Caz

These are the real Q's The answer is Ruby, unless Posty betrays her at the last moment. I'd be disqualified for literally disappearing into thin air.

Hi everyone! Thanks for the support that you guys have given Ruby and Posty, it's really cool to see get such a warm welcome. I hope you'll really enjoy their work in the coming weeks. Here are some of my answers to the frequently asked questions regarding Desolation. Q: Okay, so where have you and Desolation been over the last three years? Did you go into a coma or something? A: The most important factors were unsurprisingly time and money. I started university straight after E4 dropped in 2017. At that point, I had made it clear that I wouldn't be coming back to work on this for a while, as I didn't think I'd have enough spare time to keep at it. I wanted to become a doctor at the time, so I immaturely thought that if I focused on pre-med, and got into the actual med course, then I could chill out a bit more after that and work on the game. Unfortunately, that really wasn't the case, and after getting into medicine I quickly realised that there's MORE work, not less (holy cow, what a surprise). Fast-forward to now, and I find myself with just a bit more free time, at least to the point where development is no longer impossible. The other major factor was money - rent in New Zealand is notoriously expensive, that's why I've been working two jobs to keep up since 2018. Working has been the most difficult problem, as after work I've got to come back to my flat and study most of the night to catch up, which leaves little room for Desolation. I've found it really hard to find a balance between work/study/desolation/actually living life, which has just really made things difficult over the last few years. It would be awesome to drop one of those jobs, but that's still a ways off. The future is particularly uncertain, with both time and money, but with Ruby and Posty working alongside me, I'm sure we can make it work. Apart from that nonsense, life has been good. I still love doing medicine, and I still want to be a doctor. I'm in my clinical years now, so if any of you are living in New Zealand, you better hope that you don't see me in the hospital. It's weird to think that I joined the Reborn Community when I was a kid, and that now I'm an adult. I'm glad to know that the community is still very welcoming. Q: Have you updated the game to gen 8? A: The game has been updated to gen 7, which includes Z-moves. We've had discussions about gen 8, but it's currently regarded as one of those 'in the future' things. The update to gen 7 affects gameplay elements as well, as events/trainers etc. have been re-done to make gen 7 feels as though it was always there. Q: What's up with the engine? A: While Desolation has gone through a huge scripting update, including an improved AI (pretty much thanks to Ame, her team, and Reborn), Desolation remains on the same engine. I'm not big brain enough to transition onto a newer and better engine, but we'll consider it in the future, especially if we manage to land someone who is much better with this computer stuff than me. I would really like to make this kind of change in the future, especially after seeing how well Reborn runs, so I'll be working hard to make this happen further down the track. Q: Has previous content been significantly altered, and should I start from the beginning? A: There have been changes to the first 4 parts of the game, yes. I have more or less re-written the first half of the story, and have generally polished everything else, eventing, balance, etc. With the contributions of Posty and Ruby, there has been a significant overhaul to gameplay and graphics as well. The maps have been improved slightly, but not to the point where they have been significantly re-imagined. This may change in the future, especially as my standards get higher and I look at my old desolation work with contempt. In that regard, you don't have to start from the beginning, especially if you don't have the time. However, for those that do, we would encourage it. Q: What's going on with the Gym Leaders? A: Yes, you may have heard that the Gym Leader count has been reduced from 16 to 12. I made this decision as I really wanted to reward the player for building a relationship with the Gym Leaders, and give more time for them to develop and be a part of the overall story, as opposed to having their own short segments. Furthermore, with the story that I originally planned out, 16 Gym Leaders is far too many. While I enjoy the complexity of the story, I don't want it to be pointlessly convoluted just to allow for the inclusion of more Gym Leaders. Long story short, the number of Gym Leaders has changed to match the story, rather than the story changing to match the Gym Leaders. It wasn't difficult to make this adjustment, as there were a handful of Gym Leaders that had only made it as far as concept art and a general personality. Q: How many episodes will there be? A: While I have the overall story fleshed out, I never know exactly when I want to end an individual episode. As many of you will know, I've deviated from ending an episode at the end of a Gym, which makes answering this question particularly difficult. Since the episodes are based around a particularly part of the story, their length is inconsistent, which makes this estimation even more difficult.. For example, episode's 3 and 5 are much longer than all other episodes. A placeholder number that we often throw around is 10, but this shouldn't really be taken seriously. Q: Will there be an obtainable list? A: Yes. Posty has been working quite hard on making this happen. It follows the format of Reborn's colour-coded obtainable list, so I hope you will all find it useful! Q: PBS? A: I won't release the PBS for episode 4, but I will for episode 5. Thanks again for all the support you guys have given this project! I'm super excited to see where it goes in the future. Caz

