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Progress Report

I think I'm just about done

Going to test play the ending one more time when I get home from work, but other than that, the game is pretty much completed. Look forward to a release tomorrow at the latest! =)

Special thanks to the testers, particularly amziezelt. You picked up on things that totally went over my head.

Request

Trailer/Testers Wanted

Happy new year!!!! Currently, I'm seeking three testers to play the game's A, B, and C paths to make sure everything runs smoothly. I'm on my third play through, but it doesn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes, no?

Anyway, here's the trailer! It would have been one file, but WMM wouldn't save my movie as a whole, so I had to speed. I tried to find a way to merge the files, but gave up. Anyways, enjoy!!! Or not. But I hope you do!

(Can't get the tags to work >.> so I'm just going to post the links)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t1ZKNW81P8&feature=youtu.be (pt 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rhFjLmSZvQ&feature=youtu.be (pt 2)

Progress Report

Sunnydale is in a very sunny place

Hey all! Merry Christmas!!!

Basically, a beta, if you will, of the game has been completed. All that's left is the test play aspect, which I actually much enjoy. Also, when I'm done, I want to have at least three testers to play the game after me in case I missed something, or there are balance issues I overlooked, etc.

So that's basically it. Happy holidays to all and eat lots! =D

Announcement

Endings

The ending sequences are all written up, I think? I may add more to the Buffy and Dean ending, but right row, I'm mentally spent and I think they're all done.

Dungeon construction is done. I finished building the last dungeon last week.

So all that's left is copying and pasting events, populating the dungeons, and finishing the guide! This game should be ready to be tested a month or two from now. I'll testplay the game myself, as well as seek beta testers because, because if Onyx 2 taught me anything in 2007, I tend to miss things... elle oh elle.

And to think I thought this game was going to take a couple of weeks to finish. Hee hee!

Progress Report

Sunnydale is in a sunny place

I can almost guarantee that the game will be out this year (!). I was aiming for a Summer release, but, um, I don't see that happening. But an Autumn release could be possible, if I keep chipping away at it.

Initially, I had meant for this game to be completed in 2010, the year it was started, but so many things "got in the way", so to speak. A lot has changed with me, and I have had to prioritize other things. I didn't think I would ever get into RPGM again, but I guess I just felt the need to indulge in some healthy brain candy.I am determined to get this out and Gatekeeper as well, which I'm really proud of, so far.

So here's the deal. For the last...two months, I think? whenever things have been slow at work, I have been writing out scenes for Sunnydale (and Gatekeeper, too) and when I get home, I'd do a little bit of dungeon-building here, and a little bit there, and it's all starting to add up. In terms of where the storyline is, I'm basically at the endgame. After I'm done with the current dungeon, I'll be pretty much done with the "main path", sans the last dungeon. All I would have left to do would be to write out scenes for a few of the side paths, which shouldn't be difficult.

As far as the dungeon construction goes, that is just about finished. All I have to do is finish Billy Loomis's dungeon, and the final one. That's it.

I haven't updated the demon library yet, but that's the easiest part for me, so it's no big.

All in all, the end is definitely near. I'm pretty pumped about possibly having another finished game out there. No more demos for me. I contemplated submitting one for Gatekeeper during the Release Something weekend, but nope! That's what got me in trouble in the first place.


- Yeaster


PS: Hints (minor spoilers!)

Is it bad that I didn't know who the final boss of this game was going to be until three weeks ago? lol I had it in my mind that it was going a certain iconic villain whose first name rhymes with rector... but I've replaced him with another iconic horror movie superstar. This person's story is tragic, and I know just how to incorporate it into the game.

Progress Report

The lowdown

After I finish up with the current dungeon, there will only one more left in the main storyline. But there are still about 4-5 other ones left to do in the "A" path, plus some optional quests that'll lead to each character's ultimate weapon.

All in all, the game is about 65% done. If I work on it consistently, I should have a beta done by January, and then I'll be begin testplaying. After that, I'll be looking for other testers too. Don't want another Complete Chaos situation -- as in, constantly having to upload new download files. haha


On a slightly sour note, this will likely be my last RM project. =( If I make others, they will likely be very, very short and simple.

Progress Report

Totally pointless update

First of all, WOW @ my last blog entry being over a year ago.

ANYWHO, I have been working on this game veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slowly over the last 12+ months. Basically just doing bits n' pieces here and there whenever I felt like it. But for the first time in god-knows when, I actually sat down and worked on this game this weekend. And what an experience that was. I instantly re-discovered why I loved this game, and it honestly felt like I was working on a new project all over again. Everything felt so fresh and new. It was a lot of fun.

