Commander

The reason why fan-game makers haven't transitioned already is due to essentials being written in Ruby which later RPGmaker versions do not support. When there is a good way to transition (and the essentials maker supports it as well), we'll likely all transfer over to that. But for now, it's a backburner issue we tend to ignore. Now for Rejuv it's a definite hard no and I'm sure Jan would say the same thing. Rejuv barrows a lot of ideas and content from Reborn in which the coding would have to be converted or some mumbo jumbo which would cut off that resource. Reborn is also nearing the end of its completion so they won't want to convert until it is finished if possible at all. Kind of a little Paradox. As for finding a fan-game to work on, we've hit a real dry period as most people have enough people working together to help them out (I'll need some people but not for coding...probably). If you're willing to work on behemoth tasks most coders wouldn't dare trout into like revamping the AI or fixing it, I'd say sign up and go for it as you may still have a shot (but sign up soon as Jan is checking apps over the weekend).

I may actually do a bi-weekly instead of monthly since these are pretty easy to write only taking 4-6 hours. That's a very small amount of time compared to most of my projects. I'll likely go back and edit it but I didn't want to have to wait a week to make the post. I'm also going to try to talk about subjects that don't get talked about a lot or give a different spin on them. I do know what the next COGA will be. This is a bit of minor tales of symphonia spoilers but when you return to old seals you've unlocked you can get summons, however, there's no particular time you need to get them until you hit a certain point so you could either get them right away or wait until you need them. You could even not realize you missed a summon such as Maxwell. The game had many objectives but you could do certain things at certain times and occasionally get bits of dialogue stopping or you needed to go back later. Heck, a party member is dependent on a single choice. I was mostly referring to the summons quests. I'll first state that my area of expertise is paper writing format such as novels and occasionally short stories. While I understand your argument, I have to disagree with this but mostly regarding that this works due to a good story. This system for Reborn does not work well for Reborn because of the story as Reborn's story could be regarded as both ingenious or really, really bad and both statements would be valid. From my own standing, I see it as a bad plot saved by phenomenal scenario writing. I'll leave it at that as I could make 10 or 12 articles breaking up everything regarding story to explain the reasoning behind that, but that's not what this statement is talking about. I believe what you are referring to is game flow which is the ease and transition from scenes back to controlling the player. It's really hard to condense this but the best way to describe it is "an instant reaction to do or not do something." I do think Reborn manages this well and why a mixed system works for it. Flow is the most important thing when writing a story so I will cover it and cover it deeply. The technique I explained is actually called trimming down the cast which I want to say every good story heavy game does...which Reborn doesn't for...reasons. Some characters who have big influence in the plot and lore could possibly be missed entirely if the player so wishes it. I've even trimmed down the cast of my characters in my own writing removing two very important character though I did bring one back over time. But that's off topic is the point is that stationary passive characters can be really in-depth and quite amazing characters: I could name 5 very interesting facts about that character above and she is a very minor character in the story pretty much being a typical maid NPC for most games. Hell, I'd argue she's more fleshed out than Reborn's entire cast (or at least Cain levels of character...but the opposite personality). How to write big casts is very hard to explain as it involves a "less is more tactic" but Pokemon is not a good go to for comparing them. First, Gameplay is a very important part and role to a character and whether or not their memorable. It's like saying a boss with a cool signature attack you remember him by doesn't make him memorable. Memorable in a bad way is also a term. Gen I certainly had its flaws from its design but most information was told very passively which shows on the fame checker in Gen III. It's a style of writing they just stopped working with in Gen V making them all the more involved...like Gen V, which I'm merely saying that the passive kind of writing can work well if not better as it rakes out characters hogging the spotlight like in Reborn. But when you are comparing bad and worse, it's a hard sale. But comparing Gen I does bring up the chicken and egg situation as it came out in the right place at the right time. I'm not even sure if Gen V being the first game (released in that time obviously) if Pokemon would even exist now. It'd probably be in Yo-kai Watch's situation. But if we eliminate all factors outside of characters (graphics being the same and all), I still think the Kanto leaders would be more memorable as the journey is very simplified and the small, small handful of characters really stick out due to that. It also had some really quirky dialogue like the "shorts are easy and comfortable to wear." Though I feel this will be a simple agree to disagree as Pokemon and story do not mix well together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry about the really delayed responses but I didn't have too much time to get to work on them. Anyways, I'll try doing 2 (maybe 3 sometimes) a month as it's an easy to do thing and I already know what the next COGA will be. It'll probably also be the last time I really talk about Gen I for a long, long time as it's an old and outdated game, but it is great at looking at a foundation or starting point. That's what a lot of these early topics are going to be regarding: foundations.

Forgive my language but as someone who does fight designing, I'll be blunt as this look half assed. Heck even the way it is written shows no thought was shown as klefki as a final mon because you forgot. I'll remove an important part of battle design which is keeping it within a characters theme and style as this fight is supposed to display how bad synergy can ruin even strong teams. I'll also remove the idea set of Megas and Legendaries shouldn't be used or considered as well. Basically you gave 3 mons with legendary stato on both teams. What is really funny is that you kept the bad synergy themergency unintentionally. The problem with Bastiodon is while it can withstand an attack, it can't do damage...at all. Great in singles but terrible in doubles. So basically, a smart player would status, taunt, or just ignore Bastiodon and take out Venam. Lead is super important in doubles as it is the only thing that is constant. SR is to be blunt, really not good in doubles as well. Now we get back to HO talk. If anyone suggests HO for this fight, go back and study your Pokes. HO is generally the most powerful tactic as brute force is made to end things fast, however, it is a super exploitable one trick pony. It is also hard to perform well in doubles as your mons drop dead fast and it is a matter of koing them faster. Then you look at the types of poison and steel. Both types have great defensive cores but do not work too well together without good thought.

Uhhh... Joking aside, I'd have to say I didn't really accomplish that much in this episode compared to the last but I'd to sadly say 6-0ing Adrienn with a Metagross. Without it Xe wiped me out almost effortlessly with Gardevoir. There was a lot of little stuff to do and find which was fun (even if a bit of it was broken in the beta). It was a fun one though.

