The FAQ

[Caz 915]

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.

Hahahahaha engine update go boom mkxp cool.

 

 

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