RMN SNEWS - ISSUE #5

A newsletter - RMNv3, Pixel Art #2, Girls and the Internet, What is SNEWS?, Visions & Voices, Battle City RM2k, Magi

  • kentona
  • 06/26/2009 12:00 AM
  • 6558 views

..:: Issue #5 ::..





The Death and Return of RMN3


On June 6th, WIP & Co. made an attempt to go live with RMN3. Expectations and eagerness were high for this mighty unveiling of the next generation of RPG Maker Network. But, much to the community's dismay, things went awry. The pages failed to load, the site lagged, and within 3 minutes the server crashed. Hard. WIP was forced to shutdown RMN3 and reload RMN2. Thus, here we sit today within its familiar and functional confines.

The primary culprit is the aging and flaky server hardware - you may have noticed the frequent downtimes and timeouts - upon which RMN is currently hosted. Combined with possible performance issues in the RMN3 code, RMN3 met it's personal Doomsday. WIP and ankylo are hard at work optimizing what they can, but a new server is needed. That time is drawing near...

A source who wishes to remain anonymous quotes WIP as saying, "We have a new server ready for RMN3, but are not able to put it live yet. There are still some business bull that has to be sorted out." Relaunch of RMN3 is expected to start some time in the near future, perhaps in less than a week. Will it succeed, or will Doomsday prove to be more than a match for our hero?

In the meantime, there have been other significant changes to the forums, mirroring changes that are to be expected in RMN3. Also, when the transition to RMN3 was reverted, the forum lost some of the custom tweaks it had like the Stats and Who's Online. For posterity, here are the links:

Who's Online: http://www.rpgmaker.net/forums/index.php?action=who

Forum Stats: http://www.rpgmaker.net/forums/index.php?action=stats

And so continues the saga of The Death and Return of RMN3.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~




..:: June 20th, 2009 ::..


Releases: http://www.rpgmaker.net/forums/index.php?topic=4030.0
Discussion: http://www.rpgmaker.net/forums/index.php?topic=4031.0

Release Someting! Day VII was a great success, with 27 somethings released. Furthermore, RS!VII marks the return of RMNCast as McDohl is hard at work organizing the upcoming podcast. Stay tuned!

Sadly, though, this will be the last Release Something! kentona hosts. Between now and the next scheduled RS! certain events will transpire that will prevent him from taking the time to organize the show. Never fear, as the esteemed Magi will carry the torch and organize Release Something! Day VIII (Subtitle Pending) on (or around) September 22nd, 2009.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


RMN Pixel Art Contest #2


Amazing.


Interested in $100?

Blindmind is hosting the second edition of the RMN Pixel Art Contest. The grand prize is $100, with second place taking $50 - no chump change. The deadline is on July 11th, 2009 and is approaching fast. We have already seen some stellar entries.

Full details can be found in the official thread.






Girls and the Internet
(a.k.a. Females On Forums a.k.a. Welcome to RMN, boobledeeboo!)


"nice ladies.. on our forums..?" -geodude


Every now and again an event of epic proportions hits our forums. RMN3? This has only happened once. Bots spamming threads? Hardly epic. Max McGee spazzing out? Well, yes, but that is not the subject of this article.

The event is Girls. Specifically, the new arrival of an active female member to the forums. A new girl posts an intro topic, slaps a few pics in the picture thread and *BAM*, the forum post count goes up by 2000 overnight.

But can you hardly blame the boys? It is a deviation of the norm. Game sites - especially amateur game MAKING sites - are populated almost exclusively by teenage boys and young men. Furthermore, the personality type most attracted to game making is that of an introvert - quiet, thoughtful, opinionated - hardly the type of person you'd expect to be able to interact maturely with a member of the opposite gender. Combine that with the fact that this member of the opposite gender shares the same nerdy interests? This makes the boys positively giddy.

Luckily, RMN is blessed with a higher than average number of females gracing the forums with regularity (the average being 2). They will not be listed here out of respect for those members and also the very real possibility of one being missed, but the boys are thankful. If only this were a common occurance and the shenanigans surrounding the arrival of a new female member wouldn't happen. If only.

But not likely.

Let's try to keep it cool next time, okay?




What is the RMN SNEWS?

The RMN SNEWS began as a suggestion by Feldschlacht IV in the News Item Requests back in January of this year (2009, in case you didn't know) wherein he stated that it would be good to have an article highlighting weekly news in the community like interesting discussions and things going on in the forum (involving both games and General), and new games, articles, and such on the site. I (kentona) agreed, and in fact had been considering something similar for some time. Feld even wrote a prototype post for the first This Week on RMN article. Unfortunately, the idea fell through and was not picked up again until I proposed the RMN SNEWS in the super secret Secret Mod Forum on April 9th.

I have to admit that the primary motivation for the RMN SNEWS was boredom. I was bored out of my mind at work: I was between projects, Hero's Realm was finished, and nothing new was on the horizon. Even so, I attempted to gather the staff in hopes of them helping with the news article. I knew that the first article was going to be a solo effort, but I had hoped that interest would pique, with various staff members contributing articles and content on occassion, or at least giving feedback on my own content. It was like herding cats. Sadly, it did not happen.

Disillusioned, I pushed forward with RMN SNEWS on my own, making it entirely a solo effort. I realize now that this is the best direction for the article, as other staff works have better venues than a buried piece in a single article. It is much better for a staff member to write their own review, or post their own article, or carry on with their own solo efforts and responsibilities. Their contributions make RMN as a whole a better community.