So hello and welcome! You are probably wondering what this is. In my Pokemon Rejuvenation playthrough I played the game very differently than most people as instead of a focus on beating up and showing off my skills against the leaders, I actually focus more on the game as a whole having screencaps of huge sections of the plot. One of the most famed things is my rants where I go off on some incident or writing sin I see in Rejuv. Occasionally talk about other games, usually outside of Pokemon. This is a little bit different as I want to take on something in a more positive tone focusing on stuff that normally doesn't get talked about or often gets glanced over. I'm never going to do something generic such as "How to make a good character" as that's just written instructions and not something for people to think or talk about. I put opinionated in the acronym as these are my views or ideals and not everyone is or should agree with everything I say. If you disagree with them, I strongly encourage to speak out as it helps people broaden their horizons. Now let's kick this thing off with a bang! Commander's Opinionated Gaming Articles Pokemon's 1st Generation - The Forgotten Foundation I remember when I was around the age of five, I began discovering the beauty of video games. I didn't really enjoy them as the ones I had did not suit my tastes. When I was five, I knew I was a jrpg gamer as the only game in my five game collection that I connected with was Pokemon Blue on the Game Boy Color. Funny how I only got to Brock until a year later when I finally became the champion. I'd consider Gen V the best Gen in the franchise, but now that I look back, Gen I is my favorite and while the nostalgia talking, it's those experiences that keep me as a Pokemon fan. I understand why people could say Gen I is terrible to today's standards or that it's the worst generation, but maybe after reading this article many of you will have a different perspective on the origins of Pokemon. I'll start out by explaining what games were like back then. Video games were viewed by parents as being a sin or evil contraption so parents were against buying them for kids. Most games were designed for short sessions as well due to technology. I know around the N64 and PS era they were getting quite popular with Nintendo being the kid friendly console and the one parents jumped to. Most game I had were action or platformers based off popular shows and such which...actually weren't that bad. Most of them were a "get game over and start from the beginning again." I can't remember too much about the games as we had very little play time. I do remember when I got Pokemon Blue Version. Little me loved it since I didn't have to worry about dodging hazards and pits to keep playing. My fondest memory of my first journey wasn't getting my first mon, wasn't meeting and fighting Gary, nor was it catching that Pidgey. We have to forward a little bit to a little place called Viridian Forest. As a five year old, I was overwhelmed when I saw I could go three different ways and had no idea which way to go. I went right and somehow made a loop back to the beginning. Over time I figured it out and on repeated playthroughs I love figuring out the best way to get all the stuff and fight all the trainers (and to this day I still believe the isolated patch of grass directly to the left of the field is the only place to catch Pikachu). Nobody told me anything about it or gave me directions through. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally made it to the end. When I reached Pewter City, I didn't know much about it so I walked around a bit until a guy told me about a gym leader and showed me the gym. It was then and there my journey as trainer stopped as a man named Brock destroyed me time and time again until I gave up. I could see why people wouldn't like Gen I due to its story, but it's a game designed around the fact it doesn't have a story. It works quite well. The game only forces two tutorials: how to catch a Pokemon and battle a gym leader. The rest of the game pretty much is you going on an adventure and exploring new places. Viridian Forest is actually a tutorial of how the game works. You have many different paths that eventually lead to the same destination. You can choose to go to a linear path by the number routes, or you can simply and see if any new places opened up. If you removed Pokemon Reborn's plot, I feel it recaptured this sense of Gen I perfectly even if you do not enjoy bits an pieces of it (who actually likes riding upwards through cycling road). This is a really old RPG mechanic that dates back way, way, way before video games were a thing from a little thing called DnD as your adventure changed based on your choices and no session was ever the same. Now we jump into modern day where I want to talk about Gen VII for a minute. I just barely got past the first island in Pokemon Sun before I just stopped playing. The game had some charm, but honestly I felt it was just not very good if I could get that far into the game and not enjoy it. You go through three hours of tutorials and on the second island they still find ways to block you off. I want to say the first island had 10 or so road blocks stopping you from progressing. Gen I had two road blocks from the start all the way to Misty. If I actually counted all the roadblocks on the first island of Gen VII, I'd probably be undershooting it. The freedom to explore is a very important element in game design and it feels like it has been neglected more and more over the years and it's not just with Pokemon either. Now I want to talk about gym leaders. I want you to take a moment and think of as many of the original Kanto leaders you can think of. Now I want you to think of as many of the Unovan leader. This is an assumption, but you probably thought of the first three Kanto leaders before you thought of the names of the first gym leader(s). The real kicker is that the Unovan leaders are more fleshed out characters than the Kanto ones. Heck, all but one gym leader in Kanto are not even relevant to the game's plot which you don't meet any of them outside the gym...except one. Something Gen I did was rarely have gym leaders drive progression forward. I believe you could even do events out of order. Misty was a tough gym leader and you were supposed to go through Nugget Bridge to be strong enough to face her. There was no man outside her gym stopping you so you could defeat her before even meeting Bill. I also believe you could fight the rival twice before being forced to challenge her in order to reach Surge. You can even explore Rock Tunnel without flash. I don't even think you had to face Koga until Victory Road. So why on earth are gyms that could be easily skipped so remembered? Their characters didn't need development nor much screentime to give insight to their character. Surge was an army veteran which we haven't seen anything regarding this since. Brock was a shirtless guy with that Onix. These small little things left such an impact onto us it's why you can recall these people. Outside of Gen I, I feel the leaders who have small quirks or little things to them that really stick out and are remembered, but it won't work as well on post-gen I since we were expecting it or take it for granite. It's the more relatable ones like Flannery or Norman who are remembered. Now you're probably thinking: what does this stuff relate to fan-games? And I'm about to give you your answer. I understand linear paths and designs are a necessary evil as non-linear designs take much, much more time to develop. My issue is regarding the increased importance of gym leaders since Gen V came out. Pokemon, at its core, is about the player going on an adventure and immerse themselves in the world. Reborn styled games do the complete opposite. Actually, I could group a large amount of Pokemon games for doing this. Leaders in these games are anything but just someone who was given a job to test and train trainers. Many of them are involved in the plot on numerous occasions. They sometimes even team up with you to stop the big bad. Most are also regarded in high authority and take action when issues arise. I definitely could understand why a writer may think it is important for gym leaders to be relevant and incorporated into the plot, but we go back to the Gen V vs Gen I argument before. It does not make the leader a better character. Making gym leader active in the game's plot may actually be hurting more than helping. This goes back to the repeated cycle that Pokemon is about "A player going on a journey." I feel this process is lost as there's always a character around driving you one way or another or telling you what you need to do. Often the segment you're in is about them leading into a gym battle with them in order to progress and learn about another leader. I sometimes have wondered if the protag was even relevant at points as all they were there for was to beat someone in a Pokemon battle before another character and the villain act upon each other trying to defeat each other sometimes in a battle of wits. This brings up the blame that this is the fact that it's a silent protagonist why they are irrelevant. I want to remove this from the equation as a silent protagonist in a group could be very relevant, but it requires tactical writing. Some games like Persona do it by giving you choices to be able to use your voice throughout the game without forcing a certain personality onto the protag. Others like the Paper Mario series have Mario use expressions and emotions (which Golden Sun you get to choose them) to feel more alive. The best method would be to move the perspective back to the player and not the conflict. In other words, make it so the player has to act in a scene instead of a focus on building the characters. The best way to do this is to remove gym leaders from the plot. I am not saying that gym leaders can't be active in the plot, but I'm merely saying don't include them there because they are a gym leader. I can think of numerous side characters who were memorable and fleshed out who never appeared in the main plot scenarios. That reduces the amount of characters you need to use and focus on. You also open up a window for more freedom and design of how the fan-game will work. Actually, could you just picture a Pokemon game where you never had to face a single gym leader until the very end of the game? Having the first gym leader use level 40s when your team is level 20s could just add a layer of exploration and discussion. The game also wouldn't be about defeating a gym leader to get past a segment but like most RPGs defeating a boss to progress forward. Maybe when you get to a town, Ho-oh has gone crazy and is attacking and burned down a couple houses arrived. With gym leader relevance: you gotta beat a guy to even climb the mountain to face it or have to face it, then defeat the gym leader to get to the next town. Without their relevance: you'd be climbing up the mountain ASAP due to the urgency to help these people. The gym could be locked, but it wouldn't stop you from adventuring forward after defeating the Ho-oh since that event is what progresses the story. Actually no, that's not a good enough example to understand this. I need to give a scenario. Scenario: An evil time has an Ice Artifact that they plan to use freeze a temple which many call their home Case 1: You make contact with a girl outside who tells you that they need to stop this group in order to save her home and her people. You continue forward in which you have another conversation mid-way through where the girl wonders what has happened to the civilians where she thrusts a guy up to a wall to tell her. The man responds that they were ordered to escort all civilians outside the temple from harm's way by his boss's orders and begs for her to let go. She does but threatens she would not be so friendly to his co-workers if a single wound had been caused by one of them. The two of you then make it to the top in which the leader and girl get into an argument. The leader tries to explain that what they're trying to do is for the good of all man-kind, but the girl interrupts calling them out on their lies forcing you into a battle. Afterwards, they retreat in which the leader drops a contact card which the girl picks up. The girl then thanks you saying that she'll be ready to battle you on the first floor for a gym battle. Case 2: The player has heard from the village elder outside that her people have been booted out of the temple. The player then explores and battles grunts of the evil team one of which is having an argument with a civilian. The player can intervene in which the civilian thanks them and serves as a healing spot for protecting him. When the player reaches the top, they meet the evil team leader who sees that you may be reasoned with unlike everyone else. She explains that what they're trying to do is create a special field in order to draw out Kyurem who has been terrorizing and freezing people to death in their nearby village. She then asks if you still wish to stop them. If you answer yes, you are forced to battle her in which she flees dropping a key card. If you choose no, she thanks you for understanding, but when she attempts it, it's a dud. While the plan failed, she is glad you understand their goal and gives you a card and how to find their base if they ever need anything from them or wish to join their group. The player then can go downstairs and talk to the residents and even challenge their gym leader or just move ahead. No matter which option you pick as a favorite, the same exact scene occurs with the same exact outcome with the only difference being adding one more person to the scene. The biggest difference is that the player makes the decision and not a different character. Now you can't always have the player alone as sometimes characters are needed to drive the plot or make things interesting but they should be well thought out. I guarantee that one person is going to try this and then say "These scenes aren't very good or work well since no extra character is there to respond" in which I will simply respond "Then why did you use a silent protagonist?" You can make a silent protagonist in a very good story, but it requires you to make them all the more active. So Gen I had some ideas that GF stopped using or backed away from for valid reasons, but can a modern day game really used the concept of freedom and exploration and have a very solid plot? Yes it can and its name is Xenoblade Chronicles. I could name other games, but this is one that's easy to recognize (if you don't and have a Wii/Wii U, it's become really cheap on Amazon). The game does go a certain direction but there are so many paths and secrets to find. Many of the side characters also don't overstay their welcome. In fact, some games have taken inspiration from from Xenoblade as they opened up their worlds and made them with the focus of exploring and many ways to get to one destination. The solo silent protagonist isn't as easy to think up of an example for. I can think of solo protagonist in RPGs who were successful, but silent is harder. Drakenguard isn't an RPG...Metroid aren't RPGs either...Dragon Quest IV might count. Someone let me know of an example of a game that isn't Pokemon as most of the ones I've come up with have party members with them. I could name plenty with the gym leader concept serving as a side thing such as Paper Mario, Tales of Symphonia, and who could forget Pokemon Colosseum. As time passes, the quality of game will ever increase and do things would could not imagine, but sometimes it's important to journey back to the origins so that what made a series great isn't truly lost forever. I feel that games are pushing to make characters relevant and active to make them memorable, but Gen I showed us that you can make a memorable character even if they appear only for 10 seconds. It's not about how good or strong the plot is when it comes to Pokemon, but the journey getting there to the end. As a very famous Pokemon Professor once said: "Your journey is about to unfold. A world of dreams and adventures with Pokemon awaits. Let's go!"

