Volume 3, Issue 2 - September 21st, 2008
irc.windfyre.net #zfgc
This week's banner courtesy of Kylink and icon courtesy of Minalien
Hello members, and welcome to another issue of ZFGC Weekly! Here's what's in this week's issue:
1. Community Announcements2. Best of the Forum3. Weekly Awards4. The Big Question 5. Featured Project: Arcadia and an interview with its creator, Ness Community AnnouncementsWho are the new mods? Stay tuned to find out!Ricky leaving.Ricky -
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31124.0Good luck with life. I hope for the best for you.
I lurked a lot, so you may not know me well, but I respect you. Have fun, and good luck.
Lurkers R Us.Infini -
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31132.02nd topic with infini bitching about inactivity
change some ugly green text plx
The Best of the ForumHere are some of the best quotes of the past week or the most relevant topics of the moment:
Dantz meets Ditzy.Dantz -
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31115.0hit it and quit it
Run kids, It's Mammy's birthday!4Sword -
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31109.0*Gives Mamoruanime a birthday spinning upper-cut* SHORYUKEN!
McCain wants us fried.Swoftu -
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31082.0Holy !@#$%!
He must be REALLY hungry.
Kirby's Super Event!D-Pad -
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31137.0I was going to post this earlier today, just never got around to it.
Anyways, the game is going to be fun. But those clouds seem to be the high-point of the event.
Get your graphics in an Xbox 360 game!Mamoruanime -
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31073.0Nice promo 
.
So it's pretty much textures you want, right? I could give a few a go.
Got a topic you think should be featured? PM 4Sword or Zidane!
Weekly AwardsA section for handing out awards to screenshots, graphics, projects, and other various things depending on what's happening around the forum.
Completed Game of the Week!Master Ridna - Pac Zelda
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31119.0Th game was quite nice actually. I didn't get past level two, as I found it quite hard(Not played much pac man =P )
Anyway, I found two faults, or rather things that seemed a bit weird, in the two first levels I played. Firstly, in the first level, the dots you are supposed to pick up are quite hard to see, specially if there one or two at the end of the level left.
Link had the habit of getting stuck in corners when I tried to go down, up etc. Something that led to my death twice in just the first level.
Also, in the second level, It was hard to see myself, so In the second it took me to find out that I was NOT a part of the green carpet, I had died.
Aside from these minor problems, you have put in some nice details, and it actually felt like a Zelda game, with the townspeople standing int outskirts etc.
Anyway, good game, and I will look forward to the next game you make
New Idea of the Week!Infini - MyNetPet
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31136.0But if they're pixels it shouldn't matter. Also it's to much like Neopets imo.
Step up of the Week!4Sword - Pokemon Project
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=29054.0This is kind of a weird update and there seems to be something wrong in the code somewhere that I am trying to fix, but meh. I have pretty much stopped major work on the Game Maker version of this and instead I have started C++ programming with SDL. Here is just Ash walking around on a grid (the images mess up if you push keys funny on grid spaces, lol, although one of them shows the entire sheet so I think that it is partially based on how the image is displayed in my show() method)
Something New of the Week!Mirby - Cynthia mod for Rockman 7 - FC
http://www.zfgc.com/index.php#?action=games&sa=view&id=81Got a recommendation for a Weekly Award? PM 4Sword or Zidane!
The Big QuestionIn this section, we'll ask a relevant or interesting question to the community each week, which everyone can discuss, comment on, and generally go gaga over.
This week's question:
As a community should we make a more conscious effort to move away from Game Maker by having boards specifically for other development environments?Join the discussion at
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=31160.0Got an idea for a Big Question? PM 4Sword or Zidane!
Featured ProjectThis week 4Sword leveled up with Ness and his project, Arcadia.
Arcadia's characters are derived from ZFGC members. Was this mainly just for convenience or is it to pay homage back to ZFGC?Well I would have to say to pay homage, since I really like ZFGC so i felt like making a game using the characters.
Since ZFGC was founded on Zelda fan games, might there be Zelda homages?Well not yet but I think I could put in a couple. You'll just have to wait and see.
Since you lost some of your old data and have to start over now, have you given any thought to updating the game's characters, and if so does this mean that some old ones will be gone from your project?Yes, I've decided to drop some in favor of others. As they'll be more story-driven.
On the site page the main character is stated to be "Regulus". Since it is based on community members, shouldn't you change it to "Ness" to reflect your new username?Well I'm using user names that fit better in the game. Like for instance Zidane, his Character would not fit with the name that he uses right now so I'm using Pyro.
Well you have considered using the Earthbound spriting style for your game, you can't say it wouldn't fit. However, Earthbound has a more modern feel than other RPGs which come off as more medieval. Does Arcadia take place in a modern or medieval setting?It's more medieval than it is modern.
If you used a styling similar to Final Fantasy, are you concerned that some of the ZFGC memes and jokes you might put into the game's scripting might not be conveyed so humorously?I'm pretty sure that if I went with a style like Final Fantasy I'll still be able to make them funny.
A ban hammer would make a good weapon and a "jello thar" health item. Do you have any cool weapon or item ideas that you are willing to make public?Those are good ideas that I have considered earlier. More likely if a username fits a weapon better than a person I may make them such. Like for instance Fissure's character wields Scythes so later in the game he get's a Boom Sickle as I remember there being a member with such a name.
Arcadia's page on the site claims that it is made in Ruby. Is this incorrect or why Ruby? It is correct. I chose Ruby because it's a solid program that I've used many times before.
A lot of projects on ZFGC don't have any sound or music, any of that planned for Arcadia?Well currently I've been using Final Fantasy music. In the Future I may use my own music for it.
Thanks Ness. Oh, and is there anything you want to tell people about your project that we haven't covered?Well there will be 6-8 party members through out the story that come and go. The 4 that have been shown on any of the screenshots return, and Also I would like to say that please do not hype this game up as honestly it'll probably not be as good as people may hype it up to be.
Know a project you think should be featured? PM 4Sword or Zidane!Authors of this week's issue: 4Sword, Zidane