GDW Issue 5

[Yuoaman]

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A letter from the Editor
By Yuoaman
First things first, I'd like to apologize for being a couple of weeks (and then some) late, a lot of things came up for all of this; I hope you enjoy the issue nonetheless. I'd also like to thank PyroYahtzee for giving me the topic for this iteration of "Letter from the Editor".

~~~
What is a game developer? This may seem a simple thing to define, but as the Game Development community gets larger, and older, the definition slowly evolves with it. When I first joined the community, some four years ago, the Game Development section was scarcely populated, and there were perhaps a dozen or so dedicated developers. And all of these developers were, at least to my uneducated eyes, masters of the craft.

Nearly all of the games made by developers at this time were made without the assistance of Starter Kits, yet the best of them still had that polish that, even to this day, defines a great developer. The ones that come to mind immediately to me are the early projects of Neo-Dragon: Silk, Silk 2, and Digital Network. (I recommend that all aspiring Game Developers look them over for inspiration.) If you look, you'll see that developers at that period had most, if not all, of the skills required to make a full game, this is because they spent time playing with the program before rushing in for their first project, and took the time to learn the nuances of their chosen program. Thus I believe that the definition of a game developer four years ago was a person who had extensive knowledge of the program which they used, as well as original ideas for their game.

Today the definition of a game developer seems to have become much looser. This can be explained by the shift in the way games are developed now; it is only natural that a developer that has all the systems already planned for him will focus more on custom graphics for their project, rather than do both. This isn't saying that this is a bad thing. In my opinion, games are looking more beautiful than ever before, graphics-wise, and graphics are important to the overall experience.

Sincerely Yuoaman

(Note, written a week ago non-stop, so I can't vouch for how good it is.)



Articles

What's new in Game Development?
by PyroYahtzee

Spoiler:

Hey everybody. PyroYahtzee here, bringing you another scoop about the game development section.

First off, I want to apologize to everyone who did get a chance to read my pro tip last issue about recording, and were expecting my tip about the minijack cable. I was unsuccessful, and could not get my hands on one. Sorry!

Now, moving on, a nice thread has popped up that could be of use for you. The map rating thread! I know it sounds like a very basic concept, but trust me, criticism helps so much in the mapping process, especially if you're someone who's willing to accept it. You'll be forever grateful.

Another thread you may find useful is the "Game Development Recruitment Thread". Basically, you may post to alert readers know you are looking for people to work with you. Very useful, but try not to go overboard with team members.

Game wise, some interesting stuff has gone on. Hall of Famer has demoted InMooseWeTrust from Pokémon Hall of Fame version, and for quite a few reasons it seems. Go check out the thread for more details.

Pokémon Morning Dawn has a release, and it's really smooth so far. There's been a new version with some bug fixes, so go check that out. It's definitely worth the download. Just by playing it, you can feel how much work Atomic Reactor and his team have put into it. Way to go!

Pokémon Ryen has been showing off new tiles, and I gotta say, they really are awesome. Normally, I play a fan game (or a hack for that matter), and if their custom tiles, they are okay, nothing memorable, but shinylugia's tiles are definitely something to watch out for. On top of that, he's shown off some possible new Fakémon. Hmm...

Ryushin's Pokémon Mercury has been showing off new Fakémon, and I gotta say, they look great. Go check that out. Also, Mercury is an extra special part of this issue of GDW if you know what I mean. XD

Anyways, I know this is a rather short one this time around, but hey, I'll leave the rest of the section for you to explore!
- PyroYahtzee out!

Tanzanite Preview

Spoiler:

Hints Galore?

Spoiler:

**If you want Waudby's next update to be a surprise do not read this article**


For the past several days Waudby has been mentioning an update to Odyssey very soon. He also mentioned that there were several hints around the forum on the nature of this update. Now... I haven't yet found one of these "hidden" hints, but I have found the blatantly obvious one. This hint was blatantly obvious because both Waudby and riceeman had this as a signature, which immediately points to collaboration, and that they both had similar avatars, which looked much the same as the signature.


This hint is right here:

When you look at it carefully, you will probably see it, if not, just ask someone, I'm sure they will be willing to tell you.

