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Weekly Update - Tutorials, Familiarity, and MARDEK vs Atonal Dreams
4 years ago - Edited 4 years ago1,253 words
Atonal DreamsDivine DreamsFig HunterGame DevIllnessKickstarter MARDEKMARDEK RemakeMemodyMental IllnessMoneyPatreonPersonalProgressProjectsPsychologyScreenshotsSindrel Song
Another productive week! I'm almost at the point where I can update the game for a new test run; I just need to tidy up a few bugs and things now. I have some questions related to MARDEK and games dev in general that I'd like to hear your thoughts about this time!

First, a quick summary of what I did this week:



I changed the colour of the grass from yellowish green to teal. A fairly small thing, but I've been wanting to use a reduced colour palette for a while, focused on shades of teal, orange, and purple. Takes some getting used to if the old version's familiar!



I spent most of the week writing the tutorial scenes I mentioned in the previous post. There's a lot more dialogue, and I'm fairly happy with how most of it's turned out... though some needs a bit more tweaking.



Each scene has the characters talk a bit about some mechanic, then one or more of these popups comes up at the end, summarising the mechanic with a little block of text and either a 3-second-or-so video clip or a static image.

Here's one for runes, for example:



And elements:



Things like this sound fairly simple as a concept, but I had to actually write out all the text and make all the images/videos, which ate up a lot of time!

I was hoping to be done with all these changes by Friday and to run another round of testing this weekend, but that was annoyingly interrupted when I got a text message on Thursday night telling me I had to get my second COVID vaccine on Friday. First I'd heard about it! I ended up getting godawful side effects (flu-like, fever, sore all over, couldn't sleep, etc) - like the first one I had - though thankfully they'd faded by Saturday night. I might be able to finish off everything I wanted to in another day or so, but there are a bunch of other little things I'd like to fix too, so I might spend the next week on those and do another test on the weekend. We'll see!!!



Thoughts Wanted: MARDEK & Familiarity

I wrote ∞ a post about how much money I'm making from this games thing ∞ the other day, and there were some interesting comments on that which - together with some other thoughts I had recently - made me want to hear people's thoughts on some things.



Again, MARDEK came up: I'd be wealthier had I stuck with that, there's pretty much no chance of ever replicating that success with my new 'passion projects', why don't I just work on a MARDEK continuation as my main thing and do the other stuff on the side?

I gave up on MARDEK because it took so long to make and earned so little, at the time. There wasn't any money in free-to-play Flash games. Plus running a fairly toxic community (Fig Hunter) was worsening the mental health issues I already had, and I basically just had a breakdown and tried to get away from it all because I couldn't cope.

I spent years just trying to get out of the house, understand and maybe overcome my mental issues, make some friends... with mixed results. I couldn't focus on the games thing. It would have been a very different story had I worked on that from a place of stability!

I thought I'd given up being a games developer, and went to study Psychology at university. There, I found out that I had brain cancer, and had to be treated for that. I could at least do games dev from home while recovering, so that's why I got back into it.



I made Memody: Sindrel Song - a memory game - because the surgery I'd had could potentially disrupt my memory, and I'd read that training the memory could help avoid this. I came up with the lore surrounding sindrels while studying Evolutionary Psychology as part of that course, so I suppose I made use of it because it was conveniently on hand and near the top of my mind.

I was very naive when I released it. For one thing, I just assumed it'd be like the Flash days: I'd just finish it, upload it, and then millions of views would pour in with no effort on my part. Ha!

I also believed it'd do better than okay because it was quite original. I mean, would you agree that culturally we're raised to believe that coming up with original ideas is how you succeed? It seems to be an idea in my head, at least.

It's only recently that I've learned how people are far more interested in familiarity, at least once they reach a certain development stage.

It seems that as children and teens, still learning about the world, everything's new so we don't really have a choice about what we absorb. But once we've constructed a framework for our reality, anything that doesn't fit within it is warily regarded and usually discarded. It's tough to push through that.

Pretty much everyone who approaches me due to fondness for MARDEK found it during their impressionable younger years, and want more because it's what they know and understand. This means I might have an existing audience who'd pay for a continuation now that they're older and have money, but I feel like it'd only appeal to that limited audience, most of whom have moved on. I'm also a very different person to who I was back then, so whatever approach I took would be different.



So I've been hoping that a newer project with enough similarities to MARDEK - but without being restricted to its audience - might appeal to them and to a new audience... but would that ever be the case? Would I have to target children during that impressionable phase?



There are apparently some people who follow my work due to fondness for my old stuff, but who aren't interested in what I'm making now. So I have some questions:



Questions

1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?

2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?

3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?



I'm not interested in running some huge series. Far too much stress! But other indie devs - many of whom have never released a game before - are doing fine by raising funds on Kickstarter, so if I can too, then I might be able to continue doing this. Doing one for every project would become easier - probably - once I'd figured everything out with my first one. And a big marketing push is necessary regardless of what I make, it seems, so that's a good way to force focusing on it.

I'll talk more about Kickstarter at some point in the coming weeks, after looking into it a bit more.

20 COMMENTS

Elenaer2~4Y
To start with, Hi! I finally switched to talk here instead of Twitter so they can't cut off my messages~
--
As for the questions, even though I am only Partially(?) the intended recipient of them, since I was here for the old but do indeed support the new, I will answer them anyway~

1. I feel that I like the "Old Stuff" and the "New Stuff" for different reasons, to say the least.
I know for sure that some of my initial apprehension about the new projects was pretty much exactly what you had said, since I was used to the old story, and something new felt odd to me, but, for me personally, I felt attached to the characters more than I was to the story proper. Yes, they may not have been as well written, and it may very well just be nostalgia for MARDEK, but there was something deeply charming about the fun and quirky characters, despite their writing flaws. I also know that since I was young, "Character Flaws" were quite honestly at the very bottom of my personal checklist, since I was too busy growing attached to these little characters, sympathizing with their stories, growing biases towards some more than others, and watching their little world unfold. So, if I were to say what the "New Stuff" is "Lacking", I'd say it would be the general familiarity with its cast. I'm sure this will change after at least a demo with them, since its easier to grow fond of a character you have seen in action, over a concept on a screen, and I genuinely look forward to loving the new characters too~

2. Honestly? Not really. Yes, I adore the characters with my whole heart, and still haven't seen the new ones in action, but in pretty much all aspects so far, your new work shows itself as far superior to it's predecessor. The graphics are stunning, the character designs are lovely and varied, the battle system and new elements are a nice change from the typical system, and from what you have said about the story and dialogue so far, it appears to be much better written. So, despite how much I talk up MARDEK, I am fully ready to admit its flaws, and that what has come in its place has its own stunning charm that can't be matched by the original.

