100Q
This is a “100 question list” which was and probably is still a common practise in various gaming making websites. My blog isn’t a website nor is it dedicated to RPG Maker but I thought I’d do this for fun anyway. Credit goes to RPG Advocate (who went AWOL some years ago) for the original template. So onto the first question:
| No. | Question | Answer |
| Q1 | What is your username? | ZPE (in most cases). |
| Q2 | What is your birthday, gender, and blood type? | Mid-November, male, don’t know. |
| Q3 | What do you like? | Video games, food, football, cricket and other stuff |
| Q4 | What do you hate? | Video games, game making, elitists, politics, egg. |
| Q5 | Where do you work? | Not working atm. :/ |
| Q6 | What kind of PC do you use? | HTPC, I’m not much of a PC gamer so that’s fine. |
| Q7 | If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be? | Honest. |
| Q8 | Other than RPG Making, what are your hobbies? | Playing sports, shopping amongst other things. |
| Q9 | Do you have a special talent? | I wish. |
| Q10 | What is the subject matter of your website? | RPG Maker reviews and other stuff. |
| Q11 | Are there lots of playable characters in your RPGs? | No, it gets too hectic to spend time developing each and every character. |
| Q12 | What is the male/female party member ratio in your RPGs? | 3:1 I’d say. |
| Q13 | How do you decide your characters’ names? | Personality traits and an internet randomiser. |
| Q14 | When creating characters, to what do you pay attention? | The very existence of that character in the story and how they interact with the other characters within the game. This is why having a silent protagonist makes life easy for the game designer. |
| Q15 | Do you use original character sets? | I try to use my own edited ripped graphics otherwise it will take centuries to get things done. |
| Q16 | Do you use original face sets? | Again, I use sprites of the edited character’s face. It looks better than anything else. |
| Q17 | Do you pay attention to your characters’ style of speech? | After playing Dragon Quest games, yes. |
| Q18 | What type of personality do you prefer in your characters? | Mixture of personas, just like in the Persona games. |
| Q19 | Do you make characters similar to yourself? | I don’t intend to but a bit of me will inevitably be embedded into characters within the story. |
| Q20 | What is your favourite quote from a character in your RPG? | N-n-none whatsoever. My game didn’t get that far. |
| Q21 | When you want a certain character set and you can’t find it, what do you do? | I cry myself to sleep. That’s after begging on forums. |
| Q22 | What kind of character sets do you want, but can’t find? | Hmm…probably Mother 3. I end up trying to custom edit what’s existing on the internet. |
| Q23 | How do you decide what type of equipment and skills you character can use? | Depends on the class really. If they’re quick and agile then daggers would be ideal whereas a knight in heavy armour will need a spear or a big sword. |
| Q24 | Do you give your NPCs distinct personalities? | I try to…it can get time consuming when you try to give them lots of things to say depending on the situation at hand. |
| Q25 | Do you have characters in your towns that say “This is the town of XX”? | Dragon Quest does so why not? I wouldn’t script it like the one in the question though. Something like “Hey there stranger, you’ve reached the town of Aragona”. |
| Q26 | Have you tried to make any original systems (custom battles, etc.) | Yes with limited success. I think if you want to make custom stuff, it’s best to use other programs in my opinion. |
| Q27 | When making custom systems, are there times when you make mistakes? | I had tried to make a custom menu before but it glitched up horribly and I was unable to fix the isssues. Does that count? |
| Q28 | Talk about an especially tough challenge you had when making a system. | Maybe another time, dwelling on mistakes isn’t something I like to do. |
| Q29 | Is there a system you would like to create? If so, what is it? | Replicate the Mother 3 battle system, that’d be cool. I saw someone come close to doing it but he locked his project! |
| Q30 | What is your favorite type of battle system? | Good old turn-based although I prefer touch-based encounters over random encounters these days. |
| Q31 | Is there a system in a commercial game that you would like to put in your game? | See Q29. |
| Q32 | To what do you pay attention when mapping? | Making sure nothing clashes, check the prespectives are right, fix any passibility problems asap. |
