Wednesday, December 12, 2012

00:00:00:00 - 12/12/2012

Menagerie is released on any site that matters, see the links below.

RPG Maker Pavilion
HBgames
RPGmaker Resource Kit
RPGmakerNet
Omega-Dev
StormXstudios
RPGmakerVXaceNET


Thanks to Cool Dude for the last one.

So yes, Menagerie's counter has hit zero, and the invasion of this game into your mind has begun. Behold ladies and gentlemen, my last RPG Maker Game.

As promised, below is a thread of its own.

Menagerie Beta (0.1.1)


To those whom are untrained to the coarse vernacular of Intelligence, or the creepy undertones of Hellcat, or the sheer oddity of anything I have produced as the Bizarre Monkey, I will only warn you once, abandon any hope of boredom ye who enter here, this is a game built on fun, not graphical splendor.
By the one, the only; Bizarre Monkey.
Behold, my brazen brodettes, its the third IP (that anyone should give a crap about) to leave my mind, and skew forth the dimensions of reality as we know them. If you weren't aware, this game has had many goals, the first of which, was to shatter archetypes, later, I though breaking cliches and twisting tropes would be fun too, if done correctly.

I can not say for sure if I have done it correctly, but what I can say is that this project has run on its rails longer than its welcome, and its time to make its first stop at the public station.

This game is a final testament to my skills as a developer with RPG Maker, it has been groomed for its big day, and it looks oddly official for the bizarre color array, I understand this game won't be for everyone, but I trust those who liked Intelligence will like this as much, or more. If not, please do say so and give me a reason so I can improve.

The road to getting this into tip top shape has been perilous, it has gone through multiple renovations, changing back and forth from VX to VX Ace at least once, multiple item rethinks, countless different battle systems have been tried and neglected, and now finally, I consider it ready for release.

Many times I had been tempted to throw it in the trash, to not look back, but through vigilance and my own ability to reignite my spirit, it has come out exceptionally well, and I am proud to bring you all; the first demo for Menagerie.

In a galaxy like ours, a good way away from Earth, in the Magenta Sector (also known as the Inner Reaches), a pink sun gives light to 6 planets and multiple moons; Draik, Tortooga, Byteopia, Spriteopia, Galaxia and Nadine. On Galaxia, the Myriad readies its machines for conquest of a planet said to be incapable of fighting back, outside of a Menagerie. Most dismiss them as an inconvenience a few well placed time racers could sabotage, but a few higher up in the branded hierarchy know better. The two Director's do not underestimate their opponent, and even abide to the rules of fair conquest. The High Council has said when Galaxia is to begin the invasion, but details are left to the Directorate, the Menagerie is given 12 days to ready themselves.

On Nadine, only a short distance from Galaxia, a dwarf wakes from troubled slumber, and as he begins to try to piece together the dream he had, he is spoken to by a voice, which urges him to cooperate for his own good. Meanwhile, at a tropical desert, a Goblin returns home to be alerted to tragedy, and is then ordered to sail eastward to Evergrove. An elf is convinced to make haste to the dock of her forest habitat. At last, an alien... one of them, is tasked to meet with the dwarf, the elf, and the goblin at the rendezvous point.

The pieces are in place, the Menagerie is formed, the Myriad awaits command, now it is up to 4 brave oddballs to save their planet, and take the fight to an enemy that outnumbers them twenty-five thousandfold.
Name: Fatty McLarge
Race: Dwarf
Class: Druid
Power measure: Derp
Basic Reading of Intelligence: Bright, but not particularly cunning or logical.
Likes: Simplicity, Honesty, His Beard, Food, Insufferable Pricks.
Dislikes: Technology, Complex mechanics, His subconscious, Tofu, Flowery Talk, Superficiality, the temptation of alcohol.
Quote: "Empty! Well aren't you just smug? See how funny it is when you are in pieces!"

Fatty is yes, a Dwarven Druid, trained by elves and thus he has inherited a lot of their ideals that aren't stone cold retarded. Such as drinking is bad, but he is haunted constantly by his subconscious whenever he sees it, and he hates it. He refers to his subconscious as a poison that still lingers despite leaving his body. He also is wary of Technology, especially of which he doesn't understand, such as the space age contraptions Spooky and Fyori often talk in-depth about. He does seem to show some amount of cowardice, often when advised by Spooky, whom he considers his best friend.


Name: Fyori Felicee
Race: Elf (?)
Class: Technician
Power measure: Sparkles
Basic Reading of Intelligence: Brash in some cases, mostly fairly level-headed, on par with Galaxion's in Technological Studies, learns fast in fields of which she shows Interest. Slight Signs of Artistically Influenced Autism.
Likes: Cute Fuzzy fauna, Uranium Theory, Eco-friendly Solutions, meaningful friendship, technological discussion and even more so, practice. Art to some degree.
Dislikes: The harming of innocent creatures for sport, things that dont look adorable to some degree, the dissonance between elves and Dwarves. A fair few Galaxion's, Zardari in particular. Self-centered snobs.
Quote: "I have a perfectly capable slaphand ready if you try anything funny."


Ever since she was young she had developed an uncanny knack for technology, and despite being raised by elves, she failed to become a druid even though she wanted to. She can brashly jump into things without a second thought when it means enough to her, which has ended up in many dire situations.

Name: Gerald Gelati
Race: Goblin
Class: Paladin
Power measure: Courage
Basic Reading of Intelligence: Sort of dull, but he does have his logic.
Likes: Divinium, his friends (Fyori in particular), that he gets to save the world, fairy tales, magic.
Dislikes: Evil stuff especially of the stabbing kind, alcoholic beverages, cowardice, lying, lack of care on his or others part.
Quote: "Jow!"



Gerald is the first and only Goblin paladin in existence, his ambition to follow the divine powers was by what he thought was simple gold, which gave him a really nice feeling. At 15 he left to search the world for how he could feel more of this nice feeling which deviated from his devious instincts as a Goblin, he came one day upon a Cleric who followed Gal'dath, and told him that it probably wasn't gold his kin were finding, it was likely Divinium. The Cleric explained that the "light" was reaching out to him, and that if he wished to fulfill his destiny, he should initiate himself with the "Order of Holy Stuff". He accepted and returned home after 8 years of training and worship. He has a beard and much more grown features, but you can still see the kid underneath. The Halo above his head was placed upon him for a desire to be different and courageous. Many of the Paladin's of the order look up to him with either pride or inspiration.

