OHR Multicart Compilation

Make games! Discuss those games here.

Moderators: Bob the Hamster, marionline, SDHawk

User avatar
Willy Elektrix
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 910
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:30 pm

Post by Willy Elektrix »

The criticisms of my proposed history are fair. They definitely pose a question: Do we want a believable history or a more entertaining one?

I agree that it is unrealistic that 2 people could have made all the games. At the time of writing, I didn't think that mattered. I do think some character should lead the project, but maybe they should have a larger team.

Whatever story we come up with will feature prominently in the game's marketing material.
Last edited by Willy Elektrix on Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Foxley
Metal Slime
Posts: 832
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:54 pm

Post by Foxley »

I'm going to be brutally honest, I think the invented fake backstory feels forced and is not adding anything to the release. The handful of people not associated with this community who I've shown the proposed backstory to have all responded negatively to it.

I'd feel a lot more confident about including months of hard work on my part if focus was done on recreating an 80s/90s visual aesthetic for fake box art. Fake box art works, because you can faithfully imitate an aesthetic from a specific time period, whereas the proposed backstory is trying to invent a fake historic occurrence with flimsy and forced logic (e.g. how do you recover like 100MB of game files from a 1.44MB floppy disk), and it reads like a bad creepypasta without the creepy part.

I really don't want to be an slime about this, but I just do not feel comfortable associating my work with something being presented in this manner. I hope you'll consider changing the press material to be more WYSIWYG, cop a NES look and feel to the fake box art, and let our games speak for themselves.
User avatar
Bob the Hamster
Lord of the Slimes
Posts: 7658
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:34 pm
Location: Hamster Republic (Ontario Enclave)
Contact:

Post by Bob the Hamster »

I vote for a more believable backstory. The original version of mine was already a little more over-the-top than I think it ought to have been, I just kept with it because I was having fun.

Not to say it shouldn't contain anything strange or silly or creepy, but rather that it should be a little more vague, and a little harder to debunk.

I think it would be ideal if people read it and have a hard time deciding whether it is serious or a joke.
User avatar
kylekrack
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1240
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:58 am
Location: USA
Contact:

Post by kylekrack »

@Foxley: Do you think it would be better to simply give the game that retro look but advertise it explicitly as a new game? I think that angle could definitely work and would probably be less confusing. It seems like there's going to be conflict over the backstory of the project one way or the other. In that case, it might be better to rethink having a fictional backstory altogether.

I'll be honest, I haven't really taken the time to read through everything thoroughly. Because of that, I haven't formed much of an opinion on it. What I have noticed is, it's been confusing and all over the place and I'm not entirely sure what's going on. Ultimately, I'm just here to offer what I can to the project and try not to step on any toes. However, there are other angles the advertisement of the multicart could take. Before anything is settled on, perhaps some more brainstorming should take place. Just to see what the options are and maybe discover something everyone likes better.

EDIT: Also, side note, I have nothing for the sounds and music in my game. Any recommendations there?
Last edited by kylekrack on Tue Mar 28, 2017 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
User avatar
Newbie Newtype
Reigning Smash Champion
Posts: 1873
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:44 pm

Post by Newbie Newtype »

The backstory I suggested in private message I won't spoil, except that I proposed that the game was added as part of the multi-cart, and not developed in-house.

Multi-carts are usually huge messages and do anything to add more content: Developing rudimentary shovelware (often based on arcade classics or web games), using the same game but with a different name to pad lists, literally ROMs of commercial games, graphical hacks of said ROMs or even hacks of their own games to differentiate them with little effort, and various combinations of the above.

Action 52 is a case of all of the games being developed by possibly one person, with frequent copy/paste work going on to pad the quantity of games, but it isn't the only multi-cart in existence. There is no rule dictating that they're all developed by the same person or that they follow a similar line of quality.
<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb
User avatar
Foxley
Metal Slime
Posts: 832
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:54 pm

Post by Foxley »

kylekrack wrote: EDIT: Also, side note, I have nothing for the sounds and music in my game. Any recommendations there?
I made about 50 sound effects, plunder away.

https://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewgame.php?p=125941
User avatar
Willy Elektrix
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 910
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:30 pm

Post by Willy Elektrix »

Foxley wrote:I hope you'll consider changing the press material to be more WYSIWYG, cop a NES look and feel to the fake box art, and let our games speak for themselves.
kylekrack wrote:@Foxley: Do you think it would be better to simply give the game that retro look but advertise it explicitly as a new game? I think that angle could definitely work and would probably be less confusing. It seems like there's going to be conflict over the backstory of the project one way or the other. In that case, it might be better to rethink having a fictional backstory altogether.
Maybe if I explain how this game will be marketed, the need for a story will make a little more sense. Here's the a basic outline of the marketing process.