Since it was raining/snowing, and I was having one of those weekends where I honestly did not feel like doing anything but staying in bed, I basically spent most of the day watching movies/working on this. In that time, I had:

--> Wrapped up two dungeons (Dracula's Caste & Sunnydale -- which had already been built, I just didn't make any events for it at the time).
--> Updated the guide
--> Started the next dungeon, the Amethyst Cave. I hope to be finished with that by the end of this week.
--> Did some "database clean up" (ex, making sure that all of the states, spells and accessories were working correctly, took out some unneeded menu options, etc).

Perhaps one of the more significant updates was dumping one of the playable characters and replacing them with someone more recent (but perhaps less recognizable--though the franchise that this character is from is not). Reason being, this character's personality just wasn't mashing well with the others. The character would have been better served as an NPC, one of those one-dungeon-wonder kind of affairs. The dumped character does not appear on the "Cast page", so feel free to sigh in relief. The reject was another TV character, and the main cast is filled with them, so.


That's all I can think of for now. I intend to work on this more consistently for now on. Hopefully I'll have it finished within the next six months (test-play time not included). *fingers-crossed*

Miscellaneous

GOOD AND BAD NEWS ABOUT THE 'SUNNYDALE'' DEMO

Good news:
- It actually exists

Bad news:
- The file size is ginormous (178MB)

More good news:
- It's unlikely to get any bigger
- Having the VX program/RTP isn't necessary in order to play this

Anyway, everyone kept asking me for a demo so I decided to upload one. I didn't really go out of my way to polish this one. I basically just uploaded the game in its raw, current form.

A large portion of the file size comes from pictures and I spent nearly all day Sunday trying to find programs to compress the data, but none of them made any significant difference. Grim. And to make matters worse, I ran into VX's 128MB cut-off, which I didn't see coming.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut, I found a way to beat the system!

The Animations folder is the largest folder in the game, and isn't compressed with the rest of the game's data. After you extract the files, past the Animations folder that's in the zip folder... over the Animations folder that's in the game's graphics folder.

And then play the game.

The demo also includes:
- An instruction booklet that briefly explains the game's mechanics
- A cast list/information on how to recruit them
- A guide

I look forward to hearing from you! Let me know what sucks so I can make it not-stuck for the full release.

So, until the submission has been approved...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rdaqkogjzb8urir/%3DANISC%3D%20%5BDemo%20Version%5D.zip

Again, I apologize for the size...

- Yeaster

Miscellaneous

July Update

It's been a lot longer than I thought, but nonetheless, here's the current progress thus far.

WHAT I DID
- Finished the first "optional" dungeon, Route 1428 entirely and the events that followed, which included:

- The option of recruiting THREE new characters
- Some of the game's main villains revealed

WHAT I INTEND TO DO
- Sometime this week, I'll try to begin building the third "main path" dungeon, the Satellite Tower. Then I'll do the demon encounters, the treasures and all that good stuff.

- Next week I'll probably begin working on the events

The two dungeons that will follow that will be the second "optional" dungeon, Dracula's Castle and a mystical cavern that has yet to be named. And probably some other stuff, depending on how the ST dungeon goes.

SOMETHING I WAS THINKING ABOUT
- Since this game will have a total of four different endings and all, I was thinking of possibly adding to its replay value by taking a page out of Star Ocean 2's book and have it so that, while there are twelve possible characters to recruit, you can only recruit eight of them at any given time (although you'll have to choose between Hercules and Xena). I'm not sure how the players (you all) will feel about this, but it was something I wanted to try out.

- Also, to clear up any confusion, when I say "main path" dungeon, what I mean is that those are the six dungeons that you HAVE to complete to beat the game. It's possible to beat it by doing ONLY those dungeons. However, they only reveal a "piece" of a whole story and if you skip everything else, you'll miss out on 90% of the character development. And you'll get the "worst" ending (*snicker*). This game is a weird mix of being extremely linear but at the same time very non-linear, in that -- after a certain point -- most of the "optional stuff" can be completed at almost any time and at almost any order. There will be some quests that can't be completed unless you've completed something else first, but of course I will have a guide that will contain the "suggested" order for all four endings.

- Lastly, for anyone who want to try to beat the game with Buffy and Dean alone, I started making alternate versions of the game's bosses that will cater to just them.


So, until next time..................................................................... >:]

- Yeaster

Miscellaneous

So here's the situation...........................