All that said, he does have his flaws, he isn't too keen on perception, and is brave to a sometimes dangerous degree. He also lets his emotions interfere with practical process, which Spooky claims makes him "sort of a Dangerous Moron."

Name: Spooky Schema
Race: Galaxion (Extraterrestrial)
Class: Mage
Power measure: He doesn't need or want one.
Basic Reading of Intelligence: Incredibly Intelligent, easily able to manipulate people to his bidding, seems to be the only one who fully understands temporal mechanics. Simple thinking and outdated appliances make him sort of cringe a little.
Likes: Clever quick thinking, Getting his way, snappy remarks, Technology to a degree, being right, Temporal Studies, Jolly Fatmen.
Dislikes: Being wrong, walls of dialect which could be summarized in a sentence, lack of forethought, Religious conspiracies, not getting his way, Fast food chains and fast food in general.
Quote: "Oh hey, sup. Was wondering when I'd get some screen time with you alabaster douches chatting each other up like its social hour."

Unlike the three preceding it, his archetype is not uncommon. Spooky is Intelligent but doesn't use fancy wordplay to get that across, he's often fairly rude and comes off as a massive smartypants, but you really come to like him for it. He doesn't like not getting his way especially when it is relevant to his interests. He often uses sarcasm and cutting edge "OH SNAP" technology he invented by "using his brain". His DNA-related Mother is the only person he seems to really look up to and respect as a superior, he does seem to enjoy Fatty's company, and he enjoys being on the same page with Technology as Fyori. He doesn't engage Giddy in conversation often.

Despite his egregious habit of being a Grade A Jerk his heart does seem to be in the right place.
It takes place in the same Universe Intelligence does. The Universe is 400 years younger than it was in Intelligence, dating it back to the earth year of 1652. So it is a sort of prequel to Intelligence, but with a whole different slew of characters and ideas, there are six planets which orbit the pink sun in the Magenta Sector, also known as the Inner Reaches.
- Quick transportation for areas you've already visited.
- Massive but straight forward crafting system, you can craft any item in the game outside of base materials.
- 64 different accessories (called Trophies) which give either flat stats or an effect of some kind, mix and match for potent combos.
- Optional character-based intermissions, you can do them or skip them, and future dialogue will adjust accordingly.
- No Random encounters, there are wandering monsters that give no experience, but are quick to defeat, they don't chase you, and serve as one of multiple ways of getting resources.
- An hours worth of progression content. Will be longer if you do each Intermission, and if you gotta cut down all those trees.
- Expansive gathering system, you can press space bar or enter to harvest multitudes of things, you can clear off dressing tables, empty out crates, bookshelves, ovens, sinks, fireplaces and fridges. Smash down empty shelves, fridges, barrels, crates, urns and oh god. You can harvest blood and energy from lakes, water and all sorts of foliage and shrubbery from cactuses, ferns, big flowers, entire trees and oh lord... you can completely strip beds, deface statues, cut down pillars, pick away at ore veins and probably more i cant remember.
- Experience is rigged to make sure you are fighting things at the level you should be, by the end of the demo you should be level 6, by the end of the game you should be level 17 or above.
- Aesthetic fast-paced sideview battle system with each actor having plenty of variety in their abilities. (especially later in the game.)
- No lag. (Hopefully. ;_;)
- Full of epic picture cutscenes.
- Exhibits my now fairly good writing style, a few coarse words should be expected, but they will be rare, and not normality.
- Colors should meld together better, I've had a lot of practice with color management since Intelligence.
- 123 Items, the majority being crafting materials, but without those the item list still exceeds Intelligence's.
- 32 weapons, 8 of each type, bearing cool effects and all craftable.
- The Nimbus system functions similarly to Intelligence's waypoint system, but with a shiny interface and remote access.
- A Campsite is accessible via Nimbus, which serves as a Hub for shopping, full restoration, and future systems implementation.
- Interesting Boss Battles, though some early ones will seem fairly easy, some later ones will challenge you, all a part of the curve.
- Probably more things I forget.








Official Trailer

Item Tooltips

Alchemy System


If you have RPG maker VX Ace or its RTP installed:




If you don't have RPG Maker VX Ace or its RTP installed:







0.1.0
- Released Beta Demo for Public review.
0.0.3
- Many Bugfixes and end of Alpha phase.
0.0.2
- Fixed some bugs.
Sent out to a few more close friends.
0.0.1
Alpha builds were sent out to the designated testers, who were a few closed friends that were locked into a non-official Non-disclosure agreement.



The order of Credited persons by no means indicates their amount of contribution to the game.

Not all of the art is mine, and I am having trouble tracking down the creators of some things. Do let me know if you notice credit amiss and if you know the illustrator, inform me immediately.

Developers
Bizarre Monkey

Story
Bizarre Monkey

Characters
Bizarre Monkey
Eagleeye11
Sjunior
Orcram

Mapping
Bizarre Monkey
Load Samplemap

Graphics Credits
Aindra
Bizarre Monkey
Celianna
Dkaineru
From_Ariel
Henki
LexusX/Timmah
Lunarea
Megatron X
Mr Bubble
OriginalWij
VIII
Yami
Yanfly

Script Credits
Crazyninjaguy (Also Smith0r, runs StormXstudios. The only two scripts in the project which are his were requested by me personally.)
KilloZappit
Mr Bubble
Nelderson
Nicke (also Niclas)
Originalwij
Pacman
Raizen884
rbahamut
Xcheater
Yami
Yanfly

Music Credits
Boris Salchow
David Bergeaud
Ellen Meijers
Kow Otani
Malcolm Brown
Mark Hadley
Toby "Radiation" Fox

Sound Effect Credits
Bizarre Monkey
Blizzard Entertainment
Daniel Remar
ID SOFTWARE
Insomniac Studios
Kathleen Quaife
Kevin Schilder
Team 17

Font Credits
Bryan Kent
FHS
fonts101.com
GautFonts
GEMFONTS
Martin Holm

Alpha Participants
Eagleeye11
Loion
Sjunior
RavenBlueIndigo
Usagi Shinobi

Special Thanks!
Eagleeye11
Loion
Orcram
Sjunior
RavenBlueIndigo (Also known as Mitchell McLaughlin or simply Mitch)
The Downunder Duke
Usagi Shinobi

This is a place I usually display trivia and notes on development.

