Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Articles
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
Profile
Locker
Play ListsSTORMCROW'S PROFILE
StormCrow
2877
Close
>look StormCrow
You see not a bird but an American lady who likes other ladies. Oscillates between shy as a mouse and babbling violently, seemingly at random.
I like badasses. I like babes. I like badass babes the best. Okay...actually I like doggoes the very best, but I aspire to make games about badass babes is my point.
I use music from bands and artists in the free games I make: the frustrated filmmaker in me is very enamored of scoring scenes with rock'n'roll soundtracks Scorcese or Tarantino style. In addition to being a time honored tradition in cinema, this has a history in AAA videoogames as well (for a really great use of it, see Bioshock: Infinite). If I was a millionaire, I'd totally license these songs so I could actually use them legally.
You see not a bird but an American lady who likes other ladies. Oscillates between shy as a mouse and babbling violently, seemingly at random.
I like badasses. I like babes. I like badass babes the best. Okay...actually I like doggoes the very best, but I aspire to make games about badass babes is my point.
I use music from bands and artists in the free games I make: the frustrated filmmaker in me is very enamored of scoring scenes with rock'n'roll soundtracks Scorcese or Tarantino style. In addition to being a time honored tradition in cinema, this has a history in AAA videoogames as well (for a really great use of it, see Bioshock: Infinite). If I was a millionaire, I'd totally license these songs so I could actually use them legally.
Live Free Or Die
"The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
"The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Search
Filter
All
Game Pages
User Statuses
TimTam Slam Jam
Wow, looks like we've got some serious ringers here. Team Tim Tamming To The Jam is intimidating as FUCK, Team Penguin is a POWERHOUSE, and team uh oh oreo is downright SCARY. (Don't feel bad if I didn't mention you, those were not the only teams that looked stacked to me.)
Anyway I was going to say please PM me in the next couple of days if you'd like me on your team (I guess I am still saying that technically) but DAMN those are some high powered teams and I feel like I have no shot at winning those Tim-Tams.
I haz all the programs. I am good at writing and database, and passable at mapping and minor pixel twiddling.
Anyway I was going to say please PM me in the next couple of days if you'd like me on your team (I guess I am still saying that technically) but DAMN those are some high powered teams and I feel like I have no shot at winning those Tim-Tams.
I haz all the programs. I am good at writing and database, and passable at mapping and minor pixel twiddling.
When You Were Young Review
I really wish it was a fully realized game, with all the talents of both developers brought to bear.
For the purposes of last year's Swap In The Middle With Too (Two?) event, the intentions I had for the second half of When You Were Young upon handing it off were...there weren't any intentions. I specifically wrote out in my notes that if the second creator really wanted to, they could go as far as just ditching the entire party I'd created and making up their own. I was definitely not expecting such a direct follow-on to my content. My assumption was the second creator would use the "15 Years Later..." break to dump whatever characters they didn't like and move on with the ones they did, putting them wherever they wanted to in terms of setting, doing whatever they wanted with them in terms of plot, and making up anything that happened in between. I was definitely not expecting such a literal and faithful continuation picking right up from the moment I'd left off!
For the purpose of my creative ambitions, the first half of When You Were Young is indeed a prologue to an experimental RPG called AfterSaga. The 'experiment' here was to take an archetypical JRPG and create just the prologue and the finale/epilogue, leaving out the 60 hours of gameplay in the middle and letting that entire section be merely inferred. AfterSaga is still in development and will revisit Ralph and friends, the ones that are still alive, anyway, two hundred and twelve years after the events of When You Were Young (1st Half). So, for what it's worth, there is an alternative canon ending (no middle, just an ending) to the prologue in the works as a full fledged game. It will be rather dark. I fully intend to enlist Doge to help me with level design (among other things), if he's willing.
When You Were Young Review
Thank you for this wonderful review, which I am still in the process of reading, I really appreciate how in depth you've gone and well, to be frank, I really kind of thought the game deserved this much attention and thought from SOMEONE since back when we released it and I'm really happy it's finally getting it.
