New Mario Video!!

C-Division aqui,

Fresh off of my computer and onto Youtube, we just made a Scene Preview video for Mario. This is basically showing some scenes that mostly weren't in the demo. Enjoy!

Mario: Seven Sages DEMO v 1.0! (100 Post for U-Division)

C Division Here,

It's here! This will give the first playable demo of what is to come.

Click HERE to download

Features:
-One "Adventure"
-Partial Custom Menu implementation
-Complete Battle System (DBS modification)
This demo shows off some of the basic features and story of the game.

Super Mario RPG: The Seven Sages Demo... is coming!

C-Division, here!

I'm letting you faithful SMRPG:SS fans know that your 3 years of waiting is about to be rewarding. I've talked it over with U Division and we've decided that, heck, we might as well put out a demo. There's really been nothing stopping us from doing it before, and with my help there's definitely nothing in our way. In fact, we began checking for bugs and fixing them yesterday, to prepare the first part of the game for the public. Some time later this weeek, or even as early as tomorrow, we will release the Super Mario RPG: The Seven Sages Demo (v1.0).

I wont' give it all away now, but here are some things that might interest you about it.
-U Division's Custom Menu is up and ready for the demo, although some parts of it are disabled.
-There are Bagdes, although different than Paper Mario's or Superstar Saga's.
-There is a Boss Battle in the demo.
-There is an easy side-quest you can find.
-Edit: The Arcade will be there! (You can play Super Mario Bros. EX)

The demo should have about a half hour of play, just enough for you guys to grasp the plot and experience it. Check back for more updates.

Mario: Seven Sages new Battle Video

C-Division here,

In anticipation of the upcoming demo, U-Division has just made an updated video of the basic battle system. There are still some elements to it not expressed in the video. We can't give everything away can we?

Notes:

-Powerups such as the critical hit (As seen in the video) happen randomly during the heat of battle very similarly to Mario RPG for the Super Nintendo.

-This video shows the first glimpse of Bowser in action. Most of the attacking sprites are custom-made courtesy of U-Division.

-The characters are done with battle animations, not charsets for smoother animation. This question has been asked a lot.


If you have any questions, please comment.


Click HERE to see the video on youtube or watch it below.

C-Division's Zelda: CPW v2.0 is up!

For more information, head over to C-Division's Works and give the new version of his well received RPG Maker Masterpiece a download. You'll find detailed information on the changes from v1.1b to v2.0 on his website. Or, if you're just that impatient, give it a download from the link at the top of the page.

*Promotional Release* Zelda: CPW Beastiary

In honor of it's 500+ downloads and the upcoming version 2.0, U Division is proud to offer an early release of the Zelda Beastiary. The Legend of Zelda: Courage, Power and Wisdom is a game filled with many monsters, and for the enthusiasts I've created a beastiary for in depth information. Everything from the monsters' stats to their drop rates is contained in the beastiary. Basically, every thing you ever wanted to know about the enemies you'll no doubt have to chop down on your quest to save the princess. Go ahead and give it a downlaod now if you're itching to see, but CPW v2.0 will come with the beastiary included.


The Legend of Zelda: CPW Beastiary
Includes:

• All monsters found in Zelda: CPW
• Detailed battle stats
• Item drop rates and Rupee drop rates
• Attacks, skill list and critical ratio
• Pictures for every monster
• *BONUS* Special promotional beastiary video!
  

Mario RPG is Given to C-Division, Production up 300%

It's true. C-Division now owns half the rights to the former U Division project, Super Mario RPG: The Seven Sages. You may know C-Division as the guy who completed a Zelda fan game, for which a download link is at the top of the page. Well, that driving force is now behind Mario. I'll still be doing some of the advanced coding (the custom menu, the mini-games, etc) but C-Division will now be doing more of the grunt work. With this change of pace, we may actually see a release for Mario. His goal is to have it done by or during next summer. Let's hope that happens.

Comments are appreciated.

Big Things to Come... (C-Division)

Hey it's C-Division,

I haven't been on here in a while, I know. With school starting and all that I've been busy lately, but it's started to slow down so I can get back to gamemaking and mugen. U-Division and I have an important announcement that we'll make soon so stay tuned.

In other news, I will be releasing another version of Zelda. This one has a boss battle mode after you beat the game for those who want more of a challenge.

I never got around to adding more to Krash or making a video this summer, but I will try to get those done as soon as possible.

Thanks and check out my blog!

Monster Breeding Database Overhaul

Now that breeding is an important part of the Monster Tamers series, I realize that I need to do some work on on the database before I can continue with the main game. As it is now, everything about the breeding process is complete, from the visual frills down to the code. However, the breeding database (that tells you what two things equal what) has only the very basic combinations for most monster families.

