Post some pictures of your computer/s or your work area.



Blacked out my keycaps on my old Dell to prepare for my blank keyboard I just ordered. It takes a bit of getting use to. I'll post some pictures of my other computers later.

I think it would be nice to collect information from GWers on their favorite brands of computer parts so that people new to building computers can see what other people have had good luck with.

The format of the topic is pretty simple, just list which brands you have had good luck with and which you have had bad luck with, one of each. If you don't have a specific preference, just list the brand you are currently using for that category (unless you don't like it and are using it only because you can't afford better or something).

Here is an example (and my entry)

Processor: +AMD
Motherboard: +Foxconn, -MSI
Memory: +Kingston, -OCZ
Graphics Card: +ATI, -nVidia
Sound Card: +Creative
Power Supply: +Thermaltake, -Enermax
Case: +Cooler Master
Heatsink: +Thermaltake
Case fans: +Hiper, -MassCool
CD/DVD Drive: +Phillips
Hard Drive: +Seagate
Monitor: +Samsung, -Acer

And if you guys want to suggest other categories, I will add them. Here are the figures so far (as of NES Player). Blue indicates a definite good choice and has been recommended by 5 or more people. Green indicates a possibly good choice, recommended by at least 2 people, black is inconclusive, with only +/- one point, red you should probably stay away from. I will probably increase the number requirements for colors higher as more people recommend.

Processor: +8 AMD, +6 Intel
Motherboard: +5 ASUS, +4 Gigabyte, +2 Foxconn, +1 Biostar, -1 ABIT, -3 MSI
Memory: +7 Kingston, +4 OCZ, +2 Corsair, +1 G-SKILL, +1 Mushkin, +1 PNY, +1 Supertalent, -1 Patriot
Graphics: +11 nVidia, -1 ATI
Sound Card: +4 Creative, +1 M Audio
Power Supply: +2 Thermaltake, +2 OCZ, +1 Cooler Master, +1 Corsair, +1 BeCool, -1 Enermax
Case: +3 Cooler Master, +3 Antec, +2 Thermaltake
Heatsink: +2 Thermaltake, +1 Arctic Cooling, +1 ASUS, +1 Intel, +1 OCZ
Case Fans: +2 Antec, +1 Hiper, +1 Zalman, +1 Nexus, -1 Masscool
CD/DVD Drive: +4 LG, +2 Phillips, +1 Sony
Hard Drive: +9 Seagate, +4 Western Digital, +1 Maxtor, -1 Fujitsu
Monitor: +4 Samsung, +2 Viewsonic, +2 Sceptre, +2 NEC, +1 Gateway, +1 Benq +1 Sony, -1 Hanns-G

I open my eyes. Nothing but deserted shoreline. All my crew is dead. Stuck... on this strange isle. Nothing to do but walk so I start plodding along the coast. Maybe there's someone near. After half an hour of walking, I see a figure in the distance. A slim womanly figure. I get closer to her. I can see a little more of her now. She has supple breasts and firm thighs. Her eyes are big and blue... like the ocean. Was I dreaming? She looked like the woman of my dreams. Maybe she was a dream from the ocean. An Ocean's Dream. I approached her... trying not to startle her...

An interview by Strangeluv

♥ INTERVIEW WITH OCEAN'S DREAM ♥

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The S.S. Misao would be lost, the S.S. Misao would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilli-game
The Ripper too,
The Misaoaire
And his wife,
The hype-r star
The Chipsetter and Iaman,
Here on Gilli-game's Isle.




I open my eyes. Nothing but deserted shoreline. All my crew is dead. Stuck... on this strange isle. Nothing to do but walk so I start plodding along the coast. Maybe there's someone near.

After half an hour of walking, I see a figure in the distance. A slim womanly figure. I get closer to her. I can see a little more of her now. She has supple breasts and firm thighs. Her eyes are big and blue... like the ocean. Was I dreaming? She looked like the woman of my dreams. Maybe she was a dream from the ocean. An Ocean's Dream.

I approached her... trying not to startle her...

SL:Excuse me, ma'am?

She gasps loudly and her breasts jump, throwing down her coconut milk.

SL:Sorry if I startled you...

Ocean:  Who are you?!

SL:My name is Strangeluv... my ship crashed on the shores of this island. Do you have a telephone around here?

Her grassy skirt flutters in the seabreeze.

Ocean:  Yes... but someone's using it right now...

I see this as an opportunity to get to know this enchantress...

SL:How about we chat for a bit by the time? Heh. How about you tell me a little about yourself?

Ocean:  Ah. Well, I'm 23 years old, originally from in New York, studying Studio Art/Digital art in university.

I was always interested in making games. I'd write Word documents and stuff about my game ideas in my teenage years. And when I was 16, my brother told me about RPG Maker 2000. So I used that, and it continued from there!


SL: Wow, is that so? *scratches the back of my head* What would you say inspired you?

Ocean: The Early Final Fantasies were a big inspiration for me back then. Maybe Final Fantasy 1, 6 and 7. Right now, it's the early Mana games, from Final Fantasy Adventure to Legend of Mana. I particularly like Seiken Densetsu 3.

My inspirations are different depending on what I'm working on, though. For pixel art, yeah, the Mana games. For music, I like Jazz, World, and yeah, some anime music too.


SL: Games, huh? I know a couple of games I'd like to play with you heh *dumb smile* Nevermind that. Well... tell me what's important when planning these games.

Ocean: First, the gameplay. I'd like it to be fun to play with the least amount of annoyances as possible. With the plot, not many games have particularly impressive plots, but at least something light hearted or that makes you wonder what's coming up next is fine! Having it look good is nice, but that's not something I'd put priority to over gameplay.



SL: I'm very interested. I want to know more. Tell me about games you like... I want to know what makes you tingle.

