Tag Archives: Richard2410

Oct 23 2018

The Thing 2 RPG – v2.6 Release Delay

This probably isn’t good news for most of you but we won’t be able to get the v2.6 update out in 2018. The main reason for this is we are doing a big overhaul with a lot of the art assets in game with the most time consuming ones being the character sprites and the “tiles” (the graphics used to make up the areas in-game). I will say that I never promised a 2018 release but I was aiming for that window but it’s looking like Spring 2019 at this point based on the amount of work Arteaga has left to do for me.

On the plus side the game will look a lot better and I’m aiming for more cohesion between everything in the game. Below is a sample of what you can expect from the new character sprites, you have Natalie (from The Thing 2 RPG) compared to Logan (Our Test Dummy from PW who has been scaled down to match the older engine). The characters proportions will look more realistic and will also be getting face portraits to match. In addition we are increasing the frames of animation, before everyone had 3 frames but now they will have 9 frames making the movement look more fluid than before.

RIP Chibi Style

I hope everyone will understand and I apologize in advance, since we started developing PW I’ve looked back a lot on The Thing 2 RPG and thought it could be so much better. Spending the time to improve the assets now also makes it easier later on if we get the chance to port The Thing 2 RPG to the RPG Maker MV engine as a sort of remaster (although don’t hold your breath on this).

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Oct 1 2018

The Thing 2 RPG – Nova & Huan

We have one final enemy to add to the game, this time I’d like to introduce Nova, a Gen Inc Spectre and Huan her great white wolf companion. They appear in Story Mode as part of an optional encounter (not tracked by the quest log).

In this scenario a former Gen Inc Scientist is on the run from his employer, with him he carries a unique serum which can apparently immunize someone from infection. However he is being tracked by Nova, a deadly Spectre who uses a Sniper Rifle at range and her pet great wolf Huan at close range.

The fight against Nova & Huan is the most complicated fight I’ve made in the game and has several stages to the fight as well as different outcomes.
The fight has 3 main outcomes but there are multiple ways to get some of them and there are 8 distinct enemy graphics used to make up the fight. It’s a little difficult to write about it without spoiling it but lets just say that someThing is a miss.

If you can save the scientist you will get a new party member as well as a possible cure for infection. Based on the outcome of the fight you may also  gain a new ally or face a dangerous foe…

The Gen Inc Agents *Update*

With the addition of the Gen Inc Agents to the games Story Mode we have made sure to give them some decent loot as well as each agent having one piece of unique gear only obtainable from defeating them. If you keep their gear til the end of Story Mode you will be able to save it to your file for NewGame+ Story Mode runs where you can recover it from the Field Base.

Whats Next?

I’m working on the “Away Team” mechanic for Story Mode still and after completing this I will start playtesting the game while Arteaga finishes up artwork. If I have time I will stream some of my playtest on twitch.

-Richard

Sep 29 2018

September 2018 Blog Update

Hello, I’m back in the UK.

Life Stuff

I just came back from Vietnam, it was great. 32c everyday, nice food and drinks (I really like peach tea!) and I got engaged to my beautiful girlfriend of 3 years. Now that I’m back in the UK I can resume working on my projects for now but towards Christmas I may have to work a lot again. It’s a struggle to try and bring my wife to be over here, manage monthly bills and try to keep things moving project wise.

This month I managed to 100% the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (as according to the game, which doesn’t require getting all the relics in crash 1 and 2 thankfully), watch Archer Danger Island (other seasons were better) and finish Disenchantment (it was decent, expected more though). I also got to try a bit of Monster Hunter on the Switch which was my first experience and it’s a very complicated game and I want to give it a fair chance.

Speaking of the Switch a big direct happened while I was away (Final Fantasy IX for Switch <3) and they launched their Online Service which is very ehhh….

The Thing 2 RPG (v2.6 Update)

Art: Arteaga has finished all the new enemy designs now. He is currently touching up some of the older artwork and ‘replacing’ artwork done by other artists. When the v2.6 update releases Arteaga and Christie Shinn will be the only two credited artists.

Dev: I was away this month but I have quite the backlog to complete. I have to finish designing some new areas and finish the away team mechanic for Story Mode. With the introduction of the new Gen Inc Agent enemies I also want to include some unique/rare drops for them which I should implement this month. There is also one additional enemy to still be revealed so keep an eye out for them…

Planned: A lot of the planned stuff is artwork based, all I need to do is integrate artwork as it is completed, finish the away team mechanic and test the game as much as I can before release. With the redesign of the character sprites we may also have to resize some areas so I need to comb through the game at some point looking at this.

