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What is the value of creativity? Does originality take a back seat to the "fun factor" when
making a game? It has come to my attention that there is almost a complete disregard by our
designers for something different. It seems more and more apparent from the countless failures
wrought from this website that the more tools one has in their possession, the more foolish
the mechanic becomes. In any time, any place, it is unacceptable to be premature, to be
unprepared, and to not know what you're doing. So why, then, is it acceptable for somebody
to create a game without any thought to it whatsoever?
Of course, I never said, I wished to quash the influx of new designers completely. It just
seems that it is the responsibility of the designer to plan, to think, and to learn the
skills they need. Many new designers crave the spoils of success so bad they fail to... to
comprehend the perils of the journey there. So, for all those to whom it may apply, I ask
you, not only for the sake of this website, but for your own sake, to truly consider what
is necessary to make a game. Because diving headlong into an idea with no thought of the
time between success and your beginning will almost guarantee your failure.
But most of all, remember that you are not invincible, that you are never safe from failure
until your work is done. Pokemon Essentials does not enable you to create a game. You do.
A few... er, nice.... words from the Editor, h POKE.
Well, it's been a (somewhat) quiet week this time around, so I don't think I have to post anything here.
Reviews
Pokemon Malachite review by Yuoaman The Future, Today! Pokemon Malachite
My Rating: 8/10
Thread Rating: 3.8/5
"Well Pokemon Malachite is the adventure of today! Basically the story is that you are woken up by your Grandfather Professor Hackberry and given a new Pokemon. After having a test battle with him the small island that you two live on is invaded by the infamous Pirate group Team Mare! Your grandfather is kidnapped by the pirates and you're left on the island alone. Then the real story begins! You set out on a journey to find your grandpa and to defeat Team Mare. Along the way you catch new Pokemon, earn gym badges, meet new friends and find clues to the whereabouts of your Grandpa and even the whereabouts of your parent who were kidnapped years ago." 'Summary made by PokemonOI'
Spoiler:
Despite being posted less than four months ago, this project has garnered massive attention, much like PokemonOIs previous project, Infinite Rainbow.
First, before the meat of the review, let's have a quick history lesson, shall we. Originally PokemonOI posted Pokemon Infinite Rainbow back in July, which was, honestly, not the greatest project in the community. But despite this OI kept at it diligently, and eventually he was able to get many fans for his project, despite the lack of custom features and graphics. But several month later OI realized that this project was much too large for his first project, he began work on Malachite, realizing that he was more likely to finish Malachite than Infinite Rainbow, he ceased work on Infinite Rainbow and focused solely on Malachite.
Okay, now that that's out of the way onto the review itself, first let's check out the features. The first feature listed is the PokePort, though I have not found any information on this, so we'll move on… New Pokemon is the next feature, and that it does have, and example can be found here: https://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/ldm92/capture090-1.png, that's just a taste of what Malachite has, if you want a fuller listing, just check out the thread itself. Next, a brand new region, and yes it does have that, and from the screens OI has been posting Insula looks like quite a fun and interesting place to explore, and I'm really looking forward to it. Now onto the next feature, which is the one I am interested most in, the camp sites: you see, scattered throughout Insula are these camp sites, which act much like Pokemon Centers, allowing you to heal your Pokemon without paying for Potions, and without running to the nearest town, here is an example of a camp site: https://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/ldm92/capture044.png. Now the final feature, another one which I find interesting is the environment specific battle backgrounds, meaning that everywhere in Insula has its own battle background! Here are a few examples for you to feast your eyes upon: https://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/ldm92/capture097-1.png, https://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/ldm92/capture076-1.png.
Next up is the graphics, now this is the part about Malachite, which to me, shines the brightest. The tilesets used t portray Insula are at times colorful and bright, and at others dark and sinister. Just check out these screens to see what I mean: https://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/ldm92/capture095-2.png, https://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/ldm92/capture065.png. I applaud PokemonOI for using so many custom graphics in this project, it really makes it stand out from the crowd of mediocre games, which are so prevalent in our community. This one screen: https://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/ldm92/capture033.png, in my opinion, captures the originality of Malachite, the colors complement each other well, and the tiles are arranged perfectly for the area.
