What's up, RMers?

[Kain Nobel]

Steel Beast 6Beats, that's excellent! What were your biggest challenges in creating your project? Is there anything you know now that you wish you knew starting out?

Remi-chan, Definitely looks like a wild ride. What are you using, RPG Maker MV? Great use of resources, great use of cinematics, a little heavy on the dialog but the voice acting is just fine, each character pops with a unique personality. You've got a knack for coming up with names, I especially like Sacreblu (I think that's French for OMG). This character should have a special attack with OMG in the title, like "OMG Beam" (I'm sure you'll come up with something cooler.)

I've been crashing out after work, just exhausted.

Solos have been re-written, so I'll have to re-learn and re-practice. Some were re-written better, some were re-written because they weren't as cut-and-dry to play as I thought they would be. I'm still taking on most of the challenging pieces I've wrote, but a couple pieces just weren't worth the hassle and I believe I came up with something easier and better too. Whatever I can't reliably play consistently without too much mistakes and getting lost, I'm changing up. One solo I really hated to change, but I had to manage notes on 3 strings in rapid succession and one of my dumb fingers kept prematurely muting the notes so I'm moving on and doing something different there. I could still do that solo, but it just isn't the same if those 2 notes terminate too soon.

I've now recorded 5 different versions of "Coastal Mist" with different effects / no effects / clean / subtle distortion and documented which track is using which effects. I figured this was the track to focus on since it requires the most particularly crisp and clear playing; for each chord that is strummed, you must hear the pick 'pling' each note of the entire chord, at least that's how I prefer this particular track.

Once these versions have been listened to enough, this track will set the master tone for "Exploring the Unknown", "Desert Travelers", "Shrouded in Darkness", the revised and expanded "Surfside Groove" and whatever other tracks use "clean" tone.

And finally the last track, "Shattering Skulls" has been written! The rhythm, bass and drums have all been laid out in full, all bridges, choruses and verses, now I just need to decide if there will be a "lead guitar" and the solo needs to be written / practiced.

I'm hoping I can record EVERYTHING this weekend but it looks like I might have other things to do. I need new cables, the ones I have are about a decade old and the signal craps out, which means I'll be out of town for a few hours burning fossil fuels at a premium of $5+ a gallon, yay!

[Remi-chan]

Remi-chan, Definitely looks like a wild ride. What are you using, RPG Maker MV? Great use of resources, great use of cinematics, a little heavy on the dialog but the voice acting is just fine, each character pops with a unique personality. You've got a knack for coming up with names, I especially like Sacreblu (I think that's French for OMG). This character should have a special attack with OMG in the title, like "OMG Beam" (I'm sure you'll come up with something cooler.)

Oh there's already a huge naming gimmick behind Sacreblu. She once went by Blu, but after being Sacrificed by Niirgo in an act of sacrilege she became Sacreblu, he fused himself with her, seeking to end the uprising called the 314th Clash, but Blu courtesy of the four heroes managed to break free of his control and excised him from her body.

The dialogue will largely be re-written to be more succinct and impactful once it gets closer to release. Currently it's basically in its first pass. As you had surmised, it is made in RPG Maker MV.

As for Sacreblu's attack names...

That's pulled from Intelligence: Multi-Verse.

OH! Speaking of Sacreblu! She got some new expressions~



Edit:
Do I stop? No, I do not.

115/180
-Esoteriquois complete!
-Jacahrandae complete!
-Xeraphar complete!
-Xoraq complete!
Yes, all one-shots are now complete. The remaining 65 are on planets with five beamable locations.

Here's just a small taste of the eight optional events worth of work I got done.




The last two portraits are placeholders, that only exist at all courtesy of my committed concept artist: RiseDemos.

Also it seems I might have miscounted either now or before, as I can only see 64 that need doing. Though AO3 isn't close to finished despite being green-squared on this.

There's also the fact EventX2, EventX3 and EventX4 aren't until Disk 3... So I'm closer to just 60 remaining.

I will take a short break so as to not utterly burn myself out. Lessons learned from the last time I stopped being nice and just went APESHIT!?

[Kain Nobel]

Another day another track!

"Coastal Mist (Draft)"
Written and performed by Kain Nobel

The subtle birds and wind featured in the background of this track were recorded in my back yard.

Both "Coastal Mist" and "Surfside Groove" are demo tracks subject to changes and expansions.

There is more written for these tracks, I just wanted to prototype them and see how well they'd turn out.

