The original, music video-styled trailer (from 2017)
FiveSixSeven Eight (!) years in the making! Much more still to come. Chapter one is complete and ready for your enjoyment.
GANYMEDE is a Super Mario World hack. Though, at this point, it's more accurate to call GANYMEDE an original game which uses Super Mario World as an engine, because there is basically no visible trace of Mario left in here now. The basics of gameplay are quite similar, but there are a lot of additions and changes to be found. I wrote all of the words, I drew all of the graphics, and I designed and directed everything you see, play, smell and taste.
This is the first chapter of what will be a much longer game. If you find Super Mario World to be of a reasonable level of challenge, you should not be terribly frustrated with GANYMEDE. It includes a short manual.
If you take your time, you'll probably finish it in about an hour.
This is the story of a boy who seeks adventure and fun.
Why do kids seek adventure and fun? Part of it is that kids are just naturally wired to do that. But, another part of it is contrast; the grass is always greener somewhere else. If life appears to suck, it is a natural instinct to dream of a place where it doesn't, and to want to go and find it. Even if it isn't real.
For this boy, life could be better. This is not the first time noises from his parents' bedroom have roused him awake.
It used to be that, at times, weird noises came from their room, but this noise is a lot more familiar and relatable, and his first thought is that he's glad they are shouting at each other, because that meant that, if he stayed out of the way, neither of them would shout at him. That's just how it was these days, and it just kept getting worse and worse. Now, he couldn't even take a nap and get away from it.
So, maybe, the boy thinks, he really ought to get away from it.
Before he has time to stop himself, he's already out and into the pouring rain. He doesn't have anywhere in mind, and it really doesn't matter, does it? He could go wherever he wanted, and no one would miss him. What's more, he wouldn't miss them, either. And so, he wandered, in search of nothing, until finally, the rain ceases and so do his wanderings.
He has made his way to the edge of the sea, and it makes him think of the painting above his bed, with its bad ass sailor holding his own in a hurricane against the worst Mother Nature had to throw at him. The boat docked nearby makes it almost seem like fate and Mother Nature appeared to not be in a fighting mood at the moment. And so, it was in no general direction that the boy sailed.
For a brief time, the clouds clear and reveal a dazzling night sky, full of stars and constellations. Miles from anywhere and going who knows where, such a sight could only be witnessed by an adventurous seafarer such as himself. He enjoys it as long as he can.
And that is not very long. Because, without warning, the storm reignites all around the boy and his boat. Thunder stomps the seas into churning chaos as the squall blows in every direction at once. The boat is tossed, turned, and tumbled before a bolt of lightning strikes, smashing it to a great many smithereens.
When he awakens, many hours have passed, and it is the blinding stare of the sun into which he opens his eyes. He doesn't know where he is, or how, exactly, he survived to ponder the question. Maybe it doesn't matter. What matters is that he's here, apparently to stay.
A silhouette looms in the distance, which he recognizes as a lighthouse. It is tall and old, and looks like it has not been used in a long time. It is there he decides to go first. How cool it would be to live in a lighthouse! It's the adventure he was seeking, in any case.
But the funny thing about adventure is that adventure is dangerous. No going to the fridge for a drink, no stopping in the convenience store for a hot dog. No warm bed to snuggle in at night, no fan to keep you cool. Living like a kid is one way to learn some adult lessons. It seems certain that, by the time he makes it to the lighthouse, he will be relieved to finally find safety and maybe he will be wondering if this wasn't a big mistake after all.