That said, before I even finished reading the review, I had to jump in and say this:
Besides the time constraints and other challenges, in terms of the writing in the second half, the crucial fact is that English is not Doge's first language. So yes, while the ENGLISH WRITING in the first half is indeed dramatically better...if I had tried to write half a game in Spanish (which is MY second language), it would have come out so, so, so, SO much worse than Doge's output that...idk I've been a professional writer most of my life and even I LITERALLY cannot think of analogy hyperbolic enough to represent how much better Doge did at writing in a non-native language than I could EVER possibly do.
So actually, adjusting for that, I think the more impressive feat of writing, overall, was Doge's, even if that is the half you're using as an example of how to do writing less well.
Oh, let me clarify, on the internet where tone is invisible, I'm not yelling at you/being defensive/jumping in to defend Doge in anger. I am just somewhat in awe of bilingual and multilingual people, since the only other language I have is Spanish and I'm so ashamed of how poor my Spanish is I never use it around native Spanish speakers for fear of embarrassing myself. I am (perhaps overly!) proud of my writing in the first half and I am also quite IMPRESSED with Doge's writing, in English, in the second half.
Now to read the rest of this lovely review. I wish I had a cup of tea.
That reminds me, speaking of articles, this one on the topic is pretty good, tho short.
Okay, whew, done, great review! Thank you!
FWIW that was absolutely my intention. They are stock characters in the most literal sense as they're taken straight out of the RTP Database, sometimes names and all. My concept starting out was essentially DEFAULTIA: The Game: The Prologue. I wanted to take barely-one-dimensional stock JRPG characters and then treat them with a certain degree of sentiment and gravitas.
As far as the swearing, the two instances of hard profanity I remember writing best were both inserted for effect and meant to be shocking. The first is Elmer's cluster f-bomb when he first meets the party at Port Wistful. This was to hammer home the point that Elmer's childhood has him coming figuratively and literally from a VERY DIFFERENT PLACE than Ralph and Ulrika. Ralph immediately lampshades the cluster f-bomb after it's delivered (with a Simpsons reference no less). The second is Caroline saying 'motherfucker' in the woods when the kids pester her and pester her and pester her until she's frustrated into blurting out the truth. That one was particularly meant to be shocking. This is an adorable little girl and she's saying motherfucker? There's an incongruity there. It's meant to hammer home the point that Caroline is seriously, seriously bad news and clearly (even to the not-exactly-Holmesian party) not at all what she seems on the outside. As a final thought on swearing, if I were to have written the teenagers the way real teenagers talk (which I did in some ways but not others), there would be like eighteen times as much pointless swearing. Teenagers love to curse. : )
Okay, yeah, they're pretty random lol. But I mean, they're not new to medieval fantasy literature. What did you think Gandalf was putting in his pipe? XD
Wait, Elmer's mother? I don't remember encountering Elmer's mother when I beat the second half. Is it content it's possible to miss or did I just forget? It has been since October since I played When You Were Young.
Once again, thank you. In many ways, Doge's talents did cover many of my failings. My dungeon/level design was horseshit and he really improved that aspect in the second half. Likewise, my town's streets were completely empty of wandering NPCs making them feel like ghost towns and he went in and added the little touches that made those places feel alive, even covering for me back in my half. I am glad that When You Were Young gave you good and happy feelings. It was a pleasure to make, if a frantic pleasure (I think I probably put in over a hundred hours on my half in the two weeks I had), especially writing Caroline which was just a JOY. But yes, it would have been nice if we'd had more than two weeks and had been allowed to communicate with each other lol.
That said, before I even finished reading the review, I had to jump in and say this:
Besides the time constraints and other challenges, in terms of the writing in the second half, the crucial fact is that English is not Doge's first language. So yes, while the ENGLISH WRITING in the first half is indeed dramatically better...if I had tried to write half a game in Spanish (which is MY second language), it would have come out so, so, so, SO much worse than Doge's output that...idk I've been a professional writer most of my life and even I LITERALLY cannot think of analogy hyperbolic enough to represent how much better Doge did at writing in a non-native language than I could EVER possibly do.
So actually, adjusting for that, I think the more impressive feat of writing, overall, was Doge's, even if that is the half you're using as an example of how to do writing less well.
