PROJECT DOAD

Posts

So I finaally got to look at the screens (imageshack and the like are blocked at work :\) - I love 'em.

Maybe I haven't been "burnt out" by anime or whatever, but I think it looks good.
Magi
Resident Terrapin
1028
Please don't mind Ness, she's had a hard day. I like Touhou, so I don't mind the hyper-anime mugshots. As long as this is challenging hard and not unbalanced I don't think it could be that bad.
Totally off topic:
author=iishenron link=topic=3208.msg63584#msg63584 date=1235602738
That being said, is there a Touhou anime? I'd be all over it if there was.
Yeah, there's a fan-made one out there, but not an official one.
In the limited time I had tonight, I gave this game a quick half-hour play. Will definitely give it more time when my senior project stops stalking me like an albatross, but I'll share a few comments:

1. The save menu doesn't have a cursor, so I had no idea which save I was reading from/writing to. May want to fix that. :P
2. Collision detection was very strange at times. I had swarms of fairies on me in several occasions, and many of them were shooting their big light bursts, yet I didn't suffer any damage through the majority of those. I could just slash my way to victory without worrying about being gangbanged...too hard.
3. Speaking of swarms of fairies...the "walking" speed was too slow for my tastes. I found myself holding the dash button much of the time while looking for a good spot to slash/blast away. A slight touch-up to the walking speed would definitely be nice.
4. The key layout for dashing and guarding could be improved upon. I found the offensive keystrokes to be sufficient enough; just that switching between holding 'a' and pressing 'z' seemed strange for my left hand.

That's all for now; otherwise, keep it up. I haven't played many Touhou games, so I speak from an outsider's perspective. :P

WIP: The movement appears to be pixel based.

Max: I respect your right to an opinion, but your post, to use a computing analogy, sounded like a PC user posting in a Mac forum saying all Apples are teh sux. If you don't like the genre, that's fine...but if you were going to just criticize an art style you obviously had a prejudice against, why even bother posting?
What the hell happened here? I go away for a day and all this BS builds up? I'm not even going to address the anime drama anymore. Take it somewhere else please.

author=WIP link=topic=3208.msg63592#msg63592 date=1235605648
So a question: how does this run on everyone's machine? And is the movement pixel-based?

Movement is 8 directional. Not pixel movement, but it's better than 4 directional movement I say.

author=Ocean link=topic=3208.msg63582#msg63582 date=1235602342
I played this earlier. All of the scenes can be skipped so if you really don't like the story or the artwork, it can all be skipped and you don't have to see it.

I think the map design could be improved, because most of them were straight forward maps and doesn't encourage much exploration, especially with the amount of enemies present. I think it wasn't meant to be a big part of the game but it'd be nice to have more variation in the tiles and the map design itself. Perhaps less enemies to deal with as well.

Yeah, I'll be working on the maps some more to be more open and explorable. I didn't think people would try to explore like that. But I can make it happen.

As for tile variation. I'm not sure. I don't want to stay working on tiles and stuff forever. Which will probably happen if I bother to go back to them. I'd rather move straight on.

As for less fairies, I'll try to let up on them in the later stages...a little.

author=iishenron link=topic=3208.msg63584#msg63584 date=1235602738
Since there's no Eirin, Yukari Yakumo, or Yuyuko in this game, no play for me.

You'll have to wait for the last three stages then, heh.

author=Magi link=topic=3208.msg63608#msg63608 date=1235610799
As long as this is challenging hard and not unbalanced I don't think it could be that bad.

This game was fiendishly unbalanced in it's first run. I had gone back and fine tuned things to a point where it was manageable like it is now. I do kinda miss the hilariously unbalanced bosses.

author=Atavus Dei link=topic=3208.msg63616#msg63616 date=1235616353
In the limited time I had tonight, I gave this game a quick half-hour play. Will definitely give it more time when my senior project stops stalking me like an albatross, but I'll share a few comments:

1. The save menu doesn't have a cursor, so I had no idea which save I was reading from/writing to. May want to fix that. :P
2. Collision detection was very strange at times. I had swarms of fairies on me in several occasions, and many of them were shooting their big light bursts, yet I didn't suffer any damage through the majority of those. I could just slash my way to victory without worrying about being gangbanged...too hard.
3. Speaking of swarms of fairies...the "walking" speed was too slow for my tastes. I found myself holding the dash button much of the time while looking for a good spot to slash/blast away. A slight touch-up to the walking speed would definitely be nice.
4. The key layout for dashing and guarding could be improved upon. I found the offensive keystrokes to be sufficient enough; just that switching between holding 'a' and pressing 'z' seemed strange for my left hand.

