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Changed my mind

I decided to go back and finish this damned game.

A few reasons:
  • This is the kind of game I'm in the mood of making right now.

  • Making Depression reminded me of how much I enjoy the process of making a game.

  • Making Depression also made me realize that I can enjoy making a game not concerned with how many people will play it (which was the main reason I dropped the project in the first place).

  • I've been getting a lot of good feedback, people making LPs, people asking me to finish it, etc.

  • The more I think about it, the more I believe Alvorada do Mal is my best game.


So... expect a full version some time this year, if everything goes right in my life. Motivational comments (like "Alvorada do Mal is awesome!") are always welcome.

PORTUGUÊS

Eu decidi voltar e terminar esse jogo maldito.

Algumas razões:
  • Este é o tipo de jogo que estou a fim de fazer no momento.

  • Enquanto estava fazendo o Depression percebi o quanto me dá prazer fazer um jogo.

  • Fazendo o Depression percebi também que é possível gostar do processo de fazer um jogo sem me preocupar com quantas pessoas vão jogar depois, e foi esse o motivo pelo qual havia abandonado o projeto.

  • Tenho tido muito feedback positivo, gente pedindo para eu terminar o jogo, gente jogando no Youtube, tem sido bem animador!

  • Quanto mais eu penso, mais acredito que Alvorada do Mal é o melhor jogo que já fiz.


Minha intenção é terminar ainda esse ano, se minha vida não bagunçar. Qualquer tipo de elogio ou pagação de pau no intuito de me motivar será muito bem vindo!

Miscellaneous

Faces, faces, faces!

I always loved RPGs with faces in dialog boxes. Once I started using RPG Maker, making a game with no facesets wasn't an option. My first big project was Alvorada do Mal, and when I started making it, I had the ambitious idea of having faces for every single PC or NPC, no matter how unimportant they were. Trying to maintain style consistency, my faces were pretty much RTP/Rocco edits.

At first, my edits were pretty simple (color changing, eye switching, etc.), but with experience, I began to actually draw parts of the faces, like hair, nose, etc. The result is that I have a wide variety of faces that are consistent with each other.



I made this compilation to post in a forum topic, but I decided to post it here as well... mostly because, like I said in a previous blog, Alvorada do Mal resources are free to take.

Miscellaneous

Steal from me

One of the reasons I decided to make this game in the first place is that I thought there weren't good modern resources for RM2K3. Modern games looked either too medieval, too futuristic, or too dark (like Theodore's). I spent a huge time editing and making tilesets for a modern setting. My plan was always to give the resources away once the game was finished. But since this game is likely never to be finished, I might as well do it now... while there are still people who care about RM2K3 anyway.

So, even though this game is in Portuguese, feel free to download it and take whatever you want from it.

Modern tilesets include:

Big City
House (inner)
Apartment (inner)
Building
Commercial office
Bathroom
School
Rock concert
Bus (inner)
Mechanic Shop
Restaurant
Volleyball Court
Prison
Hospital
Fast Food
Metro Station
Church


There are also battle backdrops, DBS weapons, RTP-compatible monsters, faces and battlechars, and charsets for tvs, posters, books and other objects.

Some of them are almost drawn from scratch, but most are just edits. Feel free to take them. You don't really have to credit. But it would be nice if you could show me what you make with them to me, just out of curiosity. :D

Miscellaneous

The world is going to end

Catchy topic name to make people read something on my "foreign" game blog. But this is more of a general discussion, so it's not just for Portuguese-speaking people.

This is a lesson on finishing games.

Alvorada do Mal was my first big RM project. I started it on June 2004, right after I joined my first RM community, RPG Menace. I had this interesting and vague game concept, and I envisioned a game that was actually based on the modern world, the real world, and that looked like the real work, instead of most other modern projects that either looked medieval or futuristic.

So I opened RPG Maker 2003, started designing the first characters, first maps, first scenes. It actually came along pretty nicely. I was so proud of it I decided to release a first demo. The reaction was very good. It motivated me to keep working on it. I worked a bit more, released the second demo... a bit more, and then came demo 3, on May 2005.

By the time demo 3 was out, I had already worked on this game for hundreds of hours, and created a certain hype around it. So I had to finish it. Quitting it was not an option. Also because I hated people that hyped their projects and quit them. We all know a game is as good as finished.

I was pretty green when I started the game, and I learned a lot doing it. I learned spriting, mapping, editting, coding. I could do stuff. But I started the game using RTP-style characters, DBS, D-everything. It made my game feel like crap. But I wanted to finish, I knew it would be stupid do go back and IMPROVE.

