Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 09:52:20 am
Home Help Search Login Register
News: Forums are now for historical use only. Thanks for the memories years ago!

+  El-Hazard Online
|-+  General
| |-+  El-Hazard Online (Moderator: Icy EyeG)
| | |-+  Take Two
« previous next »
Pages: [1] Print
Author Topic: Take Two  (Read 4445 times)
Captain Southbird (EHOL Creator)
Administrator
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 1562


EHOL Creator

View Profile WWW
« on: May 12, 2003, 02:58:03 am »

Okay, quite a while ago, I had introduced this thread to the board, a massive cumulation of ideas (more or less personalized theories) based on Alternative World and maybe some plot devices to bridge the gap to beyond it.  Still a good read, though I locked it off because I feel no further need for the direction it headed, which kind of came to a dead end anyway.  :P

Now, to better explain myself, you have to understand that when I get into something, I get into it deep.  If I don't, then for one reason or another I don't feel like there's anything I can do to extend its reality.  The reasons for this will vary.  

Example, I love the BTTF movies.  My favorite live action movies of all time.  Wonderfully acted, light humor (not quite comedic and enough to be fun), and a twinge on science fiction that I so crave.  (There's a reason I kicked ass through DC and AC Circuit analysis this semester; I love electronics ;))  However, at the end of BTTF3, the Doc makes a wonderful closing statement that wraps of everything.  (Interestingly, if you think about it, Marty lost probably almost a month of his life in what was only 2 days in his real time.)  I wouldn't dare touch it.

More close to home example: I like the Wanderers.  Not as powerful as the original OAV, but still fun and El-Hazardy.  However, it pretty much runs its course.  Makoto arrives, stuff happens, Makoto is blasted away and everyone is shown to have some connection with him, Makoto comes back to Rune, happy ending.  I wouldn't dare touch it.

Yet... at the end of the original OAV of El-Hazard, there's an obvious time gap between Ifurita leaving and him getting back to Ifurita.  Granted, this effectively makes it full circle, like Wanderers.  However... somewhere within me, it feels "full circle" like the math problems that have someone travel all over the place, arrive back at where they started, and ask the fabled question -- "What was the Average Velocity?"  Zero.  Because the person effectively had a net distance of zero.  And yet... I always hated to have to answer it that way.  Because it simply ignored the fact that said person was traveling many miles in all directions, living experiences, eating lunch, whatever it happened to be.

Honestly, this is what I always get out of the end of the OAV... it's a beautiful ending, and everything is beginning-to-end.  And yet ... the "Average Velocity" feels like zero.  We knew Makoto would end up back where he started; in Ifurita's hands.  And we know things as far as up to when Ifurita goes into the Eye of God and Makoto promises he'll find a way to return himself to her somehow, someday.

I can't honestly explain the draw to El-Hazard [that came from the OAV only really  8)].  There's just something about every one of those people... maybe it had something to do with the period of life it was introduced, a time when I was greatly depressed... long story short, it not only brought me OUT of depression, but somehow these characters somewhere tweaked my life and interests to a point I'm actually hopeful and positive.  But enough of that, you'll think I'm trying to sell you the boxset.  ;D

I love rambling, I dance around the point...


Okay, so now you got it I hope.  For some reason, that time gap in OAV1, to me, begs to be filled.  And it has, a thousand ways from every fan's perspective.  I'm not just here to discuss the concept, but rather I'm here to talk about my approach, and for a little input as I go I suppose.

My hobby (and will never, I promise, be my job) is computer game programming.  Big deal, so what?  A properly managed game project can be more than just an "electronic diversion".  It can, at least to a degree, be a way to immerse someone into an alternate person's existence.  There's a strange feeling to be able to "create" a "world" and then lay out the rules.  Something that none of us are allowed to do in this one.  (And to bring it around, that's why I wouldn't want to do it by the ruling of a boss who tells me what I can and can't do.  ;))

So even a halfwit has gathered I want to make a completely custom El-Hazard game, right?  But what would such a thing be like?  I've mulled it over a thousand times in my head, and taken inspiration from when I worked on the EHPC project...

El-Hazard for the Sega Saturn was an interesting game.  It basically gave you a twisted combination between OAV and Wanderers and let you control Makoto (who is always the center of the universe ;))  Your actions determined how things turn out, everywhere from the common "Makoto gets Rune" Wanderers-esque ending to Jinnai taking over the world!

