DARKWRAITH007'S PROFILE

Alter Aila Genesis does this on RM2K3 (manga-style cut-ins for special moves) so poking the creator of those may yield some interesting information for your situation.

Anytime you learn something new from someone who has contributed guidance, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be sure to ATTRIBUTE them in the readme and credits of your game! And not just a generic 'special thanks' but an actual 'scripting help' or however specific that you wish to get in the credits.

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I've dabbled in both RM2K3 and RMXP.
Why anyone still bothers with RM2K3 is beyond me.
Yes there are community patches/upgrades/workarounds but it is still a terribly obsolete program to work with.
I understand the very narrow appeal of very specific 'features' that may be missed, but I feel that rather than clinging to RM2K3, the games could be ported to RMXP instead and be the better for it. Sure it is nice to have easily-viewed animations and moving battle sprites in the editor, but you can just as easily do that through more powerful external editors (which let you actually edit the sprites). Animations already have their own tab in RMXP, but the RM2K3 version shows them by default in an easier way.

I'd love for people to give specific reasons why they use RM2K3 aside from "I am used to it". I can pretty much guarantee that 99% of the RM2K3-specific 'bonus' features are already implemented in RMXP either by default or through RGSS scripts.

Speaking of which. Why is RMXP better than RM2K3 by leaps and bounds? Why will it always be better? Because it has RGSS.
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Just an FYI. There is a Super Famicom (Japanese Super NES) version of Dragon Quest (aka Dragon Warrior) I and II together on one cartridge. It is in Japanese but there are fan-translated patches. If you're comfortable with emulation, then that may be a viable alternative.

I'm not exactly comfortable with a game wholesale copying the work of another game. A reimagining (with different layout/architecture/characters) is fine. A 'fan remake' or 'demake' is fine. This? Not so much.

I hope people give the SFC version a chance.

Holy cow...just wow. >_>
Maybe it is just me, but perhaps those who are impatiently waiting for Act III+ (which I doubt will be out before sometime next year) might wanna give the 'non-plus' edition a whirl. Acts I-III of the 'old' edition before the 'Complete' edition enhancements. Go play those 3 and then do a review.

I'm genuinely surprised by the hefty amounts of flames and negativity being thrown around. I can understand people hating the first Act (whether it is Act I or Act I+ it was still not as good as the latter acts).

The core reason for wanting to play this game should be for the story. As it is, the story is 'incomplete' unless you go and play the original Acts I-III. Many things are better explained in the originals, and my (unofficial) mod of the game may look to reintegrate some of those 'obsolete' or deleted scenes in flashbacks or dream sequences in order to flesh out the story, characters, and world a bit better. I'll also be adding a good 'Chrono' style campfire sequence where the characters can just chit-chat a bit before a big important event the next day.

The stats and battle system could use some work, yes. This was in fact PBC's first real attempt at an RPG back in their high school days, and it does show in some ways more than others. You can only patch old code so many times before you might as well throw in the towel and wait for the funding to remake it. The battle system is greatly improved in later installments, and in the 'Complete' edition some of those changes are then backported to the earlier Acts.

A opening bit was done purposefully to establish the tone and style of the rest of the game (excessive gore, brutal and ruthless enemy, no holds barred 'this ain't no nintendo game' aesthetic). Also the whole 'start with some fun action' to get attention before getting into the more 'mundane' things. The original versions actually started with Auria in East Naven rather than starting off in Banivia, then went from there. Though that story is 'retconned' now in the Complete Edition, some aspects of it still impress me. PBC took the advice of close friends and testers in order to make changes to the story and pacing to appeal to more people who didn't want to deal with tons of exposition all at once.

One of the most important parts of game design is 'you can't please everyone'. Different people have varied tastes.
All that being said, in the future if a remake can be funded, perhaps the entire series can get a proper cross-platform release that will truly shine and help turn Vacant Sky into a household name among the greats like the (old school) Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

I'm curious why anyone still believes that Auria is 'a whiny angsty teen' since..you know, SHE DIED. Shot and murdered and left for dead, then brought back to life by some guy she barely knew. Knowing all that and dealing with that would mess up nearly anyone, teen or not. I still feel that the later parts of Act II and all of Act III are some of the best story arcs that really should be experienced. Grab em off of ModDB where they have the old downloads still available. Just remember that the 'official' release is the Complete Edition, not those old ones.