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I've been an active member for quite a few years now. I started my RMN career by releasing the Eden Legacy Trilogy of games (each entry took 4 months of nonstop work) within one year, and I've gradually shifted to creating other games as well. I now have 3 flagship series: Eden Legacy, Fragile Hearts, and Mafiosi (being remade for commercial release as Crime Opera). I'm pretty much solely focused on the Crime Opera series of visual novels right now, as my band and job currently take up most of my free time.
Currently working on
-Crime Opera Trilogy (Mafiosi 1, 2, & 3 edited, with all original resources)
-It's a secret...
Currently working on
-Crime Opera Trilogy (Mafiosi 1, 2, & 3 edited, with all original resources)
-It's a secret...
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Regarding a "Limited Distribution" demo
Okay, so last update before my vacation begins:
Beta testing for episode 1 has begun. Spent a good hour and a half on it so far, and there were a couple hiccups so far, but nothing I wasn't able to fix. I'm still not quite finished editing the scenes, but almost. I'll deal with beta testing the gameplay parts after my vacation, and then the demo will be available for those who want it.
Beta testing for episode 1 has begun. Spent a good hour and a half on it so far, and there were a couple hiccups so far, but nothing I wasn't able to fix. I'm still not quite finished editing the scenes, but almost. I'll deal with beta testing the gameplay parts after my vacation, and then the demo will be available for those who want it.
Keeping it in RMN.
I always followed gamingworld back in the day, but I never actually joined it until it was basically dead. I miss the actual site more than the forums. Everything RM was a lot more exciting back then because we were experiencing these things for the first time. Hell, by today's standards, some of the worshipped "classics" from that time are truly terrible, but so many people love them anyway for the nostalgia factor.
If you want my true opinion of RMN by comparison to those old days, I love it here more. I think the problem you're running into is that there are so many cookie-cutter standard RPGs and first-timer RPGs being accepted here day after day, you're not picking up on the ones that are doing something experimental or different. I'll admit, I have a tough time finding them too nowadays, but I believe they are there. My personal complaint is that I keep seeing the same games and creators featured on a constant basis, and while kentona has tried to take steps to fix this problem, it still does occur to a certain extent.
Ocean hit the nail on the head there, I think. I have countless rm2k3 projects started from years ago that basically just tested the limits of what I could do with the simple eventing system. I had a Sonic platformer one, a ninja one where you could do a whole bunch of Mortal Kombat-esque moves, and tons more. The problem was, once I knew I "could" do something with it, I got bored and moved on. It wasn't until the last couple years that I started finishing games, and admittedly, I wanted to do very traditional games because it actually was a change for me.
As a final thought, I have noticed that the prevalent posters in the community have changed over the last year or so. I urge you to give them a chance. A lot of them are experiencing RM for the first time, but it is fairly transparent that they are eager to eventually build upon the existing library of RM works in a meaningful way. Some of the older folk from yesteryears have seemingly grown very cynical and mean by comparison, offering nothing to the scene but rude comments and a fist full of discouragement for newbies. The lighter atmosphere lately has really been a breath of fresh air, and I think we're building towards something better.
If you want my true opinion of RMN by comparison to those old days, I love it here more. I think the problem you're running into is that there are so many cookie-cutter standard RPGs and first-timer RPGs being accepted here day after day, you're not picking up on the ones that are doing something experimental or different. I'll admit, I have a tough time finding them too nowadays, but I believe they are there. My personal complaint is that I keep seeing the same games and creators featured on a constant basis, and while kentona has tried to take steps to fix this problem, it still does occur to a certain extent.
Ocean hit the nail on the head there, I think. I have countless rm2k3 projects started from years ago that basically just tested the limits of what I could do with the simple eventing system. I had a Sonic platformer one, a ninja one where you could do a whole bunch of Mortal Kombat-esque moves, and tons more. The problem was, once I knew I "could" do something with it, I got bored and moved on. It wasn't until the last couple years that I started finishing games, and admittedly, I wanted to do very traditional games because it actually was a change for me.