I spent the morning giving both the Slime and Beast families all of their possible combinations, meaning there is code to produce every Slime type monster there is and Every Beast type monster. That was about 700 lines of code, so I expect the entire breeding script to be over 3,500 lines of code. It seems a bit daunting a first, but in all honesty its really just busywork. I've gotten adding mosnters down to a science as far as the breeding list goes. If I keep it up, the Mosnter Breeding Database will be done in a month.

Daibouken: Floor 1 of Arben Temple

It's certainly been a while since the last Zelda video, but here it is. I decided to play my game again, hoping to finally figure out an answer to my question. That question was whether the battle system was worth the extra effort. Well, after playing through it, although the Neo BBS is not perfect, I realized that it was enjoyable and simple. I want to pay more attention to puzzle solving, so the battle system isn't any more complex than it needs to be.

Watch the video if you're interested.

Super Pocket RPG: Monster Tamers Breeding

(This is an excpert from a post I made on GamingW forums concerning improvements to my project. I'm no longer using the alchemy system, and instead, I've developed a breeding system akin to the Dragon Quest Mosnters games from which Monster Tamers is inspired)

Dragon Quest Monsters: Monster Recruiting/Breeding Script Project

U Division Style

Features:
*Recruit Monsters that you fight
*Add those Monsters to your team
*Breed those Monsters to make new ones
*Monster Genders (+ and -)
*Nicknames for monsters

Not Implemented:
*Wildness/Tameness Stat (I haven't figured out how this would help.)

Background:

This is something I'm working on for, what is essentially, a Dragon Quest Monsters (or Dragon Warrior Monsters) remake. Initially, I had no clue how to make such a thing so I used a different method of getting monsters. However, after learning of the powers of Arrays and the ".push" function (yes, laugh at my mishmash scripting knowledge) I realized I had a chance at doing this. Maybe because of years of RM2k/3, I've been taught to jump of the hurdle of insufficient knowledge by trying what you know, I've been able to produce a system that ignores my scripting inexperience. A prime example of this inexperience is that of which was mentioned before, and in addition some of the programming (mostly of the Battle Scene) is actually eventing using the "Call Script" command.

Despite all of this, I've come up with a product imitates the famed Mosnter System from the DQM series as much as I could. There are differences (mostly out of my own lack of knowhow and few for personal taste) and they do change things up a bit. Eventually, I would like to release this, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about doing it. Some of this is eventing, and others of it scripting, but none of it was created with the initial intention of making it public. Common Events are used, Game Switches, and lots of Global Variables show that I'm still new at this. At the least, I'll produce a demo of the game for which it is crafted but a standalone release of the script is still up in the air.

How Offspring Is Decided:

Ped1 = "First Monster's Name"
Ped2 = "Second Monster's Name"
Fam1 = "First Monster's Family"
Fam2 = "Second Monster's Family"

The game checks a predetermined array of monster combinations for a key that matches any of the following, and in the following order.

*Ped1, Ped2 (As specific as it gets. The unique result of two monsters)
*Fam1, Ped2 (Less specific. The result of the pedigree and the mate)
*Ped1, Fam2 (Reverse of previous. Specific monster with general family)
*Fam1, Fam2 (The least specific. The result of any monster from either family.)

I'm not sure if this is the best way I should set up the priorities, but it does follow the rules of breeding that the series put in place.

Walk Through: (Click pics for full size)


First you use the "Recruit" Skill during battle. The ease in which you recruit a Monster is based on your "Tamer Level" and their current HP. Much like Pokemon, whittling down an opponent's HP is to your advantage. Unlike DQM, you can't use an item to make your enemies like you more, but this is still a suitable substitute.

If luck is on your side, then monsters will join your party after battle. Unlike DQM, more than one monster can join you.

In the Monster Farm you can change your party, adding up to three monsters to your team. You do fight with your monsters, FYI.

And best of all, their is the Starry Shrine thing. The place where you can breed your monsters. Choose any two monsters (the first being a pedigree and the second the mate.) to breed from your farm and party. The parents of the monsters will run away, but the child will be at the level of the pedigree and will know both parents skills. This is a sizable change from the original games. Partly to get rid of having to grind a level one monster up later in the game, and partly because your loosing two monsters to gain one.

The way I've scripted breeding is as close to the DQM as it can be. It does matter who the pedigree is and who the mate is, because reversing the order will produce a different monster. For every combination of monster, there is an offspring. The only exception being monsters from the Boss Family. They will be a little more selective in that area.

And finally, you have your offspring. There will be no eggs to pay to hatch, you simply receive the monster and are ready to go. All new monsters are sent to the farm first, so you'll have to pick them up there.