A lot of the slowdown is due to the time it takes to make the art, Arteaga is but one man. I hope to wrap up my development work on the project soon so I only have to go into the game to replace art assets here and there and test it (which is the best part!). That way I can focus on PW’s development. I expected the update to launch in 2018 and I want to keep that release but it’s looking like we might miss it but I’ll try to meet it if I can.

PW

Nothing new to report. We are pulling resources towards The Thing 2 RPG currently.

PW Team: Richard2410, Sadonrii, Arteaga

Traffic

I want to say thanks for the increased website traffic and support. It was a big month for me while I was away in Vietnam the website served over 800 adverts (which I made $0 from xD) but it’s a really great start. I really want to use this website over using the ModDB page going forward as I have more to gain from it. When the v2.6 update finally releases for The Thing 2 RPG I will redirect people here from the ModDB page. Thanks for all your support this month.

Donations

I am now open to taking Donations and have added a page on my site with more information about what the money (if any) will be used for. If your able to help us out I’d really appreciate it.

For more information on Donations go here.
To Donate click here. (Any amount is welcome)

That’s about all I have to say for now. I hope that I can fill these blog posts with enough decent information each month to keep them readable. Thanks for reading this and playing my game(s) over the years :)

-Richard

Aug 30 2018

The Thing 2 RPG – Remaining Agents

Here are the rest of the enemy Gen Inc agent previews from The Thing 2 RPG’s v2.6 update.

Captain, Gen Inc has many agents operating in the region, one of which we have identified as a Hazmat Squad Leader known as Kemuri. She isn’t shy about hiding her identity but don’t let this fool you as she seems to carry some sort of gas that sends victims into a panic despite wearing protective equipment.

Captain, we have identified another Gen Inc agent in the field known as Nano. He is unusually large and seems to be part of Gen Inc’s secret Spectre Unit. Intel suggests he is able to mass heal his allies but we have been unable to confirm how this is possible. You may struggle to take him down without anti-armor measures.

We’ve also managed to gather some last minute intel on another Gen Inc Operative known as Frost who seems to be disguised as a US Arctic Marine. We are not sure how it is possible but along with using freezing grenades she is able to freeze enemies with her special bow. You should be cautious when dealing with any of these Gen Inc Agents in the field but taking them out may yield some useful rewards.

Also General Carruthers has received his own sprite and is more distinguished in his fight instead of just using the US Captain model.Lastly I’d like to mention one final enemy we are working on. Another Optional boss fight is going to be added to Story Mode which includes multiple variations and outcomes in the fight. It revolves around saving a Scientist with a drug that can apparently immunize someone from infection, he is being chased by a Gen Inc Assassin and her canine companion but someThing ain’t quite right… “It’s weird and pissed off whatever it is.”

 

Aug 23 2018

August 2018 Blog Update

Hi.

Life Stuff

I’ve worked like all day, every day. ALL DAY, EVERYDAY.

Aside from that I did get a little time to finish off Crash Bandicoot 2 and am nearing the end of Crash 3 but am struggling a little with the time trials. Monster Hunter comes out this month which I will be playing with Sadonrii. Overlord season 3 has also started and Funimation has been streaming the English Dub 1 week after the Japanese version airs so I’ve been enjoying that. I’m really looking forward to more Overlord after season 2 was so good. I also got a bit of time to watch some of Disenchantment on Netflix and it’s alright, it’s not on the same tier as say Futurama but it’s still enjoyable and I’m really digging Queen Oona.

I also upgraded my wordpress plan. Before I only used to pay for the domain name but I’m paying for a premium membership now, it’s a little more but it lets me monetize adverts on site so hopefully that will help me a little down the line. I updated the information on the Donations page to reflect this. On the Donations page I’ve also noted the estimated costs and time I’d need to port The Thing 2 RPG from the RPG Maker VX Ace engine to the RPG Maker MV Engine (which we are using for PW). It’d be around $5,000 and take 6 to 12 months to port it over. RPG Maker MV supports a lot of better functions and utility than VX Ace such as bigger resolutions and javascript support but does suffer from being more intensive to run compared to VX Ace games. Arteaga cannot run PW on his 7+ year old laptop for example but can run The Thing 2 RPG just fine.

