Story - Once upon a time there was a totally original main character called E'rrick and that's about it.
Characters
E'rrick - The main character.
Rick - The main character's brother.
NPCs - Not just another face, but actually yeah.
Jerkfaces - Probably evil monsters actually.
Credits - This was entirely built on RTP. Yes, that is correct. This accurately shows off what you can do with merely the RTP and WAY too much caffeine.
Download - http://www.mediafire.com/download/c11dw1xbgjqpa7j/TLOG.exe
In this update, I show off additional NPC interactions, get friendzoned, get cursed at for being annoying, pass out after drinking benadryl, meet weird people, beat up more jerkfaces, discover my brother, eat fish sticks, commandeer a boat, show off the retry system (which provides hints or mocks you as you continue more often), show off the gauntlet system, destroy the boat, and discover a new continent! Yeah!
I contemplated doing this in the forums, but I have no idea where I'd post it. Besides, this makes it easier for me to add to, etc. So I'm sure that by now most people have seen this post. If it's not already obvious (and if it isn't then I'm doing something wrong), this will not be a serious game...not in the least. There are a number of reasons for this.
Firstly, there was no prescribed theme given. Having it open like that puts me on the spot because yeah I have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head, but to pluck one out and make it a legit argument for a game is tough, especially if I only have a week. Second, the other game I'm working on is fun, but relatively serious, dark, and even cruel at times, so it's a nice break.
So what is my game about? Well, it's a parody game, so it's not easy to quantify, but here goes. You play as E'rrick (totally original character and totally not the default character Eric actually). You start in the middle of the ocean (the default map) and a giant town comes to pick you up after ringing its bicycle bell a couple of times. Then it explodes.
The plot is obviously evil monsters caused this, so you're going to kill them all...but you're also easily sidetracked (aren't all heroes). You end up in on the island of Landia, just outside the port town of Townia (lots of originality). So yes, it really is going to be and stay all over the place, as though someone snorted 20 pixi stix and flailed about in RPG Maker.
The good news is I have a lot of ridiculousness I want to add, so it should be entertaining all around. So far, I have 2 movies finished, the initial island, and about a quarter of the town map ready. To ask what I have planned won't really get you anywhere because I'm totally winging this. I know that's a terrible way to go about it, but that will actually lead to it being more random and ridiculous, I think.
So instead we'll do this as a sort of Q&A...
What kind of music do you listen to when you make games?
Unless I'm feeling utterly uninspired, I either don't or I listen to music that is/will be used in the game. When I am uninspired, I usually listen to something dark, but then that's mostly because I like to put in a lot of dark, twisted content in my other game. That probably won't apply here.
What do you usually derive inspiration from?
It depends. Mostly I like to derive inspiration from games I've already played, but also TV and movies. For this game, well...and yeah, this is a little weird...but I've derived inspiration from Game Grumps' playthrough of Sonic Adventure. "What, why?" The way they make fun of Sonic is inspiring because I'll often find myself going "what would Sonic say...but like in the Game Grumps' voice?"
Again, strange, I know,
, you'll probably see what I mean.
Does this game have any point at all?
No. Well, yes: to make you laugh. That's about it. Okay, maybe one more. Far too often I'll run across an idea someone posts (anywhere, really) that is absolutely riddled with spelling, grammatical, consistency, and several other errors to the point that I just can't take it seriously. Now, it's one thing if the person is super committed already, like maybe it's already partially done and I can see where they're going with it, but it's another thing if it's like this...
"hay guyz im makin gaem bout zelda u get 2 play as a goron wat u think"
What do I think? I think no. Just no. I mean, if you have a bunch of cool screenshots and some cool backstory and stuff, welllllll...maybe. But if it's just this, then no. And yes, I've played games like this that the developer fully intends for you to take seriously. I'm not making this as an example of what not to do, but that may be what it ends up being.
But why not make a game about X? Why do comedy when you could do genre Y?
And I'm sure those would be great ideas, except I'm on a time crunch and only have limited time each day to work on it. Yeah, I'm off the next 3 days, but I try to maximize my time usage on my days off, so I might get a maximum of 2 to 3 hours' worth of work on each of my days off. Comedy can be hard, but if you're just trying to be random and stupid, it's really not.
The trickiest part, really, is making it as a game. Oh, it's easy to throw dumb jokes and silly presentation overall out, but having it also work as a game with bona fide features, well, that's a little tougher. So imagine trying to make the game work, work well, and have an interesting and engaging plot, awesome mapping, well developed characters...in one week.
I'm not saying it can't be done and I'm sure other contestants are well on their way, but not me. This is the simplest and most fun path for me, so there.
Feedback
Do you have more questions or you'd rather I talk more about what I've already said? Awesome, go nuts in the comments. I am going to put as much as I can into this, so hopefully it will be at least 30 minutes of a playable game. Not sure how much more it will be than that, but we'll see.
