Dylanrockin

The characters have a "signature Pokemon" that cannot be removed from the party whatsoever, not even the Day-Care will accept them. They also get a preset team, but those Pokemon you can freely take out or change as you see fit. The teams that each character starts out with, in regards to when you first get them are: Asterisks indicate signature Pokemon that cannot be removed by any means. Not even releasing, boxing, depositing, Day-Care, doesn't matter what. They cannot be removed by any means. Vice: *Eevee* Marissa: *Umbreon*, Torchic, Shinx Vivian: *Frogadier*, Grovyle, Sneasel, Skarmory Krista: *Kirlia*, Feebas, Pancham, Nidoqueen, Skiddo Hiro: *Dialga*, *Zoroark*, Talonflame, Metagross, Tyrantrum, Samurott Allan: *Lucario*, *Zorua*, Dragonite, Tyranitar, Froslass, Arcanine Hiro and Allan Monochroma have 2 Signature Pokemon, but that is for story reasons, and for balancing purposes. They are very powerful Trainers that you get at the half-way point of the game, but have 2 Pokemon that cannot be removed. Also, signature Pokemon can only evolve when the story demands for it, and there are only 2 characters that have their Pokemon evolve throughout the story. This whole dealio with not being able to remove signature Pokemon is a little controversial towards people who like "nuzlocking", as the player cannot deposit their signature Pokemon. No nuzlocking capabilities.

Good news everyone! New enhancements, structurally, for my game! I updated some aspects of my game to Version 16.2, some, not all. I say that because completely upgrading would take me forever and a half, and some of the included features are dumb and I don't care for them. But, what I mostly ported over to my game, and heavily tested was: Improved Battle AI - Basically, the AI has been improved from 15.1 to 16.2, which is a huge jump, and includes Gen 6 moves taken into account. Also, I added in my own custom AI for scripted battles. Improved item and move functionality. Fixed gaining EXP on Catch bug that I had before. Stability fixes. And many more things that you guys probably don't care too much about. So, that's that. Also, I progressed the story so far now, that I can actually now work on some other things, involving script work. Which... is great! I'm also working on eventing a bunch of NPC's and pointless side-stuff, for the people who want that kind of thing. So, that's good!

Yes, well, once I finish some of the later events, I will make sure to get around to editing the Training Arc of the game, and add in some actual Training Sessions after the talking is done and over with. They will mostly pertain to that characters' play style, so that way the training doesn't feel the same. Mainly so that way I don't exposition the sh** out of the player, and let them actually do something. However, for the people who don't want to listen to the character babble on about plot related things or character development, I can only imagine Poke-Players, with their webcams on, looking at the screen with a face of distraught and agony, which... I will admit, I am very much looking forward to. Then again, I have a sheer distaste towards famous Poke Players anyways, but I digress. For the most part however, there will be sequences where you will be able to move around and interact, as well as battle and test out the new character abilities that those specific characters have acquired. Speaking of Character Abilities. I'm starting to get back into working on the Ability Matrix, however, there will be a lot of things that will be structurally changed, and I will be adding in new abilities for characters who don't have as many as others. But, I've mostly held off work on the Ability Matrix, just because I wanted to get everything else done first, before I finish it. Because writing completely original scripts, from line 1 to line 3000 takes a lot of time, testing and patience. I was losing time with my game, so I held it off, until I got to a point where I would say "Okay, let's finish this thing." But, anyways, I will be working on 5 more Trainer Abilities, and then after that I will refine the Ability Matrix asap. For those of you unfamiliar to what it is I'm talking about. In an earlier forum post I wrote about the Ability Matrix and documented my progress. You can feel free to search through the thread to find it.

