DARKEN'S PROFILE

the second post has the Don Miguel(2000) and RPG Advocate(2003) RTP https://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/22883/?post=814174#post814174

the google docs will list whether or not it's Standalone (which doesn't require RTP) but most people used RTP to save on space since you didn't have to download the same files over and over again back in 2001 when download sizes were precious.

author=Reincarnation
Hi have not checked this account in a while. I logged in to find a DM from SegNin with the mega link to Shattered Samurai 2 back last year. Should I repost?

it's a missing game so yea, that would be nice

The community sprung up from illegality and a questionable origin, but paradoxically that's what created the demand for a localized RPG Maker in the first place. Like most people I learned to make pixel art from importing a lot of rips and understanding how they were put together. It also just created more confidence where you could create an SNES looking game while at the same time make edits to get what you want without the hassle of having to make a whole game's art from scratch. Back in 2001 there was like maybe one crude pixel art tutorial to go off of.

It's scrapbooky and amateur but I think that's worth embracing. Idk some people really wanted to pretend that this wasn't part of the community's culture or DNA and it was easy to get insecure about "hey i didn't... actually make the art for my own game" yet for example soundcloud music artists are ripping shit all the time. This is like not a new or noteworthy debate in the grand scheme of things. Fanart is generally the way some artists even break in onto social media nowdays (more an issue of IP infringement). Japanese computer games in the 80s were notorious for plagiarizing from random sources, they really didn't give a fuck. The very same industry that would make rpg maker/dante. I also think the bootleg scene in China and NES downports are fascinating and deserve more credit. There's a circular discussion to be had about the gradient of influence/tracing/ripping I'm sure, but some people are too obsessed with art being this pure thing that comes out of a vacuum with pristine intentions and originality.

Not pointing this out to justify anything. But generally I just don't think copyright or ownership is compatible with how creative cultures congregate. It's just a thing you can't fully control or prevent. Trying to have a consistent bullet proof morality about this is just fronting for Big Companies that ultimately own everything and aren't sympathetic to your noble efforts to uphold a piece of paper Disney created to keep using their stupid mouse. Is there a grey area and a bunch of unspoken rules amongst artists taking from each other? Yeah sure but it's never going to be consistent and probably shouldn't be.

thanks, just turned 32 on the 29th

Commercial game success comes down to marketing, which boils down to: does anyone actually give a shit about what you're selling? If you can't validate that with a mild certainty like interest/downloads in your freeware projects or having a large social media presence etc. then your chances are effectively zero. Even if you have that stuff going for you it's still an uphill battle. It sounds simple but people can't really buy your game if they don't know or care about it.

Instead of looking at successes though you should be looking at failures, survivorship bias often distorts the full picture. Can your game compete with those that release every day on Steam that don't even crack 10 reviews? Is it worth spending 5 years making a game that looks/plays something on par with those? (This is also extremely subjective on your outlook btw) RPGs especially take forever to make. It's better to test the market with smaller releases than to put all your eggs in one basket and burn out when you find out it didn't sell much.

To ditto Red Nova, it's best to invest in yourself rather than one game. Yet also look at the reality of it, because you really have to enjoy the process for its own sake if it doesn't pan out.

I don't know really. I feel like most games aren't engaging enough for me to really see it to the end but it might not always be their fault due to my weird brain. I prefer narrative in games purely because there's more chances of things to latch onto, but also I think if it's also setpiece driven I tend to look forward to what's next. I can't stand roguelikes or puzzle games with just stacks of levels to play because I just don't care after awhile. I need more than just a stack of filler. One reason I think I just never complete games (especially old ones) is that they tend to be REALLY repetitive just to hit some sort of hour quota. But I was really sucked into games like Half Life and Metal Gear Solid and get kinda dissapointed when an intriguing game just has 100 maze dungeons for various dev reasons and expectations.

That said I really like fighting games like Street Fighter or Tekken, do not care for their 5/10 storylines but I think the 1v1 gameplay against a human opponent leads to endless depth. There's so many different personalities when running into people online, that I just never get bored of those games. Idk I guess a human with habits to solve and predict is just more interesting than procedurally generated levels. So they sort of replaced a need for a story hook or whatever.

I think when seeking a game out I look for a strange or interesting vibe. I'm in my 30s so I kind of just accepted that not every other game I find is going to blow me away, been there done that. Yet if there's something weird or uncanny about it, games by Suda51, Yoko Taro, SWERY, Kenji Eno, Love-de-Lic etc. or some Slavjank games. Then the gameplay or story doesn't even have to be good per say, but there's just something to them that I can't describe that keeps me engaged. You can probably find some stuff like that just browsing through itch io or some off beat RPG Maker game, but there's also an allure to finding those types of games on PS1 or PS2 that adds to it. Again can't explain it, a mixture of nostalgia and mystery I guess.

I also think with some older games if they don't quite follow game design coventions and QoL stuff and are just really really messy, it tends to lead to a more interesting game. A lot of games now are really design by commitee and it's hard to get stuck on them (and arguably better in some ways) but it leads to some really mundane stuff. If I know what's around the corner then what's the point of going around it? System Shock 1 remake reminds me how messy 90s games tend to be, they left most of the level design and gameplay unchanged save for a few updated controls/interface. The result is kind of a backtracky nightmare maze of level design that can be all over the place. Yet I kinda like it?

But yeah idk, a game that strikes a balance between being interesting and good but also very messy and unpredictable. Which is very hard to describe exactly if you interoggated me on what is "interesting" or what is "messy" but that's my 2 cents.