Description

The dead armies of games forgotten lurk in the dark, waiting for unsuspecting developers to lose their way on the path to their current games and stop in their tracks to think of days gone by.

It's time to dig them up from their early graves and release them on the world come this Hallowe'en.

Yup, it's that time of year again! Combining Release Something and the annual Halloween event, we task you with taking an old, abandonned game, shining it up and letting it run free in the fields of 2019.


Rules
- Start on October 1st
- Finish by October 30th
- Game MUST be abandoned. In this case, not worked on for at least a few months or put aside whilst you worked on something else. It can be game ideas that you threw away and didn't get far into creation, too.
- There needs to be a decent chunk of work done on it over the course of the month.
- Any engine, any resources, etc
- Must have a game page made and accepted to the site BEFORE the end date.

To Submit:
- You need a gamepage that has been accepted to the site (either newly made or an older one from the initial creation of the game)
- Sign up to this page as a participant.
- Click the Submit button at the top-right of the page.
- Upload the game to your gamepage.
- Choose the proper download for the game from the drop-down list and hit Submit.


Badges
- A badge for those who release a full game - 60 MS
- A badge for those who release a demo - 30 MS
- A badge for those who take part in at least one of the prompts that will put up over the course of the month to showcase progress made - 10 MS

Details

  • 10/01/2019 01:00 AM
  • 10/30/2019 11:59 PM

Achievements

Registration

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Posts

I really like this idea Darken.
ESBY
extreme disappointment
1238


early progress
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
That looks very nice ESBY. Odd place for a mirror, though.

The dead armies of games forgotten lurk in the dark, waiting for unsuspecting developers to lose their way on the path to their current games and stop in their tracks to think of days gone by.

It's time to dig them up from their early graves and release them on the world come this Hallowe'en.

Yup, it's that time of year again! Combining Release Something and the annual Halloween event, we task you with taking an old, abandonned game, shining it up and letting it run free in the fields of 2019.


The last time I participated in one of these events was in 2014. I attempted to resurrect my circa 2002-2003 rm2k game The Tower in the form of Lionheart in VX Ace. I failed (although at least I released a demo). I think it was the last project I worked on seriously and in earnest, but I could be forgetting something between then and now.

However...HOWEVER...

author=slicervanguard28
backstage 2 needs to be finished for some reason the creator just gave up and cancelled it.


Well, not to be a jerk, but the reason that I gave up and cancelled it is because Archeiah_Nessiah never finished the CMS she promised me LIKE 10 YEARS AGO and I cried myself to sleep because she's WAY too busy to do it now nah, it's kind of that I am sort of like a grownup now, and have responsibilities, and stuff, and can't afford to spend tens of hours working on something I am not being paid for like I could when I was a kid.

HOWEVER, slicevanguard28 I can tell you REALLY care about this. You have been actively anticipating Backstage 2 for YEARS. So let me make you a modest proposal.

Let's do a miniature petition, slicervanguard28. You get 12 signatures of people saying they want Backstage 2 reanimated, I will come back and "reanimate" Backstage 2*.

Even though 12 is a laughably tiny number even for a community this small, if the signatures don't materialize, I'll try not to feel too bad about it. In my lurking I've noticed that RMN is very tumbleweeds nowadays (outside of the event threads like this) and Backstage 2 is an old game--maybe older than some of this site's members lol--and also I'm not unaware of the fact that many of the people around here do not like me or my games very much.

(That's the other reason I stopped doing this is that not only is no one paying me to do it, but periodically trolls will come along and shit all over my hard work: why should I spend 20 hours a week on unpaid labor just to feel bad about myself and/or get stressed over internet drama? Even if someone managed to sell me on the idea that my games are fine and it's my abrasive personality that invites criticism and trolling, that's really no less upsetting: I hate the idea that my jerkass personhood and self might be getting in the way of my creative output being successful!)

If you do get a dozen signatures (yours counts too) then as I said above I will have a go at reanimating Backstage 2. *But, be aware that it will be in a new engine with new mechanics, almost certainly new graphics, and maybe even new story and characters. I know that might not be exactly what you want, slicervanguard28, but it's the best I'd be able to do.