The idea for this project started back in September of 2011, and originally it started it my old awful one pixel black outline beveled style, but quickly I changed it after realizing what I could do.

Spooky was originally based off a very happy little kid I knew, but it did not suit the grim spectacle of his race, so I changed him to be based off my personality.

I came up with the original concepts of the characters, but I used three friends to make them feel real, My friend EagleEye11 is the personality of Fatty, he's from England but he has to travel between England and Scotland constantly.

The Personality of Fyori is based off my Floridian friend Sjunior, albeit without the smilies and broken-asian dialect.

Gerald is based off my friend Orcram, whose from Holland and commonly he says Jow in place of hello, him and I are also sort of not the best of friends, so thus Spooky's disposition with him and his with Spooky is based on our pointless tiff in real life.

On a speed run where I spammed past all dialect I could, instantly won boss battles by debug functions, skipped all intermissions and cut through some sections with no clip, it still took me 20 minutes and 31 seconds to beat the demo.

The Villain was and always has been inspired by Jack Noir of Homestuck's villain psyche, already pretty angry, likes stabbing things. The difference between Jack Noir and the villain of this game is that while Jack Noir is a loose cannon basically all the time and doesn't have access to time-travel, the villain of Menagerie is calculated and cunning, and once he gains the Macguffin he has seemingly unstoppable power, time travel abilities, and many omnipotent attacks which sort of mirror Jack's as a nod to Andrew Hussie for inspiration and for making such an awesome webcomic. The villain of menagerie is as far from a fan character as I could get, however. Similarities will be present, but his most recent redefinition should make him his own guy.

The Galaxions are a big mixing pot of inspiration, I made a chart for them.
It's messy, tangled and convoluted though.
Not sure where the color scheme came from, perhaps it was my own idea.

Fyori has some subtle similarities to Rose Lalonde from Homestuck, her "rose" eye color and questioning nature are the most striking.

Fatty is a fair bit like John Egbert intelligence wise from Homestuck, if you replace nerd with clueless.

A lot of the lines between Spooky and other characters are near representative of conversations I've had with friends, Spooky's dialogue is also lightly weaved with Dave Strider of Homestuck fame's flippant remarks.

Gerald is a character I really don't like writing, not because my friend is a twat but because writing Goody two-shoes characters is monotonous. If I ever make an all stars game with RavenBlueIndigo, Gerald would not be present because:
1). He's a pain to draw.
2). He's my least favorite character and I'd rather him be replaced by one more interesting.

Fyori has been redrawn 3 times.
Spooky has been Redrawn Twice.
Fatty has been redrawn Twice.
Gerald has been redrawn twice, but his is the only model that remains a trace of the original.

Within the first Demo, you meet two female demigods, in contrast to Intelligence where you meet two male demigods.

There was originally a fifth party member planned who was a Mimic, but the idea was scrapped when a lack of sprites were available and it came to drawing the facesets for it.

Skills were developed very late in development, and the common event which gave the mechanic which was worthy of the most procrastination was the Druid shapeshift abilities.

Enemies and troops were left to last to make in the database, as like with Intelligence.

Of the things hardest to credit, it was the iconset and its individual icons, and likely there is still some credit due, help me find them please? ;_;

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Coming soon...

Infact, it is already here. All that remains is for me to post the threads to the public. It is completed, compressed and already in my dropbox awaiting publicity, all that remains is the time on that countdown.

I have threads ready to go on all RPG Maker sites that matter and a full list will be given on this blog as well as a post just below it which will also be an accessible thread. Even if you are somehow banned from all RPG Maker Communities listed you can still get it here.

I'm banned from rpgmakervxace.com so I'm letting my friend Cool Dude take care of it, just because I am exiled does not mean that those who want to try menagerie shall be walled by my stupidity. The only wall will be a small one in communication, but since I can still look at my thread as a guest this wall is more like a formality. Once he has posted his link will be included with the list.

The sites I plan to post thread on: HBgames.ORG, RMRK.net, PavilionBoards.com, Omega-dev.net, stormXstudios.co.uk and rpgmaker.net. With Cool Dude simultaneously posting a thread on rpgmakervxace.com, this should be readily accessible, and it might see more eyes than Batman: Arkham City.
I'm pretty sure Intelligence saw more eyes than Arkham City did, and you know why.

Because Arkham City had an absurd price tag, clunky inscrutable DRM and was accessible only to pirates or incredibly sufficient and patient buyers.

The only thing that made Intelligence slightly inaccessible was the Rpg Maker VX requirement, which was solved when I started releasing both RTP and No RTP versions.

SO WHEN AN RPG MAKER VX GAME, IS TOPPING BIG NAME STEAM TITLES IN HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE SEEN IT, SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY. FUCKING. WRONG.

I digress however, keep an eye out for Menagerie folks.

Monday, December 10, 2012

The United Nations are trying to take control of the Internet, sign this petition and stop them.

Its true, while not as immediately severe as SOPA or PIPA it is a direct line to that sort of movement, refuse these corporate assholes control once more, sign this petition and fight back this ludicrous bullshit.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/hands_off_our_internet_i/?aiZMHcb
Too many times they've tried to control us, apparently they are not satisfied with merely control in the real world, they want global dominance, stop these assholes dominating the last place in which we are free.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Official Trailer on 1st of December.

Only a little polish, some small writing inconsistencies and a few small bugs remain.

Its basically 12:00:00:00 left on the timer so here you go, the Twelve Days Trailer for Menagerie.


It seems I had made a miscalculation, 12 Days until December 12th is actually the 30th of November and not the First of December.... whoops!

Math has makest a fool of thy yet again!

Just 11 days now fellas, then at last I can take a break from this colossal heap of shit.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Cant stop me now!

Well okay, I could be stopped by unlikely bullshit that could never conceivably happen. Like sleeping in to 10 PM my time, which is likely the biggest load of unlikely shit to take place since I can barely... well fuck okay it is possible that will happen, but I will set my alarm, this is more real than craft mayo.


The timer up top is the countdown to the first demo.