That's all for now; otherwise, keep it up. I haven't played many Touhou games, so I speak from an outsider's perspective. :P

WIP: The movement appears to be pixel based.

Max: I respect your right to an opinion, but your post, to use a computing analogy, sounded like a PC user posting in a Mac forum saying all Apples are teh sux. If you don't like the genre, that's fine...but if you were going to just criticize an art style you obviously had a prejudice against, why even bother posting?

1. Fixed already
2. the hitboxes can be a little deceptive. But it will likely save you more than hurt you.
3. Well, the walking speed was even slower before. What would be a good speed? I don't want the player to move like The Flash without dashing. :V
4. I've changed the key layout based on feedback elsewhere.

C: Attack
X: Dash
Z: Defend
D: Bomb
S: Last Spell

Is that all right?

Thank you for playing.
Wow, Nessiah, you removed all of your games because you fear the same group of people who judged Skie's game based her portraits will do the same to yours? That's just ridiculous. From what I've read, outside of a few people, everyone else is willing to give Skie's game a chance - even those who hate her art style like WIP! It makes absolutely no sense to do what you just did, I hope you change your mind and restore your games' content. To get back on topic, I'll download this after I finish playing Exit Fate. With my schedule, I can only play one amateur game at a time.
author=Skie Fortress link=topic=3208.msg63618#msg63618 date=1235616576
3. Well, the walking speed was even slower before. What would be a good speed? I don't want the player to move like The Flash without dashing. :V

Perhaps add 1/3-1/4 the difference between the current walk speed and the dash. Nothing too big, just a subtle tweak upward.

C: Attack
X: Dash
Z: Defend
D: Bomb
S: Last Spell

Is that all right?

Thank you for playing.

I wouldn't know for sure until I played, but testing my hand on it that seemed reasonable.

I await your next demo.
Starscream
Conquest is made from the ashes of one's enemies.
6110
It's a little late for me to chime in here, but Nessiah I think it was highly rash of you to "edit" your games out because a few people on the forums don't like anime or things inspired by it, especially considering the praise you artwork regularly receives on these very same forums. Every game is going to encounter resistence, and art style preferences are often very arbitrary and highly personal. I hope you reconsider.

Besides, it's not like the people you see here represent the entirity of the larger community playing games on rpgmaker.net. They just happen to be a little bit louder.
author=Holbert link=topic=3208.msg63623#msg63623 date=1235619438
It's a little late for me to chime in here, but Nessiah I think it was highly rash of you to "edit" your games out because a few people on the forums don't like anime or things inspired by it, especially considering the praise you artwork regularly receives on these very same forums. Every game is going to encounter resistence, and art style preferences are often very arbitrary and highly personal. I hope you reconsider.

Besides, it's not like the people you see here represent the entirity of the larger community playing games on rpgmaker.net. They just happen to be a little bit louder.

My views are very similar. I like the anime art style, even though my anime-watching is very limited these days. Opinions against using anime (or animu if you want) art are obviously opinions, and people like me who do not share those opinions didn't really get a chance to chime in before things turned a little sour.

An argument to both sides. Obviously, by creating a game in a certain style, you are "targetting" a particular audience, even if the gameplay itself can be considered universal. I still believe gameplay is paramount beyond all other aspects of game development, but I also recognize that gamers will ALWAYS judge by appearance, without exception. People who just want to play games will decide what looks good, and will play it (until they decide whether or not they actually enjoy the gameplay).