| Q33 | Do you use original tileset graphics? | Nah. Believe me, I tried. |
| Q34 | What type of maps do you have the most difficulty making? | All sorts, from forests to an underground temple. I look to commercial games for inspiration here but I’m very careful not to copy the original material. |
| Q35 | What is the largest map (width x height) that you have made? | Can’t recall but it was definitely the world map. |
| Q36 | What type of map would you like to try making? | Any really. |
| Q37 | What sort of dungeons do you prefer? Huge? Puzzle-filled? Multi-floor? | Puzzles! I loved Lufia II on the SNES for this reason. |
| Q38 | Is there a map that’s currently beyond your ability to make, but you want to make? | Probably, everyone should aim way above their belt. Even if they don’t reach it, it’s vital to be in that state of mind. |
| Q39 | What setting do you like in your RPGs? Fantasy, science fiction, other? | Modern life but not too current. I also like westerns. |
| Q40 | To what do you pay attention when you create your story? | Character relationships. It’s very difficult to do this as it needs to be relevant to the story. |
| Q41 | When you’re creating your RPG, do you depart from the plans you made when designing the story at the outset? | Due to software limitations and lack of coding knowledge it’s bound to happen. |
| Q42 | What is your favorite kind of cutscene? | An epic struggle. |
| Q43 | Do you create your stories prior to beginning to create your game, or write the story as you go along? | This part is so hard. To date, I’ve cancelled all my games because my stories lacked any sense of direction. Help! |
| Q44 | If in the midst of creation, you get a really cool idea that isn’t immediately usable. How do you deal with it? | Jot it down in my notepad for future reference. |
| Q45 | What types of scripted cutscenes do you use to advance the scenario? | Sprite animation, pictures and strong dialogue. |
| Q46 | Do you prefer bright or dark atmosphere? | Kinda in the middle unless it’s a horror game then obviously all the way to the right. |
| Q47 | Do you prefer light-hearted or serious stories? | Mixture of both because serious games tend to get boring fast and light-hearted games for the reason. |
| Q48 | Will your game’s ending be happy or sad? | I’d like to think happy to satisfy the player. |
| Q49 | What is the source of your inspiration, in RPG Maker as well as other creative outlets. | Hero’s Realm and any other outstanding indie game like Cave Story. |
| Q50 | What do you think of the RTP music? | It’s okay but I wouldn’t use it in my game as I find it slightly irritating and too common in games. |
| Q51 | Do you want to emulate a particular person’s musical style? If so, whose? | Nope. |
| Q52 | Do you frequently change the BGM in your game? | No again. |
| Q53 | Do you want to create a game with voice acting? | If I can afford good voice actors, yes. |
| Q54 | What kind of sound effects do you want, but can’t find? | None yet. |
| Q55 | Do you make your own sound effects? | No. |
| Q56 | When setting up items, monsters, etc., to what do you pay attention? | That the items and monsters fit in the with the history of the game. Not only that but there are always balancing issues which drive me crazy. |
| Q57 | Do you use original battle animations? | If necessary. |
| Q58 | What do you think is an ideal encounter rate? | None, random battles aren’t a feature in my game. |
| Q59 | While creating your game, have you found any cool shortcuts or ways to make creation easier? | No… |
| Q60 | Do you use control codes (like \c[2]) in messages? | Yes, very useful if I decide to change character names. For example instead of Alex, I’d use \n[1] instead. |
| Q61 | What kind of battle view do you use? DQ-style, side-view, isometric? | DQ-style. I know RPG Maker 2003 hates this so I’ll try my hand at RPG Maker VX or devolve to RPG Maker 2000 for my next project. |
| Q62 | What is your goal when balancing battles? | A sense of strategy but that’s where I have problems. Too easy: button spam. Too hard: Impossible win, the player will probably turn the game off and never return. |
| Q63 | Do you get a lot of bugs when creating your game? | Yes which is why it’s best to organise your coding even if it takes twice as long. |
| Q64 | Do you use a lot of RTP resources in your game? | Ugh, no unless it’s for a community-based project like Befuddle at RPGMaker.net |
| Q65 | What is your development pacing? Are you fast, slow, somewhere in between? | Slow. |