1) Upload the game to itch.io and GameJolt along with screen shots, a video trailer, and a short blurb describing the multicart concept. In addition to this would be a vastly shortened version of the multicart's history (3 sentences).

2) Create a Steam Greenlight page including screen shots, a video trailer, and a short blurb describing the multicart concept. In addition to this would be a vastly shortened version of the multicart's history (3 sentences).

3) E-mail a press release to blogs and game review sites. This would include the game's entire fictional history.

A strong story or gimmick is imperative for a press release. Gaming sites get countless indie game submissions. Without something to incite curiosity or elicit some kind of emotional response, the game will never get played. Cool box art and screenshots are not enough here.

The story also makes it easier for game websites to write about the game. They don't have to think of anything to say since it is already written for them.

---

I'm not an expert in marketing, but I spent 12 months doing it for Void Pyramid. If someone with some more experience wants to lead this part of the project, I'll gladly let them. I'm also very open to your input here.

---

I can accept that my version of the story might be too wacky. I'm happy to rewrite it, or give someone else the opportunity. However, I do think it has to be interesting. I would rather it be less realistic than to end up sounding generic and forgettable.

Bob's story was a good start toward this. Perhaps we should work on it more?

---

The multi-cart is never going to fool people into thinking they are playing a lost NES game. That's not the point. The point is to make these games more fun by giving them some context. The multi-cart concept is a fantasy that the player will need to suspend their disbelief to enjoy.

I hope this helps get us all on the same page.
Last edited by Willy Elektrix on Tue Mar 28, 2017 11:50 pm, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
Willy Elektrix
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 910
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:30 pm

Post by Willy Elektrix »

The menu is pretty much done. Anyone with a completed game, send me the most recent .rpg file along with your plotscripts. I'll need to include a special script to exit back to the game select screen.

The game select menu has AWESOME music.
Last edited by Willy Elektrix on Wed Mar 29, 2017 1:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Foxley
Metal Slime
Posts: 832
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:54 pm

Post by Foxley »

Just to make sure I didn't have a horrible lapse of memory, I rechecked this thread for any mention of this thing being marketed to the gaming press anywhere in this thread until very recently, and I can't find anything.

So just to be clear, participants in this thing were never told that there'd be any mandatory marketing effort behind it. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the best of intentions, but please understand that making this whole marketing to the gaming press thing mandatory well after the fact is kind of... yeah. Personally, I'm feeling fairly off-put by the nature of this release suddenly changing. And I strongly disagree with giving the gaming press something gimmicky, no matter how lame and forced it is, just to get attention or stand out.

Anyways, I do believe that well done box art and a video trailer for a fake NES multicart, with a "X-in-1" name, will get attention. I mean, it's a neat concept! Proof being that the split second you mentioned it, several people on this forum jumped at the opportunity to participate. All the people in person who I've briefly explained the concept to in just 1-2 sentences have loved the idea. I can't think of the last time someone even made use of a NES multicart concept in an indie release, and Action 52 is wildly popular thanks to guys like AVGN and Vinesauce Joel.

You haven't substantiated that this made up company history spiel is necessary and couldn't be replaced by something completely different or omitted altogether. Yes you did do good marketing for Void Pyramid, and also made probably one of the most popular and well received OHRRPGCE games to date next to Wandering Hamster, but I must point out that you didn't do what you're proposing here with Void Pyramid. And really, Void Pyramid is "Ancient Egypt, but in the future... IN SPACE." You didn't have to oversell it, it's a weird enough concept to get people interested right off the bat. Fantastic game.

Basically, all I can ask is that whatever press material you do, do it under the pretense that this is a self-conscious effort to do something like a NES multicart. Which it is! Go for some early 90s "totally gnarly, dudeically awesome" cheese - skateboards and dinosaurs and palm trees and stuff - and people will eat it up. Make it look like something a cynical 50-something executive would have rubber-stamped in 1992 to appeal to kids, without even knowing how inappropriate the games are for children (e.g. Xeno Xafari has drug references, and my game has deathwork and Pure Evil).