Now, to finish off this long-winded article, what has been up recently in the world of Malachite: https://www.pokecommunity.com/posts/4344653/-This update, posted on February 8th posts a contest asking the fans to guess the identity of a new Pokemon, and a small teaser screen.
https://www.pokecommunity.com/showpost.php?p=4387677&postcount=666-The newest update, as of February 26th, was also posted on the 26th, gives us an inkling of what will be in the next update, and gives us several of the new battle backgrounds, which are just gorgeous, by the way.[/spoiler]
Pokemon Scarlet review by Delta
Spoiler:
AZ is sooooooooo fired...
Something Different Mother IV: Oasis of the Sun
My Rating: 6.5/10
Popular Rating: 3.67/5
"The year is 200x. You, Phoenix, have heard of the countless storys of the hero, Ness, and
his friends Jeff, Paula, and Poo. You have decided you want to be part of the action.
Numerous times you have failed to grasp a worthy adventure for you to quest. It's always
a job for the older ones. One day you venture through the woods and find a shimmering oasis. In it you see a glowing object. You pull it out and figure out the object is a
key. You then show the key to your twin brothers (triplets counting you.) Your brother
Digit says he has a box that has strange emblems on it and a keyhole. You open up the box
and to your surprise there is three special items for every triplet. Phoenix gets a jar
of glowing light, Digit gets a plasma gun, and the youngest of the triplets, Tyler, gets
an orange box. Phoenix, excited about the gifts, opens the jar. The rays of light are
absorbed into his body and he soon learns PSI. Tyler opens the box... out pops a beautiful
white cat. The cat teaches him that he has learned Natural PSI. The cat then explains why
they have been [as]sembled. ' When the Fab Four defeated Giygas, you where all born.' 'How
can that be?!' they all asked in unison. 'The gang had to travel back in time in order to
defeat Giygas.' the she-cat said. ' When he was defeated a being of light was cast upon
the world.' 'Then the being of light was made into three little boys.' 'Corruption would
soon lead on in the world and the boys would have to repair it' 'My name is Amystraterusa
or Amy in short.' With that the ecstatic, adventurous, trio (plus the cat) was headed to
save the world."
Spoiler:
And here everyone thought this was a Pokemon website only. Well, I suppose Eneko has come
to prove that supposition wrong, with the idea of making a fangame of an equally popular
series: Mother. Now, I realize my review may seem biased because I am personally not a Mother
fan, but... bear with me.
On almost any other site, there would be many more people who enjoy Mother enough to create
the idea for a "Mother IV" (which seems very much like calling a Pokemon game Generation V).
And when there's a rapid flow of ideas for approximately the same idea, originality comes
at a premium. Unfortuantely, this seems to be the main thing Oasis of the Sun is lacking
in.
In fact, almost seems as if it has gained the wild popularity that it has purely from it
being a Mother fangame. Much of the story seems to lack coherence, at least in my opinion,
and the dialogue mentioned between the kids and the cat is flimsy, at best. For example,
"When the Fab Four beat Giygas, you were all born." (that's not a great line, but it gets
worse...) "How can that be?!". Now, you kind of have to wonder, what's the line between
satire and seriousness? Can this game really pass off somewhat bland dialogue as "making
fun of RPG's"?
Other than that, there's not much in the first post. So, I looked. And looked. And looked.
Mostly what I found was fans who supported without question, in a similar fashion to TLW.
And that's what saddened me the most. The only thing this game has to do to succeed is to
not fail. And that's probably the main reason why it scored somewhat low. If there were
more Mother fangames available to the people on this site, do you think things would be
different? I sure do...
However, perhaps it's also not for me to say. Let the Mother fans enjoy their game. After
all, the story isn't what's important.
Interviews
Interview with Kyledove
Spoiler:
h POKE: What made you create your famous D/P tiles in the first place? Kyledove: Well seeing how the pokemon world was growing with the new games, I realized how long it had been since there had been any new tiles. I wanted to give something back to the community in return for being so supportive of me, so what better than a whole tileset? It was obviously something in very high demand, and I like Sinnoh myself so why not?
