Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Jan 18, 2005 1:07:06 GMT -5
Okay, so my plans for my game are mostly done. The story is planned out (certain parts aren't written down because my ideas have recently improved since I last wrote them); I have an idea of what sort of puzzles I'll put in, though I'll have to look into it furthur; my CBS that I'm hoping is possible isn't really finished through planning, as I just have an idea of the basic structure, but haven't thought up the different attacks and enemies. Oh, and I also mapped out on paper where each of my custom graphics will be in my sprite sets (using RPGM1).
The Good News: I like making progress. When I'm working on a game, most of the time, I'm really into the flow. Just recently I tried making something random on RPGM1, and I didn't want to stop working on it. I figured at first it was because I liked being spontaneous, but it turns out I like making progress.
The Bad News: I apparently don't count working on the battle system, getting the plans down, and creating the graphics as making progress, and for the most part I don't get anywhere in this area (and the same can be said for the World Map editor in RPGM2, but I'm using RPGM1 right now). Any time I try to do any of that, I get really hesitent and wind up passing the time away by doing something not related to creating my game. I'm good at coming up with certain ideas (when I do, I literally pace back and forth lightly talking to myself about "oh, maybe if I do this" and "this might be cool"), but when it comes to doing these things here, everything comes to a screeching halt.
I always look back at Jester's Hunt, and wonder how the heck I was able to get anywhere at all. I could do that stuff later, but the last 3/4 of the game relies on me having graphics done and the battle system working (mostly because I need to know how much memory I'm using before and at that point), and I'd hate to create empty dungeons at first. I really want to get this stuff done, but I can't. I'm sure there are parts of development that you guys really hate doing. What do you guys do to get yourself working on those parts? That is, to jump in head-first?
EDIT: Actually, maybe I just don't like doing those three things enough to get started in them. I haven't really tried them enough to know if they're one of those things that I can't stop doing once I get started. Not recently, anyway. Creating a CBS is a pain (past experience doesn't help), I'm not the best artist in the world, and I'd rather get working on the game itself without having to plan first (one of the reasons why I was able to get into that spontaneous game I tried creating; stopped because ideas started flooding in my head and I didn't want it to become such a big idea that I'd want to actually make a big game out of it; that's what happened with Something Stupid IX, and that's what happened with the game I'm trying to work on now).
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Jan 18, 2005 0:35:36 GMT -5
Yay, I can finally post mine now that I'm working on something. (Not playable yet, but since I've been working on it for at least three weeks, and even though over half that time was spent doing nothing, I'm optimistic.)
10 hours? I'm not completely sure. Especially since I'm trying to use a CBS, and I'm not sure how long the average battle will wind up taking. And there are a couple other things I haven't decided on (like battle and puzzle frequency).
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Jan 17, 2005 23:59:45 GMT -5
I usually would create a second save if the scene I was just at was so cool that I might want to have it in case I'd want to see it again. Or in the case of Golden Sun (where after the credits, you create a save that can't be used until the next game), right before the final battle. Sometimes I might reset and use the last save if I wanted to see what would've happened if I had made the other choice, instead of having to go through the whole game again to find out. Or if I missed my chance at catching the one-time only Legendary Pokemon (actually, I think Nintendo actually encouraged you to do that in their guides). Let me tell you though, in games like Paper Mario 2, where you can only save in the file you chose at the start, well, that kinda sucked not being able to do things like fight the final boss of Chapter 3 or watch the cannon scene over again. Which reminds me, why don't games have an option where you can watch old scenes over again or allow you to listen to music previously heard? They can't take up too much memory.
Anyway, as for when you can save, I say anytime on the world map (rarely would there be an instance when saving on the world map wouldn't be a good idea). One in a town, especially if you can't save on the world map or if there isn't one, more in the town in the town has a dungeon underneath like Figaro in Final Fantasy 6 or actually is a dungeon (and is big enough). In dungeons, near the start (if no saving in world map). The rest of the dungeon would depend on size and shape. Maybe one in the middle, especially right before or right after a tough puzzle. And one close to a boss fight, though not too close; gotta have some penalty for dying, so you might as well have the player do a little work to get back to the boss. Also, saves should be after important events or after or in the middle of really long story sequences (like at the end of a disk/memory card or in a sequence like Cloud's Flashback in FF7).
