GREATREDSPIRIT'S PROFILE

For first names I have a list of names sorted by language/culture. Game areas are given one category of names and people from that area get names from that list. The more I like a name, the greater importance the character with that name has.

I have one exception to this method. One area that I want to sound more forgein than the rest so I take some words, some of which describe the character, translate them into another language, then try and form a name with the result (with a few other changes).

Last names are more of a mess. I've got rules for last names based on where the character is from. Example: One area uses Arabic names (it is also a desert arent i creative) so I looked on Wikipedia for Arabic naming rules and used what I understood sans some extra stuff (X bin Y, or X son of Y). For the good ol' FirstName LastName, LastName is my "Don't care enough" method of mashing keys and trying to form a good name out of it that goes with the style of the first.

General names, like nation/city/location names I don't really follow any rules. For some areas I take names of existing/ancient locations and change them a bit. Other less important places do the "Don't care enough" method again.

Here's the Excel spreadsheet from Ordin:
http://grs.negative0.net/RPGMaker/Character%20Sheet.xls

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1611.msg25440#msg25440 date=1217144383
1. I don't have time! I have a life you know!

... you knew what your timeframe was going to be like.

Yes, because I can look into the future and magically determine what unexpected events will occur, how far off any estimations are, and calculate how long it takes to do work.

My entire last University semester involved me spending almost every weekend on campus doing a group project for a course. Several nights involved staying up until the sun came up, getting a few hours of sleep, and doing it all over again. None of my group members thought that it would take so long to finish. If I could've done some magic voodoo to know this please tell me where I can learn this sacred technique and I'll give you a kidney, my firstborn, and a blowjob.

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1611.msg25440#msg25440 date=1217144383
2. My project was erased from my computer!

I mostly agree, but half the time 'vistims' sounds like an excuse of "I don't feel like working on it anymore" without trying to lose too much face. There's no backup utility in the world that can fight that.

Other cases are when people have the aura of invinsibility, that it only happens to computer illiterate people, the odds of it happening are very low, (or the odd case of stupid backup methods, like copying the game onto the same computer) ect. They really should know better, but that's a different topic.

There's also when poor/infrequent backup methods and a loss of data result in lost work. Loss of motivation is proportional to data lost.

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1611.msg25440#msg25440 date=1217144383
3. My project isn't what I originally envisioned it to be!

I never heard this one. It sounds more like "im not getting enuf fives u suck u fags", "i hate my team there fags", or "too much wurk". The first two is the creator being an idiot and deserving to be punched in the face, but the third is more likely due to feature creep or inability to implement said features. More on that later.

(Seriously, if you're solo, how do you lose what you want the game to be?)

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1611.msg25440#msg25440 date=1217144383
4. My project sucks and nobody likes it!

You're actually quitting because your only source of motivation is other's people praise. If you can only make a game with people patting your back all the time, you'll never finish. The average attention span isn't as long as the time it takes to develop a game that people will be praising you with 'fives' and whatnot. Make a game that you enjoy making or don't bother starting.

(Yes, its a lame excuse but its more likely to be an honest one. If it is an honest excuse, then the creator would quit sooner or later.)

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1611.msg25440#msg25440 date=1217144383
5. This is too hard!

... you're working too hard instead of working smart. Address it. Sometimes things are too hard because you're not managing your time correctly. Address it.

This reeks of a manager's answer to when software development timetables aren't kept. Software development, and by extention game development, is very complicated and its easy to make unmaintainable software by incompitence/inexperience. Think about all those games with CBS/CMS which never got anywhere. I'd bet the number one reason that they never did was because of the horrible hack jobs that most of them were. Making changes or additional content would require hours of work because they were designed on the fly which translates to incredibly piss poor. It gets worse if this is the first or second time they've tried something so complicated. If they're using something thats like a step up from Assembly like Rm2k(3) then the odds of survival drop like a plane in a nosedive.

This isn't limited to just game development. Real software development written by professionals (with varying degrees in education) suffer from the same problem of bad design. Bugs, doesn't operate to specified requirements, ect. Its a real problem in the professional world and its only going to be worse for teenagers using RPG Maker.


There's also feature creep, which is where developers have a list of features the size of their arm that they want to implement. All of it, up to Super Fantastic Realistic Blinking with Phong Shading. Then during development they get more features to add, and it keeps piling up. They've got more features than what they know what to do with all for the sake of having "teh 1337est game evar". Now there's the fact that the quality of each feature is proportional to time spent on it. So you've got scores of features that you want to implement, and doing it right will take a very, very, long time. So now you need to do a huge list of features properly. Combine this with the above issues and add in how long it will take to do. Not only is it hard to design+implement everything, it'll take forever and be a huge motivation killer.

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1611.msg25440#msg25440 date=1217144383
But if your game has been eagerly awaited by many, has an established presence, and probably won a Misao or two, you better think long and hard about it.

Honestly, if I was making a game that people were looking forward to but I couldn't motivate myself to continue working on it, I would drop it. I make stuff for myself first and the fans second. It sounds selfish but if I hate working on it and all I'm getting out of it is 'fives' and pats on the back, I'd much rather quit and do something I enjoy. I would announce it to give the project closure though. It means everybody can move on without waiting. Quitting and disapearing is an incredibly dickish move and anybody who does it needs to be punched in the face.

(I've done it before on a different project. I really do think I deserve a punch in the face for it, although I did slightly redeem myself by helping out when the project was revived again. I was so ashamed by my vanishing act I asked that I was helping wouldn't be revealed until the project was completed.)


*edit*

author=Darken link=topic=1611.msg25513#msg25513 date=1217216751
Are you going to be happy for finishing a project that no one knows exists?

I've done this plenty of times. I loved making games in ZZT and Megazeux. Did anyone else every play them? With one possible exception, no. I still loved doing it though and I wish I still had some of those projects around today.

I can't do it Saturday but I am free Sunday after 5 MST (6 Central)

SPACE

ACE


SNES version.

I'll pass.