I figured recreating a world from scratch would also teach me a lot on how to make my own world and the structures and shapes. On a selfish note though, I was tired of seeing all the same fr/lg graphics, and I wanted to try inspire people to be different and have more variety. I won't lie though, I did like joking around with the idea of it becoming popular and seen more often than the official tilesets!
h POKE: Does seeing their overuse make you proud, or regretful? Kyledove: Like I just mentioned, at first I liked the idea of it becoming popular, but as time has gone on I've become a bit dissapointed. Like most of my work though, through time I've started to see my errors more and more which is regretting, but at the time I was rushing a bit due to the high demand. It's true it's nice to see people using them, but most times the maps are exact clones of Sinnoh. All the player houses are the exact same, all the towns are the same...When I made them I enjoyed trying to imagine all the many different towns people would make, which SOME people have done like Captain Arcane, but not many.
h POKE: What are some of your greatest inspirations for your sprites? Kyledove: Most of my inspiration comes from real life and from outdoors. For my pokemon, I try to take cliches or traditions. For example, I have a fat raccoon pokemon - based on a buddha - with a wooden tummy - rub a buddha's tummy for luck - knock on wood for luck. For my tiles, some of my inspiration comes from the Harvest Moon game series I grew up with, you'll see a lot of farmy themes and haystacks in my game.
The rest just comes from my imagination, I try to create things no one has done before, being original comes first to me. Things like a beach map with rockpools and wooden walkways over them, Ruined castle walls with cannons, Underground forests with giant roots and bugs, sky routes, underwater coral reefs, I try to take inspiration from all around the world.
h POKE: In hindsight, do you regret anything you said during your conflict with Waudby? Kyledove: Of course I do, there's never only one person to blame in an argument. To be honest though, when something means a lot to you and you are hurt, its hard to control yourself. Especially when my ethos is to be as original as possible, I don't appreciate having that taken away from me. I don't think I need to say anything else about it, the less said about it the better we're all trying to move on - but I am sorry it happened.
h POKE: What made you want to create Pokemon MMORPG? Kyledove: Honestly, I never planned to make a pokemon mmorpg. If there was ever a pokemon mmorpg it would have to be amazing, and I didn't think I was good enough. It was actually someone else who came to me and asked me if I wanted to work together on a pokemon mmorpg. I was a bit hesitant, but I thought I'd go along with it for fun even if nothing came from it. As the game grew and grew I became more and more devoted and committed to it, til it became what is now.
I've seen so many pokemon mmorpg's done badly before, I just thought I'd give it a try myself to see if I couldn't do it better.
Most definately though, I wanted to create it to play with my friends - which we already do. There's nothing more fun than hanging out with your mates and your pokemon. It's also meant to be a tribute to every pokemon fan, a kind of thanks to ourselves. This is why the world is made up of "fakemon" made by many different people, its meant to connect everyone around the world together. More than anything, it's meant to be a community game, without the people, it would only be boring.
h POKE: What are some of the features you hope to include in the future in your game? Kyledove: Ah where to start. There's so many features I want to add. Obviously I want to add what everyone wants. There wont be job classes in the beginning, but there will be something similar. Seeing how you can customise your character and dress up as you want, you can look like a ranger or a breeder or anything you want.
Another popular idea is owning homes. We're already planning how this would work, and I'm pretty excited myself. If it works out as planned, you will be able to buy an apartment, move into bigger ones, and buy upgrades. Inside your apartment you could have a healing machine, let your pokemon out, store items, and many more things.
To continue the connected theme, any player you add to your friend list you will be able to visit their apartment (if they have one.) There's also been talk down the line to upgrade to a whole ranch where you could play with your pokemon and much more.
Lastly, I hope in the future to add a catterpillar system, where you could let your pokemon out to follow you whilst you travel the world.
h POKE: What do you think was your most memorable experience when spriting and making games? Kyledove: Mhmm...that's a good question. I have to say making the mmo is starting to become my most favourite project so far. It's probably due to the fact that I'm a lot more experienced now than any time before. I still remember the times I would make maps in rpgmaker though, just so that I could play with my pokemon and have them follow me. I actually got a game made where you catch pokemon and they follow you, which you can store in a fenced garden outside your home and withdraw and store as you want.