Or, one could have save anywhere, but when the file is loaded the player is put back in the beginning of the dungeon, like in pretty much every Zelda game.
Oh yeah, and if battles aren't random, saves can be spread furthur apart, being used only in certain special cases like bosses or long scenes, or if puzzles reset (DON'T EVER DO THAT) or have to be undone to head back, or if the last save is a long walk away regardless of there being no random battles.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Dec 16, 2004 13:41:03 GMT -5
Wow, this was a big read, but worth it. Nice stuff you got there. Nothing I really need to comment on. Mostly because there's too much to comment on, but none if it's bad.
I myself would've had generic models for each class/archtype with important characters looking different, as in my experience knowing when I see an important character isn't that big of a deal. Sure, I know that the new guy is probably stronger than the rest and I'd base my strategy off of that, but most of the time I see a new guy, he already is playing an important speaking role before or in the battle anyway. Still, having somewhat random models sounds interesting enough, and I guess at least the unimportant characters won't look so generic that they become boring.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Jan 27, 2005 16:21:41 GMT -5
Actually, several of the bosses in the last chapter of Mario RPG had sudden death moves (Boomer, Ding-A-Ling, and Smithy), so the Quartz Charm came in a bit handy, even if you were already at Smithy when you got it. True that the item wasn't totally necessary if you were able to beat Culex, but not totally useless.
Reminds me of the Omni Mask in Zelda: Majora's Mask. Totally made the final battle a disappointment.
As for the reward, something unlockable like a Developer's Comments or maybe the ability to rewatch all the cinemas you've seen in the game without having to play through again.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 17, 2004 23:25:46 GMT -5
I tried making Gobli for RPG Maker 2. I haven't worked on it in the longest time, nor was it very far along (I got the character models down and a few places; the hardest to remake being the forest areas), but it's still on my memory card.
There's nothing wrong with remaking an old game, actually. It's a nice challenge to see if you can create something as good as, if not better than, the original version. Sometimes it's easier to do than others. I mean, just about anybody can remake the first Final Fantasy with an improved storyline.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 16, 2004 21:06:36 GMT -5
Hmm... I thought I already replied to this. It was either another topic, or this was when my computer froze like it always does when I take my time posting long messages and I gave up on posting.
Anyway, my best minigame has to be the dog-sled racing minigame in Jester's Hunt, hands down. Though it wasn't really a racing minigame so much as an obstacle course. You were alone on the track, and you had to simply get to the other end of the course without running into the trees. It wasn't auto-movement either; you moved to the left by pressing left, and while you could move up and down a space, you could only do so once before having to move left again. But it's still my favorite.
I can't give away every detail of how I got it to work, but getting it to work was pretty difficult. I essentially had to keep track of the coordinates of the player by using switches, and changing the switch every time the player moved (there are no variables in RPGM1; and while you could use items like variables, you couldn't check how many items you had, whether you wanted to know how many in general, or how many you have of a certain item). In total, I think I used up 70 switches or so.
A bunch of other stuff was invovled of course, and it was pretty difficult. The most difficult part was getting the hit detection down, making sure that hitting every tree will result the same way: losing the "race." But when I finally got this thing working, the effort was very much worth it. Also, this was one of the (if not THE) first mini-games I tried creating for JH1, and yet it's one of the last you play in the game. Before I got too far, I had to make this game near the start of my work, so that I knew whether it would work or not. And so it did, and it still is an impressive (for RPGM1) mini-game.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Dec 11, 2004 22:29:36 GMT -5
I kinda had the same idea with one of my games. Problem is, the game has to be finished first. The idea does sound cool, though. Getting high scores in games died out quite some time ago, until developers started doing the online ranking deal. I know at the Pav there was a high score topic for Wario Ware.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Jan 18, 2005 0:13:07 GMT -5
Erm, I don't know. If status effects did stuff to your stats as well as your health/movement, that could be both good or bad. It was an interesting idea with the stone, but the rest of the bad status effects sound like they all lower stats, so that would just be more the reason to heal them (when usually for something like Poison I don't bother with it until it's either a real problem or after the battle when I have an easy opportunity).
