[Developing] Pokémon: Phoenix Rising

xdanx · Feb 5, 2012

The bad:
Everything in the maps is just way too close to each other (paths are too narrow, making maps kinda unpleasant), I really don't like buildings design, and snowy maps are just ugly, trees have too much snow (in fact there is simply too much snow on everything) and icy water looks like a circus tent. And music sound kinda gameboy-ish with that quality of sounds.

The good:
Except for that, everything else looks cool. Map design is good in other aspects (the way you have used the tileset). Textures look interesting, except for shadows, since buildings seem to have too long shadows compared to, for example, the trees. Sprites are even more cool. Story seems quite interesting, though not enough to make me want to pay a lot of attention to it.

Above all, from what I've seen so far, I'd say:

Idea and story: 6/10
Mapping: 6/10 (would be 9 if paths weren't so narrow and everything wasn't so close)
Music: 5/10
Sprites: 8.5/10
Tileset: 7/10 (buildings don't fit to everything else, and snowy maps either)

Total score: 6.5 to 7

So far at least, of course that's just my opinion :)

abnegation · Feb 5, 2012

Riansky said:
WTH is wrong with you. The game is not released yet..

I really love the new professor desing and I also like that magnetic cave animation you put in the first page, really good. Your game is really inspirative (I hope this is the right word). Looking forward for the updates.

Glad to hear you like it, just let staff deal with the people spamming :]

xdanx said:
The bad:
Everything in the maps is just way too close to each other (paths are too narrow, making maps kinda unpleasant), I really don't like buildings design, and snowy maps are just ugly, trees have too much snow (in fact there is simply too much snow on everything) and icy water looks like a circus tent. And music sound kinda gameboy-ish with that quality of sounds.

The good:
Except for that, everything else looks cool. Map design is good in other aspects (the way you have used the tileset). Textures look interesting, except for shadows, since buildings seem to have too long shadows compared to, for example, the trees. Sprites are even more cool. Story seems quite interesting, though not enough to make me want to pay a lot of attention to it.

Above all, from what I've seen so far, I'd say:

Idea and story: 6/10
Mapping: 6/10 (would be 9 if paths weren't so narrow and everything wasn't so close)
Music: 5/10
Sprites: 8.5/10
Tileset: 7/10 (buildings don't fit to everything else, and snowy maps either)

Total score: 6.5 to 7

So far at least, of course that's just my opinion :)

I think you don't have much taste, but that's just my opinion! To be honest I feel that you've been extremely unnecessarily harsh. To give my mapping a 6/10, I find that extremely insulting considering I've been studying it for 3 years and have spent over 60 hours of work mapping for this game, and that's just for the demo. I personally think that you've been harsh for whatever reason, and your comments weren't all that helpful.

The "snowwy maps" are quite outdated I'll admit, and I wish to change the tileset. But to say this is bad mapping is pretty... well I'm not quite sure what you'd consider to be good mapping. And I will defend my work on mapping and the work of others on this game because it is something I put a hell of a lot of time into. So, without wanting to seem self righteous I have to completely disagree with you.

To give the music of my composer a 5/10, is well, also really harsh in all honesty. This is a fan game, if I could hire John Williams for free I'd do it. So again, I feel you're just judging the music and not telling us what you like and dislike.

I have literally no idea what you mean about how the buildings don't fit with anything else. Please give me an example and reasoning as to why they do not, because this is the first I've ever heard of it.

Yes, I take your criticism, and if you feel I'm not taking it, go through the thread and see that I do in fact take all comments on board. But I feel you were being overly and unnecessarily critical. I have the right and means to disagree with your comments, and I do. But, if my game is what you call a 6.5, well I'm afraid it seems we have a pretty bad quality selection of games in The Showcase. Which I do not believe.

xdanx · Feb 5, 2012

Abnegation said:
Glad to hear you like it, just let staff deal with the people spamming :]

I think you don't have much taste, but that's just my opinion! To be honest I feel that you've been extremely unnecessarily harsh. To give my mapping a 6/10, I find that extremely insulting considering I've been studying it for 3 years and have spent over 60 hours of work mapping for this game, and that's just for the demo. I personally think that you've been harsh for whatever reason, and your comments weren't all that helpful.

The "snowwy maps" are quite outdated I'll admit, and I wish to change the tileset. But to say this is bad mapping is pretty... well I'm not quite sure what you'd consider to be good mapping. And I will defend my work on mapping and the work of others on this game because it is something I put a hell of a lot of time into. So, without wanting to seem self righteous I have to completely disagree with you.

