Session Start: Mon Nov 11 00:28:17 2002
<NewtypeHarlock> Harlock here, official master of interviews for
the Reasonably Septaweekly enterprise. Some of you might recognize
me from last month's interview section, where Rinku gave me his own brand
of interrogation. I'm here today with one of the oldest members of one
of the oldest independent game design communities around, PK-Fortis of
OHRRPGCE infamy. Hi, PK.
<PK-Fortis> Hey, Harlock. Good to be here.
<NewtypeHarlock> As one of the largest figures in the community,
you're known by most everybody. I'm sure you've answered this particular
question before, but could you enlighten readers new to Septaweekly with
your story of how you discovered the OHR?
<PK-Fortis> Sure. I found the OHR back in 1997 I think. See, back
then I used to frequent RPGamer.com (then square.net)'s forums. There was
quite a buzz there about ASCII's RPGMaker for PSX. I was really
excited about it, but upon the news that it was cancelled for US release,
incredibly dissappointed. In what I can only describe as a fit of rage,
I angry typed out RPG Maker on Metacrawler, and the OHR's website was among
the results. The rest, as they say, is history.
<NewtypeHarlock> Seems to be a pretty common catalyst. ASCII's cancellation
is what first sparked my search for another RPG Maker as well. So, one
thing that seems to contribute to your notoriety is that right from the
beginning, you've been active in the OHR "community", in the sense of hosting
message boards, sites, etc. Why were you compelled to be so active in this
side of the game design world?
<PK-Fortis> Well, it's hard to explain, but I'll try. After RPGamer's
forums, I liked the idea of message boards a great deal. So when I heard
of an OHR board, I quickly signed up and began to participate. It was a
great place, run well by Ken Soto. Eventually, though, the board was ravaged
by a gigantic flame war. I thought to myself, "I can do this. I can prevent
this sort of thing." So, when the old boards dissolved, I quickly created
new ones and notified James about it. I must be doing something right,
because the whole flame war fiasco was never repeated on a grand scale.
Now I just enjoy running forums partially because it's so fun to mess with
the options, and you can't beat some of the discussion. And of course,
I felt that the OHR couldn't go without a forum. It just didn't seem right.
<NewtypeHarlock> The Zantetsuken forums have grown to a pretty impressive
size, which unfortunately means that not everyone is going to be pleased
with them. How do you handle dealing with some of the say, less mature
individuals in the community while maintaining "the Justice", as we like
to say?
<PK-Fortis> It's hard sometimes. When it was just a big free-for-all
forum and OHRRPGCE, it was easy to keep things under control. As the forums
grew to be specialized, I appointed moderators who know about the different
forums' topics. They know best what belongs in that forum, since they know
so much about it. That way, discussion is kept on topic and sane. Some
people don't know how to handle keeping to a certain topic, so I created
the 'Duhh' forum for those totally unwilling to cooperate. I'm not trying
to drive people away here, but I do want to keep things in some semblance
of order. It's not perfect yet, but some very interesting discussions have
popped up, particularly in the general Game Design and Philosophy &
Theology forums. That is mostly due to the moderators knowing what they're
doing. When it comes to keeping order in the 'worst' way (I of course mean
banning), I try to be fair about it. I give warnings. I make sure every
moderator makes it clear what's allowed in what forum. I step in if things
get too extreme. I don't have to ban many people, but I do have to give
out warnings on occasion.
<NewtypeHarlock> what's the most outrageous dispute you've ever had
to settle in your days as a moderator? any attempts to topple your throne
ever been staged?
<PK-Fortis> Hmm, most outrageous, huh? There was a point very early
on when a few members insisted on arguing with eachother every day, in
very long threads. I had to ban one of them. There was a very BIG dispute
though, right around the time I put the forums on RPGBoard. What happened
was, the boards were hosted on StellarX (owner of Red Murdock Software)'s
website. This was before I had my own forums. I gave SX admin access, which
was a mistake, because he constantly added his own 'touches' which I just
didn't want. One day, he just completely changed the forums around. He
made them StellarX's OHRRPGCE Message Boards. He locked me out of the access,
if I recall, and basically made himself the head honcho.
<NewtypeHarlock> dastardly!
<PK-Fortis> I'm not sure what it was over, but you can be sure I
was VERY angry. Luckily, soon after the process of getting my domain name,
Zantetsuken.com finished and I was able to move the forums. Eventually
SX closed his forums and apologized to me, and that was the end of it.
Another person who has tried to undermine my 'power' (if you can even call
it that), is Fyrewulff. As much as he's going to deny it, he made quite
a few OHRRPGCE forums designed to replace mine. But nothing ever really
came of it. Usually Chenzi9X would flood them, Fyre would yell at us, and
then dissappear for a week. Now I'm pretty sure he has no interest in making
an OHR forum, or competing with me ever again. After those incedents, the
life of the Zantetsuken Forums has been pretty calm.