I've been very quiet about this project as of late -- and for good reason. Up until now, I was unsure of its fate. Here's why:

- Last month, it was a typical Saturday morning. I came back home from my morning jog and proceeded to bullshit around on my laptop before I started to do something productive.

Enter my nephew

In an effort to get him out of my room, my laptop falls off of my bed and everything turned black. Cue internal panic. I turn it off and turn it back on in hopes that it will boot up normally.


It didn't.


I tried everything I could to get it to boot up, watched every youtube tutorial/googled every possible combo of words and still nothing worked. I figured if I turned off my laptop and wait until the next morning to turn it back on, it'll magically return to normal.


It didn't.



It then become clear to me - after hours of googling - that I fell victim to the Black Screen of Death. I've dropped my comp in the past so I know if it ever dropped again it would be a done deal, and sure enough...

I'm usually good at backing up my data, but I began to feel too confident and I haven't updated my flashdrive since very early March.




This game wasn't created in early March.



After googling some more, I learned that it was possible to extract data from a dead hard-drive. Buying a new laptop was no problem -- I just wanted my data back. The most IMPORTANT thing on it was my screenplay called "The Unseen" that I started in my screenwriting class. I've been writing it since March and I'm really proud of it. My classmates absolutely loved it and my instructor pulled me aside after my last day of class and said that I had a lot of talent, and encouraged me to keep practicing and to pursue it as a career option around a year or so later (which was my original plan anyways, but still, it's great to hear that you have a lot of potential from a working filmmaker--especially one not easy to please). Also, keep in mind that I was 84 pages in and probably would've finished it within the next two weeks before the revision process. I didn't care about ANYTHING else on that drive, but if I could get that script (as well as my older script, Goblin, that I just revised and my older ones that I began to transfer from Microsoft to Final Draft), I would be........... if not happy, then less depressed.

Anyways, I took my computer to BestBuy in hopes that the geek squad could retrieve the information from the drive. I explained to them what happened and they were fairly confident they could do it.


They couldn't.



So I'm driving back home feeling completely negative. I didn't want to give up the fight -- that's just not the kind of guy I am -- but I literally had no idea what to do next. I refused to accept that I lost all of my data, however...that was a reality I was going to have to deal with. *sigh* What was one to do?

Well, out of nowhere my dad started talking about data recovery services and that I should look around online for a good one. "Man, whatever" I thought. I mean seriously, how convenient was that?? I haven't heard of anything like that before until that moment. I didn't think my dad knew what he was talking about (I love him dearly, but when it comes to computers, he's been wrong more times than he's been right!), but hell, I I figured it'd be worth a shot.

So that night I googled some more and found DriveSavers, inc. They had good reviews (had to make sure it wasn't a scam first) and so I gave them a call. They said they had over a 90-something percent success rate, but it would cost me a minimum of $1,500 to recover my files.


I hung up the phone.



I googled some more and found Gillware. I did a background check and they had glowing reviews from past costumers, so I gave them a call. Their success rate was about the same and they charged a maximum of $670 if successful. I was desperate and told them I would send them my drive, and the next week I did.

The two weeks that followed were weeks of inner pain and turmoil. I was in a sour mood the entire time (please note, that when I'm upset about something -- I never show it pubicly nor do I take it out on other people--what happens is that I get insanely tired and can't focus/be bothered to do anything---only sleep). I was so far gone that no Kylie Minogue song could ever have cheered me up.

Fast forward to last week, I get a call on my cell from Gillware. They tell me that they were successful in recovering 99.6% of my data.

Cue (internal) shouts of joy


...Which promptly ended once I had to pay the $670 in full (of course after using their FileViewer to verify which files they were able to save--which was, like they said, everything).

I finally received my data back today which spans across SIX DISKS (x.x), but I don't care, I'm happy. The Unseen is there as well as all of my other scripts.

I checked to see if this game was retrieved and it was -- fully intact but nonfunctional! =D
Luckily, that problem was solved after starting a new project and pasting all of the data onto that one. I also had to re-paste the graphics and the music since Gillware effed some of them up.

Anyways, in conclusion, this game was SAVED and everything WORKS, so I will begin working on it again shortly.

*sigh* I learned a valuable lesson. Update regularly. Luckily it wasn't fatal but it sure as hell was costly, combined with the price for the new laptop I bought. I'm pretty going to give God the biggest THANK YOU prayer ever tonight.

I don't expect anyone to read this lol, but I just wanted to get it off of my chest.

Good night!

- Gary

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