IRC Shit

Oh wow, I completely forgot about this.

A little while back, Phil and I were talking about posting insightful discussions we'd had in IRC (#scurvyworms at irc.calindora.com port 49233), just because we get into some interesting stuff sometimes.

Phil actually sent me a txt file with a few quotes in it, and I just completely forgot about them and never posted them. So, here they are.

IRC Shit #1: Ichimonji, Jibril and Mirage discuss Final Fantasy X and XII

[13:41] [~Ichimonji> i forgot how fucking awesome and addictive FFXII is
[13:43] [~Jibril> yeah man
[13:44] [~Ichimonji> i think when i lost it and went on that rant a couple months ago about the game was because i was in the ogir and nam-yensa sansea at the time
[13:44] [~Ichimonji> and it's the lamest area of the game
[13:44] [~Ichimonji> and at that point there really isnt too much to do
[13:45] [~Jibril> yeah that part kinda sucks
[13:45] [~Jibril> though i like it, purely because of the place you're in
[13:45] [~Jibril> i think it looks cool
[13:45] [~Jibril> but i'm also a sucker for desert environment
[13:45] [~Jibril> s
[13:46] [~Jibril> there's a huge desert on roak that i think i'll be crossing soon and i'm all psyched about it
[13:49] [~Ichimonji> haha
[13:50] [~Ichimonji> also, yeah it looks cool. but the length and how you maneuver through it is stupid
[14:06] [~Ichimonji> man, when you dont try to get 3 quickenings for 3 characters right off the bat, the game is pretty tough
[14:06] [~Ichimonji> well, to fight hunts and stuff
[19:17] [~Ichimonji> Mosphoran Highwaste -> Salikawood -> Phon Coast -> Tchita Uplands -> Sochen Cave Palace -> Archades
[19:18] [~Ichimonji> man. that's a the longest streak of fields/dungeons to get from one plot point to the next
[19:19] [~Ichimonji> that's the only part of the game where the pacing is really drunk.

[08:40] [~Ichimonji> man. FFX looks so low budget after playing FFXII
[08:47] [~Jibril> FFX did come out fairly early in the ps2's life cycle
[08:47] [~Jibril> and FFXII was like right at the end
[08:47] [&raiden> FF12's environment isn't as stellar
[08:47] [~Jibril> not artistically no
[08:47] [~Ichimonji> yeah i know, i'm not saying that it doesnt make sense
[08:48] [&raiden> not technically either!
[08:48] [~Ichimonji> i'd say the same if i was playing FFIX and then went back to play FFVII
[08:48] [&raiden> but characters look better in FF12
[08:48] [&raiden> and i find FF8s graphics to be better than FF9s
[08:48] [~Ichimonji> i find everything looks better in FFXII, even the environments
[08:48] [&raiden> FF9 has got too many details for the resolution
[08:49] [~Jibril> FF8 and FF9 were in development at the same time
[08:49] [~Jibril> there's only slight improvements in 9
[08:49] [&raiden> in many cases, FF9s details look like noise in the image
[08:49] [&raiden> unless you're stupidly close
[08:49] [~Jibril> but obviously there's a huge difference between 7 and 8/9
[08:50] [&raiden> 7 graphics suck
[08:50] [~Ichimonji> i bet it would look good on the PC. like how FFVIII looks amazing on the PC
[08:50] [&raiden> audio quality isn't too good either
[08:50] [&raiden> FF8 looks rotten
[08:50] [~Jibril> rotten? >_>
[08:50] [&raiden> cause the backdrops aren't re-rendered
[08:50] [&raiden> they make the 3d objects stick out a lot
[08:50] [&raiden> but in battle, it looks goood
[08:51] [~Ichimonji> that's true. VII and VIII's pre-rendered shit are horrible on the PC
[08:51] [&raiden> and CG movies are rerendered
[08:51] [~Ichimonji> but the character's are very smooth
[08:51] [&raiden> In ff8 they used direct 3d to smoothen it out
[08:51] [&raiden> but on FF7, not even that

[01:50] [~Ichimonji> the cool thing about FFX is that you actually feel like you're on an adventure
[01:51] [~Ichimonji> added by the fact that Tidus is basically the player. he's as new to the world as we are so whenever he's surpised by anything it's reflecting our feelings. so we can relate to him more
[01:52] [~Ichimonji> and that you have a set goal from the get go so it's like you're acomplishing something
[01:52] [~Ichimonji> also, FFX is like the most japanese Final Fantasy created
[01:53] [~Ichimonji> not just the look of the characters and some of the places and story elements, but how the characters react to things
[01:54] [~Ichimonji> it's more japanese than FFVII and they have fucking anime faces in that game as well as Wutai is japan.
[01:55] [~Ichimonji> i find that the FFX battles are really quick for a turn based battle system
[01:55] [~Ichimonji> it feels quicker than the ATB
[01:56] [~Ichimonji> probably because battles happen almost immediately and when you input your commands they happen right then and there too
[01:56] [~Ichimonji> now comparisons between X and XII
[01:57] [~Ichimonji> There are like no puzzles in FFX. Well, obviously you have your cloister of trials, but that's about it.
[01:58] [~Ichimonji> one thing i noticed in XII was that you do something new in almost every area, including towns. You're always doing these weird little puzzle things to advance in the story
[01:58] [~Ichimonji> with the exception of the phon coast and the mosphoran highwaste
[01:59] [~Ichimonji> although the pacing and narritive in FFX is pretty much perfect
[02:00] [~Ichimonji> they know how much scenes to give you and when you show them to you. the areas in FFX arent very long, but they feed you a healthy dose of scenes that you're content with that area
[02:00] [~Ichimonji> and not too long too
[02:00] [~Ichimonji> also, there is a lot more casual dialouge in X
[02:00] [~Ichimonji> the party really does seem like a tight group of friends/co-workers
[02:01] [~Ichimonji> whereas in XII it was all about the task at hand
[02:01] [~Ichimonji> it felt very straight and norrow
[02:01] [~Ichimonji> narrow*
[02:02] [~Ichimonji> of course FFXII is better than FFX in most aspects, there's no question
[02:03] [~Ichimonji> they handle exploration really well in XII.
[02:04] [~Ichimonji> i like the story in XII, but in retrospect it's actually extremely short
[02:04] [~Ichimonji> but everything that you do in that game is very long