<NewtypeHarlock> sounds like you've been busy. but that's not all
you were up to... what was your first game project for the OHR?
<PK-Fortis> My first game EVER was called 'Coolsville RPG'..
it was pretty horrible. It had my friends in it, of course. My first real
game though, was called Blasphemous Saga Fantasy. It was a parody
RPG but it had characters some OHR'ers may recognize today. These characters,
of course, are in my latest project, Time Flies.
<NewtypeHarlock> what aspects of the rpg genre were you hoping to
parodize, and what eventually became of that project?
<PK-Fortis> It was the overdone aspects, particularly in OHR games.
The amnesiac hero, the maiden on the side of evil who sees that her actions
are wrong. Actually, it was also a homage to Final Fantasy 6, my
favorite FF game. As for what became of it, well, as I got more
and more ideas, I took myself more and more seriously. BSF eventually
became TF, which is my serious project. I've always wanted to do
a real BSF, though, and if I do, you can bet the amnesiac hero's
name is going to be 'Storme', and his hair and sword will rival eachother
in pointiness and length. I just can't resist. He'd also probably say "...
I don't care." in response to everything.
<NewtypeHarlock> How long ago was it that you first started working
on time flies?
<PK-Fortis> I was in the eighth grade when Time Flies surfaced,
and that was in late 1997, early 98, so... 4 or 5 years ago.
<NewtypeHarlock> i seem to remember that you released two demoes
of the game, one long ago, one recently, both pretty similar in length,
but differing wildly in content. is that correct?
<PK-Fortis> Yep, sure is.
<NewtypeHarlock> most notable is the graphic overhaul, and a more
tightly-paced plot. what inspired you to go back and redo the game in a
more polished manner?
<PK-Fortis> It simply wasn't the best I could do. I did the first
demo with a very rudimentry understanding of game design, graphical ability,
and writing. It was the best I could do at the time, but when I re-evaluated
the game two years later I knew I couldn't continue where I left off. I
had to redo it, with my new understanding of game design, pixel art, and
a new, more cohesive (and interesting) plot under my belt.
<NewtypeHarlock> so would you say that your time spent studying game
design has been one of the major factors in improving your art and writing
ability?
<PK-Fortis> Actually, yes. If it weren't for TF, I'd not have
considered what makes a plot good or a character design interesting.
<NewtypeHarlock> glad to see it was time well spent. the recent demo
release of time flies was very well received. did you expect this kind
of reaction all along?
<PK-Fortis> I didn't really think about it. I expected it to be at
least positively received due to the overall lack of games, but I wasn't
concerned with what kind of reaction I'd get. I had a feeling, though,
that since I was satisfied with it, it wasn't a bad game.
<NewtypeHarlock> the game certainly has a unique visual style, as
do some of your other artistic projects. how do you go about designing
your characters?
<PK-Fortis> I start with the eyes. Always the eyes. The eyes display
the personality the best in my art. So I think, "who is this person?" and
once I have an idea, I make their eyes. The eyes determine the facial expression,
then the posture. Knowing who the character is makes it very easy to design
clothing. For example, Zack Lox, the protagonist of TF, is from
a simple farming community in the middle of nowhere. His style of dress
is utilitarian but also reflects who he is, because of the demands of his
surroundings. Zack's a man of strong values and convictions, and since
they've been threatened, his quest is to right the wrong's he's seen commited.
His eyes are very serious, and his posture is always ready and attentive.
He's serious minded and ready to fight. In contrast, Timothy Kire, the
kindly prince, has a flare for interesting costumes, and fancies a poncho
because he's a good marksman. His eyes express a sort of intelligent frivolity,
and his posture indicates that he's having fun living.
<NewtypeHarlock> describe a typical day of work on your game. how
do you go about the process?
<PK-Fortis> It depends on what I'm doing. I always listen to music
to get myself into the mood. If I'm designing sprites, I don't usually
do sketches. I visualize the battle, or map, and draw what I see. If I'm
laying out a map, I'll listen to music and just do it. I don't like mapping,
so it's pretty interesting making good maps. My town still need work because
of this, but the dungeons aren't too bad. Basically, I just sit down and
think, "where are we now?". I do the whole game as the plot develops. So
what I'm doing each day varies, but it's all in the order the plot demands.
Oh.. and cutscenes, I do last. I plan them on paper then script them. That
takes about 7 hours for a 10 minute cutscene.
<NewtypeHarlock> you say you don't like mapping. what's your favorite
part of working on a game, and how do you keep your momentum going strong
when the time comes to work on those aspects that you would prefer not
to?