I’m off to Vietnam in September so the next month might be pretty quiet on here unless any more enemies reveal themselves for The Thing 2 RPG.

The Thing 2 RPG v2.6 Update

Art: Arteaga is currently working on enemy graphics for the game and I will continue to share them in posts as they are made.

Dev: I just implemented some of the new enemies this month, nothing too major on my part. I still need to finish off implementing the away team mechanic in story mode when I get a chance.

Planned: A lot of the planned stuff is artwork based, all I need to do is integrate artwork as it is completed, finish the away team mechanic and test the game as much as I can before release. With the redesign of the character sprites we may also have to resize some areas so I need to comb through the game at some point looking at this.

A lot of the slowdown is due to the time it takes to make the art, Arteaga is but one man. I hope to wrap up my development work on the project this month so I only have to go into the game to replace art assets here and there. That way I can focus on PW’s development. I expected the updated to launch in 2018 and I want to keep that release but it’s looking like we might miss it but I’ll try to meet it if I can.

PW

Nothing new to report. We are pulling resources towards The Thing 2 RPG currently.

PW Team: Richard2410, Sadonrii, Arteaga

Donations

I am now open to taking Donations and have added a page on my site with more information about what the money (if any) will be used for. If your able to help us out I’d really appreciate it.

For more information on Donations go here.
To Donate click here. (Any amount is welcome)

 

That’s about all I have to say for now. I hope that I can fill these blog posts with enough decent information each month to keep them readable. Thanks for reading this and playing my game(s) over the years :)

Richard

Aug 11 2018

The Thing 2 RPG – “Chanka” & “Eliza” + Misc.

Here are some enemy previews from The Thing 2 RPG’s v2.6 update along with some more updated screenshots of the new icons in place.

Captain, Gen Inc has many agents operating in the region, one of which we have identified as a Mercenary named Chanka. Reports suggest he is heavily armored and lugs around a heavy turret which can unload some serious firepower. Rumors indicate that he is also affiliated with Russian Mercenaries so you should be be cautious when engaging him.

Captain, we have identified another Gen Inc agent in the field known as Eliza. Eliza isn’t subtle about disguise and seems to have other Gen Inc units under her command. Intel indicates she uses squad tactics and an under barrel grenade launcher to takedown her foes. You should be prepared for a bloody fight when encountering her.

Mirage has received some slight changes worth noting. Her proportions have been tweaked a little and her formation changed. In addition I have randomized the fight so that the real version of her can appear in any of the 5 places so you can never really predict where she is now.

Finally I’d like to show off some more of the icons that Arteaga worked so hard on. Below are some screenshots showcasing passive skills, traits, states and action skills. To keep things simple we’ve used a green box to represent positive effects, a red box to represent negative effects and a purple box to represent mixed (both positive and negative) effects. There are some other color boxes used in game but they are just cosmetic and don’t represent anything in particular but are distinguished not to be within the green, red and purple categories. Special abilities and Action skills have had a nice comic book splash effect added behind their icons to also distinguish them a little.

Aug 1 2018

July 2018 Blog Update

Hi.

This blog post is a little late again, sorry about that.

Life Stuff

I’ve been at work a hell of a lot to try and save some extra money. You sort of reach a point where you think that your time is worth more than this and I am pretty fed up with what I do. I’m going to try and find a better job but it’s always a risk, regardless lets hope that whatever the case I can get some damn free time. Speaking of free time I managed to beat the first Crash Bandicoot game this month, I’d forgot how hard it was. I also managed to watch a bunch of movies ranging from the men to the weirdly wonderful.

First off I managed to rewatch Scary Movie 3, I hadn’t watched this movie in years and I think it’s aged very well. The film wasn’t all that funny to me when I was younger but I got a good laugh out of it this time around. I then watched It Follows which is some weird movie about a creature that follows you and kills you unless you have sex with someone and pass the curse on (I guess its social commentary on STDs) it was alright but a little meh at the same time, the design of the creature was nothing special but it was still a fairly good one overall, I’ve definitely seen worse. I also got to watch Higanjima Escape from Vampire Island where a bunch of teenagers go and fight vampires on an island which was quirky and fairly decent but it had the worst CGI Gargoyle I’d ever seen in it but hell the film was worth watching alone just to see Asami Mizukawa. Finally I managed to rewatch Memories of Matsuko which I hadn’t seen in a very long time and its still one of the best Japanese movies I’ve ever, it’s a hard movie to explain without spoiling it but it tells the story of a woman named Matsuko and all the ups and downs she experiences through her life, it’s very moving.

