Progress ~ Something Old - Hourai High, Coming Soon!
Adventures of Hourai High
# Posted on Feb. 2, 2011, 11:24 a.m. by Gideon Zhi

Yeah, so I wanted this out on Christmas. It was supposed to be the big surprise, the awesome gift nobody was expecting. Grumble grumble. Turns out that even though the beta had started about a week before the big day, there were a *ton* of issues with the hacking that made the game explode in all sorts of creative ways. This is largely due to the way the game was put together in the first place (sloppily.)

But I think we're finally nearing the end! One of the testers finished up not too long ago, and I think we've finally resolved the last of the crashes and cosmetic bugs. I think. No guarantees, but I'm expecting to be able to release this fairly soon.

To showcase some of the rather extensive hacking that's gone into this, I've put together a little before-and-after article on the project. It will be forever immortalized in the game's Extras section, so please peruse it! There are about thirty new screenshots on the project page, too.

Also, here's a youtube video of the game in action.

Progress ~ As usual, I overestimate myself
# Posted on Dec. 26, 2010, 9:42 p.m. by Gideon Zhi

So it's probably pretty obvious by now that we've run into some difficulties with the holiday release gambit thing. The playtest for the game I'd hoped to release last weekend hasn't finished yet - it's been slow going, and has been plagued by a *lot* of issues, crashes, and the like. The third game I haven't even managed to start playtesting yet, and I've just uncovered a not insubstantial amount of text that still needs to be translated. The main story mode is done, but the rest of it... well. Might as well come out and say it - this third title was supposed to be Super Puzzle Puyo, Too. Along with the standard adventure mode (which I think we're calling "Rulue's Mad Grab for Power") it comes packed with the standard Endless Mode, a puzzle editor, a chain tutorial, and a message from Act Against Aids, none of which have even really been touched. Oops.

So, sorry. We tried! But I'm still hoping to release the second game ("something old") on or about the new year. At least two of my betatesters are at least halfway through, and the current build seems dramatically more stable than the last... er, six. Still hoping for a surprise on that one, so no reveal yet.

I'll post some pictures of Puyo at some point, maybe, if I can find anything worth showing off that hasn't already been posted. Most of the recent progress has been end-of-game dialog edits though, so I don't know if extra screens will be possible.

I'm going to try to relax for the next few days. I'm supposed to be on vacation, and it's been a busy week already. I need at least a few days to just veg and not have to think about anything!

Major Release ~ Ancient Magic is out.
Ancient Magic
# Posted on Dec. 18, 2010, 5:31 p.m. by Gideon Zhi

Ancient Magic is a fairly generic little RPG for the SNES by the much-maligned Hot-B. See if you can spot their advert for another of their products in the game! Despite its rather pedestrian roots, the game takes several surprising twists towards the end, and is generally worth sticking it out even if the wrap-up (or lack thereof) is a bit of a let down. As a note, there's more game past "THE END." Also as a note, do set your window speed to "fast" in the in-game options menus - it'll improve your experience dramatically.

A godawful amount of work went into this, probably more than was worth it. If I can find the time sometime in the next week or so, I'll put up some kind of postmortem showing off before-and-afters of a bunch of the interface rearrangements. Fun fact, in the original Japanese version, you couldn't see your max HP or MP in battle! You can in mine, though!

And now I'm going to bed.

Progress ~ Announcing The Great Holiday Release Gambit
# Posted on Dec. 18, 2010, 10:21 a.m. by Gideon Zhi

So, in two weeks' time, it will be the new year. Time flies! And unfortunately, Aeon Genesis STILL only has one release this year. This simply will not do! As such, I'm announcing The Great Holiday Release Gambit. It's like an advent calendar, except there are only three doors and they open much less frequently.

I have three things I want to release by the end of the year. The first is Ancient Magic. Its playtest ended within the last few days, and I'm just now fixing up the last of the issues. I'm hoping to have it out in the next five hours or so.

The second game has just entered betatesting, and I'm hoping to have it out in a week's time, give or take. The third, in another week. This last one I can't make any concrete promises on; I still have about half the script to edit and a bunch more hacking to do before it's done, but it doesn't look like it's anywhere near as beastly as the last few games have been.

Tonight's clue is not so much "Something old, something new" as it is "Something old, something really old, and something waaaay older than even that last one, no, seriously." All three games are substantially beefy, and I don't think many people will be disappointed with the results should the Great Gambit succeed.

See you in a few hours, hopefully, after the last Ancient Magic fixes are implemented! (Note: Screenshots unrelated.)