Now, if any of you find any of the "hidden" hints please PM them to me, and I'll edit this article with them, so everyone can be on even ground when the update is finally posted.

Reviews

Nothing here this week, but there may just be something extra special for next week's issue...

Interviews

Interview with Neo Dragon by Yuoaman

Spoiler:

Okay Neo-Dragon, thank you very much for allowing me to interview you. My first question to you is: What first got you interested in game development?

Hey Yuoman. I'm glad I could be here.
I've been a gamer since I was a kid. My parents bought me an Atari 2600 which I used to play all the time. I was so pale because all I did was bring my friends into my room and we would play Defender. As time when on I stuck with gaming. My introduction into game making was actually using RPG MAKER 2000. I found it randomly on a anime forum. Some guy was making a fan game of an anime show. I asked him what he used and he told me.
I checked out RPG Maker 2000 and I thought I was so cool using those RTP graphics ha. My first game was called "Quest for Neo-Dragon"- which only my friends ever saw. It was really bad, but it was a great thing to know I made it and people could interact with it.
I've been hooked on developing ever since. :)

Darn... I searched but couldn't find "Quest for Neo-Dragon"... Okay, next question: What is your favorite part about Game Development?

If you want to see my first game that I posted on Pokecommunity, do a search for my first game Pokemon Silk (not need to search since there is the link :P). It's crazy to look at where I started with my development- what skill level I came from (nothing hahaha). Sorry.... What was the question? :P

My favourite part about Game Development is my mind lol. Let me fill ya in on what I mean. I love seeing what I can come up with, if that means systems or maps. Also just the idea that someone will get entertainment out the game I'm developing is a cool idea.
It's why I'm going to college studying game development. I want to make this feeling last for the rest of my life.

Thanks for the answer Neo. Now, what is your favorite project, other than your own, currently displayed in the community?

Oh damn, you put me on the spot....
To be honest, I don't have a single favourite. I want every game to do well here. From reading that you might say "Oh he's a Mod now, he has to say that", but I really do want to get behind and root for every game in this section. This section of the Pokecommunity has so many talented members, it deserves a lot more attention and support from the rest of the community.
Thanks to Dawson's Thread on Originality, I think a lot of members want to show what they can do and each developer is pushing themselves. I hate dropping names, but the art guys (the developers who have amazing new tiles) really stick out. The art guys know who they are :P
*Struggles to think of the next line without dropping names*
There is also another game that is nearly complete (at the time of writing, it might be out when you read this) that I think everyone is excited about.
I try pay attention to every game in the section. I have been a member for 5 years on Pokecommunity and never went outside the game dev section. That must show I have an interest in each thread right? ha.

Ha, nice to see I could make you squirm a tiny bit. Anyways onto the next question, What prompted you to start working on Pokemon Protectors?

I can't really remember the origin story to the exact detail, but I'll recount what I can remember.
So I was working on a game called Silk: D/P Experience. I got the fatal "Map Tree Corrupt" that happens with Rm2k3 sometimes. So I was like "Oh Crap." I was like "Right, I'll go back and work on Silk2." I loaded up the game and started to mod what I had done. The modding became a pain because the code was in a different format to the way I do things now. Now I code in a more streamlined way. So I started to revamp the coding. The code did the same thing, I just made it easier for me to edit and stuff.
Well anyways, if you know anything about Silk2 and it's features, you'll notice that Protectors keeps the same concepts. I guess Protectors grew from that.
So the idea of keeping Silk2, maybe doing a 3 was starting to take shape. I was working on it around November 07. The story just evolved and the game involved into what was to become Protectors.

Nice. Now, What are more important to you: Graphics or Gameplay?

Without a doubt it's gameplay. Gameplay is what defines a game. Look at popular games. Gears of War is known for it's cover system, Halo used the recharging shield, Halo 2 was about dual wielding. It is the gameplay elements and mechanics that allow the player to discover a new world, graphics just make it a bit easier on the eyes.
In the fan games we are seeing now, judging by all the flame wars (well, come on, that's what they are) that are going on lately over tiles, it's sad to see most people disagree with me.

I believe that most of the senior members of the community agree with you. Okay, What do you think of the use of Pokemon Essentials?