The Thing 2 RPG v2.6 Update

Art: The in-game icons are all finally complete! Arteaga is now working on new enemy designs for the time being, I will showcase these in their own posts as they are completed.

Dev: I didn’t actually have time to do much of anything this month. All I manged to do was put the new icons in and add Mirage to the game. I need to finish off implementing the away team mechanic in story mode when I get a chance.

Planned: A lot of the planned stuff is artwork based, all I need to do is integrate artwork as it is completed, finish the away team mechanic and test the game as much as I can before release. With the redesign of the character sprites we may also have to resize some areas so I need to comb through the game at some point looking at this. A lot of the slowdown is due to the time it takes to make the art, Arteaga is but one man. I hope to wrap up my development work on the project this month so I only have to go into the game to replace art assets here and there. That way I can focus on PW’s development.

PW

No major news this month, The Thing 2 RPG is stealing all its Thunder right now :P

PW Team: Richard2410, Sadonrii, Arteaga

Donations

I am now open to taking Donations and have added a page on my site with more information about what the money (if any) will be used for. If your able to help us out I’d really appreciate it.

For more information on Donations go here.
To Donate click here. (Any amount is welcome)

 

That’s about all I have to say for now. I hope that I can fill these blog posts with enough decent information each month to keep them readable. Thanks for reading this and playing my game(s) over the years :)

Richard

Jul 21 2018

The Thing 2 RPG – “Mirage”

Here is an enemy preview from The Thing 2 RPG’s v2.6 update, please note that we are redoing character sprites later on which is why there is a big checker box visible in one scene.

Captain, Gen Inc has many agents operating in the region, one of which we have identified as a Spectre named Mirage. Reports suggest she uses smoke and mirror tactics to confuse her targets before landing the killing blow. She is swift and deadly and is not to be underestimated. We also have intel to suggest other Gen Inc affiliated agents are actively looking for you in the area so stay tuned for more info as it comes in.

 

 

Jul 3 2018

June 2018 Blog Update

Hi.

This blog post is a little late, sorry about that.

Life Stuff

We took a bit of a hiatus this month, I’ve been having to work some extra shifts at work so it’s set me back a little. I’m preparing to go back to Vietnam in September to get engaged so it’s been a little hard to find the time to work on things.

We had E3 earlier this month and it was pretty meh overall but Nintendo finally showed some of that sweet sweet Fire Emblem but it’s a 2019 game… Still it is what it is, I probably shouldn’t of expected Switch Year 2 to continue the same momentum as Year 1 did. This month I picked up Crash Bandicoot and Ys VIII for Switch and started Mario Odyseey again. Last time I played Mario Odyseey I got around 720 moons, I’m at 640 now and I am struggling with the same damn moons (curse skipping minigames!). I want to 100% Mario Odyseey before starting Cash Banooca but idk if I can do it… it fills me with rage xD

The Thing 2 RPG v2.6 Update

Art: Arteaga is still working on icons and I know he’s been doing that for a while but they are looking so damn good. After this will be some new enemy designs which I will showcase in blog posts as they are completed.

Dev: I was on Hiatus this month so I haven’t quite finished what I was doing, here’s what I managed to get done:

-In Story Mode you can create and manage an “Away Team” that can get sent off on a resource collection mission. After a timer expires you can control them separately with their own equipment and characters. This is about half done, the setup is there to make and manage the team but I still need to design the maps. There will be 10 generic maps that are chosen at random along with random mission variables like the game deciding what sort of items there will be to find, what sort of enemies you fight and how many there are etc.
-I implemented the Ghosts and Whispers sidequest but decided not to make it unlock additional boss fights, instead it has its own unique boss fight and the other 5 planned boss fights that would have been unlocked are now added to the game. They are going to be Gen Inc Agents hunting you down, they just need graphics but their mechanics are done and they all have a unique gimmick to make them different from other enemies.

Planned: A lot of the planned stuff is artwork based, all I need to do is integrate artwork as it is completed, finish the away team mechanic and test the game as much as I can before release. With the redesign of the character sprites we may also have to resize some areas so I need to comb through the game at some point looking at this.