Ocean:  That's a hard one. I don't know how many people are familiar with "Cave Story" but I'll use that. While platformers aren't necessarily my favorite genre, it was really well done. I can't imagine the amount of work that went into it. It's a shame that I can't beat the last boss, but otherwise, it's quite enjoyable.

The graphics, although simple, were nice. The music fit right in. There were different types of enemies/obstacles, and I thought the levels on the guns was neat. Instead of gaining the Experience to level up your character, it'd go towards your weapon and alter it. I thought that was an interesting idea.


SL: That's very fascinating... so... I want to know about your games now...


Ocean: Ah, yes. I'd say most of my projects were made back when I was in High school. I guess I had a bit too much free time back then, even having a part time job. "Island Sky" is one of those I made back then. For right now, I'm working on "Paradise Blue" still. I think it's been a little less than a year since I released the demo. I had a lot of other projects but sadly Island Sky was the only one I backed up, so I lost them.


SL: I love a creative woman. I love a woman's mind. I'm creative too... but let's hear more about you first...

Ocean: Well, Island Sky was a game I started in 2002. At first, what interested me most about working on it was the overworld and the battle system, but it's in a really easy difficulty. The plot wasn't much. It's really simple. The characters are on vacation and trying to enjoy themselves on the beach and a wave comes up and they have to escape. Turns out it was caused by a fat guy diving in. Then, they decide to instead go somewhere else to relax.


"Island Sky", showing off its quirky style

The characters are all based on people I knew back then. I was trying to convey the personalities of my friends into them. The "villains" are based on idiots, and find some way to distract the characters, whether causing earthquakes by their loud voices or putting them to sleep by being boring. It wasn't meant to be a serious story.


Dramatized illustration of Island Sky plot

Paradise Blue was something I really didn't plan to make at first. I was just editing one of Ephiam's old school games and took a liking to it. It started out as just the class changing system (similar to FF5), then I decided to j ust continue the game out of that. The systems are all heavily based on FF1 and 5. So yeah, I guess in a way it's an FF fangame.


Delicious retroness in Paradise Blue


The plot to this isn't really all that in depth either. I haven't gotten around to explaining it in the demo, but basically there are 2 groups fighting for the throne. The characters actually doing the fighting are just caught in it, as they are mercenaries and hired to fight.


Ocean taking it back, way back


SL: *steeples fingers on chin* So if I were to stay here and make games with you... *ahem*.... make a game, what advice would you have for me? *chuckle*

Ocean: If it can be helped, I'd avoid stereotypical main characters, and saving the world stories. I think it's a good idea to take more from your personal experiences. Like, basing characters on the people you know or basing locations on places you've been to.

That, and some experimentation. I've found some interesting stories/ideas by looking at Mayan mythologies, so doing some reading is good too. Then I'd say to just play a few games and take a look at how they do things, even if it's not RPG's. Like I've noticed in Mario 64 how taking one star may alter the environment and make it possible to get the next star. That way, the player isn't just in the world, but affecting it too.

Ocean: I think the person's finished using the phone now.

SL: Screw that! I'm staying here with you to make some games!




No resources, no tutorials, no Phylomortis,
Not a single luxury,
Like RTP Crusoe,
As primitive as can be.

So join us here each week my friends,
You're sure to get a smile,
From these stranded castaways,
Here on "Gilligame's Isle."


I managed to snap a photo of Ocean's Dream... there it is...

Okay well, I will be brief: I need to get the most performance possible out of an AMD Phenom 9600. Quad-core sucks and it puts out a lot of heat, so I used AMD Downcore, a function built into my motherboard, to deactivate two cores and transform this Phenom into a dual-core processor. As a result of that, my heat fell drastically (to 26C idle) which means I have a ton of room to overclock. By the way that 26C is with it already overclocked from 2.3 to 2.6 GHz. The room temperature is 25C.

Some relevant information:


My cooling information isn't really relevant except that the temperatures mentioned above are correct.

I am totally new to overclocking, so I set it on auto-overclock in the BIOS to 15%, which raised me to the current level. I have options to do this all the way to 30%, however anything higher than 15% makes the computer freeze at the windows loading screen. I am not sure what I can do here, but I want to get my processor as fast as I can. I believe the multiplier is locked at 11.5x, since i tried increasing that in the BIOS manually and it doesn't actually increase it, so I will need an alternative way to do it. I am not quite sure what the auto-overclocking sets things to, so I would be willing to try whatever. I have a lot of money but at the moment I am waiting for the new Deneb 45nm AMDs to come out, so I am not willing to buy a new processor. Anything else, however, is pretty much fair game. My PSU can handle anything you want to throw at it.

This time I got to talk a little bit with AlucardXDemon. Who's known for making those heavily edited RTP games. He's not exactly too known around the GW community, but he's been a regular in the Screenshot Topics and has been found posting in G&D. Unfortunately for us, he's been in and out of the community.

Credit goes to TFT for this interview.

♥INTERVIEW WITH ALUCARDXDEMON♥

This time I got to talk a little bit with AlucardXDemon. Who's known for making those heavily edited RTP games. He's not exactly too known around the GW community, but he's been a regular in the Screenshot Topics and has been found posting in G&D. Unfortunately for us, he's been in and out of the community.


AlucardXDemon The Human Being

TFT: So, can you tell me a little about yourself and how long you've been using RM. I think this is the most important part of the interview.

AlucardXDemon: Ok, well I'm Chris Amaefule, known as Alucard on the forums. I started using Rpgmaker on the Playstation around my 7th Grade Year. Basically since I was 13. I am 19 now so a little more than 6 Years. Rpgmaker was kinda seen as my escape from the real world. As a child I had a crazy imagination, and I could only write and draw out my ideas. However, when I found RM I was able to fully express my ideas on a digital level. It allowed me to create the worlds I had dreamed of as a child.

