I don't get why games made with an outdated program are preferable to those made with an engine that's superior in every aspect.

The program is only as good as the people who are making games.  The people that use them haven't changed a bit.  Nomothetically speaking that is.

There were things in rm2k3 that no one ever learned or moved onto xp without learning, essentially going back to step one.  It's like when you first picked up rm2k and made a crappy game, only now the graphics are harder/more complicated to make.  I never understood why people were going to make the switch (many haven't).  And really, what can you make in xp that you can't in 2k3?



As for the whole golden age/nostalgia thing, I get it.  I think it's funny that the reason people give is that we've all somehow (as a community) have grown up.  If this is what you're telling me, then you're also saying there hasn't been a new cohort of game makers since 2000, am I getting this right?  Or maybe the new cohort blows/you dont get their humor anymore?

And hey guys, it's only been a few years since 2k3 came out so lets not get ahead of ourselves with the whole need to look mature act we got goin on.

1.  I like class systems so long as they are implemented well.
2. At will
3. Extra add on.  not too many classes where it's confusion everywhere.  be creative to come up with some that aren't the generic Knight, monk, thieve, black mage, white mage..
4. yes but make lots of equipment, that's easy to do anyways.
5. buying them with points, or like, money. 

Reminds me of a shirt i saw someone wearing, money can pay for your classes, but money can never buy you class.

How can I study when the Twins game is on, it could be their last of the year.  Hopefully Pavano will pitch well.  I know Pavano, and watched him longtoss when we were in little league, man he had a good arm.

Again I would rather have the second option from the second example too, and in fact it seems strange to me that you would prefer option 1 since option 2 is actually, in my opinion anyway, the preferred place to be in when making your own game. Unless you are a professional graphic artist anybody expecting polish from the artwork is just being rude and elitist.

As a simple and overwhelming example, look at any of cactus' games. The graphics are arguably the lowest form anybody could muster without it being black-and-white squares, and yet they are very endearing and add style and flair to the games. Nobody could say they are polished/professional, but they work and make the game unique and original.

Yeah you know, it is a matter of personal preference.  I didn't say that I preferred option 1 in either of those cases tho, just wanted to clarify.  i wouldnt play either of the games in the first example, and I'd play both games in the second example.  It is a case by case situation tho, as you point out with cactus making good overall games using original graphics. 

Gabriel has a point here, so lets go with the more likely scenario:

would you rather play:
1. a game with ripped graphics, decent gameplay, and a boring, uninspiring story or

2. the same game with sub-par but original graphics.

See how the custom or ripped graphics don't really matter in this situation...?

lets take another look at this:

1. A game with ripped and edited graphics that are used perfectly, (but no main character sprites from snes games) - has one of the most intriguing storylines you've ever read, and a sweet battle system. 
or
2. The same story/battle system but with custom graphics that are used in a decent manner, but lack uniform style/polish.

You see what i'm getting at, it's about the overall presentation of the game.

Whoever is arguing about having a great game, but being unable to make decent graphics, here is my advice.

Make the graphics anyway. Sometimes badly drawn graphics do a game 100x better than graphics that look good on the surface, but players will immediately recognize them coming from another game. If the graphics take too long, just do them with a limited palette or in NES style. (if they still take too long, you are either not dedicated enough, or your game is too big. The good news is that it's always either one of these reasons.)

The high majority of games with graphics people recognize as stolen will be overlooked as "too amateur to waste my time playing", while some of the greatest, most recognized indie games are done so because they have graphics their five year old sister could have made. You are right in saying that graphics are just substance. They do make the first impression, and if you are an amateur, then you shouldn't be afraid of that being your first impression. The point is that if you want your first impression to be that of a creative game developer (as opposed to an uncreative one), then you simply have to have graphics that give some indication of something "created". Something someone else created years ago just doesn't cut it.

I'm not really sure that this really has to do with the graphics.  Let's be honest, you can sort of tell whether a game is "too amateur" based on the overall presentation, regardless of whether they used rips or not.  For those who allow the chipset palletes in rm2k3 limit the way they present their graphics, it's obvious because it will result in crappy map design.  Clearly, if their hero is a Crono charset with a japanese-style name, and the chip sets are a mix of rtp, sd3, and zelda, it's likely that the overall presentation is going to be crap.. and if the presentation is crap, rest assured their storyline, gameplay, etc. will be just as jumbled, or amateur.  In that way, I don't respect those who used character sets from games that have an emotional connotation to them... like crono, or link, etc. in a different context.

