HALIBABICA'S PROFILE

Because I'm staff now, that's why!

Solitayre has graciously stepped down as RMN's official review denier reviewer, and that title now belongs to me. It was pointed out in the staff forums that no announcement had been made, so...HERE IT IS.

So if you want your reviews on this site, they gotta get past me first, see? I will do my best to serve as a competent and impartial reviewmonger.

That is all. Carry on!

Have these gone out of style? It's been a minute.

Hi. I'm your friendly neighborhood halibabica. I'm usually not too active here on the forums because I'm often bogged down in overbearing community Mario collabs. But those days are behind me and I have time to play some games! I understand we have the {review request} thread already, but what I hope to do here is a little more involved. I am a seasoned game reviewer and I've been at this game design business for Jesus Christ how long has it been by now?

So if you please, sign up to have your game reviewed by me. I'm not picky; I'll play anything I can get to run on a Windows PC. I have a time slot for this every week, but progress will likely be slow as I have many other things going on. You can expect progress updates from me as I play, culminating in the review itself (and maybe some fan art, too). The game must be hosted on RMN and games with no reviews are preferred. I'm unwilling to pay for commercial titles, but I may still do one if provided a free copy. I will always try my best to finish a game before reviewing.

I'm a long haul kinda guy, so don't be scared if the queue gets out of hand. I've crushed mountains before and I've many more ahead. Have at you!

Queue
KrimsonKatt's Chronicles: The Lost Page
Tw0Face's Harpy Lady Lyd
Derek Yu's Spelunky
Starmage's Stellar Bewitching
Tw0Face's Succubus Shop
OfficiaICheeseboy's Creamsoda
halibabica's Tastes Like Spelunky
Tw0Face's Trapped
TritraSerpifeu's StarRune
Beregon's Under the Hunter's Moon
halibabica's Crowded Spelunky
KrimsonKatt's Noel and the Tower of Doom
Irog's Deer, You Are Being Hunted
Corfaisus's My Youthful Museum of Memories
halibabica's Spelunky Is a Roguelike
GoldenCrab Studios's Great Gun Gauntlet
Lascivaware's Effervescent Fantasy™ Ⅰ Encore

Done

Inspired by the previous topic of similar ilk, where many cited the middle bits as the hard part to write.

So, you have your protagonist, and your villain just burned down his hometown. Protagonist is reasonably upset and wishes to quarrel with the villain in person. Fast forward and they're killing each other before the credits roll. But how do we get there?!

It's understandable why this part can be tough, especially for a video game. Presumably, the middle encompasses all the game's core content, and the significance of that depends on what you're going for. Short games don't need as much, nor do sandboxes where the main plot line is over in two hours. Stories with lots of characters may need more, and your chosen genre may be a factor as well. Since there are so many possibilities in the realm of game design, I'm going to focus this on general advice.

When it comes to filling out a decent-length game (of any kind, really), I like to follow a principle I call "The Rule of Eight." Whatever form your narrative may take, if you base it on eight increments, you should be okay. They could be anything: eight McGuffins, eight chapters, eight dungeons, eight areas, eight plot points, eight worlds, eight badges, eight Demon Generals, eight My Sanctuaries, seven deadly sins and one final dungeon, whatever! Eight of them should be enough, no matter what they are.

The reason I feel this principle is important is because it helps set the pace for the game's progression without feeling short, but also without overstaying its welcome. Psychologically, eight is an appealing number because of its many divisors. It's also in a unique position among other numbers nearby. 6 may feel too short while 10 may feel too long. 7 is considered a lucky number, but not typical of things to have, if only because it's prime. 9 can be good, but feels like it's pushing it or delving into optional content. This is just my opinion, mind you, but I feel that it makes sense.

But that alone isn't going to help you fill your game. Having eight ideas is a good place to start, but advancing the plot in a way that makes sense is another. This is where creative writing becomes Very Important. For your story to make any sense, you need to write it believably. This is actually where things get slightly easier, because you can apply logic to the process. You have a protagonist and they probably have a goal. Thus, their actions should be catered toward accomplishing that goal. Protag wants to make villain pay for burning his family alive, but they can't reach villain because villain is hiding in Big Bad Castle on the other continent/under the sea/in space/in hell. And yet, the means for protag to get there do exist, however convoluted they may be. That's why you decide the means by which this task is accomplished and create the bread crumb trail that leads the protag on their way. The obstacles that lie between the protag and their goal are your middle content.