Chapter 19: I want what those designers were smoking And now I'm back and thankfully nothing can be misinter... (If I don't go to jail, it'll be a miracle) (He's a genie, you never say anything he can manipulate) (Should we really be having this conversation right outside his door?) (No shit, Sherlock) (Because little girls solve all are problems) (Yes, yes he did). And then there's a pointless explanation taking away the immersion you are supposed to go explore to find them. Seriously, why did he even give a hint as this is a very linear path. I mean if it was a massive game like Xenoblade chronicles, sometimes you need a map to get around and directions like the Bionis leg. This is a minor nitpick but...you don't need to spoonfeed players everything. (I'm the protagonist. I always win in the end.) (Now I'm just cutting over half the dialogue) I'm gonna just skip most dialogue unless it's interesting or relevant...because we really don't want to read it. (That's actually good fatherly parenting) (That's terrible parenting though) (Oh god...not another one...) And that's all the interesting diaogue in the maze. Anyways long boring section more or less so we'll just jump to (You are in heaven. This is god speaking to you) (Why must you ruin my fun?) (You may address me as heavenly gambler now) Oh btw this: (Not going to comment on this other than the fact there were some nice items from it and you could actually fully explore the place) (It's kind of hard to play outside when it always rains) (My family kicked me out of my house and made me a homeless man...good times) (I...I can't stop laughing) I just had a realizations that Melia is basically a depressed emo type character. That...kind of is a switch of tone. Suddenly I do what I do in real life and touch buttons (Indy is going to kill me) And suddenly I my next pic is taken horribly out of context (...She wanted to go into the hole) (If your head isn't in the gutter at this point, I applaud you. I deeply applaud you) (Why are you thinking about weight?) When you're that age, weight isn't that big of a concern especially if you're just skin and bones. She probably did get bigger. Just me nitpicking but I wish she was older....so many missed opportunities I have to let pass by. So many. (Meanwhile I'm probably off flirting with the nearby maid) (yes, yes you should) So my thought on this: I really like character perception changing as it's just not done enough in other fan-games. This is just changing a sprite overworld, but the ability actually control other characters and move around as them is one of my favorite elements in RPGs. When you have to divide your party up and sometimes you get a surprise helper you use to solve a puzzle such as Phantom Hourglasses Goron. Just a little heads up for people planning to make a fan-game. (Bowswer's Castle. Sorry Marianette, but your prince is in another castle) (I just realized...how the heck does this even work?) (Not as lively as a church sermon) For the 90% of you who don't understand the reference: (YOU'RE NOT NINO!) (I uhh...wasn't doing anything you think I was doing! Don't surprise me like that!) (Missed fat joke opportunity) (Missed opportunity, but that won't stop me. "Hey fatso, we'll see you and you're grubby pockets later!") (Free Pokemon...moving on) (Something tells me this is a Marcello reference) (This sadly would've solved all are problems) (You know I was kidding when I thought this was a KH game, right?) (I think I already lost) 2 hours later... (That was a waste of time) I actually want to take a moment and post some of the lines I really want to talk about which I think are wrong answers starting with Venam as I felt none of these defined her character but this one made the most sense: Now let me describe what I felt what Venam would feel like in her heart. She literally waited on the player which ultimately meant by the time they got there she couldn't save her. They were able to overcome Zetta and honestly probably the D. Galvantula, but strength had nothing to do with why Melia died. I'm actually surprised she doesn't blame or spite the player because we were there and we let it happen, and let her disappear. She didn't hold back in her gym fight but her holding back would have made sense as Melia was in danger. Now for Ren: I'm sorry but...what the hell? I believe this was the right answer. This is not a way to represent Ren. It's too late in the night but if I had to write what would represent Ren the most: "Why do people have to suffer? First Jenipper, now Melia. Seeing what [Player] has done made me realize that instead of running away from my problems I should face them head on starting with my hometown." Now for Aelita's: I'm sorry but Aelita did not act or feel powerless at all in the story. You want to know who did? Keta. I'm not sure if that's the right answer but I think it was. I can't even think of something to write here so I'm actually going to describe why the term powerless is bad. You see, that could me two different things. The first is that maybe she feels powerless as her voice doesn't come across and people don't listen. The other is that you don't feel strong and it's due to your strength you can't do anything. I think the former would be much better to develop her character but she's the obvs fighting type cliche here about them muscles. (Must've saw Ren's face) (In hell. I'm the devil's advocate and I've come to say hello) (He has some strange hobbies) (I just thought of a new drinking game. Take a drink every time the protag is conveniently saved in this game) (It kind of is) (Actually, it's so we don't have to deal with the mess of a high ranked member in society disappearing). I just want to take a moment and redefine what a gym leader is and isn't. A gym leader is someone who uses a specific type in order to test trainers who wish to take on the league challenge. They are not leaders or have authority in any way, but often are highly regarded due to the importance of the league system. Gym leaders are actually teachers who help trainers get better through both mind and strength. They have gym puzzles so that the trainer has to think through how to reach their opponent. They also challenge trainers to a battle to see if they are properly training their Pokemon and are acquiring skills to become one of the strongest trainers. In other words, they serve as instructors or teachers. This is something I gotta dock both Reborn and Rejuv for as the gym leader role degraded from instructor to merely a tester. The best example is Venam who is literally breaking the law and has done some questionable things. I'll actually go into this a lot more in an article but Venam as a gym leader really bothers me...a lot. I actually think I went on this rant but alas we aren't going to rant about Venam as there's plenty of time for that. (What was your first clue?) (Are we really doing character development?) (If losing the most important person in her life didn't change a damn thing in her, do you really think this will?) (Yes, please) (She has a heart where the brains lack) (Maybe we could just...I don't know...run for the door) (I have the weirdest feeling Ren is the only one with a brain in this game) And outside: (Please tell me we aren't having that talk) (Hahahaha! That's a good joke) (That's called using your brain) (Excuse me while I charge at the wall over there...and probably make a whole big enough to walk through) (You would've gone insane) (I can see that) (And...a good conversation ruined...or is it breaking the 4th wall?) Any old school gamer knows about the famous invisible wall concept and how it creates linearity. (No shit...why else would a grown man be following a little girl?) (...The flowers are not symmetrical. I'M GETTING UPSET!) (Oh I do that to people for fun so it's 'k) (That's a summary of this section in a nutshell) (And the illusion of choice returns) (Our lives were in danger way before you even came. I've got a most wanted poster in Xen's HQ...and Reborn) (You're more like a certain little girl whom I loathe) (Damn this Indy has got some problems. Where's a cowboy when you need him?) (Remember when I said I wasn't going to run out of screen cap ideas soon, I lied) (I don't blame him. The silent protag brings nothing to the scene) (I think you only need one maid to accomplish maid. The other is a lucky girl who I don't mind be escorted back to my quarters...even if means being trapped in a heart-shaped box.) (Yeah, yeah, I figured the fight wasn't over) Now we go into something that wasn't in the game beforehand: (This seems like a really cool place) (I'm not even going to ask about the candles) Normally I'm not that bothered by this, but those candles there just shows absolute laziness. There's no way in this degree of cold and time those would exist. I'm sorry but it's just lazy mapping... (Hello blue haired lady who I'm certainly never going to meet ever again) (Why do I feel like I'm in a Disney movie? If I hear "snowman" I'm getting the heck out) >>>Do you wanna build a snowman? (...Wait a minute...I recognize those names) Let me see if I remember the headache of the plot with explaining this...possibly overconvoluted this: Vivian is Keta's wife or at least somehow connected to the Village Elder who she sees Vivian in Aelita which probably was a totally different meaning and probably relevant to the plot later. She had to be a grown woman by that point in time and died at age 36 at the least. Now for the even more fun part, I'm pretty sure Nymiera is Nim which would contradict the age thing or she's some celestial being as she'd have to be 24-28 years old to fit into the timeline as the two had to be alive for this to make sense and this lady was also trapped here. Then we have to apply the events in the beginning as all of this stuff likely happened in the past since we went through some kind of dimension portal to get here. This place could have possibly been something else before Gearen City but I haven't been paying attention the timeline so it had to probably be 20 years in the past. You should at least be able to follow this, but then you have to think about what the whole sacrifice thing is and if this is really Marianette's mom or not. And if Marianette and Melia have a connection of some kind and as to why that's relevant. And why Madame X tried to stop these events. And why Melia and Marianette have abnormal IQs. All of this is supposed to have relevance in the plot along with the whole Garufa people concept thingy as that's a big focus or something. And spoiler alert, it doesn't get talked about in the game for a very, very, very long time. Sorry to be blunt here but the whole Marianette section kind of is a worthless piece of crap as we pretty much get nothing from it that we didn't already know or could've figured out. Nothing at all and are just left confused like for a long time if you think about this. We go through at least 5 badges where this really doesn't come up. Anyways rant time over. (The truth is a lie) (Edgelord confirmed?) (Not this shitcoaster rant again) I don't like silent protags. Only ones I do usually are able to express emotions and personalities. (.......But I never do) (Is everything Indy's fault) (Is that...the mother from the start of the game?...Nah, it's Elsa) (I don't know you nor do I think it's a good idea to know you) Mini rant: I really hate when a game uses the "I've never met you but I know you" trope or the Deja Vu thing. Usually a very bad sign for a game's story. A very bad sign that the writer is an amateur. (THERE ARE BLOODY CANDLES RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!) (Something tells me...is everything blue or just frozen?) (I don't like this game) Basically she asks if the world and Sheridan are fine which she is relieved to hear. Then she asks this: (Well so far so good) (...For some reason I'm thinking about green dinosaurs now) I'm just...like how in the fuck are you supposed to know this? Even if it was written in some text or something, how is a player supposed to know this. I thought it was fine in which...we get this. (...Crap...I got a wrong answer) (...She's going to murder me, isn't she?) (I thought it was the right answer) (Shit...here it comes) (And...time to use my time travel powers...RIGHT NOW!) She loses her shit but I didn't finish watching the scene so I don't know what happens afterwards 5 minutes later... (Yes...because I totally knew it was gone) (I uhh...something tells me this is plot related) (I tried to...a lot of people now are gone because of me) (Because I totally didn't mess up, right guys? Right?) (Neither can I...sadly) (It must be nice having children to call your own) (Wait a minute, ELSA GETS MARRIED! Fucking spoilers) (I thought it would be to prevent the second ice age) (I don't really want a reward...thank you) (Nevermind, I can sell this to a peddler for molah) (I can't promise anything, best princess of 2016) (Wouldn't they think you're dead instead?) (Now I'm terrified you'd entrust it to a many who has strange delusions and rants) (It certainly isn't one of those) (And with that I take my leave) This scene actually wasn't that bad but it's what I consider good minor character dialogue. They don't need to be fleshed out characters but enough to at least distinguish who they are. And yes, I already know who this more than likely is but that's for another time. Also, apparently that key items does nothing as of yet from my "reliable" sources. And as a side note, we're not even close to being done despite being right near the gym leader fight. There are 200 pics left which a segment is usually 1k pics which I cut down a lot. Next is the little article project though which will come out first. But as for the Marianette fight...I'll just say we're about to see a couple new members one of which will probably surprise a lot of you and another who we haven't seen in a little while returns.

