61

El-Hazard Online / Ah, forgot about these!

« on: March 26, 2003, 01:12:54 am »

These are something nifty my sister's one friend made...

1/3
2/3
3/3

Cutesy El-Hazard.  Nifty little things.  I should remember to add them to the limited FanArt page I cart around with me...

62

El-Hazard Online / [Windows PC Users] - Try a Screensaver

« on: March 21, 2003, 03:12:21 pm »

Actually, for saving screens it fails pretty badly.  I'm just more out to see if it works on your system.  (The gag in it is only realized by those of us from the Sonic & Knuckles era)

http://www.el-hazardonline.net/stuff/ehss.scr

It's really a test of appending data to an executable.

It should be placed in your SYSTEM directory (if on Win9x) or SYSTEM32 directory (if on Windows 2K/XP).  Not tested for NT4, but you really shouldn't be running that anymore

63

El-Hazard Online / [Friday UPDATE] Pic-of-the-MOMENT

« on: March 19, 2003, 04:30:44 am »

It should now use your "friendly" usernames.  The old data files are currently still written, however, so to fix them I'd have to go back and manually do it.  But I don't feel like it at the moment.  

Just from now on it should use your "Friendly" name as per your Profile setting.

If this final test works, then I'll concider putting in on the site somwhere... (Goodies?)
-------- old message ---------------
This was a script I had partially written but never finished.  I figured I might as well tie up its loose ends and give it a go.

PIC OF THE WEEK

Essentially, this runs a program on the server that randomly grabs one of the screenshot images and puts it up (50% size reduced).

Then you make a not-actually-what's-happening comment on the pic.  Even if you don't know the series from where the image originated!  (That might even work better )

Read the rules on the page itself:
http://www.el-hazardonline.net/El-Hazard/site/picoftheweek/current/index.shtml

64

El-Hazard Online / [El-Hazard for the PC] Outdated topic

« on: March 13, 2003, 12:01:16 am »

Any problems, just post a new topic

El-Hazard for the PC: Final release due by mid-next week... hopefully.
The wonderful little trinket I've personally sweated over, using personal knowledge based reverse engineering tactics on the Saturn original CD-ROM.  One thing I've learned -- I may be a programmer only by hobby with absolutely no professional training or classes, but apparently the techniques for implementation that I've made up over the years aren't all that different from the "professional" programmers.  

--------------- Computer Platform Crap ---------------

Currently for Windoze PC's only... might run on Linux with Wine (I'm gonna hafta try that sucker out), though I don't think anyone here runs Linux.  (Should be portable anyway though.)

A MacOS version is a quandary simply because the only Macs I own are of the ancient 68K breed... the best I have I think is a 68030 @ 33MHz.  Of course, concidering the hardware this game has been forced onto over its lifetime (I'll be the third time its been ported, albeit its first non-licensed port), it's theoretically possible to make it run on such a junkard.  Otherwise Mac'ies have to wait until I'm working again, and only if I can overcome my current college debt.  Or they release a PPC emulator... which hasn't happened yet.

------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, who here thinks they'll touch it at least with a 10 foot pole?  Any questions?  

(Most should be answerable by looking at past updates.  And I fixed the spacing of the text, so when you see that in old pictures, it no longer applies, it looks more like the one I posted in the news.)

At least I registered a semi-professional server for the sake of bandwidth (300MB space / 6GB-month), because I guarentee it won't be less than ~75MB ZIP'ed.

The only thing I don't believe I mentioned in the updates is that it should be completely user customizable; essentially, you can use the shell to create custom El-Hazard stories if you felt like it.

65

El-Hazard Online / Post-Alternative World type Idea-esque Things

« on: February 28, 2003, 01:22:07 am »

Well, seeing how my previous topic went, it seems that at least the three people who cared to answer it say that for credibility's sake or otherwise, I ought to stick out Alternative World for everything it was worth.

Please note: This topic is a mammoth of ideas.  Read when you've got time and a clear mind.

Said topic.  I'll be building on some things I said there.  Remember most importantly that we lightly discussed the potential of making this project like the Saturn design, that is, where the player has control over some critical events.  These are plot-ish ideas that may help guide potentially good or bad outcomes to things, or may even guide the overall story, of which I don't really have specifically.  I also assume the player will be "Makoto", who for some reason is infinitely pivotal to everything that happens in El-Hazard.

Well, then, even though I still have no idea if actually working on this thing will be 100% feasible -- that'll be answered only in coming months if and once it's technically advanced to where I can start even saying what "it" is -- for curiosity's sake and a bit of preplanning that'll help guide that development, rate some ideas I've got, add or remove as you see fit.