The last time I posed a discussion of this sort (in the thread linked previously), I had asked to see what people thought I ought to persue; a story continuation (post-AW), a hybrid (like EHPC), or something completely new (like Wanderers or the manga like to start anew.)  Generally, the concensus was to go for "post-AW".  It would earn me the most credability I believe someone had noted.

Alright, so we've laid this out I'm basically bringing controllable fanfiction to life, most probably based on OAV-thread.  Now to get to the heart of the matter.  More or less, I have a few questions that I'd like to see how the general populace feels about 'em.

1) This one's more potentially a curiosity; what do you think the general acceptance would be if I based concepts on others' fanfiction?  I'd never copy any of them directly (they often conflict with my own perceived reality, plus like book to movie, some things just don't work on-screen the way they do in text), but many of them are quite good, now that I've read a few.  Also, even if it was the fragment of a concept, I'm all for giving credit to original creators.

2) While the general concensus was to keep on the post-AW track... I can't lie, after OAV1, after Hayashi pretty much said "OAV1 is all there is, nothing else El-Hazard is real to me", there seemed to be scripts that, while they generally held EH concepts in place and probably had the heart in the right place, seemed "off".  It's like some of them didn't have "respect" for certain concepts.  For the life of me... I never swallowed "more than one Ifurita" well.  You make Ifurita the great fabled destroyer of civilization, and then suddenly find that it was rather a commonplace device apparently.  This complicates a lot of my initial visions, among other things.  To put it bluntly, I don't care for it.  I can see one nation with their big, bad Eye of God, another with their Ifurita ("Northern Capital", what appears to be where Roshtaria now lies, and "Forbidden Island", which I speculate was a warring country, therefore "forbidden" like traveling from the US to Iraq would generally be.)  It's "okay", but it doesn't settle completely well.

Number 2 is the big one, since it's my latest major thought.  While I have plenty of storylines I've written and rewritten among all my idle moments in these past few months that would be placed post-AW... I just hate running into a corner with something that I know would've worked had the meddling problems of OAV2 and AW come into play, the things that I think quite a few fans collectively find problematic.  But not to complicate this TOO much, I'm asking for direction.  To make it simple, I'm only really concidering too paths for this:

A) Just deal with it

B) "Rewrite" OAV2 and AW to make it more "favorable".  I know this would kill to actually make Pioneer, whom we're all supposed to take as fact, actually worth editing.  But I'd like serious concideration on this.  I'm not saying throw EVERYTHING out... but would it be too much to maybe rework some of the basics?  I mean, hey, Jinnai finds a place way out there and accidently and unwittingly activates some old weapons.  Okay.  But Makoto and co. find another Ifurita, ruining the mystique of the "great destroyer"?  No.  
I'm not exactly sure on handling AW, so I'd like anyone to list anything that bothered them about OAV2 or AW's plotlines.  Provided you think I should go this route.




Finally, to end this post, if anyone wants to know exactly where my capabilites even lie for presentation, short and sweet... (you don't have to read on if you're just interested in the story components, although I think this is important)

When I was working on this more or less on my own (before I decided I really need a lot more public interaction), I had done some work towards a means.

While all projects I've ever done under my hobby were almost 100% using my own skill, there was a desire for something more free than a 2D engine (which, since I started doing this at like age 10, was all that was possible.)  2D engines have their place... but I don't like restricting something of this range to 2D.

I buckled under the desire to do what I had once criticized another group for doing in the past during another era; using someone else's engine to fulfill their own fandom creation.  Their project was carved out of a DOOM engine port, the infamous 3D shooter's engine of which ID software released to the public quite a while ago.  Reborn by hundreds of different developers with different ideas of enhancements, this became a great time to pick up a simple-yet-powerful 3D engine for free.

Since I waited until now to actually decide I might go for it, I got the cream of the crop to work with; a powerful, tight, 3D accelerated engine with custom lighting dynamics and some other way cool stuff.  What I did with it up to now could best be summarized with this video:

http://www.el-hazardonline-dl.net/ctest3short.mpg

Concidering this used to just be a status bar, a guy with a gun, and some monsters... You will note that my "special touch" as an experienced programmer has made this look nothing like DOOM.  :P  The crappy quality video actually documented a few months work on models, textures, and personal engine enhancements such as non-palettized textures and custom camera focuses.