On a scripter's point of view, there's actually 5 ways you could go about it ranging from it being automatic to basically setting it up when you can't use it on specific instances. Putting restrictions on it is about a week's worth of work tops. You could even add in a check mid battle in which a character responds to you using an underhanded tactic such as for Shelly "Umm...I'll give you the badge but...please don't use those things on my Pokemon. I don't think it's good for them." It's time consuming work but certainly possible. I'm actually going to use a bit of wrestling to describe why it could be allowed in an official match to a degree. I'm not a big fan of WWE but sometimes one of the wrestlers does something certainly against the rules by jumping out of the ring and grabbing a chair to wack it over someone's head or sometimes having their partner jump in and help them. Staged or not, I don't think the opponent is too thrilled at the handicap they got or are using. That brings it back to these items (which is a stable to many RPGs btw) where you use stuff that your opponent does not have access to gain an advantage. It could be considered legal but greatly frowned upon, but I could see why it would be very morally wrong or...it could be seen as something like this: Moral choices in a video game are probably the moments where it feels all too real. There are times where you have to kill someone you don't want to (like in Chrono Cross) ones where a simple choice could lead to someone's death down the line, but my favorite have to be choosing to kill or not to kill an opponent. I remember a certain game I played that they built up a character so well that when I chose to do what she wanted...it felt so hallow and just...stabbed me in the heart. There are times where an ending just is not worth it and that was one of them. Most story choices have small consequences and actions but a little goes a long way. Pokemon is not like most RPGs unfortunately. Titania is the golden highlight as to why we cannot have something like this. Most of the time in Pokemon, even in Reborn, you are always safe and there is no threat of dying. Even in the times it can happen the event just resets so that you may win it. So everything is rather relaxed other than forced death scenes. What does this have to do with Titania? She's one of the most hated characters for doing something that people considered wrong. Killing grunts who were trying to help or following orders. She, Saphira, and Amethyst known that Meteor is not to be trusted and are willing to kill to put an end to protect the civilians of Reborn. Titania's are a bit offputting due the feeling she's killing purely out of stress and hatred. And to wrap this all up: If given the option to kill Solaris, would you do it? If you answered no, you just got yourself killed. Good job! I don't think a lot of Pokemon players would enjoy a realistic choice like that as first, they have it in their brain that killing is bad. The other reason is that I don't feel that people want to see or view themselves as being like Titania. I would love to see a morality system, but I think it'd be off-putting for Pokemon games especially due to the style. Killing someone is a bit more than a simply throwing sand at their pets eyes. I would like to see choices make a much bigger impact than Reborn's simply altered scenes. Baby steps.