The thing is, though, I am not going to include that, because that's actually really hard to implement a skip cutscene option, and secondly: if you're going to play a game that has equally, if not more text, than a novel, I expect you to read it. You should be going into this, fully aware of how text heavy the game is. I will add in some gameplay to diversify the scenes, but I won't add an option to skip them. I'm going to echo what I stated above. What you're used to, here on the Reborn forums, in terms of text, story, and character development might be equivalent to running a mile. I'm expecting you to run a 5k marathon. It's hard, yes, to have to read through some of the more lengthy scenes, but when you do read them you'll feel like you got something out of it. Some scenes are longer than others, and this training session with the characters being separated for 2 weeks is the longest scene in the game. However, there will be gameplay bits in there to help alleviate some of the pain there might be in reading it, especially for those who don't have the best attention spans and start to doze off at certain parts. What I'm trying to say is... the point of the game is the story, and I want you to be invested in it. You should know that full-well, going into the game, that there will be A LOT of text. The full word document of my game is 320,562 words long. From start to finish. But, I can understand why you would want that. And for as much as I think it'd be a good idea to have the choice to have a skip cutscene button, say, if it was your second time playing through the game, I admittedly don't know how to incorporate that. I could give the choice, but that would seem tacky, as it seems extremely unprofessional if I were to do that. I think this would be most beneficial, as it would allow for people to understand, without drooling out of the sides of their mouths, because of how much they have to read. Because literally, this whole scene is the equivalent to me saying "Read chapter 11 of such and such, and then write a 5 page paper on everything that you read." Without gameplay, I think that most people, at least those who aren't adjusted to JRPG's and how lengthy some of their scenes can be, would end up saying "OH SHUT UP, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! JUST STOP TALKING!" <---- This was one of my testers. It was hilarious. I normally have great tolerance to this sort of stuff, partly because my genre of choice is RPG's but I digress, so I don't particularly care, unless I have stuff to do, and I really don't have time to read it. But all of what you guys said are valid points, and I will take them into consideration. It will be annoying to try and find a break, between the scenes to say "do this, or do that," since... it'd be hard to incorporate some sort of training regimen into the whole ordeal. For Vice, spoiler warning, if you don't want to read it, then don't click the spoiler button: So, I'd have to get creative with what the player would have to do...

So, Update: Based on feedback which I have received in regards to one person playing my game, I have come to the decision of leaving out a 1 hour long scene of characters training to prepare for the 2nd continent. My question to you all is this... Would you like for me to take out that scene, or should I leave it in? Basically the whole arc of the story at that point is that the 4 characters separate and go off and do their own training for 2 weeks, to prepare for the 2nd continent. Vice trains to learn Verdant Transformation, Krista awakens her hidden powers, Vivian... well, let's not talk about that. She does get some training in, but not as much as the others. And Marissa trains with her sister to increase her technical skills with her Pokemon. Should I leave all that in, or should I cut out the entire training session that these characters have? It's part of their development as well, and I think some of the scenes in it are somewhat humorous, and interesting. I'd hate to leave it out, for the sake of characters losing care of the story, because of their attention spans (complaint I got towards my game, with one of my testers was that his attention span went straight to 0, because of all the talking.)

So, I'm going to make it clear that I am not dead (unfortunately, I know, some people were really probably hoping that was the case.) But nope, I am still alive and kicking. I am just finishing up my last 2 weeks of rehearsal and then after that... I'M FREE FROM ANY OBLIGATION THAT I MIGHT HAVE! But, until then, things will be very slow... But, here's some fanart from a friend of mine, to help cheer some of you guys up! Because this person likes the relationship of Vice and Hiro, this was made: Aside from that, I am currently working on more stuff for my game, and new features that will be programmed in, as well as bug fixes. Also, I have received funding for my game, thanks to my school's refund policy, so now I can pay for any works that I might need for my game, such as animations, sprites, etc, without having to work as I study. So that's good!

Well thank you, I appreciate it ^^ Also, update! New features, and extra in-game polish! Basically now you can use Verdant Transformation anywhere you want! You can just change costume, but this is way cooler and way more fun XD Even if it is unfinished at the moment, since I plan on adding in particle effects to the transformation and having Vice's bio-electricity be present in the overworld as you walk around in Verdant Form.

So, good news to those of you who follow my stuff! Today is my birthday, and I've been given quite a day off, which... is nice. Even though, when you get as old as me you start to care less and less about your birthday; but no matter. Butt, my friend drew for me some fan-art of Vivian Vance and her Froakie, when it still was just a Froakie and not Frogadier when you first get her, for my birthday XD There were also some fan-compositions that were done for my game, for my birthday and I am super grateful to those people. But, here is the artwork in question!

That's essentially what I programmed it off of. Getting the sound effects was the hard part, though. It was fun doing that, since it added some polish to the game, especially with how the sound effects, I programmed, to be timed to your footsteps.