When it hits 12:00:00:00 a trailer for Menagerie will be up on Youtube, when it hits 00:00:00:00 the game will be released, I've let some close friends test an alpha build and its shaping up well.
It should be noted that this countdown will end on 12/12/12 at 12 Midday according to the Big Ben. The central axis of time, that's right, this timer will end on midday in the middle of god damn London, this should make it so that no matter where you live in the world you should see this released on 12/12/12 even if your clock says it was early morning or late at night or whatever.

I should also notion that this was the best generated countdown I could get after searching, sadly the only one that looked anything like what I wanted had a big fucking watermark through it.

But this ones good, it doesn't have the Digital font, but after searching around and being disappointed, its worst is better than the others best.

In case it was news, the number 12 is a big deal in this game. Also I should let you know that it won't be a full release, I'm pulling the same shit I did with Intelligence, just release a demo and go forward with patches, except unlike Intelligence, this things story is already in stone, and Release Build 1.0.0 will be the final story patch, then it might just be a bit of bug-fixing and possibly the addition of optional content, like hella tough bosses and maybe just some fun time events, like travelling to earth and going forward about four centuries to see the crew of Intelligence. There will be optional time shit to sort out, which in canon you would do, but you don't have to personally, these would include many temporal paradox solvers, such as duplicating Director Slik's ring and sending it to different planets 400 years in the future, Intelligence will have similar side missions which are optional but only by personal invention, in canon these would be done, otherwise the acquisition of paradox items would mean unstable time loops resulting in an offshoot timeline that takes no effect on the Alpha timeline.

Paradoxial items include Rolly's Mangrit, Pep's Timekeeper, Tristy's **** (avoiding spoilers here, not censoring a rude word.) and Limbo's Fabulous Shirt. These will likely occur in inadvertent acts of random stupidity in Act 3, when you go back in time 400 years to see Galaxia at its prime, this is NOT when you will acquire Slik's Ring, but it will be when you inadvertently solve Paradoxes caused by having an existence 400 or so years beyond Galaxia's Prime. I have a few ideas for the already mentioned inadvertent acts of random stupidity.

Limbo is really happy with his shirt, so he'll probably go to some sort of Laundromat (or so he thinks) and make a god damn ton of his own shirts with a duplicator, surprised, he'll probably swim in his new pile of frighteningly fabulous flair, but then he doesn't want everyone to be wearing one of these, they are what makes him unique amongst Skeletopians and all cloth wearing creatures, so he goes to what he thinks is a trash facility, and ends up sending all but one to the Galaxion mail planet Postmartia through a teleportation device of sorts, he of course, having no idea where they went, would be none the wiser, he'd be more likely to appreciate the apparent quality of disintegration. On Postmartia, it would be mailed to anyone who saw it on the Galaxion "Goods for Galx" Catalog, of course, since Galaxions tend to not be very into fashion, and seem to all be obsessed with wearing some form of blue, they'd probably think this shirt was outlandish not to mention a waste of time and effort since unless they wore their brand elsewhere (Adashi, Orsa and Asarath are guilty of this) they would be executed, a brand must always be readily present on all Galaxions at all times, actually now I think about it the only reason chump would have bought this was out of curiosity since a Galaxion probably wouldn't know what the fuck a shirt even is, they wear a one piece uniform at all times which consists of a long sleeved shortneck blouse and a leg cover of some kind, outfit designs are very few, some have hoods, some have capes and some are even wrappings (Adashi insofar), there are also alternatives to kilts for those who need to be agile (again, see Adashi).

No one would wear such a thing, and if they did, they'd probably end up topless because of your greedy paradox-safe ass. But don't feel too bad, they'll be dead sooner than later.

See that's how this works, you cant create something out of nothing, the object has to exist in the future first place, it can come from alternate realms though, most notoriously the afterlives of Origin, though this is at great expense since you are basically taking items from demigods or servants thereof.

What you are basically doing is giving the owners of said items the materials to make a new one since apparently you are gonna nab theirs, this also brings to life some fairly deep thoughts on how Alchemy in the sense of this game works, you are essentially creating an item that already exists from materials you can gather. So its not even really alchemy, its teleportation based stock exchange, if an item doesnt exist in your time you cant make it because it isn't there to make. The alchemy codex labeled PARADOXIFICATION explains how this all works but since you cant read it, this is basically how it is.

Usually an item already exists at some time and place in your universe, or even an afterlife... there is one way in the universe, and those who see the future can not prevent it, whatever happens then will happen, its really quite silly, if you saw yourself making an omelette 10 days in the future, you'd think, huh, that's weird, why would I do that? But in the 10 days between now and then, you might see a sweet ass sail on eggs, and be like "oh hell yeah, I should get this while its on premium" and only realize after you cooked up those omelettes that you had actively been a tool of temporal predestination.

It gets even more mind-bending when dealing with Time travel, and different perspectives going by separate individuals and their personal timelines.

Knowing the future isn't the boon it sounds like, no one can change it, and more often than not, your attempts to do so end up being what starts the whole process in the first place.

WARNING: RATHER HEAVY SPOILERFEST AHEAD, SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT BIG CAPSLOCK CYAN FONTED MESSAGE AND SKIP THIS IF YOU ACTUALLY GIVE A SHIT, OR THINK YOU MIGHT IN THE FUTURE.

As an example, in this video, Fyori is killed before the battle has even begun, but she lives because by Zardari's presence there, while wielding a ring of Heirachy, which ordinarily an Archbishop wouldn't have, which presents the face of him either Time Travelling with the power of the ring, or being given it to help him on his quest to halt the Menagerie, but he states that this wasn't the first time they've spoken, but for Fyori it was, from his perspective though, he's already done a ton of hectic shit which I will try to keep spoiler free but its really difficult when its revealed in this fashion, I'll just hope that anyone who wants to be filled in at the right moment rather than by my blog, either acknowledge the warning or just simply don't read this blog.

Point is, the mysterious murder happy Galaxion is indeed from the future, and is abusing time travel properties the ring carries. In a realistic situation he wouldn't have killed Fyori, but since she was alive last time they spoke, which conventionally speaking, was at least 12 days after this conversation had taken place he didn't worry. The murderer is cunning, and he knows that she has to be alive then regardless of what he does, because from his perspective, they'd already battled, he'd won, but let her and her really weird friends leave alive in a surly act of gratitude, since they are responsible for a chain of events which lead to this shadowy dudes uprising to power.

