Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Whim Independent Studios - Development Log #4







Hey all! Back with my fourth development log!

New Projects: Codename: FIGMENT/Hell's Kitty:Mobile Game:

Last weekend we had a studio meeting, where we set the groundwork for the next big project. For now, the project name is going to be called Codename: FIGMENT, and it will be built on the Unity3D engine. I'm not going to reveal too many details for now, but I will say that it will be an episodic game.

Also going back into development likely next week will be the Hell's Kitty Mobile game. Two more programmers are joining the team and we're going to redo the base programming, but keep it on the same framework. It had to be put on hiatus for a bit for various reasons, but the priority will be programming HK and Selatria while Codename: FIGMENT will be in the conceptual stage for a month or two more.

Speaking of which...



Selatria:

Progress is going well on the Selatria project - Matt has been working on a lot of the Chapter 2 cutscenes and I have been splitting up the audio files in order to implement them into existing scenes. We're both working on polish and making sure it's a fun experience for all.

The artists in the project are working on changing the look of the game too. So this is a work in progress.

Chapter 3 is also in the writing phase. Jon, Matt, and I came up with some fun ideas yesterday evening and I'm going to flesh them out a bit more later today.

A new trailer is coming soon with all of the new voices and gameplay assets, music, and the like!

Some in-development screenies of Selatria Chapter 2:









RPG Maker Commercial Games:

I wanted to talk about this for a bit. RPG Maker seems to get a very negative light from those who use it and want to sell their games commercially. There are a few great games out there made by talented people on the engine. I can name a few... To The Moon, Aveyond, The Legend of Erthia, Eternal Eden, and Legionwood among others.

However, a lot of these gems are buried within a lot of poor games made on the same engine. By people who think they can throw few areas together and put a game up just to put their games out there in a commercial hardcore venue such as Steam Greenlight. It puts us more developers in a tight spot because a lot of bad projects make it harder for us to get ours out there without being pigeonholed into "It's RPG Maker. It's crap."

What I mean is more along the lines of, when someone releases a sub-par game on Steam, Desura, or the like. They not only hurt their own reputation as a game maker, but they hurt the whole community. Especially the RPG Maker scene. The reputation has been ruined by developers who raise money for all of the wrong reasons, at least in my opinion.

I'm not looking to create something completely original with Selatria, but I'm looking to release a quality game which has passion and dedication to a project. I feel like for every bad RPG Maker game that's released to the public and tries to put themselves on Indiegogo, or Kickstarter, or Steam (yuck)- it makes it that much more painful to the RPG Making community as a whole.

I guess the point of the rant is that it's great to make a game, get it out there, get some feedback, improve on it. I have a whole notebook of ideas that never make it anywhere, and I've made a few freeware games in my high school and early college career that I'm...not so proud of. It's a learning process. But if you put your project out there for the public and expect them to spend money on you, I believe the effort needs to be put out there so it's worth paying. 

Also - about Steam: No intention of releasing on there unless Selatria does well elsewhere. Start easy, build a fan base, accept feedback, and slowly work the way to the big-leagues, the "end-game" of the indie scene. Well, at least that's what I consider Steam to be. End-Game. And game development is all about the journey, not the destination. A lot like the game itself.

That's my two cents.

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Some links I was using that inspired this whole thing.


RPG Maker games on Kickstarter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL77m3Zf2o8&hd=1   (Read the comments on this one.)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/412101570/unemployment-quest-a-non-epic-rpg

http://i.imgur.com/UJjGP.jpg

http://zephirzophar.blogspot.com/2012/05/echoes-of-eternia.html

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion/30/echoes-of-eternia-kickstarter-videogame/542573/




Steam Greenlight on RPG Maker Games:

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/4526-steam-greenlight-and-rpg-maker-games/&st=0


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Saturday, January 19, 2013

1/19 Rant

YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS? This whole girlfriend hoax football fiasco that everyone keeps talking about.

Psst, it's been happening in online games for years. It's almost shocking to see otherwise. But once Football is involved, HOLY CRAP, it's a serious issue now.

That's the end of my sugar-filled nerdy rant.

I need water.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Game Development Inspiration

Making a game is a fulfilling experience.

There's something I love and appreciate about bringing together a bunch of different talent in order to create a passion-fueled project.

There was more I wanted to write, but I think it was best summed up on these three sentences.




Monday, January 14, 2013

Nintendo Friend Codes


Nintendo Friend Codes:

WiiU Nintendo ID: GroverWhim
Nintendo 3DS Friends Code: 0731-4922-2164
Wii Code: 5963-3297-7323-7378

The Last Story: 0519-4473-1922
Pokémon Black and White 2: 1249-6538-9143
Pokémon Black Version: 4169-3822-6605
Mortal Kombat DS: 4640-0502-8012
FF Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time: 3953-2968-2713
Pokemon SoulSilver: 2192-9825-7653
Super Smash Bros Brawl: 3909-7198-3168
Mario Kart Wii: 5198-9989-8821

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Whim Independent Studios - Development Log #3



Hey all! Back with my third development log! We just finished some of the renovations for the game studio yesterday. My friend and I spent the better part of the day in order to fix it up. 





Not bad for a first time painting... I think! Some of Thursday will be spent getting some of the excess paint off the door frames and the floor.  We'll be having our first meeting on Saturday to start plans for a new game that will be developed in parallel with Selatria and Hell's Kitty. Hopefully something fun will come out of it! :)

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Work on Selatria is coming along very nicely. We have a plan set in motion for starting the fundraising campaign and still keeping promises we've publicly made to those who have supported us. I hope you guys will like the rewards we have in plans for those who support/back our projects on the upcoming Indiegogo/Kickstarter campaigns!

However, Selatria development is going about half a month behind where I would like it to be at, so the fundraising campaign will likely start at the end of this month or the beginning of February, I personally hate setting strict dates because A/ I'm never on time, and B/ I like to release it when it's ready - because once it's out in the open, it can't be taken back. Especially as a first product, I would like to release as smooth as possible.

Here are some sample screenshots and some of the new characters, Gobby, and Saevio. Screenshots are in development and subject to change!

Art by Erik Boismier, Jonathan Flynn, Hannah Bottenberg, and Jennifer Gililiand:










 
That's about it for now! I'm really excited about this venture. Hopefully things work out! :)




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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!

It's Spring in Pokemon, too. Go fight your Cynthia!

No, but really. Have a good year. Follow your dreams!

Live to the fullest.