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An article on the Infinity series and the open-world genre in general.

By: kukenstragames – RPGmaker.net

S

o with over 16600 downloads

We are indie game developers, and have main-

between them, there is no

ly limited tools for our work. RPG Maker is a

denying that the Infinity series

great program, but surely there is a limit to the

is very popular. They are also very

girth of the products we can create? Develop-

well acclaimed and enjoyed by

er Nick saved time by using a majority of RTP

all players. What is it that makes

graphics, and the mapping was solid yet easy;

people want to play, and above all keep coming back, and keep on

there are no great works of parallax here. The music is also mainly from the original pack,

playing? I’ve recently played the first three

so we can acknowledge that expenses were

instalments (for in-depth reviews on each, see

spared as far as resources were concerned.

below) and as we near the release of Infinity IV I thought it would be interesting to ponder the workings of this saga and the open world RPG genre in general.

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Tips ■■

InfrequencY

Try to avoid overly loaded enemy maps in places the player is required to venture through. There are other methods of sneakily making the player encounter enemies on their own, which I will discuss later, but all in all you should really never go below 20 steps per battle. RMs tend to have strange encounter calculations, but you can get fixes for that in XP up if you so desire.

■■

Variety

No one wants to fight a million slimes of the same colour.

Even palette changes can give the player a bit of fresh air.

On top of that, don’t make every enemy in a fire-weak area fire weak. Every place on earth has different species with different weaknesses, why would a video game world be different? Don’t be afraid to throw in infrequent, rare ‘semi-bosses’ that drop great stuff. If you happen to score dedicated players, or have extensive dungeons later on, item farming maybe a route they take.

■■

Speed

Your players should not be spending extensive amounts of time in enemy encounters unless they’re the semiboss types, and this should be immediately obvious to the player. Drawing from my own experiences, in FFXIII, the Pulsework Soldiers took literally forever to stagger and took barely any damage in a normal state, leading to me spending HALF AN HOUR fighting a single monster.

Let’s just say I quit at the Fifth Ark because of this. If the player wants to spend a long time fighting, they’ll make the decision themselves. Enemy encounters should never take excess of ten minutes to complete, EVER, and the goal should be from 3-5 minutes maximum. I’m not out to change public opinion on random encounters. If you steadfastly avoid random encounter games, it’s your loss.

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So the strengths of Infinity reside in the

The key to getting such a project right, is to keep it simple.

game mechanics and the gameplay. Indeed, this is something that the context of their creation would imply. A game that promises an vast open world, with no story, the

Infinity managed to capture the promises a real

something that contributes to the enjoyment,

enjoyment of which is entirely based on the

open-world game makes?

and anticipation in play.

ronment and built by one person with limited

When you think about it, when it comes to an

A game of this nature also needs to talk about

resources, is bound to concentrate its efforts

open-world game, a lot of the charm resides in

itself, urge the player to yearn to visit these

on the mechanics of the world in the goal of

the hype it gives itself, and the possibilities and

places. The characters need to say how dan-

making the play experience as fun as possible.

excitement it evokes within a potential player.

gerous a mountain range is, how treacherous a

player’s chosen interaction with their envi-

A game world could never be complete, and

forest can be, and how dodgy that side of town

To bring this fun level to a maximum, the

would never permit the player to do exactly

is. The actual arrival in these places isn’t neces-

developer has to divide the most of their

the thing they wanted, but there is that magic

sarily what is important. The player needs to be

time between two fields; the vastness and

moment that varies in length from game to

sucked into the world, and feel as if they really

diversity of the game world, and the amount

game where you feel that anything is possible,

were traveling in a place that had no end.

and variety of things to do in it. The design

and an exciting world really is at your feet. A

and polishing of the game are bound to suffer.

really successful open-world game would be

This is encouraging for the indie game devel-

It would be extremely ambitious to conceive

one that would give off this sensation for a

oper. It means that using psychological tricks

a game as large as it would be beautiful. As

substantial period.

and other tools, that they don’t have to spend

always with RPG Maker, the quality of the

years and years making hundreds of maps

game relies only on the developers motiva-

This kind of effect can be achieved via several

and thousands of NPCs to make their world

tion; and we’re only human!

means. At first glance one would jump directly

explorable and enjoyable. However it is of

to the conclusion that the game would have

course no easy feat. Everything nevertheless,

The key to getting such a project right,

to be massive. This however isn’t necessarily

starts on the game profile, the description, the

is to keep it simple. If you want your world to

true. I find for example in the Infinity series, the

promises you make. Tell the player what they’ll

be interesting a jam-packed with things to do,

game worlds aren’t that big, yet there is a large

be able to do, the multiple possibilities of your

you can’t get bogged down in the nitty gritty.

range of environments. Indeed, the actual fact

open world. Disappointment or eventual loss

Ultimately, the final project would suffer, as

that the world is small, and the measured rate

of interest is inevitable, strive to make the time

would your sanity through development. Has

at which you encounter the variety of places is

you have them as exciting as it can possibly be.