So he killed her, but she'll be revived from his point of view, which as shown she was only moments later.

It gets a little depressing when you think of the Alpha Timeline too intensely, though to be fair, it also kind of serves as plot armor. Though I have faith that only those trained in the temporally aligned and the games plot already wont discover this factor until it is no longer big news.

THE SPOILERS END HERE. FEEL FREE TO READ THESE LAST TWO LINES.

Later I'll start working on the trailer for 1/12/12, that's 12/1/12 if your country is stupid.

So yeah that will be fun.

After thinking on some things, I should make a wiki for this shit, www.origingalaxy.wikia.com or something, there's a lot of weird time shit that I'd really like to explain, but also I'd like to say some things about Galaxia and its society in general, its a big convoluted mess of machinations and schemes that only I am aware of so far, and I don't want to feed players a fucking glossary of this shit since most of it is redundant by the time they actually reach Galaxia, also the first time they reach it is in a very intense point in time and it will only soon after face its fate... the results of which can still be observed 400 years later in Intelligence.

There's a few inconsistencies to clear up, but I'm not going to say it because if you haven't played Intelligence or have but just didn't go to Galaxia and find the bodies, then I don't really want to say it here, it'd be hells of rude spoiler, if you read the paragraph above, then you can probably piece it together, the bodies in question have to be moved to where they are in 400 years from the perspective when they were made into unliving bodies.

I have allowed for this in what I have done that late in the game, so yeah I should be good. I'll probably have to make an active time event or something. (think FFIX plot shenanigans, they were actually called Active Time Events I'm pretty sure.)

Okay I got an awesome idea, I'll have to retcon some shit in Intelligence which quite frankly, was outdated anyway, since it mentions it was a Galaxion Wizard, but that brand doesn't exist. The only other grievances are things I've said on this blog or on forums, basically shit no one even remembers and that I wrote not realizing I would make 4 new Galaxions out of thin god damn air, plus some other unnamed douchebag.

As much as I say Terra isn't canon, considering no one played the god awful thing, it still has a Galaxion in it, that Galaxion just happens to be Asarath, who is stated to be otherwordly fairly late in the game, but hints are given all through, only when you see Blu for the first time are you told he is a Galaxion Vizier, so its all been accommodated for thus far, why ruin it? I could just say he traveled back in time and went to the Sunless Sector for some dumb reason, but that's retarded, and it feels cheap and also sort of ruins the awesome idea I had of how to move the bodies.

I've also apparently planned for him not being present when the players arrive, so yeah, again. Awesome.

His appearance changes a fair bit in Terra, which is set about 40 years after this game, here's both of his forms to compare.

Its the same guy, as you can see only his clothes and staff change drastically, and that could simply be him wanting to blend in with Terran Humans, he apparently got in the drivers seat of a whole fucking corporate company to do his masters dirty work so I guess it worked. The only inconsistency are his limbs (the purple hand with three digits instead of two) and I'm willing to dismiss this since back then I had no idea how i was going to portray Galaxions and honestly its easy to come up with an explanation for, he was gifted with the corruptive powers of Seradath, not to be confused with Seradath, the overlord of Heldath, they are different entities entirely. It just so happens I couldn't be assed naming the Overlord of Heldath Satanor or Lucifas or some dumb shit like that.

The fact that there's also a Gal'dath in that game who isn't a smug holier than thou tool can simply be explained as age and security have gotten to him, he was much more likeable in Terra, infact he is probably the only CHARACTER in Terra, since everyone else felt like an edgy rip off of something else, which is ironic considering Galdath himself is basically who is thought of as god by mortal men, even though Origin (referred to as Mr Universe in Intelligence) is the true puppetmaster pulling the strings, but obviously doesn't have time to insert himself where it isn't needed, since hes an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent universal guardian who is also the unseen alpha timeline, he doesn't have time to tell you that you're welcome for your dinner being on that plate you clearly bought from Kmart.

Though I state how much I disapprove of religion, its not religion itself, its the way a lot of people treat it, and abuse it.

Anyway, to explain how Asarath looks 40 years in the future, lets take a very simple approach.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT, DON'T READ ANYMORE IF YOU ACTUALLY CARE.


He travels by ship to the Sunless Sector of the Origin Galaxy, and stumbles upon Terra, his race has been killed in a slaughterfest of which not many have seen, and he sortv of just wants to escape his Galaxion Life entirely, he looks at his robes, and is saddened by the events that transpired, so he goes to Planet Terra (which is similar to earth) and finds a a new set of threads, befitting of a dislodged vizier, he finds the Citadel of Atamos, and is impressed by the structures leviated in the sky, he is reminded of the Vizjerei High Council Citadel, but insists on keeping a good profile, thanks to his keen ability with technology that all Galaxions are birthed with, and his intellect and use of magic, he is quickly able to impress the inhabitants of Atamos, and he keeps on good grounds for many ages, which explains his happy outgoing persona when he is spoken to on the otherworld by Kyoshi, Nikki, Trixie and Valin.

20 years before the day Valin's life takes a turn for the insanely unlikely, and the events of Terra take place, he hears the voice of Seradath, and is eventually lured into the Great Northern Cave.

Wherein he finds the two Golden Statues, where Gal'dath and Seradath lie imprisoned from 8 Millennium past, a decision Yasondre wasn't too happy with since Gal'dath was a good friend of hers, but Gal'dath assured her it probably wasn't going to be permanent. Seradath convinces Asarath to tap his statue, Gal'dath abjures the everliving christ out of this idea, but Asarath doesn't listen, in a bout of quick thinking gal'dath said to release both of them, since they both have an equal amount of power, and therefore his surplus of power could be doubled.

Practically deranged at this point, Asarath agrees, and both are set free. Seradath praises the mortal, and orders him to seize control of "VENGEANCE" which was a tool Yasondre was using against over population and dangerous inventions by human hands, both on Terra and Earth.

Asarath then works on this exact goal, while Seradath remains reclusive and plots his vengeance, while Gal'dath searches for him.

