Friday, June 07, 2013

A side quest in the working

The title says it all. My internet connection hasn't gone down yet, and I got to do some much needed picture hunting, before I am left offline without ways to do them. I didn't do just that, though, and I also put together the framework for the side-quest (introduction, first dialogues, first scene, first puzzle, first few NPCs, most of the map). Also, I started to add some minor improvements to scene where you rely on ALICE to get past certain puzzles (nothing much, but it should make that option slightly more sexy, at least).

No big plans for the moment, other than continuing my work on the quest, for the moment. I am not sure yet, but I might have another closed beta, once I am over with this quest, and work on some minor stuff in the old "to-do" list (which means still a couple of weeks before that, possibly more). No plans for a public release yet, I'll let you know when I feel the content is starting to pile up and I might consider one.


But now, let's talk about the things that really matter, right? The super-duper-ultra-mega-awesome-anime-intro of the week! (I am STILL experimenting with the name, ok?)

 Today, I shall introduce you: Slam Dunk!

As far as I know, the japanese opening was used for Italy and English speaking countries alike, so this is what you get.


It's a comedy disguised as a sport anime, if you ask me. Unless they botched the dubbing spectacularly in the english version, this anime is lots and lots of fun, and you'll probably laugh your ass off most of the times. It follows the misadventures of Hanamichi Sakuragi, self proclaimed Basket genius, as he moves his first steps in the japanese highschool basketball scene. He starts playing just to impress a girl (who turns out to be the sister of the basketball team's captain, by the way), and despite him being really pigheaded, it actually turns out he isn't all that bad. The story inevitably follows the usual clichès when it comes to the "sport" side of the anime, but the gags are truly something, and the action (despite being almost always over the top) manages to be engaging, especially once you start to like the characters. I give it my "mdqp's seal of approval" without regrets!

And this pretty much wraps it up. Until next time! ^_^

20 comments:

  1. (Drops a the little "c").

    Looks like that girl in yellow had some moves herself! I request that an NPC named "Girl in Yellow" be added to the game. ^^ I'm so glad that "Athletic" can be chosen for Celeste, btw.

    Yay for expanded options for talking with Alice (and hopefully more entries for that...oh what was that bloody thing called... InstaNet? InfraNet? InfoNet? ...hmm, I don't think I'm hitting the mark here, at all.)

    On another note, I've started to watch Kano Karo (or Karo Kano or whatever). We stopped in the middle of the second or third episode so far since some of my friends and I were watching it together and something came up. (We had to call it early; one of my friends is going to get married soon and some issue with a wedding dress was phoned in.) It broke our pace since we were watching Batman movies and movies with genetic overtones such as Splice and the modern prequel to The Thing, among other movies. Was fun (despite the fact that it was sort of hard for us to FINALLY switch gears to happy-go-lucky anime.) ;p

    Wait a minute. Is this what some people might consider "corruption" (as you slyly convince us to watch obscure anime)?

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    1. I'll see what I can do about a "Girl in Yellow", but I wouldn't count too much on it. ;p

      Why are you glad "Athletic" can be chosen?

      The extra bits I am adding to the interactions with ALICE actually are specifically tied to when you ask her for help (hacking doors, for example). I made it so that you get a short "hallucination" of sorts, during which something sexy happens. Nothing big, just a way to make these options be a little sexier, and slightly more interesting.

      I think you mean Extranet. It usually gets more entries as the game grows, and I even update some old ones, from time to time. My only regret is that sometimes I get to update/improve dialogues/scenes/entries that weren't definitive, but that old players will probably skip, since they saw them already in previous versions (I never make huge changes, so they don't miss too much, but I am always afraid that they might be missing this or that information). I could have avoided all this, if I just made the demo and then a final release, but since it's taking so long to make the game, I would have felt a bit guilty going for this long without releases at all.

      Well, that's an interesting window on your personal life, so to speak (congratulations for your friend's wedding, I guess?). ^_^

      Glad to hear you are liking it, are your friends enjoying it too?

      Oh, I haven't even started with obscure anime! Give me some time, and I'll throw at you some really old and obscure things (I might even suggest manga, from time to time, because I am more knowledgeable about them than about anime).

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  2. I don't know many 'obscure' anime, but my favourite is relatively obscure in America, but a giant hit in Japan -- Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World.

    And on the note of what you can do here, will we ever be able to get a holo expansion to use those VR things you can buy? Because I'd like to use that one sex one that has you as the sub. :P

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    1. Actually, there is already a way to buy an advanced VR system... You must buy a "house" first, though. If you need precise instructions on how to get it, let me know.

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    2. P.s. I never heard of The Beautiful World before, is it good?

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    3. Yeah, I'll need instructions on how to do that. I think I met the swindler guy (unless I'm thinking of a different game) that sells a house, but I don't know how to actually get to it.

      Or maybe I'm thinking of the game that has you as a cop investigating disappearances. Might as well go from the beginning. xD

      Also, I just said it was my favourite anime of all time. :P What do you think my response to that will be? It beat out such gems as Angel Beats, Wolf's Rain and Angelic Layer. xD

      And from now on, I'll put a little tag at the end so you know it's me.

      --Krystle

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    4. Well, the "house" you buy it's actually a base on Europa 4's moon. It's still yours, though, and you can go to it with your ship. Once you get there, though, you'll realize that the thing has been abandoned for so long, it might actually need a lot of repairs. There is a shop that provides just that, so now you should have all the info you need! :D

      You shouldn't tell me you are confusing my game with another one, don't you know you are hurting my pride as a game author? XD

      I was just trying to probe you for more details about the anime, without pressuring you too much (I guess it sounded more like a "uh?", now that I think of it).