But boredom and disgruntlement weren't the only motivations for the start of RMN SNEWS. It was boosting my Makerscore. Release Something! Day VI was fresh and new, yet with the long absence of brandonabley, there was not going to be a new RMNCast forthcoming. With a need to fill the void, I tapped the skills of halibabica, who was already deep into reviewing every game released, and pressured him to make an official article on the event. (I also pushed hard to make halibabica a Contributor which turned out to be a great boon for RMN). RS!VI and halibabica's Release Somethine Roundup became the focal point of the first RMN SNEWS. I threw in some thoughts on active threads, spoke a bit about some endeavors on the site, and highlighted some cool games at the moment. The Spotlight interview was a last minute idea, but I now consider it to be one of the best sections of the article as it is the only section that is unique to the RMN SNEWS.

I should mention that months ago there was an attempt to make a professional and all-encompassing newsletter headed up by our own YDS. It was an ambitious piece, with input and contributions from many outstanding members. Lamentably, the newsletter fell apart and the team disbanded. RMN SNEWS is like its bastard child.

But what about the name? I admit it's pretty stupid, but that is a reflection on my views of the RMN SNEWS: it's pretty stupid. Why write an article summing up the events on a site and then post it on that site? Why not just go to the site in the first place? But no matter. People seem to like this, and I like writing them. Other reasons for the name include:

1) Reading the article has a great chance of putting you to sleep (SNEWS == Snooze)
2) I am glib
3) SNEWS looks a lot like SNES, which is always a good thing

Lastly, I must admit that I stole the idea for Spotlight On... from my work's newsletter. Here is me featured in the June 2009 issue:



And now you know the rest of the story.




Game Design Articles and The Real Brickroad

With the triumphant return of Brickroad comes a wave of new (and ever so excellent) design articles. Brickroad hopes to write a new article every couple of weeks (at the behest of WIP and Holb). If there is anything in particular you with Brickroad to cover, please ask him in his thread.

Listen to the Crab in a Top Hat:

New Articles:
Information Absorption
Philosophy of Treasure Distribution

Past Articles:
When Linearity Attacks!
RPG Auditions Today! Characters Wanted!
Dungeon Theory
Skill Set Theory
Gameplay Consistency
Your Intro Sucks, Clean Up That Mess (also read A rebuttal to "Your Intro Sucks." by harmonic)
Making Your Game Work Without the RTP
Four Alternatives to Random Encounters







Visions & Voices


Spooky.


Who made it?
Craze and Karsuman.

What is it?
Visions & Voices is an adventure RPG made in only three weeks by Karsuman and Craze. It combines elements of traditional RPGs with the exploration present in an adventure game in order to create a fun - and quite dark - setting to play in.

Why should you care?
This game is a collaborative effort between two highly-skilled RPG makers. Craze (of Geodun and Demon Tower fame (and like 30 others)) is an expert at crafting addictive gameplay and quirky battles. Karsuman (of Harbinger and asspear fame) is a great writer and skilled in crafting compelling storylines. The merger of those two skillsets alone should be enough to intrigue you. While the 3 week timeframe limited their scope and potential, it still stands as a solid and impressive game.



Putting the spotlight on a oft-overlooked game


Go for the Gold in Battle City RM2k!



"daffodildo"
- Battle City RM2k Gold


Who made it?
eNSO.

What is it?
In this remake of Battle City for NES, Battle City RM2k Gold, your objectives are simple: kill all 20 enemies in each stage and protect the treasure chest.

Why should you care?
Again, like many non-RPG games made in RPG Maker and posted on an RPG making site, Battle City RM2k Gold is sadly overlooked (though less so than others, with 713 downloads and counting). If you were ever a fan of the NES and the games of its heyday, check out this game. It is expertly made and a faithful adaptation.




Magi

Jack Daniels is bitter
..:: Games :: Reviews ::..


RMN's most mysterious staff member needs some exposure. Magi handles the day-to-day work of reviewing the submission queue and accepting games, screenshots, reviews and articles and denying the many, many, many (many) .BMPs submitted to the site. You have no idea.

In his own words...


RMN HISTORY:
Rpgmaker.net was the first community based around game making that I tried to become involved with. This was back in a forgotten time when Rast was essentially the curator for the site, so I'd say it was probably eight or nine years ago!


PERSONAL BLURB:
I live in San Francisco and am studying visual effects for film and commercial production. I also have a slight study emphasis on photography and cinematography.


SPARE TIME:
I enjoy seeing movies at the theater and go at least once a month; nevertheless much of my spare time is poured into designing games and playing them... I also enjoy music and instruments but have never considered myself very good with either!


FAVORITE FOOD:
That's difficult. I like to try many news types of foreign foods and have no favorite. I am a big fan of eggs benedict and dishes with eggs in general.


FAVORITE SAYING:
"Fortune smiles upon our first effort"


PET PEEVE:
People who neglect instructions.


LITTLE KNOWN FACT:
I own a mac and only run windows on it.



Recognition for a dedicated member.


Asalieri for his impressive work on Tellahvision and his zeal in the Mafia games.

Posts

Pages: 1
Magi
Resident Terrapin
1028
It's you, you're the burning grail
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363
Removing signatures was awesome.

-WIP
You cats are so clever!
KENTONA IT'S YOU

AND YOU QUOTED ME
wait a minute

you did realise I was dicking around, right? (odd choice of phrase, okay)
My default setting for interpreting your posts is "He's dicking around."
I AM THE NECROMANCER.
whoa blast from the past
Pages: 1