Infuriated

Can't say that I've ever seen it that way, It's definitely useful for that sort of pursuit and many others (art, writing, etc) but first and foremost It's definitely always appeared to be a tool for anyone to pick up and develop with. I agree that a game made with just the base or even a custom version will probably board the generic wagon, but that's the fault of the person who developed it. I would bet money (if I had any) that if someone made a game with the base engine and took care to develop lots of content and use their wits to maximize the potential of all available features and at the very LEAST find/rip their own graphical resources, it would have at least a handful of players online concurrently. Which would be more of a feat than half of these feature-rich looking games that never leave WIP limbo. This is all without any particular fancy skill, anyone could do it. But like I said, I'm not putting down programming. Programming is **essential** but It's not the only recipe for success. If someone did at least this much, people would frequently show up offering their services because they enjoy what you did, how you did it and want to see it go further, essentially closing the gap for people who can't do anything but develop within the engine. All you need is dedication, that's all I'm saying. That and I think It's a better idea to familiarize yourself with developing within the engine before exploring/applying programming, if you can make a kinda entertaining game with nothing but what's there and your wits then the sky's the limit when you do start a new project without holding back. Anyway, I'm not claiming this is the true purpose of Eclipse, this is just how I've always looked at it.

I… but... I thought the entire point of an ORPG engine was to allow people who can't program to make an online game? D: Honestly, I think a good chunk of the problem is people rushing to tutorials/custom/programming before trying to make a game with the base engine. If you haven't put fourth SOME effort into learning how to utilize the base features and 'forging' somewhat unique features by using what you got, your game may ultimately suffer even if you're a programming wizard. You would be surprised with what you can do when trying to rig something together without the assistance of programming. Don't get me wrong though, beyond those basics It's best to get on top of learning SOMETHING to contribute with, since the base engine can be pretty limited. I just don't think it's right to knock the idea of a good base engine game, just no one puts in the effort and when most people do they get tempted/distracted by all of these shiny tutorials or jump into a game making vocation, pretty much putting actual development experience with the core part of the engine on the back burner. This is an opinion coming from an extremely unmotivated individual with nothing to show for his time in game development, so take this as you will lol.  About the original topic, seems like a decently feature packed version. Don't lose heart, I'm sure there are plenty of lurkers who are grateful for your contribution (those hobbyists out there making games purely for fun).

The wall looks 100% better, I agree with perhaps an additional highlight on the grass since it feels a little bit flat and carpet-like right now.

You're probably set so long as you don't actually provide a link, lol.

A lot of this stuff loses it's shock value to me when I consider there's more than likely been tons of similar incidents that never reached the light of day. He was just sloppy. Human beings are chaotic and unpredictable, I don't even want to think about all the possible crap people pulled off without ever making a ripple on the surface.

Seems like it would limit you anyway, since if I'm understanding correctly, you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the fringe layer?

Heh, maybe this will motivate me and get me out of my pixel funk. Especially since there's already such a beast competitor, very impressive Kreator. 

Sounds like they can still only detect suspicious activity through torrents and not directly downloaded content, so this will probably not effect me a whole lot. This battle against piracy is just dumb, It's like trying to prohibit anything, people will ALWAYS find a loophole so all of these funds basically just get dumped into oblivion. Honestly, I think piracy may even be a good thing ultimately. People who would have otherwise not paid for it (for lack of funds or whatever reason) get a hold of it and if it's a quality product they'll turn into worker bees in the big internet hype machine. Plus, at least for games, I can't really think of a case where a game got pirated to death because if it's being mass pirated that usually means it's already got a huge gathering waiting to acquire it legitimately anyway. Overall I can't really say much on the Music/TV scene as I don't really download that kind of stuff very often. I just know most piracy protection (DRM) in games hurts the legitimate audience more than it does pirates, lol.

From my family. Parents didn't care about swearing, a few words were frowned upon but overall there were plenty to choose from lol. You would think that would have been a bad influence but I can't remember a single time I swore in an inappropriate situation.

Yeah, I was a little hesitant on using that video but he does (if you can understand it, lol) explain a lot of what's there pretty thoroughly and I figured I'd post up a video that's not in the developers channel. I'd just refer to the dev channel for info if you can't make heads or tails out of the posted video, haha. EDIT: I just lost it, tried seeing if the ENG closed captions would help, but it just made it hilarious instead.

> Fuggdaboutit it's new york I need to change that, lol. I live in penisylvania now, EXPECTATION LEVEL THROUGH THE ROOF! Just kidding. EDIT: Lol, penisylvania. Find a fun new censor every day  > how do you already have almost as many posts as me but Ive been a member for like a year longer than you!? Haha, your post count trumps mine and I've been registered longer. We need to be more active… in the board, rather than the shoutbox hehe.