      Yay for tags! You could simply put it in as a nickname (you don't have to sign up to just use a nick), but it's good to know who I am talking to! :)

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    5. So, like this for the nick?

      Also... where do you buy it? I don't even know where that is. xD And where's the shop? :P

      And sorry. It's just that they're both RAGS games dealing with mind control. And it's not you, it's just that I have crap memory. xD

      As for Kino no Tabi, it's about a girl who goes traveling to different countries to get a sense of their customs, beliefs, etc, but she never stays more than 3 days.

      That's the simple version. It's really more complex than that, with the issues it delves into.

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    6. Yup, the nick works totally fine!

      The "swindler guy" sells the base to you, not mentioning it being located on the moon, instead that on the planet (unless you have the "smart" trait, in which case you can get him to confess, and buy the base at a cheaper price).

      You can find the shop in the commercial district (you can't enter it until you visit your base for the first time, though, if you try it will prevent you from entering and tell you something like "it's closed now, and you wouldn't need to go in anyway, at the moment").

      I guess I'll have to improve the game, so it will leave a lasting impression on you! XD

      Sounds an interesting premist, although I can't imagine how much you can really learn during a 3 days stay. ^_^

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    7. Oh, okay. So I did have the right guy. So it was the store right behind him? Interesting. So, the older versions work with this, since you can buy it in some older patches?

      And she's not trying to learn everything. Just the basics of how they live and whatnot. It is pretty surprising what you can learn in three days or less.

      And just as a hint, the very first episode deals with the saying 'If everyone could understand what each other thought, there'd be less war.'

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    8. Never mind. I did it with the version I have.

      Aw, only two times is all it takes? Dx I was looking forward to more. :P

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    9. Well, to put it in another way, I am Italian, I never left Italy, and I wouldn't say I know my own culture well yet, but I get what you mean and what the anime means to do. I'll have to give it a look, if I have the chance.

      I guess you are referring to the story of O, right? I am not sure if I'll ever expand on it, giving the players some basic choices, and making it more like a very short "pick your own path" adventure within the game, changing the way it works now radically. I would like to, but as I said in different occasions already, it might be time to start wrapping things up, I can't work on this game forever, and re-doing all those little things would take a LOT of time, so I'll probably end up not doing as much as I would like to.

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    10. Oh... well, I'm just a fan of bondage, so I really like that kind of thing. So I was hoping for a little more. :P

      But yeah, I know you need to not work on this forever. Just a little disappointing, y'know? Having wanted to see it for... well, since I first downloaded it oh so long ago, only to find one 'real' scene. xD

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    11. Who isn't? ^_^

      Yeah, it's a tad short. As I said, it's really hard to give everything the amount of details they deserve. I think I'll make things slightly smaller, next time, because I am really stretching myself thin to cover all the different angles, but maybe the game would have benefited from slightly less abundant but more focused content. Hindsight is a harsh mistress.

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    12. Well, I like it because I imagine myself in that role. :P I'd love to actually have a VR machine that'd do something like that (minus Alice, of course).

      Maybe you could do a game focused on that? :P Maybe not so 'willing,' or at least have them 'RP' not so willing. :P

      But I do really like your writing style.

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    13. I just sold my last VR machine, you are out of luck! ^_^

      "Through Sophie's eyes" is more or less the game you want (and the whole "The story of O" VR module is a tribute to that game, more than anything).

      Happy to hear you like my writing! :D

      I could probably improve on it, writing the script beforehand, and spending some time properly editing it/getting some help from an editor, but I generally just write the scenes as I code, to save time.

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    14. Can I get a link to the non-TADS version of it, so I don't have to download yet another text software? xD I already have Dreampath and RAGS.

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    15. I think the original game was on ADRIFT... So you'd still need to download another text software. I am not the author nor I was ever involved in porting the game to another engine, so I can't really be more helpful, sorry. :(

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  3. The basketball anime is interesting, almost like another version of tsubasa ( soccer anime).

    One thing i would like to see if it ever gets to that point is after main campaing epic quests - like the ultima weapons in ffvii ;)

    I know call me a geek, hehe

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    1. Well, captain tsubasa is less funny, though, in the sense that the comedy isn't up to par with Slam Dunk (I think the target for tsubasa was much younger at the time of the publishing, so the gags aren't as fun for me). Still, having watched only the italian dubs, I can never be sure if they are different compared to other versions people around here might have seen. I found Tsubasa engaging, back in the days, but with not too many LOL moments.

      I would like to have some tough side-quests (tougher than the main quests, at least), but we'll see how things go.

      My main problem is that I should split the game in two parts (to avoid it getting too big, since we are slowly reaching the point where the game might start to slow down, which is bad, and the uploading/downloading times are getting longer and longer).

      It works well with the plot, since it has two different arcs, but I need to make sure everything is in place, before I can start to work on the second part, because I'll need to port a shitload of variables, so that choices and consequences carry onto the next chapter. Which means that I can't just add a side-quest after it's done. Either I do it before I wrap things up, or I don't, which is mildly annoying, especially considering how much I still have to add to the game.

      If once I am close to the end, the game shows no signs of really slowing down, I might just try to push it, and not split it in two, though, we'll see (I would still take a break between chapter one and two, though, and work on some other project. I have been working on Celeste and Co. for too long, I'll need a change of pace, sooner or later).

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