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Yoshitaka Amano All you need to know
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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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4
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