To give the music of my composer a 5/10, is well, also really harsh in all honesty. This is a fan game, if I could hire John Williams for free I'd do it. So again, I feel you're just judging the music and not telling us what you like and dislike.

I have literally no idea what you mean about how the buildings don't fit with anything else. Please give me an example and reasoning as to why they do not, because this is the first I've ever heard of it.

Yes, I take your criticism, and if you feel I'm not taking it, go through the thread and see that I do in fact take all comments on board. But I feel you were being overly and unnecessarily critical. I have the right and means to disagree with your comments, and I do. But, if my game is what you call a 6.5, well I'm afraid it seems we have a pretty bad quality selection of games in The Showcase. Which I do not believe.

If there's something no one can deny, is that, in life, you never stop learning, there's always something you can improve even further.

And my intention isn't and will never be being harsh, I just say the things exactly the way I see them. If it was my project I'd prefer a direct truth than just a sweet truth.

Also, I'm not saying maps are bad, but they are just too lineal because of them having such a narrow paths. And I'm not saying music is bad, I'm saying SOUND is bad. I don't think it is necessary for them to sound like Y2K game midi songs. Music itself is cool (even if I don't like some of them for the specific field or situation they were made for)

About the buildings, what I meant by saying "they don't fit" is that they just don't really merge with most part of the tileset. They are like too 3D-ish and they stand out. Maybe it's just the outline is too dark, and because of that, as I said, they don't seem to merge to the world, like they're floating or something.

It is great to be proud of your work, and I would too if this was my game, you are doing an excelent work, but I wanted to clarify what I don't like of it. As I said, it's my opinion, I have never cared if anyone else in the world shared it or not, 'cause I don't change my opinions just to be popular, I tend to be sincere and direct. Sorry if that offends you, 'cause it's not my intention.

Attribule · Feb 5, 2012

I think the criticism is a bit ridiculous mostly because they're judging the mapping of the game off of a few select screenshots from the game. A fair amount of them are set in a forest environment, so how open can you actually get with mapping without making the forest look too empty? Anybody remember how narrow Ilex Forest was in G/S/C? You had like, 2 tiles of width, maybe 3 at the wider areas. Viridian Forest? Exactly.

abnegation · Feb 5, 2012

Alright, I understand your points a little better xdanx. I will do what I can to try improve on the areas that you have mentioned in which I can. For the first time in this thread, I'll release a mapshot.

I do have an update coming up soon though guys, been working on something big. Also have some music coming your way!

ct_bolt · Feb 6, 2012

Looks amazing!

Great work so far, looks absolutely stunning! I can't wait to play it...
I know it's been asked several times already... but is there any info (estimate) on when it will be release?

Skymin · Feb 7, 2012

Man, I never seem to wander from my one board but HERE I AM!

I kind of stumbled upon this thanks to the PC deviantart page then saw all those screenies and oh my, I just love the bright atmosphere of all of those screen shots. The colour scheme just makes me want to scream. So good!

I'm definitely subscribing to this thread and awaiting any kind of news to it. <:

abnegation · Feb 7, 2012

Updates coming soon, but right now...

Forever Lost Team Positions Open

Available Positions

:: - Pixel Artist: There is always room for more pixel artists on our team. We require talented pixel artists with experience in Pokemon style to join the team.

:: - Composers: An additional composer would be a great help on this team. We need an enthusiastic music composer who enjoys writing in Pokemon style.

:: - Scripter: There is also a space on the team for a scripter who is talented in the area of RGSS and Ruby. Coding with Pokemon Essentials.

:: - General Game Developer/Co-leader: A co-leader or talented developer to work closely along side me, and to help control what needs to be done and work with the team is a big desire of mine. They need to be talented in the area of RMXP overall.

:: - Tile Artist: Someone who is talented at making tiles and who would be able to create tiles like the ones seen in the game. You would have lots of referencing and lots of artistic expression!

You are welcome to fill out this form.

