My newest feature game has been released! 

Play/watch it here:

Falcomaster3000 Episode 1

Read my WIP post on this project.

As much as I’d love to say that I loved working on this 40-minute visual novel episode, I gotta say it was rather unpleasant. Not to say it wasn’t a valuable experience, which I would say it definitely taught me some things. Let’s just say I am glad it is done. Just saying.

For the record…

None of what I found unpleasant about this project had anything to do with the people I received help from (the voice actors, audio, composer, idea/art feedback people). Those interactions were the few times I actually felt really good about the work. I’ll go into more detail about it later.

Feeling Good

A base level of confidence in your work is important, especially if the task ahead spans many months. This confidence can become eroded by invisible forces, like negative feelings or a bad mood. But the biggest threat for me is finding out my skills are not good enough. The reality that my technical skill in whatever it may be (programming, drawing, coordination) is literally, insufficient. I bump into this problem all the time when coding, or even drawing. It’s actually quite a normal thing.

So despite being technically lacking, creators will characteristically believe in the end product. For the more ambitious projects, this invisible confidence can seem irrational. But the fact that it is irrational is what makes it important, since it’s a source of motivation impervious to logic, including the fact that one is technically lacking.

So when you ask someone how their “masterpiece” is going, they might list off a bunch of things that are going very wrong (behind schedule, health/energy issues, difficulty finishing) but at the end they can say:

“…but overall, I feel good about the project.”

That’s the base level of confidence one wants for their daily work.

For the first time in awhile, I did NOT feel good about the project for months. This is evidenced by my “Falcomaster Dev Diary”, a log of my thoughts on how I felt throughout the production.

Falcomaster Dev Diary

Michael Moy Oct 22, 2017 at 11:48 PM

Im just not sure where the project is going. I have a “solid” gameplay, but I fear it is too hard. I’m weary of how the graphics are going to cut in, and how the gameplay will actually relate to the story itself. What I need to do is come up with a level that would fit the very first fight: Jack vs Arthur.

A bare bones RPSmash fight that fits the story will give me a good amount of testing grounds to see if the gameplay fits this series. So simplify now, allow more advanced techniques to breath life into the design later.

I dare not show all of what I logged, but I see a lot of pessimism, regret, and not good feelings. It didn’t matter what season it was. Winter, summer, fall, I was hitting road-blocks.

Michael Moy Dec 10, 2017 at 3:11 AM

After a shit ton of procrastination and grueling review, I’ve settled upon a semi-final draft of episode one. I will now only copyedit the remaining lines for consistency and grammatical errors.

A lot of the feedback I’ve been receiving has been good, but the changes I would make would counteract some positives I’ve baked into the initial drafts. I am going to just roll with it and trust that the final product will take form.

I need to take control of my project, otherwise it is unlikely I will want to finish the series.

Michael Moy Feb 7 at 5:47 AM

I’m making progress on the scenes, and just finished the first “interactive” portion of the game. Organizing the characters to animate properly within Unity is becoming a royal pain. Unity’s timeline and preview functionality is incredibly disjointed. The only way I can reliably animate the characters would probably be massive global controllers, as maintaining individual controllers is resulting in syncing issues. Specifically, animated properties are being carried over when I don’t want them to. I will continue to experiment with the optimal animation hierarchy, something like hybrid animation controllers, but with super explicit key frames?

I believe this is common for game development, since the elements that make up interactive software (code, image files, audio files, writing, diagrams, testing, bug-fixing), are not easily apparent. Only once do they come together (the final few weeks) does the final product look worthy of anyone’s time.

That is, the positive feedback you get when drawing a beautiful shape is pushed FAR into the future. Game development requires some serious vision and patience. “Is it worth it?” was the question popping in my head all year.

Cool Technical Milestones

Hey, you know what I liked? Becoming somewhat competent at Unity!

Navigating 3-D Space

This was a 2-D game, but there is still a Z-plane in the editor that allowed me to modify the planes/layers.

I’ve always been afraid of 3-D, chiefly due to clunky camera controls. Working on a project that relies on the Z-plane so much forced me to get comfortable flying around a scene in 3-D space. This makes me more hopeful for 3-D animation in the future.