I go to College at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. There I am studying Biology on a Pre Med Track. I love soccer, and I used to Play running back for my football team. My main hobby besides RM are girls, and working out, lmao, I guess girls aren't what you call a hobby,  But I mean, it works for me ;P

TFT: ~Mateui *Boing*

AlucardXDemon And The RM Truth

TFT: So tell me the your opinion about the RM community.

AlucardXDemon: Honestly, I turned my back on the RM Community two years ago. I thought it was dead, basically when I first joined Gaming World. I saw beautiful works of art from creators such as DE,  Neophyte, Xeno|soft, and Twin Tail Fox, not to mention others. Made we want to strive to create something out of such a program, and so I tried. I tried time and time again, however on the bigger scale away from my community, RM was viewed as a child's toy. How could I stand out when using a stolen piece of software? I wondered back then, and with frustration, I left RPGmaker.

However, in the past two years, I have tried to develop, become a game maker. Learn various languages,  ran to the sciences of languages. Learing C++ in order to become on pare with my friends who were already creating monstrous program. I was left in the dust, and no matter how hard I tried I could never catch up. I felt as if I had fail in two paths:

1) I could never complete an RM2k3 game.
2) I could never be recognized as a development giant.

These problems continued to plague me, that was until 3 months ago when I came back to RPGmaker 2k3.  It was there that I realized that GW was still up and running. and had undergone a new look,  basically becoming sexy as hell. With my old home changed, I had to start development on something to add to the group of RPG.

TFT: Wow. That's pretty deep. But anyway, do you think a lot of people in the RM community try to shoot high when it comes to game design?

AlucardXDemon: Yes. Basically when you see designer giants such as Neo. and co., you begin to feel inferior and the only way a beginner can gain recognition is by aiming high, by climbing that high mountain.

TFT: Do you think it makes it harder or easier to have that "shoot to be the best" mindset?

AlucardXDemon: I think it makes it harder. I believe its a double edged sword really, one way it makes it harder, because you try to compete with the big dogs, in a territory they have been playing on for years.  But then on the other hand its easier because you have direction where they did not.  You have a light to guide you on your path, while the RM Titans had no one. I know myself I have tried to compete, I know I have tried to become as good. however, fear is what stops me, fear drives me away. The RM Developers we knew in the past had no fear, or if they did, they did a damn good job not showing it!

TFT: Do you think that's why there is little quality in RM games now? Higher standards that eventually flop?

AlucardXDemon: I'm not too sure about this question. Standards always increase. However, with our community, I see too much of the same thing. Its like a terrain of hills, When one great hit comes out i.e. legend of the philosopher's stone,  we expect someone to strive to make something better, however, the next big hit is seldom if ever as great as the one before it and especially with the nature of our community. All games are today are a hype fest, hype, hype, hype it up. The previews we see, the games we drool over, they rarely see the light of day. Is it because of the greatness of those who came before us, or is it because we are just not focused anymore. That's the real question that should be asked.

The problem with our community is that there is no growth, no one new with new ideas, everyone just wants to wait and have the veteran's release another hit, which is absolute bull shit.

TFT: Do you think the quality of games have changed because the "oldbies" have moved on?

AlucardXDemon: I do, however is it really their fault for moving on? They created their masterpiece, or are still working on it. It is up for the new crowd to come in and expand on this. Make their own masterpieces and thus boost the community into another golden age.

TFT: So do you think the "Golden Age" of rm is over?

AlucardXDemon: Sadly the first golden age is long gone. Those games that defined RPGmaker,  NigSek, Final Fantasy Endless Nova, ABL, Legion Saga, etc.  Where are those great hits now?

TFT: In WIPs basement.

AlucardXDemon The Game Designer

TFT: So, let's talk about your game projects now. Give me the low down on what you're working on.

AlucardXDemon: Ha, I'm happy we are talking about the present because the past was a hazy road for me. In recent times I have picked up a new indie MMORPG called Last Ninja Onlibe. Initially I was a general member of the forum, but as it is now I have resent to the ranks of a concept designer, Head of the Writing department, and head of the Spriting Department over at LNO. Basically the game is based on the Narutoverse, but takes place 130 years into the future.



Last Ninja Online is the second MMO I have worked on, and will be my last upon its completion.  Apart from team projects, I have dusted off the key board and began a new RPGmaker 2k3 project I call Meister und Bediensteter("Master and Servant" in German). The game is what I believe will be my masterpiece here at Gaming World.  have walked out on projects before, however because of the great grief I have experienced these past months, and this entire year. I believe that Meister und Bediensteter will have a driving point, which is growth, and maturity.  Like many of my past games Meister und Bediensteter is a hands on game.



Players dictate the actions of their in game persona, and based on these actions the overall environment of the game changes. Meister und Bediensteter is based on the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Basically I incorporate the views and evils of the world into my projects. My characters, my worlds are all based on things I have seen, events that I have read about, everything is influenced by reality. And Death, a concept I could never really grasp in my other titles.



TFT: Is that where your inspiration comes from? Life?

AlucardXDemon: Yes, basically life and death, and the emotions that come with both.

TFT: What's your favorite part about designing your game?

AlucardXDemon: Drafting and story writing, I'll admit it I may not be a Game Designer. But I am a writer. I love crafting the story, the characters, the world.

TFT:  Can we expect a release anytime soon?

AlucardXDemon: Definitely a Demo by October, I will continue work, but as school approaches again I will have to slow down. But I would say a definite demo by October at the lastest.

TFT: Well okay, buster. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me!

AlucardXDemon: No prob man, its been a while.

