Part Two: Importing a Character Spritesheet and Setting Up a Player Gadget
In the first part of this tutorial, we covered the very first steps in IG Maker: how to set up a new project in IG Maker, import some graphics and create a simple map. Now it’s time to put a character on that map! Let’s begin by importing some placeholder graphics for the character and setting up basic movements. Read the rest of this entry »
Part One: Importing Assets and Creating a Simple Map
In this tutorial, we cover the first steps in IG Maker: how to create a simple map and place a player gadget on it.
Defining the player character was really simple in RPG Maker, but don’t let the apparent complexity of Enterbrain’s new engine discourage you – once you get over this first stumbling block in using IG Maker, the engine will hopefully start to make sense.
IG Maker - different types of game genres
IG Maker currently has 3 genre plugins: platform, shooting and RPG (the demo plugin has a different function and we won’t cover it in this tutorial). In all 3 of them, it is assumed that one of the “gadgets” will be a player character. The player gadget is treated as a special gadget that can’t be deleted and has its own dedicated events that trigger switching actions. In this tutorial, we will show how to put the player on screen in RPG mode, but the same basic rules apply to other plugins, too. Read the rest of this entry »
ButaVX explores the village.
Our second Cute RPG is out! Featuring a “brave warrior” on “an important quest”… It’s not really saving the world but pretty close. And all with mom’s approval! Read the rest of this entry »
Our mystery visual novel, The Stolen Diamond Ring, was reviewed on White Butterfly, one of the rare blogs specializing in otome game reviews! You can read the review here.
Lots of people working in RPG Maker, Ren’Py and similar engines seem to have some very basic knowledge of the Japanese language (or someone who can help them with Japanese text in a pinch). However, for various reasons, utilizing the resources that can be found on Japanese websites can still prove challenging.
The main reason, I think, is that while it’s easy to learn the basics (just about anyone seriously interested in Japanese-style games seems to have either taken a basic Japanese class, went trough some free online lessons or even just picked up a phrase or two from their favourite anime), it’s much more difficult to learn specialized vocabulary related to game-making, especially since there seem to be no books available in English dealing with the subject of Japanese game-making terminology. The terms are sometimes counter-intuitive for an English speaker – when looking for character graphics to put in your visual novel, for example, you don’t search for キャラクター (although the term does mean “characters”) but for 立ち絵 (“standing pictures”). To complicate matters further, the “English” on Japanese websites doesn’t necessarily mean what it says (“free” being a good example of this). Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday the first video for Nekomura’s upcoming Mystery Visual Novel was uploaded: The Stolen Diamond Ring is a video game with a slightly detectiveish atmosphere, revolving around a missing engagement ring worth $30000!
Yesterday while checking out this year’s yukata, I noticed Uniqlo Japan is offering some game t-shirts (their US store also seems to carry them, but the photos on that site are burried inside a flash file so I cannot link to it)! This project apparently started on March 16th and they are still releasing new t-shirts (next one is scheduled for June 22nd). Hoping to see some of my favourite games on the list, I started browsing the t-shirt site. It looked quite promising in the beginning:
They even have one of my favourite games, Gyakuten Saiban / Phoenix Wright, but… Read the rest of this entry »
(This review of Princess Maker 5 was originally published on March 22, 2008. The game is currently available from Playasia for PlayStation2 and PSP)
Raise a little girl from the age of 10 to 18! Again. (For those unfamiliar with the “Princess Maker” kind of raising simulation games, Wikipedia offers some basic info.)
I loved Princess Maker 2, but after being severely disappointed by installments 3 and 4, found myself increasingly skeptical of whether its charm can ever be replicated again – even by its original creators. But this time, they got it right! It is as close to gaming perfection (at least for me), as the legendary Princess Maker 2 was. The spirit is the same, but Princess Maker 5 is a much, much bigger game, and set in modern Japan. Read the rest of this entry »
Sweet Ange, a cooking game / otome dating sim by Koei set in Angelique universe
(This review was originally published on January 12, 2006)
System: Gameboy Color
By: Koei
Year: 1999
Genre: cooking game / otome dating sim
Difficulty level of Japanese: intermediate (an enthusiastic beginner armed with a good dictionary could probably play it without running into major trouble).
Target group: little girls (but cuteness-appreciating adults or people interested in confection making would probably enjoy playing this).
Multiplayer mode: none
Where to get it: amazon.co.jp (used)
Official site: スウィートアンジェ 製品案内
Keywords: cooking, recipe, collecting, Angelique, confection, drink, popularity
Collect recipes and ingredients, make confections and drinks, display your creations to win popularity, or give them to your friends as gifts. Sweet Ange is a cooking game published by Koei and set in the Angelique universe (just in case you’ve never heard of Angelique: it’s a popular dating sim for girls, and considered to be the first otome game).
Here we talk about nice things in life – more specifically, nice things similar in spirit to Nekomura Games.
If you like Nekomura Games, you might also enjoy reviews of great games (both old and new) we enjoyed, cute characters and random cuteness, mostly from Japan. We will be covering games like Sweet Ange, Princess Maker 5, Sennen Kazoku and Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode.
You might see some art tutorials in the future, too!
Comments and discussions can be posted on the forums ^_^