Position:
Experience:
Method of contact:
Proof of work in this area:

Thanks guys! I hope to see some applications, it would really be helpful to us.

abnegation · Feb 11, 2012

[a id]topofnews[/a id]

Newlestter & Update February 11^th, 2012

Table of contents

Editor's Notes This month in development...
Screenshots From Cliffs of Hawthorne & Mesto Mountain
Character Updates Heroes & Rivals
Final Notes Conclusion

[a id]editorsnotes[/a id]This month in development... Editor's Notes

So today is almost mid-February, and occasionally I wish to do these kind of updates to show people what exactly is going on behind the scenes. Well from January, after the hustle and bustle of the new year I have started work again. I personally went through a serious art block for several weeks, so I wasn't really getting anything done in any department. So I eventually decided to try and do some work on things which are not going to be in the first demo, simply to get out of that restricting zone of working on the same stuff frequently. However you will see some updates for the first demo in this update, as well as some updates from later in the game, so let's get started huh? Here's some new music for you to listen to as you go through the thread!

Created by our composer Steven!

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[a id]screens[/a id]Screenshots - Cliffs 0f Hawthorne & Mesto Mountain

For the past two to three weeks myself and some of the team have been working on a new area which is loosely based on Machu Picchu as well as a number of other areas. For now I am only displaying some of the terrain you encounter. This area is quite ambitious and is inhabited by ancient and dinosaur Pokémon. The Cliffs of Hawthorne is a large route amongst the sea in which leads up to a waterfall where two large Ho-oh statues were created by inhabitants of Hawthorne many years ago after the war. This leads you into through another large route known as Mesto Mountain, where an overgrown temple resides on top. This temple was used to protect the people of the city beyond it. Powerful and ancient Pokémon reside both inside and out of it. A Tyranitar was said to have fought off forces from the King's army many years ago to protect the city from their onslaught, and so they erected statues of him. To this day, Tyranitar has been seldom seen in Hawthorne, but many believe the bloodline from that saviour still remains within the temple.

Alto & Aria

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[a id]characters[/a id] Character Updates

Meet Alto

Alto is the male hero in Forever Lost. He is a determined, fighting and collected teenager. Alto grew up in Nocturne Town in the Hawthorne region with both his parents. When his father went on official business due to work, Alto became the male presence in the house and began to look after his mother. Alto and his best friend Gavin were always known to be up to mischief in the town, which led to their popularity amongst the inhabitants. Only because the town is so quiet that somebody needs to keep it lively! Meet Aria

If you choose to play as Aria, she is the pretty, happy go-lucky girl from Nocturne Town. Aria grew up at home with her parents, and was particularly fond of hearing stories from her parents. She and Gavin had been friends from a young age, they had both been very interested in leaving home some day, and knew that once they did, they could never agree to go in the same direction! They never could agree on one thing. But Aria and Gavin were best friends nonetheless. The towns people always found their banter humorous. Meet Gavin

Gavin is the hot headed, introspective and philosophical young adult who hails from Nocturne Town. He enjoys exploring the wilderness around him and writing music. Although he is quite intelligent, he tends to allow some of his more negative qualities be more evident. However he is a good friend of your chosen hero, and simply wishes to find his way in this world. He claims to get recurring nightmares from a boy named Luke. Meet Carmen

Carmen is from Tranquillo Town. She helps out with the farm her parents own from time to time, but she dreams of living in the city. She is a stylish and metropolitan go-getter who's dream is to be famous in the region of Hawthorne for her evident sharp and persuasive characteristics. Watch out for her! She may not seem like she's strong willed by how kind she is, but she fights for what she believes in!

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[a id]conclusion[/a id] And so ends this update!

It has been a busy few weeks for us. I have also hired a few additional artists. Elaynii from PC, InnocentDrive, Rezfan and Litera-sure all from Deviant art. Each but the latter signing on as artists while Litera-sure is a pixel artist. I am very happy to welcome them each to the team. In saying that, I am still looking to recruit some members, you may refer to my previous post if interested. Thanks for reading all!

Oh! And one more thing, welcome to the region of Hawthorne.

Riansky · Feb 12, 2012

You should do something like that every month! Amazing that's all I have to say.

I'm loving the new orginal music you or you composser made. Ice dungeon has really awesome drum and bass lines, its really amazing.
The tiles of the Mesto Mountain ( I think) are simply breathtaking. I also love those little sparkles (?) animations. Clifs of Hawthorne tiles are also amazing. Loving those high mountains and the sea tiles looks pretty good to, I hope they are animated as well.
I can't say much about sprites since I think they are just perfect.

Oh and also the Hawthorne region looks amazing in BW style.

You really have an awesome team working on that game. Hope I'll be able to make such an awesome game with such an awesome team one day.

Keep it up my friend!