Max decided he didn't like the visual style of the game, and didn't want to play it. He's completely welcome to that opinion, and no one can fault him for having it. However, I believe he should have had the sense to refrain from commenting on a topic he had no interest in. He has the right to say it, but that doesn't mean it's not a complete waste of time to me and everyone else reading the topic.

Skie (and Ness): The quality of the game is there, and the effort is very apparent. As easy as it is for someone to waste everyone's time by saying they don't like how it looks, meaningless comments like that should also be as easily dismissed. Thankfully, there are real opinions in this topic about the gameplay and visual consistency (WIP brings up a good point about the HUD and menus). I know it hurts to see a particular aspect of the game you put a lot of effort into being completely disregarded, but again, you're making your game for a certain audience, so it should be expected.

All that craziness aside, I've played the game. It certainly is hard (does this game mimic the style other Touhou games do?), and the enemies actually bogged my laptop down to a handful of frames per second (will have to try it on the beast later). The ABS is pretty competent, and just like the other games that use it, requires a little bit of an open mind to appreciate the gameplay. The idea of bombarding the player with killer faeries is an innovative take on the ABS's design (which was geared more towards SoM-style games), but also makes it challenging. I'd be worried that the movement response is not quite at the level that would be needed to navigate and engage effectively in combat, but from other posts in this topic, reaching and defeating bosses seems manageable.

The music is a blend of sounds I might hear from PC dating sims (during the cutscenes, which also use backdrops and dialogue styling from PC dating sims), to gameplay music reminiscent of something from Ragnarok Online. I think it all fits the anime atmosphere you were trying to achieve.

I can't speak much for the dialogue yet, as I haven't seen interaction between two characters yet. The opening dialogue was actually pretty close to what you typed in the game's synopsis. It sets up the plot, but I think you missed an opportunity to set up your main character as well (your synopsis in this topic described her better than the game did). We get that she's hung over, that she has errands to run, and that her gourd is missing. For the people that would be interested in playing your game that might not have a lot of anime in their background, it seems alienating (i.e., a lot of people don't know 'oni' means 'demon', and if/when they figure it out they don't necessarily understand why a demon would get drunk, what sake is, or why they would run errands for ANYBODY). I'm familiarized with the style you're going for, so I know there's a lot of potential for interesting dialogue between characters.

What can I say about the artwork? It's great; the poses and emotions fit just like they would a PC dating sim. The spriting and chipsets are really great, and I'd have no reservations about comparing the gameplay visuals with SNES-quality. Really good stuff. Like WIP pointed out, the HUD might need some re-thinking, I feel because the gameplay screen is half the resolution of the HUD elements. Giving the HUD the 320x240 look might help the consistency. The same is true for some of the animations and in-game sprites. All in all, great job on the visuals; not just for the sake of creating your own artwork and sprites, but also for visual consistency between these elements.
Ciel
an aristocrat of rpgmaker culture
367
I like how people try to seem cool on the internet by acting like they're disgusted by anime. It's like, when you see some nerd in high school scramble to pocket his pokemon cards when the "cool kids" walk by. I just picture people rolling into this topic and bitching about anime facesets while carefully watching their naruto complete series torrent or organizing their hentai folder. 8)
author=S. F. LaValle link=topic=3208.msg63632#msg63632 date=1235623802
Skie (and Ness): The quality of the game is there, and the effort is very apparent. As easy as it is for someone to waste everyone's time by saying they don't like how it looks, meaningless comments like that should also be as easily dismissed. Thankfully, there are real opinions in this topic about the gameplay and visual consistency (WIP brings up a good point about the HUD and menus). I know it hurts to see a particular aspect of the game you put a lot of effort into being completely disregarded, but again, you're making your game for a certain audience, so it should be expected.

I suppose this is true. It doesn't make it any less irritating, but disregarding the useless comments and sticking to the one's worth replying to helps.

All that craziness aside, I've played the game. It certainly is hard (does this game mimic the style other Touhou games do?), and the enemies actually bogged my laptop down to a handful of frames per second (will have to try it on the beast later).

No, the original Touhou games are vertical shooters. What I've done is basically take the series stage and enemy formula and applied it to an ABS.