Oh, let me clarify, on the internet where tone is invisible, I'm not yelling at you/being defensive/jumping in to defend Doge in anger. I am just somewhat in awe of bilingual and multilingual people, since the only other language I have is Spanish and I'm so ashamed of how poor my Spanish is I never use it around native Spanish speakers for fear of embarrassing myself. I am (perhaps overly!) proud of my writing in the first half and I am also quite IMPRESSED with Doge's writing, in English, in the second half.
Now to read the rest of this lovely review. I wish I had a cup of tea.
author=Isrieri
This makes the dialogue between characters feel like a formality. As though there were pieces to be moved around the board and spout the lines they need to spout to propel the story forward. With good writing, you can accomplish the same needs of plot, not by exposition or empty phrases but by character development.
That reminds me, speaking of articles, this one on the topic is pretty good, tho short.
Okay, whew, done, great review! Thank you!
author=Isrieri
These characters may feel a bit stock
FWIW that was absolutely my intention. They are stock characters in the most literal sense as they're taken straight out of the RTP Database, sometimes names and all. My concept starting out was essentially DEFAULTIA: The Game: The Prologue. I wanted to take barely-one-dimensional stock JRPG characters and then treat them with a certain degree of sentiment and gravitas.
author=Isrieri
The writing can indeed be a bit heavy-handed and use strong language at times (needs a bit less f's and mf'ers and more t's and a's imo), but there's subtlety there and hints at what's come.
As far as the swearing, the two instances of hard profanity I remember writing best were both inserted for effect and meant to be shocking. The first is Elmer's cluster f-bomb when he first meets the party at Port Wistful. This was to hammer home the point that Elmer's childhood has him coming figuratively and literally from a VERY DIFFERENT PLACE than Ralph and Ulrika. Ralph immediately lampshades the cluster f-bomb after it's delivered (with a Simpsons reference no less). The second is Caroline saying 'motherfucker' in the woods when the kids pester her and pester her and pester her until she's frustrated into blurting out the truth. That one was particularly meant to be shocking. This is an adorable little girl and she's saying motherfucker? There's an incongruity there. It's meant to hammer home the point that Caroline is seriously, seriously bad news and clearly (even to the not-exactly-Holmesian party) not at all what she seems on the outside. As a final thought on swearing, if I were to have written the teenagers the way real teenagers talk (which I did in some ways but not others), there would be like eighteen times as much pointless swearing. Teenagers love to curse. : )
Its just been a while since I've played a game with a setup that clicked with me like this (sans the random drug references)
Okay, yeah, they're pretty random lol. But I mean, they're not new to medieval fantasy literature. What did you think Gandalf was putting in his pipe? XD
author=Doge
However, that time went for Elmer's mother, as I felt a need to tell the players how or why is Elmer an orphan as the players have already known a bit about Ulrika and her mother on the first part.
Wait, Elmer's mother? I don't remember encountering Elmer's mother when I beat the second half. Is it content it's possible to miss or did I just forget? It has been since October since I played When You Were Young.
author=Isrieri
This game teaches you how to do a lot with a little. Its not a perfect game, but its the good and happy feelings it delivers amid those imperfections that make it so endearing to me. I really wish it was a fully realized game, with all the talents of both developers brought to bear.
Once again, thank you. In many ways, Doge's talents did cover many of my failings. My dungeon/level design was horseshit and he really improved that aspect in the second half. Likewise, my town's streets were completely empty of wandering NPCs making them feel like ghost towns and he went in and added the little touches that made those places feel alive, even covering for me back in my half. I am glad that When You Were Young gave you good and happy feelings. It was a pleasure to make, if a frantic pleasure (I think I probably put in over a hundred hours on my half in the two weeks I had), especially writing Caroline which was just a JOY. But yes, it would have been nice if we'd had more than two weeks and had been allowed to communicate with each other lol.
What are you drinking about right now?
Deckiller, where'd you get the mead? It's pretty hard to find in (at least most parts of) the US. There's a meadery near where I live now but I've never been there.