Let's get started:
First, a few quick definitions.  I would NOT have the priestesses just "around" the palace anymore.  They all will go back home to Mt. Muldoon, where they belong during peace time.  "Peace time" is being guessed about 1 or 2 years; not long enough Makoto's figured a way back to Ifurita, but long enough that things will happen on both the "good guy" side and the "bad guy" side.  This also means a majority of the romancing and sexual tensions can be eased -- and perhaps, from here on out, controlled to our liking.  That's the most important.  Anything else I'm only working on... Jinnai's eggs should be hatched and active, maybe Fujisawa's a teacher again, Nanami's probably got a chain of Shinonome Diner's open, etc.  (Also meaning we can take the Makoto / Nanami play out temporarily until or if we want it back in; i.e., she's too busy with her management at first to even think about him.)


Now on to specifics:

THOSE UNDER-DEFINED PEOPLE
ROMANCES
TECHNOLOGICAL


* THOSE UNDER-DEFINED PEOPLE -- I have the least to say about it, because as the title implies, I have no clue either.  The following people could possibly use more inclusion to plots:

Parnosse (and Alielle): Alielle's interesting carbon-copy brother.  He actually seems to get a greater aura of responsibility and maturity over his sister, particularly towards the end.  He's got potential, but what are he and his sister exactly?  How is Alielle in the palace all the time, and Parnosse transporting new priestesses?  Must be a family thing somewhere... although FYI, I loosely suspect Alielle is actually a typical servant/maid of the palace, just one who's been getting special treatment.  Also meaning she still has to work there, you just never hear that part.  (Cleaning the palace by day, sleeping with the princess at night.)

Princess Rune: We vaguely can tell she prefers simpler homemaker type roles when she's on the farm.  And it does seem like Palace/Kingdom distress just makes her fall apart.  Princess Fatora, interestingly, seems to have a lot more gusto in handling those matters.  However, over all, for the elder sister princess, she really doesn't get a lot.  There may not be many ways to include her either.  But maybe she could be optionally a "travel with" party character, just like in the Saturn game that you can take just about any combination of people you want?  She could have useful information or SOMETHING.  Check out Londs too for princess-y relations...

Londs: A character with very little screentime (and thusly the third class rating of this forum )  However, I imagine he's probably been with both of the princesses since they were born, he just seems to have that almost fatherly background to himself.  Not to say he is the father of either of them, that's just creepy.  More like the father they didn't have or something.  It is my suspicion that Londs is actually very much against the Fatora/Alielle relationship which, if he wasn't aware of before, certainly had to have some light shed on it when Alielle smacked lips on Makoto when dressed up the one morning.  (Ever notice how Londs particularly reacts rather sharply, as if suddenly thwacked with a flash of insight?)  
Anyway, it's obvious that Londs has a lot of respect for "proper order" of the royal house.  And "proper order" would certainly require that at least one of the princesses gets married and continues the family name.  (It seems Rune was more or less forced into the Galus relationship, a royal duty as it were, perhaps also a sisterly one.)  Rune's getting older, and is resiliant to marrying "respectable" names, apparently desiring a non-princess simpler life.  That's enough of a problem, but at least under normal circumstance he could rely on Fatora backing up the system if Rune fails.
But he can't.  No way Fatora will ever be interested in any man, and by normal genetics Fatora will never spawn a child with another female.  And all around Londs would obviously see this as a create potential amount of chaos threatening his "order."  I think that, even if its not logically going to end well, selfishly he will latch on to any chance he can get to get rid of Alielle and have a chance to restore "order" one way or another.  I can foresee an evil plot internally, concocted by none other than LONDS.  How's that for imagination?
FYI, you may be able to even note that a situation arose where Alielle was all too easily pushed off into danger, when Makoto was chosen to go to Mt. Muldoon... interestingly when there were obvious flight craft available to get there.  I'll bet Londs was partially behind this.  


* ROMANCES -- Ah, El-Hazard follows anime stereotypes in this department.  The Sega Saturn version was a relief in that at least the player got to say "Y'know, I think he should end up with Rune/Nanami/The Priestesses/Diva ..." or even "Aw, I want Jinnai to take over."  But that's not romance... or at least, I hope it isn't.  Anyway, I don't have a lot in this section except I guess to admit I'd like to see a lot of matches... I'd put Makoto with either Nanami or Shayla myself, depending on my mood at a particular time.  I almost never concider Ifurita, though that must be respected as the Hyashi Eventual.  But if Hyashi isn't around, we can play our games freely.


