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Max McGee
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CloseAnywho, the trick is taking detailed notes while you work and using design documents.
Well, as it is not possible to do this RETROACTIVELY, what are some other suggestions? I had been keeping everything stored in my head.
The only way to refamiliarize myself with it was to play through it several times, and get feedback from people. Actually, feedback on the 5-year-old unfinished version was what prompted me to pick it back up.
I was really excited to read about how you refamilarized yourself with the game without any design documents, until I saw the part in bold. Unfortunately, getting any feedback from anyone is a big problem for me in and of itself. I could expand on that but I don't want to, at least not in this topic.
My design style in Vindication involved creating everything sequentially in the order that the player would get to it. So each time I made a map, I decided on the spot what would happen immediately next in the story at that point, made the events for it, made the monsters for it, determined whether the player needed any new skills at that level, created any new party members who joined the team then, and fixed any bugs or problems that the new content could cause with earlier parts of the game. It occurs to me now, being more experienced, that this was a pretty awful way to make a game.
Picking it back up, I knew there were a lot of problems with it. There were illogical plot holes. The ending left major villains unaccounted for. There were skills that weren't learned until you got 20-30 levels higher than you were when you fought the final boss. You didn't get to pick your team members until the second to last dungeon. One of the party members was nearly useless; another was capable of one-shotting some battles with a single area attack. The RM2K3 experience curves made grinding too easy. A lot of maps were utter shit.
What I'm trying to say is that trying to figure out what my mindset and my plans were 5 years ago didn't matter. I'd learned too much about game design in the meantime for my original goals to be worth pursuing. I had new goals; a new direction to take the game while using as much of the old material as possible. I had to make significant alterations to almost every aspect of the game; I started with the system and combat rehauls, and then moved on to fixing the pacing and adding more dungeons, and then solved some plot holes and rewrote the ending about fifteen times, and finished by editing a lot of maps. Due to the haphazard way it got made, I'm still fixing various issues that I become aware of as people leave feedback, even though the game was "finished" about eight months ago.
As a big example of a situation where I totally disregarded what I had planned in 2005: the current ending of the game was not supposed to be the ending. It was supposed to keep going after that; that's why some of the villains were still alive, and why the party options opened up so late. I had originally planned to add more dungeons and ultimately a different final boss. But, as it stood when I picked it back up, the current final boss, though not intended to really be final, was extremely climactic, and felt like the end of the game. I had to change it somewhat, but I ended up adding all my new content before it instead of after it
This is spectacularly helpful, you're a mensch for posting it. I know that I am a much much much much better game designer than when I last seriously worked on the game. But I still wish I could remember my basic intent for the story or the flow of the areas/puzzles (it's an adventure game, not an RPG). Relearning things like how I was doing event "coding" in the 2k3 engine will just be a matter of practice, I imagine.
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
author=Max McGeeThe only way to refamiliarize myself with it was to play through it several times, and get feedback from people. Actually, feedback on the 5-year-old unfinished version was what prompted me to pick it back up.I was really excited to read about how you refamilarized yourself with the game without any design documents, until I saw the part in bold. Unfortunately, getting any feedback from anyone is a big problem for me in and of itself. I could expand on that but I don't want to, at least not in this topic.
Well, once it's been so long that you barely remember what you had in mind while making it, playing it yourself (and keeping notes of issues you encounter as you do so) is almost as good as getting feedback from someone else. Your view isn't biased any more; you don't have any particular attachment to problematic elements. So in lieu of feedback, I'd say try to keep notes as you play through it. You essentially have a fresh viewpoint. You should be able to spot things that could be done better without feeling like they serve some real or imagined important purpose, since you don't remember your purpose anyway.
Also, remember that even just watching someone else play it can be really helpful, whether it's a friend or relative or a random youtuber or whoever, even if they're not actively giving feedback. You can see when they get frustrated or get bored.
I do understand the problem with the coding, especially in 2K3 where doing complicated stuff can get kind of insane. I had to redesign my throw and blue magic systems from scratch because they were buggy and I couldn't fix them. It was for the best, because they were also kind of awful.