Yes, I really am up this early. Why am I up this early? Well, I'm not going back into the hyper-motivation scheme that I've been following as I've already discussed it about 3 times. Instead, I'm going to give you 4 links you need to check out immediately:
Backloggery
Fitocracy
Habitica (formerly HabitRPG)
Udemy - My recommended productivity course
Starting from the top, Backloggery is an excellent site where you can catalog every last game you've ever played, intend to continue playing, own currently, etc. I actually have a page on there as well. The primary focus of the site is not bragging purposes per se, but to become more motivated about trudging through your massive collection. I like to update there from time to time as I get further progress in games.
Fitocracy is a great site for workouts. Now, there are plenty of websites you could go to if you wanted to learn more about working out, so why this site? Well, on Fitocracy, you can track exercises and level up. Leveling up doesn't really do anything, but it is a way of tracking what you've done and earning points, which is enough to motivate some people (myself included). There's also a massive community on there and a bunch of groups to help keep you motivated.
Next is Habitica. This site allows you to put up daily behaviors you would like to maintain, milestone/to-do list goals, and regular habits that you would like to see occur more often. You can also put on demoters if there is a specific behavior you would like to stop doing. What makes this so great is it really is a small RPG that fits around your daily life as you start ticking small boxes here and there to indicate you did something you wanted to do. And as you do so, you level up, get awesome equipment, can customize your character, there are pets and mounts...just all kinds of cool stuff.
And finally is the productivity course I keep going on about. As a side note, if you don't already have accounts to Codecademy, Microsoft Virtual Academy, and Udemy, you're missing out. They're free, you can learn so much, and it's all self-paced. So why am I telling you about all this? Well, first let's start with me.
When I was in college, I really didn't want to do much that was extra-curricular in nature. I didn't care about what kinds of jobs I worked because I figured I would never have to work those types of jobs anymore after I graduated. I also worked out, but very casually and didn't see much in the way of results. In 2005, my wife and I moved to where we live now and I set up a weight room.
I wasn't happy with where my body was going and I wanted to do something about it. I began working out after every shift at work and started tracking my results, but it wasn't enough. In 2006, during her 7th month of pregnancy, I had to clear out all the weight stuff and set up the secondary bedroom as a nursery. I didn't actively seek out alternative methods for working out, so I started gaining weight again, but I DID stumble across Backloggery and started knocking out games left and right.
In late 2007, my job at the time had an on-site workout center and I started using it daily. Unfortunately, that trend stopped when I switched to morning shifts. Even worse, I hadn't actively been tracking anything. In 2010, I was fired for incredibly stupid reasons, but I stumbled across Fitocracy and got Wii Fit. Wii Fit was good for a while, but being told "that's obese" in its cutesy, sarcastic voice got real old real fast.
All the same, I learned more about yoga through Wii Fit and all kinds of interesting exercises from Fitocracy. I got more motivated to work out in general and in 2011, I signed up for my local athletic club. 2011 was a really good year for me, but I got massively sick toward the end of the year. Then in 2012, we had a biggest loser competition and I nearly won due to all my training.
Earlier this year I learned about all these extra training sites and it's helped me to get super motivated in a way that I never anticipated because really, I'm pretty lazy. The one thing that motivates me, however, is stats. The cool part about all these sites is just how much they track on a regular basis for you. Nevermind that each site has a massive community full of people that will try to fervently motivate you as well.
Now I'm actively working on several Microsoft certifications, learning newer and more complicated workout techniques, developing better habits and discipline, and just plain establishing a good routine for myself. If you're at a point in your life where you feel like you could really use a good shot of motivation (and really most of us could), I strongly recommend checking these sites out.
I'm going to tell you in advance that working in IT is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm encouraged to learn and cultivate my skills as well as work in a team of people doing way more than I previously envisioned and being challenged in my role every day. It's the best job I've ever had and in the short time that I've worked it, I've improved in many areas mentally, psychology, and even physically.
But like any job, there are things that suck about it. The good news is these things aren't so bad in the grand scheme of things, but they are recurring and can be annoying. For anyone that's wanted to get into a more technical career, keep these things in mind...
Your former coworkers are morons...
When I first joined this company, the assumption was they would put me into an advanced technical support position right off the bat since I had years of experience, but instead they put me in customer service. I came to realize later that this was a good move on their part because you are required to know everything about their billing system AND their tech is very different than previous tech I had worked with (mostly computers and stuff).
I remember when I had worked my way into advanced tech a year in that my new coworkers were making fun of my former customer service rep coworkers and it started getting to me. Then I got a cold transfer from a coworker on my old team where they had done absolutely no troubleshooting whatsoever. Yes, they were expected to do some troubleshooting and do a warm transfer.