As I realized here during a discussion of Backstage 1, I no longer have the fan translated version of rm2k3, the RTP for same, or the project folder for Backstage 2. So actually *finishing* Backstage 2 unfortunately is literally impossible. All of these things have been lost to the sands of time several computers ago. And honestly, even if I did still have the project folder and a working copy of the fan-translated RM2k3, it is REALLY hard to go back to the game mechanics and systems you thought were acceptable the last time you worked on them, eight years ago. The same is true to a lesser degree about the characters and the writing. I have learned a lot in the almost-a-decade since I last worked on this, and the urge to start over and apply that knowledge is strong.

But rest assured, you show me proof that a dozen people give a shit, I will do my best to make something very scary called Backstage 2, my previous failure at "Revive the Dead" events not withstanding.

I'll check back in 2 days to see if any of the 12 signatures are there, then I'll check back again in 2 days after that, then one final check three days after that.

Other'n that, sorry for the long ass post, happy necromancy everyone! Y'all have a blast making games spookyscary games this spooktober.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
If it seems like the forums are tumbleweeds, Max, it's only because they got 99% replaced with Discord chat. You should log in once in a while.
author=Max McGee
That looks very nice ESBY. Odd place for a mirror, though.
Well, not to be a jerk, but the reason that I gave up and cancelled it is because Archeiah_Nessiah never finished the CMS she promised me LIKE 10 YEARS AGO and I cried myself to sleep because she's WAY too busy to do it now nah, it's kind of that I am sort of like a grownup now, and have responsibilities, and stuff, and can't afford to spend tens of hours working on something I am not being paid for like I could when I was a kid.

I'm sorry college happened and other shit ;-;
author=El_WaKa
Afaik, there's absolutely no problem with working with that first idea! Heck, IIRC, you can even use old ideas that you had in mind but never put in any "tangible" form. There's no need for any "proof" of it existing before.


Alright I read this right, thanks!

changed the art style a little bit, you can now throw stuff vertically which I was afraid was going to make some parts redundant but really just expands your options.

this other part I could have done this:


messing around with how far I can go horizontally:


FUCK THE RULES (audio in this one) there's a glitch where if you jump just outside the collision you get a free jump without using up the projectile's HP. Might leave it in actually since it requires some timing.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
So, since this is a Final Fantasy fangame, I thought the sword didn't look very Final Fantasy. Also, decided to improve the shading to make my protag battler look slightly better.

ooh, you've got some solid stuff so far, Darken!! I can't wait to see what levels you design around it!

Meanwhile, much of my work has been miscellaneous bugfixing and dialogue writing. The other night I did however assemble the building blocks of a point collection minigame which vaguely resembles the special stage chute from sonic 2.


Very vaguely. (since there's no way in heck I'm adding jumping or ramps because fuck getting caught into a bottleneck during an event)
While at work, I've been scrawling plot notes to work off of and it seems I'm pretty well into the groove again.

To-do:
-Write Ashura's dialogue
-add a proper beginning and end to the minigame, as well as a fail-state contingency.
-make sprites for Giratina and a handful of bath toys
-look up some lore on Giratina since I've only played pearl and haven't played platinum
-make interiors for the last town
-design a final dungeon, complete with enemies and some sort of field challenge
-figure out how to get Cresselia involved in the plotline somehow
-make a really hype final battle animated background (one of the coolest things that can be done with newk3)
-figure out how to resolve the weird timeline crap
-write some new songs
-possibly reference the adventurer team which was developed in an earlier draft of chapter 8
KrimsonKatt
Gamedev by sunlight, magical girl by moonlight
3326
Just uploaded my gamepage. Waiting for it to be approved. Currently 1/3 though completion of my game. Development going smoothly!


The title screen for my game. Minimalist but retro!


The opening cutscene for my game. Prepare the Megaman x music!


The main hub for my game just outside the crypt, the main dungeon that the game is centered around. Here you have a shop and a place to rest to heal your HP and AP. (substitute for MP, more appropriate for both magickal and non-magickal special moves)


The battle system to my game. It's using the OTB (Octopath Turn Battle) system created by FallenAngelOlivia and inspired by the game Octopath Traveler. (Though enemies have a lot less HP in this game than in that one!)
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
Day 2 check. No signatures even after PMing slicer directly. That's fine.