I...I...honestly am surprised by this reaction In my 3 years of hanging around on the site...this has got to be one of my favorite ideas anyone has suggested. I just want to take a step back and say that I am just fathomed people are usuing morals as a reason to not include this hear. I'm absolutely fathomed that you say a system of having animals beat each other up until one gets a concussion should not allow the player to intervene some way. This protag of ours joined a criminal gang, stole a TV, and can even abuse their Pokemon for nature changes. Is it really going THAT far to use hazards on creatures designed to take a hit from hazardous materials. And a tazer is much, much less painful than a thunder wave so I would not be surprised if a trainer thanked you for using that instead. Like seriously, how can you justify morals here to outright reject an idea when Reborn is a corrupted world and system at the very beginning of the game. Even if wanted to make it a bad thing, which actually would be more beneficial for a fan-game, you could have a blackmarket selling them in which you have to limit how you approach using them or don't abuse them. It being rare and valuable does make its importance to making it not as OP. But I'm just going to explain why this wouldn't break the game like you think it would. These items are very useful and effective, but they would be consumed when used so you couldn't just spam them and even if you did, it would be no more broken than revive or potion spamming. Tank mons would be more encouraged to use in order to set them off with minimal casualties. Most tank and stall mons are thrown away due to the game pushing for more hyper offensive. And while it would be a free status move on a mon who normally not use them (you could even add a chance of fail), you could normally just use a mon who is capable of it. It's not as OP as it looks and worse comes to worse you could just not use it as with or without it, you still need to make use of your mons. I do want to make a suggestion on how to use and change the bucket. Instead of affecting the opposing mon, it would create a temporary field effect similiar to electric terrain and such. Sand would create a desert, water a water surface, and so on. Would this break the game? Probably a little bit but you could only hold one bucket at a time to balance it out. It would help make use and play with the field effects instead of simply fighting against them most of the time. Also, who's to say the opponents cannot do the same to you with a little bit of coding and magic. As a modder and I sincerely mean this, I would look into making this thing real. Unfortunately, I have way more than enough on my plate so I will have to pass. It's a really cool and niche mechanic I think a lot of people would like to use and play around with.

