I’m not sure how other game developers work, but we spent just as many months playing and replaying our game from scratch in order to make sure everything up to the current point made sense. Most of the time, it didn’t. Whether it was finding remnants of a story-arc which we later took out or being able to buy your Uncle’s pills despite having no money, we usually found something which needed hot-fixing. I’ll let The Cunt explain the technicalities of such things:
Here's a question for you...
Who the FUCK names a variable 'pants'!?
Image Credit: memegenerator.com
The answer to that is simple. I would name a variable 'pants'. Today, I was going through the early parts of the game, trying to bring them up to the same standard as the later parts of the game in terms of writing and pacing. It was here that I hit my first problem: variable names. When I first started the game, I didn't give much thought to:
1. Naming variables sensibly
2. Recording what the variables did
3. Using variables sparingly
This lead to a very haphazard system for the early quests and storyline triggers. I found this out when I was trying to make minor changes. It was like a house of cards, built at the top of a tree, which is growing out of the side of a cliff. One small movement and
POW!
..everything goes completely tits up.
1. Naming variables sensibly
2. Recording what the variables did
3. Using variables sparingly
This lead to a very haphazard system for the early quests and storyline triggers. I found this out when I was trying to make minor changes. It was like a house of cards, built at the top of a tree, which is growing out of the side of a cliff. One small movement and
POW!
..everything goes completely tits up.
Image Credit: knowyourmeme.com
So I had to trace my steps back, following what seemed like a maze of variables and switches. It was all very Inception, like I was playing a game within the game I was actually trying to fucking make. Except it wasn't like Inception, because I enjoyed Inception and Inception didn't make me call inanimate objects fucking cock marauders. I did finally manage to navigate my complex house of cards and fix what I wanted to fix. I also now have a painstakingly hand written list of what each variable means and does. Which I have now lost.
Why don't you work, you bastard?!
Living in a very council area, I often shout this out of my window as I drive to work in the morning. Workshy Bob usually just shrugs and looks into his can of Stella forlornly. It's a stupid question really, the reason he doesn't work is because he gets to drink Stella at 7:45 AM.
It isn't a stupid question when for some reason a character refuses to move when I have put the commands in for him to fucking move. Case in point, last week I needed a character called Uncle Tone (who without giving too much away, is a very important character and the source of I think the biggest laugh in the first ten minutes of the game too ) to move out of the bloody way. He wouldn't. No matter how much I changed things, he would not move.
It isn't a stupid question when for some reason a character refuses to move when I have put the commands in for him to fucking move. Case in point, last week I needed a character called Uncle Tone (who without giving too much away, is a very important character and the source of I think the biggest laugh in the first ten minutes of the game too ) to move out of the bloody way. He wouldn't. No matter how much I changed things, he would not move.
How I accurately felt about the problem.
For two hours I changed things and made up brand new euphemisms for the vagina and finally, I realised my mistake. I hadn't set the page with his commands on, to appear, at any point in the game. I had tried much more complex things, I had learned a lot of new information and tricks from both trial and (a lot of) error and researching things, yet it was something I learned on my first day of RPG maker that was tripping me up.
I think the main point I am getting to there is that, sometimes making games is fucking stupid. But when it isn't fucking stupid, it is fucking brilliant.
I think the main point I am getting to there is that, sometimes making games is fucking stupid. But when it isn't fucking stupid, it is fucking brilliant.
Introducing the Heroes
We've already touched on the state of strong-and-silent type protagonists in the current era of video games. While this is a tried and tested trope which clearly works well, we've took a different approach with Foul Fantasy. One of my all time favourite games was Mystical Ninja Starring Goeman on the Nintendo 64. For those too young to remember, the player took control of one-of-four protagonists, all with different personalities and abilities who regularly interacted with each other. The world they inhabited was a camp incarnation of Japan where batshit crazy things regularly occurred. It was weird as fuck, and it was incredible.
Nimbus Whinge
An unlikely hero, if only he can stop complaining for a single second to actually become one. With his parents taken from him at a young age, Nimbus lives a life of solitude in his old family home. His place of residence is a small town named Softwood, also home to some of his close friends and his weird Uncle. Nimbus spends his days mostly reading, writing in his diary which nobody wants to read and trying to ignore his best friend’s phone calls.
An unlikely hero, if only he can stop complaining for a single second to actually become one. With his parents taken from him at a young age, Nimbus lives a life of solitude in his old family home. His place of residence is a small town named Softwood, also home to some of his close friends and his weird Uncle. Nimbus spends his days mostly reading, writing in his diary which nobody wants to read and trying to ignore his best friend’s phone calls.
Nimbus tries to keep Jary in check...
Jary
No one in the Thepen Islands is really sure of Jary’s surname. Some theorize he traded his surname with the Devil in order to become really good at shagging. Some say the game designers just couldn’t think of one. The truth is; Jary is based on a real person we know, and revealing his surname would cement who that person was (we’ve just inverted the first letters of his name), and he’d know that we’ve turned him into a bastardised virtual version of himself. Regardless, Jary is Nimbus’ best friend, and is largely motivated by shagging. He genuinely wants the best for Nimbus, which requires trying to get him out of the slumber he’s been stuck in since the loss of his parents.
No one in the Thepen Islands is really sure of Jary’s surname. Some theorize he traded his surname with the Devil in order to become really good at shagging. Some say the game designers just couldn’t think of one. The truth is; Jary is based on a real person we know, and revealing his surname would cement who that person was (we’ve just inverted the first letters of his name), and he’d know that we’ve turned him into a bastardised virtual version of himself. Regardless, Jary is Nimbus’ best friend, and is largely motivated by shagging. He genuinely wants the best for Nimbus, which requires trying to get him out of the slumber he’s been stuck in since the loss of his parents.
...It rarely goes to plan.
Uncle Tone
The eccentric Uncle of Nimbus, Uncle Tone’s origins are largely unknown. Similarly to Jary, he has a penchant for shagging, although their preferences differ slightly. It is widely known that Uncle Tone has a connection to the more undesirable types in the world of Foul Fantasy, and can be useful for advice in where to venture or who to track down next. If you have a problem, Uncle Tone will help. If you get him his pills.
The eccentric Uncle of Nimbus, Uncle Tone’s origins are largely unknown. Similarly to Jary, he has a penchant for shagging, although their preferences differ slightly. It is widely known that Uncle Tone has a connection to the more undesirable types in the world of Foul Fantasy, and can be useful for advice in where to venture or who to track down next. If you have a problem, Uncle Tone will help. If you get him his pills.
Uncle Tone, ladies and gentlemen. Nothing more needs to be said.
By The Cunt
Email The Cunt
A hidden face of the crew, The Cunt is main coder for the Foul Entertainment Gaming department. He is currently documenting the progress of our game, Foul Fantasy, in his dev blogs.
Email The Cunt
A hidden face of the crew, The Cunt is main coder for the Foul Entertainment Gaming department. He is currently documenting the progress of our game, Foul Fantasy, in his dev blogs.
By Joe Turner
Joe is one of the many writers we have at Foul Entertainment and the author and deviser of Plenty Of Catfish. He is a main player on Disagreevances. He's also responsible for the bulk of the artistic design in our upcoming gaming department.
Joe is one of the many writers we have at Foul Entertainment and the author and deviser of Plenty Of Catfish. He is a main player on Disagreevances. He's also responsible for the bulk of the artistic design in our upcoming gaming department.