C#

I can now add C# to my resume.

Performant Games

Save for some intensive gameplay moments, Falcomaster3000 episode 1 runs well on computers. This is incredible for me because I was restricted to developing for tiny 640×480 SWF’s with Flash. Now I can utilize full screen real estate, with plenty of special effects, high-res art, 60 fps, shading, and object counts. Makes me feel like one them fancy-schmancy AAA game-developers.

After over a decade of relying on Adobe Flash as my game-making software of choice, I now have a modern alternative with more power, support, and potential.

They ask: Oh no…is Flash “dead“…?

I now answer: Don’t care!

Unity has its quirks for sure, and the learning process was a drag, full of headaches and toil of course. As is learning any new tool. But what you get in return is worth it, in my book.

I feel like I’ve tamed a wild animal that can now do work for me.

Not quite a horse, but like a temperamental, yet strong, mule. It compliments the familiar, flexible little dog that is Adobe Flash.

Working with VAs + Audio

After whittling down 250+ auditions across the 6 roles (3 major, 3 minor), I finally settled on who to cast. Shot em all a PM over CastingCall.club, and they all responded promptly…except for the main lead!

The original voice for Jack apparently didn’t see my messages, so we had to go with the next best candidate: Nathan.

I’ve worked with voice clips before, and even recorded dozens of dialogue heavy skits with my friends and family. However crude, I’ve done lip-syncing before. But I hadn’t ever recruited voice acting help from total strangers before. How do I prepare the scripts? How do I make them comfortable? How do I give them direction and feedback?

Luckily, my colleague, Guitan, gave me some pointers on the whole process and after successfully doing recording sessions, I know some things:

• Scripts should be cleaned up and sliced down to only the relevant lines for the actors.
• Highlight an actor’s lines with a special color so that they can skim their part of the script easily.
• Provide as much line direction (e.g. “glee, fuming, deeply concerned”) as possible. It can be difficult to put to words the exact tone, pitch, or volume you want expressed, but the VA’s need something to work with.
• Small talk is nice, but generally the VA’s were primed and ready to record immediately. If you coordinated a date/time (which you absolutely should do), they likely did a bunch of vocal exercises before entering a call with you. Like professionals, they are already comfortable.
• The actual format of the “do a take > receive feedback > repeat ” loop went like this:

1. The VA and I both have a copy of the script open.
2. We identify the line that needs to be recorded.
   1. Often, the context is implied by the previous dialogue.
   2. If the context is more complex, I will offer some background info on the scene.
3. The VA does 3-4 takes with varying intonation.
   1. Even if the first take sounds perfect, allow them time to explore the line. They may improve the delivery in unexpected ways.
4. If the delivery is not right, I give them feedback and direction.
   1. Description of where the character is logically and emotionally coming from.
   2. Describing the personality, with examples of well-known characters.
5. If we found what we were looking for, we move forward to the next line. Repeat at #2.

Directing others, and entrusting them with your story can be tense, but as collaboration continued it became truly enjoyable. Nathan and Max (Jack and Arthur, respectively) made it look so easy. For both individual sessions, we burned through the 40-minute script in less than an hour I think. We even got to chat about games, anime, and voice acting.

Bern (Sarah) email-ed in her lines, a system which is also very common in online voice work. It’s what I did with the remaining minor roles (Art Vendor, Switchblade, Randy). Despite me sending over a script that was very light on the line direction (only 2-3 adjectives per line), she delivered Sarah’s lines very convincingly.

The VA’s were not the only fast ones. Strelok, the guy behind most of the episode’s audio, pulled off an insane turn-around. I contacted him with a dub-video, and one weekend later, the sounds were basically done.

This brings me to my final audio collaborator.

PowerMeep

PowerMeep is the composer behind the original music for Basement Busk and Gildedguy vs Bog. But he did a lot more than that for the new release. Not only did he provide several tracks for FM3K, he also provided valuable feedback on all aspects of the project.

You see, Ben not only writes and performs music, he writes code, writes stories, illustrates, and occasionally animates. Not to mention, as a seasoned gamer, he understands game design from the developer’s point of view. As such, he had a strong understanding of those pesky technical limitations I faced.