Those are probably the most memorable times in all this time. I get the most joy from actually seeing my sprites in use, which is why my project now is so great - I can just make pokemon and add them and already train and use them, or make new maps and play in them with my friends.
h POKE: How do you view the use of Essentials? Kyledove: I can sincerely say I do not know much about Essentials, so I dont think theres a lot I could say. From what I've heard it seems to draw a lot of parallels with my sinnoh tileset in that it helps out beginners but restricts serious projects. If I'm completely honest though, the argument that it stops people from finishing games is kinda silly, even before Essentials there were very few completed projects. This is called the game development section, because we enjoy making games - sure it'd be nice to see a completed game once in a while, but the fact that we're still here shows that completing your game isnt the only important thing.
h POKE: What do you think is the hardest part when making a game? Kyledove: Let's see...for me it's not really hard, just time consuming, and there are a lot of tedious parts. I'm kinda partial though since I don't see any of the programming side of game-making so I can't speak for that side. This probably sounds weird, but for me the hardest part is trying to limit yourself. You have to create realistic and achievable goals, you can't just decide you'll put everything exactly as you want in your game because you will never achieve it. Sure if it was up to me, Id have every single pokemon follow you in my game - but how would this affect the lag in the game? You have to remember every other player will have one too (Not to mention the amount of time making overworlds for each pokemon would take).
To make a game, you have to give up things you might really want - which is always hard.
h POKE: Is there anything else you'd like to include? Kyledove: Just to say thanks for all the support, and that I wish everyone best of luck with their own games. A big thanks to Captain Arcane too for being such a supportive friend too, without which my game wouldnt be so good! Other than that, I hope to see you all in my game when it comes out!
Interview with <~Flood~>
Spoiler:
Watch for this interview to be released.
Protip of the Week Dialogue Writing
Spoiler:
Now, I realize writing dialogue for a game seems like it's unimportant, an afterthought,
one might say. Still, any one who has ever written a story for a video game (or a story in
general) will tell you the importance of speaking. The trouble is, many (mostly the people
who belittle its improtance) fail to realize the fine art behind creating believable, and
well-written dialogues.
Probably the most improtant part of a good dialogue is, as I said, believability. When two
or more characters talk amongst each other, you have to figure what statements and reactions
will be said. After all, a conversation is really just a long system of causes and effects.
But don't overinterpret this: dialogue is never that simple. You also have to keep in mind
the following:
- Personality: Before delving into even writing the synopsis of a story for a game, you have
to plan it. And one of the things you have to plan is your characters. Is the main character
irritable, passive, aggressive, silent? Despite what you may think at first this will make
a huge difference when trying to gauge what a reaction (effect) of another character's
actions or statements (cause) will be. For example:
A: Hhello. I-I-I'mmm... R-Ryan Henry. I st-st-st-stutter. D-d-doo--
B: Come on, spit it out! (This is a waste of time...)
When character A started stuttering, character B got mad, probably because they're an impatient
person. However, if B had a different personality:
A: Hhello. I-I-I'mmm... R-Ryan Henry. I st-st-st-stutter. D-d-doo you l-l-like mee?
B: Sure. It's a pleasure to meet you.
Notice how B, with a slightly calmer temprament, let A finish his sentence. Keep in mind
that this was never meant to be an outstanding dialogue, but just to get the point across.
- Slang: This is somewhat optional, but I like to include it to add a level of realism.
Also, different types of slang are not always easy to figure out. You'll have to listen to
how people with a certain accent speak. Slang can be difficult to put into words even if
you have the sounds right, so let me show you a small portion of a dialogue from my story
Amaretto, Black and White:
VINCE: You know it's illegal to not have a wife and kids around these parts?
M: Oh, ha ha. And now because I'm single you think I'm up to no good?
V: You wouldn't be the first.
M: Are you trying to tell me there are people here, of all places, who don't eat white
bread and go to church on Sunday?
V: Is that unheard of where you live?
M: No.
V: Then what makes you think it's unheard of here?
M: ...
V: I thought so. You come across as someone who's a bit more than they look. Not exactly
my idea of a superstar, but you know some stuff, right?
M: And you, apparently, have the ability to read other people's minds.
V: Ehh, only interesting people.
M: Aaand...I'm your idea of interesting? I can tell you that anyone here probably has more
to tell than me.
V: Heh. You play a really lame liar. What're you hiding?
M: I just met you. Why would I bother on someone like you?
V: Do you know who I am?
