EDCHUY'S PROFILE

Question: is looking for Amuro's mom as far as your demo goes?

I got to the point where after a save, there is a scene involving a weary traveller in a desert, who falls asleep. After that the game mentioned that the file kamau_suikoden2_02 couldn't be opened, which I was able to find as a faceset from another game I have in my PC. A couple of characters appear in the left bottom corner of the screen, but then another message saying file kamau_suikoden2_04 can't be opened. I checked and I don't have this file. Liberty, where you supposed to provide these files in the demo or how are we supposed to get them? I hope the problem only occurs for this scene and won't be recurrent, although if you are able to provide a solution it won't be an issue ... I'll wait for your answer.

My idea is to provide some comments for all the releases. I will start with the complete games and demos, followed by the videos and finally, everything else.

FAQ:

Why I am doing this, you might ask?

One of the biggest complaints of the RMN community has been lack of feedback to improve games and projects, especially since I know a lot of you probably focus on making them, rather then playing them. Given that I don't how to make them, but I do play a lot of them, I though this is one way I can contribute comments so that, hopefully, you guys to make better games, particularly those in the early stages of being made, and, hopefully, see some of them to completion and not remaining stuck on demo or indefinitely hiatus, or worse yet, being cancelled altogether. I had already thought about doing this for past RSs, but didn't get around to doing so.

What's in it for me?

I hopefully get to be heard by those making the games, for one. At least taken into account, anyway. In some cases, I expect to play the role of beta-tester, finding bugs or minor improvements that game makers will fix and perhaps even give me a little of credit for it. Also, I will probably end up playing the types that I would normally choose to play, given that I pretty much prefer RPGs and Adventure genres rather than, for example, Plataformers and Puzzles. It'll definitely be work to go through the list of releases, but perhaps I'll have some fun while doing it.

How I am going to let the makers of the release know the comments I have?

If their release has a gamepage, I'll post it there, whether on the main page, blog or when doing a review, in reviews. If their release doesn't have a gamepage, I'll post it here and PM whoever the maker is to let them know their comments are available.

Will I do it for future RSs?

It's to early to say whether I will or won't. It'll be a question of how much time I have and whether I feel like doing so. A lot will depend on how this little project goes and what kind of reception it gets.

PROGRESS (quick recap)

So far I have:

1. Finished playing Max McGee's Starseed Starpack
a. Starseed: Eschatology (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1945/ ) is a short intro or prologue with no gameplay but lots of interesting background of what MMG intends for his game.
b. Starseed: Blood Machine (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1946/ ) is roughly an hour long demo which I have already provided feedback for. I tried all 7 optional enhancements to play the demo and provided a comparison with pros and cons in the game discussion. DONE

2. Finished playing Liberty's Even Day (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1786/ ) Demo (3rd version). Posted feedback in corresponding blog. DONE

3. Finished playing sbester's Mobile Suit Gundam RPG (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1864/ ) demo. Review posted. DONE

4. Finished playing the demo for SquishyWizard's Tears of the Sword (http://rpgmaker.net/games/593/ ). Review posted. DONE

5. Finished playing the demo for Coy13's Xelos: Sinner's Circle (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1364/ ). Posted battle related and non-battle related feedback in the game's blog. DONE

6. Finished playing the demos for Dudesoft's Take Down and Pig of Benevolence (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1950/ ). Posted feedback in the discussion section of the game. DONE

7. Finished playing SorceressKyrsty's Cosplay Crisis Demo 2.2 (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1741/ ). Posted the feedback on the blog announcing this demo. DONE

8. Finished playing both the Ratty524's Slimy the Sahagin original and alpha of remake (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1947/ ). Posted a review for the original and feedback in the Discussion section for the remake demo. DONE

9. Finished playing the demo for outlander145's Suito Homu: The Second Coming (Secondary Early Techstration) (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1589/blog/2262/ ). Provided feedback for it in the corresponding blog. DONE

10. Finished playing EnderX's Pizza Panic (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1930/ ). Provided feedback in the discussion section of the game. DONE

11. Finished playing catmitts' Frog World RPG (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1940/ ). Provided feedback in the discussion section of the game. DONE

12. Finished playing narcodis' The Looming Spire (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1939/ ) Tech Demo. Provided feedback in the discussion section of the game. DONE

13. Played GameOverGamesProductions ' The Muddy Sand Game version 1.4 (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1792/ ). Posted feedback in the corresponding blog. DONE

14. Played calunio's Alvorada do Mal - Minigame Compilation (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1802/blog/2250/ ). Posted feedback in the corresponding blog. DONE

15. Listened to AABattery's Change music (http://rpgmaker.net/users/AABattery/locker/Change.mp3 ). Sent her a PM with my feedback. DONE

