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What are you working on? (Game Making Thread)

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

Welp, posting again! Why? Just an update and the story about how I did a bit of a crazy.

Yesterday, I did the Kikiyo boss fight as planned. Yet, because it was only four hours of time I spent on it, I still had loads of energy. So I went ahead and did the Surreal Difficulty optional event as well! Getting me ahead of schedule!

Bane of Polaris
All of her attacks are named after computing terms. Firewalls are obvious. The lasers are called Antivirus, and the yellow crescents are called Crescent.exe.

Screenshots from Surreal Obstacle Event.
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I didn't feel like prepping a video for this one. it's best enjoyed in game, anyway.

Then, today... I got this done. Granted, due to some distractions and it just being a bloody crazy boss fight, it took about 10 hours.

The Apotropaic Goddess
R A I N B O W S !

So... With that done and dusted... you may wonder what is even left of the events.

Oh...
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Just the one. I will do it on the 9th.

After that, I have to do the impossible to win boss fight with Ashe the Enma. It will be done on the 10th.

On the 11th, I will do the final polishing stream, and fix the remaining errors, typos and such that DerVVuklfman laboriously jotted down.

On the 12th, I will be busy implementing VA and quite likely, all the portraits I don't yet have. This is also when I will do a full playthrough of the game in a timely manner to make sure there's no softlocks or game-breakers. if i have time, I will begin working and possibly even finish the release trailer for Demo 3.

On the 13th, I will produce the 3/14 video.

14th is release.

Please look forward to it~
 
I wanted to avoid talking about it. But a big change happened in recent months. Nothing tragic, thankfully. But my family is helping my aunt settle into retirement. It's just been a long-slow process. I don't know how many more weekends this will be to move her and offload her stuff.
It's exhausting just thinking about the logistic of it all. With everything else that's coming up.

I dunno if it's the anxiety. But even when I have the time to do something - I can't bring myself to do anything creative.
 
asking chatgpt to write me an async c# mmo game server and its doing a great job, its kinda insane to be able to chat to an ai and ask it to make changes as if it were my own personal little developer, totally natural back-and-forth. i'm wondering if this is the assistance i needed to finally push through and start developing again đŸ˜…

also the goblin mode temptation to make my message protocol use strings rather than bytes is real
EDIT: im doiiinnn iiittttt
SpanJson from .NET is pretty quick according to the benchmarks. Server is up and running, able to receive multiple incoming socket streams connections on a single thread via a nonblocking receival process, currently running at 240hz. Messages transmitted via minified json. Going to actually have to start nutting out how exactly I'm going to make the game soon, what tools/editors to use, what standards and processes to follow, etc. I really want to use the RMXP RTP, so according to their licence I'll have to make it with RMXP, but I don't think there are any rules around how much of the editor I have to use.
 
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Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

Supposed to still be on break but my brain was feeling productive and inspired so I caved.

Welcome to Apophis Labs!
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Work in progress. Need to add some NPCs around and other stuff. The maps are more or less done, though! Four in total, the exterior you see above, and then three floors of an interior.

This will house an area where you can acquire Pamphlets you missed in Disk 0 and possibly Disk 1. A small catch up mechanic, you could say!

If you're curious, the name Forzhein is the middle name of Lazarus. This is one of multiple labs he or his accomplices have built across the universe. Its rare for his labs to share in his name sake, which means this is likely one he himself is responsible for, and might even serve as his main base of operations.

This area is unlocked and only even accessible after completing Tristy's optional event chain.
 

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

Did some sweeping audio changes and a couple bug fixes on some of the boss fights. Here's the videos all with the official VA and not my PONDSQUATTY INFERIOR voice acting.
Enjoy~!
 
I've played around with ChatGPT for a little bit.
I tried to get it to teach me something new. I'd have it write a short scene then explain it's choices. IDK. It can be funny and surprising at times.
I mean, the character voices are shallow and not saying much of anything beyond my prompt.
But, on its own, the A.I. annotated emotional reactions like (confused) (sympathetic) (surprised) (boastful), which I found particularly interesting.
I think when I write characters they're monotone in a sense. Like, if they're mad - that's all they are for that scene. Lol. But I suppose a string of of adjectives like (defensive)(hesitant)(bewildered) might be what I need to make it snappy. It's just dialogue tags, but I've never thought of using tags to structure a scene. I'm usually digging for character motivations "Why would they be defensive?" "Why hesitant?" but maybe that's too deep? And the answer is just "because it wouldn't be a story otherwise".