I think people should be a little more mindful of where their graphics are coming from.  I don't appreciate homemade graphics if they're so poorly done that it affects the quality of the game.  You're right, the high majority of games with stolen graphics come across as amateur, but this has more to do with the creators in the community than being a manifestation of the graphics.  Naufragar was a popular game that used rips, but because the creator spent time into the overall quality of the game, it didn't deter people from playing it.  that's just one example.  The most popular games (legion saga, ara fell, hero's realm, sacred earth: bonds, balmung cycle, and the list goes on) used graphics that are known to people, yet become extremely popular in the indie gaming community.

I have a Bachelors in Psychology and studying for my masters + specialist degree in School Psychology.

Find new ways of motivating yourself.  We don't need anymore studies, it's completely normal for a human being to lose focus after 45 minutes.
1.Drink caffeine.
2.Find motivation anywhere you can.
3.Balance studies with fun stuff but dont let one or the other take over. (get outside every once and a while, so you're not looking at numbers and computers all day everyday.)
4.Generally, all you need is the stuff from the lectures.  Usually textbooks are intellectually dishonest, but you should at least skim over them for computer science.
5. Order your books from dealoz.com

I like this metaphor for studying:  If you want to get into better physical shape and you do so by running 20 miles a week.  Will you get in better shape by running all twenty miles at once or if you spread the miles out over different times.  Jogging 20 miles gets a bit mindnumbing and monotonous, so can studying.  Study (sprint) for 1 hour, take a break, go get a coffee.  Study another hour. etc.

College is fun man.  I know it's new for you but you'll see.

Because we aren't profesionals. We don't own game companies. We are not employeed by game companies.

We don't do this for a living, it is a HOBBY.

This is a biased answer because I've used rtp before, but i've used it well.  I've used rips before, but i've used them well.  I've taken the time out to rip them myself, tweak them, etc.  However, I've also made plenty of original graphics, and I found it not to be any more time consuming than using rips.

And the fact that many people who make games are single person creators, each person has strengths and weaknesses.  If you work on a production team, you can get the finished product you want more readily than when you're by yourself.  Pick your favorite commercial game, how many times do you see the writer also make the graphics?  None, because that's not in their list of strengths, otherwise you end up with a crappy game.

I'm glad neophyte brought up sunset over imdahl.  That game is superb graphics, made by a designer who had superb graphical capability.  In effect, he tailored the game to his other strengths, which was story-telling etc., not designing fights or other aspects of gaming.  Many of us just wanted to  make a finished product knowing what we like and dont like in games.  IMO, using rips takes nothing away unless the finished product is crappy.

Brazil will own the world's attention by the middle of the next decade:

That's a funny quote.  You are a class act.

And what will hold our attention until then?

Couldn't have picked a worse time to go conservative.

at least the canadian t.a. is allowed to strike.  In the U.S., the T.A. is not allowed to strike.  In fact it is illegal to strike if you are in the association.

avenged sevenfold 2008, esp. "a little peice of heaven"  ,the only song i didn't really like is the opening track on that album .  I got my socks rocked off, and there was some steel guitar stuff in there too.   Oh disturbed was good too.

Ya know, it's not pro israel or anything it's more like anti-terrorist.  There are extremist groups on both sides, the problem is that those extremist groups are able to sway the majority of the others into hating eachother.  There's people on both sides that have been affected by bombings etc.  everytime someones relative gets nailed, theres more of a chance their join some extremist groups.  it just keeps perpetuating.  it's that culture of honor they have to maintain.  It just so happens that the palestinian extremist groups want "death to america" so of course many people are going to take a pro israeli approach.  it's not really ignorance, it's the patriotic terror condition americans have come to know.  you can call that ignorance, but ignorance is a choice, many americans do not have a choice. 

but it does suck to see this keep going on, especially since so many poeple, even over in israel and gaza, want this shit to stop.

I like to chew tobacco, and i'm a sucker for trivia. Thems be my addictions.

Last time:  When Obama won the presidency.

Time before that: When the Red Sox won the world series.

i took a year off school. i also applied to a bunch of schools last minute and didn't apply to any schools that i cared about.

exactly why SAT scores don't matter.

Did any of your parents have an alcohol problem?  I'm sorry if that seems irrelevent, but I'm curious now.

It's really unfortunate that SAT scores are so widely used in the college application process.  They don't really prove anything about your academic performance.  They just show how well you can take a test, but some people have achievement anxiety.  In fact, you can tell what someone is going to get based on their Test Anxiety scores.  But 2040/2400 is pretty damn good.  I got a 1200 back in the day, but honestly I could care less back then.  I'll have to take the GRE's pretty soon for college graduation, so I bet I do well on that.

Hundley:  The orioles baseball organization.

Bart:  When i look at the main site and it's just that blog instead of the awesome site that was there when i first saw it 6 + years ago.

Try getting poison ivy.  you might have a chance to get around 72-76 hours, the itching will keep you occupied.  Trust me!