While I'd love to say that I made this post purely for the purpose of revertion back to this blog as a wall for my whimsical wallowing, anyone who knows me or reads this with any frequency (good joke) will know that me making a short supple post is as likely as AIDS being a relevant target of medical importance again.
I only did it once, and that was only because youtube did most of the work for me and all I had to do was laugh a lot to point out the hilarity.
So in this post, I'll go a bit into my backstory to celebrate 5 years of Bizarre Monkey and for me, Internet Access.
Act 1: I am to meet the internet!
Back in 2006, after I'd played Diablo II solidly for three years and had done jack all else with my time, I decided that I'd actually try making a generic tabletop RPG, this was when I first really got serious about being a developer, or not serious but, it wasn't just... graphs and ideas on paper anymore. I made my very first Tabletop RPG called Future Fantasy, which was heavily geared towards making your own scenarios, it was more of an "Engine" than a game, but making scenarios with its rule-set was super simple. The thing was that as soon as I'd done a few it got boring because I had only me and my bro to play with. I was a very antisocial person but I didn't know of any other ways, I had no idea there was an "internet" or how it worked. For the following four years I would make game manual after game manual uselessly wasting several hundreds of dollars in paper and ink to produce manuals only two people in the world would see. However, the growth in my writing in these ventures coupled with the ideas generated by a wellspring of time, toys and boredom would cultivate the interest as well as teaching me how to MSpaint... I only started getting really good with MSpaint in the last couple of years, I started back in 2006, and I'd been drawing on paper with pencil throughout most of my childhood.
Growing up my interests always seemed to stem from creativity, I at one point liked making cardboard models, then sewing soft toys, then oven bake clay figurine sculpting until at long last the true prospect of this talent came into view.
It wasn't to merely paint or to play with toys... my purpose was far more broad, it was to create a Universe, and there was no better way than through the medium of games.
The idea of making games was something I always wanted to do, in fact Hellcat: The Nightmare Begins stems from a very clumsy load of drawings I did before I even hit my teens. I was only 11 when I had the idea for "Hellcat", back then it was basically an idea for a first person shooter, with a clever emphasis on cat-themed powerups and having '9 Lives', however I had no idea at that age how I would generate such a world, for several years I would discuss it with my Bro, but neither of us had an idea of how to go about it.
Chapter 2: Neverwinter could never bring winter
It would be in 2008 that I would discover the Neverwinter Nights game by bioware, I was uninterested in it's campaign, but it had a toolset! I caught on instantly how to use it, and as time went by I made a game, though looking back, i would have been nuts to release it.
In 2009 I would join the Bioware forums under the name of "Bizarre Monkey", this was my first real encounter with the internet. Prior to Bizarre Monkey I had gone through several company names, Blackmatter, Darkmatter Corporation, HardGore, Eye of Evil, Exodus Enterprises, Singing Potato, before eventually resting on Bizarre Monkey.
My computer would fry later that year, and all progress on the NWN project lost... this is probably just as well. In early 2010 my Bro suggested a fabled google search to find something that'll let me make RPG's, this is where I at long last found RPG Maker. VX had recently been released and I fell in love with the program.
Chapter 3: Gracious, thy name is Bizarre Monkey
I would make two games before I got anywhere, first was Planet's Cry, an appalling fangame that only ever gets a mention because of how dumb it was.
Then Terra, while not horrible, it wasn't great and again, borrowed too much from fan inspiration to get anywhere, it was after that derelict piece of shit failed that I decided to take a break and think about this, maybe game development wasn't my thing? Maybe i had some other calling.
However, I was proven wrong... my dreams would be the arbitor of my arise.
I slept and saw a mouth of frost, its teeth jagged, it's visage all to witness possible.
It spoke a plea of villainy, it said to me that I was to make it a villain in the next game that I would make. And after his mawed message was mouthed he coalesced into vapor, forgotten in the fire. I woke up to a new idea, and renewed vigor.
So, I had a villain, he was determined to be a villain, and quite a villain he became, that visage i encountered would later become Maw, the antagonist for Intelligence, the first game of which I would be given reason to celebrate.
I hastily began work on a game, I didn't know what it would be called yet! All I knew was that this visage was the villain, and that it was to be set in a version of earth where mammals had taken over, the villains name was not spoken in the dream, I had to come up with it, there were several that went by, "Visage", "Frosty", "Noth", "Frigis" before I came to Maw.
For the protagonists, I didn' want to do four people, so I did a trio, two characters that already existed in my Universe, Rolly the Green Dog first appearing in a Bytepets Manual nobody saw, and Pep, a Red schizophrenic cat with an unhealthy addiction to Red Cordial who had several appearances throughout my uncharted paperverse. Tristy was a character I made on the spot, since I decided that I'd use Australia for the games setting I figured it'd be best if I used a mammal exclusive to Australia that could look feminine, after being charmed by Sheila the Kangaroo in Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon I decided a Kangaroo was definitely the best bet.
I began unplanned construction on a demo which would serve as a barebones framework for a deeper plot that I had no idea existed at the time. This time I decided I would learn from my previous mistakes and release a demo before bashing out a full game.
