SLASH'S PROFILE

Craze, this game is fantastic. You really nailed the battles and the combat. Every battle has several different viable approaches, and I love the little dance of buffing and debuffing; it really adds to the pressure of the more difficult battles. I also liked the energy idea - prioritizing when to use an action and when to save. Plus, you cut down everything else about the game to a simple core of strategic battles supplemented with funny dialogue. No padding. Absolutely well done!

My only nitpicks would be the featurelessness of the maps, where I got lost once or twice, and Francisco's dialogue. He was spitting a lot of platitudes and I couldn't tell if it was part of his personality or a reference to something else (Lovecraft)? I didn't dislike it, it just didn't add anything for me personally.

Please keep making fantastic games thx :)

EDIT: oh yea, did I catch a Sword Art Online reference?

Well damn, I didn't see that :P Someone should probably lock this or something.

The thing I like most about independent projects is the close relationship between a creation and it's creator. It's fun to see where people get their passion to make games, which we all know can be a long, painful, harrowing labor of love.

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Growing up, I drew my own Mario and Sonic levels, and even made a couple tabletop RPGs for my friends and I. When I was 11, I found RM95 and started goofing around. Over the years I swapped to 2k, then 2k3. I started at least 3 different epics, but never got far, and all of my games got scrapped. This lasted til I was about 20... I always considered it a hobby. I never seriously considered making games as a living - the industry seemed too corporate.

When I was about 21 and in college, I realized I hated my current major (chemical engineering), didn't enjoy the internships, and didn't care to try in the classes any longer. I got that feeling of impending doom, like I was going to end up 45 years old, drinking myself to sleep every night. But I had made friends who mentioned my school's fantastic game design track, which involved teaming up with others to make games. After taking a couple of its classes, I realized how much I enjoyed the struggle of making games.

That was like, a couple months ago. I'm 23, paying bills with web development and the occasional game contract (either educational or entertainment) and making my own games in the meantime. I really enjoy it :) I hope I don't regret it all when I'm 40 and poor, but I don't think I will.

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I like hearing people's stories and I wanna know how other people got started or when they realized they like making games, and I wanna know your game-making goals! So let's talk!

Why not try making a game where the player stays in one place, defending a town from an impending doom - instead of exploring? That's a bit of a rarity in the JRPG space. The storytelling would have fantastic potential too, you could have time pass and get really invested in each townsperson, which makes losing one much more meaningful.

It really, really depends on the game. Certain genres focus on one aspect more heavily, but even those conventions can be broken and replaced and improved upon. I'd say this is a cop-out, but it would be impossible to say which is "most important" for all games - except for kentona's interpretation which is that 99.99% of games need graphics, which is true.

On a side note, I've found that audio always gets the short stick in these things; but it can be unbelievably crucial. I know I would've been less likely to beat Super Meat Boy with a mediocre soundtrack and that some of the well-timed screams in Bioshock and such kick the game to a 10.

Just a thought :)