quote:
Originally posted by Kumiko Kamiyama:
It will be done after LMM, since it is the sequel-prequel and uses the same engine.
I was not at all rushing anyone. I was just wondering.
quote:
Originally posted by Kumiko Kamiyama:
LMM's script is extremely long because of the way they have lots of repetition of either the same dialogue or extremely similar dialogue within the script, depending on (a) which path you are on, and (b) what day you are on, and (c) which character you are interacting with. Also, since LMM is trying to simulate the experiences of how one deals with a broken heart, it has a LOT of decision points. For example... by the time you reach the mansion and are being introduced to the characters living there, you will already have made perhaps 8 or more decisions! That's at the very beginning of the game. What that means from a script point of view is that those 8 or more decisions have generated a lot of different branches - that is, a lot of different script files. The dialogue may be the same, or extremely similar, between branches... but the fact is that you are actually in an entirely different script file. That means that the translation and edit has to be matched between all those branching dialogues so that the dialogue for the characters remains consistent throughout. The branching and multiple script sections should appear to be transparent to the player. One further point to this is that LMM, by nature, is a romantic fairy tale drama. In other words, getting the dialogue "just right" is absolutely critical to the game being portrayed properly to the player. If we are not extremely careful about getting the dialogue "just right", you will not be able to enjoy the game anywhere near as much... you may not be able to enjoy it at all, even.
Not to critise the original japanese programers, and not that they had translating the game in mind when they programed it, but they could have made the it alot simplier on you guys, and even the original japanes creators, if they seperated the text from the script engien controls. That way if statement A is said twice or in two different situations, the script would say only say, load satatement A from data and print, instead of having to write the statement more then once in the script engine. But hine sight is 20/20.
Why I am am stating all this I have no idea, may be I should just go to bed.
Anyway on another note, is there a roughf estimate of the # of people who have pre-ordered LMM?
On yet another note, I wish developers in general, when developing games that are largly 2d,(,[i]This includes Diablo 2, or Baulder's Gate 2, not only japanes games[/i])
that the have the graphics in multiple resoultions, 640x480,800x600,960x720,1024x768 .., et cetera. I know the graphics up more alot space, especialy for the higher res ones, but the could apply a filter to just have the graphics at some ultra high resoultion, and convert them on the spot to a lower resoultion. But this would take alot cpu power. Well, they sould all just go to DVD-ROM. That solves space problems. The reson I say this is that I run my desktop at 1152x864 and I am not used to have lower res graphics.
Why I saying this when it is off topic, once again I don't know. Maybe I just like to blab. Well I better end this post before I blabber some more.
[This message has been edited by CJCaesar (edited 10-08-2001).]
quote:
Originally posted by Kumiko Kamiyama:
Dave E is a programmer, and very analytical to boot... his response, "No Comment". (In other words, he knows just exactly how poor this coding is, but he has also seen worse, believe it or not - probably some programs running your insurance or financial statements, no doubt. ) Don't think that the programmers of games here are any better... some, maybe, but overall you'd be amazed that the real world operates on a daily basis at all.
Right! I'm a professional programmer and I'd say you that: most if not all programmers wish they write "beautiful" reusable codes. Note the "wish". Now, when you have a deadline and are late (and believe me, ALL programmers faced that, at least because none can foretell all the bugs), you can't possibly spend your time findind the "best, most beautiful" way possible of coding.
The best codes I did was when I still was a student and have time to do so... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]
Pass my regards to Dave on the programming. If he’s pass experience is with COBOL or RPG (NOT Role Playing Game) then I understand perfectly. I doing that now as I typing this.
To answer some of CJCaesar san questions, one must understand that even if a file to store just the “text” of the game as you suggest, you will come upon problems. I am a Multi-lingual programmer I have this problem everyday. The most important task to check is the flow of the text itself. Text A might not flow with block B but block B maybe be access from block C which does make sense. If LMM is as complex as I think it is, the permutations of these text combination to check would be huge. What might flow in Japanese might not flow in English. I imagine QA is taking more time than actual programming, this is just a guess.
As for per order of LMM. I forgotten. I corrected that mistake last weekend. I also order short too to make for my errors.
The shirts are made in US right? SO the sizes are US sizes right? Hope so, I order M size believing that, otherwise Japanese M is too small for me.
quote:
Originally posted by Kumiko Kamiyama:
For the first question... Mari-chan is the eldest daughter. Also, we were just trying to get settled and get our first title out with Xchange, so we probably grabbed what we had handy. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img] Actually, we're still trying to get settled... it's a long story...
