For those who don't know, MoGi Origins was originally programmed by Titan, using GameMaker 1.4. Ever since Titan left the project, I was trying to find a new programmer to fill his shoes. Finding a programmer for GM1.4 was hard, but I managed to find a few. But GM1.4 is old, and it's hard to find license, and it's slow... would it be wise to covert the entire project in GameMaker 2? Well, it might be a bit too soon to celebrate, but this is how MoGi Origins looks, in GM2:
I was skeptical because I talked about this conversion with Titan, perhaps 3 years ago. He told me that most of the game would break, so it does not worth the effort. I took his word for it, as he had more knowledge than me on the subject, and he made me abandon the whole idea. Fast-forward to now, Titan has ghosted me for more than 8 months. It's like he doesn't exist anymore. I even tried reaching out to his sister but there's no response. So, I had to accept that he is gone and that I had to carry on, on my own.
After a somewhat depressing Summer, I had to move on and look for new programmers. The procedure wasn't easy as they had to sign an NDA and deal with the necessary formalities for the protection of the game. A few GM1.4 programmers declined for various reasons, but I managed to find a guy to check what happens if we convert the game to GM2. Depending on how good the conversion is, there are many benefits to this: easier level tiling, better video controls, more people willing/able to work with GM2, and even exporting to more than just Windows ports.
It is very early to tell, as I haven't played the entire game yet, but I was surprised by how much of the game is NOT broken! Yes, the backgrounds don't have parallax, the videos are not working and Neko possibly crashes the game, but the extra modes, the save system, the map... everything complex pretty much works as it should!
To some of you, this might feel a step back, as pieces of the game need to be fixed. But having this game work as it is, in GM2, is a huge deal and I'm extremely happy about it! I haven't been this hyped since.... 2016? I don't even remember. The thing is, that after these glitches are fixed, I can finally leave behind the limitations of GM1.4 and work on the game, as I should have done a long time ago.
By hiring new and skillful programmers, I can finally finish this monster of a game! GM2 has many tricks and effects that can be used, and they can make this game even better that I initially envisioned.
Thank you for being around, through the good and the bad times!
I love you all! \o/
Im so proud of you , a how the tables have turned for the better ever since u got your data back
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm also proud of myself for being so devoted and persistent, even during the entire devhell of this game and a number of dark periods in my life.
DeleteLooking at the "other developers" at the side of this page, most of them have abandoned their blogs. But me, even if I had friends and partners abandoning me, I'm still here, fighting. I hope that GM2 would be my salvation, even after all this time!
It will be and you ant lieing when you say most developers lost it , but your built different . Your stronger then many people relize , keep up the good work brother always watching since u first started name was winds of change at the time
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to tell you that the game works great in the new GMS2 engine! I would have to render all the sexy videos in a new format (they are like 40 of them) but the project is moving forward, finally!!!
DeleteOmg that is amazing news you will avance so much better this way
DeleteTo be blunt what almost certainly happened with Titan is that he found a job at a F500 company and scrubbed his online data and persona so that he couldn't be traced back to an adult title by his employer because of the severe social stigma against adult titles. That said, it's inexcusable, unprofessional behavior. No professional developer ghosts a client, even if they need to move on from a project because burnt bridges cannot be easily rebuilt. I've worked with many clients that for one reason or another i had to stop working with and I've never ghosted any of them because it's an incredibly bad way to do business. It sucks, but some people just do not have functioning ethics. You can't really account for that, you just have to move on. Good luck with the future of the project!
ReplyDeleteTitan kept his identity secret and his life separated from this project, so I'm not sure if what you say is the case here. It sure is weird, as I was paying him a fair amount of money for his work. But at some point he stopped replying to my emails, phone messages, Skype messages and so on, without any explanation.
DeleteOn the other hand, this was a blessing in disguise. I was too dependent on him. And for a long time I was scared of doing this on my own. But now, with GameMaker2, I'm taking a completely new path... and that path feels like a fresh restart.
It's not as if didn't Titan have signs of discontinuing what you were paying him to do and communication with you, it was bad, the worst, and worsening with them for years.
DeleteSo it's good knowing you're making it through such with an alternative person/people.
Titan was a very capable programmer. He managed to program pretty much every crazy thing I wanted. I was especially impressed with Rudy and her transformations.
DeleteBut around 2015 he started having personal issues and from then on the project started dragging. We hired people to help and that was an unpleasant experience for me. Perhaps that's why I was hesitant to hire a new programmer. At that point he was working part-time, mostly helping and guiding the people that we hired for the level design. With programmers we weren't happy at all. Especially Jerry... he was expensive, and Titan had scrap his work and program Red from scratch.
I tried everything to keep Titan in the project. He did most of his work while staying at my place, which was a big sacrifice, mostly on my part, as I paid for everything. After that, we changed our arrangement, and I ended up paying him for every month of work, but he could work only for 1 or 2 months per year. Until he finally ghosted me. I know that he is not dead because his sister replied to me. So yeah, that's how the story ends for him.
I wish he would have quit earlier. He was dragging the project back, and the fact that he never tried to convert the game to GMS2 was a huge mistake. Of course... I am to blame too. The project was too demanding, the characters were too many and it was obvious that Titan was struggling for time to work. I assume that he now resents this game. What I do know for a fact, is that I did the best I could, with what I had. And that's what I'm still trying to do.
How nice to see you've started working on the game again. There was even a desire to play it again, however, in the old version, where the plot was not cut. As for me, it's more interesting to go through the plot than endless survival
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm waiting for the game to be released in Steam to add it to my collection)
Yes, the survival mode was something extra. Right now we are trying to fix a few important things that don't work in the new version, such as the sexy video animations. Once we sort that out we can continue working on the game. I will add it to Steam when we are close to the final release.
Deletecongratulations to your success, really hope you will get further this time instead of constantly being held back by your programmer. good luck!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations.
ReplyDeleteI'm an OG backer from 10 years ago. I still look forward to this game finishing. Keep it up man.
ReplyDelete