| Q66 | How many hours a day do you develop your RPG? | None at the moment as I need a fresh concept to work on! Before I averaged at 1.5 hours per day. |
| Q67 | What do you do when you hit a wall (writer’s block, can’t solve a scripting problem, etc.)? | Leave the problem and return to it later with a more clear head. If I’m still stuck, I ask for help. If that doesn’t solve anything then the game’s future is in danger. |
| Q68 | How did you come up with your game’s title? | I use placeholders like “Winter” and my favourite “Untitled”. |
| Q69 | How many hours does it take to clear your game? | The most complete one, probably 10 minutes… |
| Q70 | What is the size of your game? | About 20 MB last time I checked but it’s got lots of junk so it’s more like 10 MB or something. |
| Q71 | Which RPG Maker products do you have? | RPG Maker 2000, RPG Maker 2003 and RPG Maker VX. |
| Q72 | Have you completed any games? On which Maker? | Sadly, no. |
| Q73 | Which RPG Maker product did you use first? | RPG Maker 2000. |
| Q74 | Is there a new RPG Maker product you want? | Action Game Maker looked promising but feedback from users weren’t so good. I want a Windows 7 equivalent that’s 100% compatible with netbooks so I can work on my games anywhere. I think if VX had RPG Maker 2003′s mapping system, I’d be buying it on day one. |
| Q75 | What do you think is most useful feature in RPG Maker? | A tough one. Perhaps the event editor as it’s so user-friendly unlike Python or RGSS. |
| Q76 | On the other hand, do you think there is a useless feature? | None I can think of. |
| Q77 | Is there a “Maker” (not necessarily RPG) product you want made? | A game maker with action-based systems in mind like the old Zelda games. Action Game Maker utilises this feature although I haven’t tried it out properly. |
| Q78 | Would you like to enter your game in a contest? | Yeah, nothing to lose. |
| Q79 | What do you think about the sample games? | They’re okay, nothing great. |
| Q80 | Do you have the RM2000/2003 strategy guides [These were advanced technique guides sold on the Japanese market]? | With the truckload of tutorials online, I think not. |
| Q81 | How often do you consult the strategy guides? | I consult tutorials not guides. |
| Q82 | How many projects have you released (demos included)? | …none. |
| Q83 | What do you think about others’ work? | About 1 in 8 games I try are genuinely fun to play. The rest are just fodder and get wiped off my hard drive pretty quick. |
| Q84 | Why do you use RPG Maker products? | It’s a form of creative outlet. |
| Q85 | If you could hire a famous voice actor to do voices for your RPG, who would it be? | No one in particular. |
| Q86 | Do you think your work is professional quality? | Yes…hahaha. No. |
| Q87 | You suddenly find yourself in the RPG world you created. What would you do? | Attack enemy weak points for massive damage. |
| Q88 | If you could change something about the RM series, what would it be? | Make it open source so people can freely develop some nice plug-ins for the programs. |
| Q89 | Suppose you could sell your game in a game store? What price would you set? | I’d sell it online for a cheap price. |
| Q90 | Suppose a character you created appeared in front of you in real life. What would be the first thing you say to him or her? | I am error. I’d probably freak out and not say anything. |
| Q91 | What would you say/do afterward (in regards to Q90)? | Invite them for a cup of tea. |
| Q92 | If you could use one ability of a character you created, which would it be? | Fly. |
| Q93 | What if you had a fatal bug in your game that you couldn’t fix, no matter what you tried. How would you work around it? | Don’t know really. |
| Q94 | Suppose your hard drive crashes and you lose all your project data! What do you do about your project? | I back up my stuff monthly so all is not lost. |
| Q95 | Do you insert yourself into your RPG? How? | Not yet. |
| Q96 | Which RPG Making communities do you visit? | RPGMaker.net (and Gaming World to steal their resources). |
| Q97 | How will you feel when you complete your project? | A feeling of awesomeness. |
| Q98 | Would you like to create more projects in the future? | Yes. |
| Q99 | When making your RPG, what do you consider most important? | It doesn’t bore the player into submission (quality control). |
| Q100 | Any other comments? | This took over a week to do and there are probably typos and mistakes everywhere. |
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