In the 20 years he forms the Darkmatter Corporation, and turns Atamos into a corrupt mechanical labyrinth, during this time, at the 10 year mark, he kidnaps Watts, and facilitates his corruptive influence onto the halfling, and keeps him in an arcane prison until only 3 months later, where Asarath with his corporate workforce, capture Vengeance and put it into a sleep, Yasondre noticed this, but it was too late to act, and she cant just appear on the mortal plane with in a moments notice, also this was an inevitability of which Origin told her, she had been planning her own plot to stop Vengeance and Asarath, as well as the dark master guiding them.

In a matter unseen, but surgery is guessed, Watts is literally inserted into Vengeance's brain, and acts as the will, and Asarath's master control overrides Watt's ability to act all the while Watts' will overwrote Vengeance's unwilling desire to cooperate. The Sleep is turned off and at exactly the the beginning of Valin's game night, and Asarath's first goal is to annihilate the biggest oppositions to his company and Vengeance itself.

Immediately after it wakes, Asarath sends it towards Teratown, which isn't far away for a massive flying serpent, the game Valin is playing has only just been won, then the arena dimensional strata is blown to fucking voidward smithereens by a very powerful missile attack, Valin wakes up outside the VR Arena, along with Kyoshi, its later apparent that Raven and his team mate escape as well, they would have woken up on the other team entrance though.

Asarath then attempts to take out Spriteopia (a sky town, not the planet. Though Australis is visiting apparently along with all of the elemental sprites and Frelia.) but was stopped by two folks from Teratown, ironic. the pattern repeats itself on Nordia, Spooky Mountain, the Nosh Crater and in the face off at Panda Grasslands, the destroy Vengeance and release Watts. They are then sent to the otherworld, which is a post apocalyptic version of Terra, called "Earth", not to be mistaken with the Earth in Intelligence, which is in the Solar System we know, this Earth is a lot less similar to our earth in terrain, and is really just a past version of Terra wherein vengeance was never introduced as a safeguard. Which is where Asarath is still happy and outgoing, though rather lonely, seeing as all his Atamos friends were wiped out by a miscalculation with the "Hadron Collider" project and they were all sucked into a black hole. Being Galaxion explains why Asarath survived, since they have no requirement to eat, drink, breathe or sleep and they are very resilient to physical pain, due to their thick carapace and lack of a pain threshold in general. They do feel pain but not in the form we do, their brain tells them they are being damaged, but doesn't give them the nerve reaction that most biological organisms receive.

Its kind of odd to think about, but its not so far fetched, when a caught Galaxion is being tortured through Vivisection or some other means of study which involves pain for normal things, they'd be probably be standing their dead still, not really giving a shit, might even say something smart allec like. "It appears you have now made me bleed, god you are making such a mess can I just stab myself?"

They know when they are being interacted with, but their body is numb to its pain, they simply are advised by their brain.

Anyway, I think thats quote enough, i really went in dpeth with Terra's storyline, more so than i needed to too explain Asarath's deal and how he got his clothes and got the fucked up arms via corruption and all.

If you played Terra, you would have noticed that pre-awakening of the Demigods, he would have already had his staff and purple three digit hand.

Well he acquired that staff, which is very likely how Seradath found him in the first place, and I'd say touching it warped his visage, mind and body to an extent.

His power was already tremendous before leaving Galaxia, he was one of the most closely watched Viziers, and the High Council itself feared he would become a threat to the directorate, even with the rings. Thus he was sent along with the Directors on the Sovereign to keep him occupied and to make him feel wanted.

They didn't account for an Archbishop getting the best of both of them and annihilating the entire myriad, really, Asarath was the least of their worries, though ambitious he did like being recognized, and you cant be popular with no population.

Only the Flagship survived the Archbishops onslaught, which Asarath was boarded on.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Complacency of Acceptance

So, this is a topic I decided to broach now, so perhaps a message is gotten through. Pffft, who am I kidding.

I've been letting it be known that I don't like Reddit (seriously no one should), I've stated multiple times how Hype can not be a positive thing, and that my opinion on call of duty players who were idiotic enough to buy the game and play it to feel like they got their money's worth. I've said I hate iPhone users who be smug pretentious tits who deep down realize Apple got more money out of their chump asses and they feel they need to make it clear that they have some sort of bragging abilities.

Well to further elaborate on all those, Apple dickwaving isn't anything new, it used to be for computers, and again, they felt entitled to bragging rights, never realizing deep down that they were just a massive idiot who let pricey products get the better of their brain. Sorry to break it to you fellas, I don't hold any mobile devices, I have only a windows computer. And usually its you who pick fights with people generally just enjoying Samsung. But really you're fun to troll, so keep hate-mailing me and I'll keep dishing out the elegant shark bites.

The Call of Duty players, for the most part, are pretty bad. First, if you had any decent gaming standards, you'd realize this game was a crock of shit. But go ahead, keep playing your heap of garbage, if it keeps your lack of manners and retarded verbosity out of Blacklight: Retribution.

Hype is a subject I've sort of changed stances on, I still see it as bad, but zero exposition is also terrible. I just give progress reports on my blog and on RPG maker pavilion.

Now as for Reddit, there is only one reason its good. Its not the "community" for lack of a better word, and it isn't for the people or the memes.

I'm not going to go pandering about this but case in a few words. "Reddit is terrible, the end."

Now, I've also let it be known I cherish new innovative game design and ideas. My works should give you that impression enough, now I'm happy to twist cliches, break tropes, shatter archetypes, etc.

What I will say is to make sure it is fun. Don't judge yourself with this, fun is different to epic. If you have some friends or family, let them test stuff out and see if they enjoy it as much, don't be afraid of criticism either. It is your vassal of wisdom.

I didn't say much about this game because it was kind of rushed in time for a friends "Un"birthday. But Hellcat shows not only how a Third person shooter can be fun, but storybound too. I will be updating it again once... oh wait.

Actually, I cant make any promises on updates from here on out. University is starting first semester next year and I'll have barely any time for RPG Maker then.

Anyway, out of all this, apparently disliking Reddit makes me a Hipster because its got mainstream appeal.

The meaning behind hipster sure has widened in spectrum, but honestly who cares. Its a label people. Am I a furry too because I use a monkey avatar? The internet is so retarded.

The weird thing is, that's what makes it so beautiful, beauty through the folds of this way expansive clusterfuck without limitation on content or quality. There are no standards or morals or rules, its a giant free-for-all. The only thing which guides us is respect, and our desire for it.