*cough* bitch drink *cough*
(YES I AM AWARE OF THE IRONY)
I'll probably be having some Larceny before I head out to the bar(s), and then I don't know how many drinks or which ones or even in how many bars because it's a Saturday night. Probably smoke a bowl too before I hit the town. If I feel like it and I'm sober enough to type I'll come back and edit this post later to include whatever else I drank but those are some big ifs.
Real alcoholics don't love alcohol (well, high functioning alcoholics who would never admit they're alcoholics might love it, but that's a different story), they're alcohol's bitch. If you ever feel you've reached a point where you're powerless over alcohol and it's ruining your life, there's always AA...assuming you're in a country where there's AA, I mean. I can't say I recommend the organization as a whole for a long term commitment, but it is a resource that's available to you if you need to dry out for a while, consider taking a meeting. For myself, there's alcoholism and there's DRINKING A FUCKING LOT, and I hope I fall into the latter category but I do occasionally worry. Alcoholism runs in my family.
Please excuse this moment of seriousness, return to your levity.
author=zacheatscrackers
Mike's Hard Lemonade (strawberry)
*cough* bitch drink *cough*
(YES I AM AWARE OF THE IRONY)
I'll probably be having some Larceny before I head out to the bar(s), and then I don't know how many drinks or which ones or even in how many bars because it's a Saturday night. Probably smoke a bowl too before I hit the town. If I feel like it and I'm sober enough to type I'll come back and edit this post later to include whatever else I drank but those are some big ifs.
I love alchohol with everything in my body...and I can't stop drinking...I wrote a creative piece in the creative thread called "Until the Last Drop" and it's really close to home..I don't expect to cure myself or anyone else with it but I hope an alchoholic can read it and feel understood.
Real alcoholics don't love alcohol (well, high functioning alcoholics who would never admit they're alcoholics might love it, but that's a different story), they're alcohol's bitch. If you ever feel you've reached a point where you're powerless over alcohol and it's ruining your life, there's always AA...assuming you're in a country where there's AA, I mean. I can't say I recommend the organization as a whole for a long term commitment, but it is a resource that's available to you if you need to dry out for a while, consider taking a meeting. For myself, there's alcoholism and there's DRINKING A FUCKING LOT, and I hope I fall into the latter category but I do occasionally worry. Alcoholism runs in my family.
Please excuse this moment of seriousness, return to your levity.
the Little Music Box and the Daemon Review
Interesting, seems like the creator managed to get the hard parts right (custom graphics, some custom music, solid writing) and then got the easy part wrong (making your database numbers not fucking nonsense).
Well I guess it's actually probably relative to the dev what's hard and what's easy. Good writing is not hard for me but I imagine it's hard in general. Basic functional battle balance seems easy, and I'm always surprised at how many games fail wildly at it.
Well I guess it's actually probably relative to the dev what's hard and what's easy. Good writing is not hard for me but I imagine it's hard in general. Basic functional battle balance seems easy, and I'm always surprised at how many games fail wildly at it.
Road To Paradise - The Staircase Review
[RMMV][Royalty Payment]Recruiting Team Members for DEX: Strange Residence
My, it's rare that a thread of this kind gets posted that looks worth considering. Good job! I sent you a PM.
[ARTIST FOR HIRE] Anime/visual novel/Chracters/CG
I have a feeling that her initial "response" of no words and numerous pictures of highly attractive characters was kind of the best answer you're going to get, Dyhalto. (Esther, I'm saving my pennies and I'm going to hire you soon.)
(Also, nerdly point of order because it's not like I'm pathologically obsessed with D&D or anything haha right: Charisma 9 or lower is below average, 10 is average. Extremely nitpicky, I know, but you don't need to have a Cha of "less than 9" to be ugly, just "9 or less". And "7 or less" is where it starts getting REALLY bad with a -2 ability mod.)
(Also, nerdly point of order because it's not like I'm pathologically obsessed with D&D or anything haha right: Charisma 9 or lower is below average, 10 is average. Extremely nitpicky, I know, but you don't need to have a Cha of "less than 9" to be ugly, just "9 or less". And "7 or less" is where it starts getting REALLY bad with a -2 ability mod.)