TFT: Well there you have it. A man with a dream to revive the golden age of RM. Friend or Foe? You decide, internet..you decide. Also, check out his trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80PYYhTOaTU

*Expands Muscles*

Eddie Murphy just called, and he told you to eat a dick

Okay, I am doing some rearranging of my computers and I have run into a problem with networking.

I have a couple of computers in my room, each that do different things, what they do isn't so important. They are all connected to a router either via cables or wireless and none of them really store anything major on them. The bulk of my movies, anime, and music is stored on a computer in a closet in another room that has a number of external harddrives in it. This computer does not have anything in it except a motherboard and a dvd drive. It is connected to the network wirelessly and just downloads/uploads stuff all day every day. I control it by accessing it remotely from any of the other computers on the network to add stuff or whatever. All of that works fine, it can access any computer on the network and any computer on the network and any computer on the network can access it with remote desktop.

The problem is when I try to access it regularly by going to My Network Places -> Windows Network -> Workgroup -> Computer, say to play anime/movies on my home theater computer or music on my game computer. When I try to access it from any other computer on the network that way, I get:



This is very aggravating as the only way I can get music on another computer is to call up remote desktop and move the album I want to listen to into the shared folder of the computer I am accessing from. I have looked into a number of fixes online such as enabling the netbios or whatever and, of course, verifying that file sharing is enabled. The Microsoft help page on the error said to change a registry value, which I did...on all my computers; still nothing. I asked rami on IRC and he said he struggled with this error for a long time before giving up and installing an ftp server on his computer to get around it. I am not going to do that, so I am hoping one of you can help me (and rami) fix this problem.

Okay, I have added a runoff poll for all of the options in the other poll that got over 25% of the vote, which means the three above. This topic will serve two purposes, first and obviously to show popular opinion. Since the previous poll allowed you to vote for three options, it wasn't as accurate of an indicator than this poll, which requires you to pick the one you like the best. The second purpose is discussion of implementation. For instance there has been small debate on where the burger pips should be placed should they be implemented and also whether the lego pips should be as doppleganger presented them or horizontal like has had in his custom title. Some people have also touched on other ideas such as stacking them next to avatars. Obviously there are pros and cons to all of these ideas, so it would be good to reinterate and discuss them here. You may change your vote in the poll at any time, so if you are dead set on having a certain one of the options, attempt to convince people.

I will note, as you should already know, that popular is only a factor in this process and just because one wins by one or two votes, doesn't mean that is the end-all be-all of the decision. The admins will use all of the ideas and opinions presented here to make our judgement. If there is a clear winner, perhaps by more than 30% above the other choices, then we will obviously consider it much more heavily.

This is your last chance to have a say in the pips issue as when this poll is over we will make our decision rather quickly and that will be that.

I also got a chance to stumble into a conversation with Nessiah. She's mostly known for her Anime art and willing contribution to the community through sprite edits, drawings, etc. She's also a G&D regular and branches out to Resources often. ^_^

An interview by TFT.

♥INTERVIEW WITH NESSIAH♥

I also got a chance to stumble into a conversation with Nessiah. She's mostly known for her Anime art and willing contribution to the community through sprite edits, drawings, etc. She's also a G&D regular and branches out to Resources often. ^_^


Nessiah The Human Being

TFT: So Nessiah, can you tell me about yourself and why you got into RM.  ^_^ *puts up hand sign*

Nessiah: I used to live in the Philippines, life there is very tough since the economy is bad so I use Rpgmaker as a hobby and an escape to reality so I could get excited to go to school without so much depression in my mind. My hobbies include, Story writing and drawing. Since my first dream was to become a Journalist, and then decided I wanted to become an artist since that's really my passion.  When I was 7, I played a lot of RPGs with my uncle and he kinda got me hooked with several games like Megaman X4, Thousand Arms, Final Fantasy 7.

I looked over the net and found GamingW and then discovered RPGmaker2000 but the English RTP error didn't help so it took me quite a while to find rm2k. after I started First Year of My Highschool (13) I finally got rm2k and got hooked straight away, but by that time rm2k3 was released so I didn't have any memories with rm2k but play A Blurred Line, FF:Endless Nova, etc. I've been using Rpgmaker2003 for 6 years now.


Nessiah And The RM Truth

TFT: Since you're using both RMVX and RM2k3 which do you like more? ^=^

Nessiah: To be honest, if RMVX doesn't have a front view battle system, I would use it more since I Really like it. But Rpgmaker2003 is dear to me so I like using it more.

TFT: What would you like to see RM designers change? <_<

Nessiah: I really want to see them break out of the normal Medieval Setting with Knights and Dragons or at least add some kind of twist. I'm really getting tired of the Kingdom wars and prophecy of the something.  Graphics-wise, I Don't really mind. But Custom would be nice since it's one of the factors that makes me want to play a game, and not seeing the overused XP/VX or something.

TFT: We all want to hear Nessiah rant about something. O_O

Nessiah: I have nothing against RM people really, I'm quite neutral, but I would really appreciate it if they put more effort and thought to their games. And if you look over a specific site that hates criticism that much and sugar coat over a game that has a cliche storyline makes me cry. I'm not saying I'm a good writer, but after reading alot it's just overdone and overused and nothing special on it at all for me. I played this game called "The Goddess Blade" since the review was really nice and it turns out to be some ... ugh I just can't say it.


Nessiah The Game Designer

TFT: So, tell me about both of your projects : D~~

Nessiah: Sacred Moon is a story about twin brothers, Ezra and Genesis that was adopted by Mirage, who is the leader of a government squad called "The Illusionists". They became assassins and worked under several conspiracies in order to maintain the peace in Caelum and avoid any terrorism from the "Rebellion" Until a mission went wrong and made Ezra think if the job is really suited for them seeing that Genesis is his only family. Because of this, depending on the player's choices It will start as "Reality is how one sees it". he Story is divided into 5 Paths each path reveals what happened to each side and different outcomes depending on your choices, actions, who won and how you handle each situation. The game is classified with different themes such as freedom, love, betrayal, ideals and more.


