Rorasuketo Dev Blog

  Don't forget! I am doing a webcast on Friday, and you can now submit a survey to be an alpha tester.

  It's that time again! Cam is going to host a webcast showing some behind-the-scenes action. We'll be working on some of the minigames and walking through the RPG Maker MZ process, as well as hosting a chat where you can ask questions. Whether you're an up-and-coming RPG Maker user, a game enthusiast, or just a loyal follower of our awesome work of art (we appreciate you!), come on by. For the US, it's 8 PM Eastern/5 PM Pacific. That's 12 AM GMT for my European friends who burn the midnight oil. Bookmark the YouTube Live video or follow Tibbs-Babu Publishing to hang out with us! 

I wanted a tribute to some of the very cool European teams out there. When I was still playing roller derby, there was beginning to be a bit of an outcry that all of the major events were being held in the United States, despite flat track derby being more and more of an international affair. This created hardships for European skaters who had to travel overseas to participate in damn near anything. That's no longer the case. But before there were Continental Cups, a lovely team from Norway visited my little corner of the States. The leagues in my area were pretty evenly matched with them. They also wanted some experience playing different teams and to get a solid footing in the rankings. (If I remember this all correctly!) They had the most adorable pre-game rituals involving traditional children's songs - think "Ring Around the Rosy" or "Duck Duck Goose." I must admit I also put A-ha's  Take On Me  on the jukebox at the afterparty and enjoyed watching ...

I watched my adoring husband do a 3.5 hour playtest over the weekend, and in the process filled a 2' by 4' white board with things to fix or change. It was a bit overwhelming, recognizing all the work I unexpectedly needed to do. It was also a little deflating, experiencing my game through someone else's eyes - seeing it for exactly what it is instead of the ivory tower I've worked up in my mind. I am only where I am, and can only do what I can do. (There's also only so much a player will experience. They won't find every easter egg and engage every dialogue option.) No,  Rorasuketo  is not going to be the most incredible video game of all time, but I would like to think I still have something special and unique. The people in my corner agree, which is nice. Though my list of fixes was long, I was able to knock out many of them quickly. (Some are anal-retentive things like "change the line break in this one piece of dialogue" and some are fundamental, ...

It's been brought to my attention that I am incredibly disorganized! So I've been getting intentional about making lists and flow charts to make sure, as the game starts to come together into one long strand, that everything is accounted for. So I started a new document where I laid down the entire story, highlighted by themes and subplots, to make sure the colors were well-spaced, well-represented, and resolved. I say the game is "story-based," and I would like to think I am correct. After doing this particular activity, part of me worries that I'm trying to cram too many subplots into a 4-hour package. Then again, some of them are optional or possibly subtle enough for some of the first beats to fly under the radar. I don't see a ton of replayability in Rorasuketo for the casual player; the explorer type might want to have another go or two to try other friend or story options. So I think it will be good to intertwine a variety of threads! I'm happy to s...

I'm really happy to show this one off. In general, my visual art tends to be bereft of contrast - I'm afraid of commitment. When I do try to bring in dynamic lighting, it's amateurish from lack of practice. But I think our girls turned out pretty well here.  The most fun part was probably - in fact - the drink.