Due to the amount of time Series 2 and Series 3 both need in order to become decent playable games, I am making something else for the Pavilion contest. I was gonna hold off on discussing this game until its release, but due to the RPG Maker Mag preview that Series 3 has in the print issue where I mention this new idea, I might as well spill the beans.

Basically, it's a way to get some of my poetry and short stories out there for people to read. The game is a series of minigames that you can play that allow you to unlock new poems and stories to read. Right now, I have 24 or so poems/pieces of story typed into storytellers and ready to be placed in the game world. The minigames I have so far are a card-battling game, a rock-paper-scissors game, a dating minigame, a game where it plays sound effects and you have to guess which ones they are and in which order, and a game where you have to match two cards to win. There is also a dungeon maze, and one puzzle (so far).
I plan on having a few more puzzles, maybe another dungeon maze, and at least two or three more minigames, along with two more stories and about 4-6 more poems. So far it's flowing fairly smoothly, and should be done in time for the contest. The majority of the work is transcribing my writings from journals into storytellers in the game, although some of the minigames took 3-5 hours to create. I'm once again using a variation of my patented "pseudo-random number generator" to keep the minigames interesting. One minigame I still plan to make is going to be a choose your own adventure/text adventure style game, and I might make a simpler version of the fishing minigame that I used in Series 3. Each minigame either unlocks something directly, or gives you gold which you can spend on unlocking something. Any feedback on this idea would be appreciated; I know not a lot of people here are interested in poetry/writing, but if you have RPGM3 and have some interest in a game like this, please let me know!

I'm thinking that I'll be lucky to get 30 downloads in six months for this game, but I'm reasonably expecting 10-15 or so. In any case, I'm enjoying making it, and if at least one person gets something out of my writing, then it was all worth it. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks to everyone who keeps up with my creative endeavors (looks squarely at Pagerron) here at the boards for your continued support.

I really hope people are not losing interest in my ideas, seeing as how I have three threads in this forum for three different games that are as of yet unfinished. As I said in my short attention span theatre thread, I come up with a new idea, and immediately want to start working on that at the expense of my current game. In this case, though, it's a valid reason to start a new game, as I want something short and simple for the Pav contest, and Series 2 and Series 3 would not have fit that bill. I guess I'm just second-guessing myself, so please ignore my paranoid ramblings.

On a different note, I finished three more puzzles, a fishing minigame (simplified from the one currently in Series 3), and a dating minigame. My buddy Eric playtested my game for 2 and a half hours last night, and played all of the minigames. The dating minigame had a little hitch, but that problem was easily rectified ( I copied a certain mode, changed the text and some of the details, but forgot to change the actual variable it was using-two choices that needed two different variables instead were both using Shared variable 6...so I changed one of them to Shared variable 7). And I was correct in my original assumption; that the rock-paper-scissors minigame is the most "random" of all the minigames I've ever made in any RPGM 3 game. Any sort of pattern, although somehow there is one, is very hard to discern. He played it for about 20 minutes and was nowhere close to "solving" it. For some odd reason, though, when I played it the night before, I "solved" it in about 7 or 8 minutes. So I'm going to have to give you something really good (in the way of unlocking something) for solving it.

I also got another brainstorm for this game the other night. Keep in mind, laying the basic groundwork for the game (typing in and placing the poems/short stories, making the puzzles and minigames, etc) is the most important thing to have completed by Nov 1. But I was thinking of taking a slight page from Series 2, and having each poem/story you read give you stat increases, and after reading a certain amount of them, you will be able to engage in combat with some monsters. In this case, it would depend on which writings you choose to read how your stats will increase, and thus, how well you fight in a particular battle. I'm thinking of having 5 or 6 of these battles, with a boss fight once you beat all the smaller battles. The boss, if you beat him (it), will unlock something major in the game. Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly what to unlock by beating the boss. So this is an idea I've been throwing around. Once again, keep in mind that other things in the game are going to be more important than this, and I might not incorporate it at all. But let you know what you think.