Now you can fight with your new monsters.

If you have any questions or comments about this, please respond. If you'd like me to go into detail on any part of this, I'd be glad to do it.

Working Hard or Hardly Working? (PS: It's the former.)

Despite the complete absence of updates on the site, U Division has been hard at work on a new project. Well, new in the sense that information about it has not been released to the general public yet. I'd like to be able to tell you about it, but the very nature of the project won't benefit from that. In other words, I can't tell you about the game until it's finished. I know that the point of a blog with updates is just opposite of that, but I've decided to go against that. First off, you already know a lot about most of my projects. There's no point in getting your hopes up for another one. Secondly, the way the game is, demos will not work. This project undergoes drastic changes frequently, and it's the kind of game you want to play all the way through.

C-Division: The Legend of Zelda: Courage, Power, and Wisdom

It's here everybody. After 3 years of work, C-Division has pulled through to complete his first public game. I've played it, (4 hours of quality RPG Making) and I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who whose a fan of games in general.

Download The Legend of Zelda: Courage, Power, and Wisdom

Summer Season Productivity

The time is now here for ICU Gigasoft members to up the ante when it comes to work. Not only in summer jobs, but also the reason you came here: games. Without the hassle of school boring down on us, expect lots of progress on our games. One of them (C-Division's Zelda) is even scheduled for completion. Keep checking back or frequent updates for this is one summer that you don't want to miss. I'm not sure how you'd miss a summer though...

E-Series: Mario Screens

Here's just some screens of the updated game. The battle animations are changed a bit, and the font in the menu is easier to read. I don't know what the "E" stands for, but it's easier to categorize.

Mario is Back!

Remember this ungainly image? Well, I thought that maybe I could ignore it but that doesn't prove to be working. Surprisingly I've gotten enough comments on the trailer video hosted on Youtube and several direct messages asking about the game. I'm serious, some one even told me that they had been waiting for this game ever since it was announced (which was about 3 years ago) and still have faith that this game will become more than just a trailer and some pretty pictures. I must say, for those of you who've hung on for such an amount of time your patience will be re rewarded. For those of you new to the show, feel lucky you didn't spend the last 3 years of your life waiting for this. To all, I'm happy to say that work on the ol' Mario RPG is finally picking back up here at U Division. The hiatus was mainly due to the distraction and appeal of the RPG Maker XP as opposed to the 2003 version that Mario and Zelda are based off of. That, and my natural tendency to look for challenges and new ideas instead of sticking with what I have and what I know.

But enough about me. What you want is Mario, and I know it. That one poll I once had at that one time showed a 6:1 interest in Mario over Zelda, so this is scientifically proven as well. Anyhoo, all I have to say is expect more media and more information on the sleeping beast. However, when you're really interested in taking a gander try summer time, for without the hassle of school I expect productivity to increase tenfold. Well... ten times zero isn't much but you get the point.

The Hiatus is over, I'm back!!

Go over to my site cdivisionworks.blogspot.com for the full story.

SPRGP: New Features (Plus Improved Old Ones)

Ever since I made a breakthrough in RGSS scripting (a personal one, nothing compared to the average scripter) I've had a renewed interest in scripting. Not only this, I was able to figure out how to do more things. You may not think any of them are advanced, and most likely they are not. Nevertheless, I was able to improve the quality of the game by adding new scripting enhanced features.

(Scripts I made are bold)

Script Based:
-Monster Beastiary
-Quest Objectives/Journal
-Books

Event Based:
-Monster Loot
-Monster Alchemization

RPG Maker VX Impressions 2

I've decided to give VX a chance, but have yet to take it seriously at this point. At this time, I have no plans to make a game with it, but I could see myself using it in the future. The Majority of my interest in VX actually comes from a scripting group, KCG, that is quickly and efficiently producing customizable scripts that are extremely useful. Not only do they replace some of the missing features of VX, they add many RPG favorites (learning skills from weapons, leveling up skills, categorizing items, stat bonuses and so on) but they also invent their own. For this reason alone, I have interest in VX. At the moment I've only managed to horde some of their excellent work, but hopefully in the future I'll be able to put it to good use.

Acceptable Excuse

Despite all of my intentions to update frequently, my plans were once again foiled with the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Since the release of that game, RPG Makin' has been on the back burners. And to make things worse, Spring Break is just a day away meaning over 10 days without access to my computer. But if you've been following this site for any amount of time now you know what to expect. But fear not, after the break and when the novelty of Brawl has worn off (don't hold your breath on that one) my attention can then again return to the RPG Maker games you know and love.

P.S. Dedede rocks.