91
Map Gab / Re: Marble-Man Marble Madness 2
« on: May 25, 2015, 10:02:41 pm »
Yeah, that's possible too. Either way, it ain't helping us any.
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
92
Map Gab / Re: Marble-Man Marble Madness 2
« on: May 25, 2015, 12:29:12 pm »
That's really silly. One of the main reasons so many people cling to copyright is so that they can (in their minds) maximize their revenue. The company that developed the game has not and probably never will make any money from it, so from this stand point, not allowing it to be copied isn't helping that company benefit monetarily at all.
Also as far as value goes, a work gains value the more it is spread and enjoyed by people. Value is something that people give to things, whether it be an object, book, video game, etc. It doesn't have it intrinsically. An unpublished manuscript to a book that's locked up in a safe some place doesn't have all that much value to people who don't know about its existence, does it?
Having the game data copied doesn't take away from the physicality of the game machine. That game is a one-of-a-kind, unique, physical object that no amount of digital copying could ever hope to rob away from it.
So if we really have to wait 100 or so years from now for the game to finally enter the public domain, and within that time span it turns out that the data has decayed and it utterly unrecoverable, then we will have lost a unique piece of video game culture forever, and it will be solely because of that one man's stubbornness in adhering to a field of law that is losing relevance with each passing day.
I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that.
Also as far as value goes, a work gains value the more it is spread and enjoyed by people. Value is something that people give to things, whether it be an object, book, video game, etc. It doesn't have it intrinsically. An unpublished manuscript to a book that's locked up in a safe some place doesn't have all that much value to people who don't know about its existence, does it?
Having the game data copied doesn't take away from the physicality of the game machine. That game is a one-of-a-kind, unique, physical object that no amount of digital copying could ever hope to rob away from it.
So if we really have to wait 100 or so years from now for the game to finally enter the public domain, and within that time span it turns out that the data has decayed and it utterly unrecoverable, then we will have lost a unique piece of video game culture forever, and it will be solely because of that one man's stubbornness in adhering to a field of law that is losing relevance with each passing day.
I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that.
93
Gaming / Re: Waterloo Video Game Swap - anyone here live in Ontario?
« on: April 09, 2015, 08:26:16 pm »
In the end, I didn't end up going. I did step out the door with the intent to go, but I somehow misread the bus schedule in my area. On Sunday, the bus only comes once every hour, so if I leave at the wrong time, I end up having to wait for about 40 minutes (since I usually leave the house 10 minutes prior to the bus arriving at the bus stop). and that is what happened. If it wasn't so cold that day, I probably would've waited the extra time for it to come back around.
So I don't have anything to report, unfortunately. And you went to the trouble of getting the pass put into my name so I feel kinda bad for not going.
But I do thank you for letting me know this event exists, so I will probably plan on going to the next one (which I think will take place in September). I think I might even consider getting a table and sell my video game related artwork there, if that sort of thing would be allowed.
So I don't have anything to report, unfortunately. And you went to the trouble of getting the pass put into my name so I feel kinda bad for not going.
But I do thank you for letting me know this event exists, so I will probably plan on going to the next one (which I think will take place in September). I think I might even consider getting a table and sell my video game related artwork there, if that sort of thing would be allowed.
94
Gaming / Re: Waterloo Video Game Swap - anyone here live in Ontario?
« on: March 05, 2015, 07:43:09 pm »
Thanks for taking care of that, Jon! Yay, no waiting! ^__^
Sure, if I find anything interesting, I'll be sure to do a show-and-tell of sorts.
Sure, if I find anything interesting, I'll be sure to do a show-and-tell of sorts.
95
Gaming / Re: Waterloo Video Game Swap - anyone here live in Ontario?
« on: March 03, 2015, 01:16:31 pm »
I'm pretty sure transactions won't be restricted to just trades. I checked out one of their videos from the last swap and they mentioned having over 100 vendors in attendance, so I think it's safe to assume that I can simply buy things outright. Besides, I don't really have anything I'd wish to part with anyway, not at the moment at least, heheh.