The last piece of advice I have for you is this: make your story character-driven. The events that take place should be consequences of the actions taken by the characters involved. This is another aspect that helps believability: characters make choices dictated by their personalities and goals, and those choices cause reactions from other characters they affect. The plot may demand that protag march down to the 30th layer of Forlorn Mine, but it isn't worth jack if the protag has no personal reason for doing that. Designing the plot to be goal-oriented and understanding your characters' motivations are key to making the story coherent, and that's why filling the middle can be such a challenge.

So what's your approach? I'd be curious to hear others' takes on this matter.

Explanation:

Guess the species of the Pokemon I nicknamed and state the game series the nickname is from.

Rules

1. All nicknames are from other video games (with one notable exception).
2. Pokemon are fully evolved (unless otherwise stated).
3. If a name is specific to a gender or form, it will say so.
4. Use of Google is allowed!
5. Only one guess per post. Edits and double posts don't count.
Bonuses: Vary case-by-case, but always relate to info already established.

Scoring

Current: This time I nicknamed my Pokemon...
IT'S OVER!

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I don't have multiples of any one thing unless gender is involved.

Species	Nickname	Series	Gamer	Namer
Butterfree	Tippi	Mario	Altered	Altered
Butterfree ☆	Tiptron	Mario	N/A	Kloe
Buzzwole	Chattur'gha	Eternal Darkness	Bart_Sol	Altered
Carnivine	Kalle Demos	Zelda	Seiromem	Bart_Sol
Caterpie	Moldorm	Zelda	Bart_Sol	Altered
Crobat	Keese	Zelda	Altered	Altered
Doublade	Soul Edge	Soul Calibur	Kloe	Seiromem
Durant	Goronto	Mario	TungerManU	TungerManU
Electivire	Hildelt	Phantasy Star	Kloe	Kloe
Electivire ☆	Hildetorr	Phantasy Star	N/A	Bart_Sol
Flygon	Dogadon	DK	Kloe	Altered
Galvantula	Gohma	Zelda	Kloe	ESBY
Golisopod	Draygon	Metroid	Kloe	Seiromem
Heliolisk	Lumigek	Metroid	Altered	Kloe
Hypno ♀	Nastasia	Mario	Altered	Kloe
Jellicent ♀	Kulala	Cave Story	Bart_Sol	Altered
Linoone	Nruff	Kirby	Kloe	Altered
Linoone ☆	Nelly	Kirby	N/A	Kloe
Magcargo	Blargg	Mario	Bart_Sol	Bart_Sol
Mamoswine	Mastadoom	Mario	Bart_Sol	Kloe
Mamoswine ☆	Mastablasta	Mario	N/A	Bart_Sol
Mew	Ori	Ori	Seiromem	TungerManU
Mr. Mime	Geno	Mario	Kloe	Kloe
Mr. Mime ☆	♥♪?!	Mario	N/A	TungerManU
Nihilego	Ulyaoth	Eternal Darkness	Bart_Sol	Altered
Pheromosa	Xel'lotath	Eternal Darkness	Bart_Sol	Altered
Raichu	Bombchu	Zelda	Altered	ESBY
Sawsbuck Sm	Samasa	Zelda	Bart_Sol	Bart_Sol
Shiftry	Deku Scrub	Zelda	Seiromem	Bart_Sol
Shiftry ☆	Mad Scrub	Zelda	N/A	Bart_Sol
Stufful	Hunnybunz	Boppin'	Bart_Sol	Bart_Sol
Turtonator	Bowser	Mario	Kloe	Altered
Whismur	Pols Voice	Zelda	Kloe	Altered

User	Pts
Altered	39	WINNER!!!
Bart_Sol	38
Kloe	35
TungerManU	13
Seiromem	9
ESBY	6

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So let's start with an easy one, okay? This time, I nicknamed my Pokemon...Bombchu. In this form, at least.