As a final thought, I have noticed that the prevalent posters in the community have changed over the last year or so. I urge you to give them a chance. A lot of them are experiencing RM for the first time, but it is fairly transparent that they are eager to eventually build upon the existing library of RM works in a meaningful way. Some of the older folk from yesteryears have seemingly grown very cynical and mean by comparison, offering nothing to the scene but rude comments and a fist full of discouragement for newbies. The lighter atmosphere lately has really been a breath of fresh air, and I think we're building towards something better.
Project Viral 1.6
Progress continues!
~Memories Neverlasting~
Thanks! Always a good sign when people who've played my other games are willing to give this a try as well! I'll see what I can do about the demo.
MN1i.png
I've been toying a little with that program recently, and I must admit, I'm pretty useless as it so far. Before I release the game though I am going to fix the graphics as best I can (I'll be forced to anyway since a couple of them are completely F'd atm).
MN1c.png
Half finished Phase 1? Indeed!
UPDATE: Yet another small update, another hour and a half got me through half another episode. Hopefully I can keep this inspiration going right to the end of Phase 1.
Developer's Spot#1: I'm an NPC, The Role of NPCs in Your Games
I try to approach NPCs from a different perspective with each series of games I make. If they work the same way each time, it can feel like you're making the exact same game over and over again because it really adds to the general atmosphere of gameplay.
For instance, I've used NPCs in a hint-based capacity, as many people have mentioned here already. This usually ends with a bunch of "extras" who really are of no benefit to any player, which I've REALLY grown tired of seeing/doing in RPGs. It fits the bill for retro games (which is pretty much why I did it for the EL games), but it's pretty useless overall because nowadays players would rather skip talking to them after running into a couple "Nice day to you" NPCs.
On the other hand, I've used NPCs purely as comic relief (as LockeZ said he did) as well. In Surreality, virtually every NPC had long, important conversations that help to inform players of their hero's relationships with them, and also as a world-building tool that in the end leads up to a twist ending. And in my newest venture, NPCs have the potential to become playable characters and they gain levels when you complete quests for them or answer them in a favorable way.
It's okay to be generic with NPCs if you think it fits the bill, but if you have multiple projects happening, I would suggest trying to be creative with them.
For instance, I've used NPCs in a hint-based capacity, as many people have mentioned here already. This usually ends with a bunch of "extras" who really are of no benefit to any player, which I've REALLY grown tired of seeing/doing in RPGs. It fits the bill for retro games (which is pretty much why I did it for the EL games), but it's pretty useless overall because nowadays players would rather skip talking to them after running into a couple "Nice day to you" NPCs.
On the other hand, I've used NPCs purely as comic relief (as LockeZ said he did) as well. In Surreality, virtually every NPC had long, important conversations that help to inform players of their hero's relationships with them, and also as a world-building tool that in the end leads up to a twist ending. And in my newest venture, NPCs have the potential to become playable characters and they gain levels when you complete quests for them or answer them in a favorable way.
It's okay to be generic with NPCs if you think it fits the bill, but if you have multiple projects happening, I would suggest trying to be creative with them.
Averting level grinding
I'm doing something different (at least, for me) in my newest project (Memories Neverlasting, which is 75% visual novel and 25% gameplay). I'm basing battles strictly on item usage. There are a limited amount of items to be found during gameplay, and a limited number of non-respawning enemies to fight.
Also, the main player and the various party members level up normally through battles, but since you take on different party members for each mission, you're also forced to build relationships with them (doing favours, being nice to them, answering favourably) to level them up.
I wanted to constrict level grinding here by forcing players to worry more about conserving their resources than fighting as many battles as possible. On the other hand, completionists will undoubtedly want to fight all the limited enemies available, and if they've found all of the hidden items along the way, they should (even if it's just barely) be able to do so.
Also, the main player and the various party members level up normally through battles, but since you take on different party members for each mission, you're also forced to build relationships with them (doing favours, being nice to them, answering favourably) to level them up.
I wanted to constrict level grinding here by forcing players to worry more about conserving their resources than fighting as many battles as possible. On the other hand, completionists will undoubtedly want to fight all the limited enemies available, and if they've found all of the hidden items along the way, they should (even if it's just barely) be able to do so.
Games - Tester
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