Gnarwinism · Feb 12, 2012

Please scrap your project and get to work on building me those tyranitar statues in real life. I will give you as many blank checks as you want.

abnegation · Feb 12, 2012

Riansky said:
You should do something like that every month! Amazing that's all I have to say.

I'm loving the new orginal music you or you composser made. Ice dungeon has really awesome drum and bass lines, its really amazing.
The tiles of the Mesto Mountain ( I think) are simply breathtaking. I also love those little sparkles (?) animations. Clifs of Hawthorne tiles are also amazing. Loving those high mountains and the sea tiles looks pretty good to, I hope they are animated as well.
I can't say much about sprites since I think they are just perfect.

Oh and also the Hawthorne region looks amazing in BW style.

You really have an awesome team working on that game. Hope I'll be able to make such an awesome game with such an awesome team one day.

Keep it up my friend!

Thanks dude, and thanks again for the logo.

@Gnar
I desire 17

Also for those of you who are looking for the most recent update since the thread went onto a new page at an annoying time, click here.

Atomic Reactor · Feb 12, 2012

Idk man... this is kinda not looking that great.
Cliffs aren't very good looking... Forest area just doesn't look graphically pleasing..
idk man, I expected more from you :/

ummmmmm jk :3

Looking phenomenal dude. No doubt about that.
I absolutely love your mountain cliffs... a lot ha.
EDIT: Oh, and the temple turned out great :)

Hamel · Feb 12, 2012

Damn! I really want to play this when available. So far its looking VERY nice. I love the style of it and have to say that from the sample of music you've put out I'm wondering if you'll release an OST with this once its completed as well. Very lovely! I love the look of the battle, its what I would have expected from Nintendo with the newer games.

abnegation · Feb 15, 2012

For those of you who constantly ask for a download link or when this will be available, it is against the rules to ask. However, I'm not sure when the first demo will be released, it is not easy to guess. However I had hoped I would have a demo this month but this got delayed. In saying this, I am expecting to have a demo ready soon, just sit tight! These kinds of games take a lot of work, time and dedication.

naterade · Feb 15, 2012

Thanks for the update. This game looks sooo nice, and I like the starters you have chosen.

JayofMaya · Feb 16, 2012

Hello, firstly I'd like to say congratulations to the composer of the titles. I'm a fellow composer and musician and I perticularly like the 'Ranch' theme. I may even learn it on guitar :) Also, the story is original too (Minus the 8 badges, professor and league, but that's standard) and reminds me a little of our very own world haha

Quick question for you though, if the region is generally pretty negative and in distress, then why do all the towns look in pristine condition? There's not one area of run down homes, travellers without abodes or derelict city areas. Just a query! Hope it's going well.

abnegation · Feb 16, 2012

JayofMaya said:
Hello, firstly I'd like to say congratulations to the composer of the titles. I'm a fellow composer and musician and I perticularly like the 'Ranch' theme. I may even learn it on guitar :) Also, the story is original too (Minus the 8 badges, professor and league, but that's standard) and reminds me a little of our very own world haha

Quick question for you though, if the region is generally pretty negative and in distress, then why do all the towns look in pristine condition? There's not one area of run down homes, travellers without abodes or derelict city areas. Just a query! Hope it's going well.

Well the distress was many years ago, the point is that when Ho-oh came along after the war it all changed. That it brought prosperity to the land, hope. And it is now 500 years later. I have rewritten the story to be more clear, which I will post soon.

However thank you for the kind comments, I hope I cleared that up for you.

mikk317 · Feb 17, 2012

I can't wait tell you release a demo of this! From what I've seen in the screenshots, the graphics seem really polished, and the battle screen is amazing! The lighting in the rainy picture, with the shadows and everything, looks fantastic! In fact, everything I've seen - and heard (Hideout theme is my favorite) - looks very polished, and it looks like you've put a lot of time into this. can't wait to play!

Tropical Sunlight · Feb 18, 2012

The latest screenshots are too perfect ;)
A total eyegasm :D

[Developing] Pokémon: Phoenix Rising

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xdanx

But you can call me Dan :)

abnegation

xdanx

But you can call me Dan :)

Attribule

Veteran Wall-Worker/WW3 Survivor - AMA

abnegation

ct_bolt

Skymin

abnegation

Forever Lost Team Positions Open

abnegation

Riansky

Purr

Gnarwinism

Grandson - er, whats his name?

abnegation

Atomic Reactor

Guest

Hamel

abnegation

naterade

JayofMaya

abnegation

mikk317

Tropical Sunlight

The Faltine