First off, I want to say that Pokemon Essentials is amazing. It is coded so well that the games made from it look like hacks of the official games. A lot of hard work has been put into it by various members of the community and they should take pride in their work.
Now, I read this question as what's my opinion of how people use it.
I think it's crazy the lack of effort some people put in by some developers.
I'm not saying "you can't code, your lame"- I'm saying think about why you are making a game and what talent you do you. I think I said it above, but the guys who focus on art (tiles/fakemon and so on) admit in their threads they can't code, but will have a game that is practically stunning to look at. Guys who enjoy code work (myself for example) focus more on bringing new systems to the Pokemon games. There are developers on this forum who excel in the field they try in (lol, I'm trying not to drop names to people don't get big headed when I say who I like :P).
I've seen members on this forum admit that they don't have the best graphics or features and still love making maps with the FR/LG tiles, but bash other people who want to have nice graphics (for using kyledove's work).
There is no need to even make comments like this. The people making these comments are talented. No need to drag yourself down to insulting people.
Listen guys. We are all talented. That's right, YOU, reading this. YOU HAVE A TALENT. It's great to see people so passionate by the topics in our section, but we need to be more encourging to each other if we want to grow into a bigger community. Heck, I need to listen to my own words, but at least I know that I an be an a-hole to members, and for that, I'm sorry for not trying to push you to do well..
Oh wait, this question was about the Starter Kit right?
:P:P:P

Yes that was what the question was about lol

Now: Where did you get the ideas for several of the innovative features in Protectors?

Most of the ideas come from my own head. I'm currently studying Game Development in college and I really want to do this for a living.
The ideas are so powerful I think for me compared to a standard game that I've actually brought Protectors to 2 interviews.
The first time, it was the old build and it got me through the interview.
The second time was only last week when I am going to another college for the next 2 years to get a Higher National Diploma in Game development.

But here is a bit of a background and some filler on the ideas.
Game freak have stated in several interviews that the core mechanic to Pokémon is trading.
RM2k3 can't pull it off as seamlessly as they can. Sure I could have it where users upload data onto a personal storage space or something (which I was trying awhile back), but then it takes the player out of the game.
So with Protectors my first idea was to make a fresh single player experience. You'll hear me say my goal is simplicity and ease, it has been from the start. So with that in mind, I wanted to make systems that were easy to get to grips with, while still being deep, and something new.
The first idea that came into my head was the Classes and Jobs system. I wanted to take all the ideas I have in my head and roll them up and produce them in one game. So any ideas I have for a standard pokemon game will go with the Trainer Class, any ideas and takes I have on the ranger series will be part of the Ranger class.
Then, I had to come up with something that would like the experience, aside from the story. The Star Ranking feature was born. Most aspects (the example from the Trainer Class would be Pokémon, Boosters, Items, and the Trainer themselves) will be judged on how well they preform and ranked out of 4 stars.
The Conscious Choice feature was something I was doing back in the Silk2 days. I released a demo and depending what the player did, the demo would end with three different endings.
So I wanted to expand on that in every aspect of the story and Class system with Protectors. So that made the cut.
The gameplay of Protectors is very hush hush. If I still had my way, Protectors wouldn't be showcased yet. If you remember, I was VERY far along with the first build, then when I started the revamp (which added most of the current features/ideas like one huge State inside a Region and all that), so I'm back to square 1, or 1.5 now lol.
The Trainer Class Battle System has been featured in pretty much all of my updates since the revamp, this is because the battle system is the core of the Trainer Class linking all the features. So once I finish the battle system.... I'm finished the battle system full stop.

Nice long answer... just how I like them. Now, what kind of gamer do you think will enjoy Protectors the most?

Ohhh. Nice question. I think Protectors is one of those games MOST gamers will enjoy. If you ever looked at the thread's online list, a lot of people do be viewing it, just most don't leave comments... The jealous bastar-...... Only kidding.
First off all, this is a fan game, so I expect most users to not spend to much time on it. I reckon around 40% of its future user base will play for around the 20-30 minute mark then be done with it until I release the Downloadable Content (DLC). I see another 45-50% playing the game for a bit longer. Maybe invest a bit of time and try break the Stat Altering feature or something like that lol. Then I see a small amount of gamers (around 10-15%) playing the game to its full- making different choices and all that buzz.