This is actually something you may have seen me toy with on random occasions... the mixing of Jinnai and Shayla, a perhaps very unlikely couple seeing as they hate each other so much.  But then a lot of psychologists identify this as a manner of denying attraction they can't mentally resolve.  Here's probably the juiciest part of at least possibly allowing this to happen: Priestesses never go bad in the series.  But what if Shayla DOES find herself with the choice of abandoning her position in favor of the master of the supposed evil?  It makes for interesting fodder at the very least.  And obviously within the bounds of this project, that could most likely be only an option, perhaps one reached when Makoto [the player] hasn't been giving Shayla too much to go on to keep up her facination with him.  Maybe even in vengeful spirit she goes to Jinnai as a "I'll show him" attitude result.  Or alternatively something like the fanfiction Fault occurs. (you should ALL read that one.)
No matter what, I don't want another rerun of "all girls on Makoto".  It really gets old, and it's so cheesy.  (I don't see all girls on ME, therefore it must not be realistic. ;p)


TECHNOLOGICAL -- El-Hazard was obviously rampant with technology, kinda like we are today only moreso.  It probably followed the general kind of fate we've seen in many "slightly into the future" cartoons in any form, everything's a computer or computer-driven, living without it is just a myth of the past.  Well, being that I've taken up a Robotics major at the local community college, I should try to control the very vague definitions of El-Hazard technology to some degree.

I see most of everything in El-Hazard is a figment of the technologal past.  And I do mean everything -- right down to the priestess's supposed holy artifacts, the lamps.  Being a scientist type, I don't really accept "magic", everything has a logical explanation that can be backed up with math.  (I.E. I'm a real party pooper.)  Anyway, you can take any of the priestesses lamps, and assume that they're some type of molecular alteration devices.  Obviously such things are difficult to express quantitatively, since I don't really know of anything that yet exists that can do these things, but bear with me.  I'm mostly out to show where from they can bring forth the respective powers.

Anyway, so the lamp of Wind is easy enough to say that it "moves air".  Exactly to what principal this can be done I'm leaving to chemists and physists, although I suspect polarization may have something to do with it.  At least it's notable that there's air all around, so the "source" of this power is practically infinite.

The lamp of Fire could possibly be combusting gasses existant in the atmosphere, or somehow causing massive friction of natural air components against themselves to the point of combustion.

The lamp of Water most likely just collects moisture out of the air or anywhere else it can find it.  Being that moisture is fairly well available most of the time and would require little alteration other than collecting it together, this may indicate why this is merely ring sized, while the others are generally bulkier.  (Shayla's, for example, probably the most difficult, is shown in OAV as a whole body suit system.)

So what?  Potentially, more priestess lamps are available somewhere.  I imagine Makoto could find a crate of them in an old weapons storage or something.  (A realization he'd better keep private lest he potentially ruin society!)  That would mean the whole "holy artifact" thing is, like most other religious definitions in El-Hazard, merely a "mess up in the translation" that occured over years when some people held on to "last ones" of technology pieces.  I'm not here to ruin the priestesses' images (although that could happen), but rather here's a more fun example scenario:

* Bugrom have begun attacking again.  [At least] Makoto is caught in the middle of this warfare.  Shayla shows up [along with the other priestesses] to combat the Bugrom, but suddenly notices Makoto.  Not having seen him in a year/two, she pauses as the memories and feelings flood back into her... long enough that a Bugrom suddenly WHACK sends her flying into a wall, breaking (totally) her lamp.  (Maybe her head too, but that's a more complicated thread.)  This would be about the greatest sin ever, and it would mean the permnant loss of the priestess of fire position!  Could Makoto save the day?  Secretly, he could grab all the pieces, promising Shayla he'll fix it somehow, figures out there's no chance in hell he can, but then finds/remembers the location of the infamous crate supply, and simply replaces it.  No one's the wiser, and Shayla's job and life are saved.


Then there's the Eye of God... that sucker is  infamous and VERY important, because Makoto knows it was a method based on the device that sent him to El-Hazard in the first place.  Hopefully in the time that has passed he's learned something about it.  I'm going to quote something from my college text Basic Electronics from last semester.  (The fact that this was in BASIC Electronics should tell you something about this day and age ;p) -- Did you Know? ... Time travel and warp drive might be possible if a hole could be punched in space and time put into a pretzel.  Unfortunately, today's best particle accelerator is 10¹⁶ times shy the 10¹⁹ billion electron volts needed to accomplish this.
The fact they specifically noted "particle accelerator" made me think of something --

The strange, circular atmospheric disturbance that occured when the Eye of God was activated.  The Eye of God perhaps, at least around its diameter, has a gigantic particle accelerator needed to provide the power to whisk away miles of land into other dimensions!  I suppose transporting a far lesser mass requires far less power, and therefore Makoto has to find perhaps a test version of the particle accelerator used on the Eye of God.  (I'm envisioning visiting old test lab ruins and the like.)  That's the power supply anyway.  The stuff required to open holes and accurately move you somewhere is something else altogether; I have a theory of breaking existance into 5 dimensions X, Y, Z, T, and E.  (XYZ is space, T is time [a moment of], E is existance [helping answer how the essential paradox of Ifurita is possible]) The specific's on these is for another time, but I'm sure learning/understanding 5 dimension math isn't easy. (Just 3 dimensional math requires matrix formulas...)