And it kept getting worse because many of my former coworkers that I considered to be fairly competent would transfer the stupidest things that should have been resolved on their level, but weren't, usually because they really were that inept and/or lazy. It wasn't a lack of training; it was a lack of trying on their part.
But I figured those days were over. Surely people that work in advanced tech aren't that dumb! Oh yes they are. I just had an advanced tech former coworker that didn't know how to clear cache, what "My Computer" was, or how to access their shared drive...and she's been doing her job longer than I've worked in this company, period.
The end users don't treat you like a real person...
The basic idea of my job is I'm here for 3 reasons. One, in case small stuff happens throughout the day (locked out, PC reboots, faulty equipment, etc.). Two, in case something MAJOR happens, even though I probably won't be able to do much except have someone else help me remotely. Three, headsets. I cannot begin to tell you how many people "forget" to bring in their headsets...to work in a call center.
This wouldn't be so bad except there have been times when people literally do not knock, do not look, but simply walk right in and without skipping a beat just start asking for a headset...even if we're in the middle of a meeting...or lunch...or repairing a patch cable...or literally anything at all that would constitute hard work.
Imagine if a road crew was working on some construction and you walked up to someone manning a jackhammer and straight up just asked him to borrow $5 like he was doing absolutely nothing and should drop everything he's working on to accommodate you. That's exactly what happens about 10 times a day.
You learn to distrust everything people say. Again...
When a customer calls up and says their remote isn't working, sometimes it's because it's not their TV remote. Or because they don't have a TV. Or maybe they're not even at home. I have literally had people call me from work telling me their remote isn't working and how long is it going to take for me to send them a new one...then get upset when I tell them I need to troubleshoot, claim I'm being unhelpful, and hang up on me.
Several times a day I will have this conversation over the phone...
"I don't know what happened, the computer won't turn on."
"What happened?"
"It just turned off in the middle of a call!"
"Is it plugged in?"
"Uh, DUH!"
So I go over to investigate and lo and behold, it's NOT plugged in...because they had to unplug something so they could charge their smartphone. Yeah, their smartphone...something they're not supposed to have out on the floor while they're working. It gets to the point that they'll tell me some grandiose, ridiculous problem that's happening, and I get there and it's just a cable that's loose or something.
Don't get me wrong; I WANT them to call. What I DON'T want is to constantly have to come to someone's desk that could fix the problem themselves over the phone. I want them to call so I can track and document. I don't want to have to constantly come out over and over again for something I already educated you on.
Your manager is so far out of the loop it's ridiculous...
The following happened to me the other day...
"Hey, what's going on with the silent monitoring system?"
"Apparently it's been down since Friday. They have opened a ticket and are actively working on it."
"Well, that is not good. Have they opened a ticket?"
"...yes."
On the one hand, your manager is usually a nice guy and really is there for you. On the other, he's usually balancing so much in his head that he doesn't fully hear what you're saying unless you repeat it 20 times a day and he micro-manages. This isn't just my manager, though; this is more or less all of IT in general.
The managers assume the workers and lazy slackers. There is a small amount of truth to that (I mean, I am posting this at work after all), but we all work pretty hard and operate as a team. Problem is again, it comes down to numbers. How many calls were answered in a week? How many tickets were closed?
Yeah, there are other factors, but their bosses are more than likely worse and with the same problems, so they're constantly finding themselves asking the same questions because their bosses are asking the same questions. Good times.
The assumption is you can fix anything and everything...
Sigh...no. It's not true. I wish I could fix more than I can, mostly because I'm still learning, but also because I assumed I would be in charge of more than I am. On the other hand, being responsible for more means being further burdened, which can be a bad thing. The problem is any time there's a technical issue, they assume we can fix it.
No, I can't fix your Facebook login, contact Facebook. No, I don't know why you can't view your paycheck, try payroll. No, I don't know why your fingerprint isn't working in the biometric scanner, try security. The problem comes into play when it is something to do with technology, but not something we explicitly manage, such as a tool that was developed by an outside company that we have no control over.
The frustration is I would LOVE to fix the problem, but I can't. In many cases it falls so far outside my responsibility that if I were to attempt to fix the problem, it would either cause liability issues or I'd be stepping on the peoples' toes who SHOULD be fixing the problem, then it's not documented properly, and so on.
It's always your fault...
Can't get on the corporate wifi that you really shouldn't be on anyway? Must be our fault. Don't seem to be able to play videogames on your PC instead of working? Totally our fault. Someone took your parking space? I'm waiting for that one; I'm sure it will happen. Some of these things are common sense, but some of them also go back to the idea that we aren't treated like people doing a job, but rather a servant that comes at their every beck and call.
You're expected to know everything...