The music is a blend of sounds I might hear from PC dating sims (during the cutscenes, which also use backdrops and dialogue styling from PC dating sims), to gameplay music reminiscent of something from Ragnarok Online. I think it all fits the anime atmosphere you were trying to achieve.

I wasn't actually trying to achieve the anime feel when making this. I guess it just sort of fell together that way at the end of things. No big deal though anymore. If that's what it is, then so be it.

I can't speak much for the dialogue yet, as I haven't seen interaction between two characters yet. The opening dialogue was actually pretty close to what you typed in the game's synopsis. It sets up the plot, but I think you missed an opportunity to set up your main character as well (your synopsis in this topic described her better than the game did). We get that she's hung over, that she has errands to run, and that her gourd is missing. For the people that would be interested in playing your game that might not have a lot of anime in their background, it seems alienating (i.e., a lot of people don't know 'oni' means 'demon', and if/when they figure it out they don't necessarily understand why a demon would get drunk, what sake is, or why they would run errands for ANYBODY). I'm familiarized with the style you're going for, so I know there's a lot of potential for interesting dialogue between characters.

Yes, my biggest weakness; effective storytelling. After reading this, I went back and fleshed out the intro scene some more, including the aforementioned Reimu from a distance.

I know that I'm terrible with this, but I also need to work on my characterizations. I thought I had done a good enough job, but apparently not. I'm not even sure how to go about making it any better anymore. I'll just have to see later on.

What can I say about the artwork? It's great; the poses and emotions fit just like they would a PC dating sim.

Thank you, that was my intention with the scenes. My art isn't terribly high quality, but I'm working on it.

The spriting and chipsets are really great, and I'd have no reservations about comparing the gameplay visuals with SNES-quality. Really good stuff.

I actually had plenty of trouble with the tilesets. I don't usually make those, so I opted to go for a style that was functional, but not too ugly. I think I found a good medium, so I'll stick with it.

Like WIP pointed out, the HUD might need some re-thinking, I feel because the gameplay screen is half the resolution of the HUD elements. Giving the HUD the 320x240 look might help the consistency. The same is true for some of the animations and in-game sprites.

Yeah, the HUD is pretty much all over the place as it is now. I'll see if I can go about rearranging things and organizing it better in the long run.

Thank you for playing.
Magi
Resident Terrapin
1028
If I could be any Touhou I'd be Tewi. Why is there no Tewi in this game??
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363
What is this Touhou people speak of?

Also, I wasn't able to play this last night. Ran out of time.
author=Magi link=topic=3208.msg63646#msg63646 date=1235637260
If I could be any Touhou I'd be Tewi. Why is there no Tewi in this game??

Later stages, later stages.

author=WIP link=topic=3208.msg63669#msg63669 date=1235665939
What is this Touhou people speak of?

http://touhou.wikia.com/
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
Wow clearly I have started a real fuckaree here with my one little innocuous comment.

I don't think it was right to walk into the topic and say one line about the game and walk out, either. Clearly there was a lot of work put into this game.

Everyone does this about every game even though every game clearly has a lot of work put into it, whether it has custom artwork or not. Singling me or this game out for special treatment here is wrong. One-line comments plague this entire community. I always wind up getting singled out for things everyone does.

Honestly I just thought it might be helpful to the creators to know that, I am not playing this, not because it looks sloppy or bad, but because its style and genre are not to my tastes. Why did this start world war fucking three again?

author=Atavus Dei link=topic=3208.msg63616#msg63616 date=1235616353
Max: I respect your right to an opinion, but your post, to use a computing analogy, sounded like a PC user posting in a Mac forum saying all Apples are teh sux. If you don't like the genre, that's fine...but if you were going to just criticize an art style you obviously had a prejudice against, why even bother posting?

Hey there brogurt, show me where I ever fucking said that this game was "Teh sux" or said anything other than I DO NOT LIKE THIS ART STYLE ALTHOUGH THE ART IS TECHNICALLY COMPETENT.

Also what the fuck is "animu"? Is it different than anime? And what the FUCK is touhu?
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
My game is not an anime game.

