Has anyone considered making a fan made Macross Game?

[leading edge]

There are a lot of talented people has anyone considered getting some programmers together that Like Macross and making a game that is fun? I mean it is difficult but there are probably simple game engines that could be user friendly like Orgre and Blender. If anyone has ideas on this give me a buzz I don't know myself just wondering.

[Penguin]

I don't know about considered. The idea has vaguely crossed my mind from time to time. I'm a pretty decent programmer, but I haven't done any real investigation into how to even start game development these days.

[Keith]

Pretty sure this board is only for actual Macross games that exist discussion.

[leading edge]

Dude potentially existing is still a good idea besides it isn't like it is very in this part of the forums dude. Anyhow was just wondering because I saw a game mod from a while a go that was gundam based and was built using an unreal engine I just was wondering if people here have thought to make some mods to existing macross games and make them better. Some oth them have problems lke the Macross Plus game for ps1 I just thought others would like to share their info on game modding to our more interested enthusiasts.

[Gian]

I'd love to participate in a fan made macross game project.

I was thinking about making an animated wallpaper for android sometime...

[tipatat]

there was a project using the Unity engine that looked promising but haven't heard any thing in awhile about it. I actually really want to make a macross 7 game using the guitar hero controller for input.

check out http://www.gerwalk.net/

[Knight26]

There are a number of fan mods out there in various stages of development. As for a full up game being developed, none that I have heard of, at least not in a long while. A full up game, awesome as it would be, would be a huge undertaking however and is probably too daunting for many fan programmers/modelers to undertake.

[Keith]

What ever happened to that flash version of the old nes game someone posted years ago?

[Prime]

A few years ago in my free time I worked on a side scrolling macross game. It only made it as far as an alpha.

http://warpedproductions.echonetwork.net/screamingvalkyries.html

[Old_Nash]

Well,some time ago, I got the DS GameMaker and I'm stil ltrying to understand it.

Too bad he is kinda limited (does not support 3D).

Otherwise, try to create something similar to Star Fox Command.

Using the touch screen to control theValkyrie.

The top buttons for attacks (L for machine gun and R for missiles).

Shape change in directional (Up/Left to Gerwalk, Down/Right to Battroid).

Edited February 12, 2012 by Old_Nash

[Keith]

Well,some time ago, I got the DS GameMaker and I'm stil ltrying to understand it.

Too bad he is kinda limited (does not support 3D).

Otherwise, try to create something similar to Star Fox Command.

Using the touch screen to control theValkyrie.

The top buttons for attacks (L for machine gun and R for missiles).

Shape change in directional (Up/Left to Gerwalk, Down/Right to Battroid).

So you expect to make a game that's somwhow "better" than the PSP games using a DS game maker utility? Why can't you just play the PSP games again???

[Renato]

there was a project using the Unity engine that looked promising but haven't heard any thing in awhile about it. I actually really want to make a macross 7 game using the guitar hero controller for input.

Sounds excellent!! Shame that Guitar Hero is not available in Japan...

[Old_Nash]

So you expect to make a game that's somwhow "better" than the PSP games using a DS game maker utility? Why can't you just play the PSP games again???

I would not say anything better than the PSP.

I said I would make something playable.

Unlike you who only complains and does nothing^^

Edited February 12, 2012 by Old_Nash

[Keith]

Sounds excellent!! Shame that Guitar Hero is not available in Japan...

Would only work with the Wii version, since that also has motion control

I would not say anything better than the PSP.

I said I would make something playable.

Unlike you who only complains and does nothing^^

Complains & does nothing, except enjoy & financially support the releases of the awesome games we have, instead of wishing someone would make a crappy & unnecessary homebrew.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Keith

[reeoyuy]

There is this fan-made game, Ultimate Fighter Windom XP (previously known as Bootfighter XP). It's a clone of Gundam VS games and is perfectly mod-able (is that a word?), if you can create 3D models and insert them to the game and then modify the animation/attack pattern scripts. The mod community is pretty large and last I checked, still active. In relation to Macross, I've tried using a YF-19 made by someone else long ago and it works great. The model is quite ugly to be honest, but the attack and transformation were done well. The existing units already has crazy beam spam animation and from what I've read, it is possible to edit the attack animation so we can have super huge beam blast and crazy missile spam. Unfortunately most of the mods are Gundams and the likes, I rarely seen any VFs. The transformation must have put the modders down, that or 2 vs 2 ground oriented VS gameplay style is not suitable for Macross game (unless we can enlarge the arena vertically or something).