I'll probably get around to it.
Anyway, I've already decided one major aspect of the plot I'm going to throw out because it complicates things in a way that is double plus ungood, and really muddies the game's story and theme.
Anyway, I've already decided one major aspect of the plot I'm going to throw out because it complicates things in a way that is double plus ungood, and really muddies the game's story and theme.
author=Max McGeeAnywho, the trick is taking detailed notes while you work and using design documents.Well, as it is not possible to do this RETROACTIVELY, what are some other suggestions? I had been keeping everything stored in my head.
Advice for THE FUTURE :o
Advice for THE FUTURE :o
lol the future. Well I didn't want to make a big deal out of this but now that you mention it.
This game I'm finishing is actually the last video game I'm going to be involved in developing for the foreseeable future. I won't say "ever", (I've said never before but time made a liar out of me) but for a long time.
Besides the usual issues of finding time for the hobby as you grow older, it's the fact that my name is shit in this community, and regardless of the actual merits of anything I produce, it will either be spit upon, ignored, or both. Even if not in this forum, the knowledge that somewhere there are cabals of smug hipster douchebags laughing at my attempts to express myself creatively chafes considerable. The alternative to mockery, of course, is my releases being greeted with awkward silence. (I hope no one bothers trying to deny this situation; it's so glaringly self-evident that any denial is a meaningless platitude. In 2008 it seemed like I had a fresh start from the BS of 2006, but by 2010 it was clear that drama was something I could not escape.)
For a person with a more relaxed psychological makeup, it would be no big deal, but I've always worried far too much about what people think of me. It's actually the most obviously visible component of my severe and completely unmedicated social anxiety disorder.
Anyway finishing this old game is probably the last piece of business I want to complete, ignoring the haters before I ride off into the sunset of the interwebs for good and all. For the moment, all of my makery efforts are going to be focused on that.
Immediate Edit:
Since rereading this post it seems like a giant guilt trip, I just want to add that I don't feel all that bad about this, and I don't think it's a big deal. I just kind of want Max McGee/Legion to sort of commit digital seppuku like a disgraced samurai and die with honor so I can focus on the business of being a real person in real life.
Illustrious
520
"it's the fact that my name is shit in this community"
Looks to me like you hold a better track record than a lot of people, maintaining a score of 3 stars or better on most anything you took seriously. You have made a lot of things, at least that's consistency. I am yet to play through any of your games, but it will change.
Looks to me like you hold a better track record than a lot of people, maintaining a score of 3 stars or better on most anything you took seriously. You have made a lot of things, at least that's consistency. I am yet to play through any of your games, but it will change.
author=Illustrious
Looks to me like you hold a better track record than a lot of people, maintaining a score of 3 stars or better on most anything you took seriously. You have made a lot of things, at least that's consistency. I am yet to play through any of your games, but it will change.
i think you misread he said name, not game ;D
Illustrious
520
I did not miss it, I just deleted half my comment. I thought it was necessary to prevent a discussion of Max's character in this thread. I think he saw what I intended for him anyway.
I know its my own topic, but I really believe this topic should be getting more use. I mean it's good placement for a lot of those one-off questions I see people not requiring a whole thread for. Might be my fault for giving it a vague name trying to be cute. If I could, I would probably change it's name to "Quick Questions, Quick Answers".
I know its my own topic, but I really believe this topic should be getting more use. I mean it's good placement for a lot of those one-off questions I see people not requiring a whole thread for. Might be my fault for giving it a vague name trying to be cute. If I could, I would probably change it's name to "Quick Questions, Quick Answers".
Queasy
0
Can I use it for stupid rpgmaker2k3 questions?
I started making some maps out of boredom and I'm having trouble getting passability right. I've set an "X" to stuff like mountains or rivers, and I'm finding I'm perfectly capable of walking right through them... what gives?
I started making some maps out of boredom and I'm having trouble getting passability right. I've set an "X" to stuff like mountains or rivers, and I'm finding I'm perfectly capable of walking right through them... what gives?