Thought I'd post this up, since I'm somewhat eagerly awaiting it and I wouldn't mind a few more SOBs clamoring and suffering with me, lol. If you liked the early Harvest Moons I'd say check it out, It's not identical but the changes/additions being made so far are actually pretty nice (leaning towards a sandbox vibe while retaining everything you probably loved about the HM series) Website: [http://www.stardewvalley.net/](http://www.stardewvalley.net/) Developers youtube channel: [http://www.youtube.c…/TheAmazingApes](http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAmazingApes) I'll stick a description and a video in here for the sake of completion, lol. [media]http://youtu.be/1Dm7ZzUU0Vo[/media] > [background=rgb(251, 251, 251)]Stardew Valley is an upcoming RPG-style farming game that is full of things to do![/background] > > [background=rgb(251, 251, 251)]It's up to you to choose your path… Will you devote your time to raising crops and caring for animals? Will you spend time in the local village, befriending the local townspeople? Do you get a kick out of slaying dreadful monsters in the mysterious mountain caverns? Or will you try to accomplish everything and claim the coveted title of "Stardew Hero"?[/background] > > [background=rgb(251, 251, 251)]It's up to _you_ to decide.[/background] > > * 20+ crops that grow in different seasons > * Raise cows, chickens, goats, rabbits, and more! > * Build your farm the way you want by choosing the number and location of all your farm buildings! > * Level up and earn skill points to spend in 6 different areas. > * 30+ unique characters to befriend. Get married to one of ten eligible bachelors or bachelorettes. > * Explore a vast, procedurally-generated cave to find materials and treasure, but make sure to bring your sword! > * Spend your extra time fishing or searching for ancient artifacts. > * 80+ achievements to strive for. > * Over an hour of original music. > * Craft helpful items and cook delicious meals to keep you going. > * Decorate your house as you see fit. > * Play as a boy or girl, and customize your appearance. And there you have it.

Congrats. I'll be 23 in April, not really that excited about it since all it does is raise peoples expectations of you.

I don't make music and I'm no expert so take this as you will. From (around) 00:55 on into the build up there's something that bugs me, I don't know what to call it but it almost sounds like a background sound cutting in and out and it just interrupted any enjoyment I was getting from the song. Also, the build up didn't really go anywhere, I don't know if I'm just too used to Dubstep (as that's pretty much the only electronic music I listen to) or what. Anyway, there you have it.

I think that's a pretty good start with the palette, honestly. I'd play around with hue shifting a little bit, realistically the more lit part of the foliage would be warmer and more into the yellow spectrum and the shaded parts cooler (this all depends on the setting though, of course). What you have now though is alright on it's own without it, I do agree it could use some saturation though. I've always had problems with saturation myself, I get used to the colors and more bold colors end up looking jarring to me and then 2 days later I'll look at the same piece and its all blah, lol. I can tell your getting the right idea with the foliage though, but overall the line art doesn't have much structure and the trunk lacks an outline entirely. I've gotta go now, I'll come back later and try to expand on the criticism with some constructiveness later, lol.

I feel like the line art is pretty pronounced throughout the entire wall, It doesn't look terrible or anything but I can't put my finger on it… I can't really think of a concrete way to improve it either, so take it as you will lol. I really like the way you shade/detail your art, particularly the bricks and foliage. Scary thing is, I feel like you still haven't lived up to your full potential, can't wait to see your work a couple years down the road. 

I'd say the contrast feels a little high on the darkest shade, the foliage looks perfect if I focus on the lighter parts but as soon as I pay attention to the darkest shade it sticks out and looks pretty rough. I'm not sure if It's a good idea or not to tone down the darkest too much though, maybe experiment with some hue shifting to see if any other colors mesh much better at the same/similar intensity? Also, I feel like the stump of the tree might look better if an extra root or two continued around the trunk, in the background if you get me. That might be my personal tastes though, just some food for thought.

> Yeah, I do think that control abuse is possible but when I work with my Voltisoft team we all have a say and nobody takes absolute power other than the owner who has the patience to listen to us all and Marshy Dearest can do that and he has shown it several times. > > And yeah, people need some serious advice sometimes but I've seen so many projects in the game design community where nothing is learned because the author in question can't take advice and I remember a time when I couldn't either but I learned because my projects were not good design choices back then and I revised myself and my choices to become a better thinker. > > I like this discussion right here, and Eclipse should be a bit more like this. Agreed, there are people who have determination and potential only to throw it all down the drain because they fly off the handle every time someone offers valid criticism. I'd say after talking it out and thinking about it, it might be best to find a middle ground between control and freedom, because complete freedom does offer a slew of its own issues. I've got to go, so I can't brainstorm about how to achieve that ideal but I really enjoyed myself here. I hope this all resolves without any bloodshed, lol.

