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Sailerius
did someone say angels
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Something happened to me last night when I was driving home. I had a couple of miles to go. I looked up and saw a glowing orange object in the sky. It was moving irregularly. Suddenly, there was intense light all around. And when I came to, I was home.

What do you think happened to me?
Vacant Sky Vol. 1: Conte...
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Please, Stop Writing Happy Endings

author=ch
The argument here is that happy endings are lazy and have less value than Serious or Sad endings, but commenters several pages ago took that right apart.

That's certainly the argument that people are responding to, which I can understand since it's a lot easier to argue against a point no one is making, but I certainly never made that point, so I would appreciate it if you didn't shove words in my mouth.

The definition of "happy ending" that I'm discussing is one in which good things all but exclusively happen to "good people," and bad things all but exclusively happen to "bad people," a notion which demonstrably causes people to become more closed-minded, bigoted, and scornful of minorities and the poor. I never said that these endings are "lazy" but that when you write an ending like that, you are convincing people to become more bigoted.

You're certainly allowed to do that if you want to, but it's your responsibility to be aware of what you're doing and to have it inform your choices as a writer.

It's certainly possible to have optimistic/positive endings that don't perpetuate bigotry, but they're rather difficult to execute. Whatever your favorite story with a happy ending is, it's more likely than not that it preaches victim-blaming either explicitly or implicitly.

The notion that there's an invisible, magical force of Justice that rewards all good deeds and punishes all evil deeds is so deeply-engrained in our cultural consciousness that it's difficult to invent stories that don't reassert its existence, and that alone should make the fact that we need to fight it self-evident.

Dark Souls Changed the Way I Think About Video Games

Candy Land changed the way I think about videogames.

Dark Souls Changed the Way I Think About Video Games

I encourage you to try it for yourself so you can see through the comically overblown hype, but don't make my mistake and waste money on it. Borrow it from a friend or watch an LP. There are better-designed games on RMN.

Alternatively, play the spiritual predecessor, I Wanna Be the Guy. It's actually more fun.

Dark Souls Changed the Way I Think About Video Games

The only emotion Dark Souls elicits is boredom.

Don’t Throw Away That 2k3 Just Yet

author=kentona
author=Sailerius
author=Avee
Amen.
As long as there will be shitty games made on VX Ace, Unity, Renpy, Flash, etc. no argument will ever stand against the use of older engines.
Except their no longer working. That's a pretty compelling argument against them.

When was the last time you played an RM95 game?
oddly enough I have heard a few arguments for 2k3 games over XP VX Ace Due to the newer engines running like crap on older systems.

Anywho regarding the article... id say that 2k3 has reached end of life. Ace finally got the combo of ease of use with advanced features somewhat correct such that 2k3 is nigh completely obsolete. The rationale for starting a project in 2K3 over Ace right now comes down to proficiency in the maker alone, as there is naught but marginal benefits in it over Ace but many deficiencies.

That being said right now I'd make a better game in 2k3 vs Ace because I am good in 2k3 bland noob in Ace. And I havent the motivation to get good in Ace.

There is a certain strand of new processors on which VX/P/A games run like crap. On those same processors, 2k/3 games straight up won't run at all. Judging by people asking for help with this issue in IRC, it's becoming more prevalent, not less. This poses a serious threat to RM as a whole going forward.

It's not an operating system thing; it's a hardware problem. Something about RM just doesn't jive with a lot of new computers.

Don’t Throw Away That 2k3 Just Yet

author=Avee
Amen.
As long as there will be shitty games made on VX Ace, Unity, Renpy, Flash, etc. no argument will ever stand against the use of older engines.

Except their no longer working. That's a pretty compelling argument against them.

When was the last time you played an RM95 game?

Don’t Throw Away That 2k3 Just Yet

XP has more layers than 2k3 and a far superior mapping system.

Don’t Throw Away That 2k3 Just Yet

You could use that argument to support using RM95. The fact is, regardless of the reason why you started making games, if you finished a game and people can't or won't play it, it will be extremely discouraging and probably dissuade you from making another game after you spent all that effort and it was unappreciated. In that sense, it's more detrimental to burgeoning gamedevs to use 2k3 than it is helpful.

Don’t Throw Away That 2k3 Just Yet

author=Addit
author=Sailerius
I should think your top priority in making a game is for people to be able to play it.
The top priority should be to actually finish your game(s) first then worry about all that other stuff later.

But if you do that, then you just wasted your effort and have to start over in another engine if you want people to be able to play your game.

Don’t Throw Away That 2k3 Just Yet

Why would you want to make a game in an engine that doesn't run on an increasingly large number of new computers? I should think your top priority in making a game is for people to be able to play it.
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