations are just really really engaging and interesting.
Study, SNES games, not specifically RPG's, just in general, study the locations, and improve on that. There are so many options. Do I think Vacant Sky is good based off that trailer, absolutely not, I feel like it would need a REAL fucking revamp in a lot of areas to appeal, but listen, it's not a personal grudge, I don't know the guy, unlike a lot of people I can respect good game design, even if the guy is totally awful.
I experience stuff like that as well, people say my art, my game, my pixels are bad, and it's good to admit when they really ain't "all" that, it makes it easier on yourself to take crit, because you aren't the best, you won't be the best, but it's important to be proud in your design choices and creativity, to an extent where you don't think you're better than everyone else, because you ain't.
So I felt like talking about that a bit, do something that can actually impress people you know, you can't use excuses like "it's just a prototype" or "that's what we need the money for" "everyone else is doing it why can't I get paid" etc-etc. Use your brain, use your creativity, especially if you have like 10 humans doing work for you.
If you want to rage, approve, agree, you know, feel free to do so. Games that go on Kickstarter and are commercialized in general represent your community. So, If you have garbage floating around, it kind of effects you, because the fact is, outside into the indie dev community, people do infact think RM is a joke, and it's not, but it's thanks to games like Aveyond and Unemployment Quest that pretty much assure that it's hard to take seriously.
I type "like I said" a lot. Also, if you find this interesting, or want to follow my own game journey, and have a Tumblr, feel free to check my personal blog:
RN DEV BLOG
(ps: reposting images/posts is gh8)
PPS: If you like this stuff, please subscribe to the blog, there is just no humanly way I can compete with other bloggers who post "lol crat game" so these blog posts vanish very quickly. Thanks.
Game Design
Is a title screen and logo set up more important than you think?
- TFT
- 16 post(s)
- 10/01/2012 03:41 AM
SCREENS OFF TO YA BRAH
Title screens are interesting to me. Some people love them, them people trivialize them, some people don't even care. Are they important? Yeah, I think it sets the tone for your game, and games in general. It's the first thing you see. A lot of titles actually tell a story, or gives you an idea of how the game is.
You have to take into consideration that a title screen image and logo I suppose you can say is like, the main image that you show people when you work on a game, so that should instantly take priority. There's a lot of ways you can do them, it gives you room to be creative and interesting.
I'm going to take a look at a few of these that I found by just google images. I like a lot of them, so let's see.
Yeah man, this game, Rockin' Roll racing. Even as a kid I didn't like racing games, but I had somehow rented this on accident, or someone had it I can't remember. But just by the title screen I knew it was going to kick ass. The title drops down, there rock music playing, dude, THERE ARE MUTANTS PLAYING GUITAR IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE CARS ARE SHOOTING LASERS AT EACH OTHER!
And you know, that sets the tone, it tells a story it explains to you how the game is going to play out, and it was a kick ass game.
Streets of Rage is similar, you see the main characters cityscape behind them. It doesn't have that much of an impact, but I do like the set up. It does explain just by the image what the game is about.
These are really weird, I just think they're really absurd or really abstract. It does deliver though, it's an effect. The point is, it's a set up.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE. LIZZA UR KELLIN MEH
I'm not sure if RM people really think that much into it. I don't really expect people to, a lot of users just take a cool image and throw it up there and that's that. And that's fine, I really don't expect anything much from that.
But then there are the people who you sort of notice that they take a lot of time and consideration into what that title image is. It's kind of always uninspiring too, like, they're good, but they're all the same. Like, I'm not sure if there's like an anime title generator, but I've seen a lot of those types of titles.
Another problem I see is, sometimes people will use animated backgrounds. It's a really powerful tool, but people are doing the same thing with it. It's like, they'll take a video of clouds, or the background will be clouds panning. I am not sure what the purpose serves, clouds aren't really that cool.
That stuff kind of bothers me, I wouldn't notice these things if I didn't see them a lot. As I posted earlier, try to find images that try to tell a story and give people a set up. It tells the player they're in for something cool.
I'm personally at that stage where I need a very interesting title, because like I said earlier, when you go around the internet to promote a project the first thing you're most likely to post is the title image. I have a few options but it's difficult to decide what fits.
If you're looking for inspiration in terms of title screens I suggest SNES/GEN games. They usually deliver something. Also:
Mateui: "Boing"
Title screens are interesting to me. Some people love them, them people trivialize them, some people don't even care. Are they important? Yeah, I think it sets the tone for your game, and games in general. It's the first thing you see. A lot of titles actually tell a story, or gives you an idea of how the game is.
You have to take into consideration that a title screen image and logo I suppose you can say is like, the main image that you show people when you work on a game, so that should instantly take priority. There's a lot of ways you can do them, it gives you room to be creative and interesting.
I'm going to take a look at a few of these that I found by just google images. I like a lot of them, so let's see.
Yeah man, this game, Rockin' Roll racing. Even as a kid I didn't like racing games, but I had somehow rented this on accident, or someone had it I can't remember. But just by the title screen I knew it was going to kick ass. The title drops down, there rock music playing, dude, THERE ARE MUTANTS PLAYING GUITAR IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE CARS ARE SHOOTING LASERS AT EACH OTHER!
And you know, that sets the tone, it tells a story it explains to you how the game is going to play out, and it was a kick ass game.
Streets of Rage is similar, you see the main characters cityscape behind them. It doesn't have that much of an impact, but I do like the set up. It does explain just by the image what the game is about.
These are really weird, I just think they're really absurd or really abstract. It does deliver though, it's an effect. The point is, it's a set up.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE. LIZZA UR KELLIN MEH
I'm not sure if RM people really think that much into it. I don't really expect people to, a lot of users just take a cool image and throw it up there and that's that. And that's fine, I really don't expect anything much from that.
But then there are the people who you sort of notice that they take a lot of time and consideration into what that title image is. It's kind of always uninspiring too, like, they're good, but they're all the same. Like, I'm not sure if there's like an anime title generator, but I've seen a lot of those types of titles.
Another problem I see is, sometimes people will use animated backgrounds. It's a really powerful tool, but people are doing the same thing with it. It's like, they'll take a video of clouds, or the background will be clouds panning. I am not sure what the purpose serves, clouds aren't really that cool.
That stuff kind of bothers me, I wouldn't notice these things if I didn't see them a lot. As I posted earlier, try to find images that try to tell a story and give people a set up. It tells the player they're in for something cool.
I'm personally at that stage where I need a very interesting title, because like I said earlier, when you go around the internet to promote a project the first thing you're most likely to post is the title image. I have a few options but it's difficult to decide what fits.
If you're looking for inspiration in terms of title screens I suggest SNES/GEN games. They usually deliver something. Also:
Mateui: "Boing"