It’s rare to be able to share a lofty (yet crude) vision and for someone else to “get it” not only conceptually, but technically as well. It bolstered confidence in the project.

Thank you, Ben.

Collaboration

You know those technical limitations I keep talking about? With collaboration, your personal limitations cease to be roadblocks. When set up with the right amount of trust and resources, others will cover your weaknesses, and your confidence in the project will skyrocket. Knowing that there are people with the answers out there, who just might help you, is reassuring.

It is also very rewarding to see your collaborators receive exposure and honor from being a part of your project.

The Homestretch

The few weeks before the deadline, I got to play my game from start to finish for the first time. This was with all the art, voice-acting, and audio mostly pieced together.

To be honest, I was moderately disappointed. It just…didn’t turn out how I had hoped.

Looking back at it now, it was too early of me to judge my episode. I had yet to fix all the bugs, do the finishing touches…

Because once I did polish the game, it all came together.

The music fit in, the audio levels were just right, and the art animated perfectly to the script. I put my Gildedguy logo on the menus (my stamp of approval) and zipped up the final builds, nicely compressed, ready for distribution.

It was done.

Michael Moy Aug 3 at 10:55 PM

The rush of pumping out the 2nd rhythm battle with time saving animation and coding techniques really invigorated my motivation. It made me feel like the episode was actually worth something as all the elements (game saves, polished menus, credits, and promo links) came together.

That final stretch pushed me to even pump out a decent promotion and game page. The game got optimized a lot better than I had expected. It all came together and I began to appreciate the project as a unique, unexpected-looking “gem”. Not really a shiny gem, but a craggly, interesting looking stone. It was something I am both ashamed and proud of.

Release

The live-stream premiere of the episode had a surprisingly high turnout. It peaked around 150 viewers on both YouTube and Twitch. I was expecting far less, since my streams averaged 10-20 viewers during production.

Since this was a full-length episode, the viewers got to relax, and get a nice, meaty, substantial viewing of my work. 40-minutes of content is a lot closer to a theater experience than my usual 6 minute shorts.

It was wonderful watching everyone’s reactions to the special moments in chat. Seeing people’s reactions to my long-form content feels more mellow and sweet, compared to the quick flashes of excitement my other animations elicit. Those intense animations are a roller-coaster ride for viewers. Falcomaster3000 Episode 1 was a long, serene ride through the safari, punctuated by the occasional lion attack.

It was fulfilling to give others a ride of that sort.

Early Reception

With the official launch behind me, it seems like all that is left is to share this game as much I can. I’m trying my best to get exposure with the Smash Bros community, as they’re the ones who inspired this piece. But it seems like the winds of trendiness were not in my favor this time.

Super Smash Con and news on the new Smash Bros Ultimate cropped up the same weekend I released the game. So the community is somewhat focused on those topics for now. Players who have tried out my game really enjoy it, and are showing their support. But judging by the numbers, this one was not a hit. The dust is already settling.

In it’s current state, a Falcomaster series is not financially viable for me. Our only hope is an impressive fundraising effort from new Patrons, or if the current episode is rediscovered and blows up in popularity.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpsfYGyBW0U[/embedyt]

Although I had a rough time with the pilot, now that I am more experienced, Episode 2 (if it gets support) will go a lot more smoothly.

Conclusion

This was a massive project so there was a lot to unpack.

• Huge deviation from my style.
• Hell to work on.
• Leveled up leaps and bounds (both in skill and mentality).

I now understand the value of steady, familiar work. I feel more patient with the time-commitment of long projects. I value spontaneity in creative decisions, and not over-planning. I also value “picking projects” that best suit my abilities, and not being too ambitious on multiple fronts (medium, subject-matter, scale). I see the potential for team-projects instead of attempting everything solo.

But most of all, I cherish my favorite medium of the animated music video a lot more. I want to stick to what I’m good at, and take risks within the short-form format that I know. I’ve explored several new styles. Now I am no longer curious and I am making my proverbial journey back home.

So before I start a new animation, I think I will rest a bit.

Thanks for reading.

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