BUT STILL... my ego doesn't like this.  And I think with my two semesters of college math, I just might be able to tackle true 3D maths on my own (plus use my major programming wit to be able to hopefully take advantage of wonderful 3D acceleration and special effects.)  Writing my own engine also grants me virtually unlimited control over its control system, which I may desire.  Plus I have the ability to understand every little heartbeat one of my own "children" makes, as opposed to only vaguely knowing an "adopted child", where I discover many of the problems as I go.  :P

Two or three additional planned projects which have nothing to do with this:

A) A Gameboy Advance port of EHPC.  (Why?  I'm crazy I guess.  Plus it makes it available to Mac'ies via emulation.)  This hopefully will be done in only a couple weeks at the most since most of my code has been proven to function identically on GBA.  (Yay!)

B) A Wanderers-themed simple platformer game.  (Why?  Because me and my brother thought it might be fun.)

C) [Optional, I may not feel like this one] A platformer game designed to introduce the OAV and possibly some of the later series to general audiences who I can't coax to buy the boxset.  Just an idea.

... as soon as I finish those two or three, I'll take a short stint into manual coding of 3D space.  If I can't seem to make headway, then I'll just deal with my knowledge theft that is a carved out DOOM engine.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2003, 03:05:09 am by rob_jinnai » Logged

Dub vs. Sub, let's keep quiet about it.
Tim needs time to work it out
Administrator
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 210


It will take time...

AOL Instant Messenger - TJSOnL1985
View Profile Email
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2003, 12:33:57 pm »

I just wanted to take a lookover of these projects of yours, Rob...  :P

"A) A Gameboy Advance port of EHPC.  (Why?  I'm crazy I guess.  Plus it makes it available to Mac'ies via emulation.)  This hopefully will be done in only a couple weeks at the most since most of my code has been proven to function identically on GBA.  (Yay!)"

This is a sort of challenge to cut your project size in half, but it seems to be going pretty well, despite some of the problems (size of cartridge, about 32 MB and music, Nintendo style!)

"B) A Wanderers-themed simple platformer game.  (Why?  Because me and my brother thought it might be fun.)"

You know I will be helping you on this.  I won't try to make the levels overly challenging, okay?

"C) [Optional, I may not feel like this one] A platformer game designed to introduce the OAV and possibly some of the later series to general audiences who I can't coax to buy the boxset.  Just an idea."

Reminds me of the Super Nintendo games of Star Wars.
Logged

I do not know who to blame more...

My crapola mouse that needs to double click on everything... except when I need it to...

Or the new and more "convenient" version of PowerDVD (which will NOT let you take a darn picture fo
MrWhat
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 485

He's so excitingly bold!

View Profile Email
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2003, 07:35:15 pm »

A few thoughts.  Bear in mind that my opinions may not have much weight here.  As I've repeatedly whined, I don't have much free time, and so my participation in anything interactive would be extremely limited at best.  And my apologies if I repeat the previous thread-- I don't believe I posted to it, and it's been awhile since I read it.

Quote
Wonderfully acted, light humor (not quite comedic and enough to be fun), and a twinge on science fiction that I so crave.

Sounds like Doctor Who  ;D

It's been a while since I saw the BTTF movies.  But I liked them, and from memory, I especially liked the third one.  I really do need to pick those DVDs up sometime.

Quote
I like the Wanderers.  [...]  However, it pretty much runs its course.  [...]  I wouldn't dare touch it.

There's a TV-Ifurita serial fan-fiction on my to-do list... but it's a ways down the list.

The Wanderers certainly doesn't have the emotional depth that OVA1 does, and OVA-Ifurita has that special place in my heart.  But TV-Ifurita is just a scream to write for.

Quote
I can't honestly explain the draw to El-Hazard [that came from the OAV only really  8)].

It draws people in differently, I think.  I remember first watching just the first DVD of OVA1, and thinking, huh, that was pretty good, I'll have to watch the rest of that sometime.  It took about another six months to become My Favorite Anime, and the reason I started writing fan fiction.

Quote
what do you think the general acceptance would be if I based concepts on others' fanfiction?

(fan fiction spoilers ahead)

I've been reassured that there are no original ideas in fan fiction.  I used two of the biggest tired cliches around in "The Charm."  A Good Guy (Afura) was more-or-less possessed, and turned evil.  And the most emotionally stable character around (Afura again) was reduced to a near-suicidal emotional wreck.  And Dooky already had a disabled Eye of God in SOTTC, and Alan Harnum already had a new demon god with a missing limb in Mortal Engines, and so on and so on.