3. I of course love the original, but the requests for a remake are not what some may answer. I personally don't care how it ends up in terms of graphics, or gameplay mechanics. However, as I have professed on multiple occasions in my various responses, it was the characters and at least a general sense of the story that drew me in at the start, and they would certainly be the deciding factor in a remake. Yes, I will admit that updating them to a degree would absolutely be beneficial for them as characters, and for the remake as a whole. However, I feel changing things too much at least slightly ruins the charm that made the game what it was, and frustrates old time fans faster than any graphical change would.
--Ex--
For just an example real quick, I remember watching (I never got to play it,,) Taming Dreams awhile back. When I started, I saw some minor differences, but most was similar(?) enough for me to just accept it as a change to the system, and that was fine. But, I found that the moment that the cast made it to where Rohoph comes in, as he was previously pretty much my favorite character (I'm a weirdo, I know, but there was always something that resonated oddly about his characterization that I found incredibly enjoyable, and I don't think I've seen a character in that sort of position that resonated in that exact way before or after, but in all honestly that analysis would be long enough for a whole post in itself and not worth wasting your time here for it ^^||), the moment he started speaking, and it was made apparent how jarringly different he felt in comparison to the changes/overhauls that other characters had, I felt myself completely pulled out of any sort of immersion, and just felt discomfort replace any immersion I had prior.
--Back to the actual post ^^||--

Of course, my example is by no means meant as a legit critique or anything, I just wanted to state my own personal instance of why I think there is a very fine line in "Updating a character to be well written" and "Updating them so far that they don't feel the same anymore" and as a gamer, as well as a starting developer, I can say for sure that the line is- Very Thin, and easier to accidentally cross without meaning to, especially with the game already being released once before a remake. Heck, my own characters have gone through tons of various different versions, and though I am lucky enough that no one saw their previous iterations for long enough to latch onto them before their changes, changing my own characters has certainly opened my mind more on just how easy it is to change a character too much, and I never really realize till a friend or family member gives me a "Oh, well didn't X character look/act like X before??".
So yea, If I were say what needed to be the same, or at least very similar, for a remake, it would be the characters, and at least a story that stayed close-ish to the original path.
--
Ok! Well there's the end of my commentary on this, and I have to say, on a completely unrelated note from above, its nice to finally be able to start reading and responding to these again, (Thank you, Game Design Degree for taking up all of my free time, lol) as I always really enjoy seeing the things that you make!

The new game looks utterly amazing at this point, and I'm sure it will only improve as time goes on! It is absolutely a game I would love to play at release, and I cannot wait until that day comes~

PS: Still so glad that I responded here instead since I'm sure Twitter would utterly hate the size of my response~ ^^|||
2
RedBear1~4Y
I have been following your growth as a developer since I was 14. As you can imagine, I was very different then. Shy, socially inept, and rather sure of my opinions. I found your site through MARDEK, though I had originally been a fan of yours since the first SMECOF game. Almost unhealthily so, I kind of looked at everything the people around me said and did as 'correct' or 'normal'. I was a pretty frequent poster on the forums of fighunter, and occupier of the chatroom, though I never really saw the experience as toxic until I got into my 20s... and like that late outreach for most things.

Your experiences from the past trouble much of my own now. I still haven't graduated college or gotten my license. I haven't achieved things that I know I can achieve yet. With patience and work I can get there, but that is not always easy for me. I have asbergers syndrome, though apparently that's now a form of autism? Either way, I never felt like I belonged in my school, at my job, or even with my friends and family. Nothing was giving me any joy. Not unless I was DOING something... and that wasn't a good feeling. But I know I have time, and I can persevere. I think I picked up that trait from reading your posts for so long.

As for my opinions on your games past MARDEK, I like them, but for different reasons than I like what you've recently put out. For MARDEK, I see them as early games in my childhood that hold up somewhat well, despite their many warts in control and clicheness. In other words, to some manner, I feel some level of nostalgia for it. However, your new games are different. There's far more meaning behind the games, and the world and characters are far more developed than your older works. The writing is also a lot smarter. However, as with all things that try to be original, it means having to learn things, and people hate the feeling of having to learn things if it isn't fun. Even moreso if it tries to be innovative in an obnoxious or intrusive way, or is too hand holdy.

I think the fundamental reason your games appeal to very different people is that the people your newer games are aimed towards tend to be people that enjoy more story driven games. And as you posted in one of your early blogs, there are several different types of gamers, and if you want to reach a large audience, you need something that will get people hooked from the start. Something that feels familiar, but isn't. That's what draws me to your new games, among other things. It's got a lot of inspiration and the world is well defined, but it's alien to me, and that may take some getting used to, and may turn other people off from the game.

Of course, that is only the most obvious reason. I think another reason is that your old flash games were around when flash was popular, but there wasn't many decent quality flash games. MARDEK 3 was a 40+ hour old school RPG... of course it was going to be a hit. Your new games do not have this advantage. There are many games on Steam, PC, Switch, and so on, that are much more noticeable. And there are far more of them... far more competition. There is a reason few games get off the ground nowadays.

Anyways, I'm off topic. I need to answer your 3 questions, if I have not done so already. I can only really answer the last question however, since I have a Mac and cannot play Atonal Dreams nor MARDEK.

3) The only thing I really want is for some form of Dreamstones to return. I think this could actually be an excellent form of player reward. To delve inside the mind of a character after doing something related to them. Another thing I'd like is a beastiary, as that was one of my favorite things to look at in MARDEK. I could think of other things, like player skills and p dialogue, but you already seem to have included that stuff, so good on there.

I wish you luck in the future. Hopefully we can both get through our lives hardships. The best way to see life is with a smile on your face, after all.
2
Kalin24~4Y
1. I like the turnbased, flat 2D, exploration, and collection aspects of MARDEK. And I really loved its skill system; I've never seen anything like it, before or since. It made grinding feel productive, and I liked the fact my strategy was focused more on learning skills than raising stats.

Your post-MARDEK games seemed more focused on reflexes, music, story, and atmosphere. And I don't know if any of them are playable on hardware I own.

2. I wouldn't say "superior". I'm not currently interested in AD because it requires a controller, is 3D, and its characters and mechanics haven't grabbed my interest yet. But if you released a free demo (maybe covering the same content as the alpha test) that was playable by mouse, I'd give it a try.

Demos are a great thing. I would never have risked money on Flash MARDEK, but I was happy to buy the Steam version to thank you for all the enjoyment I had already received. (Also to finally be able to craft everything, and because I was curious to see those notes.)

3. I want the MARDEK continuation that YOU want to make. If such a thing is impossible, that's okay.

It'd be silly to call it MARDEK if it didn't have Mardek and Rohoph, and I really want Emela and _____ as playable chars again. I already said how much I liked the skill system, and I also liked being able to cast spells on whole parties.

I vastly prefer 2D, non-isometric games (I really hate it when my char is obscured by the environment). Personally, I'd like it without any pixelated graphics, but it wouldn't look like MARDEK then. So it's probably best to keep the graphics looking similar and offer AD as the "modern MARDEK".

