Hamster Burrow Monthly Roundup - January

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TheCube
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Hamster Burrow Monthly Roundup - January

Post by TheCube »

Sorry for the silence around these parts lately! I'm still working on the Burrow, but school and work have slowed me down quite a bit unfortunately. Without further adue, here is the Burrow's monthly roundup!

<b>January Roundup</b>

First up, there's <a href="http://hamsterburrow.blogspot.com/2013/ ... wskivich's Rules of Game Design</a>, in which Meowskivich tells us the rules he always looks at with every step of the design process.

In another game design article entitled <a href="http://hamsterburrow.blogspot.com/2013/ ... .html">The Seductive Sorcery of the Magikarp</a>, Adam Perry AKA Mogri dissects a specific game design trope that has been (mis)used for as long as RPGs have been around, and how to use it properly.

Next, I wrote the first edition of <a href="http://hamsterburrow.blogspot.com/2013/ ... ">Trawling the Forums</a>, a recurring series that will focus on helpful resources buried in the SS and Castle Paradox forums.

Of course, the big news of January was the <a href="http://hamsterburrow.blogspot.com/2013/ ... tml">Heart of the OHR Contest Results - 2012 Edition</a>, compiled lovingly by Pepsi Ranger.

Finally, just a quick reminder to check out the <a href="http://hamsterburrow.blogspot.com/2013/ ... ">Littlest Game Contest</a> that Mogri is running.

<b>February's Theme and also Other Stuff I Think Of, Too</b>

Going into February, I hope to personally write the 2nd part of the Guide to the OHR, and perhaps an in-depth review or two. I also plan on doing a couple of interviews, so that all looks good so far.

As far as article submissions, right now I'm looking for <b>Sprite stuff</b>, either beginner's guides to spriting in OHR, lists of tools, actual free sprites to use, or anything else you can think of. Thanks to Wobbler for this suggestion!

Finally, if you have any suggestions for next month's theme, help me out by posting it here. And remember, you can always submit any articles at all, not just ones that fit the theme. Reviews especially are always welcome.

That's all!
Last edited by TheCube on Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Meowskivich »

I dig the magikarp article.
And might I ask why equipping gogo with the cursed shield won't work? I haven't got that far in the game myself, but I figure I'd ask those who know.

Oh snap, I just realized I forgot to do something for this month. Of course, we were supposed to do it interview style, cube. :p
That retrospective or whatever it was called.

And I guess the sprites thing could work, since we're already buzzing about it in the general threads.

Perhaps I could give some sneak peeks and all that at merciful mungbeans? or better yet, cube, I could give you a demo later this month for you to show off the first half of the game. What do ya say?
It's a sort of wip name, but the game itself has all foes already drawn for it, and the first half of the game is drawn up and puzzles have been planned.
I suppose I aught to explain a bit more, Merciful Mungbeans is a turn-based RPG made using the nightlies, it's somewhat short, and will not include saving. It'll essentially be taking the place at the end of a story, but it won't just leave you hanging, you can sorta fill in the lore with your imagination in the game, but the graphics are pseudo-monochromatic.

Send me a PM if you're interested.
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Post by Mogri »

Meowskivich wrote:And might I ask why equipping gogo with the cursed shield won't work?
Because Final Fantasy 6 is not programmed especially well.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably related to Gogo being unable to use Espers (which is intentional).
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Post by Meowskivich »

He cant' use espers either? That blows. I was totally planning on him being in my team end-game too. :/
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Post by The Wobbler »

Gogo don't need no Espers, he's still overpowered even if his stats aren't as good as some characters. Not that it really matters, half the characters in the game outclass every group of enemies.

Good roundup Cube, I'm glad you're doing these.
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Post by Mogri »

Meowskivich wrote:He cant' use espers either? That blows. I was totally planning on him being in my team end-game too. :/
Gogo inherits the spells known by anyone else in his party. Gogo can also use any of the character-specific commands, and Mimic is the only way to use a specific Esper more than once per battle. You know, if you're the kind of person who likes to waste MP on Espers that aren't Zoneseek, Fenrir, or Golem.

Gogo's inability to equip Espers is only an issue if you're the kind of OCD player who absolutely must have those stat bonuses (or, I guess, if you're the kind of person who REALLY likes summoning Espers). Not even the FF6A postgame content requires that kind of optimization.
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Post by TheCube »

Meowskivich wrote:Oh snap, I just realized I forgot to do something for this month. Of course, we were supposed to do it interview style, cube. :p
That retrospective or whatever it was called.
I spaced on this too. I'm thinking of doing it via email/pm/whatevs instead of instant messaging, mostly so that there's no need for scheduling an actual time. I'll contact you (and Wobbler and 8bifit) once I have an interesting starting question, hopefully in the next day or so.