I've seen some spoiler pics in which Indriad makes a return later on in the game. As for this section of the game, there is no good section for it. In fact, I could argue you could write this game's story without it and all the scenes with it. But unfortunately, this part of the game was locked and sealed upon the first scene in the game due to the design. But yeah the biggest issue isn't the story but the fact that Goldenwood is built up then suddenly stopped. Having these events happen after...actually there is a possible smooth transition. The events of Goldenwood would play out up until you meet Geara for the first time in which instead of a prison escape sequence, you'd just be kicked out of the city. Now the only way back to Goldenwood is by...going all the way around. You could then visit the Goldenwood train system when Venam stops you and says you should join her to check out this weird place in the sewers. This is not my least favorite section of the game believe it or not. I only really hated the Ren and fence thing. It's boring and random but ho boy do I have a long rant for a certain section of the game. If I said I didn't have ideas for one, I'd be lying, but I prefer the writing side of things so one of these days I'll start up and finish one of my projects though if I don't aim for it to get published, I'll make it free and available online. I actually started writing so that I would go from a D student to actually a B/A student in English. But that is a bit of an interesting name fact there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When did this become the bash Rejuv thread? I'm actually going to break this up to respond to it: Reborn I do excuse a little bit of the overbloated amount of characters due to the idea of a story based on a community and there were 34 leaders in total. It actually does a pretty good job at giving every single person a little moment in the spotlight and there's a lot of little things that can be easily missed. Terra is one of those characters. If you ever write a story with a big main cast, you know that it is hard to keep people from falling out of the spotlight if not completely forgotten (I've done a 15 member main cast which whew was an adventure). The silent protag does not help as I've said before character development is hard with only one character talking (Kloe and Lechter in Skies 3rd has to be one of my favorite character development conversations) I can't really speak on pacing as I need to see the full story to see how well it was paced and planned out. From what I've played of Reborn, it's biggest issue is starting something than just leaving it alone half the game before continuing it. I know the Skies series does this as well, but that's not everything about the characters regards the main plot buildup. It's more of an issue of not having enough time to develop them all but still trying to. For Rejuv...it's basically a lot of plot conveniences forcing you to move from point to point. I'm not going to talk much about pacing right now. The last thing I want to talk about is what Pokemon RPGs are and are not. Game freaks goal is to design a simplified game that people can get into and interact with people with. It's overall easy and has a simple plot as their target is not RPG players but a mass group most of which prefer speedy and quick games over deep or complexity. The MD games invalidate the concept that Pokemon cannot have a good or deep plot, but that's really obvious knowledge. There's no single factor or reason why a plot is not good or can be blamed as ultimately it is the writer and their capabilities that grind down to how good a plot is. Good writing, especially for video games, is hard. I love using Shulk and Cross here to show video game immersion. Xenblade Chronicles is a more immersive game than Xenoblade X. I'm flat out saying a game with a talking protagonist is more immersive than a silent protag. The key to immersion is not a choice based system, not a silent protag, and not an open world. I'm going to underline this as it is one of the most important things in game making. Immersion happens when you feel in control of the character you are role playing. It's one of the 5 commandments I'd create for video game making. I definitely agree that the PC is the weakest thing in Reborn, but as for Rejuv it would've worked had it been in the right hands as the PC has a background and story but it's almost always brushed into the background whereas Persona 3 it was used for them to somewhat connect to other characters. Want to know which character recieved the most character development in the entire Pokemon Series? If you guessed N, you are absolutely wrong. I'd actually argue it's Barry. Yes, the gen IV rival. But yeah, character development in the main Pokemon games is shallow. I'd have to give a shoutout to the Explorers cast as most of the guild is very memorable and have tales to tell and actually have depth to them. Loudred is often one that gets overlooked. Can I also say an Armaldo has far more character than any human in the Pokemon series. I gotta admit I wholeheartedly agree with everything in this section. I just want to add that if a silent protag does something that you disagree on or you wouldn't do, that sense of immersion is broken if not gone completely. If a talking protag does something that you disagree with, it may annoy you, but it could be redeemed or greatly enjoy when you see their thinking. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So update time: Since I did say I was going to get to work on Hardcore when Reborn hit 80%, I kind of did but I didn't expect it that soon. It's kind of unfair for my viewers that I stop mid-episode/section. So I'll be posting an update rather soon. I think I'll be posting a chapter once in a while since HC is going to take a while as I have a lot of goals in mind so that would mean very little content from me for months otherwise. As for a different update, I've been thinking about it for a while (since I created a certain thread) but after seeing the discussion here I think I'll do a few of these. I once did a thread called Writing 101: Importance of feedback/criticism, which I talked about feedback and my views of it. I think once a month I'll make an article talking about parts of Pokemon Fan-games (though it may be relevant to games in general). These are oppinionated so people are allowed to disagree or agree which I strongly encourage both. It's also kind of a good area to actually talk about and compare fan-games as I haven't played too many of the new era Pokemon games (but enough to get an idea). As for the topics, I'm debating on whether to make "Pokemon's Origins: The Forgotten Foundation" or "Can bad graphics really make a good game?" though I'm leaning on the latter. Both of these topics focus on the initial making and planning stages of a game. I'll likely but up for suggestions and see what people want to read more of or see my views on. Hopefully you guys who have been reading my rants and thoughts will really enjoy those. Anyways, back to doing homework.

I just came back to look at this and now that I had my morning coffee I guess I can rebuttal or whatevs to some of this stuff. I'm surprised this really took off. Let's see: @Alistair I'll be blunt here in that you sound butthurt about some things I said especially with the tone you presented. I don't see anything else to really comment on other than maybe I was a bit overtly harsh and rude. now for @Venonaut97 I was going to actually do a "ermagawd Insurgence" type thing that as a tease but kind of forgot about it. But seriously though...field effects and fakemon would leave people overwhelmed which I totally understand why people are turned off by them and would not play Reborn due to them. If Reborn put in Fakemon, most people would drop the game instantly as it's just too much to learn and Reborn is not very good at explaining it. A mod probably would be better but that in itself is a massive project (more work than Hardcore). In Ame's shoes, it's better to err on the side of caution due to Reborn's complexity as it stands. But as a fun fact, Ame was at first against putting Fakemon in Reborn but after it was too late, she said she wasn't against the idea of putting faking into fan-game like Reborn or such. I'm not sure if this is an essentials or RMXP thing but shouldn't take too long to solve probably isn't the best way to describe the system. I guess I'll use fidget spinners to describe this as that's what kids are into these days. How battles work right now is that a one armed man would spin one fidget spinner closest to him, then the next, and then the next one one by one. You can't tell a one armed man to spin two fidget spinners at the same time. You'd have to replace the one armed man with a two armed man. Basically the man represents a system which Reborn leans on to use so things would need to be changed if not completely redone as it's not a simple change one line code. There's also the EBS which I think does what you are suggesting but Reborn is so heavily implanted that an archaic battle system benefits them more than trying to spend a significant amount of time converting as bugs that have been fixed would have to be redone and things would need to be retested. I'm not saying the Reborn crew SHOULDN'T do this (in fact they could even be working on it), but I'm giving a reason why they might not. It's a good suggestion to developers who are in the early works of their games to check out and fix. But that does get to this point... Only issue with modding right now is the fact it needs to be ported over for each episode release. I think in the amount of mods and people who attempt this will really shoot up on Reborn's final release which actually isn't that far off anymore.

