Dealing with copycats

I realized quite some time ago — even before I made this blog — that there are unscrupulous people who will take notice of what I do whether I like it or not.  Over the past year, I’ve seen old, outdated screenshots from my project pop up in a couple forums asking, “Where do I get such-and-such thing from this screenshot?”  This hasn’t happened to just me, of course.  I’ve seen it happen with a number of other people’s screenshots.

That’s pretty much the risk you take when showing your project images.  Obviously, if I didn’t want the attention, I would simply not make any videos or not show any screenshots from my personal project.  But it’s not uncommon to provide screenshots for critique.  It’s always good to get early feedback for your game.

But when I see the window skin I’ve been using ripped from my project’s screenshots, it tells me that I need to be careful with what I put out in the future.

I also occasionally get asked about the scripts I use.  My answer is the same to everyone.  All the scripts I use in my project are publicly released scripts.  However, I do (heavily) modify these public scripts to my own preferences (relocating drawn items in windows, etc) which anyone can do.  Technically, B.U.B.S. is a private configuration, but it is done purely within Enu’s Sideview script, a public script.  Anyone could make their own battler configuration if they wanted.

The reality is that this is the internet.  Stuff like image ripping will happen anyway.  I cannot stop it, but I will definitely be more selective when it comes to releasing information or images from my project.

Yay, video footage! – A B.U.B.S. Demonstration

What is B.U.B.S.? B.U.B.S. stands for

Bubs’
Unusual
Battler
Setup

Great name, don’t you think?

The sprites are from the game Ragnarok Online. Although using RO sprites really isn’t a new concept for RPG Maker, I’ve created a new type of battler format specifically for the RPG Tankentai Sideview Battle System. This format uses the flexibility of the SBS script to try to utilize as many frames as there are available for the RO sprites. This means that unlike other existing formats such as Minkoff’s or Kaduki, a battler can utilize more than just 3 or 4 frames when doing an action.

For example, Satan Morroc in this video utilizes 12 frames just when he’s standing still(!) and 6 frames when he’s attacking. The Succubus uses 3~6 frames for idling and attacking.

It usually takes me awhile to finish just one enemy battler and that’s not including making unique skills for them either (see Aqua Elemental).

B.U.B.S. is not an independent script. It is simply a unique configuration to the Tankentai SBS module and can be done with the SBS script alone. The sprites, however, are aligned on sprite sheets manually by me and that’s the easier part of creating a battler. Other things you see such as the battle HUD is done by another script.

Will this script be released publicly?
I have no plans to release this configuration publicly anytime soon. It *might* be released eventually, but only after I’ve finished my own game first. You can, however, create *your own* battler setup using the Tankentai SBS.