On some level I'll breathe a sigh of relief that I'll be under no obligation to revive Backstage 2 this month. (And of course, on another level I'll be just a little disappointed.)

author=Archeia_Nessiah
I'm sorry college happened and other shit ;-;

Nah, it's all cool, Nessy.

And some of that "other shit" included you becoming the de facto leader of the official English language RM community, you creating a legitimate community around an engine stigmatized for years as a ghetto of rips and the legacy of cargo cult approach to game design (and while that's the scene I came up in and I wouldn't have it any other way, I think going legit eventually and forming partnerships with the Japanese companies that make the engines so much of our lives revolve around was a necessary step), and overseeing the production and distribution of an enormous quantity and quality of free resources through ReStaff. (I may have been running mostly silent and dark since '14, but I've been lurking enough to pay attention.)

Don't take it the wrong way, but I'm very proud of you, hun.

You should be proud too. You were in on the ground floor of transforming this hobby from the ground up and now we have RPG Maker games selling, actually selling, on Steam. Thanks in large part to your efforts we've finally evolved beyond our Rodney Dangerfield stage. Even my much-maligned ego can concede that's much more important than Backstage 2's CMS. Also the direction the RM scene's taken under your guidance, along with the passage of time, seems to have shaken off or mellowed out almost all the elitist hipster snobs from the bad old GW days that were hanging around here like dingleberries for so long, and that's nice too. :D

@pianotm: jeez, man, at some point while I was gone did you like, rob a Makerscore bank or something? HOLY FUCK. srsly dude.

@Darken: is that Game Maker? Those platforms remind me of the infuriating numbered moving directional blocks that are in a couple of levels in SMW. Or wait, the figure you're controlling is actually pooping out those numbered blocks? That's really cool. There aren't a lot of platformers where you can spawn your own platformers. I think you might be onto something.

author=LockeZ
If it seems like the forums are tumbleweeds, Max, it's only because they got 99% replaced with Discord chat. You should log in once in a while.

Thanks LockeZ, maybe I'll do that. No promises tho. : )
It's time for that first Minievent thing that I said was going to be a thing~


Show something new that you've done on your project so far!

It can be a screenshot of some code or a map or perhaps a video showing a new skill you added or something, as long as it has been added after the event started!

Just post it in the comments!
I've done nothing until now... I don't think I am gonna be able to finish anything before the deadline T^T
For the mini-event:

It's the parallax for one of the maps. The empty borders are here to make sure the screen stays centered on the character.
Oh boy, I've gotten...stuff done. Posted pics in the disco bit, but will post a bigun here. Have done map reworks, weapon reworks, skill rebalance, skill actually make it work since I have more coding abilities and there are now plugins to help them do, state and passive state rebalance and rework, more complex states and auras now actually work, etc. Still a long ways from being 'ready', and def no way this game will be done by end of month heh, but looking at how far I've come with knowing how to do is really somethin. Maps still need more doodads and npcs and stuff tho, but time is fast approaching.

(The damage formulas don't fit on an in-editor screenshot.)


Dang, I look so good on this photo.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347



The loss of this map was one of two reasons I abandoned this game years ago. Recovering it and making it look good has made me very happy.


I decided to try and make something something inspired by the Suikoden series, like Exit Fate, or Legion Saga. There's no way I'll be able to finish by the deadline, but I should have a decent demo ready by the 30th.
Progress! Well, there's not much and most of it is just ripping graphics and adapting them for VX Ace... But I think I have a little something...


The graphics for the main characters, I think it's obvious the Final Fantasy I influence, and that's because yes, I'm making some kind of Remake/Tribute/Thingie of it!


I was also making Portraits, but because it's taking me a lot of time and the end date is getting closer and closer I decided to drop the idea. I'll finish them properly once the event is over



By the way: Is there a minimum of how long should the demos be? I was aiming at around 20min, but I think I'll have to cut out a few things.
KrimsonKatt
Gamedev by sunlight, magical girl by moonlight
3326
@Liberty

I already did mine before you posted it. Does that count? I haven't work on my game since I posted the gamepage so there's really not much else to show.

Edit: I have a 10 min demo up and finished. I plan to have the entire game released by October 30th, so I'm wondering if I can post the 10 min demo now and then post the full game later to this page, or if you can only make one submission and I'll have to wait until I finish the game to post my entry. Thanks!