Blogs - saber-hayashi

Oh and its usually FREE too.

For a long time now I have been keeping an eye on the Free To Play: Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games... and for good reason, as it has proved a brilliant platform for discoverys of not only the game industry, but also the habits of addicted gamers... like myself.

Let me start with a RPG that hits SO close to my home its scary...

A' MMORPG that is created and run by Andrew Gower and his brother Paul of Jagex- their company.

This was the first MMO I had ever played, back when it just left its MUD status and became what is known now as Runescape Classic... 2D people in a 3D world.
(Sidenote: Ive lived in Nottingham, England my whole life... and they started in Nottingham too)

The RS community grew and grew until it is the behemoth that it is now, taking my first few years of my online gaming career and giving a good first impression alongside a need for more.

This brings me to the MMO Addiction... I was drawn to the numbers, watching my characters gain experiance, level up... and finally getting kitted out in full blue rune platemail.
There is something about repetion that we gamers latch onto, be it tapping a Beat em up Combo on an arcade machine, or clicking wildly in a pattern on an MMO... we find ourselves drawn to it.

Sadly a year or two later, we wake up under a mountain of snack food packets, unpaid bills through the door and fifty messages on your answering machine, checking if your still breathing. Oh and yes your prized fictional character is now at the highest level you can get to, you have completed all the quests, your friends seemed to move on long before you did... you go looking for more.
More of the Grind, more of the same addictive gameplay.

Next you move onto your next free MMO... in my case, it was the cutesy den for social cowards,

Back in Runescape, I hadn't realised that the way we spoke on the server I was playing was 'grammatical ' english. "wantto party?" and "new n00b stop jimping" were the first words spoken to me by another player.
Classy... just one step away from "how do I mine for fish?" of Webcomic fame.
The mindset, like the gameplay, was addictive... you would find yourself typing faster and faster to people, making spelling errors... getting irratated at the smallest word uttered by another person.
It didn't take long for a newcomer like me to start using Internet safe profanity along the lines of 'N00B, Kill stealing ****, scammer! and last but not least: HackZor!'

... but why did this change in attitude happen, the game itself was cheerful enough, the gameplay wasnt too different to what I was used to in the past. I didn't know it then, but I do now... the group play system was at fault for this deterioration of the english language.

Example:
A Level 20 sword weilder can defeat Level 25 creatures for a little Experience (0.08% each creature) at about one Kill per two minutes... thats 2.4% an hour... at a maximum of 57.6% for 24 hours playing without sleep.
However, in a 'Party' or group of players, your speed and output can increase.
A group of 3 players, the same level, can kill the same enemies every 30 seconds.
9.6% an hour at a maximum of 230.4% for 24 hours without sleep...

In short, if you were in a group, every 12 hours you would gain a new level instead of two days. Also if your group was feeling suicidal you could go after the higher levels for 0.12% per conquest...

You NEEDED to be with people, it wasn't a want, the game was designed to bring people together in a stressful manner, causing alot of in-fighting, fast talking and twitchy tempers...
Sure there were always graceful players you would find, and they would make it to your in game Friends list... but there are always exceptions to the rules, chaos theory and the like.

400 intelligence Exp

Since then, both games I have talked about have evolved and learnt from their errors, and many others... now most MMORPG's have a balanced single player aspect to make playing in a group more relaxed and not so forced.

Lets not forget the Roleplay communitys and the dedicated players in each game, bringing back the Grammar back into the player base.

And finally the wonderful Grind, give a man a button connected to a counter with 4 digits... give him enough time and he will want to see what ahppens if you press the button 10000 times. Human nature at its finest.

The quest of Tedium is still continueing...
Saber Hayashi

(Runescape is Owned by Jagex and FlyFF is owned by Gala Labs, Respectively )

When you set your mind to it, you can do amazing things in amazingly short spaces of time...

On that note, the script and dialog tree for the first quest is now complete.
Unsheathed: Part 1-The discovery has been kicked into motion.

I have to admit, scripting is not my cup of tea, but I have little choice, I will attempt to get this quest up and running and in a alpha test download soon.

Since my last post earlier on in the day, I have had a few kind people offer their services... After some weed whacking I have decided to bring on Raynebird onto the project...
so far the roster looks like this:

Saber Hayashi - Project leader/ story writer/ modeller/ animator/ scripter/ voice actor/ artist.
Anamenti - Voice actor / lead concept artist.
Raynebird - Voice actor.