RE: Mungbeans, a demo would be great, and I could certainly do a short writeup on whatever you've got. Alternately, if you wanna do a video demo or something like that, I'd happily embed that into the Burrow as well. Whatever works for you, just let me know (PM or email works).

Glad you're liking these Wobbler. Mogri suggested that I do it weekly, but I think content is a bit slow for that right now. If things pick up, I might start doing them weekly though. For now I'll stick with monthly.

Is it, like, a cardinal sin that I have never played FF6? I think it might be. I just...don't like Final Fantasy, really. Maybe I would now that I'm a bit older, but DQ has always been more my thing.
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Post by Meowskivich »

DQ brethren! I personally don't like FF3(6) much, but I have it because:
1 - when I was little, and still didn't get the concept of RPGs much (the only RPG I owned was Earthbound), so I was stuck on the Whelk boss at the very start, and I told tales of his fury. I eventually found what game it existed in (FF6, obviously) and...
2 - one random day last year (if by last year, you mean 2011), I was in a game store and I saw it for ~20 bucks, I think, so I got it.

I played it and didn't like it a whole lot, so I just play it here and there, just inching progress, and when I got the world of ruin I started getting more interested, but I forgot to save and lost to umbagogogoagoagogogogogogagoago or whatever that fat green thing is called (pumbaba?) and was stuck at the start right after I caught the fish for Dr. Cid.

Haven't played it since.

p.s. I could nerd all day about DQ games.

p.s.s. I hate games with "restart from last save" features, though FF6 is nicer about it by letting you retain exp, at least. Still, it's a feature I plan on using in AR-PUH-GUH! in later versions, starting from a respawn area rather than game-overing.
Last edited by Meowskivich on Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by TheCube »

To be fair, the only DQ games I have actually finished were the very first one, and DQ9. I've played a LOT of the first DQ Monsters, and then DQ Monsters Joker 1&2. They are some of my favorite RPGs ever.

I played a lot of FFTA as well, probably the only FF game I got really into.

But yeah, I mostly get frustrated with the seeming lack of progress in FF games whenever I got stuck. With DQ, I at least feel like I'm making progress with every single battle.
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Post by msw188 »

Dragon Warrior IV is, I believe, a really well-made early RPG, and I find myself wishing that the remake for Gameboy kept more true to the original, while still adding in the option to control your party in Ch V. Dragon Quest V and VIII are also, in my opinion, pretty rewarding games without being as difficult as the earlier NES games. If you like DQ games, I think you owe it to yourself to finish these three.

Also YES I WANT TO SEE GIANT WHALE FLY ACROSS THE SCREEN TWICE IN ONE BATTLE Gogo is the best.

PS: Actually, I guess double use of Palidor could be useful if the game wasn't so easy.
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Post by Meowskivich »

I was personally insulted by Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, and Dragon Quest 9 was just amazing, and the multiplayer turned out better than expected. It's honestly the only game I really ever expressly went out of my way to obtain for a friend just because I wanted to play it with him, being my roomate and all. I got it for him for his birthday....a few months early. He played it about as obsessivly as I did, and he even reached level 99 on a solo run before the "final" boss.
And if you REALLY want a fantastic spin-off, play Dragon Warrior Monsters 2. Infinite worlds await, and the largest collection of monsters of any of the games, I do believe, unless you count the JAPAN ONLY DQMJ2 pro edition....which came out before DQMJ2 in america and they didn't want to include the updated crap, so poo on squeenix. Seriously, I don't like the jacked-up slander to the series that is the "monster joker" series. Base gameplay is alright, but it's a pitiful joke of what the game series once was, and dumbed down to a retarded extent, and all challenge had become moot.

.......sorry, I tend to get really ranty when that game gets brought up.
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Post by Fenrir-Lunaris »

msw188 wrote:YES I WANT TO SEE GIANT WHALE FLY ACROSS THE SCREEN TWICE IN ONE BATTLE
Wish granted.

Image
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Post by Meowskivich »

Coulda swore the mer-sheep were a friendly bunch. Maybe they just didn't get their afternoon nap on time.

WHALE-PUNCH!
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Post by Valigarmander »

I could definitely do a sprite-making guide (outlining, shading/highlighting, getting the most out of your palette, etc.). I've been meaning to do one at some point anyway.
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Post by msw188 »

Wish granted.
Ah, it's good to know that I have true friends around these parts. That really is beautiful. That said, I ASKED FOR TWICE IN ONE BATTLE should have just double-posted the pic.
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