<PK-Fortis> I LOVE battle planning and sprite design. I can't get
enough of making monsters, so I usually go against my policies and do more
than the plot demands. Same for maptiles. When it comes to making maps,
I just remind myself that without them, there would be no game. You need
maps. To lose TF simply because I don't like making maps is foolish.
And again, music really helps me work.
<NewtypeHarlock> earlier, you mentioned that ff6 inspired
your work on the precursor to time flies. what are some of you other favorite
commercial games?
<PK-Fortis> FF3j, 4, and 7 are my other favorite final
fantasies. Super Mario RPG was my first RPG and remains a favorite.
I also enjoyed the LUNAR series of RPGs, particularly for battle
design (though planning was a bit bad in those). Oh! And I can't forget
Chrono Trigger. As far as non-RPGs go, though, I LOVE Mario, Zelda,
Megaman, and Sonic. You know, the loveable mascots we all
grew up with. though if we're talking mascots, I should say Link, shouldn't
I?
<NewtypeHarlock> don't forget samus.
<PK-Fortis> :/ Unfortunately, I have yet to play a single Metroid
game. I really, really, need to. But I'm pretty sure that once I play them,
yes, Samus will be on that list as well.
<NewtypeHarlock> almost too big a shock to fathom, but i'll try to
hold on for the remainder of the interview.
<PK-Fortis> Heh.
<NewtypeHarlock> so recently you came out with some big news: that
time flies would cease development for the ohrrpgce, and be continued on
an rpg making engine of your own design. what can you tell us about that?
<PK-Fortis> It was my vision for TF that influenced the descision..
I love battles, and I want to make my own battle system. The perfect one
in my eyes. That was my original intent in designing TF's engine
myself. As far as the engine itself.. I can tell you the maps are going
to have lots of environmental effects, layers, the works. The battles,
well, heh, I can show you a prospective design if you'd like.
<NewtypeHarlock> sure
<PK-Fortis> ah, here we are!
<PK-Fortis> http://www.zantetsuken.com/mockup-battle.jpg
<PK-Fortis> This is the battle system of my design at the moment.
Those arrow keys will be command menus. Outside of that I can't say much
else, I'd like to keep it a surprise. All that equipment, though, is dynamic.
As in, their own sprites... your equipment will change appearance over
the course of the game.
<NewtypeHarlock> alright. here's a question that i think everyone
is interested in. will this engine be developed for time flies solely,
or could we be using an rpg maker designed by fortis in the future?
<PK-Fortis> I never thought about making it public. It's possible,
but if I were to do that, I'd only keep the map making the same. I'd develop
a battle scripting system for the engine, because I want TF's battle
system to be unique. So to answer your question, you may, but you won't
be able to say, duplicate TF right away with it.
<NewtypeHarlock> any other projects in the works that you can let
us know about?
<PK-Fortis> Game wise, maybe. I'm thinking about a game based loosely
on my webcomic, Awkward
Stage, called Emerald Fish. The theme of that game would
be friendship, it would all be based around cooperation spells. Another
idea I'd like to execute in the OHR is called The Arena. It's a
battle based game, where you can customize your character by picking a
job and appearances, and gain money by fighting through various tournaments.
You might just meet a few familiar champions along the way, too. Otherwise..
I don't know. I always have ideas flying around in my head, so be on the
lookout.
<NewtypeHarlock> what do you feel is the most important thing you've
learned since you began studying game design?
<PK-Fortis> Definitely, the benefits of having a plan. You're not
going to finish otherwise. You have to know what your game is about, and
where it's going to go, before you even put pen to paper, or finger to
keyboard, to start. Also, you have to love what you're doing! If you aren't
putting your heart and soul into your game, what's the point? That's why
a lot of games just aren't fun. Make it the best you can, and be sure you
absolutely love it. Once your satisfied with it, public opinion doesn't
matter, but you can be certain it's likely to be good if you tried your
best. And never get discouraged, because everyone can improve. Never say
"I can't". You can if you put your mind to it, and try. Sorry, that was
like.. 3 things, but they're the most important lessons I've learned.
<NewtypeHarlock> quite alright. i think that's about all the questions
i have for today, though. any closing comments?
<PK-Fortis> Always have fun designing games. If you're not having
fun, you need to be doing something else!
<NewtypeHarlock> care to throw out a shameless plug for your webcomic
before we sign off?
<PK-Fortis> Hah, sure. Everyone, read Awkward
Stage!
<PK-Fortis> and look out for The Agent.. hopefully coming
soon
<NewtypeHarlock> great. thanks for the interview. PK-Fortis, everybody!
* PK-Fortis bows
