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Googleshng - September 20 '03- 4:00 Eastern Standard Time
I figured the whole "rise from grave" bit was getting old. So anyway,
yeah. Here I am. Writing a Q&A column. This schedule here will take some getting used to though.
I just finished hosting a roundtable for example, which ran longer than I expected, so I'm starting this
here column at wow, 4 AM. I have to proof and post this tomorrow, then get a rant in at some point this
weekend, while writing three more columns. Of course, then I have 3 days without anything to do. I'll
have to shuffle things around I think.
Anyway though, on with the column!
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Nitpicking is fun!
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Google,
I must first say, welcome back, along with the other umpteen readers today.
That was pretty much it, except for one other non-question related thing. You may or may not recall that on your last day, along with the umpteen goodbyes, I asked if there was a special ending to FF6 if you finished it with only 3 characters. I then, driven by the urge to have mad bragging rights, finished it with only 3 characters. You don't get a shorter ending, just a really revised one. The ending itself is exactly as long as if you had finished it with all 14 characters, it is just modified to make up for any characters you don't need.
For example, since I didn't have Locke, Setzer helps Celes when she almost falls down a hole, and Edgar makes a comment about Sabin never being around when you need him when the roof colapses. Beyond that, it mostly just shows a shot of each characters hometown, including Gogo and Umaru, who you never recruited in the first place.
Just thought you might be interested, without having to do it yourself. Welcome back.
Captain Modifier.
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Googleshng:
Well yes, there's a few things you see with only three people that you don't see if you have everyone,
but it isn't that those bits show up ONLY when you have three people. Pick up everyone you did plus Terra
and you get everything there plus Terra's bit. There's actually a freakishly large number of possible
permutations to the whole thing.
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Duff Man has left the country.
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Of course there won't be any sappy farewell column for Japanese Andrew; that's
because he isn't leaving. If he doesn't get his Q&A job back when he returns to
the New World, we may have to use some good old-fashioned persuasion.
-Mike Lemmer
"Fanatics don't get mad; they get home addresses."
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Googleshng:
Yes, that and the fact that he's theoretically going to be running some sort of once a week deal answering
questions about Japan. Last I checked at any rate.
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Musical Queries
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Welcome back, Google!
Question for ya:
Is RPGamer still going to have a music section in the
future? If so, have they selected someone? If not,
is the position still open? I might be able to do it!
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Googleshng:
Yes. The only reason there isn't a fresh music update up right now is that a weird sort of snag came up
in the process of setting up the new guy. That should be fixed shortly however.
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On a completely unrelated note, was I the only person
dissappointed by Rhapsody? I saw screenshots, I heard
described as "a musical RPG", and it looked clean and
pretty. Then when I finally play it, I find out it
has nothing to do with music at all. Rather than
being "a musical RPG", it turned out to be "a
musical.........RPG". I suppose that's kind of
charming in its own way, but....it plays out like a
Disney flick! I was really hoping the "musical"
aspect would be something more related to the
performance of music. In hindsight, I'm not sure how
they would have done that in a way marketable to the
non-musician, but they, the professionals, get paid to
figure that stuff out anyway!
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Googleshng:
It's a musical. It's an RPG. It's also very very girly I'm told. Anyway, music could be worked into an
RPG's gameplay easily enough I think. Look at the most recent Zelda games where you have to play various
tunes to do stuff. Heck, look at the "good" ending of Chrono Cross.
For what it's worth though, I think musicals are seriously underrated. Having the cast break out into
song every few minutes is just so darn surreal. Opera games could be neat too.
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Game Design
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Good to have you back,
I've played the first few minutes of FFTA and, to tell
you the truth, I'm afraid to continue. It doesn't
seem to be that good and if I keep going I'll get
stuck trying to finish a boring game (like you
mentioned in the Roundtable, the same fight, over and
over again). What do you recommend?
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Googleshng:
FFTA has the same general appeal as the original FFT. The fights aren't particualarly hard, and there
isn't really any variety to them, but the longer you play, the more options you get to customize your
party into a bunch of degenerate superpowered freaks. I for instance currently have a red mage/assassin
who can put the whole field to sleep as soon as the fight starts, and then wander around turning them
all to stone before they wake up. Fun stuff that.
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Another RPG Maker is headed for the states. I never
tried any of them, what's the appeal of these games?
Who has the time or the patience to put together an
RPG on a console system? Is the interface any good?
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Googleshng:
I have, quite frankly, heard scant few good things about the RPG Maker series. Given the limitations,
and the hassle of writing dialog without a keyboard (granted, not necessarily a concern with the PS2),
you're really a whole lot better off with one of the many more versatile, and in most cases free, RPG
creation utilities available for computers. That or starting from scratch in a real programming language.
Alex
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A rather long letter from Silkenray.
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Before I go forth, let me just say "Welcome back, you scurvy bilge-rat! We
missed your wit and fruminous commentry on the mimsy topics of the
day."
Or at least I would have missed you if I hadn't been in fairly constant
contact through other means, but I did miss your Q&A goodness. I'm glad
you're back so I can start reading my favorite (or more precisely third
favorite at this time) website on a regular basis! During your absence I
popped in about once every week or two to check to see if there was a fanart
update. Can't blame me for that. The section's in my blood after my two
years in the post.
So anyway, with the usual "Welcome back, Goog!" schpiel out of the way, I
can continue on to my commentry. I can't really ask questions, as video
games have lost my interest due to having a 20 credit courseload this
semester, and being a newlywed, and involved in two (soon to be three, four,
five or maybe six) choruses and taking voice lessons, I have neither been
able to spare the time nor the money to invest in that particular hobby.
However, there is one game I have played recently that I WOULD buy if I had
the money. Or a Playstation 2.
Pengel.
I know that most people think it's a stupid idea, or silly, or frivolous, or
perhaps not a true RPG. However, it is a hell of a lot of fun - like
Pokemon, except you make the monsters! How cool is it to be able to draw
your own monsters? Interestingly enough, my most successful ones were my
poorest drawn - the best one was Vora, whom I accidentally made with four
arms instead of two arms two legs. I finally added legs to the only spare
bit of flesh - the top of her head. Because her legs were so out of the
way, they were useless stumps good only for increasing her agility.
However, despite this she kicked ass.... well, PUNCHED ass. It's also a
great game to play with other people even though I don't think there's a
multiplayer mode. Coming up with new monsters is a ton of fun, especially
when you have friends as bizzare as mine!
Anyway, once again, glad you're back. Sorry I didn't have any questions,
but best of luck anyway! The site just wasn't the same without you.
~Susan "Silkenray" Richardson - neé Emplit
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Googleshng:
You know, this is actually the most I've heard about Magic Pengel... ever. Usually when I hear about it,
it's always something like "They changed the name of that stupid thing again?" or "What ugly ugly graphics."
The concept actually is fairly intriguing, but at the moment I have a rather full plate, and a rather
empty wallet.
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