The real-life story of GANYMEDE:
The year was 2013. My wife was then my fiancé, and we had just moved in together. A concurrent change in careers left me with a lot more free time (or, more to the point, I made my money tied to my desk now). This was a job that frequently left me with downtime. So, I decided to start hackin'. I had no plan or ambition, it was just cool that Lunar Magic let me make levels in a Mario game, because this was something I dreamt of doing since there was a Super Mario World. So, I made a bunch, pretty quickly, and had fun doing it. I thought I lost this first hack (eventually, I rediscovered it), so I just started a new one, armed with a greater skillset and more experience. As before, this was nothing but something to do, when I had nothing else to do. Within a few months, it sported about three dozen levels, some of which I was pretty proud of. And so, it finally occurred to me that this could be an actual hack people might enjoy. Over the next year, I began experimenting with custom graphics for the first time, constructing my own worldmap for the first time, and installing patches to alter the gameplay, and little by little, Thoughtful Mario World drifted further into what the kids call 'choconilla' territory. Still a Mario game, but starting to be something a little bit different.
It was around this time that I was introduced to a band I've since come to call my favorite. They are The Shills, and one of their albums was an album with a story, my favorite kind. And this one really touched me. It was about a man who runs away, and leaves his entire world behind, sick of humanity and all the bullshit. He gets caught in a storm and wrecks on an island. As the album progresses, his feelings about his situation progress from satisfaction and happiness to the realization that the real problem was himself, and nowhere you could run would be far enough to get away from it. It turned out that I related to this story in a deep and profound way, and rather entirely by coincidence, I thought, wouldn't it be fun to adapt this story to my hack? I have always wanted to make a videogame, but even more, I have always wanted to tell a great story. I redesigned Mario into the Man on the Boat, and it's been a process in the years since to transform Thoughtful Mario World into Ganymede.
So, originally, Ganymede was going to be, simply an adaptation, telling (roughly) the same story as the album, with a lot of extra detail in between the major plot points that existed as songs. But, then, a newer and bigger idea began to take hold. Instead of my Ganymede being a story about a man who runs away, it would be about a boy who runs away, not from the big bad world and its stupid people, but from the people who ought to love him and care for him most, because, instead, they are really screwed up, toxic people, so caught up in their own problems that they are unaware of how much it hurts their kid. This is Chapter One, as it now exists, and it ends on a cliffhanger as the kid finds himself trapped on an island with his regrets and no apparent way back home. The next several chapters will tell of what happens as the boy grows into a man, and comes to grips with the events of the night he ran away, all to culminate in a pair of climaxes: how the boy survived and made it back home, and how (or, if?!) the man comes to grips with his traumas and challenges afterwards. I say "if", because whether or not he actually does make it back and gains the wisdom he needs to finally be at peace, is entirely up to you.
As we embark upon a new era of politics in America, where everything is great and nothing bad will ever happen again, it has been stated that the time for a new political thread on Tendo City is required. As such, I have seen to this pressing national security issue.
Brothers! Reflect with me upon the decline of the West.
I make the following observations as an objective observer of the current state of the United States in the world, without trying to project favor towards the right or the left. I never voted for Trump, and feel he should be impeached. However, I am quite unenthused about the other party.
I feel that...
1. Democracy only does well in largely homogeneous societies, where there is a unifying spirit amongst the people who comprise it. In an increasingly diverse and opinionated society, in the age of the internet, American democracy is unraveling and becoming a chaotic relic of the past. Democracy is by design a way for the people of a society to control their own destiny. It evolved out of homogeneous societies, and thrived in such societies. In a country consisting of two or more diverse, opposed societies, they will always either a. be in conflict, b. come into where one dominates the other and the other is submissive or destroyed, c. destroy one another mutually, or d. split into separate and sovereign self-governing bodies. Examples include the US Civil War (two societies vying for control of the US), the French Revolution (two societies vying for control of France), Russia, England, Spain, and so on and so forth. In every such example, the clash of societies. To reiterate, two separate societies which have coalesced their own unique sense of identity cannot peacefully co-exist for long in a single greater society.