Passability And Dashing
I think I understand. Working on so many aspects of this project at once not sure when I'll get to actually try this out. Thanks again, dude.
Road To Paradise - The Dragon Review
Thanks very much for the feedback! Review greatly appreciated, meteomage.
Thank you! I was worried that this was sub-par so I'm glad my game looks okay even though it's RTP-riffic.
Yeah, there will be more characterization (and more characters) in future episodes, if and when there are future episodes. And there's a fair bit of dialogue between the PCs at the end of the episode, but that is after the Minotaur which understandably you could not beat.
I really only enjoy playing RM/JRPG games that require me to use my skills and think, I get bored with anything where I can just win by pressing the space bar or pressing x or whatever very quickly, no matter how pretty the graphics or engaging the story. But I also don't want to take things too far and scare away players who have less patience for game over screens than me.
blablabla I go on about the battle mechanics at length RE: Will o' Wisp and Lord of the Tower:
Going forward with future episodes (if people start playing this and I make any) I want to add a bestiary (as another reviewer suggested) and also some means of learning more in-depth about what your skills can do beyond the two-line on-screen tooltips (which not everyone reads anyway).
Anyway, thanks for playing and I'm glad this game's (finally) got a review (it's been up on the site for a while). Glad you enjoyed your time with it for the most part. : ) Check out the other side of the story in The Staircase if you get a chance.
I thought the graphics were really good. There are busts of the characters when they are talking, the battle sprites are custom, the mapping is good. The sound and music were also really good and fit the situations.
Thank you! I was worried that this was sub-par so I'm glad my game looks okay even though it's RTP-riffic.
I feel like the story is pretty good and the characters are interesting; but outside the first few minutes which introduces all the characters at once, there is very little interaction between them. Personally for me, it was a bit difficult to remember the characters. I wish there had been an optional dialogue where you can ask the characters questions when you first meet them, or it had been broken up a bit (e.g. meet first character, have an easy battle, meet next character, do a little quest). There is some dialogue if you choose to meet the mid-boss as a human and some of their personality shines through again (diplomat, death witch person). Hopefully in future episodes there is more.
Yeah, there will be more characterization (and more characters) in future episodes, if and when there are future episodes. And there's a fair bit of dialogue between the PCs at the end of the episode, but that is after the Minotaur which understandably you could not beat.
Now onto the battles. Unlike many RPGs, you can't just spam attack or you'll die pretty quickly. The hit rate is horrible, especially against Will-o-wisps, and one of your character's attack REALLY sucks. You really have to learn about the skills and make use of them. I had to grind a little bit, and the mid-boss took a few tries, but there was cheap or excessively unfair until the guardian. (Some may disagree about the mid-boss, since one of them can almost kill your entire party with one move, but you can kill them within a few turns).
I really only enjoy playing RM/JRPG games that require me to use my skills and think, I get bored with anything where I can just win by pressing the space bar or pressing x or whatever very quickly, no matter how pretty the graphics or engaging the story. But I also don't want to take things too far and scare away players who have less patience for game over screens than me.
blablabla I go on about the battle mechanics at length RE: Will o' Wisp and Lord of the Tower:
I think you might have missed one or two key skills that could have made things a lot easier for you. Most likely belonging to Teos (who should never be physically attacking anything ever, lol). "Aging" is the nastiest status effect in the early game. Very few enemies are resistant to it and it is essentially a four turn deathclock, shaving off 75% of the enemy's MaxHP from their current HP within three turns (and most likely the rest of your party has done 25% damage by then).
Will 'o ' Wisps are indeed a pain in the ass, by design. Almost every player who's played this has mentioned that to one degree or another (and this isn't even the first game where I've had a wisp-type enemy lol).
The good news is they have virtually no hp so being hard to land a hit on is really their only defense: a couple clean hits from virtually anything should kill them. Wisps "only" have a 25% M-Evade and M-Reflect, as opposed to their 50% Evasion. If Teos can land a 'Slow' on one, it effectively becomes a sitting duck, as Slow inflicts -50% AGI and -50% EVA, taking a Wisp's evasion from 50% to 0%. This is one of the best uses of Slow in the game. The second best way to kill them is probably multiple hit attacks like Force Darts.