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
In RM2K3, if you have a tile on the top layer that isn't a * passability, it takes priority over the passability of the bottom layer.
This is the game design forum though, not the halp forum... though I guess I can't really think of many (or any) game design and theory topics that don't require any discussion. If I post something in this forum, it's because I want to generate discussion. So I guess I don't really know what this thread is for. I mean even the OP spawned half a dozen responses. I don't mean to be rude, it's just that you seemed perplexed as to why people don't use this topic, and at least for me, that's why.
This is the game design forum though, not the halp forum... though I guess I can't really think of many (or any) game design and theory topics that don't require any discussion. If I post something in this forum, it's because I want to generate discussion. So I guess I don't really know what this thread is for. I mean even the OP spawned half a dozen responses. I don't mean to be rude, it's just that you seemed perplexed as to why people don't use this topic, and at least for me, that's why.
Lezales
100
I have the skills to compose music and I often do.
But as I'm a musician myself I mostly play it with my instrument and rarely have it played by softwares with samples. I'm very used to some software to goes midi and midi doesn't bother me at all.
Do you think music in the midi format will really be bad for my game ? Should I do the extra effort to learn other software to put good quality samples on those midi tracks ?
But as I'm a musician myself I mostly play it with my instrument and rarely have it played by softwares with samples. I'm very used to some software to goes midi and midi doesn't bother me at all.
Do you think music in the midi format will really be bad for my game ? Should I do the extra effort to learn other software to put good quality samples on those midi tracks ?
Most decent sample/soft synth based music stuff will let you open midis and from there you can assign instruments/devices to each midi track. The sequencers in these programs use midi control anyway, they just channel midi through into audio.. If that makes sense.
Lezales
100
author=NewBlack
Most decent sample/soft synth based music stuff will let you open midis and from there you can assign instruments/devices to each midi track. The sequencers in these programs use midi control anyway, they just channel midi through into audio.. If that makes sense.
Do you have any suggestions for such a software ?
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 you are lazy and don't care about maximum quality, there are free online converters.
This one is simple and supports lots of formats. I think it lets you do an unlimited number of conversions per day, but you can't customize how it sounds beyond the bitrate.
This one only supports midi -> mp3/wav, an has a limit per day, but gives you a lot of options of different sets of instruments.
Neither one is as good as doing it yourself, but both are better than leaving it in midi format. The way a midi sounds can vary drastically from one computer to another, and some cheaper sound cards (especially in laptops) will make all midis sound utterly intolerable.
This one is simple and supports lots of formats. I think it lets you do an unlimited number of conversions per day, but you can't customize how it sounds beyond the bitrate.
This one only supports midi -> mp3/wav, an has a limit per day, but gives you a lot of options of different sets of instruments.
Neither one is as good as doing it yourself, but both are better than leaving it in midi format. The way a midi sounds can vary drastically from one computer to another, and some cheaper sound cards (especially in laptops) will make all midis sound utterly intolerable.
What I'm talking about is completely different to what Lockez is talking about as far as I can tell.
I use Reason 4 (which is commercial) although Fruity Loops would be able to do that too (but is also commercial.. I think). Obviously you can compose from scratch in those programs too.
I use Reason 4 (which is commercial) although Fruity Loops would be able to do that too (but is also commercial.. I think). Obviously you can compose from scratch in those programs too.
http://lmms.sourceforge.net/ My be of interest, it's a free cross platform tool like FL studio, pretty sure it can import midis and use VSTIs and whathaveyou.
Erilex
3452
I think I read somewhere that RPGmaker XP's tilesets don't have a vertical size limit. I haven't tested this yet, but assuming they didn't, it would be possible to mash a bunch of tilesets together (like say, the entire RTP folder) into an extremely versatile 256 x ridiculouslyhugenumber macro-monstruosity of a tileset. Would there be any drawbacks to doing this? I just can't bring myself to believe that an RPGmaker program would let me do something that convenient.