That brings me into Allujah:

A "character" I never imagined was so debated, here's what I see Allujah as in a nutshell -- An Operating System User Interface that also manages the complicated controls and mathematicals that drive the Eye of God.  I assume time/space travel is something that is way too chaotic and complex for a human mind to even begin to grasp, so you feed it to an artifical one that can realize calculations and mild disturbances along the way in an instant!  So, yes, I see Allujah is merely the software that drives the Eye of God.  The fact that he is in a humanoid form suggests to me that he was meant to be the thing you talked to to operate the Eye.  Unfortunately, like any good software, he is stuck under logic rules that he just can't willfully deny, specifically that nasty little one about being "sealed".  That could be as simple as a single byte or even bit that, when set to "1", means he can't do squat with all the hardware around him.  Perhaps years of being trapped under something so pathetic are what made him crack, too.


Now for EVERYONE'S absolute favorite character, Qawool Towles:

You may wonder why I'm listing her under "technology" bits.  Well, with her comment in-series about feeling like she met Makoto "a long time ago" with their hearts being bound or some such, this made me wonder if she was supposed to be somehow related to Ifurita.  That and the DVD/VHS1 box cover.


I feared Sailor Moon type "daughter of the future" deals, so I avoided those.  (It wouldn't really make sense, either, unless it was a distant future relative instead, but who cares, NO.)  

I then wondered then if maybe her relation to Ifurita was something more intricate.  One idea I had was that her body was the one cloned to produce Ifurita's, which seems fleshy in origin.  (FYI, this makes Ifurita a cyborg.)  You'd use Q's body because she seemed to have a natural ability for manipulating energy, as Ifurita did.  (Primarily shown when scared by a bug.)  Then Qawool was maybe in a suspended animation chamber for one reason or another, and then got out maybe when it failed after thousands of idle years.  To do this route would require an infinite amount of extra backtracking to make it interesting, and also would leave the Qawool base character unaffected for the most part.

So then my latest idea was to assume Qawool was actually a PROTOTYPE OF IFURITA.  This can be backed by many elements.  One, which may even be somewhat amusing to think about, is that as a prototype, she's obviously a model that needs to be "debugged".  It was probably impressed upon her that it was very important to report "bugs".  I'd say that would explain her explosive fear about "bugs".  This can also explain her memory loss, and the fact she seems to live "in the immediate" and forgets just about everything else that isn't a continuous event; it's a bug.  I think of it like this... harddrives have a certain amount of RAM that's a cache.  This cache holds information that is to be written, but while it does the hard work of actually mechanically noting it, the rest of the computer system is free to continue doing its thing.  So, let us assume that Qawool's memory system is bugged that she has a cache, probably a very large one.  If she was being designed as a battle device, she would need to be able to process thinking data very quickly, and only after all things calmed down would it finally be dumped to whatever is her permanant storage system.  The point is, that stuff isn't ever actually "written down" (or readable back, whichever is the case).  That's why when sudden things happen like her initial "A BUG!" explosion, she's found walking the streets of Roshtaria like nothing even happened, including meeting Makoto.  (Of course, that can also be explained by saying that despite her initial reaction, "a bug" is nothing new to her.)  This failure to remember anything that gets outside of the cache would also say why she wouldn't REMEMBER that she was a prototype demon god.  She had a new memory since the day she was wound back up by somebody (cue possible new plot character, or history to someone else like Nahato), and was told to be a 17-year old girl, and to go to the seminary and such.  Whatever was the plot behind it exactly, who knows.  But the fact she IS a computing device might explain her "top marks at the seminary".  Too perfect.  In fact, that's what was noted by member "Jewel of Roshtaria" in another post:

As for Qawool, she has no excuse for being all perfect and innocent and likeable

... no reason except that she's just following a program directive, an order by whoever woke her up.    A shame she probably doesn't even remember that part anymore.  As for "where" she gets wound up... it's probably not anywhere directly visible, enough fan service can confirm that.  I suggest the back of her head, like Ifurit Ab-Zahal of the manga.  That can be excused by the cover of her hair.  Obviously, I do like this route, and it would finally give some definition to Qawool.

66

El-Hazard Online / El-Hazard Fanfic Readers/Writers... Enthusiasts

« on: February 23, 2003, 02:06:13 am »

Heh, I had no intention of introducing this particular concept at this time, but the simple fact is, I might as well speak of it while I'm inspired and open-minded.

