Blakeyrant on another site - indie game To The Moon



  • If you're interested in seeing it. Game developers are awful. Indie game developers are worse.

    @zeriab, developer of a game locked to 640x480 resolution said:

    The problem is unfortunately fraught with technical and legal issues.

    @me, censored with unicode hearts said:

    Zeriab, you seem to be missing the point here. Pardon this post because it's going to get long and rant-y.

    You CHOSE this game engine. Unless you started development of this game in 1994, at the time you CHOSE this game engine and tied yourselves to it, you ALREADY KNEW IT WAS BROKEN resolution-wise. So yes, while it's "fraught with technical issues", those technical issues are all your fault.

    And since you chose a crummy game engine, every single person who's downloaded and played your game has had to suffer for your bad choice. Every single person.

    I think what Basic is getting at is that a real developer-- and note I am a software developer-- a real developer would be ashamed to release a game in this state. A real developer would have looked at the situation and fixed it in one of three ways:
    1) rewritten the code from scratch
    2) picked a different (working!) game engine and ported all the assets/scripting to it
    3) at the very minimum, created some kind of graphical hook to provide a smooth resize to windowed mode-- think of like how ENB tweaks Skyrim shaders.
    4) at the very very very minimum made some kind of hook so it goes into 640x480 fullscreen mode *properly* without ♥♥♥♥ing up every other window on the computer.

    The fact that none of these fixes have been made (or, apparently, even attempted) shows us, your customers, that you simply do not care for the quality of your end-product. Or, that Basic is correct and nobody working on this game is an actual software developer. (Pick whatever derogatory term you like-- script monkey, whatever.) Then again, you're making money off of it now, so you can *hire* a developer to fix the problems.

    And the MOST unfortunate part of all of this is that your game (other than a few missteps) has a really excellent story. And instead of enjoying that story, your players are spending their first 15-30 minutes with the game, mouth agape, thinking, "what the ♥♥♥♥ is wrong with this broken-♥♥♥ game? And if they're like me, they're angry at you. Literally angry: you ♥♥♥♥ed up the layout of all my windows. All my IM windows are stacked in a tiny 640x480-sized stack and now I have to go through ALL of them to clean it up. All of my web browser windows need to be resized. The Steam overlay doesn't run because Steam was smart enough to say, "640x480? ♥♥♥♥ that noise!" even if you guys weren't.

    So you're taking what is in essence a *really good game* and crippling it by making the first-run experience AWFUL. Especially at the price it's selling for-- how many people are going to get stymied by the resolution issue and give up? "Oh well I only paid a few bucks, ♥♥♥♥ this game, I'll move on." The end goal here is to have people play the game, right?

    And whenever you post about it here on this forum, you're not apologetic. You supply idiotic fixes ("use Windows magnifier!" as if). You point the finger at the game engine-- the game engine YOU chose and YOU are 100% responsible for. Why don't you post here and say: "yes, it sucks. We're working on it. Expect a patch soon." That's what we want to see: we want to see the issue resolved because it'll make YOUR game BETTER for everybody.

    Don't be defeatist. Yes, fixing it has issues. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it takes effort. Duh. Everything worthwhile takes time and effort. Fix it.


  • Considered Harmful

    If the engine is RPG Maker, then it's likely they aren't developers. It's basically a WYSIWYG for game development. Granted, I can see some advantages for a prefab, out-of-the-box engine allowing you to focus solely on content creation; but the odds of these guys being able to resolve this issue are effectively nil.



  • Right, but as I said in the post, they're selling the game for moneys so if they can't fix it, they need to hire someone who can.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Right, but as I said in the post, they're selling the game for moneys so if they can't fix it, they need to hire someone who can.

    I don't think you understand. Their game is made in a program that imposes these restrictions. They've already paid the licensing moneys to sell a game made in the program. If they want to make their game work in ways that the program doesn't let them, they need to start from square one with a different engine. That's not something that gets done after a game has been released.



  • What exactly do you think I don't understand?

    They were stupid idiots and chose a fucking stupid game engine. Fine. Now they have to fix their own problem.

    @Ben L. said:

    If they want to make their game work in ways that the program doesn't let them, they need to start from square one with a different engine.

    Bullshit. They have all the assets, that's 80% of the work right there.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    What exactly do you think I don't understand?

    They were stupid idiots and chose a fucking stupid game engine. Fine. Now they have to fix their own problem.

    @Ben L. said:

    If they want to make their game work in ways that the program doesn't let them, they need to start from square one with a different engine.