2. The United States is devolving into two separate societies, which are clashing for control of the future of the country. There are two different, opposed camps vying for control of the legacy and banner of United States in a zero sum game. These are:
Society A: The far right, consisting of the core of the old American White society, which established and then dominated the United States as a nation from 1776 to January 2021. It has been a White English-speaking Christian society. It tends to be religions, uneducated and militaristic. It tends to extol more traditional masculine values. This is why the GOP really is the party of “old white men,” because it is them defending this retreating society. This old society was in many ways represented by the spirited, brash actions we saw unfurl at the Capitol on 1/6/21. These are, in many cases, White people who want the world they remember as kids; the same world that their grandparents knew. There is nothing innately wrong about this, they are simply acting in their perceived best interest, as do all societies.
Society B: The left society consists of most American ethnic minorities united against the power of the old White society, although there are certainly a sizeable number of sympathizing Whites, especially women. This society is trying to realize a much more diverse society—this naturally detracts from the power of the hitherto primary White society. This is the source of the conflict we see in 2021. This left-leaning society is represented by the Democratic party, which will be dominate for the foreseeable future after the insurrection of 2021.
3. Trump’s presidency has been the swan song of the old White society, or Society A, which is now no longer the undisputed possessor of government. Society B is now dominant, and shall remain so as the old White society continues to decline in population percentage, representation in congress and societal prestige. It will in time become a minority.
4. American influence and prestige may never again fully recover or be what it was in the 20[sup]th[/sup] century.
5. Society A and Society B will probably come into further conflict in the future, as they clash for control of the government, until they divorce nationally, or one dominates and suppresses the other.
6. The West in general is highly decadent, and is not on a sustainable footpath. Western society no longer appreciates masculinity, but rather is trying to re-imagine it in a less masculine way.
7. The more homogeneous a society is, the more stable it tends to be, because one body of people with a clear and obvious commonality between them (i.e. predominantly race, or religion) will naturally seek a herd mentality and a strong identity and sense of association with their 'herd'. It is a base human instinct to herd with similar people. All societies are created out of this instinct.
8. The US government is bloated and inefficient.
9. The US federal deficit will catch up to us in the 21[sup]st[/sup] century.
10. Human society as we know it itself will not endure more than a few more centuries.
11. We may well see secession efforts in the years and decades again.
12. The Democratic and Republican parties used to both be internal political organs within Society A in the 20th century. In 2021, they each represent a separate society, trapped together in an unraveling democracy.
13. The Democratic left truly is heading towards socialism. Depending on your perspective, you might say that this is a natural and good evolution for our country. Another perspective is that this is just what happens when democracies become too free and decadent and and destroy themselves. Socialist societies, in turn, tend to curb freedoms in order to survive.
I have one now. Here's my first impressions. First of all, a bunch of quality of life improvements in the OS that frankly should be back ported to the PS4. You can actually see install progress from the disc now. There's more options for the share button, including disabling instantly taking a picture when it's hit. It does NOT yet support making folders. I have no idea why it always takes so long to implement this feature every single generation, but here's hoping that one is coming soon. It's a must on my PS4.
Backwards compatibility is very nearly perfect. It's not emulation, it's just running fully compatible hardware and the games use an OS and driver layer to communicate on the PS4 so translating what little needs to be translated is straight forward enough. The older games reach whatever framerate cap they've been programmed with and stick to it. Bloodborne absolutely needs a patch to raise it's FPS cap from 30 to 60 or even 120 though. Fans managed it on emulation, though it does require recoding a lot of gameplay elements that were foolishly tied to the frame rate instead of real time or the game plays way too fast and things don't sync up right. To this day I still don't get how developers keep doing that. They have got to realize that it's just plain bad design by now. Kingdom Hearts in particular has suffered in it's future ports requiring numerous patches to resolve various elements that were tied to frame rate and had to be tied to real time instead. Here's hoping an industry wide shift is occuring to make that kind of design a thing of the past forever. (Admittedly that flawed design goes back a long ways, to Star Fox. If you overclock that game it plays far faster cinematics and all, and it would need a far more involved fan patch to make all the cinematics and the general gameplay "lock" to a certain speed while still running at a smooth 60fps.)