Anyway, I don't think any reasonable author, or reader, would have problems with that.  Heck, if you used anything I've written, I'd be honored.

Quote
I never swallowed "more than one Ifurita" well.

 I hope we can agree to disagree here.  I was intrigued enough by the idea of multiple Ifuritas to write "The Charm" around a third OVA-type Ifurita that came out of the ocean.  And it's given, later on in the story, that there were more than three of them.

Some of the things that intrigued me:  the multiple Ifuritas may be physically identical, but they can have different special abilities-- in my continuity, desert-Ifurita didn't have a special ability at all, and my ocean-Ifurita's ability was, uh, another tired cliche  :P  They can also have different personalities-- desert-Ifurita is more distant and withdrawn than Makoto's Ifurita, and my ocean-Ifurita was actually rather timid, relying more on stealth than power.

Quote
But Makoto and co. find another Ifurita, ruining the mystique of the "great destroyer"?  No.

Remember that the holy wars were thousands of years in the past.  Maybe the feats of all the physically-identical Ifuritas were distorted into myth as the feats of one impossibly powerful Ifurita?  After all, poor Ifurita literally staggers a few times in OVA1, from physical and mental exhaustion.  Maybe Jinnai thinks she's more powerful than she really is, and orders her to do more than she's actually capable of doing.

Quote
I'm not exactly sure on handling AW, so I'd like anyone to list anything that bothered them about OAV2 or AW's plotlines.  Provided you think I should go this route.

Both OVA2 and AW are self-contained / "status quo" stories, more or less.  The only thing that really changed after OVA2 was, the Fujisawas were married.  The only thing that really changed after AW was, Kauru/Qawool was the new water priestess.

OVA2 should be pretty easy to work around-- if you don't like the idea of multiple Ifuritas, or multiple demon-gods at all, you can just de-emphasize or ignore that in any history you work up.  Kalia and the Trigger of Destruction are kaput, and desert-Ifurita's probably gonna stay put in her little world.  And nothing in OVA2 comes to mind that truly annoys me.

And AW was, well, an alternative world.  Kauru was inaugurated, but nothing else happened in El-Hazard, regardless of whether Creteria was real or not.  So Kauru herself is all you really have to worry about, I think.  You could try to fill in her past, or you could just ignore it.

And AW doesn't matter much anyway, because the actual story has plotholes that you could drive an Eye of God through.  I mean, I think the official line is that AW takes place about one year later.  And I think Alielle talks about teaching Japanese to Parnasse "last summer" at some point in the story.  But that can't be right!  Makoto would be further along in his research after a year, and Miz would not have waited a year to go on her honeymoon, and it wouldn't have taken Miz and/or the seminary a year to select Kauru, and...  (Eric froths at the mouth)

And even if you ignore the sequels, there's room for disagreement within the original OVA.  For example, did Ifurita spend ten thousand years waiting on Earth, or did she drift through time and space for ten thousand years?  The Japanese/subtitles, and Ken Wolfe, went with the waiting on Earth.  The English dub, and I, and Alan Harnum (I think), went with the drifting.  Uh, I forget the point that I was making...

Anyway, it might be easier to de-emphasize, or ignore, the parts of OVA2/AW that you don't like, rather than to directly contradict them, if you know what I mean.  And if there's something that you just can't work around, then it might be better to ignore the consensus of your earlier topic, and dump OVA2/AW, and start your sequel from scratch, rather than pick-and-choose what you're using as canon.  And if you do pick-and-choose your canon, you ought to write up a FAQ or something, so that people like me who are easily confused can follow what's going on.

Some other thoughts.  Again, my apologies if these have already been discussed:

I know there are paintings at the end of OVA1, where it looks like everyone has gone to Japan.  And I know Ken Wolfe sent everyone to Earth in possibly the best El-Hazard fan fiction around.  But don't send everyone back to Earth.  At least, not for anything longer than a quick visit.  In Eric's continuity, those paintings at the end of OVA1 ain't nothin' but fan art.