    Bullshit. They have all the assets, that's 80% of the work right there.


    No, blakey. They're not programmers. They would have to find another game engine that can be used by non-programmers, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any good ones.


  • Considered Harmful

    It would render the game unplayable for me, as the HDTV I use as a monitor for my gaming PC does not support anything less than 720p.



  • @Ben L. said:

    No, blakey. They're not programmers.

    Then they hir-- oh wait I already addressed that and also fuck you.



  • @Ben L. said:

    No, blakey. They're not programmers. They would have to find another game engine that can be used by non-programmers, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any good ones.
     

    Then they can't sell games.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    They were stupid idiots and chose a fucking stupid game engine.
    Yes, that was a very strange choice they made. But WTF is up with that game engine? Who the ♥♥♥♥ even makes something that only runs at 640x480? That would have been stupid 10 years ago.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    WT♥
     

    ye



  • Fun fact: windows doesn't even support such low resolutions. Go ahead and try, 640x480 isn't listed.



  • @Ben L. said:

    They would have to find another game engine that can be used by non-programmers, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any good ones.

    Excel



  • @Ronald said:

    @Ben L. said:
    They would have to find another game engine that can be used by non-programmers, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any good ones.

    Excel

    point.



  • As usual, even insofar as he manages to be right about things from time to time, Blakeyrat is the real WTF.



  • @henke37 said:

    Fun fact: windows doesn't even support such low resolutions. Go ahead and try, 640x480 isn't listed.
    It isn't listed, but its still possible for broken/buggy software to do it. Googling turns up a lot of people who have the problem of Windows 7 getting stuck in 640x480 resolution.

    TRWT♥: @According to Wackypedia said:

    The IBM PS/2 VGA on-board graphics chips used a non-interlaced (progressive) 640 × 480 resolution. It was the standard resolution from 1990 to around 1996. The standard resolution was 800 × 600 until around 2000. Microsoft Windows XP, released in 2001, was designed to run at 800 × 600 minimum

    But some people actually want 640x480:

    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110619082104AAifZ0R

     "I want use the screen resolution of 640X480 in windows 7"

    One person tried to help but seemed to run into problems halfway through his answer:
    Ashok answered 2 years ago

          <div id="yui_3_9_1_9_1385876121046_577" class="content mb15">
    

    firest right click in ur screen then click properties then setting usme
    screen resolution ko mouse se jitna apko cahiy utna resolution karke
    press ok kare apka 640X480 resolution set ho jayega.thnx



  •  @El_Heffe said:

    @blakeyrat said:

    They were stupid idiots and chose a fucking stupid game engine.
    Yes, that was a very strange choice they made. But WTF is up with that game engine? Who the ♥♥♥♥ even makes something that only runs at 640x480? That would have been stupid 10 years ago.

     

    Well, the engine was initially written about twenty-five years ago... and the version they're using is from about eight years ago.

    I didn't have any problems playing it in Windows 7 on my 2560x1440 monitor, honestly. With these RPG Maker games you can always hit alt-enter and get a window, which works pretty well unless you have poor eyesight.

     



  • @blakeyrat (paraphrased) said:

    [ . . . ] rant rant rant blah blah blah froth foam gibber [ . . . ] 

    As far as I can see, all this really demonstrates is that a good workman can create something beautiful even using crappy tools.  It's currently only two quid on Steam - I consider that cheap enough that I can overlook problems in the medium for the sake of enjoying the message.  So I bought it.




  • @El_Heffe said:

    One person tried to help but seemed to run into problems halfway through his answer:

    Ashok answered 2 years ago

    firest right click in ur screen then click properties then setting usme screen resolution ko mouse se jitna apko cahiy utna resolution karke press ok kare apka 640X480 resolution set ho jayega.thnx
    Clearly the problem was that the stupidity of the question made him have a cerebrovascular accident.



  • Did they ever fix the rpg maker bug that makes it break if the system locale isn't as expected?


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @henke37 said:

    Did they ever fix the rpg maker bug that makes it break if the system locale isn't as expected?
     

    Nein.



  • @joe.edwards said:

    It would render the game unplayable for me, as the HDTV I use as a monitor for my gaming PC does not support anything less than 720p.
    Your graphic card would take care of that transparently.
    @henke37 said:
    Fun fact: windows doesn't even support such low resolutions. Go ahead and try, 640x480 isn't listed.
    Windows 8.1 in 320x240



  • @ender said:

    Windows 8.1 in 320x240

    Windows clearly doesn't have responsive design.