Like I said, the goal is to have a nice surface but then a huge scary deep part that people could waste a lot of time in lol. What I mean by that is, you can pick your class then just run around the State (or states :P). The main state, Caladan, will be the same size as an official region from Game Freak. So it will be big. There will be a smaller State but I haven't talked about that yet.... And of course, these states are part of a bigger Region (which will hopefully have the same walking space as at least Kanto and Johto of the official games combined).
My advice is, whatever gamer you are, keep your save files. You will get the most out of the DLC with that.

Well, since you just mentioned it... Why did you decide to include Downloadable Content with Protectors?

AHHH.... I have a secret.... I can't say. Only the 2 staff members (Atomic Reactor and Martyr) of Calis Projects know.
I'll try keep this next spoiler free because I aint ready to declare anything on this issue just yet in terms of what's coming lol.

I want to include Downloadable Content for many reasons. Of course the clue is in the name, there will be new content, but the idea that I can, let's say, release Protectors, read all the feedback I get, edit the bad things or fix bugs, add in features people request, add in something- all while people are playing the game something is a really neat idea to me.
Having a game that has DLC for fan games, I think, means quicker development times.. in other words quicker demos and release candidates.

Also, since the user has to go onto a site and download the packs then copy them into the game folder, it means nothing in forced on them. They don't HAVE to have any DLC if they don't want to. There is enough game so to speak there for them.

Another thing that is cool is, it gives me something to do personally. Like what happens after Protectors? Will I move onto Protectors 2? Well at least with adding DLC after the game is done, I can still keep up this hobbie and make content for the game. So that way, if a Protectors 2 does happen, it won't be made just because I'm bored and want to develop in my free time, it will be made because I feel I want to do Protectors 2. Make sense?

Aww... Come on, you can't mention that you have a secret without any hints... *sigh* Okay, what part of Protectors are you working on at this time?

Aside from the battle system, I've been working on making scratch tiles. Everyone complains about tiles these days, so I want to avoid any of that by just using my own (I might use the object from different tile makers). I've mainly done the basics like grass and auto tiles.

I'll be remapping. The maps I had of the Districts (parts of the State) where just too big. I wanted to have this epic size (again, I told you how big I want the states to be), but what I had was just like a maze for even me- and I mapped it. So the maps will hopefully have their own look to them and will be easy to navigate haha.
To be honest, I haven't been working much "at this time" on Protectors. With college interviews, my 3D Max assignment due in this coming thursday (which will be today or yesterday when you are reading this), and with last week being a crazy week over here in Ireland (for St. Patricks day) I've been busy.

I can't wait to see those new tiles, Neo! What kind of games, other than Pokemon, do you enjoy playing?

I love RPGs in general. I'm a huge fan of the Final fantasy series. My favourite is 10. Yup.... not 7! Tidus is a free spirit (like me:P - it's also another name I used online- little fact there). He is dropped into this different timeline and you explore the world with him- rather then be a kid who grew up there.
I'm a massive FPS fan. I love the Halo series and the Call of Duty series. I guess I would add GTA to this list. I like playing an open world games. I like to explore these worlds.
I have both the Xbox 360 and PS3 under my TV although the PS3 is just a dust machine. I do play Warhawk on it when a few friends are over, but we mostly stick to the 360 games.
I'm also into PC modding, and have a sweet gamer rig set up (my PC has a giant fan on it's side- which glows blue :) ), so of course most PC games would have to make the list.

The games I'm playing right now are(besides Platinum): GTA Chinatown Wars for the DS, Resident Evil 5 (you have to play it with a friend!), and Mass Effect. I've completed Mass Effect before, I just want to explore this time around and try max out my characters stats. I just finished Resident Evil 5 on normal and am in the middle of playing through it on veteran. GTA Chinatown wars is my game when I'm on the move.

Funny, you have the same taste in games as me lol Okay, I should probably end this interview before it becomes too long to read, so this is my final question. Do you have any idea of when Pokemon Protectors will be ready for the public to play?[/QUOTE]
That's part of the secret I wouldn't tell you earlier in the interview. Haha.
As soon as I finish the code on the Trainer Battle system I'll be working on refining the gameplay experience in general.
I'll be announcing my plan in the not too distant future so keep checking my developer blog on Calis Projects and keep checking my thread here.