Anyway, as many of you know (or should know), I've been working extensively, passionately, and excitedly on reverse-engineering and re-porting the Sega Saturn El-Hazard game for English-language play on a typical Windows PC.  (And other platforms, maybe.)  Now, just like when the El-Hazard game was first ported from its PC-98 birthplace to the Saturn, it gained new things along the way (a la those who arrive in El-Hazard gain new abilites  Well, while I tried to make it a nearly perfect replica of the Saturn's technical function, we (me and my brother, who team this thing) did discover that many of the basic game mechanics were just ... plain.  And sometimes stupid.  
Granted this game was never and will never be something monumental from any video game standpoint, but that didn't mean we couldn't have fun with it.  As you should have noted from my news posts, we've been kind of half-writing real El-Hazard material (Eye of God, Ifurita, and other general Wanderers spiel, as the game is structured on), but then for the hell of it, we decided to just make some of it ludicrious.  So that at least a knowledgable El-Hazard fan should see the humorous twists.  (Can you imagine Jinnai as a [self-absorbed] religious zealot?  Or little princess Rune trigger-happy?)

Anyway, with the Saturn project is about 99% complete and done much for laughs, I did realize something.  It's pretty damn fun to write original El-Hazard material.  It was always my intention to do this thing, but then proceed to a much more serious El-Hazard fangame project.  Now, originally my sights were generally low-brow, common things... "Accept OAV1, OAV2, AW, and continue from there."  But one thing I've learned from this little community is that pretty much NO ONE likes Qawool... along with a lot of other Alternative World deals.  Originally I was resistant, being the type who submissively accepted what was already done.  But, as the fate of anime goes, things since OAV1 were made that DIDN'T listen to the originals -- The Wanderers, the manga, the Saturn game (even in its original state, it was Wanderers with Galus, and Ishiel, fourth priestess.) -- but obviously none of them destroyed at least the basic Earth crew and a handful of key-point El-Hazard people.

Here's my real question, and it's one desiring input -- If I should find time to persue this project of mine (I obviously can't make guarentees as long as I can't see into the future), what do you think would be the BEST route to take?

We're basically looking at one of three levels:

1) Passive Acceptance -- OAV1->OAV2->AW.  It happened.  Work with the cards you're dealt.

2) Public Acceptance -- OAV1's generally given, and it seems OAV2 was generally okay in most peoples' minds.  An example would be to cut it off there, ignore AW ever happened, and write a more overall enjoyable continuation.

3) Something Different -- Now we're talking about the Saturn game or the Manga; allow El-Hazard to take on completely new paths without being restricted to common ideas, particularly of the OAV Ifurita nature (which is a tough break for fan writers who want to unguiltily see Makoto go on other romance routes if I ever knew one.)  Or possibly you just want to work in Wanderers world.


El-Hazard writing is just "dangerous" in general, because I think every fan in the world wants to see something different.  One this that IS a bonus about making an interactive game a la the Saturn clone is just that; the Saturn game actually allows the player to make distinct choices that cause Makoto to end up with a variety of mate outcomes --  Rune, Nanami, Ifurita, ... ALL of the priestesses [at once, yipes] -- or fun things like the "Jinnai" ending [Jinnai takes over Roshtaria, baby] or the Alielle ending [Makoto becomes Alielle's "girlfriend" for life in exchange for freedom from the aforementioned ending].  Obviously an ideally designed system wouldn't do "all priestesses at once", but I didn't write the Saturn game entirely, just copying it.  

I would prefer (I think) not to go below level 2 from above, simply because creating completely new continuities causes problems in general following, and risks things like the Tenchi qualms of too many series that just kept going downhill.  (Although I don't think there's been any El-Hazard that ever sunk below "average" at worst.)  On the flipside, level 3 might actually be fun (for example, restart on generally the OAV path, but then allow quirks to happen from there.)

I don't know, I'm just looking for some input, because at this time I see a whole lot of paths, but I am curious what makes fans tick; I only know it's generally NOT what made it to the screen.

67

El-Hazard Online / El-Hazard Sega Saturn Cont. [GLITCH FIX]

« on: November 05, 2002, 03:53:09 am »

[Rob: YIPE!  Bad ownership on the file.  Sorry about that if you tried to post!  Please note, this information may be dated, please see the main site section for the most up-to-date information available!]

Now that I have a fully functional Saturn, I've finally been able to see what the El-Hazard Sega Saturn game is really like.

Generally, it's like an old style text RPG, a box that seems to be talking of where you are / what's going on, generally narrated by Makoto.  On that note, it's 100% voiced.  (Although all Japanese text and all Japanese voice doesn't really help my inability to read Japanese )

I think it might actually have been at least mildly enjoyable by an English-speaking El-Hazard fan ... if it were in English.  But for me it's more just straight work to get through dialogs and randomly guess on menus to just keep going around the place... oh, and the game itself seems to be somewhat glitchy.  And the Ishiel introduction movie causes the worst problems, generally freezing the Saturn (guh?) Heh, I hope I can get through it again, seeing as I'll have to until I replace the Saturn Memory Battery to be allowed to save... (on the second round, I managed to bypass the movie after an everlasting 40 seconds or so of mashing buttons)

Here's what the story seems to be thus far ... (what I'm saying is by no means accurate for sure; I'm basing this on the imagery and past El-Hazard experience)

Nanami walks in on Makoto who's busy working on a project in the science lab at school.  