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Jan 18, 2005 0:27:16 GMT -5
I think Chrono Trigger did this if you went into Lavo's Core and lost, where it showed Lavos doing it's attack and the military failing, and then a screen saying something along the lines of "But They Couldn't Change A Thing". It was really cool, but it was only for that special occasion. And it was probably only done when you tried fighting him at an impossible stage (I tried, and he did one attack that did 9999 damage when my party was between 500-600 Max HP). In Paper Mario 2, there were two decisive points in the game (one optional; good thing I saved right before I tried it) where making the obviously wrong decision resulted in a small event right before the game over appeared.
I too have been thinking of doing something beyond a simple game over screen. Not nearly as expansive as the Game Over in Chrono Trigger, and it would only happen in a small portion of the game where the small event that would happen would make sense.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 16, 2004 10:40:47 GMT -5
Back when I was creating Jester's Hunt, creating the semi-realtime battles was very difficult (not so much the bosses). After trying to decide which of the few models work best where, and figuring out what sort of attacks they could have and the animations that would go with them, I then had to... Make sure they died when their HP reached zero... Mr. Knight died when his HP reached 0... Make it so you could use certain attacks only when you learned them... Make sure that if Mr. Knight's MP was 0, that attacks that used MP could no longer be used... Make sure that all status affects worked... Make sure that all the monsters were revived after crossing the "respawn points" I created (some enemies were duplicates of others, and I had to create these point so that defeating one enemy wouldn't result in all its duplicates being defeated)...
There was a lot to keep track of. It became easier after the first few monsters (once you get the framework down, it's easy to edit each one a little to make it more unique), but it was still a long and hard process. Didn't help that some key features for these battles had to be faked because of a lack of some things in RPGM1.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 11, 2004 1:09:55 GMT -5
I'm not real far (AT ALL), but the hardest thing for me will probably be creating the CBS. Especially giving everyone their attack animations (I had to come up with this idea that one ninja character has blade-shoes, and uses the flip to attack). Doesn't help that the majority of the RPGM2 character models don't have animations that involve raising only one arm.
Inspiration? The graphics of RPGM2. I wanted to create a game with a non-comic storyline, despite the LEGO look and usually bright colors.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 11, 2004 0:54:07 GMT -5
Story is important, though not necessary. It definately has to be fun to play. Or at least addicting. IMO, the Dragon Warrior games usually aren't that fun, but for some reason (with the exception of DW2 and 7), I find myself coming back for more. Same can be said about the first FF. Not fun compared to today's standards, but, at least with the Origins edition, the game has me hooked.
But just because fun/addictiveness is so necessary doesn't mean the other stuff can't help make things even better. Look at Golden Sun for example. The gameplay was great (though I'm a little tired of having to spend hours in an area fighting monsters to get enough money for new equipment), as were the graphics and sound. The problem was, the story never really picked up after the somewhat cool events that happened at Vale and Soul Sanctum. Now, I understand the story was supposed to continue in the next game (although from a different point of view), but even in the next game, you get hit by the ending without anything truly exciting going on. Even so, I'm sure Golden Sun wouldn't have been that great had it had the same graphic and sound quality of, say, the Breath of Fire GBA ports. The gameplay still would've rocked, but the game just wouldn't have that same oomph.