> You've got some points but let's be honest with ourselves, if we reject a project thread but give them advice, they still learn that A. They didn't follow guidelines and B. whatever we gave them as advice, and honestly this requires a team who can handle advice. Sure, a bad project may be a learning experience but with an internet community it just beings problems and needs revision from the creator instead of some hypocritical internet members. Just saying. I see your points, and I don't think they're particularly wrong - I just feel like bouncing back projects, even giving them advice, isn't exactly giving them a chance. What if something denied would have actually rapidly improved or became more popular than expected once put through the scrutiny of their own peers? Without some pressure, varied criticism and expectations of other people wont learn the crucial things needed to succeed. I also wonder where it would stop, the problem with control is it gets out of hand, if you tighten the collar in one place inevitably it will begin to tighten in others due to trying to keep a handle on control, these arguments and such are unavoidable because we're all people with different ideas and opinions. People just need to buck up and learn to handle petty disputes themselves and if it becomes out of hand that's what the moderators are there for. There will never be an ultimate loving utopia among human beings and trying to control that aspect through quality will only reduce the issues because there's less activity since people are being locked out. I don't know if either of us are right or wrong, but I do appreciate you talking it out with me instead of resorting to flaming, thank you for that 

The site is clean, intuitive and in relatively good order and the community as a whole appears to have become progressively more wholesome and tolerant of new people. I don't really understand what the fuss is about, these are just my observations from lurking but all of this drama seems to be stemming from a plain conflict of personalities. Anyone in a position of authority are human beings as well, and as such, both sides are prone to disliking each other and unfortunately if there's only arguments and no blatant abuse of power everyone's just going to have to learn to cope with the people who irritate them. I'm sure we all do this on a daily basis, at school, work or at home - it should be relatively easy to tolerate with little effort. Maybe I'm missing the nostalgia goggles since I've never really involved myself with Eclipse much outside of lurking, but I've only seen improvements over the course of this year. I'd only suggest continuing to keep things simple, improve, collaborate and continue driving Eclipse on into future generations and have patience and a helping hand ready for the onslaught of newbies improvement will inevitably bring, because let's face it, not all of us will be here forever and somebody needs to keep such a great place thriving and well prepared so it can continue its existence. I'd also like to pipe in to say I don't like the sounds of quality controlling the projects section, It's one thing to remove the troll threads but shunning projects that don't live up to some kind of biased standards just restrains growth and doesn't give new people a chance to try and will scare off anyone willing to. The basic information guidelines are enough, and if the game isn't special enough for you just ignore it, people are here trying to learn through the available information and the experience of trying to apply that information. Everyone has to start from somewhere, if their project isn't attractive enough no one will play it and they'll learn something was missing through failure, something that sticks and weeds out the people not willing to improve.

 It's alright, compared to my internet a few years ago it's like a flying carpet. I just wish my computer wasn't so crud, I'll lag no matter what I do unless the games ugly or miraculously optimized. > Yea i have no idea how it got zero ping. Internet at my house sucks so bad lately. Cant even view a youtube video without it lagging. Lemme ask you something, do you use Chrome?

They better keep an eye on the pancake/waffle/french toast sticks warehouse.

I think you just need an additional bright shade for the areas of the foliage with the most concentration of light, and a shade color that doesn't resemble the rest of the foliage colors but still blends in decently so you can make each bushel of foliage stand out from the other. I did a real quick edit, It's actually pretty crap because I just got off work and didn't feel like spending 2 hours on another persons tree, lol. You should get the idea at least, if you think it looks even shittier overall than disregard it. This is just what I would do personally.  I just added a highlight closer to yellow and another dark shade which is purple. I hope this helps. EDIT: Photobucket is being stupid, let me find another host… EDIT EDIT: Fixed.

She'll be back in around 8 months, don't worry about it buddy. 

I think they're trickier to use than they appear, since it's so easy to find most people grab them up and blatantly misuse them. I've seen it done right, but 98% of the time It's just done wrong, modified or not modified I've seen some pretty impressive looking RPG Maker games using them (of course). Mappings a skill like any other, and a lot of folks just can't discern for themselves if the map looks good or not and without experience to back it most think the horrible maps look good. What makes things worse, in any area, is when the majority of the community isn't made up of people with that particular skill and it's just one big circle jerk of new/unskilled people patting each other on the back for material that is hardly quality. People just need to start comparing their work with things outside of their comfort zone and truly see how much they suck so growth can begin anew, instead of being satisfied with praise from people worse than them.