7th Moon RPG update #1

I know I said I'd take break while working on the game but I needed a break from working on the game and felt like sharing, As it turns out making the elements was easy enough, but figuring out how the events actually work is harder. The maps were easy enough, I've got Japan as the overworld, and a really good version of the Shrine of the Golden Dragon, which is one of the pictures I'll show later. There's a dungeon generator that helped me deal with some more difficut areas I wasn't sure I was going to be able to map out. The characters were the easiest of all, I knew what they needed to be and put it together. Right now there are six playable characters, they can all equip armor, but Kichiku and Douji can't use weapons and only Hidariude can use accesories while only Keisei can use head gear. Hidarude and Keisei's extra equipment adjust their stats appropriately enough for character development, but because of Kichiku and Douji's equipment restrictions, their base stats are adjusted to increase at a faster rate. The characters are pretty balanced I think, it's just a matter of balancing the game around them for a good experience. Right now the trick is figuring out how to put in the story which is proving dfficult because a good wad occurs in just one place and the system is set up to add events by location, which means I need to figure out how to place a series of about five different scenes all in one location with a system that will only let me show one scene. I'm sure I'll figure this one out, there has to be a way to make this work. Until then here's some preview scenes.

RPG Maker

After the convention last week I went to Steam to get Undrtale and found RPG Maker MV on sale and downloaded that to make 7th Moon into an RPG. This has proved so addictive I may have to suspend the blog for time until I'm done with it. In fact, I'm writing this on my family's computer while I wait for my laptop with the software to update, otherwise I may not be taking the time for this at all.

Some may think RPG Maker is too primitive to create a decent game, but that's what makes it fun to me. I love old school RPGs and the graphics were a part of it. The graphics may have been the worst of their time, but I feel it forced them to make up for it with mechanics and story. I feel so strongly I actually hated FF7 when it first came out just because of the polygon graphics, I felt like they sold out. Indeed, many fans notice quality has been shaky with the series ever since, and I believe it's because graphics got better and more effort when to making it look good than play good.I have since forgiven Square Enix and embraced FF7, but I still love old school RPGs and their super deformed midget sprites, and making mine for my main characters with the character generator in RPG Maker and knowing what they will look like when I'm done.

Okay I'm afraid that's all I have time or patience for, hopefully next time I will be presenting you with 7th Moon the RPG!

Star Trek fan films

Roc Con was fun,getting off to a great start with Vic Mignogna walking by my table and signing my copy of Broly the legendary Super Saiyan, and I purchased a katana for a decent price, and that was before it actually got going. Then I was playing Pokemon Yellow and finally beat it using Ash's Team. But I digress I need to get on to a more pressing issue, Star Trek Fan Films.

Vic presented "Embrace the Wind" episode 7 of Star Trek Continues, his fan tribute to the classic series. The episode, which he describes as "topical", is about appointing a new captain to an unmanned ship and it's between Spock and a female named Garret. The question driving the episode is whether the federation is ready for a female captain and it's pretty easy to tell that Garret represents Hilary Clinton. Kirk is rather diplomatic in his support for the female captain, but he is driven by the selfish motivation of keeping Spock on his ship instead of going elsewhere, while Spock actually experiences the same motivation and everybody seems to support Garret until Kirk discovers that she may have a skeleton in her closet that makes her unsuitable and has nothing to do with her gender. It's a tense courtroom drama and I don't want to give away the ending so I highly recommend looking it up and watching it yourself.

Afterward Vic had a Q&A session with a moment where he had some trouble regarding how CBS is handling this property. They have rather strict guidelines mainly that nobody can make money off of Star Trek but them. Vic has been content to work within these guidelines, but some other fans haven't been as cooperative and things have gotten harder. I found out from another artist who had done promo work for another fan project that this other project was the root of the problem. We had a conversation about it and I realized CBS really needs to handle Star Trek fan films the same way Amazon has handled Kindle Worlds. I've talked about Kindle Worlds before so I'll skip to how it fits in here; CBS should start a website or alternate channel (YouTube, Netflix, something like Crackle) that airs these fan films. Just let CBS review everything for suitable content and distribute it on their channel and fans can pick which ones they like. The whole thing could be covered with ads for canon Star Trek works and other similar CBS properties, and if anything proves to be popular enough to be profitable, CBS can split the money with the fans who actually made the fan film. A model like this seems to be working for Amazon, and if CBS were smart they would try this. I don't know if anybody else is doing anything like this, but I think it would be a smart move for CBS. It seems like everybody has a website, but not everybody has worthwhile content and TV network websites can be among the worst. Having truly original content like this would be a great way for CBS to stand out and fans would love to know their work could be approved as at least semi-canon.

Live long and prosper!

Final Fantasy Record Keeper and Roc Con 2016 preview

I've been playing a game called Final Fantasy Record Keeper when I am forced to stay in one place and can't play Pokemon Go. This is definitely a game for fans, the "story" being that all of the records of all the Final Fantasy games are being kept by record keepers in some neutral world and the records are vanishing and now a record keeper named Tyro must relive all of the stories to restore them. The downside is that these stories are represented entirely by battles, the upside is that you get to recruit heroes form Final Fantasy to assist you and create your own dream team to fight through the entire franchise in the 16-bit glory of Final Fantasy VI. You get lots of customization options, from abilities to weapons and armor, and if you have ever dreamed of fighting Kefka and Sephiroth with a dragoon, a moogle, a red mage and a spoony bard, now's your chance. Otherwise you probably won't care and get tired real quick.I'm enjoying it because I really liked the old graphics and getting to see newer characters as well as old favorites in the classic style is fun, and I have played enough games to know what is going on so it's a fun romp down memory lane. However, the story relies very heavily on this nostalgia without adding much that is new. There are event dungeons that kind of shake things up a little, but aside from getting special bonuses you can put towards the main game, they actually take away from what little story there is by interrupting the premise with unrelated activities. Again, if you have had so much fun with this series that you have imagined putting together your own dream team and your own custom character, as Tyro can use all weapons and abilities to be whatever you want him to be, then this can be your fan fiction dream. For me, I changed the name to Hidarude, the closest I could get with an 8 character restriction, and he has Fira and Fira Strike, and if I can get Masamune, he will be my dream character, and he's already surprisingly kickass. I have Mog from FFVI and if when I get Red Mage and Dragoon I can put together my dream team and take on the FF multiverse in style. If you can't relate to this and think it's worth getting the game for that alone, you may not be the target audience. For those who are hardcore FF fans, download it to your mobile device now.

Next week is Roc Con and I'm all ready to set up my books, figures, and my promotional video featuring the voice of Steve Blum. I'm also excited for Vic Mignogna and this time I intend to remember to bring my Broly DVD for him to sign because for some reason I never thought of it the last two times I saw him here. I'm also very much looking forward to cosplayers and expecting lots of Harley Quinns, Jokers, Deadpools and Pokemon...okay so they happen anyway, but I expect even more this year, and I also hope for as many Makas as possible for Vic on Saturday. If you live in the Rochester area and you'll be coming, I hope to see you there, I'll give a full rundown next time, but it will be late because I'll be working the convention most of the time.