BTW, is anybody else tired of how RPGs give you rediculously easy monsters at the beginning and wind up making it necessary to heal every chance you get by the end of the game? It makes it so the Healer is forced to do nothing but, well, heal, when we could be using that character for something else. It may give the illusion that the game is getting more difficult (and I suppose it is, for an extent), but it isn't really doing anything more than making you heal a little more often. That really needs to be changed. Don't really need to change the fact that later monsters usually take more hits, though that could help a bit. Maybe later monsters would require the use of a Scan-like ability, to detect weak points of a monster, or maybe learn how certain monsters move so it would be easier to dodge (if even partially) their attacks.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 13, 2004 10:58:55 GMT -5
Actually, I'm kinda thinking of making "boxes" to show off with the game (I know Dave Carter does the same thing).
Anyway, it'd be like other game boxes, with a short description of the game, a small list of features, and 2 or 3 screenshots.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 11, 2004 15:44:26 GMT -5
True, but the option to add a few things to the menu is a major plus.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Oct 27, 2004 23:34:56 GMT -5
Finished with what? The plans? No. I might get some work done tomorrow. Now that the Pav contests have been announced, I can really focus on making this game into one great game.
BTW, since this isn't really my "official" forum, I won't really be posting any new info here. Any new info that appears, will be at my Great Dragon Gaming forum at the Mag (www.rpgmmag.com, for those who don't know). Don't worry, I'll mention when new info is up.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Oct 23, 2004 22:45:04 GMT -5
Planning on it. He is a very important character, so it's just about a necessity to see what exactly is going on with him. Whether you'll see him do more than just plotting against the hero, I haven't really thought of just yet. I am going to make it a priority that you get to know the thief, though. I really don't like it when you learn who the villain is, but don't learn much about him (where he came from, the personality under the evil veil, etc.) besides the fact you have to stop him.
I believe I have given him a good reason for his "tyranny", and actually will be an important element of the story if I can pull it off right.
Kinda funny how you say "almost". Considering it's very possible to defeat the thief's monsters, one would assume that people would have started a rebellion a long time ago. Sure, the fact that he is ultra-powerful has something to do with it (his general hates him, but he's not foolish enough to try to take on the thief), but there is another reason.
Also, I don't plan on having a particularily large cast of characters. There's the thief and his general, and a few other characters including the hero, plus maybe some minor characters, but that's it. The problem with having a large cast is, it makes it hard to come up with varying personalities. I'm still a bit inexperienced with establishing personalities, so I wanted to start with a small cast of characters for easy practice.
Actually, what I meant was that he was living like a king, with a golden palace, carpeting, statues, the works. Didn't intend for it to be funny. Actually, this game won't be a comedy at all. I want to try my luck at creating an epic RPG on RPGM2, despite the bright, LEGO-like appearances (already got the brightness toned down at least). Hopefully, since this supposed to be a world being cast into poverty, I'll be able to show it as such without putting in too much mid- to upper-class richness in the game. There will be some humor, but mostly as needed comedy relief.
Which part? The ruler of the world part, or the 4 [insert magical artifact here] part? I wanted him to be ruler of the world for a reason. Partly because I've seen the theme used a lot less than the regular "save the world from guy intent on destorying it" theme. Actually, this world isn't in any danger of being destroyed at all (save for minor threats from monsters); it's just getting to be a world in poverty. The meteorite idea was a hard idea to choose, though. Initially, I wanted to completely avoid the whole magical artifacts scenario, but then I couldn't really find any other way to make the villain come into such power. If the thief was just someone who trained himself to become a powerful sorcerer, wouldn't you think there would be others in the world who would have done the same and at least be close to his power? That would pretty much make questing around the world entirely pointless. The heroes would simply band together and head straight to the thief's front door.
I won't really say. He could have some sort of relations with the thief, or he could be some random hero that's actually trying to do something about the thief's rule. But then, without a character that has relations to the thief, the story wouldn't be as interesting. I won't say who the character is, of course. Maybe the hero, maybe one of the more important villains.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Oct 22, 2004 16:48:30 GMT -5
I figure I might as well contribute to this board, even though I haven't made an announcement at my forum. Since this is a small board (compared to other places, I mean) and I don't have a lot to post, though, it won't be that big a deal.