[VF5SS]

I've seen people mod http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Knights

It has both a playable airplane and a transforming robot.

[Penguin]

Complains & does nothing, except enjoy & financially support the releases of the awesome games we have, instead of wishing someone would make a crappy & unnecessary homebrew.

So to continue this analogy, all fan art, fan fics, toy mods, game mods, custom models, garage kits, etc. are crappy and unnecessary homebrews? Or is it something about game creation that makes it inherently unworthy as a way to express your love of the franchise?

[Keith]

So to continue this analogy, all fan art, fan fics, toy mods, game mods, custom models, garage kits, etc. are crappy and unnecessary homebrews? Or is it something about game creation that makes it inherently unworthy as a way to express your love of the franchise?

All fanfics, and most homebrews. Mods are interesting in that they can bring new life to long dead PC games. In this specific case, we already have a great series of games that brings home the "Macross Experience." I'm failing to see the need to put effort into making a game that already exists triumphantly. Now if he was talking about trying to get someone to license or bring over the artdink games, then obviously someone would have to inform him about the licensing issues.

[Penguin]

All fanfics, and most homebrews. Mods are interesting in that they can bring new life to long dead PC games. In this specific case, we already have a great series of games that brings home the "Macross Experience." I'm failing to see the need to put effort into making a game that already exists triumphantly. Now if he was talking about trying to get someone to license or bring over the artdink games, then obviously someone would have to inform him about the licensing issues.

Certainly, if this was about a group of fans somehow competing with a professional developer like artdink (especially as they've done such an outstanding job) using freeware and built-in tools, I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. I think you might be reading too much into leading edge's posts. Nothing in them indicates any commercial aspirations.

Simply wanting to gather a group of like-minded individuals to build something to celebrate a franchise you enjoy isn't inherently useless or crappy. Is it necessary that anyone other than Mikimoto draws Minmay? No. Are we now going to pop over to the fan art thread and start deriding all of them for all their unnecessary artwork? Bully them that what they produce never be as good as HAL's triumphantly existing artwork and should just give up putting all that effort into making it?

Fanfics and fan art and homebrew games and Cap's models and Mr. March's Macross Mecha website and bloody Macross World itself are all cut from the same cloth. Some succeed, some fail, some are quality, some are not.

[Keith]

Fanfic's are nothing more than fanwanking by people to afraid to even attempt to write something original. I don't go around that part of the forum for a reason, if you really want to know why, look up some old alt.fan.macross posts. Costomizing models isn't in the same catagory as all of this, and for some reason garage kits & fanart aren't either. Perhaps because those things pay more homage to the property.

This case specifically is literally an unnecessary excorsize. He seems to want to play a game that's imued with the Macross "experience," and yet admits he's only played a rom of one. If he wants to play a Macross styled game, it exists, all he needs to do is put his money where his mouth is, rather than hoping that someone makes him one for free.

[reeoyuy]

He seems to want to play a game that's imued with the Macross "experience," and yet admits he's only played a rom of one.

I don't think leading edge himself ever said something like that. Nor that Old_Nash ever want to create something better than PSP games. Nobody here ever said something like "lol artdink games suckz let's make something better and free, guyz!".

In defense of fanmade games or mods, they're more similar to garage/custom model than fanfic actually. You can make them from scratch, or modifying the existing one. And both require some skills. They are time waster and money waster, unnecessary exercise as you said. But we made them out of love and admiration of our favorite franchise. We love to do it and sharing them to other fans. We know fully well that we can't match Bandai and Hasegawa with their precision molding machines (in case of game, major dev game engines), but we tried to do our best with anything we have (modelling: home tools, game: freeware tools). Now if move this topic to modelling section, replacing leading edge's question to "anyone making scratch built model?", changes his example of "Blender and Orgre" to "3D printer and resin casting", nobody will tell him to shut up and just buy existing model by licensed manufacturer.

[Keith]

I don't think leading edge himself ever said something like that. Nor that Old_Nash ever want to create something better than PSP games. Nobody here ever said something like "lol artdink games suckz let's make something better and free, guyz!".

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=36178&view=findpost&p=950925

"I believe we could do something even better than Namco-Bandai, or at least acceptable.

After all, the fans do things better than the giant firms"

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=36178&view=findpost&p=951456

"Only after a long time, played the psp games (first Ultimate borrowed, and then the Ace via ISO). I have not had chance to play theTriangler ,but seeing the graphics, I want to buy it."