What I'd really like from you is a finished version of Alora Fane: Creation using MARDEK's skill system. You could even sell DLCs with extra graphics/music.
3
purplerabbits148~4Y
For me, it is a bit early to tell whether Atonal dreams is better than MARDEK. Like Chapter 1, what I've seen with the beta leads me to compare them in a similar capacity. It is a start, so full judgement can't be given until a bit more has played out. MARDEK got really good in Chapter 3, but Atonal Dreams doesn't have that equivelent, so it would be unfair to compare the two.

I personally prefer 2d over 3d. However, I do recognize that the sheer amount of work that goes into 2d assets. So if a game can come out sooner because of a switch to 3d, I'll take it.

As much as I would like to see the original story of MARDEK to conclusion, I don't want it because you feel forced to.

I know some people that just want to do one thing, like animation, and don't care about the story/lore behind the project. I also know people that are so highly creative that they would suffer if they are under someone else's creative control.

I guess its up to you if you would continue MARDEK, however I do remember that you showed much more excitement for the reimagining of MARDEK. So I'm going out on a limb to believe you'd be much better mentally if you pursue what fuels your creative passion.

I personally like works that have "heart." Contrastingly, I dont like those souless corperate mass productions just for the sake of money. (One of the reasons why k-pop sounds so sterile to me everything is produced through a corperate conglomeration to produce a specific image and sound.) If I remember correctly MARDEK was made when you were in love, Sindrel Song arose partially from fear of loosing memory, and Atonal Dreams seem to be an exploration of the human psyche. They all have heart to them.

If you revisit MARDEK as a continuation of ye old flash days, the issue is that you don't seem to have the "heart" as you did back then, so it won't be the same game if you do continue.
2
snipo1019~4Y
1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?

I like both, a lot, so this is difficult for me to answer. But, I've talked to a lot of OG MARDEK fans who have been largely uninterested in your later works, so I feel like I have some perspective. So, I'll try to answer this anyway.

I could talk about the obvious things: like how your newer works don't feature "conventional" sci-fi / fantasy aesthetics, dragons and wolves and spaceships and so on that you were so fond of back then, which may be causing people to see it as more alien and less approachable now; less relatable. But I think you've heard all that already, and while it's a difference I think it's a rather superficial one, and I don't think highlighting it is all that thoughtful or productive in general. On top of this, the greater emphasis on "feelings" thing that people often point out as an "issue" with Taming Dreams onward, isn't really even a difference, as all those things existed for as long as "miasma" was a concept in the figverse. The only difference was how it was presented, and I think that's something that you've already learned from and isn't worth rehashing.

With all that said, there is one trend I've observed through consuming both your older and newer works, whether they be games, visual art, or music, that I haven't seen discussed before. It's nothing conclusive, because I have incomplete information (that may indeed be entirely made-up, in which case I'm sorry for wasting your time), but I feel like I should comment on my suspicions as you may find them interesting.

I suspect, from how you talk about your creative process, your anticipation of potential criticisms, and what you refer to as your "early naivete" stages of creative development, that there may be a much narrower filter on what you're willing to put out for the world to see now than there was in the beginning.

I can see a lot of this while going through your deviantart as well. An old comic (Catharsis: Basic Empathy, it was called [[LINK]]) comes to mind, where you addressed the idea of criticism directly, and expressed how it affected you. Many of your works will contain disclaimers such as "boring" or "generic" as if to pre-empt criticism. Two of my favorite artworks by you, the one of Enki facing down the two-legged purple monster [[LINK]], and the lingon adventurer one [[LINK]], contain some of those exact disclaimers in the descriptions. Yet, the art itself speaks differently. It's quite odd; both have the same carefree air about them, and while they have plenty of flaws, they almost didn't matter. It's art that just *was*, and either people would like it or they wouldn't.

Your old music and games felt the same way. In that context, your older works often feel like they had the breathing space to just *be*, independent of outside criticism, and either people liked them or didn't. I can't say what happened between then and now, but it feels like something is lost in your more recent works. Maybe I'm just a nostalgic 26-year-old who is reminiscing, but there was a unique, carefree, unfiltered pure-imagination feeling to your older works that managed not to feel contrived at the same time. It just *was*.

Your newer works? I don't know! I like them still, so this is really hard for me to pinpoint. They still feel distinct, like you made them! But they feel... distilled, in a way that the previous games didn't. As if something is being held back. I can only guess as to what that something is. Meanwhile, the newer games feel more competent all around, in terms of art, music, writing. And the finished product feels very creative and genuine at the same time, in a way that matches the old games in my mind. Yet, it still feels like a product, in the way the older games didn't. I wish I could put my finger on why I get that feeling!

2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?

This one I can't honestly answer. I haven't played enough of Atonal Dreams to give it a fair review. I don't connect with Collie, for example, the same way I connected with a character like Deugan from MARDEK. But, does anyone connect with the characters after just an hour or so of gameplay? There hasn't been enough time to build up that level of caring. I've touched on the art, music, and so on in the last question, and all the same comments apply - everything is done more competently, but feels insecure in a way that MARDEK didn't. But technically - excellent.

However, I will say that so far they both feel like Tobias games, which I like very much. It's obvious that you're putting your heart into Atonal Dreams, which is very important to me.

3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?

To this, I would pose two questions: What do you think your fans think the core identity of the original MARDEK games is? And do you agree with that?

I think the answers to these questions would likely influence how such an endeavor would ultimately turn out, regardless of details like "is it 2D vs. 3D" or "Is it pixelated or vector art". I only ask because I've linked your posts about Atonal Dreams / Divine Dreams to communities of people still emotionally invested in MARDEK to this day, but from what I can tell, the vast majority of them aren't biting. And I don't blame them - being completely honest, I enjoy viewing Atonal Dreams much more as a completely new game by you, wholly detached from any baggage relating to MARDEK. It's a very good game so far, and is fun to play, but it doesn't have the identity of MARDEK at all in my mind.

Assuming that you were to make a 100% (or any %) identity-matched continuation of MARDEK, my next question to you would be "Would you enjoy making it?" If you'd hate doing it, then it's unlikely the project will end up with the magic that the originals had. I wouldn't want you, or anyone, to go through that amount of strain and difficulty only to release something like that. I'm contributing to a similar project right now, and I'm only able to do what I do (as an amateur, and without being paid) because of the passion and drive that I have for it. Game development is insanely demanding and stressful work, and if the love isn't there, then it likely isn't worth it for anyone, least of all you!
3
Godwill3~4Y
I did just post a reply on the old blog, but just wanted to say this thing here. Maby u could make a discord for people to chat in and create a community? That way u could more easely see people opinions and hopefully create a better and less toxic play than the fig forums used to be. (tho i wasent a part of that, so i dont know how it was)

And again i do hope things turn out great for you or anybody else reading this small post :)
1
purplerabbits148~4Y
This is from the discord from Mikmaxs, just in case you miss their insightful comment

So I wanted to respond to the latest blog post, (420, eyyy,) but I couldn't remember my password to leave a comment. I guess I'll respond here instead!