The name for the game was actually decided only a couple days before it's demo release, it would be called Intelligence, and it's first demo would see the public on the 14th of March in 2011.
The response was overwhelming, from a dude no one knew or gave a fuck about to a dude who made something pretty interesting, I got 7/10 scores across the board, it may not have been much for some people, but for me it was a huge improvement, damn it! In late 2011 it was nominated for Game of the Year, but lost to Noobslice.
Patches and events later, I myself nominated it for Game of the Year 2012, it succeeded by troves, the lead it had was staggering.
It was in Early 2012 that I began planning the next big thing.
Chapter 4: Accosted by Uncharitable Anuses
In Early 2012 a great rift shattered VX.net, my homesite of residence and forced me to search for a new host, upon finding the new host, it would be before I'd even released a beta that I would be exiled.
I hung out with just those few i'd met on skype and decided to give forums the finger until the Beta for Menagerie was in sight.
The Canalethians who had been my friends for two years, decided in late November of 2012 that my time with them was up, leaving me devastated... I turned to the only place I knew I had friends, Omega-dev.net... they were a quiet not-attention-seeking group, but at the time that is all I wanted, a shoulder to lean on, a friend to talk to... the internet had made me reliant on people and compassion. However, I was welcomed back with anticipation, despite leaving them cold, absence isn't uncommon for them, they see it as a thing that happens. I was welcomed back with open arms and for the first time in over a year, felt truly at home away from home.
Then came Skye...
The one they call the betrayer, the enemy of Omega-dev... one whose seemingly sole purpose was to cause grief for those who had exiled her.
The chance had come to prove my worth! Skye's return had given me a chance to do what I did best, be a psychotic insulting asshole... I helped the Omegadevians during their time of need and then beside my new allies, led a warpath to the enemies territory, where my true talents were witnessed... being exiled from many places had forced me to do things that most would consider scandalous. But this was war and during the generous training Canaleth had inadvertently given, I found ways around bans of all sorts... the warpath ceased when the forum breathed its last gasp of air.
An ancient enemy had been defeated, the Omegadevians praised my tactics, dealing with their old enemy lent me not only their respect, but their obedience. I decided that we would make a Skype group for easy communication and calculation on future events.
I was given the title 'Teen Drama instigator' and was elected the Omega-dev attack dog. At last I had found a place and purpose, on March 14th, 2013... The Crazy Chimp Collective was formed and with our combined efforts we would create a game that would then shake the very foundations of RPG Maker...
Menagerie.
Late in 2012, I was sent an invitation by GrandmaDeb to return to VX.net, in return I would post the resources I had made during my stay at Omega-dev
Ofcourse, I was more than happy to accept a return, after all... I had been exiled from anywhere else relevant, and so I returned, making my first topic in over a year.
I then went and nominated my two games for Game of the Year and Demo of the Year... I won both.
Feeling like I had gotten what I had long wanted, I decided to repay VX.net
Chapter 5: The Breath of Life that is Biz
For their heartfelt welcome and nursery, I looked at VX.net and saw a wasteland of barren activity and said 'No. This will not do." and thus begun my rise to power and the resurgence of VX.net, I did all within my power to keep the community afloat and in time my efforts would be visible. The very admins looked at me with a twisted expression of awe and amusement, while it would never be the pinnacle it once was, it had been rejuvenated... due to this debt I payed, it began to raise some questions...
Was my aid purely for my benefit, it would be a fair observation, I had become the lifeblood of the forum, and thus I had essentially granted myself immunity from exile by way of doing things the admins could not. I was only a member, but I was doing the sort of thing admins are supposed too. I however was entirely unaware of this until this thread came about.
I had become the Crutch for this forums instability... inadvertently I had become an autocrat. At first I was proud of this responsibility, I felt like for once people depended on me.
However it became evident that if I ever left, this site would fall to shambles. The Admins did not have the Drive to keep it going and while I am now no longer dependent of it, I still like it and will keep it afloat so long as it remains awesome.
Chapter 6: The Uncertain Future...
Following Menagerie's release on December Twelve 2013, it has gotten ratings of huge variety, most being in the 9s or 10s, Gamejolt rates it 4.5/5 (or 9/10), it has been widely praised for it's innovative picture cutscenes, intense ABS battles and its bizarre sense of humor, among the typical brilliant storytelling, charming characters and strategically challenging events.
I could not have asked for a better end to my legacy with RPG Maker.
Menagerie is my last game with RPG Maker, I am now working with Game Maker and as such, the future is very uncertain. However, I will forever follow my passions and do what I love doing. But there was a point to this backstory.
The point is that, I got to where I am by being me, doing things my way and following my dreams.
It was a long road travelled, it took nearly 15 Years to have the resources to make the game I had first imagined. (Hellcat)
But I did it and I'll only get better. Late in the first chapter I said that it was my destiny to "build a universe", that Universe is now on display, or a part of it. I have many ideas, and within the scope of an entire universe, given time all can be made manifest.
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