So, it's been awhile since I last said anything, but that's what happens when you get involved in a lot of plays/musicals for your university :L Also the stress and angst from doing those things. That's also a thing. Good. God. Anyways, from the little downtime that I get from school and rehearsals, I've managed to program in some neat new things, such as: Overworld Terrain Based Sound Effects - Basically, now depending on what you're stepping on, whether it be sand, snow, normal ground, grass, water edges or puddles, sound effects will play. Also for caves, I added in a reverb to the normal footsteps, since obviously if you're in a cave there would be a slight echo when walking/running. Also, depending on if you are running/walking, will determine how fast the sound effect will play. More in-battle mechanics which I will go into more detail later, as well as new character abilities. Overall progress on the game increased, since I finished mapping Eclipse Mountain (for the most part), and am now working on eventing most scenes. Lastly, new anime animations are being worked on, now. That is all I will say on the matter. Other than that, I cannot say. If I've sounded a little rash these past few weeks, I apologize, it's just been rough as hell right now with school plays/musicals that I am in which have been taking up a lot of my time, and not getting enough rest, due to me studying extremely hard.

No, my manga-ka is someone completely different. I have 3 artists. One who does the character, location, and concept designs. The animation studio I'm affiliated with. And my manga-ka. Most of whom work exclusively for me; my manga-ka being one of them.

I've been involved with animation for 3 years. I know how this stuff works, which is why I direct the animation for the game, and am teaching someone the basics. I will use my money how I see fit, especially since my loyal artist, who deserves my compensation, does an amazing job with the exclusive art and animation style she does for my game. The animation studio that finalizes the work also does a great job, especially since I am bound by contract to them, at the current moment.

Which is mostly what I despise YouTube, and doing stuff on there. You get LITERALLY 0% respect. People demand the world from you, and yell at you for not doing what they tell you to do. Almost as if you're obligated to their demands. DeviantART is mostly the place where this sort of thing is common. And I've gotten better at this sort of thing, myself, since I am now using some new custom tiles that were made specifically for my game, and crediting where credit is due. However, on YouTube, they don't give a shit, and would instead opt into having someone else do all the work for them, because they are lazy as all hell. Also, again, this animation is just a preview. I was going to animate the floating islands and the sky in the scene, but my artist forgot to put the islands on a separate layer, so I couldn't really do much in the way of animating them. And this is just a preview, since the full 2 minute long animation is fully animated. Also, in a lot of anime's from the 90's like Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragon Ball, a lot of the talking scenes like this one are for the most part just like this. But, even still, just as point of reference for how much these animations cost. 1 Frame of animation plus the animation of the images, like you see in my video, is about 100 dollars. That's right, 100 dollars per frame, and that's not even taking into account the extra animation you see in the video. Which is mostly why I would not recommend anyone doing what I'm doing. You will end up like me: broke, and crying very, very hard all day. Again, read above. The preview is pretty much like that, because it's just that, a preview. Most people would be pissed off at me for releasing the full animation. But, since people like to keep addressing it, I might as well do that, just so people stop mentioning it. Just to get my point across. But, just as another point of reference for the kind of animations to look forward to: All of which are super expensive, and are all paid for at the moment. If you all really want to know how much this stuff was. All 8 animations together are in the 4 digit range of expensive. And I'm not talking low 4 digit range, I'm talking high. Vice Vs. Nero - 2 minutes long (Finalizing) Vivian Vs. Masked Trainer (Scheduled, and paid for) Falset's Resurrection (Scheduled, and paid for) Vice's Furious Transformation (Scheduled, and paid for) Greninja Vs. Greninja - Ultimate Ninja Showdown (Scheduled, and paid for) Vice's Awakening (Scheduled, and paid for) Krista's Rage (Scheduled, and paid for) Vice's First Time Transforming (Scheduled, and paid for)

Technically yes, they are basically static pictures, when you break it down. But the full animation itself has more animation to it than what you saw there, currently. However, I would highly not recommend doing anything that I do, since these cutscenes are extremely expensive, more than what any sane person can afford. As in: the thousands of dollars, levels of expensive.Unless you enjoy being broke like me XD What you see here is just the tip of the proverbial ice-berg. Even the first ever animation I paid for is pretty impressive, even though the title needs updating. Also, Japanese Dub, because I could really. I have currently 2 voice acting groups, one for english, and the other for Japanese. My reasoning, other than just showing off, is mainly because I could, and I have the resources available to me. And even though it might seem tempting to do all the things I do, trust me, managing 2 VA groups, college, making your game, theatre acting, and other things including finances for your game is not easy. You'll lose your mind. And people kept asking me about the whole thing, in regards to me making it public, which is why I had to make mention of it, again. Because, if you say it once, lord knows they won't pay any attention to it, and you'll have to repeat yourself a 2nd or even 3rd time. My emails and messages tell one hell of a story, in regards to it.