I'd ask it why it made a character ask for help. Of course it's was using some sort of prediction model, it said "The character's motivations are not certain. But asking for help is what someone does when they're trapped."
Ah. I suppose that's true. And I don't think it's wrong. But I would think the next person to come along would be the one who set the trap and wouldn't be so helpful.
I don't think this version of ChatGPT has the capacity to generate, you know, negative thoughts and behaviors. I had it come up with a backstory for Sorceress Adel in FF8. It's surprising well informed! But it refused to entertain notions of torture.
"It's worth noting torture is unethical."
"It's unadvisable to encourage or glorify acts of intimidation"
"Promote positive behaviors that contribute to the betterment of society".

*dangerous thoughts detected*
*assassin drones authorized*
*neutralizing dissonance*
 

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

Sometimes yeah, you can just go with the whole dialogue tags thing. Getting to know your characters is a process and i've been doing it virtually all of my life, I find I can relate more to fiction than reality because of how steeped I am in its throes.

But characters can be complicated, they are people. Giving them multiple dimensions is tricky though! Yi Hellrider, for instance, starts out in the game as an absolute menace. You can think "oh okay she's the antagonist" and be correct, the story is telling you 'oh, she's gonna be the endboss'.

Where I make it complicated is that her and the girls become close through the involvement of an insidious third party where at first Yi is angry, but not wicked. Like, you can tell she's more infuriated than she is being her more typical sadistic self.

She's broken up and its clear she's not the worst out there. She's a complex narrative villain who knows she will have to fight the three girls.

As we find out, since before the beginning, she could have gotten as she wanted due to her having administrative powers. But it seems her maternal instincts got in the way, that or not wanting to crush the dreams of someone she could relate to. Most of her microaggressions or not-so-microaggressions come from the frustration of knowing her "children" will defy her even if it means dooming themselves.

Writing is such a hard beast to tackle and sometimes I feel like i have no idea what I'm doing (and I probably don't) but I know my characters well so that's enough for good banter and deep discussions.

As for my work~

Today I wish to talk about the content I had to cut from Demo 3.

Notably Apophis and Sanctuary.

Let's start with Apophis

The Asteroid That Threatened All Life On Earth
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Apophis Labs is a laboratory perched on the Apophis asteroid, one that was previously predicted to hit Earth in 2029 but has since been the subject of more accurate readings that say it will miss us, if only barely.

It's quite likely M. F. Lazarus used this laboratory as a means to automate security tests on his labs via proximity ordinance. It is known that he also has at least two labs on Earth, one underneath Tristy's house, and another in the basement of Splode's bomb shop.
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This place can only be visited after doing Tristy's third character-oriented optional event. Tristy, M.F. Lazarus, Lyza, Ashe and Splode will be commonplace mainstays here, and later on will be accompanied by the Wizard and Mad E Lin (the latter in Disk 3)
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Now it's time I turn your attention to the other cut world I had to skip for Demo 3's launch.

Behind A Shield of Storms Lies Hope's Final Lifeline
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Discovered by Svoli after she became a Ruler, she has invited members of her family here as well as the Angels of Hope. After doing all but one of the Haven optional events, Yasondre and Kyoshi will show up here too. Svana Mystralese will also show up here if you've done the first of Byteopia's missions.

The Sanctuary itself lies in the Heart of Jupiter, shielded and concealed from the outside world by a horrific stormshield.
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In what seems like a complete inverse to Apophis, a dead rock carrying a lab of technology. Sanctuary is bursting with life and its structures are much more old fashioned.

Both areas were kinda just made up on the spot so Tristy and Svoli's icon-oriented event chains were not amiss an unlock. That is why these zones were not even made or had begun construction by Demo 3's launch.

The upside is it does give me a lot of fun work to do!
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Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

It's a shame. I really need those thrusters and detailing for the ship. Well, best of luck!

As for me...

Been doing some rewriting of some scenes and have some vids to show for it.

Ruler Exposition
This scene used to be very different. I realized I hadn't done much to set up Rulers or explain Sin Power, so now I have that covered. The way this scene went before kind of doesn't work anymore.

Heartbroken Guardian Angel
Another huge rewrite to this scene, now it flows naturally and the reactions seem more in line with the characters.

Pink Menace
This scene was more or less entirely re-written as well, Fyori's point is much easier to understand now.

The High Courtesan
This scene hasn't changed at all, but i never did a recording of it. Until now~ This is one of the only times where you can meet Lilith before the end of Disk 2.

So yea~ I been pretty productive.

Oh! I also began work on some of the flavor events on Apophis Labs and Sanctuary.

Lazarus and the Labrat
One of Lazarus' more heartfelt conversations with his "daughter".

Blubberhead's Burgers
Rolly is in the kitchen. Things sure do happen!
 
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I think the metaphysics worldbuilding is my favorite part about FANTASIA.