It's the evening, and Nanami is upset at him about something.  [This is deduced by the faces that appear with dialog text and, of course, voice variations; in Wanderes, Nanami was upset that Makoto "missed lunch again" and was supposed to walk her home.]
Makoto tries to explain to Nanami what his project is, but only manages to confuse the poor girl.  Fujisawa arrives for a brief moment noting something to Makoto.  [In Wanderers, Fujisawa was wondering what Makoto and Nanami were still doing there, and generally told them to get going home.]


Nanami and Fujisawa have left, leaving Makoto alone in the dark science lab with his peculiar devices.  Suddenly, an inter-space portal opens up.  (Quiet, you know it is)


It's a girl!  Makoto nervously makes conversational exchanges with this girl, who seems to be begging him to go to some place named "El-Hazard."  [I could swear on more then one occasion in this dialog, I heard "Fatora" uttered ... maybe it was in my head, but I'm wondering if they renamed Rune Fatora...]
This upsets Makoto greatly, but the girl seems to calm his fears and only induce confusion more about this El-Hazard place.  Suddenly, in comes Nanami's big brother Jinnai.


Shining a flashlight upon him, Jinnai asks Makoto what in the world he's doing.  [While in Wanderers and Magnificent World the only reason that Jinnai would encounter Makoto is because he needs to bitch about being overthrown as president, there honestly seems to be absolutely no mention of this at all... in fact, Jinnai seems very calm through this whole scene while trying to figure out why Makoto is acting all weird... and I'm pretty sure I hear an Engrish "coo-koo" uttered from Jinnai, in reference to Makoto's rambling.  He then leaves the room for a moment...]

Makoto turns back to the girl, who now seems angry at him for talking to Jinnai.  [Just my guess, but it seems that Rune(?) is playing MW Ifurita's card in being the girl who's already been there, done that, and is only trying to drag Makoto in.  Therefore, her words would be something like "Why didn't you kick his ass before he causes us trouble?!"]
In any event, the girl decides to take over the portal, and produce a strength to draw Makoto in ... at this exact moment, Jinnai happens to wander back in.  The dialog suggests something like (and I'm not kidding, Jinnai is actually being this nice it seems...)
"Hey, Makoto, I forgot to tell you / bring you something -- WHAT ... ?!  WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"


Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the whole event seems to dramatically alter Jinnai's mind.  Suddenly he lunges at Makoto and begins to tackle him to the floor!

[Here's where the now-available MP3 "Everything's Going Crazy!" cues]

Then there's the ever-predictable flipping-around shots of everybody getting sucked in through the portal mass to El-Hazard ...

...

Makoto wakes up to find himself in a lush clearing.  He questions, could this be "El-Hazard"?  He suddenly hears rustling!  Who could it be?  ... Mr. Fujisawa!


"Where are we?" questions Fujisawa.  Makoto isn't really sure, mumbles about El-Hazard, which Fujisawa looks at him crazy-like for even suggesting such an odd thing.

Suddenly, they're surrounded by giant bugs!  


Commense Fujisawa's attempt at ass-kicking Bugrom.


But there's too many!  Fujisawa cannot keep up!  Makoto and Fujisawa are doomed...!  But suddenly...


A strange energy blast saves them both...?


Well, it's none other then the priestess of Earth, Ishiel!

Follows is a very long dialog consisting of some key words such as "Shayla", "Bugrom", etc.  Ishiel seems confused at Makoto and Fujisawa's long names and titles.  [She questions "sensei" and Makoto's peculiar "Mizuhara Makoto" ... not sure if it's the length or the last-name-first deal that's confusing her]

As seen in the ripped video (see previous Saturn post), Ishiel makes Fujisawa blush then ...

... and again.

Could this be Fujisawa's love interest?

Meanwhile, Nanami is wandering the desert, gasping for water...


And Jinnai is picked up by Bugrom...

... with whom he is very pleased to discover he can communicate with, and is brought before Queen Diva...



[I know he does some kind of pitch to Diva, but if it's the impressive "Messenger from God" or the Wanderers cheesy "Do you like destroying people?!" "Every chance I get!" bit, I can't tell...]


Back with our heroes, they have arrived at Floristica...


About the time they get there, Fujisawa is getting very irate, and repeatedly yelling about "Sake" (Ah, Fujisawa...)

Makoto is embarrassed by Fujisawa's behavior and can't really fend off Fujisawa's temper, Ishiel is merely annoyed, but compliant to Fujisawa's needs...

They check in to a local Inn, and Ishiel manages to obtain Fujisawa's desire.