Given the expensive nature of my game, I have finally decided that I will not release my game to the public, until the game is completed. And because I refuse to advertise my game at all, I will only make my game a Reborn Forum exclusive and not post it to Reddit or wherever the hell other places these people post it to. I've been super busy, super stressed, and super not in the mood for a lot of people on the internet's crap, mostly for this shiz that I get on a day to day basis: So, this past week has been awfully slow, mostly because of my on campus stuffsss that I need to pertain to, in order to maintain my scholarship.

So, at the moment, progress with my game has been exceptional, and I've completed an entire mountain range, which mind you, would've taken me about a few months to make, in only a week. That includes all maps inside the connecting caves and many other things. Currently though, I am working on the Frost Sanctuary and all of the new mechanics that it introduces to diversify the gameplay. Also, I will be revamping some of the current graphics in the game to make them more... mine lets say. Basically a lot of the assets that I've used, that were from other people, will be modified by my spriter, to help fit the style of my game, basically XD As a final aside, how has everyone been enjoying the new animation? I know it's short, 20 seconds or so, but I am curious as to how everyone is liking it. Do you like it? How do you enjoy the voice acting in it? As I stated before, there will be several more of these, and they are much longer than this. I only showed 20 seconds of the full 2 minute animation, because spoilers, and because I'd rather you watch it, when it comes out (never) but you know

There will be many more where that came from. Currently, I have 8 scheduled for production; I just have to storyboard, script, and direct them, before they are finalized. Also, with voice actors, I have to manage them, and try to get their line delivery on point. Anymore than that, however, I cannot speak of, since this sort of thing is completely confidential.

I kind of had to go at length about it, especially when people do, and I mean this, ask me: How much money do you pay for these, who makes them, how did you accomplish this? All those questions are no one's business but your own, but most importantly the first one. Also, the animator/artist who does this stuff will get upset when you end up telling people how much you pay, because then people will be all like "Oh, that's too much, or too little." And act like they are endeared to criticize their choice of payments. In short: It's no one's business but your own. Especially how much you make, since that is generally personal between you and possibly your significant other, and maybe family members. Other mooks don't need to know about it XD

There's a very good reason why I cannot talk about how much I paid. Mostly because it's the equivalent of asking someone how much do you make at your job, which is generally something you don't answer. In the professional world, the same thing goes with this level of work. It's no one's business. However, I will not be uploading the full animation, since people will get upset in their pants about me doing something like that XD

To those of you who've been hearing me talk about anime cutscenes in my game, you might not want to skip over this, because... this is important. I'm just gonna let this video, speak for itself. The Next Dimension Tournament be getting some promotion, with the finals of Vice vs. Nero at the fight's climax! In your choice of English Dub and Japanese Dub with Subtitles (in-case you hate the english dub). However, I advise you read the description of the video... Japanese Dub English Dub

So, here is a little gif update for what is to come. This is just a small preview of the upcoming Frost Sanctuary, atop Eclipse Mountain, one of the hardest areas in the entire game. This Sanctuary is where the game starts to get... really hard. Puzzle wise, and battle wise. The past 3 Sanctuaries of the game were pretty easy, except for Oblivion Forest, which is actually sort of difficult. This however takes it up a notch by including sliding puzzles, with invisible pits, fake walls, and invisible objects that only Krista can see and make solid. There are fake walls, and some walls that look real, but aren't, which again, Krista can only see. In the story, when you reach Eclipse Mountain, Krista's sensing abilities increase, and can now allow her to see invisible objects that otherwise can not be used by any of the other characters, until Krista makes them solid. This entire Sanctuary makes use of this newfound ability, as well as Marissa and Vivian's own overworld abilities. After this Sanctuary, you will be transported to the City of the Timeless, where you can finally get Hiro and Allan in your party. This is just a preview, as some of the things in here aren't finalized, but this is just the entrance.

I see everyone has been enjoying the new snow-related maps for Eclipse Mountain. However, I have not made much project this past week, since I've been moving into my new dorm, with my roommate, which... by the way, has been quite awful. My neighbors are loud and obnoxious, and all the solo-dorms that I would prefer to live in are currently taken. Which sucks, a lot. As of right now, I can finally start working more on my game, but the maps I am now working on are the Frost Sanctuary, which... is quite exciting.

Yeah, and thankfully I got a co-signer for my student loans for this year So, I'm actually quite happy, at the moment, with that development! Also, here are a bunch of maps! Eclipse Mountain