VISITORSFROMDREAMS'S PROFILE

Hello,

My name is Daniel, I am an Australian animator and film maker living in the Australian outback.

Currently working on a game called "Shooty and the Catfish".

You can check out my animation and game work here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/VisitorsFromDreams

You can check out my gaming channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Gerkinman
Flatwoods
Something mysterious has landed in Flatwoods.

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New RPG Maker incoming?

Well, now we know a little more I have some thoughts.

The logo looks awful... as in it looks like the sort of bad logo most kids who just picked up Photoshop for the first time in order to make a logo for their first RPGM game which is a 50 hour generic fantasy that never gets finished kind of awful, so I guess its technically hitting its target demographic perfectly. Got some bland fonts with a stroke outside and a gradient on top there, if they chucked a bevel on top I would say they would have PERFECTLY nailed that Steam porn RPGM releases aesthetic. I guess this is a backhanded compliment? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm surprised so many people are upset about it requiring 8gb RAM though? What year is it? I know a lot of kids are using hand me down computers but come on. My decade-old MacBook had 16gb RAM. I know not everyone is lucky enough to have 32gb like I do for work I do but jeez...

New RTP looks nice and pixelated, not that I would ever use it but here's hoping its a sign of pixel scaling.

"RPG Maker MZ will make RPG Making faster and easier than ever before. But making it easier wasn’t our only aim, this RPG Maker aims to be the most powerful for experienced developers as well."

I wonder if this push for being more powerful for experienced developers is a reaction to how many high profile indie RPGs had successful demos (Glitched, Zodiac, etc) but then moved onto GMS once they were kickstarted or managed to land independent funding because RPGMV was too limited for releases outside of Steam. It's not a good look for your engine when successful project Kickstarters are launched off its back only for the engine to be dropped like a hot potato soon after.

That's all for now, join me again this time next week for more thoughts on things I have no business thinking about (that said in the next couple of months I will have 5 MV releases under my belt so maybe I'm more qualified than I think.

Screenshot Survival 20XX

A very important scene from Shooty and the Catfish: Reloaded.



New RPG Maker incoming?

author=Rue669
RPG Maker is itself mainly an engine for hobbyist. It is great to see what people can do with the engine when thinking creatively and testing it's limits. I'd argue that's the charm of the engine. That's why RM2k3 games always impress me the most!


As long as RPGM remains a hobbyist engine you will never see built-in options for things like porting to console, I can guarantee it. I think the best-case scenario someone might be able to develop some kind of emulation/shell for the games to run in for console ports. Again, there's a reason almost all of the big MV titles that were in development (like Virgo and Glitched) got moved to GMS and its just that if your taking making a game for multiple platforms seriously its the best and closest option.

On a side note, imagine loading up the switch e-shop and seeing the same hundreds of identical-looking games and game screenshots like you do with RPGM on Steam. No thanks...

New RPG Maker incoming?

I still hope someday there's a 2 tier version of RPGM, a basic version with RTP for hobbyists and a pro version with no RTP or stock audio but with deeper tools.

New RPG Maker incoming?

I'll be very curious to see how it works out. I've released multiple games with MV and really like it for the most part but the reliance on community to add in features and options literally every other game engine has as standard is pretty shitty. I have access to GMS now so if the next engine doesn't offer some decent upgrades like fully customizable UI, sprite sheet animated enemy battlers, timeline-based animations, multithreading, GPU support... I think I will be moving on from RPGM after Shooty and the Catfish is done.

Dev Log #6: May Report

Cant believe you made the original Soma Spirits in 10 months. This is all coming along swimmingly!

lampland.png

I love lamp.

Shooty and the Catfish: Episode 1 - Mushroom Madness Review

author=halibabica
Ah, I guess I should clarify that when I say world map navigation isn't much to speak of, I mean it's nothing out of the ordinary. It's not a problem for an RPG to stick to the staples like that. If anything, I'm glad I had an easy time navigating your maps. I never bumped into anything I felt I should be able to walk through, and getting around was no trouble at all.