On the subject of originality versus sameness: I think a balance needs to be struck. If a game is completely unoriginal, it'll usually be boring and uninteresting, unless it's just crafted with an extremely high level of quality. Even back in the old flash days, the games that hit it 'big' usually had some level of interest and hook.

If I had to speculate two reasons why Sindrel Song didn't do well, it'd be this:
First, marketing is hard. SO F@I#ING HARD. I have to do self promotion and marketing for some of my own work, and while it's a different industry with different tools, I know that it's still incredibly difficult to pull off for video games. More to the point, though...

Second, Sindrel Song is so original that it's hard to find a point of comparison. Uniqueness is good, but from what I've read and observed, the best indie hits usually blend something unique with something familiar. Sindrel Song does too much that's new. If we start from the premise that it's a rhythm game:
It relies on memorization without visual aids
It's got high concept worldbuilding and plot
It's got a unique visual style that isn't found in most other rhythm games, which are often neon, flashy, and just generally don't look like Sindrel Song

Any one of these could be a hook for a good rhythm game, but with all three happening at once, there's no grounding point of reference to hold onto while exploring the new stuff.

Looking back at the old flash games, some of the games I remember most follow the formula of "Something traditional" with "Something unique". Just using platformers, there were so many great ones that all had some kind of twist on the genre: What if the level was the same every time with only slight variations? What if you could make copies of yourself? What if it had a simple but moody and reflective plot?
(And, fun fact, all of these hooks could refer to multiple games.)

This applies to Mardek, too:
Mardek 1 was "A JRPG, but what if it were a farce?", which wasn't the most original, but the execution was spot on and the children's fantasy angle was funny and unique, and the extra sci fi hook at the very end was particularly compelling to move on to the second game.

And from there, the inclusion of a story with some actual emotional depth (plus the space opera aesthetic blended into a predominantly fantasy setting, which I just adore,) was all it took to keep things going. The gameplay was really strong which made it fun to play, and the story was funny and compelling which brought me back for the sequel.

But it was that opening hook, "What if RPG but farce", that got people (myself included) to finish Chapter 1 in the first place.

I like Sindrel Song and wouldn't want to change it as a player, but from a marketing standpoint, it probably would have done better if it were either a traditional rhythm game with a unique narrative, or if it were a game that looked traditional but had the memorization elements.

Now, to answer the three questions at the end of the post:
Question 1: I like the old stuff, and the new stuff. BUT, I wouldn't be playing the new stuff if I didn't already like the old stuff quite a bit.

Question 2: I can't say if Mardek is superior to Atonal Dreams, because I haven't played Atonal Dreams yet. I've played a relatively short demo build. I can't compare the plot of Atonal Dreams, a short demo build, to the plot of Mardek, a game that I've played to 100% completion multiple times. I can't compare the gameplay depth of a game I've mastered to a game that I only just got started with. The only thing I feel is really fair to compare is the aesthetics.

And, aesthetically, I prefer Atonal Dreams. The 8-Bit style was really fun, but I'm really fond of the new artstyle, and I particularly like that the artstyle matches in combat and overworld. (The vector drawings were fine in Mardek, but they were never a selling point of the game.)

Question 3: I don't want a sequel to Mardek.

(Coming back to Question 2 for more thoughts:)

Right now, I'd say the main strength that I see Mardek having over AD is that AD doesn't have the same strong initial hook. This still feels like an unfair comparison because AD is unfinished, but the unique selling points of the game don't stand out very well at the start.

I think that it's fair to say that the most unique aspect of AD is the monster taming mechanic. Other games are about taming and fighting with monsters, but I don't know of any other games where you tame monsters mid-fight, and have the option not to tame them at all but gain unique benefits from doing that. If the game were a lot more 'in your face' about the monster catching right from the start, it might grab player attention more effectively







2
Maniafig222~4Y
I look forward to the next round of testing! I've been thinking I'll be paying special attention to the dialogue, since for my first round of feedback I mostly commented on game balance and UI stuff.

I think the new grass colour looks much better! Definitely feels much more harmonious like this, which of course fits the whole island of monks idea. It's really a remarkable improvement, which just shows how important it is to use the proper colours.

One thing I mention briefly in the video is that the bridge in that screenshot looks rather untextured, I think I compared it to smooth clay, or even play-doh. I was expecting more of a rocky texture for that bridge.

I think putting a little video in the tutorial pop ups would be a huge benefit, tutorials often suffer from being entirely text-reliant or non-repeatable, having a short video snippet on loop makes it much clearer what exactly it's trying to explain. think it's really worth it to try and get a little video clip into tutorials whenever possible.

I think it'd be a good idea if the big letters and the corresponding first letters (and the X in mixed) in the 15 rune boxes are highlighted or have a gradient effect somehow, that way it's clearer that the symbols correspond with the font, which could be a mnemonic of sort.

I think I asked at some point whether the petals were actually aligned with each other as they are in the Aster symbol, but I think you said it was only a metaphorical and artistical rendition and the petals aren't connected like that. Also, does this mean the Nexus is Apathy?!

I do wonder whether sticking with MARDEK would have actually been the winning formula that people claim it might've been. I have doubts myself, really, especially since you said yourself that MARDEK 3 wasn't exactly a financial hit despite being a popular flash game.

I can't really imagine anyone getting into MARDEK as an adult, especially not with chapter 1's writing really showing its age, and chapter 2 also being pretty hokey. I definitely know my opinion on MARDEK is a lot more nuanced now than it was like a decade ago (it's been that long?!)

Question time!!

1) I like your old stuff and your new stuff! I like the new stuff more though. No doubt because I'm already invested into your game dev work and the whole Alora Fane setting.

I think the two main things that stood out about MARDEK in particular was a carefree sense of fun and the juicy mechanical crunchiness of the gameplay.

MARDEK was pretty brazenly a parody of JRPGs at large, as well as generally having a very silly tone. It definitely was raunchy and vulgar and offensive, but something about it just feels more earnest than the stuff that comes after. I think it's really clear when comparing the writing in MARDEK to Miasmon, for example.

I think this also comes through in the music, it's not as technically capable as your current stuff, but it seems to be right at that sweet spot where one isn't quite aware of how much one isn't aware of, which I think just comes through in the compositions in a good way? I suppose I'd called it 'earnest', or something.

The mechanical crunchiness also just works to MARDEK's favour. You can and people have discussed at length about why this and that party formation is so good in chapter 3, precisely because the combat is just fun to play through, and optimizing item loudouts and allocating reaction points ad that is just fun.

On the other hand, I think the new stuff is just, well, better. I think the humour doesn't hit the peaks of MARDEK's utter irreverence, but the serious stuff is way ahead of anything MARDEK was trying. I loved the writing in Taming Dreams to bits, and it's clear that you're writing your stories in a much more clever fashion these days, actually planning things ahead and whatnot, and having actual themes the story focuses on rather than whims it follows and abandons as it sees fit.