Wouldn't really add to the overall game and may cause more lag problems and crashes not worth adding an extra month or two on development Because stealing from other creators is always a good idea...oh wait...morals aside, it's a dumb idea to stack more complexity to an already getting really complex battle system because nobody remembers everything field effects do. See my many rants on silent protagonists. I could make a full article on this alone but tl;dr it's a nice feature, but not worth the investment for a story heavy game...unless you're monolith soft This actually is a decent idea. The bag is hell to go through to look for one item. I'd actually like a bigger PC storage to dump all my worthless items but not worthy of selling or pitching I never even use registered items but the only two you'd ever need are the Super rod and itemfinder registered as the new speedup works just as fine with or without the bike Good idea but Reborn being an almost finished game is not one to try and work it out on. Would have to reroute some stuff but could be possible Nurse Joy is the indicator and this is a thing so rare that you can play through many years and never experience it. It's meant to be a huge thing and it's not like EV training should even be a focus. Not a bad idea though, but not really one I'd look into it. The Pokedex should only ever be used for one thing: Finding where a Pokemon is located. It's basically a plethora of bells and whistles after that. Could be done, but you could look in the graphics folder as well. If this were to happen, it'd just be a mobile TV...actually that is a pretty good idea but it'd make all those TVs obsolete. This is just...a bad idea. There was something like this in the game before but it got axed for a very, very, very good reason as the Pokemon involved was an absolute pain to catch and I never actually saw one tbh. I hate the weather system and all these little variation stuff as it just means I have to spend an extra hour or two or remember in a week about something I need to get which often I forget about. Wild Pokemon should be the only RNG type scenario to get a Pokemon. I think people are realizing that after the famed broken weather system of this episode. And beyond that, every Pokemon's placement has been planned out and we already have nearly all of them but a handful of event or really rare Pokemon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I want to ask you something and answer it truthfully: do you know what an improvement is? I don't think you do. An improvement is taking a problem that consists within a game and changing it in order to make the game more enjoyable to players. You just labeled a whole bunch of nice features and ideas that while I admit aren't actually are all that bad, but they are just features which barely impact the player experience. If you add in all this little side stuff to do it definitely adds to the game, but if the gameplay and/or story is bad, is a not very enjoyable game compared to one that actually focuses on improving and fixing the problems.

You do realize an @Commander would make it easier to summon and for me to read it There's 2 issues that come up with RPGmaker games that came out over 10 years ago. The first is the download didn't download properly. The second reason is the fact that the game is so old that it might not be compatible with you PC. You CAN get them to work, but it's not a simple download and it'll 100% work. I still don't know too much of your tastes in video games as undertale is a weird game that does weird... Mother 3! Why didn't I think of that before. Some people really like Earthbound, but it's a bit jarring for me but I loved Mother 3.

Sadly, I wish I could take the time to try and explain it but I've only looked at bits and pieces on how the AI is constructed to add some AI changes in for HC. For the first time every I'm going to summon Ame @Marcello and maybe he'll give a little take on this approach. I'm sure certain fan game makers might be interested in it, but you never know.

If you are looking for games like undertale: you're going to probably have to decide if you like the mechanics or the story more about the game. For Mechanics: Mario and Luigi series: very action based combat that focuses on timing to avoid attacks or do additional damage. Legend of Dragoon: Terrible story, but the combat is a little unique and kind of fun Tales of Symphonia/Abyss: You'll be using combo arts in order to win battle in which you can hop from character to character. Both have a pretty good story and decent cast of characters Any Bullet Hell game Mischief Makers: Just a fun N64 platformer Eternal Sonata: Kind of a mix for the story and the combat but the PS3 one of it can get kind of hard. Yes, a cute little RPG is very deceiving. Battle mechanics are fast paced and require you to think fast to do good damage. For Story: Xenoblade Chronicles: This game used to be super expensive to find but it's really dropped in price. The game is a grand adventure in which you explore and entering and exiting combat is quite swift (compared to its predecessor with slow combat). Sidequest range from generic into split paths where choices matter which unlock certain quests and the ending to quest characters. I didn't do too many of these in my first playthrough. A warning as this is a LOOOOONNNNG game as the main story is 60+ hours and you could easily hit 100 hours with it. Easily the best Wii game (also available on Wii U eshop and New 3ds). Xenogears: This PS1 game is quite the tale and it the grandfather of the Xenoblade Series (all made by the same director). This Evengelion like plot focuses on a cast of characters in a strange world where giant Robots duke it out in battle and it is awesome. But besides that the plot is really good and can get really dark and convoluted at times so while most of it is easy to follow, some things might make your head spin. It's another long adventure (I logged 80 hours), but it's a hell of one. Since it's an oldie it can be a tad on the difficult side and random encounters can get on your nerves. But I loved the mech battle system which Xenoblade X is based around. Legend of Heroes Trails Series: XSeed has slowly translated most of the games to English, but there are two groups working on the last two games and they are getting pretty far. You can technically play all but one, but it would be better to wait. Anyways there are two starting points in the series: Skies which is the beginning and has phenomenal story but awful combat system (SC and 3rd's are decent) and Cold Steel which has amazing combat and only a decent story. So basically the game is based around the concept of what would happen if technology had accelerated 200 years in a very short span of time. It's a very small description but it's a pretty good summary. These games basically take place in the same world in all spam from Skies to CS3 about a 10 year range. 7 games take place in a 10 year time span. It might even be less. The thing about these games is that every character has a little story to tell including the shopkeeper from the first town. I'll break down Cold Steel and Skies now: LoH: Trails in the Sky: This what is known as the first arc. It focuses mostly on bracer life which are people who help those in need so you often talk to locals and assist them. The graphics are really outdated and the magic mechanic is really...outdate in the 1st game, but the first one is really short so it's not unbearable. You play the first one for the story. The 2nd game literally continues hours after the first one in which finishes up all the plot holes and really fleshes a lot of the characters out. The battle mechanics are really improved as you get a lot more choices for customization. The 3rd game is...skippable tbh as the focus is to really, and I mean really add depth to the lore and characters and honestly is my favorite in the series. LoH: Cold Steel: This series has a weaker plot (I think it's still good), but the updated graphics and mechanics along with the voice acting add so much to the game. Just a warning that the first game's plot is very, very, very slow until the midway point. You do spend time at a school as the hub world where you can follow the lives of students and your party members to see what they are up to. Many students have unique stories and you can even visit their families to see their home life. You'll spoil some stuff in skies, but this is the game I'd recommend if you're unsure about the series as it doesn't spoil that much (the 2nd game does spoil a lot as they all connect), and easy to learn. The sequel has probably my favorite combat system in the series though. (btw all LoH games will be on steam and that's the versions I recommend...though Skies is also on PSP) Persona 3 (haven't played any of the others): This game takes the high school setting and have a darker twist on it with characters who face a common theme of death. I don't know why, but I've had a lot of trouble with this game and you will probably die once in a while so you gotta be careful, but combat is kind of a side thing as the focus is social links in which you learn about characters and their stories in order for you to get stronger. Your choices do matter a bit, but you can finish a social link even with making wrong choices (but it's near impossible to get a perfect run without a guide to recommend). But oh my god will this game piss you off with your inability to control other characters. Also if your character dies, it's game over. 4 and 5 don't have that problem though. Final Fantasy 9: I know what you're thinking, "OMG, it's an FF game it's gonna be just like all the others." I'll admit FFVI, VII, and VIII (I'd only recommend VI) are dark games, I didn't really enjoy them all that much. If I had to pick which FF had the best storyline, I'd argue it's this one. Every party member has a tale and many of them are very depressing with Vivi taking the cake. The combat isn't the greatest (it's good other than the steal mechanic) but it's a joy and really underappreciated. The minigames are also pretty fun as well. Only letdown is the final boss. Chrono Trigger: If you haven't played this game, play it. Play it right now. It's short but just play it. Okay, okay. Chrono Trigger is a game based around time travel where your actions in one time can affect the future. I'd say play 5 hours or at least until you get to the future and explore it a bit to say whether or not you'll like it. As for some free games: Ib (kind of a horror game): Only one I actually played. It's really short with multiple endings, but it's a fun little ride. Google the songs after playing it. Mad Father The Grey garden Sunset over Imdahl (Ame did a couple youtube videos of it)