Don't bring back Galus or Kalia.  They're dead, Jim.  It's stretching credibility enough that Jinnai keeps coming back again and again.  You could bring back Arjah/Allujah/whatever the heck his name is, but if you do, you might as well use big chunks of SOTTC to do it.  I think you've already discussed him in that earlier thread, but I don't know if anyone could bring him back with a proper back-story better than Dooky has already done.  (Actually, I do have my own A*jah theory, but I'm saving it for a rainy day  ;) )

I believe it is generally-accepted fan-fiction-canon that it took Makoto about three years to rescue Ifurita.  And I don't know if it's "fanon" or not, but Wolfe's continuity and my continuity both assumed that Makoto went through a MAJOR mental breakdown, or even went completely insane with frustration and longing, during that time.  Harnum had a Makoto-breakdown scene, too.  If you're willing to have a darker edge to your work, I'd like to see something like that included.  My next big project after "Hana Ni Arashi" is a wacky/weird road-movie with the three priestesses, but my next big project after that is to write out most of Makoto's breakdown, and its effect on Nanami, and such.

And give Londs something to do.  If memory serves, Londs was completely absent from AW.  But Londs is kewl  ;D

Quote
Two or three additional planned projects which have nothing to do with this:

It's amazing, and wonderful, how such entirely different people as you and I can have a common interest like El-Hazard.  But I'm not that interested in video games.  Never have been.  I did have a few Tetris all-nighters back in college, I guess.

A "Wanderers" platform game could be fun.  Do you remember the first "Thexder" game?  I played that some.  And it was almost as much fun for me just to watch someone else play it, and watch it like a movie.

And I will try your EHPC, one of these days.  No, really!  ;D

Whew.  Mark, how did you write so many long messages this weekend?  I'm pooped  :P
Logged
Captain Southbird (EHOL Creator)
Administrator
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 1562


EHOL Creator

View Profile WWW
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2003, 08:11:43 pm »

Quote
The Wanderers certainly doesn't have the emotional depth that OVA1 does, and OVA-Ifurita has that special place in my heart.  But TV-Ifurita is just a scream to write for.


TV-Ifurita has a lot of fun traits.  Actually, I have a non-Ifurita status version of a character I'd like to include simply because of the Jinnai dynamics that Wanderers introduced.  But the finalizations of any of my ideas are 10,000 years off at the moment.  ;)

Quote
Anyway, I don't think any reasonable author, or reader, would have problems with that.  Heck, if you used anything I've written, I'd be honored.


I would've thought as much, but I guess I never quite know since I'm relatively new to this stuff.


Quote
I hope we can agree to disagree here.  I was intrigued enough by the idea of multiple Ifuritas to write "The Charm" around a third OVA-type Ifurita that came out of the ocean.  And it's given, later on in the story, that there were more than three of them.

...

Remember that the holy wars were thousands of years in the past.  Maybe the feats of all the physically-identical Ifuritas were distorted into myth as the feats of one impossibly powerful Ifurita?  After all, poor Ifurita literally staggers a few times in OVA1, from physical and mental exhaustion.  Maybe Jinnai thinks she's more powerful than she really is, and orders her to do more than she's actually capable of doing.


Bear in mind, I wrote this during an insomniac episode, and was thinking more of Neil and his little tirades than truly my own thoughts.  If you listen to him long enough you'll pretty much end up hating anything besides the original OAV and Wanderers.  :P  (The first is beautiful, the other is slapstick, everything else is half-assed and not worth you time, to sum him up.)  And you're quick summarizations of OAV2/AW are correct.  If you needed to fill anyone in who has only seen OAV1, all you have to say basically is "Fujisawa got married and the new water priestess is Kauru/Qawoor/Qawool/Quawool."

Whether or not multiple Ifuritas are a good idea is entirely reliant on how I finally decide (IF I decide) to deal with her on a technical level.  Actually, since I have no real direction, it might not be too important at all, and I don't even need to touch it!

Quote
And AW doesn't matter much anyway, because the actual story has plotholes that you could drive an Eye of God through.  I mean, I think the official line is that AW takes place about one year later.  And I think Alielle talks about teaching Japanese to Parnasse "last summer" at some point in the story.  But that can't be right!  Makoto would be further along in his research after a year, and Miz would not have waited a year to go on her honeymoon, and it wouldn't have taken Miz and/or the seminary a year to select Kauru, and...  (Eric froths at the mouth)


Wow.  O_o  All I ever actually thought about was how AW13 molests three girls with only two molesters.  But you're right... the entirety of it was written with one too many problems.  Although what you said all along holds true; if you can't deal with it, just step around it.  :)


Quote
...did Ifurita spend ten thousand years waiting on Earth, or did she drift through time and space for ten thousand years?  The Japanese/subtitles, and Ken Wolfe, went with the waiting on Earth.  The English dub, and I, and Alan Harnum (I think), went with the drifting.