I think the new stuff is also just more interesting, I think the combat engine in Taming Atonal Divine Dreams is particularly much more interesting than that of MARDEK. That's why I really want to see you make these games and get experimental with the combat engine, much like MARDEK 3 was a lot more mechanically complex than MARDEK 2 was (or compare the initial vs re-release Moric battles), there's a lot of room for deep strategies while also conveying narrative through gameplay.

I also think you've gotten better at character and monster designs! The old stuff was a lot more plain and quite simple, the new stuff I think is more appealing. Even monsters that return from MARDEK look better now, like the Gruul in Taming Dreams.

2) Atonal Dreams isn't even out yet! So it's much too early to answer that question. I do think that Taming Dreams was better than MARDEK though, so if Atonal Dreams can match the quality of Taming Dreams, then I do think it'll be better than MARDEK.

3) A continuation of MARDEK would have to be in the same engine as the old MARDEK, or at least an engine that's mostly indistinguishable. Basically, it should be what EBF5 is to its predecessors: More of the same, but much better and much more polished.

I don't think you should continue MARDEK though, it's clear from the notes to me that the series kinda would've peaked in chapter 3 anyway and the work just doesn't reflect on who you are or what you want to make anymore.

EBF got away with continuing its series since it wasn't exactly a series that placed much importance on having an overarching plot, so it could afford to make EBF5 basically a series reboot and a definitive conclusion to the series that captures and improves on the charms that made the previous installments good while also working perfectly as a standalone series. Such a thing just isn't possible for MARDEK, especially not after a decade of it being on hiatus.

I did think that Taming Dreams was shaping up to be a good re-imagining of MARDEK. Which is what I think is the best way to handle things, since it took the parts of the original that worked but changed the stuff that didn't. And there's certainly plenty in the original that did not work! I really appreciated the changes in Taming Dreams, it was strikingly better compared to chapter 1 of MARDEK.

So, what's my score on the test?! I sure hope I don't get a failing grade.

Also, someone did mention AF:C in the comments, which I agree is a worthwhile thing to return to!
2
astralwolf92~4Y
1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?

The games of yours which I have played and love are MARDEK and CBC. The new stuff I've tried, was the taming dreams reboot on Android. It was alright, thinking why it didn't appeal to me that much is 1) emphasis on taming instead of murder only felt superficially different but fundamentally the same (like political correctness, saw taming as a euphemism for murder); 2) felt the lore was more contrived (though I only played the free episodes). I didnt get sindrel song because im not a fan of the genre. im not sure what other things youve released lately besides those.

2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?
i dont know. i would have to play atonal dreams before i make that judgement. it seems like atonal dreams is "technically" better, in terms of graphics and animations. also you are selling atonal dreams as a superior product to the original MARDEK so I do hope it ends up being that.

3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?
- same major cast (some retroactive changes would be fine, like minor backstory changes or gender swaps)
- same gameplay mechanics, i would say not necessarily except for the core combat mechanics. additional variations in combat/ out-of combat mechanic changes would be great.although, you would have to list the proposed changes and it would be a value judgement from me on each example.
- 2D and pixelated , with revamped graphics would be cool! though im equally fine with a 3D rendition as well
-
1
septet8~4Y
**1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?**
MARDEK had a lot of content and was polished very well. I enjoyed exploring the world and encountering the wide variety of monsters, skills and items. The game entertained me for a long time and is fun to replay. There were many great and inane moments like talking with random NPCs, the security demon, item descriptions. The newer games had a more serious tone and I cared less for that, although there was still some irreverence. I liked some of your newer games like Miasmon (even though it was never completed), but I didn't really like the look of the other remake for MARDEK (forgot the name) or AFC. I think most of the magic of the MARDEK games came from how you used the engine, not the engine itself, and some of the newer games seemed like they didn't take very long to play through and were somewhat linear. One mechanic I really loved about MARDEK was the skill mastering system, maybe I'm alone on this but I spent way too much time micromanaging the equipment each character wore to learn lots of skills on each character. I think you said something about using this system in a recent blog post, I would support that idea.

**2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?**
I haven't played Atonal Dreams and don't know that much about it so I can only guess. I think you've shown from the screenshots that you can still create interesting combat mechanics and interfaces/graphics that look prettier than MARDEK, but I can't say whether or not I'll be entertained by the story or world. My expectation is that as a solo developer it will be challenging to create a lot of quests/monsters/items/etc. with a 3d engine as opposed to just using small sprites, and that's where my concerns lie regarding the quality of the game. I'd say I'm optimistic from what I've seen so far but I don't expect it to turn out quite as good as MARDEK.

**3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?**
I don't know. I'm really horny for those old screenshots for some reason but I guess it's mostly nostalgia. I'd probably buy the game if it looked good but I might not consider it a continuation of MARDEK in my head if a lot of things were changed about it.
1
mount201046~4Y
Hey, my thoughts on the promotional thing: seems that what people do is to often release stuff and "keep the hype up" and once in a while release something that you actually spent your heart and soul working on. Perhaps think about that, seems to be the path Mr. EpicBattleFantasyGuy has took, has well.

The questions:
1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?
I liked your old stuff and I find your new stuff interesting. I'm broke so I can't buy it, but I think that you have some interesting ideas. The old stuff had a sort of "depth" to it, a feeling that I'm actually adventuring around a world. Despite the fact that you as a creator might think otherwise because "I came up with it to fit in with 'the stereotypical RPG tropes'", it was actually kind of interesting from the player's perspective. For both your old stuff and your new stuff I enjoy the gameplay and story integration of elements. This is something you in particular do very well.
Your new stuff has better art and music (especially the music). This is something the old stuff managed to do "just enough", though. I never felt like the art in the old stuff was *glaring* or anything.

2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?
I think they're both good games on their own right. The main issue(? concern?) for me is the departure from the standard RPG world. It's a bit harder for me to fill in the gaps in the story this way. I really liked the Divine Dreams demo you put together and I would have been one of the first to buy it if it were made (even if it was nothing new).

3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?
Cast is the main thing that keeps me nostalgic for MARDEK. (i.e. I would really enjoy seeing where Mardek and his friends go next, that's the main thing that gives me "the MARDEK vibe"). I enjoyed the new graphics you made for the Divine Dreams demo, and I do not mind gameplay mechanic changes. I do enjoy your pixel art, feel that you have reached a point where it's production quality and "perfect" in a way, and I feel that it would be nice to see another pixel game, even if it isn't MARDEK, from you.
Perhaps you should look at how sequels of other games were made. I've been playing the sequel of another Flash game, Creeper World 3, and while gameplay mechanics were changed, the core idea was there. This is what attaches me to the series.

Oh, and, have you considered revisiting your old favorites (Final Fantasy, Pokemon, etc) and seeing what *you* liked from them? Perhaps that'd guide you in the direction you seek.

