Parallel

Yeah, that's right, Parallel is cancelled - well it's been cancelled for months, but I've decided to wrap this all up now.

Working on this game taught me a lot about RPG Maker, and game design in general. It's true- I learnt all about Picture commands, territory I dared not tread into before, I learnt about many design choices and why some things are so common in RPGs and why, after all these years, we do these things the same, it eased me into scripting(not making scripts, but using them), and it helped me master battle events. I learnt plenty about writing, plotting, puzzle design and many other aspects of game design. I mean, this game (would have) had a murder mystery in it, and if I do say so myself, it was very deep, twisted and clever. It was a very useful experience, even if it didn't result in a full game like I'd hoped.

So why did I quit? Same reasons as always - I was over-ambitious and I lost motivation. This game is a twisted mess. Look at the project file - beware though, it may make you cry. My organization was lacking, and it's definately something that I've improved on since. This game is bursting at the seams with rerally rather simple things- I kept patching things up, which made more holes, which needed more patching. I think the game is stable- but it probably won't take much to make it explode with errors, methinks.

Any way, I hope to take all I've learnt from this game and channel it in to my next project. I'll leave you with this quote from the game which sums up my thoughts on the whole thing pretty well-

Ogre: "Well boyo, we 'ad our good times an' our bad times."
Landis: "(When exactly were the good times?)"

Well, my original goal of a Release Something! Day demo is slipping further and further away, but I am proud to say I am moving along steadily.

The demo will be more gameplay orientated, although the finished product will be in the middle of story and gameplay. I decided on this approach because I feel gameplay to be a better hook than story, and also if I don't use the start of the game for gameplay there may be a small drought of it. The introduction is short and to the point. The first 2 minutes and 9 seconds of it are done without text, as this is entirely unnecessary. After that it kicks off almost immediately.

This isn't a story that needs a bit text dump at the start, so details are eased in as they are necessary. I like my stories interesting and my gameplay epic, so I will be trying to let them not get in the way of each other for the most part for the benefit of them both.