Custom facesets and interesting perspective


Seraphim Project on the other hand is a game that I was developing ever since I got rm2k3 and played Riviera: The Promised Land. It 's originally being developed in rm2k3 complete with a fully working Custom Menu System (made in 3 whole days) and a 98% almost done Battle System when it was suddenly wiped out during an HD crash. I was devastated that ever since then, I can 't stand working on stuff in straight hours anymore. For the story Revolving around the destruction of an ancient seal lying around Heaven's Gate, a Grim Angel #368 has been sent to investigate the cause of destruction of the Holy Seal of Chains lying around the planes of Heaven's Gate and Yggdrasil that has eventually led to Riviera. Your Actions will determine the fate of Asgard and Riviera.


All kinds of cool

Now it's being made in RMVX and is a halo of a Visual Novel and RPG.

TFT: Where do you draw your inspirations from? =^-^=

Nessiah: Originally it was...Final Fantasy 7. But because I Want to break free from the usual FF and RPGs. I began thinking about a lot and then my dreams started to get weird that it became my inspiration.

TFT: So how long have you been drawing? Do you insert your artistic talents into your RM projects? = =

Nessiah:  I've been drawing for...11 years now and I put my drawings to my rm games since the beginning. I don't really like using other portraits since I think that it doesn't make the characters memorable enough.

TFT: Do you have any projects you're looking forward to? :3

Nessiah:  Of course! Alter A.I.L.A Genesis, Sacred Earth: Bonds, Paradise Blue and Fimbul Winter. But of all of them, I really wanted SEB to be released already since it's the only RM Game that I really enjoyed the puzzles. Ooh And Legend of Vanadia.

TFT: Okay, Nessiah thank you for taking the time to talk with me a bit.

Nessiah:

Loli ^_^

TFT: Okay, well that's it, really. That's a little slice of Nessiah. She's got claws, boys. An interesting girl with an interesting game. Just another G&D local.

Nessiah Stuff



Nessiah's Blog
http://sacredmoonlog.blogspot.com/

Nessiah's Art
http://enexodia.deviantart.com/

Not much is known about this shady character, Nightblade. So I managed to gather all of the courage I could, and approached him for an interview. He's a man full of knowledge, with his game "Demon Legacy" becoming one of the most popular RPG Maker games this year.

An interview by Neophyte

Interview with Nightblade

Not much is known about this shady character, Nightblade. So I managed to gather all of the courage I could, and approached him for an interview. He's a man full of knowledge, with his game "Demon Legacy" becoming one of the most popular RPG Maker games this year.

Neophyte: Alright, so who is the man behind Nightblade? Any background information as to who you are, or what you like to do(hobbies)?

Nightblade: There's little to say as far as who I am in the real world. Just some guy looking to make it on his own. As far as hobbies would go; well, aside from RPG Making, I do enjoy writing on the side, as well as gaming; though I'm unsure if gaming really counts as a hobby.

Neophyte: Tell me about your game making background. How did it all start?

Nightblade: Well, I'll spare you the stories of my daydreaming game making at youth and state that it technically started with RM95. I tried my hand a few times at the program when I was... I think 14 or something, but never really got it to work well. I would give up on it a few years until I heard about RPG maker 2000. This was around the time my computer was dead; so all I had available to me was some crappy laptop that struggled to even play ZSNES. So I downloaded the program and began work on the original RM2K version of "Demon Legacy". Ninety Two remakes later, it would turn into the game I actually finished without half assedly cutting it short.


That's what I call dedication.

Neophyte: What inspired you to make "Demon Legacy"(I take it its your first game)? Why do you think it stands out more than most RPG Maker games?

Nightblade: Initially I was inspired by the sub standard RPG "Grandia 2", but as time passed I worked on my writing and it evolved into what it is now. As far as it standing out, I don't really know how to word it without sounding like some pretentious douche, so I'll tread carefully. One of the more obvious reasons it stands out is because it's completed, another may be because of the villain even some of the most anal critics seem to enjoy,  and lastly I think it appeals to people because of the linearity, which can be both good and bad. You're never really lost or wondering where to go next.  Oh, some people also seemed to enjoy the battles in the game, which were face paced aside from the overly long casting animations...


This game rocks. Seriously.

Neophyte: Well I'm not sure if you're able to answer this, but is there anything you would do different if you were to remake "Demon Legacy"?

Nightblade: You mean for a ninety third time? Well, let's see. For one thing I'd make sure to fix of all the awful text mistakes, including one line in particular I really really wish I remembered to revise. Other then that, and maybe a more consistent graphics style I think it's fine the way it is... Maybe I would even go back and add a few dungeons and some extra story to the time between the next to last and final dungeon.

Neophyte: What are some of the difficulties you face with game making? What aspects of game making do you think you could improve upon?

Nightblade: Finding the right music can really be a pain, while finding the right composer can be an exercise in futility. I find that music is the number one thing that holds stuff back because it's so difficult to find good music that isn't overused. Aside from that there isn't really too much to hold stuff back, I'm really poor at programming but none of the stuff I really do involves any real heavy coding.

Neophyte: So the new project you're working on, "Phantom Legacy". What is this about(without giving any spoilers), and what can we expect from it?

Nightblade: It's a direct sequel of "Demon Legacy", taking place some years after the events of the first game to tie up all of the loose ends left over. Gameplay wise I'm taking a bit of a different approach. While I'm no good at heavy DBS modification battles will be a bit different than in most RPGs. Each character will have a set of unique commands instead of the generic "Attack / Skill /Defend / Item" fanfare. I'm also going for a more action game-ish feel for the dungeons of this game, while trying not to forget that the game is still, in fact an RPG.