Edit: I also posted the link to this on the Discord for the MARDEK Unity Revival Project which seems to be the largest still-existing MARDEK fan community. They might have more thoughts about why they prefer your old stuff to your new stuff. Also: I notice from there that there's a large overlap in your fanbase and Undertale's fanbase. Perhaps it's a "retro RPG" thing?
2
Dingding32167~4Y
To throw in my own two cents, though again not the intended target:
1) MARDEK was easy to pick up but difficult to master, though this wasn't immediately obvious. It exceeded expectations because of its length, depth and involvedness in contrast to the pixelated graphics and accessibility (ie it was free). While Atonal Dreams may still be easy to play and hard to master aspect, its originality (as noted) means that it is inherently a little more demanding from players who need to learn a new system. This investment may well pay dividends in the long run, but this means you (or positive reviews) have to convince them of it. In addition, also as noted, this will require $$ input. While graphics have improved tremendously and full credit to you for it, this is usually the icing on the cake and doesn't make or break good gameplay, which is the primary reason the average gamer chooses a game (exceptions for artistic games or visual novels exist, of course). I like the new version, but it faces a lot of challenges that the old one took for granted. Not to put you off it at all!

2) As above, I don't think MARDEK was better, but it pretty much cost nothing from the player and so drew the unsuspecting audience into going on this immense adventure where very few such Flash games existed.

3) I think at this point that the reimagining route is the best one to go down, as your perspective has changed so much. Remaking fully would be unsatisfying and potentially past its time, while people might not see the parallels to MARDEK if a completely new cast was used. I think you've got the balance down perfectly for this.

Also, hello! I haven't been actively commenting recently but still keeping half an eye out on your blogs. Sad to hear the vaccine made you feel ill but hopefully it'll all be worth it.
1
spir1tJawrsh1~4Y
Id like to start by saying that my steam username is mardekfan, so take that how you will. I love your original works, and I find your current work interesting as well. I think what captured me most about MARDEK is the originality of it and how the characters spoke to me and each other, the depth you gave them. If your future projects could just resonate that energy and capture that feeling, it would be enough for me
1
regithegamer3~3Y
1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?

The Classical elements that you see in every JRPG (Wind Earth Fire Water) I think fulfills the "familiar" aspect for what people look for in new RPGs. From Pokemon, to Shin Megami Tensei, and of course to MARDEK and Beast Signer, the elements are really what keep me going from game to game and anything that deviates from that causes me to raise an eyebrow in skepticism. It's likely why I didn't really take to Taming Dreams I guess.

The aesthetic of your newer stuff is more original and brings out your own style more but I think I've grown far more attached to the "anime" aesthetic of character design. Games like Ys, Trails series, Evenicle, Kamidori Alchemy Meister, Atelier, and literally any other modern JRPG come to mind. Heck, I think China is getting into the fray with Genshin Impact as well. I find myself glossing over a ton of western indie devs these days on art style alone with maybe a few exceptions like Slay the Spire, Hades, or Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs. To be brutally honest, I really want fanservice in my games these days (but I don't know if I'm in the majority or minority with that opinion haha...)

2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?

Haven't tried Atonal Dreams yet. I dunno, I feel like if you're gonna go 3D the art has to be really good (e.g. Genshin Impact or Nier Automata) or adopt a comic-like "2.5D" look like Hades or Borderlands. I really don't like most modern western AAA games and find most of them repulsive to look at.

3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?

The cast? Absolutely. I don't think I can ever like a JRPG if it didn't have a cast I can grow attached to. To be honest, the newer MARDEK in Taming Dreams really threw me for a loop since the difference was so jarring...

Gameplay mechanics? I really like the elemental system and the skill system but I'd probably prefer more character specific equipment so that the player would be forced to use more of the cast. I think you'd be hard pressed to figure out non-plot forced methods of getting players to utilize more of the cast so I like having enemies heavily incentivize using different characters for specific scenarios. Alicesoft's Rance series has dealt with a large JRPG cast in different ways funnily enough. Rance 6 had an SP system limiting the number of battles characters could participate in before returning to base. Rance Quest had every single character action including basic attacks be a consumable that gets refreshed in each quest module. Rance 9 just kinda goes "okay, here's 27 character slots you can place on this Fire Emblem/Disgaea-esque map have fun" and Rance 10 borrows gacha mechanics to handle the 300+ character cast of that MASSIVE game.

As to whether I prefer it 2D and/or pixelated? Eh, I don't particularly care. I do have fondness for anything that resembles a classic JRPG but it's not like it's a dealbreaker since I'm pretty used to newer generation JRPGs going into 3D although there are games like Rune Factory and Fire Emblem games after Awakening that have 2D sprites and 3D models and I do like those a lot.

1
AdmiralLara49~3Y
Hey, post 420. Blaze it Mr. C
0
LightAcolyte22~3Y
I am so excited to be able to finally comment on here! I needed some help with the setup which I got today. I really wanted to provide some feedback on what you've asked as I've been following (silently) your work since the first MARDEK release on Kongregate.

1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?

This isn't necessarily a question of "like" for me as much as "tolerate," "use" or even "engage" in for myself. I can play, tolerate playing well, engage in the world of, and quite simply use the Flash-based software for MARDEK RPG - Chapter 1, 2 & 3. I cannot tolerate the movement, lighting and graphics on-screen of the Memody: Sindrel Song game well, but also I have no reliable way to read the text because it comes in at different parts of the screen and is not conducive to using accessibility software which makes it unusable and causes me to be unable to really use the game or engage in it for fun. My ability to interact with the game's features is also very complicated compared to MARDEK menus and straight-forward, text-driven gameplay.

I play MARDEK using accessibility software that works great with the flash player versions' executable flashplayer_32_sa.exe. (I have a developer version of the Adobe Flash engine so I can still play these games this way.) I love the genuine characters you created in MARDEK (they are original, they have a lot of depth, the fourth wall is broken to great comedic effect and not excessively, and what they lack in maturity they make up for in their compelling reasons to be "adventuring"), the ease of gameplay (as in, accessibility of your text boxes; not to be confused with difficulty of strategic elements, without which the game would not be enjoyable), the design and execution of your characters' "talking heads" (i.e.: Mardek is such a kind [even dare I say naively "sweet"] character and it's truly contrasting the way his possessor's control lightens his eyes such that combined with such evocative dialogue, it's devastating when Rohoph is "[ab]using" Mardek and his friend[s] cannot do anything about it) and I find the characters highly relatable (especially with the sometimes pseudo-omniscient, somtimes pseudo-in-game encyclopedia entries) which is why I think you created such a renowned legacy with the MARDEK games. I want to replay the games every couple of years to re-experience it and in some cases try new "challenges" for myself.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a freeloader and have a desire to support you as a game developer. I am not a current subscriber to your Patreon because the current game you are working on uses a lot of bright graphics that I just can't tolerate and the text is light background with dark text instead of dark background with light text and placed all over the screen, all of which makes it hard for me to deal with on a usability/accessibility level. I didn't contribute to support of the development of your music-based Memody game before it was released when I did try it out on Steam; because, while sound does matter to me, I was afraid my auditory disability would prevent me from playing it entirely (when really there were much bigger issues anyway long before that). For sound, the melody and rhythm is what matters to me most, beyond that it must not be too loud (changing decibel levels suddenly on me in-game versus allowing me to control sound volume more completely) or objectionably reverberating noise or noise that is too high-pitched (especially alarms as well as more generally string and wind instrument noise). MARDEK melodies are timeless for me from the time I heard them. I did not play MARDEK as a child, but rather as an adult so this is not just idolizing something from my childhood or carefree years or something: rather, your compositions' melodies are truly endearing to me. The new music it is so much harder for me to discern the melodies and rhythms and I can't really appreciate what is going on because it is so much more complicated.

