Every month,
we'll spotlight some comments from the readers
regarding the previous month's issues. Here's what our readers have to
say about last month's issue.
"The NPC article is awesome. Most of the special
NPCs he talks about aren't even that hard to make, really. They just
take a little extra effort." -Iblis
"
Hurray!!! Loser Man was the Best game of the Month!!!" -Spoonweaver
Good news! We are now offering
specific questions for readers to respond to. That's
right, you don't need to come up with your own ideas at all! Answers
will be posted in next month's issue.
This month's responses:
• The Walthros
Mercenaries
commentary talks about "lost" projects. Why not share your own "lost
project" story? Everyone's bound to have one!
"
I never like to count my projects lost. Just delayed. I've got three
48-hour contest games that have content, but just not enough to make
them releasable. The community knows about one of them: Tightfloss Maiden.
It's my perpetually delayed, though very playable 2001 48-hour redux.
It's the game that remains to be my canvas for new experiments (or was
until Powerstick Man: XE took
over my OHR life), including my first turn at detailed walkabout
animation and super-interactive, super-detailed sets. I haven't touched
it since 2003, but will be sure to whip it into updated release form as
soon as the other giant has fallen onto the community (the
aforementioned Powerstick Man: XE).
My other two lost/delayed 48-hour games only received about twelve
hours' worth of work each, both products of day-late starts, but I
still think about them all the time and will likely finish them between
the time I release the Extended Edition and work on the Final Edition.
The first, All About Amber, All About Jack (2002), is a high school narrative that uses the team-switch game mechanic I developed for Junkyard Bob's Mission: Impossible
(another delayed project that will hopefully receive some progress in
the coming year or two) to help a girl (Amber) get her boyfriend (Jack)
out of detention so he can take her out for her birthday. The second, The Dingo's Private Jackal
(2003), is a pseudo-strategy game that involves a hunted man rallying a
town into helping him stop his private stalker from killing him. It was
to be a prototype for a game mechanic that eventually went into At the Risk of Manipulation (more or less).
At the Risk of Manipulation (2004) is a released game that I'd like to update during my interim period away from Powerstick Man,
maybe adding at least one new level and overly improving the interface
already present. But it's definitely not lost. I'm also starting on the
novel version this year, so one will likely fuel the other (as was the
case with Powerstick Man / Cannonball City).
Blind Date (2001) is designed
to be a massive game with sprawling maps and a no-stone-unturned style
of gameplay. I haven't worked on this since 2002, but love the art
style (and the concept) too much to abandon it. So I'll be getting back
to work on this once I finish Powerstick Man (in a couple years hopefully). There's a preview for it in the Legendary Edition download on Slime Salad.
I'd say the only projects that'll probably remain lost are Nativity and Annihilation World Domination. Nativity
was a Christmas game I worked on with Royal, and well, Royal's doing
better things with his time than drawing for the OHR. There's a chance
I could revive it with my own graphics, but I thought Royal's was
better suited for the theme, so probably not. Annihilation World Domination
was supposed to be a modern day twist on the epic battle to save a
world from imminent apocalypse (with that tactics-style strategy
employed), but it's unlikely I'll ever have the time to work on it.
Lastly, there's Parlour Tricks,
which tells the story of a man walking into a casino with five dollars
and doing whatever he can to walk out with a million (up to and
including robbing the place if his gambling luck turns sour). This
one's still in limbo, as it should be a quick game to make, but I
really don't know.
There are a couple other small projects I've thought about in the
last couple years, but I won't talk about them here because they'll
likely become bases for future Epic Marathon contests.
So, there's my lengthy account. Anyone want to top this?" -Pepsi Ranger
"
Too many to count. At time of writing, I have the following partly-finished projects:
- Vermillion: Working title for a full-blown roguelike. Currently
generates and populates a random dungeon. Working on making enemies
move and such. This is tougher than you'd think.
- Darkmoor Beckons: Notorious sequel to the much-touted RPG boss
rush. I have far less progress on this than I care to admit, though
what is there looks good.
- Robo Battler: Level-busting RPG action with platformer-style
navigation. Originally slated to take 48 hours, but balancing took much
longer than I'd anticipated. This was not aided by the fact that only
one playtester ever so much as acknowledged the game.
- Fantasy Quest: Played-straight parody of countless RPG tropes. I
keep saying I'd finish this if I ever got someone to do maps for me
(just the maps, I already have maptiles). This is still probably true.
You know where to find me.
- RPG Defense: Previewed in Hamsterspeak a long time ago. Looks
nice, but I'm not sure I ever had a really solid gameplay idea here.
- Scary Game 3: Probably the OHR's premier sidescroller, looking
very nice and handling more smoothly than any other offering. I keep
returning to this every few years, but I get burned out on mapmaking (a
tedious process).
- Timpoline: Featured twice in Hamsterspeak already to my
recollection. I have 39 out of 45 levels finished. Tantalizingly close!
I'll probably release the full version for the Gameathon.
- DQscript: Not actually a game so much as a set of scripts to
allow DQ-style games in OHR. I think it's actually pretty close to
being workable (if not exactly complete).
- RMZ secret projects: I've disappointed the guy more times than I
can count. I'm not sure why he still bothers trying with me. At least
Scare Spree Gold got out the door.
Honorable mention goes to Curse of Vampire, which sat on my hard
disk for years in an embryonic state before springing, full-formed,
into life.
I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting (many of which I'd rather
forget anyway). This is just the last few years' worth off the top of
my head." -Moogle
"I think I might be one of the only OHR authors ever to have not given
up on a single game. That's probably because I actually carried my
newbie game out to completion, and a good 25-hour gameplay completion
or so at that. Was it a good choice? Depends on what one is looking
for, I guess. I like traditional RPGs, and I like games that I can
finish. In that sense, my newbie game is already miles ahead of a lot
of more famous OHR games in terms of my own enjoyment. But in terms of
innovation, polish, and the idea of 'progress as a better game
designer', well then, no, spending six years on your newbie game is not
a good idea. But that's why this is just a hobby to me, and I have no
real interest in 'serious' game design, even if I enjoy discussing it
on occasion." -MSW
•
Night
of 10,000 Bullets
is an extremely untraditional OHR title. What are some of your top
non-traditional OHR games?
"I think Jailbreak is my favorite non-traditional OHR game. Cool on every level of the word. I also enjoyed Locked." -Pepsi Ranger
• What were your favorite HamsterSpeak articles of 2008
(Volumes 11 - 21)? What artwork rocked you the hardest?
"
Okay, I just skimmed the issues of 2008 finally,
and first of all my favorite cover was definitely for 12 (the Nintendo
Power thing). That was awesome. As for articles, I really appreciated
the concept of the "Difficulty vs Challenge" article, and I think the
"Covered with Dust" series was a pretty interesting read, not only
because it brought some old games in the light, but it tried to
simultaneously shed light on what to think about when making one's own
games." -MSW
And now, questions! As
usual, respond by e-mail or by posting on the forums for a chance to
see your response in next month's issue.
• The Game of the Year 2008 results are up. Disagree with
the results? Angry about your favorite game being snubbed? Let's hear
what you've got to say.
• Next month is HamsterSpeak's two year anniversary. How are YOU celebrating?