A lame backstory that doesn't hold water is just going to come off as disingenuous and tacky. Seriously, every layperson I've showed it to was like "uhh... okay?" and told me they hated it. I want to be enthusiastic about this thing I've worked my slime off over the past several months on, not like "oh, well, yeah, I made this game for this thing, it's kind of weird and... um, just ignore the whole backstory part..."

Once I'm feeling a bit more focused again - Daylight Savings Time always slimes me up pretty badly - I'll try to be more involved with the marketing material too. Even though it's not my forte, I'd rather be involved than just accept something that I'm not happy with. I'll also see if any friends or acquaintances would be willing to help out with anything.
User avatar
Nathan Karr
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1215
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:51 am
Contact:

Post by Nathan Karr »

No new progress on Trytuges. Last thing I did was map out a few rooms for the first dungeon, but I never placed anything in it - no objects for visual flair, no NPCs, no random encounters. It's got some doors placed but the only door link is the one for making the exit lead back to the overworld. I'm not sure why I can't work on this thing anymore because I remember being really into the project.

I might have to release it as a standalone at some later date. Constant stress from being pressured to move while not having a place to move to is taking its toll on me.

I figured that with its straightforward concept, the memory of the original game's framework in my head, and all the time I had I could get this whole thing done before January. Clearly this has not been the case...even when I have full days off with several hours clear I can't focus on this project long enough to make meaningful progress.
Remeber: God made you special and he loves you very much. Bye!
TMC
Metal King Slime
Posts: 4308
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:19 am

Post by TMC »

Nathan Karr wrote:I figured that with its straightforward concept, the memory of the original game's framework in my head, and all the time I had I could get this whole thing done before January.
What is "the original game"? Was Trytuges inspired by something else?


To be honest, I had some misgivings similar to Foxley*, but couldn't explain what I didn't like. I think I finally figured it out: depending on the tone of the backstory, it could sound like a justification for an Action 52-style multicart of terrible games, rather than a set of serious games with effort put into them. There shouldn't be a fictional backstory which sets the wrong expectation. That doesn't mean it can't be nonsensical, heaps of great games have nonsensical plots and bizzare advertising materials which tell a fiction (and I think Willy's advertising plan sounds fine), but it's maybe not a good idea to use a backstory about how these games were a commercial failure and a disaster. I've never seen any game do something like that when they want to be taken seriously.

* (But I'm also in the same camp as Kylekrack that I haven't read all the backstories; in fact there's quite a lot in this thread that I've missed.)
Last edited by TMC on Wed Mar 29, 2017 11:34 am, edited 8 times in total.
User avatar
MorpheusKitami
Slime Knight
Posts: 218
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:23 pm
Location: Somewhere in America

Post by MorpheusKitami »

Foxley wrote: and it reads like a bad creepypasta without the creepy part.
Shadowcart 5-in-1
In 1992 a small Alaskan village mysteriously received a shipment of NES consoles, containing this cartridge. No one knows if it was the CIA, KGB, MI6 or the DPRK who sent them, but it was clear it was an evil experiment. Children began mysteriously dying by strange animal bites in their own homes. Those that didn't soon felt a variety of strange effects, such as bleeding tears, violent diarrhea, and an itchy nose. Then one day the town's residents just disappeared, and the state police that arrived saw nothing, except the cartridge running on one of the TVs, showing a man dying with hyperrealistic blood. Just as they were leaving the sky turned blood-red and the ground opened up. A demon got out and pointed at the officer before letting out a blood-curdling scream.
Why haven't you heard about this before? Because the government covered it up. The same government ruled over by alien hamsters from Orion's belt. The same hamsters using us as slaves on their methane farms. The same hamsters who assassinated Julius Caesar. Wake-up sheeple.


Joking aside, I get where you're coming from, even if I don't think we should abandon the backstory. Making it less lame and most likely less funny would be for the best. It is a serious effort, so it makes sense if the story reflects that instead of, well, zany hijinks.
TMC wrote:To be honest, I had some misgivings similar to Foxley*, but couldn't explain what I didn't like. I think I finally figured it out: depending on the tone of the backstory, it could sound like a justification for an Action 52-style multicart of terrible games, rather than a set of serious games with effort put into them. There shouldn't be a fictional backstory which sets the wrong expectation. That doesn't mean it can't be nonsensical, heaps of great games have nonsensical plots and bizzare advertising materials which tell a fiction (and I think Willy's advertising plan sounds fine), but it's maybe not a good idea to use a backstory about how these games were a commercial failure and a disaster. I've never seen any game do something like that when they want to be taken seriously.