I did also buy (and subsequently return) Steam copies of MARDEK and Memody: Sindrel Song, because Steam interferes with the accessibility software I need to play the games. Steam integrates with most games in a manner that negates the ability of many persons with disability to play them. If you made MARDEK available by GOG or another platform that doesn't add its own game client I should be able to use accessibility software to continue to enjoy it that way, and I would definitely pay what you're asking for on Steam no problem. I prefer GOG because they don't mess up the software on me like Epic Games or Steam, and their support team is super friendly to multiple disabilities I have to be able to play many kinds of games that sometimes I need help with tweaking to get working, especially older games. I would love to have the OST + Extras available for purchase as well on GOG and would buy those things elsewhere if I could too just to show my support for them.

2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?

Yes, because I can see and interact with screenshots of MARDEK, the video and screenshots of Atonal Dreams I cannot and the video in particular is very jarring and disorienting for me as I have difficulty with 3D and motion (especially without any kind of fixed or overhead camera option). The music and the attack sounds are extremely unappealing to me in Atonal Dreams.

3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?

You could change most things and I'd be OK with it, but I'd prefer and love for it to mostly pay homage to what I believe is your truly fantastic medley of old-school gaming elements in a fresh game world that hashes together a bunch of gaming tropes and knows when to take the plot seriously but also when to make light of the "gamey" elements. The closer it is to your original recipe for success, the more successful I think it will be for new generations to be introduced to it. Limiting time in pallette-swapped alternate realities that are much brighter would be best limited from my perspective as I can't really stand to look at some of those screens so well. The key for me is that I want the text to be large like it was, light text on dark backgrounds like it was, text-driven and menu-driven elements for accessibility and retain some of the endearing graphical qualities like how Mardek's face and facial expressions look (sans helmet). I'd love for there to be a sidequest or bonus objective where you can get Mardek's "face" or "eyes" back or let him have more dominance than Rohoph. I'd like more fleshing out of Legion but keeping Legion's eye colors consistent with the different personalities would be great. It would have to be 2-D for me to really enjoy it, though. (Occasionally I have been able to tolerate some games that use 3-D models with fixed camera options and limited motion on-screen).

I would love to be able to buy MARDEK so I could play what I paid for as that would give me extra enjoyment to be able to "own" that treasure, and I'd again buy all the MARDEK extras/OST to support release on an alternate platform like GOG. I would love to support you in building new MARDEK games. I would love for you to know that, while I do not personally know you and have never met you: you created in MARDEK something that I truly love and a game property which I feel is highly marketable and applicable to many different form factors (I have even experimented with a few tabletop RPG games and written some fan fiction based on it). There is a reason that people still work on, populate, and argue over esoteric game details to this day: they love it that much.
1
Tobias 1115~3Y
Thanks for providing your unique experience... though things like this are always difficult for me since it sounds like your disabilities are profound and unusual (though you didn't say what they actually are), and it's tricky to accommodate such people. For one thing, I can't know what it's like to see the world as you do (much of what you described is so massively different to my experience of reality!), so it's hard to test anything, but also people with conditions such as these are such a tiny minority that it's just not practical to devote time and resources to adding extensive accommodations. And I hate that since I wish I could just make my stuff available for everyone to enjoy!

I really have no idea what I could do with Atonal Dreams, for example, since you seem to have difficulties with the general graphics and music. Are there basic accessibility settings that other games include that would make things more tolerable for you (and which wouldn't require me to spend weeks adding them)? You mentioned having difficulties with 3D in general though, so it might not be as easy as, say, some colour filter or volume slider...

How many other games are you able to play without distress? Do you have issues with the majority of them, or do most have settings you can adjust to make them tolerable?
0
LightAcolyte22~3Y
Wow, thank you for your reply Tobias!

I am able to play many games (have completed/played all the way through hundreds, but only about 70-80 3D games). Enjoying them is another matter (probably about two hundred have been enjoyable, the other hundred plus games I only completed because I needed to finish a review of them, or really wanted to see how a later game mechanic worked out in practice so I slogged through it).

Designing for accessibility isn't too difficult when you know how (obviously when I'm programming in C/lua/python/java it's on my mind), but it certainly does require some awareness although honestly not too much planning usually!

I have visual, auditory, and "physical" disabilities that I need to account for and adapt whenever I do something that requires sight, hearing, or two hands. Since I have lived every day for many years with a lot of pain and sensory difficulty, choosing to play a video game is not much different a choice for me from the pain of reading in a mode other than Braille, the pain of breathing or speaking, or the pain and difficulty of eating. One still has to live life, and that doing so means you will incur more pain is just a cost to pay in order to keep living is just a reality many of us have to accept to move forward.

I encourage you to look at accessibility as about being more user-friendly so people can enjoy more comfortable, longer play sessions than they otherwise might with adverse conditions. While I admit a smaller percentage of "gamers" may be impacted by everything I mentioned, the number of people who have difficulty playing games due to physical, visual or auditory complications is a lot larger than the number of people with "disability" medically or legally recognized in those areas. If I think about how many times people have complained about controllers that "they can never get used to," games "you just can't play without a keyboard," graphics that "make their eyes bleed," and sounds that "they can't feel their spine for hours afterward:" these are issues that for some are an unpleasant inconvenience but with disabilities can completely obstruct play.

For example, some studies have shown even 2/3 of the general population experience motion sickness playing 3D games ([LINK] Keeping field of view perspective at 80 to 85 deg. can help with that, but the values depend on the graphics and rendering. This is much larger than, for example, the number of persons with photosensitive epilepsy who can have seizures from flashy game effects (i.e.: 0.06% of the population is far less than 67% of the population). While you might only hear from a minority of people complaining about something like text size restrictions in a game like StarCraft II, usually a lot more people are having difficulty (or even unimpaired gamers just don't like having to "strain") than anyone who takes time to articulate the problem in detail. If you add up the panned reviews from it, the people trying to mod it, the people getting banned for changing Blizzard's play experience by altering the font and the people who just returned/asked for refund you start to get the broader picture of what exposure it has. So, some may be squeaky wheels, but many more are just trying to "fix" the problem on their own replacing fonts and the like from some dude's advice on a message board. Even more won't want to bother or mess with it and just move on to a game they can play.