1. A Small Update Oh man, it's definitely been a while since I wrote one of these. It feels weird to disappear for three years and then to abruptly come back and suddenly say "Hi guys, I'm back!", but here we are. Hi guys, I'm back! I want to start by giving a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that has supported this fan game in not only in its absence, but also in it's resurrection in the 'coming soon' post. It really does mean a lot, and has really contributed to me bringing this project back from the dead. I also want to give a big thank you to both the forum staff and community that offered me support! I know that many people are wondering what happened to Desolation - where it's been all these years, how far away it is from coming out, and what it's looking like at the moment. I plan on releasing a FAQ within the next couple of days that will answer most of your questions. Once again, I am truly apologetic for how long this project has taken to come to fruition. 2. Huh? There's a team now? Yes, I am no longer a solo developer with no internet friends. The return of Desolation, as well as its complete overhaul, is equally in part due to the immense work that has been put in by two community members: Prepare for trouble! And make it double! To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! To denounce the evils of truth and love! To extend our reach to the stars above! RUBY! POSTY! Team Rocket Desolation blasts off at the speed of light! Surrender now, or prepare to fight! Yeah, so this happened - Desolation has its own super cool friend circle. In all seriousness, the contributions of these two to have allowed Desolation to reach a much higher quality, one that certainly wasn't possible when I was working on this alone. It'd make more sense to talk about their contributions separately, so here we are - MEET THE HOMIES: Ruby Red Ruby approached me when Desolation was more or less on its last legs. At this point, I was very much considering just pulling the pin, and locking the thread for good. Ruby offered to do some sprite work, and after seeing the awesome quality of her art, I said screw it, and gave it a shot. Turns out, Ruby then went on to re-imagine every single character in the game, creating new sprites for each and every one of them. She went on to create a whole lot of extra artwork for the game as well, that we'd prefer to keep to ourselves until the episode releases. Long story short, Ruby is pretty cool, and basically saved Desolation. Here's a couple of fan favourites that have undergone Ruby's plastic surgery: Furthermore, Ruby has created the cover art for Desolation E5, which can be seen here: In conclusion, Ruby has given Desolation a complete makeover, and a much needed boost in its overall graphics! Here's some of her links, if you're interested in her work: Instagram Twitter Reborn Art Gallery Posty With Ruby, came an unexpected, yet persistent, presence. It was, indeed, your local delivery boy, Posty. Posty has probably done one of the most excruciating components of E5 development - a complete overhaul of every wild encounter and trainer battle within the game. Yes, b a l a n c e has potentially finally been granted to the game in E5's release. In other words, Posty has basically remade anything Pokemon related within Desolation - battles that were previously too easy are now more difficult, and battles that were completely broken are now, well, beatable. With Posty's work, the game play of Desolation is now a lot more enjoyable. Posty has also been involved in a fair amount of mapping for Desolation, which will be evident in a few areas that are accessible within E5. Here's some of his links: which he threatened me at gunpoint to add Twitter Twitch 3. Last Thoughts Finally, Thanks again for the amazing support that you guys have given on this project. I really hope that Episode 5 will reward the enthusiasm that you guys have had for everything that's been put out so far. It feels really good to finally be back, and it's even better that I'm not working on this alone. Make sure to give Ruby and Posty lots of support! Again, a FAQ will be posted soon, answering many of your questions. Laters lol I thought coming up with an original poem for Ruby and Posty's intro, but that would've delayed the game another year haha

lol i thought I locked this thread but I'm a boomer. All future information and discussion about Pokemon Desolation can be found at this open club link:

All future information and discussion about Pokemon Desolation can be found at this open club link: We back babeeey