Thanks for the interview, it was enjoyable. :)

Pick of the Week

Pokemon Mercury by ryushin5

Spoiler:

Welcome to the new category, which I hope will become a regular here at GDW. Games posted here are ones that those at GDW believe have displayed quality deserving of recognition, so I hope you enjoy the first Pick: Pokemon Mercury!

(Note: Mercury was picked over three weeks ago, so there are plenty of other games worth checking out.)

Introduction: Pokemon Mercury is a fan game posted in November of 2008, and the Chief Developer is ryushin5. It is being made using RMXP and Poccil's Starter Kit, and you can find it in the Plot and Story section.

Why?: We chose Mercury as our first Pick of the week because it is one of the very few games that look like some effort has been put into it, located in the Plots section. Another is that by looking at the Features list you can tell that ryushin is trying to make something definitely within his reach, he's chosen features which will make his game interesting and different, but definitely doable. A final thing to take notice of is the excellent concept art for the trainers, something that I wish more games had.

Screens:

Link: HERE
Thank you for reading the first GDW's Pick, as you can see it won't be very comprehensive, but just tell you a little about the games that we find exemplary.

Protip of the Week

Avoiding Character Cliches
by Guardian @ www.picceta.com

Spoiler:

This is probably the number one problem of most, if not ALL, RPGs. The following are always in RPGs these days, it seems like:

- Main sword wielding protagonist with a heart of gold and chilvalrous intentions ready to save the world.
- Somewhat spoiled and naive princess and healer who is knowledgeable of the world in books but has no firsthand experience due to being cooped up in the castle her whole life.
- Big and burly and arrogant/small and shrimpy and arrogant guy who has the capacity to become the strongest character in terms of HP and Attack Power.
- Older male who is very perverted and is constantly hitting on the female party members.
- Tomboyish female mage who always starts to soften up toward the end of the game/Quiet male mage who values his intelligence over all else, but begins to soften up towards his friends towards the end of the game.
- Scantily clad female warrior who always has a tough yet flirtatious attitude with the male lead protagonist and older male pervert and wears enough armor to cover a fourth of the person.
- Very powerful character you have in your party/play as for all of one fight, then eventually must fight against.
- Very powerful boss fight against a character who has high hp and awesome skills, then joins the party and has a fraction of the HP and very few, if any, of the skills he had in the boss fight.

The following scenes are always in these games as well:

- The part where the naive princess asks the main swordsman, after he enters the castle, to help her leave the castle.
- The main villain will always be revealed somewhat early, but wont be recognized as the main villain until later.
- The main villain is never the final boss. The final boss is always revealed soon after the main villains death.
- The main protagonist and the princess are always together in the final cutscene. Whether it be as lovers or friends.
- One of the main characters always turns on you, OR, one of the greater villains becomes one of the party members with reduced stats.

These are all very easy to avoid if you know what you're doing. The main character, well, there's either one or two cliches. Either the chivalrous Knight, or the uncaring Emo. To avoid these, base him off of a normal human. Make him react as a person would react. Would a normal person stand strong against a world ending monster, or what they doubt themself and get scared? Any normal person would get scared crapless.

The princess is easy to avoid because it's actually somewhat difficult to write naivety for most writers because it involves actually dumbing oneself down to a point sometimes, and making the world seem new when we already know such a good deal about it.

The perverted old man is an easy fix as well. Instead of a pervert, make him a sage like character.

The burly person cliche can for the most part be forgiven, as this is, all things considered, a very human character in terms of personality, as well as tomboyish female and quiet genius male mage. But there are still flaws in their design.

The male always is some kind of smobby genius. Because someone is smart does not mean they must always be snobby. The point of being intelligent is to share your intelligence with others. A mage willing to share his vast intelligence, and even teach some of the other characters some lesser magic, is much preferred to me.

The female in the small amount of armor…GIVE HER MORE ARMOR! If they are a swordswoman or a Lancer, flirting should not be their best asset. They should be tough and covered in armor.

The very powerful character that gets included in the party, and the character that joins after you fight them with reduced stats, very easy fix.

DON'T USE THEM!!!!!

There are more, for advanced tips. But I will save those for a later lesson.