I like to be respected for my bizarre and weirdly logical viewpoint on game design and the world. But I don't want to whore myself out for this respect like iJustine or Minecraft Chick. If you want to act purposefully stupid and clueless for money and attention, that's your cup of tea, not mine.

I also tend to like a few popular things, like Skyrim, My Little Pony, Star Wars and Homestuck.

Lets get to the grit of all this, its not about me being a hipster or me liking the wrong things. It's because I personally disagree with your opinion and dont like what you like and like some things you don't.


I've noticed there are a lot of people arguing to no end about how MLP is good or how MLP is bad, well guess what, your both wrong. it is what it is at face value; a teen girls television show made by the same mind as "Foster's Home for Imaginary friends.". Any other details are basically redundant for purposes of argument. People have different opinions, and you telling them why this is bad or good wont change their mind. So stop trying, its pointless.

I might add that Gabe Newell watches My Little Pony, and there was a whole shitstorm over that on Youtube, I just trolled everyone hard and incited flame wars because it was fun.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is, I like watching My Little Pony because its a fun show that brings joy to me. I'm a 24-year old male. Watching MLP is a simple pleasure really. If that makes me a Brony, then so be it.

If disliking Reddit makes me a hipster, well fine. Because I'm not going to that stunning whales ass of a site.

The thing about the internet is that you've got to be open to surprises, but not cave in to retards. I've been on the net for about 8 years now and I've seen a lot of strange things, I've heard the worst of insults to the most sappy of apologies. I've seen porn and another kind of porn, none of that really irks me much anymore, actually I usually go to Google images and search a topic of my interest to find porn, safe search disabled.

Its a colorful spectrum of wonders and horrors, of magic and curses, intrigue and disgust. It's the cybernetic expanse of free intelligence itself, and its a gift to mankind. I've accepted my role here, and I am complacent with it, the real question is...

Are you?

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Tilesets, Im up to my good gestalts in this crappy pixart, yo.

Eccentrically stupid title aside, chances are you only payed heed to the first part.

Good because thats progress, all too often im told that either my graphics don't fit in with the RTP tilesets, or that they just suck period.

Well for the latter, I don't really care.


For the former, here is some custom tileset-age of which your opinion can be concerned, I agree, the RTP tilesets clash terribly with my style.
This is new progressive content, incase you actually give a shit, its the great bridge to the Dwarven kingdoms.
To be Noted, only some of these tiles are mine, this is sort of a WIP deal.


You should be able to tell from the dip in quality.
Despite the odd time I took this capture, it is not a reference to the movie 23 or this games official release date. Because its obviously 12/12/12.

This is a subtle jab at the JRPG trope of regular towns people telling you what to do, so he's like all making excuses because you've been a babby long enough.
My pathways bring all the pills to the mill.
Modernne Arabian Nights
So yeah, Sorry I couldn't talk more on this, but I'm a little tired and don't feel like writing up a wall.





Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Major Progress update, Milestone reached.

To start you off, Menagerie's release is in sight, and I may get to have a short break before the scheduled 12/12/12 release date.

The Milestone is that not only are Item Tooltips complete, but Alchemy as well. Now its just linear progressive content, encounters and bugfixing that remain.

So, here are the Item Tooltips.
And here is alchemy complete.

We're making this shit work.
So those are two huge ordeals out of the way, the remainder is fun.

I can confirm 12/12/12 now, consider it an official release date, if by some bizarre mishap it isn't out by then, blame my computer.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Progress update, on two games.

I went back to working on Intel for a while, now I have something to show for progress.
Watermarked to proof my ass from plagiarists.
And now, this is probably my favorite.
Pose heavy!
And before long, I made Tristy's facesheet as well.
Her arms are tricky! :o
You might notice none of these have an outline, well you'd be right, an outline stifles creativity.

Yes I do have a deviantart account, no it isn't Bizarremonkey, I forgot the password for that one, also its using a now erased email address for it so its BizarreSheep. (Which is a sort of in-joke between Scinaya, LordBagardo and myself.

So if it was news, I was banned from rpgmakervxace.com for publicly admitting theft of overpriced resources, I was given the same treatment on rpgmakerweb.com despite not having gone there in a year.

Now you'll have to go elsewhere for when I release Menagerie, don't worry I will provide links when the day comes. As well as a trailer maybe. :o

As for the faces above, they may be utilized in Patch 1.2 of Intelligence, not sure.Not that it matters until next year anyway.

I have done some Menagerie work, waiting for a code monkey to make a small upgrade to the item scene script, once that's done I will write all of them out, and then its just storyline additions and scenes from there on, the occasional art asset I'll have to make, but I've prepared for this game pretty well, most of the art assets were done half a year ago, I have been retouching some things, a big one is this.
Fyori is classier then ever.
That is Fyori ladies and gentlemen, she like all of the Menagerie, has 8 faces, I can always addon on more later.
So in-case it was obvious, shes a younger version o---*spoilers*
But considering her old image, its pretty obvious who she really is, but I'll leave that to you to imagine until the truth is revealed.

Well that should be enough content to stop you from spamming me with fanmail for a while, not that I mind, its flattering really, it would be to get any fanmail, because despite what I just said, I don't get any. :o

Well, in a sense I do, I have had a few comments over the span of this blog, mostly related to my "rpg maker VX ace... its the shit" post, but I've had another recently on "Menagerie Progress" which really lit up my day.

Fan Mail has become a term that could apply to just about any feedback I've gotten, so yeah. :o

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Menagerie Progress.

Since a lot of my traffic here comes from rpgmakervx.net, I've decided some development related info might be nessecary.

32 views on the 28th of September, and here I thought no one read this thing!

So first off, theres some decent spoiler free video footage insofar. Incase you missed it.
By spoiler free, I mean they happen within mere minutes of the game boot up, anything an hour in cannot be spoiled, because i havent made it yet. :<
I might make a checklist later, get my shit in gear and get this long overdue thing out for the date i actually said 12/12/12. This has become difficult recently because I've been getting sort of bored with RPG Maker, so this may be my last game with the engine.