Also, this topic is hilarious.



What does DOAD stand for?
author=Max McGee link=topic=3208.msg63725#msg63725 date=1235693332
Wow clearly I have started a real fuckaree here with my one little innocuous comment.

Innocuous? Perhaps in your view. To most others, it was one that makes you look like a complete douche. Sure, you may not like the art style, but was it really necessary to post that? Do you see other people who don't like the art style flocking over here to shoot down the game before it even gets off the ground? Criticizing the technical competence or not, you're putting yourself on a high pedestal and acting like a self-important, pompous ass.

Honestly I just thought it might be helpful to the creators to know that, I am not playing this, not because it looks sloppy or bad, but because its style and genre are not to my tastes. Why did this start world war fucking three again?

What makes you so special? Notice how the other members of this forum, to whom DOAD's art style also didn't appeal to, did not post in the same inflammatory vein as your comment. As I, SFL, WIP, and so many others have already stated, you are welcome to your personal opinion. However, this is one of those occasions where you should keep your mouth shut, for the reasons stated above.

Hey there brogurt, show me where I ever fucking said that this game was "Teh sux" or said anything other than I DO NOT LIKE THIS ART STYLE ALTHOUGH THE ART IS TECHNICALLY COMPETENT.

I despise the art style of this project.

I am not saying anything about the technical prowess of the art, just the style.

It is a very big turn-off for me.

Obviously my analogy must've skipped right over your head. I can easily see that you didn't outright say her art sucked. However, peanut gallery comments like "If you want to get my attention then you should choose another art style!" are just plain rude. Which is how your statement could've easily been interpreted, regardless of your intent.

Back in the Mac vs. PC days, you'd have people who liked Macs, and people who liked PCs. Most of these people in both factions respected the others, and didn't say anything aggressive toward their "enemies"; however, you would occasionally have some who thought it would be fun to start flame wars over whether or not Macs were better than PCs, or vice-versa, for some inane reason or another. This is the point of the analogy. Some people didn't like the other "genre" of computer, and made idiotic statements for shits and giggles.

I'd also suggest you get off your persecution complex. You aren't the only one to have been criticized for this kind of crap.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
But then nessiah (or skie?????) would complain that not enough people were playing (I would like people to tell me why they have not played Demon Tower if they haven't).

Max has every right to say exactly what he thinks. I will also repeat myself from earlier and say that I agree. I don't see how he was an inflammatory jerk (see: Chinua Achebe for an example of such a person).

MODIFY: also seriously what does DOAD mean?????!?!?!?!??!
author=Craze link=topic=3208.msg63743#msg63743 date=1235697024
But then nessiah (or skie?????) would complain that not enough people were playing (I would like people to tell me why they have not played Demon Tower if they haven't).

Haven't played Demon Tower yet due to lack of time, but it was one of the games that I've been meaning to play. :P Since you're here already, how long is your demo?

Max has every right to say exactly what he thinks. I will also repeat myself from earlier and say that I agree. I don't see how he was an inflammatory jerk (see: Chinua Achebe for an example of such a person).

I've only read Things Fall Apart, and that was when I was a freshman in high school, where I wasn't interested in reading much if anything. And if Max has a right to grab a high horse, we have a right to take it down. :)

MODIFY: also seriously what does DOAD mean?????!?!?!?!??!

"Desperation of Alcoholic Dream".
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
~3-5 hours long, and Chinua Achebe's literary work is very good. It's just his attitude and personality and idea that every single non-African is a pitchfork racist that makes me hate him.

<Achebe> I used to buy my child storybooks about African animals, but then I realized that they were all RACIST. Now my child does not read these stories!

I am not kidding about that. He says it in an interview that I know is on youtube.

Also, thanks for the cracked code.

(MODIFY: that is not my only example of Achebe's jerknessosity; read any interview with him and he is like A WHITE MAN ASKED ME ABOUT MY COUNTRY BUT I KNEW HE WAS MAKING FUN OF MY HERITAGE I IGNORED THE PROFESSOR AND KEPT WALKING)