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By: Jeffrey Matulef

raft, then scribble a gust of wind for a gentle

From StarTropics to Star Fox Adventures, many a Zelda clone has aimed for the stars.

But only one brought the stars to us. Quite literally, in fact.

kami's opening moments our canine sun goddess Amaterasu summons a

push. It's impossible to ignore that all of these items and abilities were ripped straight from

The most expensive manoeuvre in the game involves fighting foes with explosive poop.

Nintendo's flagship series, but the difference is in their implementation. The magical effects of

you tap one shoulder button to transform the

Link's ocarina or wind baton bare no sensible

scenery into a sepia-toned sheet of rice paper,

correlation to the player's interaction.You'd

then draw in the desired object or environ-

play a ditty, watch a cutscene, then poof - wind!

mental effect. At face value this cut down time

Drawing with the celestial brush is a more tac-

spent in menus. More importantly, it made you

tile action and the results correspond directly

feel like an all powerful, rejuvenating goddess.

with your input. This is one of those grand

This is one area where Okami differed from

dragon deity in the form of a constellation

ideas, deserving to be as revered as Portal's

its Hylian inspiration.You're not just saving

by filling in the missing star with her 'celes-

titular gun.poop..

a world; you're building it. Teasing trees into

tial brush'. This godly device allows players

bloom, instigating gusts of wind and filling in

to manipulate the environment and manifest

Using the celestial brush is also much faster

bridges lends to the feeling that you're in con-

objects. Fancy changing the time? Draw a sun

than Zelda's alternatives (although Skyward

trol of this universe. It's not as open-ended as

or moon in the sky to switch between day and

Sword's elegant radial menu pushed Ninten-

something like Scribblenauts, but it's remark-

night. Want to blow up a cracked wall? Paint a

do's series a step in the right direction). Rather

ably consistent and functions near perfectly.

cherry bomb beside it. Need to traverse haz-

than pause, pull up a menu and painstakingly

Years later Epic Mickey would borrow this

ardous liquid? Create a lily pad as a makeshift

select an object or constantly reassign hotkeys,

concept of altering a painted environment with

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a magic brush, only it missed one key aspect. In Warren Spector's Disney tribute, areas would revert back to their original state upon being revisited - all of which made your impact on the world feel hollow.

Okami had more permanence. While chopped down trees would inexplicably reappear moments later, your positive influences on the world would remain throughout the entire game. The landscape you navigate at the end of the game is drastically different than the one you first encountered. That visual sense of progression is still lost in most open-world games to this day, wherein you merely trot back and forth through the same static terrain for hours on end.

only increases as she runs. Okami's rendition of feudal Japan is a large one and warp points

Outside of the hugely inventive celestial brush,

are sparse, yet backtracking seldom feels like a

Okami's smooth controls surpass its green-

chore due to such swift scurrying.This nearly

garbed forebear. As much as I love Zelda, I

makes up for Sakuya's revealing kimono.

could never entirely get behind Link not being able to manually jump. Pulling himself up a

Even more astonishing than Okami's stream-

ledge or taking the long way around a ramp

lined sensibilities is its striking art-style, a col-

was just annoying enough to grate.

lision of watercolours, pastels and rice paper.

Amaterasu, however, does more than jump;

For my money, no game since has been able

she can double jump too. As Kieron Gillen so

to replicate Okami's pristine beauty, though

eloquently put it, "[double jumping] automat-

El Shaddai, helmed by Okami's visual direc-

ically improves anything." In the time since

tor Takeyasu Sawaki, came close. The splendid

Okami's release Link has transformed into

visual design isn't just for show either, as it's

the teen wolf of Hyrule and gained a stami-

consistent with the premise of a celestial god-

na meter for sprinting, but neither of these

dess maintaining control of the earth through

compared to Amaterasu lupine athleticism.

art. (It's worth noting that the Wii version of

Where Link's newest incarnation gets winded

Okami over-saturates the colour palette and

after a 100-metre dash, Amaterasu's speed

downplays the parchment texture filter, making everything look glossier. While its richer colours look good in their own right, the Wii version reminds me of when George Lucas renovated the Star Wars trilogy, and I prefer the PS2 original's washed out look.)