Also, I have two short stories that are incomplete, meaning I've not finished writing them yet...I began writing these stories at least ten years ago, and really have some sort of writer's block, meaning these stories will probably never be finished. One is fairly self-contained, and ends fairly smoothly at the end of a "chapter." The other sort of just ends in the middle of a conversation. I thoroughly enjoy both stories, and am proud of the way they are turning out. I guess the question is, as I have not started typing these into the game yet, and plan to in the near future, would it annoy you too much to begin reading something, possibly get really into it, and then have no way of knowing how the story ends? Or would it be okay to include these stories (they are each 7-10 double spaced type-written pages) as a sample of my style of writing?







Please be truthful, but PLEASE pick the latter choice, as I really want to include these stories.....Thank you for your continued support in my creative endeavours. Signing off.....

Sometimes I get a lot of ideas in my head that I want to work on all at once, as well.

If you can't concentrate on one game, just alternate on and off with two.

As far as downloads, that's a good number to bet on.

Good luck on your stuff!

10-4-06

I've been working on the game fairly heavily for the past few days...one room of poems/stories is completely laid out. Now I just need to do the same for another room, and then all the writings will have been placed. The other day, I made a minigame that I think is going to **** people off a bit. It's a reading comprehension/memory game. I was thinking of having a game where I give you a series of numbers, then a pause, then you have to guess the correct order of the numbers, but I figured that would be too easy. So instead, I wrote 4 passages about four people in each doing different things.
For an example, one of them was something like, Ned, Ted, Fred, and Ed wanted to spend their day off at the zoo. Fred took his car, Ed took his bike, Ted took the train, and Ned took a bus. Ed saw the penguins, Ned saw the sugar gliders, Fred saw the sloth bears, and Ted saw the crocodiles. Before they left, Ted bought a hat for a souvenier, Ed bought a stuffed animal, Fred bought a T shirt, and Ned bought a pen.
You can take as much time as you want to read the passage, but then when you go to the next screen, it says something like Who saw the sloth bears?, and you have to answer the question from memory.

I also finished another puzzle dungeon, and a small text adventure-based minigame that is in and of itself another puzzle. So I'm progressing fairly smoothly. I just have to type in one more short story (it's in three parts), finish one more minigame (although I have no idea what I'm going to do for this last one....I sat staring at the screen of the TV for about half an hour just thinking of what to make), and place the last of the writings as mentioned above. For those of you keeping up with this project, I'm going to give you a sneak preview of one of the poems. Here it is...

Embarking on this quest for identity,
To find myself by the end,
But this will never happen,
Because to you I send
All my love, my entire life.
Obstruction of meaning
Gets in the way
While I'm constantly weaning
Myself on these feelings,
Intense emotions toward you.
But to rid myself of you would be folly,
And would surely darken my view.
But to hold you near would be even worse.
To hold you by my side,
Would result in a loss of purity
And would taint my foolish pride.
So does an answer exist
Among this dirt and ash?
Or will it end as it always does
Slicing a deep gash
Into my mind
My body and soul?
Within this lifetime it is not feasible
To heal this blackened hole.

So there you have it. If I keep up at the pace I've been on this game, it should be out at the end of next week, or possibly the middle of the week after. In any case, it will be out in time for the contest. And I think I'm dropping the combat idea. I want to have my game remain pure, with only reading and playing minigames and solving puzzles. Plus that would involve a lot more playtesting that I don't think I have the time for. Anyway, thanks for your continued support.

10-5-06

Okay, I'm thinking this will work, but I'm not 100% sure yet. For the final minigame that was perplexing me in my last post, I've decided to make an entire town inside an event, with Pavilion and Mag members hanging out saying things and giving quests. For anyone who read the thread about my newest idea for a game, about the thieves' and assassins' guild, I'm trying to incorporate a bit of that in this minigame by your being a thief. I still am not sure this is entirely going to work out, what with having only 20 modes and 50 lines per to work with, but I made the first two modes, and they both fit, so we'll see. Probably not going to work on the game tonight, as I've spent way too much time here already (from about 3:30 until...well, it's now 7 pm) and I work early in the morning. On a personal side note, I got the official word from work today, after working for 2 years at my job as part time with no health insurance, they finally promoted me to full time. And I might be moving at the end of the month, or possibly at the end of next month. I HATE moving, but I'll be going from $575 plus about $50 in utilities, to about $350 including utilities, and I'll finally have TV! Not that I'll be watching it much...I'll be too busy making my games. Anyway, that's the update for now.