I've debated this myself.  The "Role-Playing Game and Resource Book" also said it was waiting 10,000 years.  I'll say the only thing I know for sure that seems to suggest waiting -- the interesting contraption and surrounding area that Ifurita was found in.  Unless some part of the Eye of God transported with her for some reason (a piece of the control room or whatever she had to get to), as far as we know, it's only her that went.  But then, I just introduced the arguement to myself; why would it be just her?  Wouldn't this haphazard shutdown operation be a rather "sloppy" side effect transport, therefore making a room piece transfer logical?  ^_^;; Gah.  Dunno...


Quote
And if there's something that you just can't work around, then it might be better to ignore the consensus of your earlier topic, and dump OVA2/AW, and start your sequel from scratch, rather than pick-and-choose what you're using as canon.  And if you do pick-and-choose your canon, you ought to write up a FAQ or something, so that people like me who are easily confused can follow what's going on.


Ok.  If I should go this route, I'll keep that in mind.


Quote
I know there are paintings at the end of OVA1, where it looks like everyone has gone to Japan.  And I know Ken Wolfe sent everyone to Earth in possibly the best El-Hazard fan fiction around.  But don't send everyone back to Earth.  At least, not for anything longer than a quick visit.  In Eric's continuity, those paintings at the end of OVA1 ain't nothin' but fan art.


Provided I create something that goes far enough along that it matters.  :)  But yeah... I'm always afraid of touching the ending because I don't even really know which way it should go.  But then... I suppose we look at it from the Earth crew's point of view... On Earth, they were all falling down towards an ugly fate.  Makoto was probably about to be killed by the hands of the now ousted Jinnai, who'd lost the presidency that meant everything to him, Fujisawa was likely to be fired or something for being discovered on school grounds with alcohol and intoxicated, etc.  Why would anyone want to go back?  ;)  The only thing that might influence that is if the Mizuhara or Jinnai family meant something to any of the kids, I'd imagine.  Or even on a farther limb, Fujisawa.  (Doesn't seem as likely for him, but I'm just suggesting.)


Quote
Don't bring back Galus or Kalia.  They're dead, Jim.  It's stretching credibility enough that Jinnai keeps coming back again and again.  You could bring back Arjah/Allujah/whatever the heck his name is, but if you do, you might as well use big chunks of SOTTC to do it.  


I pretty much assumed Galus dead.  And I never would've brought Kalia back; she kinda melted.  ;D  And now, don't hate me for being a newbie, but what's "SOTTC"?


Quote
I think you've already discussed him in that earlier thread, but I don't know if anyone could bring him back with a proper back-story better than Dooky has already done.  (Actually, I do have my own A*jah theory, but I'm saving it for a rainy day  ;) )


Is that the one with the zero matter or whatever it was called?  I haven't read it, but that was discussed, and it's the only real addition of the character I can say is possibly feasible to me, or my "software entity".


Quote
And I don't know if it's "fanon" or not, but Wolfe's continuity and my continuity both assumed that Makoto went through a MAJOR mental breakdown, or even went completely insane with frustration and longing, during that time.  Harnum had a Makoto-breakdown scene, too.  If you're willing to have a darker edge to your work, I'd like to see something like that included.


O_o  For some reason ... the thought of Makoto breaking down never exactly crossed my mind.  I mean, between me and my brother Tim having little random discussion and "what if" sessions, it was never by frustration and longing that we broke Makoto.  I'll admit that's intriguing.


Quote
And give Londs something to do.  If memory serves, Londs was completely absent from AW.  But Londs is kewl  ;D


Londs... yes, we already have some fun stuff written for Londs.  XD


Quote
But I'm not that interested in video games.  Never have been.  I did have a few Tetris all-nighters back in college, I guess.


Actually, I suppose it's with the greatest of irony that I'm not either.  I've been facinated with their design and operation, but I seldom play any of them.  Lately amongst many young'uns and other communities the big thing has been something called Ragnarok Online, an online RPG bit.  I did one of those once... but they are designed so that they last practically forever, and boy, I only played a few months (and not every day, mind you) and got to a point where I just felt like I wasting too much time.  I hate sitting and not actually producing something, an odd facet.  I think it's a fear of dying without have produced something to be remembered by.  


Quote
A "Wanderers" platform game could be fun.  Do you remember the first "Thexder" game?  I played that some.  And it was almost as much fun for me just to watch someone else play it, and watch it like a movie.