The Lord of the Tower is a hell of a beast, and may need to be nerfed. He only has 50% resistance to Aging, which means you can get rid of 3,750 of his 5,000 LP over the course of three turns if you can drop an aging on him. Attacking him physically is a very bad idea: his high counter attack rate (50%) is innate to him, and doesn't come from his Codex Gigas ability (which grants him Magic Shield, two Attack buffs, and two Defense buffs). However, he is very very dangerous with all of those buffs, and one of the only ways to get the buffs off of him is with Kara's "Sword Break" and "Guard Break" which are physical attacks. What may make the fight easier actually is going in with Izuno in human form. By that point he'll have Invisibility which should make him basically immune to physical attacks (the only kind the Lord of the Tower has), Sap Strength which lets him peel off ATK buffs and stick on ATK debuffs without risking a Counterattack, and Fire Bolt and Acid Arrow which let him do reliable magical damage.
Alternatively, this is one of the only fights where it's really possible for Lydia's "Ultimate" to go off. If you manage to get her "Dance of Crimson" to go off that will unfailing kill the boss in one turn.
These aren't the only ways to beat him. I've beaten him with a few different dragon types, builds, and party setups. One of my playtesters was effectively able to stunlock him between lightning breath and tail slap playing as a Sky Dragon.
ANYHOW I will probably rejigger how counter-attacks work in the next episode. I'd like it to work as "take the damage and then hit back" as opposed to working like "physical reflect". I understand that conversion scripts are fairly common.
Will 'o ' Wisps are indeed a pain in the ass, by design. Almost every player who's played this has mentioned that to one degree or another (and this isn't even the first game where I've had a wisp-type enemy lol).
The good news is they have virtually no hp so being hard to land a hit on is really their only defense: a couple clean hits from virtually anything should kill them. Wisps "only" have a 25% M-Evade and M-Reflect, as opposed to their 50% Evasion. If Teos can land a 'Slow' on one, it effectively becomes a sitting duck, as Slow inflicts -50% AGI and -50% EVA, taking a Wisp's evasion from 50% to 0%. This is one of the best uses of Slow in the game. The second best way to kill them is probably multiple hit attacks like Force Darts.
The Lord of the Tower is a hell of a beast, and may need to be nerfed. He only has 50% resistance to Aging, which means you can get rid of 3,750 of his 5,000 LP over the course of three turns if you can drop an aging on him. Attacking him physically is a very bad idea: his high counter attack rate (50%) is innate to him, and doesn't come from his Codex Gigas ability (which grants him Magic Shield, two Attack buffs, and two Defense buffs). However, he is very very dangerous with all of those buffs, and one of the only ways to get the buffs off of him is with Kara's "Sword Break" and "Guard Break" which are physical attacks. What may make the fight easier actually is going in with Izuno in human form. By that point he'll have Invisibility which should make him basically immune to physical attacks (the only kind the Lord of the Tower has), Sap Strength which lets him peel off ATK buffs and stick on ATK debuffs without risking a Counterattack, and Fire Bolt and Acid Arrow which let him do reliable magical damage.
Alternatively, this is one of the only fights where it's really possible for Lydia's "Ultimate" to go off. If you manage to get her "Dance of Crimson" to go off that will unfailing kill the boss in one turn.
These aren't the only ways to beat him. I've beaten him with a few different dragon types, builds, and party setups. One of my playtesters was effectively able to stunlock him between lightning breath and tail slap playing as a Sky Dragon.
ANYHOW I will probably rejigger how counter-attacks work in the next episode. I'd like it to work as "take the damage and then hit back" as opposed to working like "physical reflect". I understand that conversion scripts are fairly common.
Going forward with future episodes (if people start playing this and I make any) I want to add a bestiary (as another reviewer suggested) and also some means of learning more in-depth about what your skills can do beyond the two-line on-screen tooltips (which not everyone reads anyway).
Anyway, thanks for playing and I'm glad this game's (finally) got a review (it's been up on the site for a while). Glad you enjoyed your time with it for the most part. : ) Check out the other side of the story in The Staircase if you get a chance.
Games - Tester
Games - Other