I've only been doing this for 5 months. It's true that I've learned a lot in the meantime, but I don't know everything there is to know, everyONE there is to know, and all the little devious workarounds and hacks that my coworkers know (though I am documenting as much as possible). When I honestly don't know, the proper course of action is to go and find out, but that doesn't always suit the end user's need because...
You're expected to have everything finished in the snap of a finger...
Do you know what I spent an hour doing today? Labeling and categorizing 10 PCs that were set up for a job fair today and put on a VLAN, then turning off and disconnecting them, reconnecting all the cables EXCEPT the power cable so it wouldn't officially be recognized on the network yet because it had an old DHCP license attached to it, getting all the PCs to their correct areas but not hooking them in yet, going into multiple server rooms to redirect cables, removing the DHCP licenses via remote desktop and admin access, powering on the correct computers to ensure they were back on the correct network, hooking up the other computers to where they were supposed to be, then ensuring THEY were on their own private network...and that wasn't technically all of the work (one of my coworkers was taking care of the cabling while also showing me how to do half this crap because I hadn't had to yet).
In fact, I'm sure I skipped a few steps in my explanation. The set up of the job fair took even longer. Apparently HR thinks this is all done magically and within seconds, minutes tops. There really isn't proper designation for all of this and the set up and tear down of it takes hours. But since it was done "so quick and well," they asked our manager if there was a way to have this permanently set up with all kinds of fun options.
And while the answer is yes...my newly appointed systems administrator almost pulled what little hair he had left out when they asked that.
Conculsion...
Should I complain? Nah. This is exactly the kind of work and responsibility I wanted. It's also WAY better than being on the phone having some idiot claim their remote USED TO work their toaster and why can't I make it happen again. It can be frustrating, but I absolutely love it.
Yay, you checked out my blog! You must be really bored. Also, hi! So this will be a relatively quick and informal introduction. I'm Gun Sage. Way back, probably 7 years ago, I was on a forum some recall as RRR. I joined the forum with 2 ideas: Gun Sage (we'll get into that in a moment) and Hobo Quest. It's also good to see some former RRR-ers here as well.
So the game Gun Sage has absolutely nothing to do with me. Confusing, I know, but it ultimately comes down to the fact that GS is an idea I've had since I was 13 (which was 20 years ago as of this posting). It was a really basic idea at the time (lol an rpg with gunz in it), but grew little by little over time. That and I really like the name. It just kinda stuck with me, so I also adopted it as my online alias.
I've belonged to a number of forums, many of which I either don't visit anymore or are no longer around. In 2007, I finally graduated from college (a 7 year endeavor since I had to go part time so I could work full time) with a bachelors in something I'm not really using and have little motivation to use (computer information systems).
I mostly stuck around well after learning this wasn't a proper degree for game development because I'm pretty stubborn and I figured I'd be able to use it to at least make money. Ah ha ha ha...ah ha...ha...ehh. In any case, about a year or 2 later, one of my coworkers got into IT and I really wanted to follow him, especially because I had never contemplated the career choice and was getting tired of getting verbal abuse by morons on the phone.
Sadly, the company was full of a bunch of jerks who decided it might be a better idea to fire me for transferring billing calls to the billing department, which they claimed was call avoidance. You have no idea how hard it is to relay that information in an interview, by the way. Despite me trying to use something completely foreign to them as my defense (logic), I was fired in 2010.
In fact, I literally could not find work in 2010 unless I was willing to make so little money that I literally could not pay the bills. It was also the fact that I was actively trying to find a job that utilized my degree, but most places wanted a degree AND experience, despite touting it as entry level. Toward the end of 2010, my current company picked me up and it was back to the phones!
You can just imagine my excitement! In all seriousness, I am very thankful for my current company because when you go that long without working, you feel pretty useless overall. After working very hard for almost 5 years, I finally worked my way into where I am now, which is still in the same company, but as IT.
This is both a good and a bad thing. The good is obvious, but the bad is you get to see the worst of all of your former coworkers, managers, and so on. You know when ANYONE is fired or walked out because you are personally responsible for disabling all of their account info on the backend. I've had some of my favorite coworkers, supervisors, and MANAGERS walked out in the brief time I've been in this position.
People also walk all the way into my office, often walking all the way past me before they turn around and ask a question, which is just a liiiiiiiiiiiiittle too into my personal space. They don't knock and in fact have often just grabbed my lotion without asking. I suspect one of them stole my sriracha sauce that was on my desk, too.
The good news is I've never been more motivated and I spend every day constantly trying to improve because despite being one step ahead of all of my former coworkers, I'm constantly having to play catch up with all of my current ones. It is definitely a challenging and fun experience that I welcome to break up the tedium that is life.
In any case, I know this was just a boring introduction, but thank you for taking the time to read it. I'm sure you'll see me around the forums from time to time and don't be afraid to hit me up if you have questions.
