since its been some months since the last time i updated id thought id share a few bits of thoughts i have regarding my progress.

ive been busy lately, and ive discovered the fascinating world of d&d. needless to say i havent been pouring my time into my gaming progress though ive still come far even with the time i have used. im now at 500 hours and ive finished most of the polish for the first card and im very close to finishing the second. ive decided to focus exclusively on those two cards and process them for release before moving forward.

most of my finishing problems stem from a personal failing of mine - i just cant finish a piece of writing, i have to keep editing it to make it better. ive changed everything so much that ive ended up rebuilding bits and pieces or adding new dialogue or in some cases entirely revamping something ive done. as such, im not 100% satisfied with the impact of the first card. i know if i want people to keep playing my game then i have to grab them upfront. i know ill end up spending more time on the story side just to grab people.

ive also decided that i know people hate battles so i had best include something to give people the option to shut them right off. rather then blow tons of memory coding in something which would make everything feel too unrealistic, ive decided to just include a master save with each card so people can just pick up the game at the start of each card and not need to worry about wasting their time. this idea would work better since there could be long gaps between card releases. i never had many battles in the game anyway, mostly focusing on puzzles and fun dungeons. im tempted to just remove all the battles but that would detract from the game.

i really need to focus on getting a good mini game for the second card. i have one or two decent ones on it already but i have space for one more. ive axed the dating sim, the castlevania one, and now on the verge of axing the car racing. ive got to come up with something that looks good and isnt just a lame duck game. ill give it more thought before i release the card. making something look and behave in real time is very hard.

for a while i havent had much of a direction for the rest of my game but ive worked out the 3rd card and a bit of where the plot is going beyond that. i need to sit down and iron out a path to speed up the design process and prevent me from taking so many detours.

i want to get this damn game out to you people so i can attract more interest and give me a bit of a boost. i like the story im making but i have to remain focused so i dont over fill it with complex crap. have to focus on the theme and the character development.

il get there.

Hey duder,

I've been busy, lately, too... Goofing off playing Star Wars Battlefront 2 because I've been procrastinating on working on my game because I don't like writing story events. Also spending a lot of time at the girlfriend's place, but that doesn't have anything to do with procrastinating.

About the finishing problems... I used to have that problem, too. I'd get a novel written and then every time I read it I'd make changes to the narrative. I could phrase that better, or say this in a different, better way. If I was still a perfectionist to that extent, I could probably spend the rest of my life getting nothing done. I've changed over the years and learned to accept my imperfections and those of things that I create. The best advice I can give: Let it go. Let it be what it is and be happy with it.

The way I did the story for my game was--you know, it feels like I've said this a gazillion times both here and at the Pav--and I don't know if it would work for you, so I'm jes' makin' conversation here. I role played the characters in real time as I wrote each story event. When I'd go to write a new story scene, I didn't know how it would turn out (aside from the obvious; a boss encounter usually leads to a fight). Aside from the obvious things that need to happen in the story, I really had no idea how the conversation would progress. I let each character be himself, and they played out the conversation pretty much on their own. Then I let it be what it is, for better or worse. I did some editing later, but only on cosmetic things, like using a better turn of phrase or wording a narrative part more efficiently. I think I did one edit, maybe two in a few cases, then I let it be. It is what it is, and I'm happy with it.

But in your case, there's gonna come a time when you gotta let it stand.

I've often wondered what Ice's (Gitaroo's) games are like, with next to nothing by way of battles. To someone like me who puts more stock in gameplay than story, it sounds ... I dunno... like just walking from one story event to another. Is that what it's like? My current projects are centered around the gameplay of fighting bad guys, collecting loot, purchasing better equipment, and ... looking for more bad guys. Even secrets, extras, and stuff on the side, are based around the fact that the player could benefit from gaining accessories or what not that improve the party's battle readiness in some way. I have difficulty envisioning an RPG with so few battles.

The reason why I bring this up is because I've been working on a large saga for about 10 years now, fleshing out the world and characters and stuff, and it's become more of a story than a game. It started as an idea for a game, but it's become a story. And if I eventually do try to make it into a game... I dunno... it would be kinda like walking from one story event to another, with little by way of gameplay to interact with.

My big problem with designing my current projects is getting overhwelmed by the scope of it. I have to take it one baby step at a time, do one small thing, and not focus on how big in scope it is. Hopefully, all those baby steps will add up and I'll be able to finish it.

sitting down and just accepting what i have is something i must learn to do.

ive been working on my game so long that i really should just write what i intended and move forward. the changes i make just tighten the story and make the game a bit better, but there has to be an end to it.

i like roleplaying on the fly myself. ive done this in nearly all the cases where i run into a scene. i get an idea in my head and i play it out. i write the dialogue first, then i divide it up and add movement, then i add sound effects and special effects. dray has this type of thing nailed, mine still need a bit more work as some of my sequences look lame.

as for the battles, i am facing the same dilemma as you described. removing them outright would force the game into one giant story fest which wouldnt be fun, not to mention stripping it of the rpg element altogether. i have battles but they are minimal and balanced, and including saves of higher leveled chars would let the play slide through those battles rather then be frustrated with the game.

i guess i need to stop adding features to my game. gota accept what i have and what ive originally planed and move onward.

Ah, I see. So there are a decent number of battles. Just not too much. Perhaps just enough to give us the impression that, yes, we are fighting bad guys or monsters, but not an insane number of battles as seen in most RPGs.

Improving on your designs isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've spent hours tinkering with my field maps and dungeon layouts, trying out new ideas, fixing problems (especially on RPGM3 field maps, trying to get all of the terrain looking as natural as possible and removing imperfections that catch my eye when I'm playtesting it). But I do reach a point where I'm satisfied with the designs, including their imperfections. There are quite a few imperfections that I can live with as long as the rest of it looks good.

In designing dungeon layouts, I've found that imperfections can actually enhance the whole feel of it. A particular arrangement of floor tiles and walls that looks kind of funky in the 2D overhead view can translate very well into full 3D. It's kind of hard to explain without a visual aid. But after making the changes, I decided that I liked the imperfect version in the 2D view as well. If I had tried to be absolutely perfect with my layouts, they wouldn't be as interesting as they are. It also helps the fantasy world to look more realistic and lived in. It's not a spaceship with sterile corridors and perfectly square-shaped rooms. It's a cave or ancient ruins or a castle or whatever it happens to be. Rooms shouldn't always be perfectly symmetrical. Now when I'm designing a new dungeon from scratch, I purposely create imperfections that add character to the layout.

And yes, I think that a story-fest wouldn't be very interesting to play. It's a game. There needs to be some sort of rudimentary gameplay, at the least. Something to make it interactive. If I ever decide to make that saga of mine into a game, I'm gonna need to include some gameplay with it.