Contact Us
Thank you for reading our little publication. You may have noticed that we again suffered from a lack of content, but school is really getting in the way. But I hope you'll continue reading despite that. Also, if any of you would like to write for GDW, whether it be a single article, or writing weekly, we would of course welcome you wholeheartedly.

Cheers,
The GD Crew
h POKE (on hiatus)
Yuoaman
PyroYahtzee
riceeman (No content this issue)

 

[Neo-Dragon]

Good to see this is posted... AT LAST (jokes)
I was looking forward to this issue and I enjoyed reading it.
I enjoyed the interview and I hope it helps people get a better picture in their head of me and my ideas.
The protip of the week is something that is a nice read and pretty handy I think.
It's a shame to see content missing from 2 of you guys but I hope that both are still helping the other two. I would love to see some content of theirs in the future.

 

[Yuoaman]

Sorry for the double post, but I'd like to say that I've posted an amendment to the issue. I forgot to include the Tanzanite Preview initially. I also must apologize for Tanzanite's developers for not posting it when promised.

EDIT: Darn you Neo! You stole my double-post!
And thanks for the compliment.

EDIT TWO: Just wanted to say I edited in the Logo of GDW, made by the talented riceeman.

 

[Involuntary Twitch]

Good to see this is still running. :3

The "Avoiding character cliches" section bugs me, though: you strongly advocate that these characters are bad and you should avoid them at all costs, but really now? Tropes are not bad (and that site is awesome); they provide some degree of predictability, and a comfortable norm from where you may deviate, twist, or invert the general ideas as much as you want. This section also bugs me because you make no effort to connect it to Pokemon fangames, which would probably be a lot more helpful-- there aren't many "staff chicks" (that's the Princess to you) in Pokemon games, unless you count the Pokemon themselves. So... well, I dunno, I just think that section could be better thought out than "AVOID CLICHES ALWAYS GRAHHHH" as you have now.

 

[Pika'chu500]

Sorry for the double post, but I'd like to say that I've posted an amendment to the issue. I forgot to include the Tanzanite Preview initially. I also must apologize for Tanzanite's developers for not posting it when promised.

EDIT: Darn you Neo! You stole my double-post!
And thanks for the compliment.

EDIT TWO: Just wanted to say I edited in the Logo of GDW, made by the talented riceeman.

It's ok, you can post the full Info Page just for people that haven't seen it in the Tanzanite thread.

 

[Yuoaman]

Zephyr I didn't write the article, and it's just to help new people try more original ideas, and to expand beyond the norm.

 

[Neo-Dragon]

I forgot to comment on a bit of news I read, the map rating thread.
I have gotten about 3/4 PMs since it was created asking me to sticky it. I talked it over with Avatar and really the sticky Screenshot Showcase would of served the same purpose. All you would have to do is "Rate my map <insert image> " in that thread lol.

 

[~JV~]

The article is looking great, but my post here is a reply to what Neo just said. The screenshot showcase thread is abandoned, no one ever post there (few exceptions rarelly), I suggest deleting that thread since most people like to show their game screenshots on their own thread. After doing it, you could just stickify the map rating thread, seeing that it is much more useful.

 

[Yuoaman]

Not really, when you think about it, the Screenshot thread encompasses all screens, not just maps, so I think the Map Rating thread is the same as the Screenshot thread, just more focused.

 

[Yuoaman]

Sorry for the double post everyone, just wanted to let everyone know that an amendment has been made to the issue.

A new article can be found in the "Articles" section of the issue.

 

[Neo-Dragon]

Is it the "Hints" section.
I know what it is, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the community acts (or is it reacts :P).

Waudby actually said what it was is another thread and I think I only copped what it was. I then told him in his thread and I think he edited the post (although I haven't checked).
Your guess of him and Riceeman collaborating is true (as Riceeman has made clear in the Odyssey thread).
I said it to them on msn but I think that is a good pair and it would be nice to see more developers and artists team up.
If both of them can form a good gameplay experience from their idea, they will have a lot of support.

 

[4th Gen Matt]

Brilliant article! Great job! I especially liked the interview with Neo-Dragon. I never knew he was the one to make Silk and Silk 2.