[Penguin]

Fanfic's are nothing more than fanwanking by people to afraid to even attempt to write something original. I don't go around that part of the forum for a reason, if you really want to know why, look up some old alt.fan.macross posts. Costomizing models isn't in the same catagory as all of this, and for some reason garage kits & fanart aren't either. Perhaps because those things pay more homage to the property.

I don't care much for fanfics myself. Too many people have way too high an opinion of what they write, or are often fantasizing about how the original creator(s) are going to notice their astounding work and they'll be "discovered" somehow. However, that's my impression of the people I've encountered, not of writing itself. I'm sure there are just as many who write fanfics out of a love for the source and nothing more. People choose to express their creativity in the ways that appeal to them. If I write a story set in the Macross universe, I'm using someone else's setting it's true. If I set it in Los Angeles in the 1940s, am I being unoriginal because I didn't invent that city?

If you're going to apply that brush, then garage kits, fan art, and model customization are in the exact same boat. They aren't creating anything original. They are clearly appropriating someone else's designs. Aren't they just too afraid to create their own mecha as well? Why is bulding a model of someone else's design any more of an homage than creating a game or writing a story? Aren't fan artists just fanwanking because they're too afraid to invent their own characters?

Now if move this topic to modelling section, replacing leading edge's question to "anyone making scratch built model?", changes his example of "Blender and Orgre" to "3D printer and resin casting", nobody will tell him to shut up and just buy existing model by licensed manufacturer.

Thank you for further illustrating the point.

http://www.macrosswo...ndpost&p=950925

"I believe we could do something even better than Namco-Bandai, or at least acceptable.

After all, the fans do things better than the giant firms"

Well, that's kinda silly. But, it illustrates the point too. You've got a low opinion of the poster as a result of comments like this, just as I have a low opinion of fanfic writers because of their opinions of their work. It doesn't invalidate making a game or writing a story as artistic expression, or make them any less of an homage than garage kits or fan art. However, it's entirely possible that the attitudes of those involved can give their hobby a bad name.

Edited February 16, 2012 by Penguin

[Old_Nash]

http://www.macrosswo...ndpost&p=950925

"I believe we could do something even better than Namco-Bandai, or at least acceptable.

After all, the fans do things better than the giant firms"

http://www.macrosswo...ndpost&p=951456

"Only after a long time, played the psp games (first Ultimate borrowed, and then the Ace via ISO). I have not had chance to play theTriangler ,but seeing the graphics, I want to buy it."

At these timesI do not understand why so many directions to set something in English¬¬

Keith,you saw what I was referring to the topic at hand? That about the Robotech, my son.

And the sense was to be "as good" and not "better then."

And second, I played the Ultimate borrowed, I mean I get the UMD of the game with someone. Only the Ace I got the iso, since not find to buy here.

EDIT:I remember now why I said that sometimes the fans do things even better than the producers.

These are simple examples like Streets of Rages and Sonic 2HD Remake made by fans who caused a stir in Sega, so much that they asked fans to stop.

In addition to the original game Card Wars Saga.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Old_Nash

[reeoyuy]

-unrelated quotes from other threads-

When I said here, I'm talking about in this thread. You mentioned no name so I thought you're talking about leading edge, the original poster/thread starter. In case of Old_Nash post here (regardless what he said in other thread) he only mentioned making something simple from DS game maker. He didn't bring up the issue of besting Bandai-Namco here. Anyway, that amount of hostility against fanmade games/mods or "useless" process on making them are unnecessary.

Back to topic on our useless effort on appreciating Macross games that we love, once I tried extracting textures from M3 using texmod (it's compatible with DC emulator). I got some textures including those for the valk model. But I got confused which goes where and the game itself didn't play well in emu so I dropped my plan on retexturing it. Now if only PSX emulator can extract and replacing game textures with high-res version like N64 emu and/or compatible with texmod, VFX-2 will be on top of my list.

[Keith]

If you fail to see the relevence in a topic that spawned this one, then that's your limitation. As for the seperate matter of fan projects:

-Mods (aside from scratch builds) take pre-existing merch usually to produce varients that don't currently exist. Still supporting the franchise.

-Fanart/Fanfiction, two entirely different ends of the spectrum. Bottom line, far more often than not, attempts at fanfiction are rarely done in the name of "tribute." They routinely wind up as a means of pretending to be creative. Fanart on the other hand more often than not fals into the tribute catagory.

Dare I say if we didn't already have a great game franchise to support, a fanproject might be a viable option, but really, there's no point in it.