Progress ~ Ancient Magic betatest wrapping up
Ancient Magic
# Posted on Dec. 15, 2010, 5:53 p.m. by Gideon Zhi

Release is imminent. Like, within-the-next-24-ish-hours imminent. I hope. I'm still hoping to get three more patches out this year, and this is one of 'em! There's still time!

Miscellaneous ~ It's been a dry year
# Posted on Oct. 11, 2010, 3:28 a.m. by Gideon Zhi

Yes, I realize it's been a pretty dry year. Looking back, Tactics Ogre is really the only thing I've released, which makes me sad. However, I'm expecting to release at least three more projects by year's end - hopefully four, and maybe even more. One of these is Laplace's Demon, which I'd wanted to get out for Halloween but I've been really busy and haven't had time to finish its script edit. Another is Super Nazo Puyo 2, which has been placed on the backburner while I work on more important stuff but really only needs a week or two of hard work before it's ready to be playtested. Of course there's also Ancient Magic, whose betatest is progressing smoothly, and I've got at least one or two other things baking quickly in the oven.

I've also gone back to school. I'm happy with my degrees but they're not making me any money, so I'm going to spend a few years and get a BS in computer science, which is probably what I should have done in the first place. The two classes I've been taking this semester and the 40-hour work week I'm doing over the weekend have put a vicegrip on my free time of late, but somehow I still find time for the hobby. I'm not going to promise a Christmas run-up like several years back, when I released a new translation every two weeks for two or three months straight, and now that I think of it I haven't even *considered* a Christmas release. I have something I'd certainly like to launch on the big 12-25, but I don't know if it'd be possible to get it ready in time... We'll see. Whether or not I have a Christmas release for you all, the rest of the year promises to be fruitful, and again, I apologize for the recent drought.

Progress ~ And now for a blast from the past.
Super Puzzle Puyo, Too!
# Posted on Sept. 2, 2010, 8:39 p.m. by Gideon Zhi

So here's one there hasn't been any news on in a while! Years, in fact! Tonight, I did some tinkering with Super Nazo Puyu Tsuu (or, as we'll probably be calling it, "Super Puzzle Puyo, Too!") I'd say that progress is astounding enough to warrant a full site update, and not just a twitter post. The full main dialog script has been inserted, whereas before only about two thirds of it had found its way into the game. The project has been brought up to date with current tools (instead of tools from, say, 2003 or earlier) and roughly half of the script has been edited. No work on the menu systems yet, though they shouldn't pose too much of a problem. I've also added 23 new screenshots to the game's project page, a link to which you can find at the top of this post. As usual I can't say when it'll be done, other than "soon, I hope."

Progress ~ Ancient Magic finally reaches beta
Ancient Magic
# Posted on Aug. 24, 2010, 2:43 p.m. by Gideon Zhi

Ugh, this game's programming is one horrible spaghetti mess! But it's finally in playtesting, which means that the end is in sight. Have a copy of the new title screen, and of one of the tougher issues (fade-in sprite text stored nine times in the rom! Ugh.)

Miscellaneous ~ And now for something completely different.
# Posted on May 22, 2010, 1:16 p.m. by Gideon Zhi

I was browsing YouTube a month or so ago for silly House of the Dead 2 stuff when I came across a band named after the game's infamous "Suffer, like G did" line. The recordings were shaky cams of live performances and weren't of very good quality, but the band has since released a three-track EP which you can download on their website. I've been taken completely aback by their stuff, as it's actually really good! Very jazzy. So yeah, this is a plug. Grab the EP (it's free) and if you like them, then spread the word.

Progress ~ Ancient Magic: Script Fully Inserted
Ancient Magic
# Posted on May 1, 2010, 8:35 a.m. by Gideon Zhi

A few days ago I finally managed to get Ancient Magic's auto-format routine working nearly 100%. What this means, in effect, is that I add a single control code at the start of a string, and the game itself adds line breaks where appropriate. This is complicated by Ancient Magic's text system for two reasons. First, there is no standard "line break" command like most games have; instead, the game has a "print cursor position" command, which takes X and Y parameter bytes. Second, the routine likes to recursively call itself, most notably to differentiate between the speech patterns of the male and female main characters. These have been fully retained in the text translation, and the routine is currently navigating said recursive jumps with about 98% accuracy. Of course we need 100%, but it's really cool to see nonetheless.

The *nice* thing about the super annoying Cursor Position command is that it lets me tweak menus like crazy, and take advantage of the double-spacing that ten-ten marks usually occupy. I've also managed to add max hp and max mp indicators to the battle window, which the original game did not have!

I don't know how much longer this will take, but I'd like to have it being playtested in a week or two. No guarantees on that, of course.