I don't know "Thexder", but I could look it up I suppose.  I was of the Nintendo "Mario Bros." -> Sega "Sonic the Hedgehog" generation.  :P


Quote
And I will try your EHPC, one of these days.  No, really!  ;D


It's okay.  I'll admit, it's the first thing I ever started and finished (a feat in itself) that works pretty much as well as I wanted it to (better even, I'm surprised).  To quote Doc from BTTF1 -- "I finally invent something that works!"  Of course, I could never feel fulfilled stopping there, mainly because it was someone else's work rechurned for my own fun and enjoyment, as opposed to something I can declare was my own creativity.  (To the point that using another's basis can be concidered your own creativity, in case we have any smart asses in the crowd ;))
Logged

Dub vs. Sub, let's keep quiet about it.
washuchan
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 83


charity, not love

View Profile Email
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2003, 12:09:52 am »

 :)..hum...since you seem to have the necessary expertise..
I'd dare to pay to have you convert the Tenchi Saturn game to PC version (provided video included)

Just finish the EH PC, really neat, did you add Lond's part in Makoto and Ifurita ending? also some of the dialogue are not similar to both the endings guide in this site and L. Duran? ???
eg. the last dialogue in Makoto's ending


Also you seem to have a very promising project here, well, however it turns out, I wish you all the best ;)

ps: I know how that "pull" feels like. Although EH OAV did move me to point of tears. My most affecting anime would be bebop. The only problem iwas it got me depressed instead...
« Last Edit: May 13, 2003, 12:25:23 am by washuchan » Logged
Captain Southbird (EHOL Creator)
Administrator
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 1562


EHOL Creator

View Profile WWW
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2003, 12:19:14 am »

Quote
I'd dare to pay to have you convert the Tenchi Saturn game to PC version (provided video included)


Heh, there are also videos for the El-Hazard Saturn game, but yes, I must come up with a clever implement, hopefully one that doesn't use too much space.  The big problem is that those who write useful video compressors like MPEG or DivX tend to keep them a secret.


Quote
Just finish the EH PC, really neat, did you add Lond's part in Makoto and Ifurita ending? also some of the dialogue are not similar to the endings guide?  ???


Londs commentary was added to 8 out of the 9 endings for fun.  Londs did not actually appear in any of the endings in the original Saturn version.

Now, which "ending's guide" are you talking about?  Lucan Duran's ending guide, or the one posted at this site recently?


Quote
Also you seem to have a very promising project here, well, however it turns out, I wish you all the best ;)


Thanks... I've got a long way to go yet.
Logged

Dub vs. Sub, let's keep quiet about it.
Tim needs time to work it out
Administrator
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 210


It will take time...

AOL Instant Messenger - TJSOnL1985
View Profile Email
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2003, 02:14:10 pm »

I'll take the question "also some of the dialogue are not similar to the endings guide?"

When I was writing the Guide, I got a little carried away.  You have to remember that the Saturn/EHPC version was meant to be nearly identical with how many dialogs there were.  Now, when I wrote the novelized endings, I put some creativity over them.  It is different because I was not constrained to what we had to do in the EHPC project, but I had to add in details that were not there.  Besides that, it gives you something to read for the heck of it.
Logged

I do not know who to blame more...

My crapola mouse that needs to double click on everything... except when I need it to...

Or the new and more "convenient" version of PowerDVD (which will NOT let you take a darn picture fo
MrWhat
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 485

He's so excitingly bold!

View Profile Email
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2003, 07:45:21 pm »

There's a few fan fiction spoilers in this one too.

Quote
I would've thought as much, but I guess I never quite know since I'm relatively new to this stuff.

I'm relatively new myself.  I suppose I entered EH fandom when I announced my first fan fiction post.  That would have been (checks e-mail archives) mid-April 2002.

There are (or were) some folks on the EH mailing list that have been at this for years.  The earlier archives of the list have gone missing, but I think I remember finding reviews of Alt World that were posted just after it was released.

Quote
Bear in mind, I wrote this during an insomniac episode,

I'll never post during insomnia again, don't you know.

Quote
Whether or not multiple Ifuritas are a good idea is entirely reliant on how I finally decide (IF I decide) to deal with her on a technical level.

No consensus on that in fan fiction land.  I say she's entirely artifical.  Ken Wolfe says she's a cyborg.  I'm thinking Alan Harnum and Dooky both had something about her origins, but I'm afraid I can't remember at the moment.