And then a conversation of talking, laughing, and drinking commenses.



... to the last drop.


To be honest, I kind of like the Ishiel thing.  If they're actually going to get into a relationship of some sort, I'd really like to see it, it'd be an interesting change of pace as opposed to desperate lonely Miz who instantly grabs onto Fujisawa like a parasite.  If nothing else, Ishiel instantly priques Fujisawa's male side, and then complies with his alcohol requirement (and as noted, has an obviously enjoyed time with during the drink)


So far, this is all I've really managed to see.  After this event, you're given control of Makoto to wander via the Ura Map to one of four locations; the Inn, the nearby Town (shopping area?), the fountain, and the palace (but I could only get to the outside, where stopped by a guard, of course).
This is where the game starts to break off into a puzzle-oriented system, I'm positive of that.  Japanese text makes it hard, and then I just got tired ... and lacking a good battery in the Saturn, I'm required to start all over again... so you probably won't see any more updates on this till this weekend.

[Rob: ... there have been more since.  Please see main site section and check the news as they come about ]

68

El-Hazard Online / El-Hazard Sega Saturn Game

« on: October 28, 2002, 10:42:04 pm »

[Rob: This post is dated; I've since gotten a Saturn and the site is much more up to speed on most of this, so please consult that, but I did update movie descriptions, where needed, as I learned about 'em]

I was surprised that some El-Hazard fans actually didn't know there was a Sega Saturn game for El-Hazard.

My sketchy information on this title is that it was first published on a computer called the PC-98, a computer system only sold in Japan.  Then it was rereleased on the then-popular Sega Saturn console, apparently with commentary that it was "a lot better".  Therefore, having obtained the Saturn copy means I shouldn't be missing anything.

The only trick now is I don't actually own a Saturn, and Saturn emulation is too rough and buggy to operate it ... at all.  So a full detication to it will have to wait until I get one.  [Rob: The emulation point is still true]

In the meantime, however, it seems movies on Saturn discs is in a standard Cinepak compression format CPK, which makes CPK->AVI converters available.

I have ripped and reencoded all the movies into the same format and requirements as dictated by the media page.

Links provided for every one starting at Movie00, proceeding to Movie04-Movie17 (no, I don't know what happened to Movie01-Movie03, they just don't exist ;p)

This movies are all-original animation specific to this bit of El-Hazard (except for #0 and possibly #6 which looks like they may have ripped the Wanderers segment for Miz's first apperance).  This fact makes these extremely cool.  And I think that most of us have never seen any of these at all!  (A shame it didn't do well nor get a US version)

Movie00 -- Essentially Wanderers Intro #2, with less footage and more sound effects.


Movie04 -- Makoto tinkering with something and Nanami walks up behind him


Movie05 -- Shayla Shayla intro?


Movie06 -- Miz intro?  [Rob: Yes, right after kicking Sansuke butt ... as usual]


Movie07 -- Afura Mann intro?  (Dig the Jinnai graffiti in the background)  [Rob: Yes, and she doesn't initially trust him neither]


Movie08 -- Intro to Ishiel, the priestess of Earth.  I wonder if there's supposed to be romancing with Fujisawa, notice how they both "click" right on, nothing like what happens with Miz in any version... [Rob: Ha!  Like that would happen... ;p]


Movie09 -- Ifurita's Awakening


Movie10 -- Intro to Alielle, and look at Rune's big ... eyes.  [Rob: Not intro, but she is set to be your guide]


Movie11 -- Rune junction video (Makoto romancing?)  [Rob: Well ... heh, can't quite remember where it's used anyway ;p  But it's really just kind of random]


Movie12 -- The Makoto and Rune ending


Movie13 -- The Makoto and Ifurita ending


Movie14 -- The Makoto and Nanami ending


Movie15 -- Ishiel Bath Scene  [Rob:  Supposedly something you can just see by going to Arliman at the right time]


Movie16 -- Miz Bath Scene (likely bitching about loneliness)  [Rob:  Supposedly something you can just see by going to Arliman at the right time]


Movie17 -- Drunken Shayla and Afura bath scene (doesn't seem to approve)  [Rob:  Supposedly something you can just see by going to Arliman at the right time]


[Rob: The following is dated.  Please see the site section.]
Now, of course I'm just guessing right now until I give that mysterious all-English walkthrough a good read and actually have the console to play on.  But it does seem that this is an "all-new" existance of El-Hazard (again), starting from scratch, using a lot of Wanderers, but it seems to be changing a few things too.  For one, the normally ditzy black-hair Wanderers Ifurita seems to be taking a more serious MW-esque role in this one (based solely on these videos only).
And, of course, there's an added fourth priestess who instantly dings Fujisawa, something never really seen before.
It also appears that what I'm calling (and assuming are) endings, seem to allow the player's control to come to one of several conclusions, and this effects which girl Makoto ends up with, which is a very interesting adjustment.