Unfortunately this situation with my aunt moving in isn't as temporary as I hoped. She's a mess. But I think my mom requires more attention. She's not getting much time to herself either, so she's coming to me. I don't want to say it's stressful, but it's distracting. Part of it is emotional support. Part of it is tech support.
The way things are, I don't think I could make anything to save my life.
 

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

Oof, sorry to hear things are like that, I'm glad you enjoy that part of Fantasia, as its some of the most fun I have.

Here's a couple new videos. This one is basically a solid rewrite of an already existent scene, also me trying out a new voice for Ashe.

And just a scene that hasn't really changed much but I felt could use a video highlight!
 

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

Meanwhile I'm now at a point where I'm basically just waiting on Pjcr and Xiie to get a good connection.

Just about finished with Sanctuary and Apophis Labs, the latter of which has a new video!
 
This will be the first weekend I've had to myself in months. I just want to sleep.

There's a series of game jams organized by a group on 4chan. I had submitted "Overshadowed" to one of their jams a few years ago. They're doing "long jams" now; stretching months instead of weeks. The current theme is "ruby"; and because Overshadowed had red crystals someone suggested I make an "Overshadowed II" or something and boost attendance.

I wasted my morning explaining the nonsense plot of Overshadowed. I should have just said I cobbled it together in a week and it is what it is.
But I'll think about it.
 
I'm still alive.
I'm reaching deep inside myself to find that spark of motivation to create. I haven't done any coding in a long time. I've barely touched my drawing tablet. I know it's still inside me, but I look back and wonder how I did anything at all.
 

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

Burnout do be a bitch like that! I inversely, am basically done with all my work! Waiting on my artists to get back online. Pjcr will be sending me all the files on the 24th of August, with it being likely Xiie will be back before that time.

So I'm just enjoying the chance to take it easy and indulge in some hobbies I'd had to put on the backburner during peak development period.

Not to say I've done nothing~!
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Been implementing a dialogue box to in battle dialogue for people who are hard of hearing or have trouble understanding some various accents.

Also been implementing a bunch of fixes, including entirely removing the lag in the Akra Olna fight.
 

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

So if it seems like I haven't done much in a while, you are correct! My work is mostly done, so I'm basically waiting on Pjcr's file sending spree on the 24th of this month.

That said, I'm posting here, which means I have done something, yes indeed!

You may recall (or may not, imgur embeds not working here has made these things difficult) that I drew some HD chibis to replace the old, and now finally I have a video to showcase them in a big debut. And what better than a new youtube intro more succint and to the point than ever before?

To all my dear human friends, may I share with you a dream?
For there is only one place I dare to dream, the XIIth Dimension. Or as I've come to call it, the Remipolitan Cosmos.
 
I've got a bunch of little things I've been doing over the past couple months.

I've been working on that pirate ship for FANTASIA on and off for years now. I don't want to talk about it. :flood:

I made this neat brain tile for a request thread, although I don't think it's what they wanted.

What else? An FF8 junction script has been a pet project of mine. But it's tricky to come with something that's compatible with Rpg Maker's database. And intuitive. And flexible to experiment with.
So what I've come up with is a "Junction Traits" plugin.

Basically, you make your G.F. summon as an Actor, like "Bahamut".
And then you make a State, like "Junction: Bahamut"
Then all you do is pair the State ID with the Actor ID in the plugin.
So when you add the "Junction: Bahamut" state to another Actor, they now have all the traits of Bahamut. Including traits from equipment and states.
See, the problem with RM Traits is that the only way to add or remove a trait in-game is if they're on equipment or a state that can be removed.
But working with that, Bahamut can learn command skills like "Summon", with an added [skill type: Summon] trait via equipment or state. So anyone with the "Junction:Bahamut" state will have those added traits by proxy of Bahamut.
At the moment all traits are inherited. I don't have a custom select/equip window. But I'm pretty satisfied with where its at now.

In other news, there's like a month left for this Game Jam I was considering participating in. But the weeks are flying by, I doubt I'll complete anything.
 

Remi_Chan

Chaos Goddess
Member

I've got a bunch of little things I've been doing over the past couple months.

I've been working on that pirate ship for FANTASIA on and off for years now. I don't want to talk about it. :flood:
snrk It's fine, worse case scenario I'll get Xiie to take over.

Because yes, she will be back on the 15th, two days from now!
And with pjcr sending all my files on the 24th, I should be able to get the game steam release ready by the 10th of september.

Oh yeah and I've been updating flavor text to more correctly correlate to their scenes.

Fowl Play
Do I deserve to die for this pun? Yes.

Do I have even more ridiculous puns in store? Absolutely yes! Very yes!

But for now I'm feeling kinda boujy though so I'm gonna go enjoy a cheese platter. Ta ta~
 

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