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Jimmy, We Are Go for Launch!

Well, Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is officially released. It's been a little over four years of development, but we made it. Let's get the business stuff out of the way real quick, because I'm probably going to get a little sentimental.

You can buy Jimmy on Steam here.

If you don't like or can't use Steam, I've set up an itch.io page here.

You should also be able to purchase the soundtrack on Steam if that's something you're interested in. I'll get an alternative link for the soundtrack later today--probably on itch.io. Let me know if you'd prefer another website. I'll update this post and the main page with that link once it's available.

Anyway, now that Jimmy's out, I wanted to talk for a bit about this website and why it's important to me. When I made A Very Long Rope to the Top of the Sky, it was truly a game made just by me. I didn't look at any tutorials, I didn't browse any forums, I didn't even PLAY other RPG Maker games--I just worked in solitude. And, you know what? It was terrible. It was baby's first game, and it fell into all of the common trappings of RPG Maker games: the maps were too big; the encounters were too frequent, generic, and boring; the design elements were all based on instinct instead of working together to form a cohesive whole; the puzzles were often overly difficult and sometimes didn't take RPG Maker's limits into consideration (hello, hit detection). In the end, it was just a showcase for my writing and music, and, even then, I felt that I could do better.

So, after it released and did better than it ever should have done, I started putting in the work. I played a wide range of RPG Maker games that taught me what the engine was really capable of. I made a few more games and flirted with actually good design. I built my confidence up in my weak areas and further honed the skills that I was proud of. And, several years later, I produced a game that I'm really, really happy with.

What I'm saying here is that the RPG Maker community, and, RMN in particular, was a fundamental part of my growth as a developer. Even though Jimmy's development process was, like A Very Long Rope's, mostly me hammering away every day in my room, it feels like it's a community effort. I know that I don't participate enough in the community, but I've been here for years now, popping up occasionally, but always watching and absorbing, creating unspoken rivalries with other developers, honing my craft, and gaining those precious bits of encouragement that kept my cynicism from imploding myself.

Thank you RMN for giving a platform for weirdo loners like me. Thank you for teaching us how to order our internal chaos into something playable. Thank you for being you. Now, go make more games, you beautiful misanthropes!

Posts

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CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
<33333 Housekeeping, you are a gem. So glad that you have this released finally. The long haul is worth it for the completed game alone. I wish you all the best, sales-and-exposure-wise. Thanks for being such a cool part of our community. <33333
Mega hype! I didn't play yet but it's a huge accomplishment to finish a game on this scope. I consider you one of my unspoken game dev rivals as we are aiming for a similar space in the stars. I wish much success upon you and hope you help the uphill fight to restore the reputation of RPG Maker games.
So now our rivalry is spoken. Choose your weapon.

Seriously, though, thanks, guys. Like I said in the post, the encouragement I get here has been so important to me. I know RPG Maker games get a bad rap, so all we can do is keep making REALLY COOL SHIT with the program to prove everyone wrong.
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
Holy crap, 4 years dedicated to a solo project. Housekeeping, you've got serious levels of dedication. Congrats on completing Jimmy! Buying and downloading now.

Now take the rest of the week off!
Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18536
author=Red_Nova
Holy crap, 4 years dedicated to a solo project. Housekeeping, you've got serious levels of dedication. Congrats on completing Jimmy! Buying and downloading now.

Now take the rest of the week off!


^THIS. This game makes my total 1 whole week of dedication look like nothing!
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
Been playing this for hours and absolutely loving it! :DDDDDDD This game is absolutely incredible ^_^

Looking back at A Very Long Rope to the Top of the Sky, which I loved on the plot and character side of things, it is so nice to see how far you have come since then on the mechanics and game development side of creating a project. Jimmy looks to be a masterpiece, and I'm glad to be playing it on the first day of launch! :DDD
:o itshappening.gif
Congrats man, finishing a whole game ain't no joke!
Looking forward to getting around to this... whenever it is I can get around to this. I think my "stuff to buy" backlog might actually be longer than my "stuff to play" backlog by this point D:
Whoah. Congratulations.

I still remember looking at the game page for this when it first went up and thinking "the scope is too big. There's way too much custom work. Vaporware for sure".

I'm super happy whenever that inner cynic voice gets showed what-for, and I'll be buying a copy soon.
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
Congrats, Housekeeping!
I've just wanted to leave games for some time but I think I'll return just to play Jimmy.
And thanks for the itch.io version.
Congratulations!

I also immediately recommended it to a sibling who might be interested, and also with the ease to pick up anything he wishes haha.
Put on my wishlist too! (I am not very fluid this month tho, so no insta pick up possible : ()
YES! I soooooo can't wait to play this, been waiting forever. Congratulations!
Thanks, everyone! It was definitely a lot of work, and now that it's released there's a lot more work that seems to be popping up, but I've been happy with the response so far.
Punkitt
notorious rpgmaker 2k3 shill
3341
GOSH YES
im so happy for you!!! im buying this the second i get the chance
Congrats on finishing, can't wait to play this. It looks amazing. The God of Crawling Eyes was the first of your games I played back in 2013, to think you've been working on this since nearly then is quite an achievement.

How long is the game out of curiosity?
Sweet, Punkitt! I hope you enjoy it!

Hey, thanks, Fomar! I guess The God of Crawling Eyes was a long time ago, but it feels like I made that yesterday. Anyway, the game's about 35-50 hours to complete all the content. 35 is like my time for completing everything, and most testers were around the 45-hour mark.
Bought it from Steam, about half an hour into it. It's already a huge improvement over A Very Long Rope! The game's influences are pretty clear, but I can tell you put some thought into how all the little pieces fit together. And the scene where Mr. Beaver gives you a tour of his house was a very Earthbound moment.

Will keep going and see how things turn out, either way I'd so far gladly put it in the ballpark with paid RPG Maker champions Helen's Mysterious Castle and Rakuen
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