I'll scan the two booklets and box this thing came in, and eventually hope to have enough to give its own section. [Rob: In progress ]
Also, the first track of this disc doubles as an audio track, so if you put it in a CD player, its Jinnai sounding like he's calling you an idiot for putting a game disc in a CD player

69

El-Hazard Online / QUESTIONS for the Crowd (everyone)

« on: October 21, 2002, 11:37:33 pm »

I don't get to speak to many of you personally, so I just want to know, how are me and Neil doing?  I'm the one who pretty much makes the calls around here as to what goes where, though Neil helps too.

I just want a little commentary...
What do you think of how I do my operations here?  Is there anything you'd like to see me add / delete?  Does anything really irk you about me or the site?

And out of curiosity... any of you know somebody you'd like to drag over here? ;p

70

El-Hazard Online / As If you Need It: Link Listing of El-Hazard Sites

« on: October 20, 2002, 09:02:10 pm »

http://www.serpent.org/Books_Movies/Movies/Titles/D_G/ElHazard/

Let's play a game; find out how many of these sites cause 404 or similar errors.  If it doesn't cause a 404 error, let's see how "on - El-Hazard" it stays...

71

El-Hazard Online / I got another ... Fujisawa's Daughter?

« on: October 16, 2002, 01:00:26 pm »

This is something Neil pinned on me a while back; it come up casually at first, "Fujisawa's daughter in the ending of MW..."  I didn't know what he was talking about.  Long story short, he's referring to a particular image that comes in the ending of the original MW.  As most of you should know, the ending of MW features pastel images of all the El-Hazard characters on Earth.  We all know Makoto got back ... did perhaps the priestesses in addition to the Earth people all decide to go to Earth?  That's another topic for another time I suppose, but in the meantime, here's the image in question:


Ah, Fujisawa finally got to climb one of those Earth mountains again, y'know, the ones where it's cold and there's snow and such
Next to him, we can clearly see another person.  Now, by default everyone on my side (me, my sister, my brother) instantly assume this to be Miz.  Who else, after all?  Neil persistently insists this is not Miz, but Fujisawa's daughter.  

Here's the only known official shot of Fujisawa's indeterminable gender child, which came in Alternative World, much after MW was produced.


The only thing we can say for sure is that the child has brown hair.
The figure in the pastel image also seems to have brown hair.  (It's a tad hard to be 100% sure because the pastel's naturally have a little color distortion, but we'll accept the fact)

Also, the eyes, which you can't cleary see in that shot, are somewhat wide which, by El-Hazard standards, does typically indicate youth.  To illustrate:


The adult cast in the series typically have narrowed eyes...


And the children have wider eyes.

The only exception to this rule seems to be Katsuhiko and most of the student council.  Seems student government accelerates your eyeball aging process  But this is the general "rule of thumb".


So the figure is short, seems to have brown hair, and is wide-eyed.  We don't know the person from the series, and can deduce that the long hair probably makes it female.

So ... Fujisawa's daughter is a logical conclusion and one that can be backed up...

I'm still irked, however, that the hair on the supposed "daughter" is the same style as worn by Miz.  Now, of course there can be motherly influence genetically and style-wise, so I maintain 95% convinced of Neil's point.

72

El-Hazard Online / Welcome to the World of El-Hazard Online

« on: October 13, 2002, 07:23:05 pm »

Forums are a dime a dozen these days, especially since the EZBoard service was introduced so long ago.

There was proper hesitation on setting one up here because its easy to make a forum but hard to make a draw to it.  In the beginning, I'm sure it would've look outright silly.  We had a few links to sections, most of which didn't exist at all, on a very plain site that consisted mostly of black and a faded yellow color.

Anyway, the initial reason I set up the membership system was to get a little input, besides forcing you all to have an identity  One one particular note, I was curious if the site was now ready for some type of forum.  

Since the default answer on the reg sheet was NO, it was easy to make sure that anyone who seriously wanted one would answer thusly.  And it seems that 14 out of 18 registrations (and this number does NOT count me and Neil mind you),  said they'd at least like to see one created, perhaps for their own usage (a few were "demanding" it, as per the reg sheet )

Anyway, here's my heavily hacked YaBB board for your usage.  (Hacked into using my registration / login system as opposed to its own); it's on a very basic layout without a lot of categorization, cosmetic adjustments, or anything.  Why?  Well, this is experiment phase 2.  Will it get used semi-regularly?  What kind of divisons does it require?  We'll just have to see.  And I'm open-minded, so speak your feelings.

This means I expect you make your forum demands now before this starts running regular and therefore should not be edited.  I also recommend you edit your forum profiles (see buttons above); you may wish to allow your email to be visible, change your displayed name (I made best guesses on all of you ), set IM preferences, title, etc.  It's entirely up to you.