By the way, this event is massive! Much bigger than my first impression (judging from the photos in their gallery) lead me to think.
By the way, this event is massive! Much bigger than my first impression (judging from the photos in their gallery) lead me to think.
96
Gaming / Re: Waterloo Video Game Swap - anyone here live in Ontario?
« on: March 02, 2015, 02:04:49 pm »
I just happen to live in Kitchener, the very next city over from Waterloo. I had seen you mention this before in a different thread, but I didn't really take an interest in it at first, mainly because it's highly doubtful that there will be anything there in Japanese (日本語ã—ã‹é Âã«ãªã„ãÂÂã€Â俺ï¼Â). But you never know what you may find there, right?　So I can put one of those passes to use. It certainly beats letting them go to waste.
97
Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future
« on: February 21, 2015, 01:23:24 pm »
I'd say it was a fairly good game. Yes, it has its flaws, but I found it to be pretty fun to play through regardless. And NPCs seem to talk a whole lot more than in most other RPGs. They can often speak three or four windows of text before they decide to shut up. 
Good luck with mapping those games! I did a little searching and found out that two of those three RPGs are Chinese in origin, which I found interesting. Doesn't help with someone learning Japanese though, haha.
On an unrelated note, I began playing through Final Fantasy II (the original NES version) a few days ago. It's great to finally play through this game and find out how the story progresses. I did play it many years ago, but somehow got stuck someplace without knowing what to do next (and I was playing the Neo Demiforce version at that time, so there wouldn't have been any language barrier to account for that).
I decided not to "cheat" by attacking my own party members to boost their HP, nor by casting spells unnecessarily to boost their MP. I wanted to see how well the characters would improve just by playing through the game naturally, and it seems to be working quite well:
Frionel - HP: 367 MP: 36
Maria - HP: 454 MP: 49
Guy - HP: 696 MP: 16
So far so good!
Good luck with mapping those games! I did a little searching and found out that two of those three RPGs are Chinese in origin, which I found interesting. Doesn't help with someone learning Japanese though, haha.
On an unrelated note, I began playing through Final Fantasy II (the original NES version) a few days ago. It's great to finally play through this game and find out how the story progresses. I did play it many years ago, but somehow got stuck someplace without knowing what to do next (and I was playing the Neo Demiforce version at that time, so there wouldn't have been any language barrier to account for that).
I decided not to "cheat" by attacking my own party members to boost their HP, nor by casting spells unnecessarily to boost their MP. I wanted to see how well the characters would improve just by playing through the game naturally, and it seems to be working quite well:
Frionel - HP: 367 MP: 36
Maria - HP: 454 MP: 49
Guy - HP: 696 MP: 16
So far so good!
98
Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future
« on: February 04, 2015, 11:24:01 pm »
I finally have something to show for GD Leen. The first six maps are up at the moment, which will be followed by more in due time.
Since there doesn't seem to be a fan translation of this game (that is completed anyway), I did my best with translating the names of locations and items myself. There were some instances where I took a liberty or two with the translation to keep the names from getting too long. ディガンã®ã¾ãÂ݋ would normally be "Digan Magic Gem", but I went with "Digan Gem" to keep it simple.
This game has some fairly strange sounding items when translated into English though... "Yummy Food", "Growling Head", "Signpost Midget" to name a few.
One thing I'm happy about is not having to make things up for the out-of-reach areas of maps. Good job game designers for actually filling in those out-of-reach areas with scenery!
Jon, the copyright information for this game should read "© 1991 Seta / Yuto Ramon". I didn't realize the title screen doesn't have that info on it. You only see it when you decide to stop playing the game for the day (it is displayed on a screen which also tells you to hold the reset button when turning the power off... as if that was necessary to do anyway). Sorry about that!
Since there doesn't seem to be a fan translation of this game (that is completed anyway), I did my best with translating the names of locations and items myself. There were some instances where I took a liberty or two with the translation to keep the names from getting too long. ディガンã®ã¾ãÂ݋ would normally be "Digan Magic Gem", but I went with "Digan Gem" to keep it simple.