As such, neither feature the "guitar solo" section yet. I've wrote a couple different solos, I'm not sure which ones I'll be going with.

New cables should be purchased later today. Hopefully I can allocate some recording time.

[Steel Beast 6Beets]

Steel Beast 6Beats, that's excellent! What were your biggest challenges in creating your project? Is there anything you know now that you wish you knew starting out? 

Heh, my project's still far from finished. It's still missing plot bits here and there and most optional stuff/post game things.

As for your questions... well, one of the biggest challenges I had was dealing with compatibility issues regarding scripts. That's one thing that has caused me more than a fair share of headaches. XP's... eccentricities, so to speak, are also something I wish I knew beforehand. 

Now I look back to those learning experiences almost rather fondly.

[Kain Nobel]

Yeah, XP can be a nightmare sometimes which is why the Standard Development Kit was created. That too isn't perfect, and I know a few people who prefer to live life without it. Nevertheless, I've always considered XP to be the best of them all when it comes to mapping. There are things I like about mapping with the Makers that came after XP, I'm very fond of a lot of what was introduced, but XP maps stand out as the most visually appealing and complex.

Current Album News

Writing and recording is done for ALL tracks (except "Wicked Underground", which I like in it's original synth form. I've jammed good jams to this one but... eh. If it goes on the album, it'll be the only all-synth track. I feel it would be strange to exclude it, no matter what form.)

Progress

• Recording is done for ALL lead guitar parts. (It wasn't a lot.)
  
• Recording is done for ALL rhythm guitar parts.
  
• Recording is done for ALL bass guitar parts.
  
• Recording is done for ALL keyboard parts. (It wasn't a lot.)
  
• All 18 tracks have been assigned their track number, which means this is close to final.
  
• A prototype album has been assembled with raw, unedited recordings.
  
• The family has listened to portions of the album and seem pleased / surprised.
  

To-Do

• Cut recorded tracks into micro-samples (where applicable).
  
• Rearrange the drums (for the most part, they're probably A-OK!)
  
• Do live shake egg recordings for one track (low priority).
  
• Prepare either ShaderToy or REGAL to produce "music videos".
  
• Clean up any album related artwork (the cover is nearly finished.)
  
• Have the family listen to the finished and finalized version of ALL tracks (on a proper sound system.)
  
• Post everything to the interwebs.
  

The shake egg was never found. The digeridoo was never used. No digital instruments were used (except "Wicked Underground" as noted above. And the drums, of course, were samples since I don't have a real drum kit.)

Cleaning and slicing the recordings is the next step. Everything got recorded twice or more, so it's a A, B and sometimes C comparison of what was played best. I was on fire yesterday so I'm assuming they're each near perfect. I was going to do the solos on a different day, but those too are recorded! And I think I nailed it all! We'll see...

While I have put together the full prototype album with all parts included, I have not gone through and listened to the redundant 3 versions of each bar of each recording.

This whole project was a journey outside of the comfort zone.

(What even IS a "comfort zone"? XD)

So the current album is almost finished. Granted, I might go back to do better solos or I might record parts that I've left out. If a track only has 2 verses, well, there is a 3rd verse written for all tracks but I've omitted them in some instances (to keep the album run time so it's not much longer than a single hour.)

Next Album Planned

New music is being written too, which means another instrumental album will be in the works sometime next year. I'll probably get to work on it in Spring 2023 and have it finished before the season is over. At least that is my goal and plan.

While I'm fairly pleased with the current music, I'm ecstatic about the new tracks that are being written and I already have 4 done. I played it safe thus far and have been careful to "write to my ability", but the new album throws all of that overboard. I do think it is all playable; however, I do not think it will be super simple like what I've already done thus far. The time signature is always changing, chords have unique picking patterns, whatever is being played doesn't stay inside the "box" for very long, the new chords themselves are things I've never played in my entire life.

The first two tracks have been titled "Industrial Zone" and "Manufactured Chaos" and I can't play them to save my life (yet). From what I've already recorded (I haven't recorded anything for the newer album), I think I've gained enough EXP to be able to eventually tackle these tracks but it'll require some serious grinding. I've got my Thrash materia equipped courtesy of Troy Stetina (it's that yellow materia on the cover of "Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar", hahaha!)

[Steel Beast 6Beets]

Yeah, XP can be a nightmare sometimes which is why the Standard Development Kit was created. That too isn't perfect, and I know a few people who prefer to live life without it. Nevertheless, I've always considered XP to be the best of them all when it comes to mapping. There are things I like about mapping with the Makers that came after XP, I'm very fond of a lot of what was introduced, but XP maps stand out as the most visually appealing and complex.