The controller is extremely well designed. It may just be my favorite one yet. Now, the awkward feel of using that giant middle track pad as "start" and "option" as select is still an issue. I never liked that "feel". However, it's not all that bad and I do get the desire to make "share" such a prominant feature. The HD rumble makes a big return after being put in and then ignored on the Switch. I wonder if more developers will take advantage of it this time around? Maybe, maybe not since MS has done absolutely nothing to their own controller's design.
Well, now there's the elephant in the room. The console's physical design. It's ugly and it's awkward. They failed twice. They put form over function but the form well... I'm sure you've all seen the jokes online already, and it's far worse when you see it in person. The thing is a lump of misshapen plastic that calls the eyes to it, and that's considering I have it stacked up with all my other consoles going back to the beginning of time. The thing is just... ridiculous and looks like it was designed in 1999 by Dell, not 2020 by Sony. No, the "fins" aren't there for cooling. Relying on plastic to transfer heat is NOT how anyone would ever build something. It includes a little circular base. This base is a requirement whether horizontal or vertical. Remember the horizontal stand for the PS2? Remember how much everyone joked about that? Even Sony broke "compatibility" with it in later "fat" PS2 redesigns. It was utterly pointless. Well, this time it has a point. The sides of this thing are curved. Both of them. The thing rocks around and jiggles if you don't use the stand to keep it stable. That said, it's even worse. The stand barely holds on with two plastic clips. That's it. If you use it vertical, it also has a screw to more properly mount it to the base, but if you go horizontal you have no way to screw it in at all. In other words, if you pull the console out to do something like plug in a cable it pops right off the stand as often as not. It gets worse. The stand only barely makes it stable. It STILL rocks around if you nudge it enough. It isn't stable in ANY configuration. Someone would have to 3D print a better solution to this thing. Further, it doesn't "look" right in either orientation. It looks like it's just... off no matter what. Here's how I'd redesign it. I'd flatten the top and bottom and tuck in those fins so they're even with the inner black curve. That's it. Do that and not only will it look a lot better, it'll still be distinct and it'll actually be stable when horizontal without the need for the stand.
Alright, there's one other thing. I got the one with the optical drive. I basically had to. I own too many games for PS4 on disc. If I was going to play them on this thing and make it my main way to play PS4 games, I had to do that. Alright, so far so good. The drive also plays all my media and the OS even supports playing custom soundtracks in games the way the 360 used to. However, for some reason they still don't have a CD player application. The laser IS there, I checked the specs. It CAN read CDs. It just doesn't have a program to play them. That's the same oversight the PS4 had. I don't get it. It isn't a licensing issue. CDs don't require licensing to design hardware that plays them. It's an open standard. Even if it was, SONY MADE THE STANDARD!
Anyway, that's about it. It's a nice system, and I like how x86 has become standardized in the console space now so that we can get BC baked in going forward.
Posted by: etoven - 28th November 2020, 7:24 PM - Forum: General Site
- No Replies
You can now paste images into a post. The preview will still show the image as a base64 string in the editor but the post preview and final will show the image. I am working on fixing the inline editor for that next.
Beanjo: Cybil Bennett is NOT the archetypal prophet of Silent Hill 1's story! Dahlia Gillespie is! She's the one who instructs Harry where to go, and informs him of what's happening in the town. Just like a prophet, her words are vague and foreboding. "Beware the Ides of March" and all that.
The name Cybil means prophet, sure, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. This video is kind of interesting:
But it bugged me batshit to hear the narrator say that Cybil Bennett means Blessed Prophet. Okay but how is she "blessed" exactly? She's a supporting character who's been swept up in the same fan-splattered shit-storm as Harry. She's no more a blessed prophet than he is.
I mean sure, she gives him a gun and tells him to be careful how he uses it. But in contrast to Dahlia, that's simple foreshadowing. Chekhov's gun comes into play in the 3rd act, but that doesn't make Chekhov's gun a prophet!
Post your dumb rants that nobody cares about and come out of nowhere.
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