This game has some fairly strange sounding items when translated into English though... "Yummy Food", "Growling Head", "Signpost Midget" to name a few.
One thing I'm happy about is not having to make things up for the out-of-reach areas of maps. Good job game designers for actually filling in those out-of-reach areas with scenery!
Jon, the copyright information for this game should read "© 1991 Seta / Yuto Ramon". I didn't realize the title screen doesn't have that info on it. You only see it when you decide to stop playing the game for the day (it is displayed on a screen which also tells you to hold the reset button when turning the power off... as if that was necessary to do anyway). Sorry about that!
99
Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future
« on: January 24, 2015, 08:05:48 pm »
Glad you approve!
I'm not sure if I'd say it's harder to map than the previous 2D ones. If I didn't have 7mimic to help with ripping the backgrounds, then I'd agree it'd be more difficult.
The only difficult part I'd say is adding in all the sprites that aren't part of the backgrounds. Since the video plug-in (P.E.Op.S. Soft Driver 1.15) in ePSXe which allows me to attain pixel perfect screen shots uses a slightly shifted colour palette than what 7mimic gives me, cutting away the excess pixels is going to be a chore (unless there's a plug-in out there where that problem doesn't occur).
ãŠã†ã€Â頑張りã¾ã™ï¼Â
I'm not sure if I'd say it's harder to map than the previous 2D ones. If I didn't have 7mimic to help with ripping the backgrounds, then I'd agree it'd be more difficult.
The only difficult part I'd say is adding in all the sprites that aren't part of the backgrounds. Since the video plug-in (P.E.Op.S. Soft Driver 1.15) in ePSXe which allows me to attain pixel perfect screen shots uses a slightly shifted colour palette than what 7mimic gives me, cutting away the excess pixels is going to be a chore (unless there's a plug-in out there where that problem doesn't occur).
ãŠã†ã€Â頑張りã¾ã™ï¼Â
100
Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future
« on: January 24, 2015, 04:07:56 pm »
I have the first three areas mapped out and fully labelled for Final Fantasy VII (up to the "Last Train from Midgar"). These few maps will give some indication into how I'll be treating the rest of the maps.
I have attached an image showcasing the various icons and how they'd work on a map. A few of the icons (the materia and save point) I took from the fourth disc of the International version. Because of the screen disortion when viewing that disc, I had to edit or completely redraw those icons, since I don't think squished egg-shaped materia spheres would look all that great for labelling maps with. Might as well include a screen shot from disc 4 to illustrate this point. The other icons I came up with myself.
For some things, such as picking up/receiving an item from someone, or revisiting an earlier area that has new items, I will include a small description above the item label to indicate who it is from or when that item becomes available to get. One good example is the Chocobo Lure materia that becomes available at the Chocobo Farm after Sephiroth casts Meteo during Disc 2.
There's probably a few more icons I'll have to make as I progress through the game, but this should be enough for the time being.
@vorpal86: Thanks for the kind words!
I have attached an image showcasing the various icons and how they'd work on a map. A few of the icons (the materia and save point) I took from the fourth disc of the International version. Because of the screen disortion when viewing that disc, I had to edit or completely redraw those icons, since I don't think squished egg-shaped materia spheres would look all that great for labelling maps with. Might as well include a screen shot from disc 4 to illustrate this point. The other icons I came up with myself.
For some things, such as picking up/receiving an item from someone, or revisiting an earlier area that has new items, I will include a small description above the item label to indicate who it is from or when that item becomes available to get. One good example is the Chocobo Lure materia that becomes available at the Chocobo Farm after Sephiroth casts Meteo during Disc 2.
There's probably a few more icons I'll have to make as I progress through the game, but this should be enough for the time being.
@vorpal86: Thanks for the kind words!
101
Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future
« on: January 17, 2015, 09:48:53 pm »
Long time no post!
I'm just about finished playing through Final Fantasy VII. Although I said I would map this in the fall, that certainly didn't pan out, did it? But I'm certainly at the stage where I can begin blazing through the English version to get all the item labels and whatnot if I wish. Now, whether to use the in-game graphics for treasure chests/materia/potions/etc. or use stylized icons for them instead, I'm still mulling over.