Anyway, this is a game I want to create for RPG Maker 2. Please note the word "want". Those who know me well enough know that I have an absolutely terrible time seeing a project of mine through all the way (I think I'm up to 22 failed projects and 1 finished project, but I lost count).
Anyway again, I don't have much planned right now. Mostly because I don't have the full possible enemy list completed. I want to create a CBS (not using the DBS at all), which means all characters and monsters have to be character models. There aren't many character models that can be used as monster models (models such as the werewolf, the turtle-thing, and the Boss A and Boss B), though a little recoloring can make some of the models look like completely new models. Soon as I finish with the list, including the recolored creations, I can use them to come up with my story (such as using the demon monster in a volcano, or maybe the succubus model can be a boss).
The battle system itself will be the simple parties line up on each side and take turns hitting each other battle system. I'm getting rid of the terrible put in commands of whole party deal and having each member's command window pop up when it's their turn (it will be turn-based, no ATB system). I'm also going to include a little customization feature, but it's not terribly important. The main focus on creating this game will be the story (I won't skimp on the gameplay, though).
I have come up with a few pieces of story that doesn't need such information, mostly the intro. Here's the general synopsis of what I've got so far:
Six years ago (maybe), a small meteor entered the world's atmosphere, and broke apart into four small pieces and a large one. The four small pieces were scattered around the world (of course), while the large one landed near a thief fleeing from some guards. The meteor is a source of magical power, and the thief uses it to get away, and later, take over the world. Back to present time - the thief is still ruling the world, and is living inside a large palace made up of gold and other royal-quality stuff. Meanwhile the rest of the world has been slowly being thrown into poverty, due to the thief's greediness. To prevent any sort of rebellion, he has created monsters from his riches (finally, a reason you get money from monsters!) to scout the world to keep people from causing trouble, yet that doesn't stop them from being general run-of-the-mill monsters. One can only hold control over the monsters when there aren't so many of them.
Meanwhile, a man wanders into a busy town (remember, the world isn't completely in poverty yet). He is being hunted down by the thief's monsters and best general. Why? Because he knows the secret to defeating the thief.
It kinda felt good talking about the game. Kinda makes me want to go work on it.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 14, 2004 16:10:40 GMT -5
Item/magic combinations probably have been done, but it's still pretty interesting. Especially when you've never seen it done.
Myself, I can't think of anything that makes my games truly unique. Nothing besides simple bragging rights (such as making one of the only Banjo-Kazooie style games on RPGM1). /brag
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Oct 19, 2004 15:35:59 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I would be able to remember what it's like having the imagination and playfulness of a child enough to make a game about such a thing.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Nov 14, 2004 16:05:14 GMT -5
Technically, four worlds. It all takes place in one world, but each "chapter" takes place in one area of a world (simply consisting of a town and a dungeon). There wasn't really any need for a world map or long travels between places in a game like this.
Thief of Magic will only have one world, though.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Oct 30, 2004 22:26:46 GMT -5
It's mostly because you have something to show, and it's something worth showing. (The fact that the original boost in popularity was because of a video of a drawbridge kinda helped.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Oct 23, 2004 21:50:33 GMT -5
Ah, that's not so bad. I thought you meant you'd have to press [] after the last enemy dies to register the fact that you've won, not get out of the XP-gained screen.
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Post by Draygone on Oct 22, 2004 16:10:01 GMT -5
There has got to be a way to end the battles without pressing [].
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Draygone
RPGM2 Helper
Founder and CEO of Great Dragon Gaming
Posts: 207
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Leaving
Sept 19, 2007 12:11:20 GMT -5
Post by Draygone on Sept 19, 2007 12:11:20 GMT -5
Likewise.
As for the RPGM2 games on the main site, we at the Mag will be happy to host them if you can't, given permission from the original creators. Even if they aren't finished. *winks at Doan*
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