Aha, ok... Still trying to get settled, huh? Is it because that you have so much work to that you can never get truly settled? Or is it because, as you're saying so often, that your games doesn't sell well enough to allow you to get settled??
quote:
As for complexity... oh, yes! For one thing, saving a game requires a save game slot - now, the Snow Drop engine is nice because it allows up to 30, but that is very very unusual. 10 is much more common, and some games - even complex games - don't even have 10, so that really increases the challenge of the game.
Since LMM is being converted, we're not sure what differences there might be in the final English version with the original Japanese version. However, just to give you an example... right at the beginning of the game, you have to choose to help Mari when she is attacked, or not. Then, when she invites you to the mansion, you have to choose to go with her, or not. While rowing out to the mansion (Ryuugukan, which we have adapted slightly to Sea Dragon Mansion... there's a reason, as some people here already know [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img] ) you have a couple more choices to make while talking with her. After you arrive at the mansion, you have a little time to wait while Hime is notified of your presence - you have a choice of what to think about, Mari or Yukari. When Hime arrives, you will get to meet everyone at the mansion - the three maids as well as Aya, the Chief Maid who trains them. You will have a decision to make while each girl is brought in to introduce herself and talk with you.
Now then... you have not even been taken to your room yet, but you have already had perhaps 8 decision points. All those combinations may have various significance... and this is just the very beginning of your three days' stay at the mansion!
Ah, sounds good! If every decision you make in the game affects the Destiny you get at the end, then it will be very interesting, since _every_ decision will be of importance, not just a few of them [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
But then, again, I'm wondering... Will you still get to the Sea Dragon Mansion even if you doesn't save Mari when she's attacked or if you refuse her offer to follow her? Or will the game just end if you make such a decision??
quote:
Little My Maid is an attempt to sort of "simulate" the reaction to having your heart broken by your girlfriend, Yukari. Unlike many games, LMM does not have you set on a certain Destiny by only one key choice -instead, just as in real life, your Destiny will be formed by various choices you make. You might initially feel quite negative, and hateful... and you might react accordingly. However, later on, you may begin to not feel so hateful and mistrustful... and again, you would react accordingly. So, even if you start along a certain set of choices, you may be able to change your mind later on - again, much more like real life.
Oh, yes, much like real life... and it's there the part of roleplaying comes into the picture, right?? Hmm... You could also choose to be the Takt/Ryu Soma type, who at the beginning if filled with hatred, but later, the flame of hate may falter, only to flare up again later when you remind yourself of the thing that caused your mistrust in the first place... well, there's a lot of choices, depending on how you roleplay... *sigh*.
quote:
It's horribly complex internally because of the way the script was coded... but when you play, you don't really think of that complexity. It might seem simple - even if you consider all the decision points, you might still think it isn't so bad. However, the real complexity stems from the repetition of dialogue sections - you may see the same dialogue on screen at different points, but it isn't actually the same place in the script file. So, the same or similar dialogue lines must be matched up throughout the entire script in order to maintain consistency in editing and presentation. The game script is over 1800 files... about 260,000 lines of game code and dialogue. In comparison, Tokimeki is less than 40,000... and it was a nightmare to go through, and did not have repetition. LMM will be ... umm, challenging... in more ways than one. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Whoa, sounds HUGE ^_^;. But then again... the more, the better, as they say [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img] And the longer we'll be busy, sitting before our computers and playing like mad [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
Hmm, would be more than happy to help you with the "nightmare", but I think that the best I can do is to wait for it to come out and meanwhile, buy some of your other games that I haven't brought yet [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
By the way... seems like your webmaster is somewhat impatient, since he in just two weeks have put up _two_ pages in the products section... first the page for Brave Soul and now one for Gibo [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
But then, again, I’m wondering… Will you still get to the Sea Dragon Mansion even
>>if you doesn’t save Mari when she’s attacked or if you refuse her offer to
>>follow her? Or will the game just end if you make such a decision??
>Well, not every decision… but many decisions, anyway.>Yes, the game is set up so you go to the mansion - you are listless at this point,
>and really don’t have any reason to refuse when Mari-chan insists on thanking you. You
>were out wandering the beach mindlessly, and had no plans on where to stay or what to do.I hope I got this to quote correctly… I don’t know how to reply to messages and quote text, so I cut-pasted-and-mangled it.
