STOIC'S PROFILE

Designer, producer, cool dude
Master of the Wind
An episodic superhero role-playing game

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HACKED

I guess they thought they could buy the domain AND host it through the same account without me noticing. Pretty bold move. Not sure why they deleted the solestgames.com domain too though.

Afterword - Part I

author=zDS
The contract more or less vanished as Degica ghosted me.


I feel partially responsible for this and it really bums me out. I was hired by Degica as a publishing producer after the 2014 IGMC and was part of the team that decided which titles to move forward with publishing. We evaluated all the winning titles, including Cope Island. Most of the team really liked the writing, battle system, and music, but we agreed it needed a graphical overhaul. I believe at some point we decided not to move forward with publishing the title but clearly this was not communicated to you and I want to apologize for that.

It makes me really happy to see that you persevered despite all the adversity and managed to not only complete this version of the game but self publish it as well. I'm looking forward to playing Adrift and seeing what has changed since 2014. I'm not working at Degica anymore but if you ever feel in need of marketing advice please feel free to DM me.

Those Wings You like Are Coming Back in Style

It's good to hear from you Cash. I do think I remember having that conversation but the details elude me as well. We've been discussing Hope Valley since 2015 and the project has morphed and evolved since then. We were discussing doing a remake of X-Noir first to ease our way back in to commercial development. We'll see how far we get.

Those Wings You like Are Coming Back in Style

Thanks NS. It's really comforting to know that even after five years of inactivity I can make a blog post on an inactive project and you'll still reply within an hour with the same level of excitement as if we never left. I honestly don't know how many people would care to see a X-Noir remake. Maybe 10 if I'm being generous? It would be more a way for us to dip our toes back into make commercial games using material that's already been tested and we can build upon. It also ties in with Labyrinthine Dreams nicely.

I'm glad you enjoyed the combat. Having played through 3 cases the combat is actually pretty good by VX Ace standards. But it's one thing if you removed the game wouldn't be worse off and might even be improved.

The AA games put more emphasis on using evidence that you collect when investigating a crime scene and gathering information to then use in a court when you're cross examining witnesses and finding contradictions in their testimonies. The Investigation series, which is a spinoff, takes place outside court and has most of the same mechanics as the AA games to prove probable cause and obtain an arrest warrant which would be closer to what would be happening in X-Noir. There would also be a focus on puzzles as well of course!

Thematically we might approach the game differently as well. Calling it "X-Noir" probably gave people the impression it would be more modeled after a classic film noir. We were going for more of a neo noir vibe with sci-fi elements like X-Files. Noirs tend to either have a black and white aesthetic or a look of being underexposed where even a scene outside on a sunny day looks dark. There is also a fatalistic tone where it feels like the universe is conspiring agains the protagonist which Eddie certainly believed but the game didn't really convey. After all, he was going up against homicidal mutants and killer robots with barely a scratch and had a lot of support from his friends.

Once we start pre-production we'll probably setup a general Discord. I've done that for other projects I've produced and it's a great way to keep the team on the same page. I'll send you an invite once it's up.

MotW: In-Depth Playthrough

That's a good observation about the golem-metal ball puzzle. I'm sure there was some technical reason I didn't allow it at the time. Back then, I was mostly coding stuff with events and everything was barely held together. Brute forcing with events! I don't think the skeleton stuff at the beginning of the dungeon works too well but I still am fond of the golem puzzles. I'm pretty sure that was influenced by a dungeon in Twilight Princess where you used a statue to solve puzzles.

MotW: In-Depth Playthrough

It's up to you. I still enjoy reading them and commenting on them. It's basically the only reason I check RMN periodically. I don't mind the irregular schedule.

MotW: In-Depth Playthrough

Being able to interrupt the ice block is speedrun strats.

MotW: In-Depth Playthrough

Man I haven't heard that song in years. Thanks for reminding me seacliff.

Good observations NS. While a lot of ppl enjoy that section of the game for the characterization of Cade, Gabriell and Evrind and expansion of the lore I think it goes on for too long. It almost feels like you're playing a different game at that point. It was hard to work gameplay sections into that area although you had some good ideas.

I also like the Boreal section and think it's much better paced. The Ice Temple was a fun dungeon to make.

MotW: In-Depth Playthrough

I'd definitely put Eagle's Path in the bottom list of my dungeons. It's one of the few dungeons that focuses almost entirely on twitch gameplay (fast reaction time and hand eye coordination) over logic puzzles. Even though some fans appreciate the variety of gameplay in MotW since it keeps them guessing, I have had a lot of complaints from older fans that were unable to complete these sections. I also don't think the gameplay sections in Eagle's Path are very fun.

That lemon launcher gag is a reference to a Darkwing Duck episode we must have watched around the time development. I totally forgot about it so it made me chuckle when I clicked that screenshot.

MotW: In-Depth Playthrough

If the player was allowed to save anywhere, particularly in the original version of MotW, it would cause all kinds of issues. Saving and loading a map would put events back to their starting locations which could cause all kinds of problems; including progression blocks. The game would have to be carefully designed and tested around allowing the player to save anywhere which with RPG Maker would probably be more effort than it's worth.

There's an easter egg in Eagle's Path. If you shoot all the frogs, you'll be cursed for the duration of your time on that map to listen to a sped up version of the Dican boss theme!
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