10-07-06

Well, the minigame is complete. It involves stealing precious items from different houses and getting paid by various Pavvies and Magonians for turning the stolen merchandise in. The town within the event is a 3x3 square, and also includes a shop at which to buy lockpicks, and a guy who will train you in stealth ability. I'm actually surprised myself that I managed to pull off something this complex within the confines of a 20 mode/50 lines per event, but I did it. Keep in mind, and it should be obvious, that this is entirely text based...taking an overview, I think I have a decent variety of minigames and puzzles to keep people interested. That's all for now.

10-09-06

My buddy playtested most of the minigames for me, and it took him 2 and a half hours to complete, and that was without even "solving" all of them. The writings, well, I couldn't tell you how long it'll take to read those, as everyone reads at a different speed. I can tell you that there are 49 pieces of writing; 2 of the stories are 5 parts each, and the other story is three parts. So 49-13=36...so apparently there are 36 poems and other various writings in the game. The two and a half hours I spoke of earlier does not include the three newest minigames, including the 2 text-based ones. My best guess is that it'll be somewhere in the range of 4-6 hours, depending on how quickly you read, and depending on how quickly you solve each minigame. I am NOT going to make an "ending" that'll take you back to the title screen. I want to leave the game open-ended enough to where if you unlock everything, and want to come back 6 months later and re-read one of the poems or stories, you will be able to do just that.

I also included 6 "hidden" writings, which I'm considering easter eggs. So in order to unlock everything in the game, you will have to discover the location of these easter eggs on your own. Thanks for the support, everyone, and I plan to go home in an hour and a half or so to begin placing the last of the writings. This might be out by the end of the week, or early next week, so stay tuned.

10-13-06

Early next week, most likely. At the "end" of the game, I had a congratulations screen, but could not think of anything else to put there, as I thought I had exhausted my supply of writings. I was searching through a box, and came across something I forgot I had written. So now after unlocking everything in the game, there is one more bonus story to read, in two parts. Also, as a bonus, I am including this fill-in-the-blanks worksheet that I did a few years ago. It would say stuff like, I enjoy...., or Fathers should...., and then you need to fill in the blanks. Well, due to the mood I was in, I answered all the questions in the most absolutely filthy way as possible. This will NOT be a requirement to completing the game, but anyone who wants to read humorous fill in the blanks about sex, bestiality, incest, etc. can read this. I hid it, so you will still have to search for it. It's not out in the open for everyone to read. You have to fulfill certain conditions before it appears. I know it kind of goes against the grain of the rest of the writings, but I wanted to throw in something that wasn't so serious and that might make people laugh. I also wanted to live up to my namesake.
I still have 12 stories to place, and might make a small fetch quest to unlock something already placed in the game to stretch it out a bit longer. I'm gonna work on this again when I get home (I've been working on this all morning), and see if I can get it completed by Sunday when I go to my friend's house and post it there from his computer. If not, I'm pretty sure it'll be done by mid to late next week. Anyway, thanks for your time, and I look forward to people's comments about the game.

I'm definitely playing it when it's released. I look forward to giving feedback. That's one of the coolest things about playing someone else's game, being able to give feedback and talk back and forth about it. Cool!

I've played for 5 and a half hours so far. There are so many things to unlock and so many little games. This is really well done. My favorite game so far is the locked house one. That's really cool. I'm in the process of gaining gold so I can continue reading "The Crypt." I've read through "The Castle" at least three times.

Please note the dates of my posts so as not to be upset about my double/triple posting. I wanted Perversion to know that there was new info here.

I'm almost done with the game. I've played for seven and half hours. I only have a few more things to unlock. Yay. This is really a cool game. I've beaten most of the mini-games. The dating mini-game is an interesting little playthrough, and by taking notes I was able to figure out a pattern in the card battling game.

The writings are well-written for sure, and just be ready for some serious pondering because, as Perversion has previously mentioned, they deal with some serious/provocative themes.

Perversion and I have communicated a bit about the game by PM, and that has definitely been an encouragement to keep playing.