The sequel to Demon Legacy.

Neophyte: What do you think of the RM scene(or game making in general) as of today? Is there anything you're looking forward to?

Nightblade: There are some impressive games coming up. The "Story of Palis" looks to be very promising,  "Love and War Act 2" is coming around soon, and then there's Neophyte's(your) game; providing it isn't a elaborate acid induced hallucination promises to be very impressive, and that's only RPG maker.  As far as the game making scene... Well, I won't go as far as to say that it's dying down; because we've had some quality games come out as of late (IE: Balmung Cycle) but what I'm concerned about is the the divisiveness between communities. I think we can have a lot more great games in one place (like the foreign communities) if people would realize that there are people you're bound to not get along with regardless of where you go.

Neophyte: Last question, what advice would you give to somebody just starting out? What have you yourself learned along the way?

Nightblade: Look at how other games do certain things, make a purely BS 20 minute game to get a hang of the features first, avoid ripping off entire lines from Squaresoft games (Fates of Alerha), try out a few approaches and figure out how you do things best. For example: some people do well with extensive on paper planning, some don't, and lastly if someone tells you that you're game really needs work, don't get offended, but at the same time don't do everything people tell you to do just because they told you on the forums and they have 5000 posts.

Neophyte: Thanks for the interview!

Nightblade: I feel like such a tool.


Click here to download Demon Legacy
Phantom Legacy Gameplay

As you may or may not know, we are changing some basic things in the GW Skin; mainly: pips and colors. Now then, the discussion on colors is primarily going on in this topic so be sure to post your opinions. The new colors are closely tied to the pips that we have and we will obviously need new ones. So here is your chance: if you think you are a suave artist and can design something neat, the do so and we might use it!

Submission Guidelines
If you are making pips as they are currently, you will need to submit three pips that correspond to the current colors of the moderators group, the admins group, and the members group. They cannot be larger than 15 pixels by 15 pixels and cannot be smaller than 9 pixels by 9 pixels. They obviously cannot be nsfw, though I don't know how you could make a 15x15 image nsfw, but I am sure some of you could do it. You must also be willing to adjust your pips to all colors when we get ready to implement them. If you would like to take some creative liberty and do something new with the pip area, feel free to submit your idea as well as your art.

also if you have any creative ideas that are a bit more than a series of static images, still share because that stuff can be coded.

Like, eg., you want pips to form a penis, where one end is the balls and the other end is the head, and the length segments are the pips themselves.

Submissions will be open for a week, so they will close next Tuesday at which time we will do a poll of all the acceptable submissions and we will probably use the one that gets the most votes.

Make us something nice.

good evening gaming world citizens i am doctor doug beach. today i am sitting down and drinking coffee. there also appears to be a person beside me going by the name of dulcinea. i am not entirely certain who this person is but the powers that be are telling me i have to interview them or i am fired. i will not stall this further here is the interview...

Credit to GZ for this interview.

INSIDE THE GAMER'S STUDIO with Dulcinea

by Doctor Doug Beach

good evening gaming world citizens i am doctor doug beach. today i am sitting down and drinking coffee. there also appears to be a person beside me going by the name of dulcinea. i am not entirely certain who this person is but the powers that be are telling me i have to interview them or i am fired. i will not stall this further here is the interview:

i lied i am wasting more of your time but this time is for real:

Doug Beach PHD: ok first of all who are you??? i make it my business to personally stalk all gw members so this information is already known to me but state this for those out of the loop.

Dulcinea: I’m a nineteen-year-old Canadian, currently in my year off high school. My hobbies are singing, painting, cooking, hiking, writing and dancing. I’ve been in the performing arts since I was three years old when I began modeling. Currently, I’m working toward a career as an actress. This September I will be going to school for Undeclared Arts.

Doug Beach PHD: i also have in my dossier that you like peaches. this is worth mentioning in my opinion. with this said i am now required by contractual obligation to ask about your game making background.

Dulcinea: I started with RM2K3 almost three years ago. A friend of mine was making an RPG and posted some screenshots. I thought- I want to do that too. So I downloaded RM2K3 and began the game I’m still working on. My motivation for making an RPG is really for the purpose of storytelling. For me, there’s almost nothing more cathartic than writing, so I write all the time. This story is so big and has so many intricacies that it allows me a lot of opportunity to write about different cultures, experiences, and characters.

Doug Beach PHD: what is the origins of your name. the origins of my name is that i am a doctor and my name is doug beach. if you could give an explanation like this i will be grateful.

Dulcinea: Dulcinea was the woman whom Don Quixote believed he was in love with. When Don Quixote met a woman named Aldonza, he believed her to be Dulcinea. In truth, she's a representation of the things which we devote ourselves to but aren't real. I liked that idea (and I really like Man of La Mancha!) so I picked the username.

Doug Beach PHD: tell me about your game you have been developing for 3/10ths of a decade. also why should i download this game when it is released instead of kangaroo bingo (with free bonzi buddy installation)?

Dulcinea: The Story of Palis is set on and around a continent called Lithia, where a holy war has raged for over seven-hundred years. The protagonist of the story is Malice Areté (a prince of Theira). The story opens when Malice is nineteen years old. His country, Theira is very small, and –because of an enchanted fog- has long been isolated from the rest of the world. While war and violence cripple most nations, Theira remains out of the fray, and its children live in peace. Now, because he has been looked down upon most of his life and treated as if he will never succeed at anything, Malice develops a very laissez-faire attitude, choosing to shirk his responsibilities and duties, and disregard almost all authority. To most it seems as if he doesn’t care about anything, but deep inside, he dreams of being like the heroes in his favourite epic poem.


if the story of final fantasy one was converted into a food product it would most likely be a ham sandwich. in comparison the palis story would probably be a buffet.