While I'm as sick of anyone of the "are games art?" debate, Okami is clearly a game about art and its importance. In its bizarre logic, painting makes trees bloom, bridges form, and time slow down. The well-developed right-hand side of Okami's brain recognizes the importance of all art, not just painting. In an early scene a 9

The reversal of roles made you feel like an all powerful, rejuvenating goddess.

wise old man dances to summon the sun. In

another world or instill a sense of omnip-

actuality it's Amaterasu and the player who

her from an NPC's point of view revealing her

otence, then Okami is winner. Its painterly

pull the strings, but the old man thinks it's his

to be just a regular white wolf. By casting the

aesthetic is more dazzling than the cel-shading

dancing and that's what's important.

player as an animal it wisely circumvents the

employed by Wind Waker or Skyward Sword

silent protagonist conundrum. It's almost com-

(despite the latter being half a decade

This difference of perception between the

ical when Link goes for the silent treatment as

newer on better hardware), the controls more

NPCs and the player is crucial. When we look

his girlfriend bids him farewell at the beginning

responsive and empowering, and the script

at Amaterasu we see a fantastical being; a wolf

of Ocarina of Time. Amaterasu's one-sided

more sophisticated. Okami may not get the

adorned with tribal tattoos, spinning rosaries,

conversations feel natural in comparison.

better of Zelda on the whole, but it shines

and a brush in her tail. Every so often we see

If the point of games is to transport us to

just as brightly.

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Yoshitaka Amano Final Fantasy Artist

BY Adeline Chia

To this day Amano has drawn and designed most of the main characters and prominent points in the iconic games of the series.

In the anime and gaming world,Yoshitaka Amano is something of a legend. He is perhaps most well-known as the creator of the characters in the wildly popular “Final Fantasy” video games, but his wide-ranging career takes in various disciplines, including book illustration.

Manga fans may know his work on the covers of the cult “Vampire Hunter D” series, and Yoshitaka Amano speaking about his work as an illustrator during E3.

English-speaking audiences might have heard of him through the Neil Gaiman collaboration “The Sandman: The Dream Hunters,” (1999) for which he received a Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative.

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Amano has strong pop culture cred, but outside of these commercial engagements he has been exhibiting his personal work since the 1990s.

His first solo in Singapore, opening June 7 at Mizuma Gallery at the Gillman Barracks, is titled “Mythopoeia,” a word that fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien created to describe mythologies created by a single person. It is apt in capturing Amano’s rich and eclectic interior world, filled with warring gods, heroes and monsters drawn from different mythologies and sources — Hindu and Buddhist legends, Japanese folk tales and Western fairytales.

“I’ve created many characters in various settings, heroes and monsters, and now I’ve

IN ALL FORMS OF EXPRESSION — BOOKS, MOVIES,

brought them all together,” he says of the exhi-

VIDEO GAMES AND MANGA — IT IS ABOUT SHAR-

bition, calling it his own deva loka, a mystical

ING WITH OTHERS IMAGINARY WORLDS.

Viewers familiar with his career will be able

plane of existence in Indian religions. to spot references to past work, including the recurring helmeted and caped figure of Gatchaman, a classic 1970s anime he helped illustrate, as well as various monsters from Final Fantasy.

Other influences include the Biblical episode of Saint George slaying the dragon in “White Hero,” a sci-fi fantasy version of the story with a Gatchaman-like character spearing a sea monster; “Black Knight,” depicting a “mecha” black horse — with robotic elements — was supposedly inspired by a painting of Napoleon.

Amano says that it is in art that he feels most free. “In all forms of expression — books, movies, video games and manga — it is about sharing with others imaginary worlds. It’s the same in art, it’s about shaping these worlds and sharing it with the world. But the difference is that I don’t have to adapt my imagination to specific functions or audiences.”

Visually, his aesthetic is derived from Japanese woodblock print, the vibrant colours of American pop art and comics, the intricacies and elegance of Art Nouveau. His works are on flat, shiny aluminium box panels and coloured with acrylic and automotive paint. “Like a painting a car,” he said. Typically, he sketches the design,

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blows it up, and traces in the lines on the aluminium panel. Assistants apply the colours, and he draws the final outline of the figures.

Born in 1952 in Shizuoka, he said he was constantly drawing as a child, though none of the works from this period have survived. He read American comics, and his favourite superhero was and still remains Batman. “I like the dark side to him, that makes him more human compared to other superheroes. Also, I like the character design.”

He started working with Japanese animation company Tatsunoko Production at age 15, after having dropped off a few of his drawings during a studio visit in Tokyo. He was hired days after, and ended up working on seminal Japanese animation series such as “Speed Racer” and “Gatchaman,” before turning freelance in the 1980s.

Concentrating on illustrations afterwards, he developed his signature style that was a departure from the wide-eyed, brightly-coloured anime style — fluid and ethereal creations, influenced by Art Nouveau, in romantic washes of acrylic.

Currently, he is working on fundraising to make the animated movie for “Deva Zan,” a fantasy novel that he published with Dark Horse Comics in January this year. It centres on an amnesiac samurai battling the forces of darkness, and he is still working on the storyline. In his mind, it would be something like “Avatar” — “with 3D and computer-generated graphics.”