16. Looked at VideoWizard's new map (http://rpgmaker.net/media/content/users/49/locker/DKBoaL_South_Lakel_Island_map3.png ). Posted feedback in the blog of gamepage where it was shown. DONE

17. Watched Ephiam's video of Eternal Paradise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7OENi0PR30&feature=player_embedded ). Posted feedback in the blog of gamepage where it was shown. DONE

18. Watched Lance VII's Chrono Echoes video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqlBFV3rA_A&feature=player_embedded ). Posted feedback in the blog where he mentioned its availability. DONE

19. Watched PepsiOtaku's Everlasting Journey: Firam Palace Intro video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4nI8PwzTpo&feature=player_embedded ). Posted feedback in the blog where he mentioned its availability. DONE

20. I watched Deacon Batista's Antiartica trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXd5abzRfso&feature=player_embedded ). I PMed my feedback about it to him. DONE

21. I watched SGCN's video CBS test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBn6rmMEIFE&feature=player_embedded ). I PMed my feedback about it to him. DONE

22. I watched Skie Fortress' SEM - Boss 1: Great Frost Harpy video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Iq6CY3xNUs ). I PMed my feedback about it to her. DONE

23. I checked out AznChipmunk's Chromatose screenshots (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1712/blog/2268/ ). I posted my feedback regarding each of them in that blog. DONE

24. I posted feedback on Craze's Diablocide X (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1955/blog/2277/ ) blog announcing the game. DONE

25. I looked at Feldschlacht IV's Skill Tree screenshot (http://rpgmaker.net/media/content/users/1428/locker/screenbacktry1.png ). I PMed him my feedback regarding it. DONE


PENDING

21. Chaos - Ill Will wiki (http://www.pockethouse.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ill_Will ). Webpage has been taken down indefinitely due to host change. Will keep checking and provide feedback once it is back up. Won't be able to include it in the Wrap-up Article.

26. Wrap-up Article.

I think I found your first bug:

When Sei tells her sister where her gift came from, you get taken outside the sector where his house is to get told a "What!" and then the screen shakes. After that game seems to get stuck (no escape menu, nor do enter no arrow keys respond), although music continues to play in the background and you can actually resize the window using F4 ...

I could probably start from save 3, but then again, I would like to see what happened before that save. So I guess I'll wait for a fix ...

I finished playing the demo and noticed the changes you made to address all the comments made for the earlier demo. Regarding the caterpillar issue, you definitely fixed it! I did notice you fixing some of the text, although some of the spelling, typing and grammar issues still remain ... The other important change you made was adding more text to explain things in the guild HQ. You can probably add two important details: the save crystal in the church (although that's already covered by the priest) and the bartender's rumors as sources of information (I know that he mentions that selling things to the shopkeeper can result in new things being available for sale at this shop). Also, it was good that you change the recruitment process by choosing class first then name, since if chose a lady or guy, you would make a better name choice.

One problem was that you also added to the guild lady giving the items and telling them to assign points to boost attributes or get skills, which was previously done by the guard at the entrance of the mine. This is confusing, since the guard appears at the guild out of nowhere to say these things. Might as well have the lady of the guild take care of that.

Another thing that I'm not quite sure but you should check if it is an issue is when you talk to the guard to get the patrol quest, killing the wisps didn't get counted until I talked to him again (the count of monsters defeat didn't appear after defeating them as in the trial quest).

Regarding the point assignment system, it would be nice that if you chose something that unlocks something else you would be told before rather than after, given that points are scarce.

Regarding the quests, they aren't too difficult once you figured out what to do. I expected the mining quest to be a little bit more challenging, but basically its a matter of luck and you can even finish it without fighting. That fighting was involved in rescuing Toby was not a surprise to me, although I thought the king slime was just about double the strength and HP as the ordinary slimes, which made it manageable if you had attack skills available.

I was also able to get the treasures guarded by the black wisps avoiding fighting them. After completing the third quest, I found my characters quite strong for the monsters at the first level of the mine, but not quite ready for the second one. I thought the feature of changing colors of the wisps depending on your level is pretty nice. Also, I did notice that the price of the inn went up as my team's level went up, which is fair, since at first I could fight two to three wisps without using it. At the end, I could probably fight about 6 of the 1st floor ones. Another nice feature is the switching of the characters at the shop when buying equipment. Usually most RPGs try to show how the item in question will affect the character but can only show +/- for one attribute, while in your case you show the total effect of equipping (if possible) that item.

I agree that the town could be a bit more compact since it has a lot of open space and you have to walk quite a bit to get to places. I can envision having at least one of each type of member for the guild and have them teamed with at least one healer.

That's all the feedback I can provide for now, I look forward to finding out what the issue is with a certain house in town in your next demo or better yet complete game!