Ah okay, yeah I am super anal when it comes to mapping design, I wanted to make sure I avoided any of the unclear navigation I find myself hating in a lot of other games.

author=halibabica
The tone makes a little more sense now that you mentioned Conker as an example. I'm fine with games being subversive, even if the humor isn't quite my thing. I think what's missing here is an outward indication that it's meant to be that way. Like, you wouldn't know that this isn't an ordinary retro game until you see the first F-bomb in the dialogue. However, I'm not entirely sure how one would fix that. It feels like something you'd clue in through advertising, or somewhere subtle like in game tags. Even the box art for Conker shows him holding a beer next to his sexualized anthropomorphic girlfriend. It's a tricky thing to handle, but I at least get where you're coming from now.

I'll have to see where the rest ends up. It sounds pretty promising already!


I think the trailer is going to have to really push into that, though now the game's visuals have been completely rehauled maybe it won't be as surprising that the game has some more adult subject matter and themes.

Shooty and the Catfish: Episode 1 - Mushroom Madness Review

Thanks for taking the time to write this in-depth review, being an episodic game it makes it very very easy to implement feedback! It's easy enough to say thank you for all of the kind words, but it's a little more time consuming to address the criticisms so let's dive in!

author=halibabica
It kind of defaults to “vulgarity = funny” so there’s a bunch of swearing and some off-color jokes. Depending on your sense of humor, your mileage will vary. Personally, I think it’s a little out of place for how the rest of the game presents itself.


There is definitely a lot more swearing in this episode when compared to the episodes that follow it. Most of the swearing comes now from Slim Grim almost exclusively (almost) as its a large part of his character and has been in previous film projects of mine that he has appeared in. The off-color comedy never really goes away, however, in fact in episode 2 it sort of doubles down so get ready for that... Comedy is of course always going to be subjective, the juxtaposition of the colorful and lighthearted visuals and the tone was largely inspired by games like Conkers Bad Fur Day and Giants Citizen Kabuto, but those titles are both quite hit and miss with people.

author=halibabica
World map navigation isn’t much to speak of; you explore, talk to people, find treasures, and fight monsters.


I definitely took a lot more time and care with the dungeon map layout and design than I did with overall world design, to me it was more important to carry that episodic feel, that said for people who enjoy more in-depth exploration and secrets it could definitely be an issue. It's not something I know that I could fix without ruining the quick pacing of the game.

author=halibabica
The combat is where I feel this game truly falls flat. The main issue is that your battle options are just too limited.


Completely agree, especially in this episode where you have so few options. For the full release, I am reworking the combat to take more advantage of buffs/debuffs to make things a little more interesting. I think I will also remove some of the encounters in this first dungeon since watching your video it felt a bit excessive and really highlight that simplicity.

author=halibabica
There are also a few things that could be more intuitive. The menu is a bit clunky. While shopping, you can’t see how much of anything you already have, so you need to check in advance. There’s no place to see what your characters have equipped, and I wouldn’t have faith that I was using anything if it weren’t for the Optimize button.


This was definitely an issue that needed addressing and I'm happy to say it has been rectified in the final release. The lack of information was due to my own boneheaded insistence on having the aspect ratio be the same as a real Gameboy game. Now that the game has been moved to widescreen all that important information is now easy to find and read.

author=halibabica
It doesn’t seem this game is meant to be difficult at all. It’s more about the experience; exploring, meeting funny NPCs, fighting strange creatures, and the allure of adventure. However, I’m not sure what kind of audience the game is meant to appeal to.


I'm glad you got the gist of the idea from the game, I never set out to make something complex or deep, it's not what I look for in RPGs, especially RPGM projects. I'm all about those weird surreal experiences that only indie devs take the chance on making and I guess my target audience is other people who enjoy games like Space Funeral and Hylics.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the first episode, or I guess the first demo of my project. After Episode 2 there were no standalone episodes released (they are all finished outside of battle animations, balancing and cutscenes). I will be sure to send you a steam key for the final game when it releases this year. :)

Need free experienced Mapper for commercial medieval RPG Maker Vx Ace Game.

Boy, I sure do hope OP is a misguided teenager and not an adult... because wow...