Guilty as charged. So happens that most of the scripts I'm using aren't compatible with the SDK. I've always believed that the mapping engine in RPG makers took a sledge hammer to the knees after XP. One of the reasons I'm not particularly fond of the direction the series took post VX.

[kyonides]

Well, since I have bought the Steam versions of all RGSS based RPG Makers, I've been wondering if there's something else I should get to complement them. So guys, what would you recommend me to buy next?

Yeah, I just couldn't resist the chance to buy all of them during the last Steam sale. They were quite inexpensive back then.

[Remi-chan]

Buy Blue Reflections.

That or MV.

Oh, Kain. Was listening to the stuff on your soundcloud, you're basically my top consideration for the Seraphim OST now, Seraphim won't begin development until Fantasia is done, which won't happen until at least midway through 2023.

So if you are done with composing the soundtrack for your game by then or don't mind being a double-dealing composer, hit me up~!

As for what work I've gotten done, I finished Esperia's first optional event, which i had forgotten about. It's very wholesome and I won't say much more.

During this little break I've been taking to avoid burn out, I've been watching some top anime. Call of the Night and Spy X Family are just the recent delves I've taken.

No screenshots or nothing today, just a quickie.

[Kain Nobel]

Burn out? WORD! Balance, balance, balance. I've never found the right 'balance' for this kind of stuff and my personal life is nonstop busy. I don't have any problems with any of my projects other than time itself. Bugs? Minimal. Unfinished loose ends, mostly. I have a checklist of planned resources a mile long and am the only one working on it.

I used to hate checklists but they keep me in check. I still hate them, but couldn't live without them.

If you're ever not "burnt out" but find yourself in a very low productivity sludge, I either create, update or tackle a list of simple (but sometimes JUST as important) tasks that could probably be done in ten minutes or less. In even lower productivity slumps, I probe the hell out of the project to see if I can trigger some kind of problem (and subsequently fix it). I've been short on problems lately, as far as "finished" portions of the project go. There is always the sections in the project that are "waiting on parts and labor" but those are usually portions that require more time, energy and concentration.

That's simplifying it a bit. I don't just randomly probe the project, I consciously build a QA checklist and scenario test the hell out of it. Most problems are handled on the spot, some are documented and conquered during what would otherwise be "low productivity sludge" sessions. LPS are always redirected to the QA bug hunt if time is against my pre-planned task, so minimal available time never goes to waste.

In some cases, I'm very much ahead of schedule as I have finished work that I thought wouldn't be done until 2024! In this regard, I couldn't believe how smooth it went. Most months were 100%, a couple were 120% (finished more than planned), and April was 12% (too busy.) Then I have old tasks that have carried over since 2020 which I'm still trying to conquer (fucking battle system.)

Tonight is chill mode. I can't work on the music, I'm purposely not listening to the music, I have to let it settle a couple days and get some fresh ears. I can't even make an opinion on if I think the recording went well or not, I have to purge it from the system and check in tomorrow. If I listen to it tomorrow and my ears vomit, then I'll be reassessing my effects chain settings, the EQ, the automations (panning, volume), etc and re-recording any/all of it if needed. I'm hoping I don't have to re-record anything but we'll see.

If anything is critical, such as the overdrive sounding bad, or the solos not having the right tone, it might mean I have to redo all 19 tracks because they all use a very consistent configuration from track 1 to 19. I won't know until tomorrow if it's something good or not.

There was damn near minimal post-production magic going on, other than a little balancing of things, so it's as close to the raw live sound as I can possibly present it.

[kyonides]

Well, I'm back at working on HiddenChest after a LONG hiatus.

Curiously, I had to file a bug report on Ubuntu's Launchpad service on Sunday because the default version of Ruby, namely 3.0.2, does not include a BASIC function that allows us to call the  Ruby method better known as Dir#glob alias Dir#[]. Yes, it the very same method that lets you collect all files found in a specific directory!

For those that are unfamiliar with the Linux world, Ubuntu and Kubuntu are some of the multiple Linux flavors available on the internet nowadays.

Since Dir#glob is a mandatory method for Ruby, it seems weird that they would exclude it from Ruby's header files for any strange reason out there. It's like telling your web browser that it won't display any images any longer.

I really hope they fix that strange bug any time "soon"...