  • So you pruchased game and you are not happy with it. So look in your licence 9you read it before buying, or at least you should read it) and according to it you follow the rules for getting money back or make official request for fixing your problem. if the licence do not allow you to ask money back nor is giving you right to unpaid fixes to the PRODuCT, then maybe you can take source code and fix it yourself (if licence allow you to so). if not, and the licence prohibits you from all above solution, it is just your problem, that you byu it anyway, knowing, that there are no warranties for help. i/f authors sell it "as is", then they are not under any way bounded to fix anything you not like. it is your problem, that you agreed. You are i the same position as if you bought win8 and asked MS to fix it so the Metro and iE are not included and it runs fluxbox instead. So the game is fucked as Win8 - no more, no less.



  • @dhromed said:

    @ender said:

    Windows 8.1 in 320x240

    Windows clearly doesn't have responsive design.


    What do you expect Windows to do? Make the font size 0.5px?



  • Be happy that the thing even runs at 320x240, being bellow the minimum requirements is not a supported configuration. Not even windows 95 went that low.



  • @Zacrath said:

    @El_Heffe said:
    Ashok answered 2 years ago

    firest right click in ur screen then click properties then setting usme screen resolution ko mouse se jitna apko cahiy utna resolution karke press ok kare apka 640X480 resolution set ho jayega.thnx
    Clearly the problem was that the stupidity of the question made him have a cerebrovascular accident.
     
    Halfway through the sentence, his cursor had run off the right-hand edge of his screen and he was typing blind.

     



  • @Ronald said:

    Excel



  • @gilhad said:

    So you pruchased game and you are not happy with it.
    Blakeyrat is never happy, are you new here?@gilhad said:
    So look in your licence 9you read it before buying, or at least you should read it)
    Nobody does that@gilhad said:
    ccording to it you follow the rules for getting money back or make official request for fixing your problem. if the licence do not allow you to ask money back nor is giving you right to unpaid fixes to the PRODuCT, then maybe you can take source code and fix it yourself (if licence allow you to so). if not, and the licence prohibits you from all above solution, it is just your problem, that you byu it anyway, knowing, that there are no warranties for help. i/f authors sell it "as is", then they are not under any way bounded to fix anything you not like. it is your problem, that you agreed. You are i the same position as if you bought win8 and asked MS to fix it so the Metro and iE are not included and it runs fluxbox instead.

    Let me stop you there buddy, blakey doesn't want your advice, he is just ranting, let go of your earthly desires and give in to your inner blakeyrant. Also your advice kind of sucks. There is no excuse, broken software is broken software, no matter the cost or liability@gilhad said:
    So the game is fucked as Win8 - no more, no less.
    Now I know you are the kind of crazy that will fit right in with the rest of them, welcome!



  • @serguey123 said:

    @gilhad said:
    So the game is fucked as Win8 - no more, no less.
    Now I know you are the kind of crazy that will fit right in with the rest of them, welcome!
    ONE OF US! ONE OF US!



  •  What I do not understand is why Blakey continues to get angry at game developers. One can try to make a waterfall flow backwards by talking to it with the same success. Unless you like getting angry, or need a good exercise for your vocal chords, it's not worth it.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Mo6eB said:

    What I do not understand is why Blakey continues to get angry at game developers. One can try to make a waterfall flow backwards by talking to it with the same success. Unless you like getting angry, or need a good exercise for your vocal chords, it's not worth it.

    He's a manchild with nothing better to do than play games. The child part of him compels him to play, but the man part notices the suckage and understands its cause. Unable to find meaning in life, he rages.



  • @boomzilla said:

    @Mo6eB said:
    What I do not understand is why Blakey continues to get angry at game developers. One can try to make a waterfall flow backwards by talking to it with the same success. Unless you like getting angry, or need a good exercise for your vocal chords, it's not worth it.

    He's a manchild with nothing better to do than play games. The child part of him compels him to play, but the man part notices the suckage and understands its cause. Unable to find meaning in life, he rages.

    You're both correct, but, you're missing the point. Who the ♥♥♥♥ creates software that only runs in 640x480? They deserve to be mocked. And that's what we do.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @El_Heffe said:

    Who the ♥♥♥♥ creates software that only runs in 640x480? They deserve to be mocked. And that's what we do.

    I presume it's the same sort of person who uses forum software that clbuttically puts ♥♥♥♥s into posts.



  • @boomzilla said:

    @Mo6eB said:
    What I do not understand is why Blakey continues to get angry at game developers. One can try to make a waterfall flow backwards by talking to it with the same success. Unless you like getting angry, or need a good exercise for your vocal chords, it's not worth it.