When Malice’s trademark negligence more-or-less gets his cousin killed, and allows for a mysterious artifact to be stolen, he is banished by his father, and sent to the continent to fend for himself. Once there, he gladly joins the war, thinking that if he fights well he will become just as great as the heroes of The Epic, and his glory will prove all the prophecies wrong. What I think sets Palis apart from other games is really how its story is shaped by its characters. It’s set in three wars- The Gracian War, The Ragnarok, and the war within the individual. It’s the last which is really the focus of the story. There is already a literary Epic in the world of Palis, and its deeds have already been recorded. This “new” epic (the plot of the game) is supposed to be telling of what is never written; that is, the humanity of the characters themselves. Some have looked at my characters and said “Wow cliché.” You have the optimistic young man, the veteran, the healer etc. What is being missed by people who say this is the fact that it is all intentional.

If you look at the ancient Greco-Roman cultures, you’ll see how much stories like The Odyssey, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Iliad really affected people. In those days, such stories had the power to shape entire generations of people by setting examples for them. The faithful Penelopea, the clever Odysseus, Hector the prince- all of these characters were larger than life in their goodness (or at least, the classical ideal of goodness). People would take these examples to heart and try to emulate their heroes. I wanted to play on this kind of impossible idolization. I have made them on the archetypes that many have named (the soldier, the optimist etc), but given them fatal flaws and personalities that contradict these archetypes. You have Malice –who by assumption of his archetype- should be very capable, and fearless, but isn’t. Nichi –the good prince and soldier, who hates war. Artemis, the strong husband, who ends up failing his wife and daughter. Titania who believes she should never show strength, yet does. The pressure that these characters feel to fit the ideal is hurtful to them, and yet they continue to act the way they do because of what’s dictated by their culture.


owning tablets from the epic of gilgamesh is considerably rarer than having a sealed copy of panzer dragoon saga

Aside from these struggles, I also believe the setting of the story is integral to its appeal. There is a rich cultural background to Lithia- language, art, ethos, literature, religion and –of course- the culture of war. I wanted to create a world that –while fantastic with its use of monsters, magic, and deities- felt real to the player. And I guess that what I wanted to do with the characters too- make them fantastic, but still allow the players to find themselves in each one of them. I also think that the way the story shows good and evil sets it apart. Too often in RPGs you have good, and then you have evil. In The Story of Palis, it’s a little harder to tell the difference- along with heroic and not-so-heroic characters lying on both sides of the war, almost every character believes that they are doing the right thing. Not to mention the plot is quite twisty, but that’s a given since it’s an RPG.

Doug Beach PHD: my reports say during the development of this game your hard drive deleted. please elaborate

Dulcinea: Well, I stopped working on the game for over a year after that happened. I was very upset, and didn’t want to start all over again. Then one day I just decided I would make the game over. I’m glad I did- and, in a way, I’m glad that the old game was cleared. I had gotten so much better as a writer and as a gamemaker. The game I’m making now is worlds away from the first one I made- it’s better in every respect.

Doug Beach PHD: the release date july 2008 appears in the trailer for your video game. tell us what we can expect on this date.

Dulcinea: It's sort of a demo sort of a full game. I've divided the game into books (parts) so that I will be able to offer installments to players within shorter periods of time. When I'm finished, I will release the game with all the parts together. I'm not sure when that will be. Right now, the plot is divided into four books, but that may change.

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Doug Beach PHD: can you please tell us something that illustrates the difficulties in game making? i am not entirely certain independent developers are demoralized enough and i would like to crush their dreams further.

Dulcinea: I think the hardest part of the process is translating thoughts and feelings into 16x16 sprites, and blocks of text. With books, we are given the benefit of descriptions- at any moment, the author can tell us exactly what the character is feeling. With film we have the actors’ reactions to guide us, and with radio we have the sound of their voices. In games, we can only rely on the dialogue and what limited range of expression we can get across with our facesets and our sprites.

Doug Beach PHD: one can only assume anyone who makes games likes pain. given this statement is there any additional reason you make games (besides pain)

Dulcinea: I think the best part about making a game is being able to create something where there was nothing before. Within my own computer, I’ve managed to create a world, and create characters who I probably know as well as myself by now! I really can’t wait until others are able to experience what I’ve created.

Doug Beach PHD: if gaming world was a singular entity what would you say to it.

Dulcinea: I guess- thanks for reading the interview of someone who's not too known here. I look forward to playing your games in the future.

Doug Beach PHD: they are not paying me enough money to ask you any more questions. bye.

Dulcinea: Thanks for the interview!


this is dulcinea



The Story of Palis topic
The Story of Palis trailer

in any event you should probably check out dulcineas game "the story of palis". it has already earned my coveted golden frying pan award and more importantly i get paid .003 cents per click on the topic links. please click on the links as many times as you can otherwise there is a 90% chance i am eating macaroni today.

Right so, as many of you have already guessed, there are some new sheriffs in town. First let me detail the admins.

• Jeff - Hey that's me. That's right, I'm the forum nanny now. I am here to deal with Site Feedback and the general operation of the forums.
  
• Dave - Most of you all already know he is a Tech Admin. His new job is making the site and dealing with technical issues along side ramirez, who has resigned from his admin position and become a Tech Admin.
  
• scubacoaster - Here to manage the creation of GW6, taking over the job from Mateui. Him and I are also plowing our way through forum reforms.
  
• angry black man - A long time member of GW hired to do general work, much like me, on the forums. He was selected due to his connection with the staff, and is expected to focus there, however he is not necessarily the head of staff, a position held jointly by Sarevok and handsome lamb.

scubacoaster and I have started making a number of changes in the forums (and I will update this list as time goes on so keep checking this topic)

• Afura - Now a moderator of the Music forum in light of his stunning contributions to making it a better place recently. Long time respectable moderator Quest-Master has resigned after 4 years of service. Chef will continue to be the second mod there for now.
  