* (But I'm also in the same camp as Kylekrack that I haven't read all the backstories; in fact there's quite a lot in this thread that I've missed.)
I think I can get behind this. Half the stories do give different expectations than we'd want them to. Mine with the unclear vision in-between zany hitman hijinks and Willy's with the illiterate artist/musician. Largely though, I don't think I can think up an idea for a backstory that would be less lame,
Also, I definitely agree with the last part, and I don't think any of us don't agree with that...which is why in all the written stories the game was unreleased due to it either being different than the product the company asked for, or the company folded due to unrelated reasons.

Sidenote:Star Dartle should be finished later today, tomorrow absolute tops.
User avatar
SwordPlay
Chemical Slime
Posts: 966
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:32 am
Location: London, England
Contact:

Post by SwordPlay »

Out of interest, when do you intend to release this compilation?

I would like to help!
I can playtest, provide feedback, and more!

If there is a little time in it, I might have a crack at making music, and I am fairly decent at writing, so maybe I can throw a few jokes or ideas in? I also wanted to submit a game or 2, but possibly in a future multicart (which would be awesome, btw)

I know you don't really want a strangers help. That's okay. You hardly know me!
For all you know, I'm a liability and a burden, with bad, poor judgement and an axe to grind. You don't want me anywhere near your game, name, reputation, work etc.
I assure you that I am a reasonably cool guy :) I played a lot of video games in my time and am a massive geek/nerd. RPGs are one of my favourite genres, and retro aesthetic is deeply beloved by me.

Your games all look great anyway, and I'm sure they'll stand on their own merit, both individually and collectively. It's not like you need my help anyway!
My only concern is that rushing will make OHRRPGCE and the community look bad. Which it really isn't!
I know for a fact that you lot are full of bucket-loads of talent, and prodigious genius!

You are great designers, artists, coders and more! You can make a really REALLY solid multicart. At the moment, I don't know if it will garner the critical acclaim that you folks are worthy of. Most of the games I tried aren't complete. That's okay, I'm sure they'll be fixed up in time. You are probably feeling a little insulted right now. Imagine how harsh critics will be!

Please allow me to help a little, in some way. I know you don't know me, maybe I can provide some proof of my ability to do more than get in the way of your momentous efforts?

I would love the opportunity to help your efforts receive the praise and merit they deserve!

EDIT: I know this is close to the deadline or release date or whatever. That's fine. Can always wait until the next project! I don't really feel like rushing (my creative process) so it might be better for me to wait until the next opportune time.
Last edited by SwordPlay on Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
"Imagination. Life is your creation."
User avatar
Newbie Newtype
Reigning Smash Champion
Posts: 1873
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:44 pm

Post by Newbie Newtype »

If you like, I'm going to need some music and it doesn't need to be for the deadline.
<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb
User avatar
Foxley
Metal Slime
Posts: 832
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:54 pm

Post by Foxley »

MorpheusKitami wrote:Shadowcart 5-in-1
In 1992 a small Alaskan village mysteriously received a shipment of NES consoles, containing this cartridge. No one knows if it was the CIA, KGB, MI6 or the DPRK who sent them, but it was clear it was an evil experiment. Children began mysteriously dying by strange animal bites in their own homes. Those that didn't soon felt a variety of strange effects, such as bleeding tears, violent diarrhea, and an itchy nose. Then one day the town's residents just disappeared, and the state police that arrived saw nothing, except the cartridge running on one of the TVs, showing a man dying with hyperrealistic blood. Just as they were leaving the sky turned blood-red and the ground opened up. A demon got out and pointed at the officer before letting out a blood-curdling scream.
Why haven't you heard about this before? Because the government covered it up. The same government ruled over by alien hamsters from Orion's belt. The same hamsters using us as slaves on their methane farms. The same hamsters who assassinated Julius Caesar. Wake-up sheeple.
Not gonna lie, I seriously liked this more.
Post Reply