    He's a manchild with nothing better to do than play games. The child part of him compels him to play, but the man part notices the suckage and understands its cause. Unable to find meaning in life, he rages.

     

    Well I would expect him to achieve enlightenment at some point and stop getting angry. It's not like he had to get a specific version of wine and patch it with a fix that has existed for a year so far to make the enemies in the game stop disappearing. If I were him, I'd just run the game in a VM with fullscreen stretching capabilities.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Mo6eB said:

    Well I would expect him to achieve enlightenment at some point and stop getting angry. It's not like he had to get a specific version of wine and patch it with a fix that has existed for a year so far to make the enemies in the game stop disappearing. If I were him, I'd just run the game in a VM with fullscreen stretching capabilities.

    Even if he did that, his anger would still be a reasonable reaction to these things. It's the fact that he puts himself in a position to notice them at all that amuses me the most, but that's because it makes me feel so much better about my life and the choices I've made. But I've also learned to stop worrying and love Excel, so what do I know?



  • @Mo6eB said:

    Well I would expect him to achieve enlightenment at some point and stop getting angry.
    I think he is way less angry than you think@Mo6eB said:
    It's not like he had to get a specific version of wine and patch it with a fix that has existed for a year so far to make the enemies in the game stop disappearing. If I were him, I'd just run the game in a VM with fullscreen stretching capabilities.
    Solving the problem is not what this website is about, and heck this shouldn't be a problem that needs solving, no matter what



  • @boomzilla said:

    But I've also learned to stop worrying and love Excel
    True enlightenment.



  • @gilhad said:

    So the game is fucked as Win8 - no more, no less.
    Only if Windows 8 defaulted to 640x480



  • @El_Heffe said:

    @blakeyrat said:
    They were stupid idiots and chose a fucking stupid game engine.

    Yes, that was a very strange choice they made. But WTF is up with that game engine? Who the ♥♥♥♥ even makes something that only runs at 640x480? That would have been stupid 10 years ago.

    The Japanese. You know; the same people with a disproportionately high tendency to develop myopia from sitting too close to PC screens or TVs in cramped appartements and holding their various mobile devices far too close to their faces when operating them?

    @Lorne Kates said:

    @henke37 said:
    Did they ever fix the rpg maker bug that makes it break if the system locale isn't as expected?

    Nein.

    Again completely unsurprising, as to this date the majority of Japanese PC game developers are blissfully ignorant of Unicode and perfectly content developing software that explodes under anything that is not a Japanese system locale.
    (Some even choose to go the extra mile: they check your system's locale settings such as number and currency formatting, datetime formatting or timezone and explicitly refuse to start if they don't match the Japanese defaults; a kind of poor man's regional locking. Yes really...)

    It baffles the mind how a software package that is such a complete and utter assturd [i]ever[/i] managed to pick up any kind of traction in the west. My own pet theory is that it somehow ties into being more affordable than Adobe Flash...



  • @Mo6eB said:

     What I do not understand is why Blakey continues to get angry at game developers. One can try to make a waterfall flow backwards by talking to it with the same success. [ . . . ]

    Hey, Blakey!  He's calling you a Cnut!




  • @DaveK said:

    @Mo6eB said:

     What I do not understand is why Blakey continues to get angry at game developers. One can try to make a waterfall flow backwards by talking to it with the same success. [ . . . ]

    Hey, Blakey!  He's calling you a Cnut!


    Even a cnut is sometimes right.

     



  • @Mike Hunt said:

    @gilhad said:

    So the game is fucked as Win8 - no more, no less.
    Only if Windows 8 defaulted to 640x480

     

    Nope. Win8 sucks more, as ToTheMoon is[b]not[/b]  by default installed on majority of laptops

     



  • @Mo6eB said:

    If I were him, I'd just run the game in a VM with fullscreen stretching capabilities.

    You know, that might actually work. Just ship the game with a copy of Qemu configured to start a lightweight Linux OS running Wine running the game. You've added about 100-200MB to the size and it probably uses 5 to 10 times more CPU, but it works at any resolution.



  • @gilhad said:

    @Mike Hunt said:

    @gilhad said:

    So the game is fucked as Win8 - no more, no less.
    Only if Windows 8 defaulted to 640x480

     

    Nope. Win8 sucks more, as ToTheMoon isnot  by default installed on majority of laptops

     

    Keyboards must really suck, then.



  • @Ben L. said:

    Keyboards must really suck, then.
    They definitely bite.


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