While it's not something regularly considered by game designers, if you look at how many PC games just have font replacement mods and how many downloads those get versus other mods, you can get a good feel for how many people are really experiencing visual difficulty. Recently NFB and NAD did several studies here in the U.S. on it. I have noted up to around 75% of download share on Nexus for some games just in trying to get more legible fonts! This is an issue that goes from Neverwinter Nights to Call of Duty, not one game or company.

Visibility issues also affects workplace productivity for instance because people have less eye strain and more productivity when they use off-white backgrounds, such as found in several studies by Microsoft on Excel. So many issues like uncomfortable noises or font style and background colors can also improve work and user experiences beyond just persons with disability, and I think that's an important thing to remember about how quality of life improvements can extend beyond just game mechanics.

However, mostly, people with disability in my experience really don't want to have to have people doing special things for them. If they want a change, it should make a large number of people happier to have the option for whatever the convenience is to them as the need is for accommodating the disability. Like because I mostly use only one hand well, I just remap keys to whatever I need them to be to play PC games. Would it be nice if you had keys all on one side of a keyboard for me? Sure. However, I don't see any reason for you to program for those when I can easily work around that and deal with them at the operating system level. Furthermore, I think it's impractical for you as a game designer to try to specifically program for these things, because it affects cross-platform compatibility and can interfere with how the operating system and other programs try to accommodate accessibility.

So, off the top of my head, here's some things that can be done (I'm not saying do everything):

1. Allow for text to be large, "size" 18-22 as rendered (like typical PowerPoint text size advice) should be the standard.
2. Allow for fonts and backgrounds to be customized (consoles as far back as the NES did this, sometimes calling it "style" or "flavor"), always including at minimum an option with dark background and light text.
3. Allow for text to appear in one place on screen whenever possible (two places if you want exchanges to be right-left or top-down). For instance, in MARDEK you included a log where you could revisit what was said in the same format and location at any time. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that. It could be to increase enjoyment possibly, but need and want are on totally different wavelengths and you could chase what people want all year to no effect.
4. Allow for a fixed camera or overhead view option. Yes, it may not showcase your beautifully detailed design work as much, and if you use camera-switching then it may not be as smooth as following the animation; but, it will be functional.
5. Allow for an option to at least limit the brightness of effects to a more limited range. Yes, maybe this will affect hue and color reproduction when enabled, but if it means the difference between playable and not playable it will matter to those users. This is unfortunately not just something that can be compensated for outside-of-game if the differences are very large in contrast between light and dark such that half the game isn't visible to dim sufficiently the brightest effects.
6. Allow for sound to be produced only within the standardized range of human hearing and comfort level, avoiding sounds that are too high or low in pitch except to be used sparingly with intent in non-repeatable scenes where the sound will be used only for specifically poignant effect.
7. Allow for an option to limit reverberation and echo if using any effects that enhance reverb or echo and to limit "enhancement" of sound to "better than stereo" options like 5.1 Dolby Digital discrete output.
8. Ensure all on-screen options CAN be selected from the keyboard, even if it's faster to do so by mouse. For instance in MARDEK, some screens are basically only mouse-enabled; however, you CAN navigate them by tabbing so they are still accessible even if not designed optimally for that.

For instance, if you have battles fought on a beach, and you want light-colored sand: that's fine, that's your game design vision! You don't need only black sand beaches in your world for accessibility, but just consider when you have text and graphics rendered on this that if the focus is on these backgrounds the same as a green grass background, then it will be as painful as looking at a sunny beach in real life is for many people. You instinctively learn not to look at the sand in real life (pain is a good motivator, so you focus on the horizon or darker water or the nearby flora), but you don't have this option really in the game because the field of view is what's on the screen. I also think it's unrealistic to re-work your music; you should not have to change how you want the game to sound! You could instead just allow people to turn off sound effects, music, etc. more selectively. Also, if you have simpler MIDI tracks or something that you used in development, enabling these as an option for music would improve satisfaction for listeners who struggle with more complicated tracks.

I hope this helps, but I can assist with coding of how these options can be easily implemented without specifically re-working graphics or sound too or providing open source examples in other games for you to consider; however, certain post-processing may impact your game undesirably, and that's where it gets messy if you try to be fancy. Like compensating for beach scenes with allowing solid background GUI menus instead of transparent is fairly simple, but making totally different art and special graphics for the non-transparent menu is a monumental undertaking really. I do not want to distract or detract from your work because you've already achieved accessible games before (MARDEK CH.1/2/3), and that's more than most "indies" do! (smile)
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Taylor2~3Y
Here's an interesting idea: Continue Mardek. Same characters and all that, storyline, etc. Do it 8bit for the walking around/world.

BUT for the battles instead of Flash drawings you could do the battles however you want. 3d, etc. Kind of like how Suikoden III went from 2d battles to 3d.

It would keep all the people wanting the same Mardek while updating the battle style to your new polished look and not look like it's done in MS paint (no offense, Flash just has that look)

You could also introduce your older fans to your newer art style this way and solve your popularity issue you mentioned of not being able to replicate Mardek's popularity.
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Bryan1~2Y
Hi, that's my first time coming to comment here. First things first, i am brazilian, so my english is not so good and i will not use google. I know your story, some times i came to this blog and see everything that you were going through and i was praying for you. But i never really gave any chance to the new stuff, i just came back here every year to see if there is any chance to see something new about Mardek.

1. If you liked my old stuff but not the new stuff, why? What does the old stuff have that the new stuff is lacking, or vice versa?
i like the graphics, the story, the gameplay of mardek are great, it's simple, it's cool and it's easy to understand. The new graphics are cool, but, it's not my style. Don't know about the gameplay, i never played the new stuff.

2. Do you think MARDEK is superior to Atonal Dreams? If so, why, specifically?
Mardek got my atention when i was 11 (2007), because they were just 2 normal kids imagining what they could be one day. And i grew up, mardek and deugan grew up too. I can't say if Atonal Dreams is better or not, but i think that the reason that people still want Mardek and want to pay for it is that is because we want to finish the story. Do you don't think about call other game devs to help you to create the game?

3. If I did make a continuation of MARDEK, how much of it would have to be the same for it to be acceptable to you? Would all the cast and gameplay mechanics need to be the ones you remember? Would it have to be 2D and (half) pixelated?
In this case, i think a new Mardek should be more or less half the same as it was before. But if you can improve it, i think that is ok. The Sims tries to improve it self all the time (try but not always suceed). And it's ok to try and fail, learn from it and do better next time. I certain would buy Mardek 4, i bought Mardek 1,2 and 3 on steam even have finished all the 3 games.
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