• Politics Forum - I archived this last night, a long overdue measure, as it was a paid forum and its term expired a while ago. When asked, Ryan recommended that only one topic be spared, U.S Presidential Primary Thread #2, which has been moved to General, where future political discussions will once again take place.
  
• Game & Demo Advertisements - Lazrael, who quit a while back but was never removed from his forums, is now removed. We will be adding a moderator there soon. Please do not PM any of the admins about a job.
  
• headphonics - Is now a new Global Moderator, replacing Jester, a long time moderator.
  
• ASE - Is now a new Global Moderator, replacing kermit the toad, who has been forced into early retirement. Lars will be replacing him in Music Creation for a trial period.
  
• Ryan - Former moderator the vicious world that was the Politics forum, now will be putting his mettle to the test on GW's General forum as ASE's replacement.
  
• Roman - Now will be replacing scubacoaster as Film Media moderator as a result of his contributions and expertise.
  
• Staff Reorganization - Negotiations are taking place between Sarevok, scubacoaster, and angry black man over how leadership should be arranged in the staff group. In addition several staffers have been removed or new ones hired and more changes in this area are expected to happen very soon. We hope this will not only improve the quality of articles, but also the productivity of each individual staff member so you can expect to see more articles from the writers you like.
  

And perhaps what is on most of your minds is the connection issues we have been having. There is a topic going on about it in Site Feedback where you can view the status of the issue and what we are doing to take care of it.

[topicinfo topic=4790]Move target[/topic]

So has anyone seen this new anime yet? Apparently it is new, anyway. There is little info on ANN about it, but it seems the first two episodes are out, or rather, that's all I could find subbed.

I can't really explain it other than to say it seems to be created by a guy who watched The Matrix too many times and contains artwork and animation like you would find in a children's book. The first episode consists of the main character -- who may or may not have lost his memories -- waking up on a strange world...and I do mean strange...and making his way towards...uh...who knows what, being assisted by equally strange people and being immersed in a world straight out of somebody's very odd imagination. Meanwhile in teh second episode it appears that the girl in pink was just tricking the main character into putting his mind into something else so she could use his body for sex.

So it was pretty amazing and you should go check out the first episode at least.

[topicinfo topic=5427]Move target[/topic]

Ryan and I got into a little discussion about this in #music, so I figured I might as well let it spill over here. The question is obvious: who are your favorite US presidents? I'd prefer you pick at least your top three and elaborate on why you like them so much.

I picked my top 3 based on who I believe did some of the best good for America as a whole. As I am not familiar with much of American history before 1900, my view is slightly narrowed, since many of the first few presidents did the most for America blah blah, but I thought it would be tacky of me to pick GEORGE WASHINGTON or something.

1. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
Reasons I think he is awesome:

• Fourteen Points - An amazing set of guidelines that would have prevented the current conflict in the Middle East had France and Britain not totally ignored them.
• Advocation of US military force to aid other nations in struggles for liberty, stability, democracy, and the dissolution of formal imperialism.
• Free trade and anti-trust laws.
• Winning World War 1

Reasons I don't think he is so awesome:

• Racist, but it was 1913 and he was from the South, so keep it in perspective.
• Socialist. Granted this is a perfectly fine position to hold, it just doesn't agree with my views on economics.

2. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
Things I like:

• New Deal. Not much out there is more awesome than pulling a country out of the worst depression in history.
• World War 2
• Four fucking terms. I criticize some of his stuff heavily, but I can't deny the man was amazing and the major things he did far outweigh the things I don't like about him.

Things I don't:

• New Deal. lol it is here twice. Same thing with Wilson; I am obviously not a socialist. I do, however, recognize how beneficial it was, which is why I counted it up top.
• Isolationism. I'll grant you that once we got bombed he jumped on the gun but Jesus man, EVIL DICTATORS RUNNING AMOK IN EUROPE. EUROPE.
• Japanese Internment. That was just mean and abusive of power.

3. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
Like:

• Interstate system. I don't think we would be in as good of shape as we are today, all things considered, if we did not have this amazing system to move us (and our consumer goods) from one place to another.
• Cooperation with the left. No one party has a monopoly on good ideas. Seems to me like after Eisenhower the republicans and democrats began to drift further and further apart and stopped listening to one another.
• His work against racism.

Don't:

• Ignored the ridiculousness of McCarthyism.
• Intervention in the Middle East. It seems to me that overall his actions in the Middle East made things worse, backing this side and that in civil conflicts and throwing around American weight with no beneficial gains to either other countries or America.

Runners up would probably be Nixon and Truman. Yes, I already got into a discussion with Ryan about Nixon, so if you want to know why I picked him, talk to me on IRC.

Okay, I know this has been a hot topic in the primary topic, but I think it would be nice to make a quick reference topic about this. Each of the three major candidates have relatively unique proposals for how to cover the over 40 million Americans without insurance. I know McCain's side of it, so I will add that to the topic soon, what I would like to get from you guys is information on Obama and Hillary in regards to their UHC plans. I'll grab the major parts of it and edit them into this post so that people have a similar reference topic to health care as the sticky that covers the other major issues. After we get a consolidation of information here (or before) we can start debating on whose plan is the best.

Edit: Combining this into two posts.

Show canceled as of March 28[/color]



Something Random This Way comes is my new show on GWRadio. Each week I will play two hours of music, the first hour will be MYSTERY MUSIC and the second hour will be classical. If you have requests for either of these, I would be happy to play something by artists you request so long as you get the request to me by the day before I play the show. Once the show starts, the playlist is locked in. Click the image to tune in.

Show times: Fridays 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Shows:

Hope to see you in #music!