GDW Issue 4

Well, first, I'd better introduce myself. I'm Riceeman, Spriter and Creator of The Hoenn Project. I'm GDW's Graphics Reviewer, reviewing Sprites, Fakemon, Concept Art and Tilesets; so People who use the Essential graphics without changing them, BEWARE.

So, my first review is on Pokemon Malachite created by PokemonOI. The whole game is based on a series of isles, so the tileset is very bright and bold, and successfully I think, PokemonOI has decided to stick with the main tiles being very much FR/LG style. Some tiles are meant to be more 4th generation style, but the whole tileset retains a very FR/LG look, and I really like the whole effect. The towns and seperate areas each have their own separate houses, which is always a good thing, and POI very successfully uses some nice Pokemon overworlds, namely Corsola, Staryu and Chatot are the ones that have been revealed, and this really makes the game have a really nice feel to it. I'm really not making much sense, am I?

Malachite boasts the claim to Fakemon. Now, when Fakemon are made well, they look superb. When they're not, they ruin a game completely. I won't go into names, but a few games in the Showcase, with adoring fans telling them their Fakemon are good, actually have Fakemon that could be better quality. That's no fault of the creator, it's just they should try to raise the quality to add a more professional look to the game.

I do TRY to like Malachite's Fakemon. The style of sprite is nice, and the concepts aren't that bad (Though a Penguin for water starter, straight after Piplup?) but there are quite a lot of shading and lineart errors, and the poses need to be sorted out. The starters are ok, but very blocky, the poses are too side on and the creator is very good at shading neck, but then the light colours goes too far down their torso. Also, there are too many straight lines. The others are in a better style I'd say. My favourites are the Electric bugs (...Okay, I'll admit, I did make them, but I'm not biased at ALL ) The Buizel Pre-evolution is the best, while the others have lineart or shading problems, or are just fusions covered by scratch stuff (The Eeveelution and the Mr. Mime Evolution). So, overall, they're ok, but really nothing special and at the moment, don't add the WOW factor that Fakemon are meant to give you. Then I see the second batch. The Evolutions of pre-existing Pokemon are immense (Except for the Chatot one, which needs a little work). Although the Qwilfish is the only one that looks different, (Torkoal is Fire/Rock by the way). The Psychic white ones are pretty good, but they don't vary that much, and the outline shading could be worked on. The sheep, well, the first one is too big, and they both either need more detail, or SOMETHING. They just look too plain. They also need outline shading (which is the main problem with most of this second batch). The others are okay, but all look slightly odd. Definitely better, but still needs a little work to give them all the WOW factor of the Taurus Evolution.

One of the really exciting things about Malachite, graphically, is its gorgeous battle backgrounds. These really do add that extra dimension to Pokemon Battles and the game of Malachite as a whole. I particularly like the night time city scene and the volcanic background, but all are very good and fit in nicely. Recently though, they had a battle, against your grandfather I think, with a DP style background. Mixing the two styles doesn't really work. They're too different, and they just look slightly weird. The rest of the battle screen is nice, if not TOO nice - it's slightly cluttered, and your eye tries to take in all of the colours. Maybe sticking with 3 or 4 colours would make it slightly more pleasing to the eyes.

I don't have much to say on the trainers, except they seem to be too copy and pasted, and some arms and shoulders don't fit properly. I really suck at trainer spriting though, so I won't say too much.

Overall, Malachite is shaping up to be a really nice looking game. The tileset, coupled with some nice mapping, really gives the game a nice feel all of its own. The battle backgrounds are just nice for adding some originality, and they fit in superbly. I think OI should take a moment to reconsider his Fakemon though - Some just don't make the standard. I'm always a bit angry at game developers who can't sprite, but that's probably just me.

So Riceeman's Graphics rating out of 10 is....
7.5/10
With a little more effort, this game could look superb. Fakemon is really my only big issue.

Thanks for reading. Now to tackle the biggest debate - Kyledove's tiles...

Thank you very much blueguy for allowing me to interview you. Now, the first question: Why did you start developing Pokemon Grey?

No problem. ;D In the summer, but I took a really prolonged/mysterious break.

(The Question was Why, XD)

*ahem* I started on Grey simply cause I have a lot of free time and it's a fun hobby. ;D I don't know why I read that as "When?"

Ah it's okay, we all make mistakes, and it seems I got two answers for the price of one question! Now, next question: What is your favorite part about working on Pokemon Grey?

I really love designing the routes and creating new tiles and graphics. Oh, and making Pokémon! Sketching them and coming up with movesets and stats and stuff is fun.

Cool. What projects, related to game development or otherwise, have you worked on in the past?

In terms of game development, I haven't really been involved with any projects other than my own. But, I like to follow all the projects in the forum, just to see what's going on.

How have other things that you've worked on, PokeChow in particular, influenced your work on Pokemon Grey?

PokéChow was really fun! I liked creating fun characters, so in that sense, I hope to make interesting characters in Grey as well.

XD, Now blueguy, What is your favorite project currently displayed in the community?

I really love Pokémon Protectors. It's one of the projects I've always been really interested in. Neo Dragon always comes up with really great systems. I liked his ideas about reputation etc. I also like kyledove's online project. The Pokémon and environments look great, as well as the character selection screen. Also, I like seeing all the systems, menus etc. that Wichu comes up with for Pokémon Amethyst.

Nice stuff. Now blueguy, what is your opinion on the current controversy surrounding Pokemon Essentials?

I have been a frequent watcher of this forum for years, and have never seen such a complete system to make a Pokémon game with. I think Pokémon Essentials is terrific! I'm really not extremely script-savvy at all, but I enjoy the creative aspect behind making this game. This is a hobby for me, so I don't feel ashamed in any way that I didn't come up with the coding to make the game playable and possible. However, I feel indebted to the hard work that poccil has done to provide this platform to people like me, who have sincere interest in game-making, but not necessarily any extensive familiarity with coding and scripting.

blueguy, I apologize for the long wait for this question, I've been a little busy. Okay, onto the question: What is more important in a game, for you: graphics, or gameplay?

Well, I think we all like playing a game that looks great, so I think it's important, but gameplay is more important. When we think about the Pokémon franchise in general, none of its games have ever been on the cutting edge graphically, yet at its core is an addictive, wonderful formula that we all love. I still prefer Gold/Silver to Ruby/Sapphire any day.