Many great games have fallen because they failed at one aspect, one aspect so important and often neglected that the success of a game is made and broken by its execution. That which I speak is balancing; balancing battles to be specific.

Today's demo is "A Work In Progress", by Dragonproductions. I went in not knowing a thing about the game, and walked out with....well, mixed feelings.

This is the second issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

This is the first issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

This is the third issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

This is the fourth issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

When it comes to making RPG's, I'm all over the idea. But when it comes to playing others, I'm up a stream without a life jacket.

Done playing every game in the Game Vault? Hungry FOR MORE?

So I felt like trying out that Mario game-hacking I've seen done in various Youtube videos. You know, like that "Mario Frustration" game with the invisible coin blocks and near-impossible jumps. I downloaded two editors, one for Super Mario Bros 2 called "SMB2 Transmogrificator", the other for Super Mario World called "Lunar Magic". SMB2 Transmogrificator is the one I was interested in, as it seemed that SMB2 is the least-popular Mario game to get hacked.

So, after a few days checking out what it's capable of, what's my opinion of it?

Villains are the cornerstones of good games. Stories are created from conflict and the villain supports that conflict. If you have a weak villain, you'll have a weak story. It is, regrettably, very easy to make a lackluster villain. This is especially true when you work backwards and create a villain out of a need, for the plot. The three things that a good villain needs are: plausibility, emotional attachment, and spotlight.