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HORIZON ZERO DAWN AIMS TO FILL THE OPENWORLD GAP BETWEEN GTA AND SKYRIM

By Megan Farokhmanesh

Inside Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerrilla Games' most ambitious project yet.

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E

3 2015 came with its fair share of surprises, but it's Horizon Zero Dawn that might just be the biggest. Guerrilla

Games has been known as the creator of the Killzone franchise, a series of linear, first-person shooters, for the last decade.

With Horizon Zero Dawn, the company is looking to expand its work into the realm of role-playing games with its "most ambitious game" yet, senior producer Mark Norris told Polygon. Horizon Zero Dawn is a third-per-

The machines represent one of the core mysteries of horizon: where did they come from? Why are they here, and probably most importantly, why do they look the specific way that they do? Why do they present a danger to the world of horizon and the player herself? What does the player have to do? Does she have a unique connection with the machines?

son, open-world game set 1,000 years after the fall of civilization. It's a "post-post-apocalyptic" world — in other words, don't expect the bar-

An educated guess would suggest yes to this

ren wasteland most end-of-the-world games

last query. Norris describes Aloy as a fierce

seem to favor. Horizon's world is green, lush

hunter with a special ability to take on over-

and filled with much scarier monsters than

whelming odds. Machines are present "often

your average zombie. Animal-like robots roam

greater in number, almost always greater in

its open fields, and they're not terribly friendly.

size, and always more heavily armed." When

Enter Aloy, a young hunter outcast from her

Aloy takes on enemies, she has to be fast and

tribal society.

clever. During the behind-closed-doors demo, she employed special weapons help her trap

Aloy and her ability to take down machines

foes and launch attacks from far off. There's a

was well-documented at E3, thanks to demos

huge tactical element that Guerrilla is expand-

both on-stage at Sony's E3 press conference

ing on from its time with Killzone.

and behind closed doors. These robots range

"What we always wanted to do on Killzone

from smaller, deer-like creatures to massive

was, of course, to be a little more than just a

threats unlike any animal alive today. They're

shooter," Norris told Polygon. "We wanted to

a curiosity to behold, but Norris said that the

be a very tactical and strategic shooter. I think

machines of Horizon serve a special purpose.

we pulled a lot of what we learned on Killzone, in terms of how to create compelling combat scenarios, and pulled that into Horizon Zero

THEY'RE A FORM OF CREATURES THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN.

Dawn. What we have to do now is just make

Senior producer Mark Norris on

"I wouldn't say necessarily that we're turning

creature design

sure that we layer in the encounter design and the level design from open worlds that fits that sort of combat paradigm that we've pulled over from Killzone."

Even with the new title, however, the producer said that future Killzone projects aren't totally out of the picture.

away from doing Killzone," Norris said. "What I would say is that we're incredibly excited to be doing something new that we haven't done in more than 10 years on a new IP. We are

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excited about doing something that's not

4 next year. Norris said that while the game

necessarily a first-person shooter." To beef up

isn't going to break the mold in terms of new

the game's RPG cred, Guerrilla has recruited

ideas, Guerrilla hopes to combine those ele-

developers who've worked on franchises such

ments in a way that feels fresh.

as The Witcher and The Elder Scrolls. Former Fallout: New Vegas writer John Gonzalez is

"When we see a lot of post-apocalyptic

working on the script. According to Nor-

worlds, we see a lot of grays and we see a lot

ris, Guerrilla has its sights set high for how it

of destruction," Norris said. "It's almost like a

hopes to fit into the RPG genre. "If we had a

sense of sadness. That's not what this world is.

slider," he said, "... you would say that open-

It's bright and it's lush and it's vibrant. Once

world games kind of fit along a slider between

we put that, the sort of nature reclamation

super action open-world games — maybe

idea over the top of these highly technological

you'd look at a GTA or maybe you'd take a

machines, it creates a mystery. I think it's the

look at an Assassin's Creed on that side — and

mysteries that we're most excited about."

then the really RPG-ish open-world games.

Maybe you'd put a Skyrim on that side, or maybe a Fallout. We think we actually kind of fit somewhere in the middle. We haven't seen a lot of those RPG elements yet, but there are a lot in there and we look forward to showing quite a few of them down the road."

Horizon Zero Dawn is heading to PlayStation

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Explore RPG gaming

Legendary illustrator

Yoshitaka Amano All you need to know

Featured this issue Final Fantasy XV Xenoblade Chronicles Final Fantasy X|X-2 Mass Effect 2 Skyrim Monster Hunter 4 Pokemon Kingdom Hearts 3 Borderlands Pre-Sequel Metal Gear Rising