Another problem I had is that I had the FINAL SCENE of the game in my mind, but not the in-betweens. I was stuck many many many times not knowing and not having good ideas for what would happen next. That caused me months and months of not-doing anything, blank and block.

Still I was commited to the project, and I shut my mind from new ideas cause I knew if I worked on something else I would never finish this project.

My first betrayal happened on January 2009, when I made Marvel Brothel. It was for a contest, there was a deadline, and there was a prize. Not only I finished it in time (two months), but I was completely satisfied with the final result, and I was surprised I could work on it for up to 13h/day with no block or blanks, not losing motivation.

My second betrayal happened on May 2010, with Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer. Also for a contest, shorter this time: two weeks (as opposed to Marvel Brothel's two months). Still I worked 10h/day minimum, non-stop, never losing motivation, satisfied with the final product.

What really made me question my gamemaking process is that not only I finished these games in MUCH LESS TIME, but they were BETTER, and they got WAY MORE ATTENTION. So I decided to drop Alvorada do Mal, because I'm obviously wasting my time with it, and erroneously shutting myself off from new ideas because of it.

I'm about to start a new project. It's not for a contest, but I want it to be like Marvel Brothel and Beautiful Escape, not like Alvorada do Mal. Here's what I learned:

- Plan ahead. Everything. Write everything down before you start it. Dialogs, item stats, maps, everything. Sketch maps if possible. Making a game when you have the whole "script" made is much easier and faster, and it's hard to lose motivation since you objectively know what you're aiming for and how far along you are. Don't even start making the game before knowing everything you're supposed to do.

Well, this was supposed to be a list, but I guess it all comes down to this. If you have your entire project written down on paper, you like it, and you know you can do it, you're a moron if you can't finish it.

Oh, and

- Never make a game in Portuguese again.

Miscellaneous

Demo 4 is up!

Demo 4 download is up!

This is a very long demo, and will possibly be the last version I release of the game. Not sure I'm gonna finish it.

So if you ever plan on playing it, do it now!

If you find any bugs, please report.

If you like it, please say so, cause that may motivate me to finish it.

If you don't like it, feel free so speak your mind as well.

Enjoy!

(if you speak Portuguese, of course).

Miscellaneous

Demo 4 Testing Phase

I'm taking the download down because I expect Demo 4 to be out soon, so I don't want anyone playing Demo 3 now!

If you want to help beta-test Demo 4, here's the download link:

http://rapidshare.com/files/430911864/ADM_Demo4_paraTESTE.rar

or

http://www.mediafire.com/?3ppjvxop7j893d5

If you don't plan on TESTING it, please wait for the testes version!

Demo 4 will possibly be the last version ever released of this game... in case I don't feel like working on it anymore. It lacks a proper ending, but it's a really big game still.

Miscellaneous

What's coming up

I've been working in this project for over 6 years. Even though I really like it and there's a small fanbase that keep asking me to finish it, I don't feel very motivated, and I haven't been working on it as much as I should.

Still, I've done A LOT since the last demo, and in case I decide to quit this project (which I hope doesn't happen), I want to release a demo with everything I have so far.

That's what I'm working on right now. This fourth demo will contain about... 70% of what I expect to be the final game, maybe more. Everything is pretty much done... except for the battles and some other minor tweaks. I'm about 80% on the battles though, and when I get everything done, I'll release this 4th demo, which is at least 3 times as big as the 3rd. I'm guessing... mid November.

I haven't given up yet. And worst case scenario, this demo will still be a fun thing to play, and there's this bunch of custom resources I've made that can be put to good use.

Miscellaneous

Minigame Compilation - Release Something! X

This is my something for Release Something! X

I don't expect anyone in RMN to play Alvorada do Mal because it's in Portuguese, and it'll be a while until it's complete, so I decided to group the most important minigames from the project and have them as a stand-alone game.

Well, it's not really a game, just a collection on minigames organized in a compilation. This is not just a part I cut from the game, it was designed exlusively for RS!X. It records High Scores and awards you money for your performance. And it's in English.

The minigames are:



Volleyball
Volleyball game played in pairs, you against your former classmates.

Cards
You have three cards in your hand, you have to draw cards until they sum up 21. Cheating is allowed, just don't let your opponents catch you.

Singing
Hit the notes and sing the song.

Knife Dodging
Some crazy clown is throwing knives at you. Dodge them or die!

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