Quote
Unless some part of the Eye of God transported with her for some reason (a piece of the control room or whatever she had to get to), as far as we know, it's only her that went.  But then, I just introduced the arguement to myself; why would it be just her?  Wouldn't this haphazard shutdown operation be a rather "sloppy" side effect transport, therefore making a room piece transfer logical?  ^_^;; Gah.  Dunno...

I assumed the capsule was part of the Eye of God.  If you're mucking about with a dimensional weapon, it'd make sense to have some kind of life preservers/escape pods built into it.  I never really tried to work out the rest of the ruins, though.

Quote
Why would anyone want to go back?  ;)  The only thing that might influence that is if the Mizuhara or Jinnai family meant something to any of the kids, I'd imagine.

In one of the first short stories I wrote, Makoto had been back to visit his parents, but Nanami had not gone back because she was ashamed of disappearing, and of Jinnai.  Maybe not the way you'd first expect Nanami to feel about things, but she's an unexpectedly complex character, I think.

Quote
I pretty much assumed Galus dead.  And I never would've brought Kalia back; she kinda melted.  ;D

Well, yeah, I know.  But this is anime.  Common sense hasn't stopped a lot of other people  ;D

Quote
And now, don't hate me for being a newbie, but what's "SOTTC"?

Sorry.  "The Shape Of Things To Come," a serial fan fiction by Dooky.  Stand up and take a bow, Dooky!

Quote
Is that the one with the zero matter or whatever it was called?

Zero energy, yes.

Quote
O_o  For some reason ... the thought of Makoto breaking down never exactly crossed my mind.  I mean, between me and my brother Tim having little random discussion and "what if" sessions, it was never by frustration and longing that we broke Makoto.  I'll admit that's intriguing.

I think there could be a combination of his own frustration and longing, and an after-effect of his linking with Ifurita.  If you used an ability you just got a few days ago to share your memories with another, and then that other was taken away from you, it could seriously mess with your head.

If you're interested... skim the first section of part two of "Earth".  There's several references to Makoto's breakdown.  E.g. "But a year ago that height had done nothing but emphasize the skin and bones he'd reduced himself to. Now he was lean instead of emaciated, and his mop of black hair was no longer that shoulder-length rat's nest. His brown eyes had lost the haunted look. It had been a long, hard climb out of that pit. Not a day went by that he didn't think about how grateful he was. To everybody."

Then, go to part 11 of "Mortal Engines" and use "Find in this page" to go to "Dark guillotine fallen".  It's only a single scene, instead of months of anguish, but it's the same idea, I think.  Powerful stuff.  I've already used that idea in a few things I've written too.

Quote
Londs... yes, we already have some fun stuff written for Londs.

[Stimpy] Oh, Joy! [/Stimpy]

Quote
I don't know "Thexder", but I could look it up I suppose.  I was of the Nintendo "Mario Bros." -> Sega "Sonic the Hedgehog" generation.  :P

I played Thexder back around 1990, I think, on my Tandy 1000 SX  :P
Logged
Captain Southbird (EHOL Creator)
Administrator
Demon God(ess)
*****
Posts: 1562


EHOL Creator

View Profile WWW
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2003, 08:37:06 pm »

Quote
I think there could be a combination of his own frustration and longing, and an after-effect of his linking with Ifurita.  If you used an ability you just got a few days ago to share your memories with another, and then that other was taken away from you, it could seriously mess with your head.


Mmm.  Never thought of it that way.  I'll have to think about it long enough to see how that could work.  (Usually to see if something breaks a character, I need to imagine the character with a full wave of everything I know about them, virtually imagine myself as them, and the introduce the device of ill.  If I find myself suddenly heartbroken, it works.)

That little caption about Makoto you put in from the fanfic; creepy.  Good writing always has some profound effects.


Quote
I played Thexder back around 1990, I think, on my Tandy 1000 SX


Hoho, those Tandy 1000's keep coming back to me.  ;D  They were my toil in middle-high school.  Before the sudden drop in computer prices, these were all the public schools could afford in mass quantities.  They were constantly hit with viruses or just breaking down.  (I think both were due to students messing with 'em.)
Logged

Dub vs. Sub, let's keep quiet about it.
Pages: [1] Print 
« previous next »
 


Login with username, password and session length
SMF 2.0.19 | SMF © 2021, Simple Machines