Arbiters From Another World

The upload is done. Arbiters From Another World is

COMPLETE!

Well, okay. There's probably going to be a bunch of things that could probably use some fixing. Grammar fixes, probably. Particularly at the end-game, as I was in a bit of a rush to push this out. However, there's no more story that I feel a need to include in this game. Which is "complete" enough for me! So, let's celebrate this frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Anyway, if you have old saves from the last demo, they should, in theory, be compatible with this version. I've never really tested this, so I can't really say one way or another. I won't go as far as to say that saves from the original demo, from whenever it was ago that I released it, would be compatible with this. However, it would be somewhat humorous if it were true!

Happy gaming and I shall see you when I get around to Uchioniko!

Okay, I'm not really wearing mirror shades and it's way to hot where I'm at to be wearing a tailored black suit. But there is one thing about this blog title that was not facetious: I am back to developing of this game!

Where did I stop, anyway? Wait, Yoemon? That's where I stopped? *sigh* Okay. I can do this.

I was a little side-tracked with notices of text errors, but they should, for the most part, be resolved. I say "for the most part", because I did some re-writing of certain scenes.

In any event, I'm officially placing my priorities to this game, first and foremost. Stonesearch? Adon237 knows that he need but PM me, and I shall do what I can with what resources I have. Heartache 101 - Sour Into Sweet? Nobody's taking me up on my offer thus far, so I'm not too worried about that. Though, there is a custom character that I would like to play, when it gets it's initial publishing. Depends how busy I am, I suppose.

Anyway, I know I must have said this in another blog, but the section after what's available in the demo is going to be most difficult to pull off. I would offer more information about it, but I don't want the moments in question to be spoiled. Of course, if one doesn't care, that's another thing!

Way-back-when, before anyone ever heard of RPG Maker, I had Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures. With it, I made 16x16 maps where walls were allowed to be little more than a line. Even then, I didn't use the entire map area that was given to me.

The point of telling this anecdote is "minimalism". I draw what I think is necessary on my maps, and nothing else. Which brings me, in part, to the review by Sailerius:

The mapping/level design isn't bad, but it does suffer from having too many wide open spaces. The maps serve to benefit from being shrunk down and having more detail, but they're not terrible.

I know this is one person's opinion (and forgoing the comment about adding details), but I cannot, for the life of me, see how the size of the maps can be reduced. Even if this was a reference to the larger-than-any-other-map-in-the-demo Ishino Ruins, I still cannot see how to reduce the size that would make sense to me. The flavor Ishino Ruins is supposed to have is that of a city in a state of ruin. Now, maybe I'm over-thinking things, but the map for Ishino Ruins is too small to support a population that one would equate with the word "city". Even if said city is in ruins, there should be some kind of indication that life used to exist there.

Let's forgo the problems with Ishino for a moment. What about a town that is alive? I don't recall if Port Hideki is in the current demo or not, but it is my token harbor town. Some games relay a harbor town with having a "harbor" portion and a "town" portion. Of course, I skip the "harbor" portion entirely. But I'm looking at the map of Port Hideki, and I'm wondering if I'm getting anything right at all, or if my minimalist, Unlimited Adventures mind-set is still in-play.

I don't think that it's this desire to be a minimalist, or the desire to map things as quickly as possible to see the story in motion, is my enemy. I don't think it's the code for Beacon, which will get increasingly larger as more maps are introduced, is my enemy either. I think my main enemy on mapping is that, in the end, I really don't care how my maps look. As long as they make sense to me, and they function, that is enough.

This thinking causes me to re-consider my reviews. Particularly the ones for Poley and Waffle - War for the Wonder Blocks and Draug's Resurrection. I lambast those games for bad graphics, but what if the philosophy of having those graphics are similar to my own? Do I even have the right to point out bad graphics if the only purpose the graphics need to serve is functionality? The answer that comes to me is "no". Call it a sense of honor, being over-sensitive, a feeling of guilt, or whatever you will.


Anyway, on a more positive note, work on this project has been slightly more consistent. Consistent enough to warrant the removal of the "hiatus" tag to be replaced with the "production" tag? I don't think I'm quite there yet. As for when this game will be updated next, that is uncertain. I might forgo uploading updates until the game can release in full. Even if I do release the full version, the game might have some lingering errors, so I should not use the term "complete".

As I type this, I'm uploading an update to this game. However, the amount of stuff that is updated is rather insignificant. Outside of including direct rips of music from commercially-made RPGs, the amount of new material is minimal at best. There was complaints of bad spelling/grammar, but I couldn't find any. Which isn't saying much, since I was more focused (if one can call it that) on new material.

Considering my work ethic, or lack thereof as the case has been recently, I figured it would be best if I uploaded what I had anyway. I suppose the dreaded "Hiatus" flag should be set as well. At least until such a time that I can work more consistently on this.