Whoa there, calm down. I'll try to at least explain this before I get a storm of hype before Ame even gets a post out. What Ame is trying to say that is a majority of the story and graphics are done for the episode (ie it would technically be playable up until the episode length ends) but she's probably missing a few side stuff or has to recheck all the dialogue. This DOES NOT mean the episode is close to being ready. You see the little updates section. There's some pretty vital coding that essentials lacked in which Reborn has slowly been implementing but Marcello said that he was getting to work on getting the AI to actually work rather well. This is an amount of work that takes a long time to do since AI is programmed to somewhat think like a human (who had been dropped as a baby many times). I can't even give you an estimate since there's a lot of factors. Does that mean the episode is going to be still in waiting for a long time? Yes and no. There's two phases for Reborn before a public release. There's the alpha stage and then there's the beta stage. The alpha stage traditionally used to be a small group of people Ame knew pretty well which they ran though the game searching for bugs and breaking stuff. Once all those report are done and fixed which takes at least two weeks at the very least. The next stage is the beta stage in which Ace Members such as myself get to play and run through the game with the intention of finding any missed errors (alpha focuses on playability while the beta is for polishing). This usually takes a month due to sometimes receiving multiple releases. So that means Reborn is going to come out in a month and a half, right? WRONG! If I was in Ame's shoes right now, I'd probably try to wrap everything up which needs to be done by this episode and prepare for alpha testing in a month to give Marcello more time. She has other projects so she could work on those for the time being. Then when a month passes, the Alpha phase would begin and instead of two weeks, it would last a month for more time on the AI. Once that period passes, the beta would be released and last a month as well before moving into a public release so that Marcello has an extra three months to try and update the AI. That also gives a lot of opportunities to polish stuff due to gen VII as well and let players play through the whole game to give feedback. You see, this is a very good opportunity to get the fan-game ready for the final product as it is nearing the end so getting the final goals in now would help improve the game during the last episode. It's also why the game is taking significantly longer compared to previous episodes. So, why am I telling you this? You see when people hype stuff up, it creates the illusion that something is being released really soon when it really is not. For lack of a better word, it creates an adrenaline effect which people are so energized and have nothing to use this energy on. This creates a storm of impatience in which people tend to question why something is taking so long when they were "promised" it was going to be released soon. Thus begins a large storm of "when will E17 be released?" which puts a lot pressure on devs which could lead to rushing if they cave into the pressure. A rushed game often leads to a huge disappointment as well.

One thing I tend to do is write the letter a in a post before replying to responses. That way I can move stuff around in case it gets funky. I also learned the hard way to not try using BBcode on the site as [Spoiler z]...is glitchy. Don't take this to heart or anything, but that line is absolute and complete bullshit (also you misspelled who). If I had to put a requirement and only one requirement for people signing up, it would be this: dedication to the project to the point you do your best effort to complete tasks you are given. You see, game making is a lot of work (mods are significantly less to the point you choose your workload) which sucks up a lot of time. While it can be a lot of fun, there are parts that are not as enjoyable and very draining. This part causes a lot of people to quit or drop due to the illusion it's always a blast to work on a game. I enjoy modding, but trust me that I don't enjoy everything about it (like eventing). The second most important thing I'd look for is communication. Having people work on a game probably is far more stressful than a storm of complaints about why a game is taking too long to release. I've almost up and abandoned Hardcore due to getting people who said they'd help but not respond at all. It's frustrating beyond belief as I need to know what you're doing and how things are looking. It's sad because this is the best things about a group as you get feedback and ideas you normally wouldn't and you tend to get to know each other a lot more. At base it might be a simple "I'm going to get this done within a month", but then you'll kind of realize it's a support pillar. Now let's talk about the skills. For an RPGmaker game, you either have never bothered trying to learn the skills (sorry if it sounds harsh, but it is true) or don't believe you can. I know Rejuv uses a lot of Reborn's tilesets which creating a tileset is actually not that hard with the hardest part being creating the actual graphics. Some people can do it really easily and others, like myself, it takes a long time. The other stuff you kind of just slowly learn over time as most of it is easy. Music I don't really know much about other than how to make a loop so I can't really speak on that behalf. Point is that pretty much anyone could acquire the basics for Pokemon Fan-game making rather easily. but the tl;dr version is simply that the hardest part of making one of these games is the dedication required as you'll always keep improving.

Y'all need to stop hitting the quote button to respond. All it does it make annoying pings and a short message overly long Obviously I can't be much help when it comes to it due to the projects I do, but please feel free to PM me about anything regarding battles since doubles is my strong suit. But I can relate so much to the whole having stuff rushed. It still bothers me how rushed Hardcore was to the point I didn't even finish a good chunk of it. Ah well you're probably better than me as I tend to ignore stuff for like a month before acknowledging it's a problem and fixing it. Why do you think they put that note in the mod market? And after seeing how two teams (well 3 actually) completely fell apart as well as my own troubles getting help please take my advice in picking up less people who are very reliable and are willing to put a certain amount of effort into the game over trying to fill a quota of people you feel are needed to actually get this done. It adds up to work not being done as your are constantly telling someone every little thing they need to do and nothing getting done. I cannot emphasize how important that is. Also don't be afraid to interview and ask questions when looking for people to work with. You probably already know most of this though, but I've seen even the best of people fall hard. I really don't want that to happen to you as well when you've come so far.

I'm guessing it warps you somewhere in the grand hall but...I don't think...that's weird and I'll fix that in E17. The door are just supposed to warp you around the room if you're wondering. As for updates, E17 is at 80% and I do keep true to my word that I'll start working on Hardcore more when it hit that. I've just been pre-screening Altered Path for any errors and testing all the fights to get an idea what I need to do and what I need to change. I've gotten up to the Hellish 4 and occasionally I've been posting pics of the fights but usually nothing too special. I suppose I should tell (or maybe retell) the restriction with Altered Path. When you enter that area, you'll notice that your bag is missing from the menu screen. No, it's not gone, but you won't be able to switch up your moves or swap items around. Now how in the heck is E17 going to work with releases? Due to the whole using multiple releases results and the fact that I did not get beta testers I critically needed, there's only going to be one release entirely. There's not going to be any split downloads or any of that after this as there will be one release and that will be the final release other than uploading one to fix bugs. This is going to add a few months as it will pretty much just be me working on it to simply find bugs and miscellaneous errors. Sorry if that upsets anyone but I just don't have the time anymore to deal with people who might do simple tasks to try and cut time, but ultimately just add time. I lost a total of at least 80 hours I could've spent working on the mod purely due to this. And that doesn't mean a certain number of times, but actual time I set out to work on this mod. Hopefully you guys understand, but if you are about to say you can help...please don't unless it involves graphics or coding.