I have plans to start moving up in the world, I intend to go to University once this year has passed and start being a code monkey, then all I need is my friend to compose (who has offered) and I can start making money, I'll be the artist, scripter and writer, while he'll be my beat monkey and possible pixel artist in tow. Chances are he'll be my big typo spotter and bugfinder too along with a few other friends.

Anyway, more on that story as it develops. For now menagerie has seen a sort of unwanted Hiatus because of a recent mid-life crisis (that has come a decade too soon) and I am terribly sorry, but even if not for 12/12/12 Menagerie will happen, I've gone too far with it not to finish now.

its not that its the linear content holding me back, that's what I want to work on! But I've gotta get tedious shit out of the way first. Item tooltips, getting a code monkey to patch the item tooltips script a little, as well as writing out those tooltips and applying the colours. Also I've got to fix up recipes and make more random encounter enemies.

WHAT!? RANDOM ENCOUNTERS!?
I know right? This was a decision I had to make based on necessity, this game involves a fair bit of crafting, and since I don't want to limit players or make them feel stupid by only letting you make a few trips to the blue sun for the primers in that awesome weapon they want to make and realize they were needed for the late game time-loop completion, I've decided that encounters will be the way post completely deforesting, stripping, and depriving the planets and suns of resources.

Its complex making a farming system for extraterrestrial materials, while I *could* have trees grow back, its a lot of extra-work and I've already given myself too much. the things is, Lumber is going to be among the most common and hard to run out of commodities there is, if you find out a way to make uranium nuggets reform, please do say so!

Uranium is a fairly rare resource, and is used heavily in a lot of technological items, including the Kitty Caboose. *Mysterious wink*

Main Characters:

Anyway, to give you some dirt on the characters.

He looks Derpy on purpose.
Fatty McLarge is based on my english pal Eagleeye11. He shows a paranoia about Technology and is a retired alcoholic, so chances are his flaws should define him well as a character.

I mean based on personality wise, not looks, do you honestly think I know anyone close to this pretty?

Fyori Felicee is based on a good friend from the states known around as Sjunior, and hes the only candidate because none of my friends are girls. But anyway, the character is cheery and outgoing, she is a tad autistic though, and doesn't like killing natures fauna, and acts the other three characters overlook she can often be disconcerted by... such as taking all of the materials from a recently killed mans house.

Unlike Fatty, she is happy to indulge in technological theory-crafting and design, and often debates with Spooky on subjects which fly over Gerald's head and usually end up in Fatty leaving the room.

Yeah, goblin paladin, fuck you archetypes D:<

Gerald Gelati is based of a good friend from Holland, Orcram or more commonly nicknamed Orcz, which tied in well with the Greenskin aspect. He says Jow now and then and comes off as the friendly outgoing group member. A tad naive and untrained in higher learning, but he serves as a great chill buddy. He's prone to being an impressionable doofus though, easily manipulated by his three friends into doing something he wouldn't do without their prodding.

I only recently realized how racist his name is. Thank you Beat monkey for giving me something to worry about.

Spooky Schema (Wayward branded) is based off of me, obviously. Why do I even need to explain this?? He has a fair few faults, talking too much, being a massive god damn troll to those stronger than him, and he manipulates a lot. Usually just to turn things in his favor, he also lies solely with omission, which is odd for a Galaxion, but the antagonist does it too, so its not a unique feature.

The Galaxions
Okay, I'm not going to go into a whole lore sect here, since this is going to be long enough, but here are the Galaxions (outside Spooky) that are here so far.

Want to know a secret? Her original drawing is eerily similar to this one, and I drew the original before I knew of Homestuck.
Tac Talismina (Traitor Branded) is loosely based on Kanaya Miryam from MSPA personality wise, plot wise shes a lot closer to Tak from Invader ZIM, and many parts of her design were drawn with Tak in mind. My head-canon for her is Kanaya's from Lets Read: Homestuck on youtube, thank you Homestuck Colab, for making head-canons easy.

"Hey! That is creepy, you're creepy; Vind."
Slik Velverti (Director Branded) is based off of Tallest Purple from Invader ZIM, he is a fair bit more forgiving than Vind is, and usually doesn't revel in violence if not necessary. Hes a fair bit more Kooky too, and serves as the comic relief to Vind's dark stern countenance.

The first to feel Regicide at Zardari's hand.

Vind Sollihst (Director branded) is based off of Tallest Red and is much more serious and on base with matters that Slik wouldn't usually think on, he is far more perceptive, and usually subtly tests the honesty of his subjects.

That star is all wrong!
Zardari Zitei (Archbishop branded) is the only Galaxion in the game who will still be alive by the end. He is based off of Jack Noir essentially, but he does have other inspirational guidance. He has a severe weakness to cake, and does feel remorse for Spooky and Tac after he stabs them both. (to the point of reviving them.) I didn't base his personality off of anyone I know, because I have yet to meet someone this frightening. For now his head-canon doesn't exist, even I haven't thought of one.

Originally these were the only Galaxions, but I added some new ones recently.

Ante matter lightsabers, why not?
Adashi Aknius (Zenmaster branded) is the only Galaxion not seen in a robe, his personality is based heavily on Asha from indie game sensation "IJI" by Daniel Remar. He is the first Galaxion you fight, and he is planned to be fought again.

"That's more like it Schema, I've got a surprise for you!"
Orsa Ortonius (Juggernaut Branded) is the leader of the Juggernauts, he is based heavily on Sizz-lorr from Invader ZIM (seen in the episode: The Frycook what come from all that space) and his demeanor generally unimpressed, though he does show appreciation when his opponents put up a decent fight.

Its surprising how well I unconsciously planned his rehashing.
Asarath Azara (Vizier Branded) is an incredibly powerful Galaxion spellcaster, and is feared by the High Council itself, he is based off of Asarath from Terra (an old VX game I wouldn't recommend) and shares his eye. He would be younger than that Asarath, since he is exiled and winds up there. His original inspirations were Richard from the Looking4group comics and Seymour from FFX.

Ain't got much dirt on this bitch, yet.
Mayeena Milda (Martyr Branded) has bugger all for inspirations yet, I drew her up from a Tac model, and I've had no implementations of her yet, so for now, the dirt on her is very little. All I know is, she has lashes, she works for Galaxia (and thus apposes the players somehow) and that her brand contains the M, A, T and Y of Martyr.

Well!
That certainly is enough exposition for now.