[Gian]

Keith posts in here are like, complaining that you don't like pasta in an italian restaurant. If you love to buy stuff from official developers please carry on.

It isn't pointless for me. I'm a decent programmer too, and that's one of the few things I could help in a macross fan project.

Sure we have a great game franchise to support, but at least for me, I miss a lot of content of the games because they are in japanese.

[reeoyuy]

If you fail to see the relevence in a topic that spawned this one, then that's your limitation.

The one who started this thread is not Old_Nash but somebody else (leading edge). And the original poster never said anything about making free games that surpassing existing games. He's just asking if there are any ongoing project or just some ideas. This is general fanmade games thread. I don't see any relevance with that other thread.

Dare I say if we didn't already have a great game franchise to support, a fanproject might be a viable option, but really, there's no point in it.

You are implying that every modder/programmer dead set on making games with similar gameplay like artdink games. What about Macross JRPG? Macross RTS? Macross 2D fighting game? Macross-themed puzzle? Again, not everyone here is trying to besting Artdink or any major dev.

[Penguin]

-Mods (aside from scratch builds) take pre-existing merch usually to produce varients that don't currently exist. Still supporting the franchise.

-Fanart/Fanfiction, two entirely different ends of the spectrum. Bottom line, far more often than not, attempts at fanfiction are rarely done in the name of "tribute." They routinely wind up as a means of pretending to be creative. Fanart on the other hand more often than not fals into the tribute catagory.

Dare I say if we didn't already have a great game franchise to support, a fanproject might be a viable option, but really, there's no point in it.

Alright. I think we've covered our bases pretty well, so this will be my last post on the matter. Any more is going to devolve into tedious matters like how to define "tribute", "homage", etc.

So, to sum up:

1. I read your fanfiction opinion as an indictment of current practitioners (which I more or less agree with with), but you've posted nothing to counter the notion that writing can't be as valid a form of tribute/homage/whatever as any other fan works. Whether or not any current examples fit the bill is another matter entirely.

2. I wholeheartedly reject the notion that there's no point in creating something new, like a game, just because someone else has already done it, and done it well. The desire to create something has nothing to do with existing works. If I love programming, love games, and love Macross, then the point is to do something creative, to hone my skills, to make something related to a franchise I enjoy, and hopefully to take some pride in the effort I put into it. If I have delusions of grandeur about the end result, that's also another matter.

I reserve the right to rescind the "last post" decree if you respond with something silly like "programming isn't creative", 'cause after 19 years in the industry, let me tell ya, it's entirely about creativity. Well... creativity and a lot of math.

[Keith]

You are implying that every modder/programmer dead set on making games with similar gameplay like artdink games. What about Macross JRPG? Macross RTS?

Super Robot Wars Alpha/Z

fighting game?

Well, Macross Plus Game Edition was a 3D fighting game of sorts..

themed puzzle? Again, not everyone here is trying to besting Artdink or any major dev.

Exactly what we all need, Macross tetris...

[reeoyuy]

Keith, my point is that more games we have, the better. We don't have to cease trying to make/mod games ourselves simply because we have one (and maybe old) representation of each genre. I can play far superior GVGN+ or Extreme VS but messing with fanmade UKWXP/Bootfighter XP is fun in some ways. And many people feel the same too, it's not like every single person in modding community is too cheap to buy official games.

Or say that to RPG Maker community. Why should they wasting their time if JRPG is already abundant? Sure, some people have ambitious project to make something equal or even better than major dev games. But then again, many people also tried making something different. Something that major devs won't touch. Or just messing around and have fun.

[Gian]

Back on topic please.

It would be awesome to make an android game

Edited February 17, 2012 by Gian

[Old_Nash]

Exactly what we all need, Macross tetris...

And nobody complains Gundam.

There are hundreds of genres and everyone comes out playing or buying.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Old_Nash

[Renato]

Back on topic please.

It would be awesome to make an android game

I don't know anything about programming so I don't know what help I could be to any project, but I do know that apart from PC and Android, these days you can actually use the PSP as a viable platform for homebrew games even without the need of custom firmware. Several fun amateur side-scrolling shooters have already been made and distributed as free downloads. A Macross-themed one would be really good, especially since there haven't been many side scrollers that have fully incorporated the different aspects of each Valkyrie.

Plus every Macross fan should already have a PSP, anyway

[Old_Nash]

I admit that just bought a psp because of Macros

They could be make a version for 3DS.