As it is getting near time to start full development of Survival III, I figured it would be time to start a development blog of this game. Also, since Survival II is still not 100% in the go yet, this blog will double as a development blog for it as well.
Aside from the periodic updates of Survival III, I will also be posting lore and other info that I have created for the Survival series. Before I start, I will clarify this though: there will not be any lore related directly to the plot of Survival II or III in this topic. All lore will be extended universe material. It may factor in the atmosphere and flavor of the games, but there will be no story spoilers in this topic.
That said, I will accept any questions or comments regarding any information posted here. I may not clarify some things if it spoils the story, but beyond that I will answer anything you might want to know about.
Without further adieu-
11/5/13
For my first update, I will direct you to the test play video I had done for Survival III, uploaded about a week ago. NOTE: Any and all videos regarding Survival III will also be under the game's page in the RPG Maker VX Ace section in RM Vault.
As of right now, my work on Survival III is limited for two reasons. The lesser reason is that I do not own the full version of VX Ace yet, and as such I am on the Trial version. But until then I am going for a good working tech demo that will be representative of the full game when it is done. The second reason is, simply, I will not do so until Survival II is finished.
As you may have noticed, it looks quite different from the MagCon Demo I had sent in back at MagCon Prime '13. At the time I had only been working on the Lite version which, for those of you who don't know, limits you greatly in exchange for being free. While you can do many things such as using custom tiles, the demo really showed Lite's limitations. For one, there can only be 10 events on a given map. This is why there were so few enemies. Custom scripts are disabled, so I couldn't modify the game in any way.
That is all in the past now, though. For the computer that I was using lost its HDD, and here is me not backing up the SIII demo. It kinda made me nostalgic for the days back in the early 2000s when my crummy third party PSOne memory card would delete my RPGM1 saves. It still stings knowing I lost a total of at least 1200 hours on Varmilia.
Still, when I got into VX Ace again, I was able to activate the Trial version, and have been making the most out of it since. I know I could have used this time to make a new game, but Survival III was calling me.
On to Survival II-
Let me start by saying: I will no longer be giving out release dates. That is not to say that it is going to be a long time from now- on the contrary, I plan on releasing it very soon- but I, like many others, have had a bad history with not releasing games (*cough*MENCARAREVELLE*cough*). So I'd rather just get it done instead of leading everyone who have patiently waited for this game by the nose and giving false hopes. It happened last year when Ix released Survival's 10th Anniversary Edition, and I'd like to avoid repeating the same thing again.
So, what am I doing with Survival II at this moment? I'm sure you're wondering!
Well, in the 5 years that I have been calmly plucking away at this thing, it has become a sorta obsession with me. Anyone who heard me talk about it in the chat kinda has the idea that I had this obsession. For one, I have written enough lore and material to fill a book or two. Granted, half of it is unimportant fluff that would probably never factor into the games, but its there nonetheless.
Also, I let my biggest enemy grab ahold of this game: perfectionism. He got Varmilia and Mencara Revelle (Mencara Revelle the game AND novel) and he sure as hell got Survival II. Ever heard the saying that perfectionism is a gift and a curse? It's not a gift; if it was, my games would have been released.
Then again, there is a mindset I got back when I first started, and it is still relevant today. I figured if I was still using a decade-old medium where to play the games people would have to go through the trouble of going through a 12-step program just to play a single game, I was going to make it worth their time. I mean, they would need to put away their Xbox 360s and hook up and dust off a console (or emulator) 3 (now 4) console generations past their prime.
Right now I am putting the finishing touches on Survival II. I am also trying to get the last few bits of custom art for it, so the delaying of this game is partly a waiting game on my end as well. So right now I am using any downtime for bug-fixing... and trying to resist the urge to change things.
Coming soon: All of the ideas I had axed from Survival II.
Aside from the periodic updates of Survival III, I will also be posting lore and other info that I have created for the Survival series. Before I start, I will clarify this though: there will not be any lore related directly to the plot of Survival II or III in this topic. All lore will be extended universe material. It may factor in the atmosphere and flavor of the games, but there will be no story spoilers in this topic.
That said, I will accept any questions or comments regarding any information posted here. I may not clarify some things if it spoils the story, but beyond that I will answer anything you might want to know about.
Without further adieu-
11/5/13
For my first update, I will direct you to the test play video I had done for Survival III, uploaded about a week ago. NOTE: Any and all videos regarding Survival III will also be under the game's page in the RPG Maker VX Ace section in RM Vault.
As of right now, my work on Survival III is limited for two reasons. The lesser reason is that I do not own the full version of VX Ace yet, and as such I am on the Trial version. But until then I am going for a good working tech demo that will be representative of the full game when it is done. The second reason is, simply, I will not do so until Survival II is finished.
As you may have noticed, it looks quite different from the MagCon Demo I had sent in back at MagCon Prime '13. At the time I had only been working on the Lite version which, for those of you who don't know, limits you greatly in exchange for being free. While you can do many things such as using custom tiles, the demo really showed Lite's limitations. For one, there can only be 10 events on a given map. This is why there were so few enemies. Custom scripts are disabled, so I couldn't modify the game in any way.
That is all in the past now, though. For the computer that I was using lost its HDD, and here is me not backing up the SIII demo. It kinda made me nostalgic for the days back in the early 2000s when my crummy third party PSOne memory card would delete my RPGM1 saves. It still stings knowing I lost a total of at least 1200 hours on Varmilia.
Still, when I got into VX Ace again, I was able to activate the Trial version, and have been making the most out of it since. I know I could have used this time to make a new game, but Survival III was calling me.
On to Survival II-
Let me start by saying: I will no longer be giving out release dates. That is not to say that it is going to be a long time from now- on the contrary, I plan on releasing it very soon- but I, like many others, have had a bad history with not releasing games (*cough*MENCARAREVELLE*cough*). So I'd rather just get it done instead of leading everyone who have patiently waited for this game by the nose and giving false hopes. It happened last year when Ix released Survival's 10th Anniversary Edition, and I'd like to avoid repeating the same thing again.
So, what am I doing with Survival II at this moment? I'm sure you're wondering!
Well, in the 5 years that I have been calmly plucking away at this thing, it has become a sorta obsession with me. Anyone who heard me talk about it in the chat kinda has the idea that I had this obsession. For one, I have written enough lore and material to fill a book or two. Granted, half of it is unimportant fluff that would probably never factor into the games, but its there nonetheless.
Also, I let my biggest enemy grab ahold of this game: perfectionism. He got Varmilia and Mencara Revelle (Mencara Revelle the game AND novel) and he sure as hell got Survival II. Ever heard the saying that perfectionism is a gift and a curse? It's not a gift; if it was, my games would have been released.
Then again, there is a mindset I got back when I first started, and it is still relevant today. I figured if I was still using a decade-old medium where to play the games people would have to go through the trouble of going through a 12-step program just to play a single game, I was going to make it worth their time. I mean, they would need to put away their Xbox 360s and hook up and dust off a console (or emulator) 3 (now 4) console generations past their prime.
Right now I am putting the finishing touches on Survival II. I am also trying to get the last few bits of custom art for it, so the delaying of this game is partly a waiting game on my end as well. So right now I am using any downtime for bug-fixing... and trying to resist the urge to change things.
Coming soon: All of the ideas I had axed from Survival II.
Comment