IRC Shit #2: Tidane hates game designers

[23:16] [Tidane> a game programmer is a developer :(
[23:16] [Tidane> designers are just
[23:16] [Tidane> there
[23:16] [Tidane> to be useless and make crappy games.
[23:16] [~Jibril> a few years
[23:16] [~Jibril> and yeah
[23:16] [~Jibril> a designer is like
[23:16] [~Jibril> peter molyneux
[23:16] [~Jibril> shigeru miyamoto too
[23:18] [~Jibril> the guys who
[23:18] [Tidane> Programmers did it.
[23:18] [~Jibril> put their name on the cover of a game
[23:18] [~Jibril> even though
[23:18] [Tidane> Designers just take good ideas and turn them into shit
[23:18] [~Jibril> the programmers, artists, audio people etc
[23:18] [Tidane> or they take terrible ideas and make them worse.
[23:18] [~Jibril> did all the work
[23:19] [Tidane> I'm not even kidding about this shit
[23:19] [Tidane> designers are like
[23:19] [Tidane> Mac users.
[23:19] [~Jibril> the majority of what they do is just
[23:19] [~Jibril> sit around
[23:19] [~Jibril> and come up with shitty ideas
[23:19] [~Jibril> right
[23:20] [~Jibril> and then tell all the programmers to go make it
[23:20] [~Jibril> because I'M THE DESIGNER GUYS
[23:20] [~Jibril> or is that director
[23:20] [Tidane> It is more like
[23:20] [Tidane> Hey guys, let's do this.
[23:20] [Tidane> "That will not work for X, Y, and Z"
[23:20] [Tidane> But that's my artistic vision! Make it work
[23:21] [~Jibril> yeah
[23:21] [Tidane> Then people try to say a game has bugs
[23:21] [Tidane> but it doesn't have bugs
[23:21] [Tidane> (well, sometimes it does, but we ignore those times)
[23:21] [Tidane> it has designer wanting to do too fucking much.
[23:21] [Tidane> like the project I'm on now
[23:22] [Tidane> The Gold version of the game is due in August
[23:22] [Tidane> and the designers just keep saying "we should do this, we should do this"
[23:22] [Tidane> Yeah, how about we fucking get some of this other shit done you hairbrained monkey.
[23:22] [~Jibril> that is one thing that pisses me off
[23:22] [~Jibril> when games are compromised for the sake of some asshole's "artistic vision"
[23:23] [~Jibril> xenosaga has that written all over it
[23:23] [Tidane> It isn't just that
[23:23] [Tidane> designers are morons
[23:24] [Tidane> not in the sense that they're idiots
[23:24] [Tidane> they're like children.
[23:24] [~Jibril> like, everything has to be their way
[23:24] [Tidane> Yes.
[23:24] [~Jibril> even though it doesn't work from a developent standpont
[23:24] [~Jibril> standpoint*
[23:25] [~Jibril> see
[23:25] [Tidane> This thing is on the 360
[23:25] [~Jibril> a game has to be playable first
[23:25] [~Jibril> then you can think about whatever bullshit you want to throw into it
[23:25] [Tidane> and the designer keeps saying he wants to be able to edit a script to change "stuff"
[23:25] [Tidane> which I would say it ok
[23:25] [Tidane> if we were doing a goddamn PC title.
[23:25] [Tidane> but he has to have it
[23:25] [~Jibril> you mean like how pc games have console commands and shit?
[23:25] [Tidane> so we have to take extra weeks to track down something like Xlua
[23:26] [Tidane> xnua*
[23:26] [Tidane> and get that working
[23:26] [Tidane> Kinda.
[23:26] [Tidane> I'm trying to think of a game, hmm
[23:26] [Tidane> Well, ok
[23:26] [Tidane> Think of it like a configuration file
[23:27] [Tidane> so you can change things in that file
[23:27] [Tidane> to test gameplay without having to recompile the project
[23:28] [Tidane> The problem is the time it takes us to put this in, which will only be used for testing, is greater than the time saved using it.
[23:28] [Tidane> Idk, this project is going to piss me off for a long time.
[23:28] [~Jibril> what kind of game is it, anyway?
[23:28] [Tidane> lol, no idea.
[23:28] [Tidane> We've got a few ideas, but there's been no decision.
[23:29] [Tidane> One of the guys is pushing a game that would be no fun at all
[23:29] [Tidane> So I've been trying to push something that would actually be enjoyable.
[23:29] [Tidane> He wants some weirdass racing game
[23:29] [Tidane> I've been pushing for a physics-based platformer-esque game.

LJ