In any event…the actual ~reply~…
So, you mean that if you pick (for instance) “No, I don’t want to go to the mansion”, the game will tell you something like “She seems really intent…perhaps I should go with her anyway?” and give you the options again, and then say something else like “…Oh, hell, it’s not like I’ve got anything else to do…” if you pick “NO” again, and so on until you wind up going automatically?
quote:
Originally posted by Kumiko Kamiyama:
Well, not every decision... but many decisions, anyway.
Yes, the game is set up so you go to the mansion - you are listless at this point, and really don't have any reason to refuse when Mari-chan insists on thanking you. You were out wandering the beach mindlessly, and had no plans on where to stay or what to do.
Hmm, ok¬Ö So your decisions right at the beginning of the game may result in different consequences, depending on which choice you made there? Like, if I save Mari-chan when she's attacked, she may think of me as heroic, or something like that? [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
quote:
For LMM, it might be more interesting for people to simply respond honestly to the situation and events as they unfold, and see where it leads them. That is, it might be much more enjoyable to avoid "playing for a particular end" and just see where your own honest responses lead you...
That's what I do when I'm playing a game for the first time: Giving honest answers and acts as I would in real life¬Ö But it usually ends up with me being way too nice¬Ö When I play Baldurs Gate 2, for example¬Ö I'm trying to be a "evil guy", sometimes, but I usually ends up doing the "good" choices, not the "evil" ones¬Ö
quote:
Well, not really impatient... but we do need to meet to determine ways to increase sales of our current products. Sept 11 was not good for anyone, and summer cons are over now, so we really need some good word of mouth promotion to increase sales of our titles that are available right now. We need sales of our current products to produce more titles... we can't stay in business with no sales, so sales of our current products takes precedence over upcoming title projects. We rely on all our current customers to expand the market, too -it's really critical! [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
I'm sure that we're all doing what we can to help you sell more of your current products. After all, everyone here wants you to survive, so you can bring us more pretty girls [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
i was wondering if the game is something like " The Maid’s Story" and can train them to become maids?
Hmmm… Little My Maid desu to Little Mermaid desu . (Serio-kun’s head is spinning) . Ne is there a relation between the two .
quote:
Originally posted by Kumiko Kamiyama:
We don't give away spoilers... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] Also, Dave E has to finish Critical Point so he can start editing LMM (and drown in 260,000 lines... tee hee...)
Well we appreciate Dave E's efforts (actually all you're efforts, otherwise we wouldn't have these wonderful games right?) 260K lines eh? Kinda reminds me of why I got out of computer programming and into system administration. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Are there any Rape Scenes in it? I mean can the main character do anything he wishes?
If not? What can he do in the game?
Is there mermaids in it ? I keep dreaming about mermaids every time I watch the demo before I sleep . It’s probably something to do with the fishes and the bubbling sounds on it .
Little my maid, little mermaid . Don’t you think they are a bit similar, way too similar, hmmm . I smell something FISHY here !
[This message has been edited by Serio (edited 11-02-2001).]
This is a habit of mine . It’s my researcher instinct I guess . I can’t wait to get hold on to my copy of the game and see for myself . All I know is, Japanese people have the tendency to translate English words to adopt to their language, like the words kompyuuta, doa, hanbaga, supotsu, deito, meido…and so on !
Anyone knows the Japanese Name For Little my Maid?
ic…
I feel like I’m sold on Little My Maid, of course the probability of free stuff doesn’t hurt. The gameplay looks great, the fewer characters probably means more work can be put into developing each character’s stories instead of having to spread it thin over tons of girls. I look forward to it.
Auuuugggghhh! I can’t believe I didn’t notice this till last night. The blatant plug for “Pandora’s Box” in Snow Drop! Minoru mentions about an “Extra CD” included in Little My Main ~Pandora’s Box~. And I can’t believe I didn’t notice it all this time.
(ekylo goes and bangs his head against the wall for awhile…)
quote:You just noticed that [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/confused.gif[/img]???
Originally posted by ekylo:
Auuuugggghhh! I can't believe I didn't notice this till last night. The blatant plug for "Pandora's Box" in Snow Drop! Minoru mentions about an "Extra CD" included in Little My Main ~Pandora's Box~. And I can't believe I didn't notice it all this time.(ekylo goes and bangs his head against the wall for awhile...)
I know, I know…
I just can’t believe after playing Snow Drop over and over for almost a month, I totally missed this all this time. I mean, I read the text each time but it wasn’t till last night my brain finally went “click” about it.
(ekylo goes back to banging his head against the wall…)