I've also made a bit more progress with mapping GD Leen. Although there isn't that many areas in the game, the dungeons can end up being quite large, spanning four or more floors each (each floor being 768x768 or 1024x1024 in size). Most of the maps won't be done until I'm near the end of the game since to defeat the final boss, I need to search for a number of special weapons and equipment that are hidden behind locked doors which are scattered throughout all the previous areas I've been to. Some are remarkably easy to find, while others are prohibitively difficult to.
I'm just about finished playing through Final Fantasy VII. Although I said I would map this in the fall, that certainly didn't pan out, did it? But I'm certainly at the stage where I can begin blazing through the English version to get all the item labels and whatnot if I wish. Now, whether to use the in-game graphics for treasure chests/materia/potions/etc. or use stylized icons for them instead, I'm still mulling over.
I've also made a bit more progress with mapping GD Leen. Although there isn't that many areas in the game, the dungeons can end up being quite large, spanning four or more floors each (each floor being 768x768 or 1024x1024 in size). Most of the maps won't be done until I'm near the end of the game since to defeat the final boss, I need to search for a number of special weapons and equipment that are hidden behind locked doors which are scattered throughout all the previous areas I've been to. Some are remarkably easy to find, while others are prohibitively difficult to.
102
Map Gab / Re: NES - Lagrange Point (Eng)
« on: January 17, 2015, 09:14:40 pm »
Great work on these maps! I'll resist the urge to look through the maps later in the game since I'd like to play through this properly some time. Thanks for bringing this game to our attention!
103
Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future
« on: September 12, 2014, 12:35:23 pm »
An update on Final Fantasy VII. I'm about 30 hours in so far, and have made it to the Temple of the Ancients (is that how it's said in the English version? I'm just translating from å¤代種ã®神殿).
I have been piecing together maps of areas I've already visited, although I haven't been doing it consistently. The latest one I did that with was the Shinra Mansion. There are some areas that, without actually taking screen shots of them for reference, I wouldn't know how bright the light sources/mist should be (since it's possible to adjust that in 7mimic), so I'm just gonna hold off on putting maps together for the time being.
So I'll just continue to enjoy playing through FF7! ã‚ÂãÂÂ～　ãªã¤ã‹ã—ã„ãª～
I have been piecing together maps of areas I've already visited, although I haven't been doing it consistently. The latest one I did that with was the Shinra Mansion. There are some areas that, without actually taking screen shots of them for reference, I wouldn't know how bright the light sources/mist should be (since it's possible to adjust that in 7mimic), so I'm just gonna hold off on putting maps together for the time being.
So I'll just continue to enjoy playing through FF7! ã‚ÂãÂÂ～　ãªã¤ã‹ã—ã„ãª～
104
Maps Of The Month / Re: 2014/09: Final Fantasy IV (Super NES) - FlyingArmor
« on: September 05, 2014, 08:44:33 pm »
It's always an honour to have my work recognized in this way. Not to mention for a very well known game to boot! Thanks very much!
Now I'll go back to watching Baby Steps and hold myself back from throwing up my dinner. I got a cold yesterday, so I'm a bit queasy at the moment...
Now I'll go back to watching Baby Steps and hold myself back from throwing up my dinner. I got a cold yesterday, so I'm a bit queasy at the moment...
105
Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future
« on: August 25, 2014, 10:47:56 am »
Once I play through the game, I will be. 
If Final Fantasy V was my mapping project for the summer, Final Fantasy VII will be my project for the fall. I left off at the prison underneath Gold Saucer, so I still got a long way to go before I begin to map the game in earnest.
While I'm at it, I might as well attach the map for the Chocobo Farm since it's all ready to go anyway. Enjoy!
If Final Fantasy V was my mapping project for the summer, Final Fantasy VII will be my project for the fall. I left off at the prison underneath Gold Saucer, so I still got a long way to go before I begin to map the game in earnest.While I'm at it, I might as well attach the map for the Chocobo Farm since it's all ready to go anyway. Enjoy!