As you can assume, I have my work cut out for me if Iam to see this project released before 2014...

When the project gets to 10% completion ill made a mod page for it and upload all of the consept art and voice samples...

I have the honour of declaring the alpha status of my first Oblivion research project, aptly named:

During the exploration of vast hillsides of Tamriel your character has been unaware to a string of crimes sending the Imperial city into an uproar.
Tales are swapped between townsfolk about gruesome murders, bodies mutilated beyond all recognition, masonry of nearby buildings damaged and even destroyed around these crime scenes.
These crimes have appeared in Bravil, Bruma and the imperial city itself.

Could it be a Daedra attack? or Has the armies of the Shivvering isles finally snapped and decided to go on a rampage?

Only one thing is certain, a weapon is never found at a crime scene, just the corpses, a' culprit who witnesses always find shouting in manic glee before his sudden demise... and a young girl with a crystal imbedded into her cheek, sleeping soundly with a sad expression upon her features.

Total completion: 7.22R% (alpha)
Story Script: 40%
Quest Programming: 5%
AI Programming: 0%
Weapon Programming: 0%
Concept art: 20%
Modeling: 0%
Animation: 0%
Voice acting: 0%
Map work: 0%

Footnote:
This is a big undertaking for not only my first Modification for a long time, but also my research piece into the modding community...
I will strive to do all of the work that I can do myself, this will not be rushed... I have a large research grant in the form of friends and fellow researchers, eager to voice act, develop art and character skins, and assist with moddeling...
One thing we don't have is a coder someone who can code a follower script, and a complex weapon summon/ dispel.

All things in due time.

This is when the Modding communiy steps in, some people will insist that mods come from what 'you' as a person want from the game you are toying with, be it new items or be it new levels, or maybe a recolour of the infernal hedgehog from blue to green, anything is possible.
I have a different theory on this, Take the game I am using as my petri dish for my Mod Studies, Elder scrolls Oblivion:
There are some issues that were fixed, improved and downright outclassed the original game files such as-

• rebalancing of the combat stats and items
• respawn rates on items and creatures
• unlocking the map edges and adding new citys and towns
• extending the main storyline by repairing destroyed elements and adding a sence of achievement.
• 'realism' AKA animals behaving like animals, the characters camera bobbing as they walked and realistic damage.

The quest of Tedium rages on - Saber Hayashi

I feel it is time to start my journey into the modding community...

As such, why not start with a modification with one of my favourite games, Tes- Oblivion

As I load up the editors and the newbie tutorials, a sence of nostalgia kicked in, back when I was toying around in 3DS Max and making vehicles and maps for C&C Renegade, and the frustration set in almost instantly...

The modding comunity is exactly that, a community... If my research is to continue, and this little project is to get into the alpha stages, I shall need some help... and if anybody is intrested in this idea-

just imagine what would happen if a person with a elemental gelade on their cheek was born into tamriel, a one of a kind girl with a need to be bonded with someone who would either abuse her until death, or care for her...

the script is nearly finished the character design is on its way... now for the mapping, programming ai and modeling.... wish me luck

I wish to say something before I knuckle down.

Books, movies, television series, board games of all shapes and sizes and last but not least, videogames...

All of these mediums have their uses, and they all share certain things in common, the ability to provoke emotional responces and give a different view on this world of ours.
However only one out of this list gives an artistic freedom to the person interacting with it.
With a book, you are witnessing a story, left to your imagination to thrive, but little else.
This also goes for the visual mediums, series's and movies, more is explained, but you are not in control, finding it frustratingly impossible to explore this universe placed infront of you.

Board games and other games of imagination for a long while were our way to combat tedium, lose yourself in a game of chess, waging war with a opponent on the glorious battlefield of black and white checkers, racing other small rodents around a house to get the cheese and trick your allies to fall for the trap.
However, when the great companys who started the videogame addiction decided to release consoles and programs for our enjoyment we recieved a level of interaction that we had ever experianced before and have take for granted ever since, for the first time you could be a plumber stomping villans, a hedgehog charging through the rolling landscapes for freedom of the world, a scientist looking to free the enslaved planet one crowbar wound at a time...

Not only could you read the story... watch the visuals... interact and calculate how to play... you became the story, able to change how the story panned out and more than willing to do so.