A lot of the slowdown is due to the time it takes to make the art, Arteaga is but one man. I hope to wrap up my development work on the project this month so I only have to go into the game to replace art assets here and there. That way I can focus on PW’s development.

PW

No major news this month, The Thing 2 RPG is stealing all its Thunder right now :P

PW Team: Richard2410, Sadonrii, Arteaga

Donations

I am now open to taking Donations and have added a page on my site with more information about what the money (if any) will be used for. If your able to help us out I’d really appreciate it.

For more information on Donations go here.
To Donate click here. (Any amount is welcome)

 

That’s about all I have to say for now. I hope that I can fill these blog posts with enough decent information each month to keep them readable. Thanks for reading this and playing my game(s) over the years :)

Richard

May 22 2018

May 2018 Blog Update

Hi.

Another month has passed (more or less) so here’s another trash filled blog post. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Life Stuff

This month I’ve been primarily focused on Development of The Thing 2 v2.6 update which will be the final major update for the game, after this bugfixes and balance updates may trickle out but don’t much else on my end as PW needs a lot of work.

It was a slow month for switch games, I picked up DK: Tropical Freeze & Hyrule Warriors but not much else, still it’s just over 2 weeks until E3 so let’s hope they show off some decent titles. I was also a bit disappointed by the Nintendo Online service but it is what it is.

The Thing 2 RPG v2.6 Update

Art: Arteaga is still working on icons but they are pretty much close to completion. He’s got a lot of stuff to do for me and currently has most of the projects workload. It has been difficult for me to pin a release date for the update as I am stuck waiting on the art mostly but we are aiming for a 2018 release at least.

Dev: I managed to implement a bunch of the stuff I wanted to do this month but I didn’t complete all of it. Here’s what I got through:

-The Story Mode Field Base now has every single NPC there that you can get in your party. I also added some extra side quests.
-In Original Mode Blake can now Recover his equipment after getting captured :)
-In Prequel Mode the Bridge Defense Mechanic has changed. Defenders left at the bridge now form their own party which you control on Bridge Defense. Failing Bridge Defense is a Game Over so make sure this team is prepared for the task. To make it easier I have limited enemy spawns and the game adjusts enemy difficulty based on defender strength anyway.

Planned: I still have some stuff leftover from last month to implement but I also come up with a few new things I want to do. These are:

-In Story Mode each NPC will have the option of being added to the “Away Team”. This team will be able to be sent out on a mission. After a set amount of time expires you will control this team and conduct a scavenging mission of a location. On mission they may get attacked or encounter other difficulties but can leave the area any time after which another timer will start which is their travel time back to base. Once back at base you will be able to collect their resources. The Locations for this are going to be generic made ones that can be reused. I am looking at making around 10 to 20 of these for a bit of variety and they will be randomly selected when the team is sent away.
-I am planning out a more detailed side quest for Jose in Story Mode known as “Ghosts & Whispers” which involves helping him Infiltrate a Warehouse and includes a unique boss fight. Upon Completion it will also unlock five additional unique optional secret boss fights in the game which reward you with supplies and equipment if you find and beat them.
-I am also going to rework all the Custom Character Skins in the game when we get around to making the character sprites larger. This will include more suitable ones for the player character than what is currently offered.
-In Prequel Mode Natalie’s current outfit mechanic has been removed and the plan is to change it with “costume lockers” scattered around the ship which she can use to change outfits. In total there are 20 outfits planned (including her current 4), 8 will be available from the start and 4 will be unlocked per difficulty cleared on Prequel Mode. A bunch of these outfits are odd nods and references to things so I hope you look forward to them.

A lot of the slowdown is due to the time it takes to make the art, Arteaga is but one man. I hope to wrap up my development work on the project this month so I only have to go into the game to replace art assets here and there. That way I can focus on PW’s development.

PW

No major news this month, The Thing 2 RPG is stealing all its Thunder right now :P

PW Team: Richard2410, Sadonrii, Arteaga

Donations

I am now open to taking Donations and have added a page on my site with more information about what the money (if any) will be used for. If your able to help us out I’d really appreciate it.

For more information on Donations go here.
To Donate click here. (Any amount is welcome)

 

That’s about all I have to say for now. I hope that I can fill these blog posts with enough decent information each month to keep them readable. Thanks for reading this and playing my game(s) over the years :)

Richard