M: Should I?
V: Do you KNOW who I am?
M: Umm... Roy Rogers?
V: Ughh... Vince? Vince Guaraldi? The Cal Tjader Trio? Does that ring any bells for you?
M: Cal Tjader, sure. But you, you're some lanky kid on the B-list of a semi-famous musician's
band. Good for you.
V: You know... I'll be famous one day. I may be young now, but you'll see me become famous
later on.
M: Yeah, sure. Anyways, I have a shipment to make, so I... have to go now.
V: Hey, if you don't believe me, about bad people even here I mean, go uptown.
M: I'll be... uh, sure to do that.
<Exit MATT>
Okay, there wasn't much slang in this dialogue, but still... The writing is colloquial,
which is always good. When people sound wooden (in other words, they don't use conjunctions,
or figures of speech), it's generally a bad thing. That is, unless you want to have a
character that sounds like a robot... Well, at least this example was good for getting to
my next point.
- Emotion: Is not something you should bear onto the dialogue like a Mac truck. The devil
is in the details, and there's no better place for subtelty than a well-crafted dialogue.
The M, Matt Kerry, is a sullen and sarcastic businessman, so it should come as no surprise
to you that when he meets up with a goody-two-shoes street performer, he is a bit skeptical.
One of the best ways this is exhibited is through his sarcasm (which is part of his character),
and the placement of the pauses in the text, believe it or not. Let me dissect a few lines
to show what I mean by that:
V: You know it's illegal to not have a wife and kids around these parts? (This is a ridicule
of the social conservatism of the fifties, in which the game takes place. Vince is, in fact,
just a little bit younger than Matt, so it implies that he's a bit jaded.)
M: Oh, ha ha. (He only laughed twice, and it was followed by a period. This probably means
that it wasn't an actual laugh, but something to mock th "insult" just given to him.)And
now because I'm single you think I'm up to no good? (This is something that's an even more
subtle sign of Matt's falling self-esteem from being a crappy businessman. It shows that
he's started thinking that everyone looks down on him, and that because he's alone and
depressed during Christamstime, that he must be a bad person...)
V: Do you know who I am? (This is when Vince starts to first get irritated by the sarcastic
stranger. You see, he always thought when he was young that he was a really great pianist,
and that he should be world-renowned, even though he hadn't done anything great before then.
Still, he believes that people should respect him anyways.)
M: Should I? (Matt shows he's not afraid of this little guy...)
V: Do you KNOW who I am? (Vince is obviously about to blow, but if you go back and read this
portion of the dialogue, you'd realize he keeps his cool because of all the people. All
caps means it's emphasized, and it also means he's pissed.)
M: Umm... Roy Rogers? (Matt still isn't afraid, and he even starts to get sarcastic again.
It's probably a bad move on his part, but if you read the whole story you'll see how he gets
gradually more reckless.)
There... Do you understand it a bit better now? Well, you should.
Contact Us Well, that's it for this week. I know it's a little smaller than you might have expected, but that's mainly because of standardized testing (excuse of the week). Sorry! Feel free to comment on anything you like: just don't flame me for my reviews (as I said earlier), and don't start any arguments.
Cheers,
The GD Crew
h POKE
Delta (He's done...)
Yuoaman
PyroYahtzee
Well it just started and anyways I should have mentioned that "When the Fab Four beat Giygas, you were all born" statement was actually true. They traveled back in time, where sent in robot bodys, E.T.C. IT JUST STARTED! So why cant you just calm down a little. God!
I liked your opening (unlike last weeks).
I have put a lot of work into my game I believe you should do most of the work.
I hate it when a game developer has a long list of open jobs with almost every job on it.
Game development takes a long time.
Eneko, it started three months ago. Now, I know that may be a short time, but look at your friend's game... I remember when the thread was first started, which is saying something. Still, I never meant the review to be "bad" for your game, it was just pointing out some things in your game that you could correct.
I told PyroYahtzee to do AZ's articles, but... he hasn't done anything as of yet.
Anyways, what I really wanted to say was that I'm moving the date of the fourth issue back to after the standardized tests I'll be taking over the next two weeks. Hopefully that'll allow the issue to be more complete and thorough. As usual for a schedule change, I'll put in more articles for next issue's release.
