I'm stuck.

It’s just a game. A game you put your heart and soul into. A game you can picture when it’s finished. A game that you wish to finish, and have the urge to just put all your effort into. You can imagine the destination of your journey. But when you actually sit down to work on it, you stare. You stare, and find yourself with the inability to act. You cannot work, you cannot progress. You’re stuck. You’ve done this for years. You worked on this same thing for four years, and you cannot work anymore. That is how I am with Gemsinger.

This is a game I really want to make. I can’t wait to see it finished. I can’t wait to play the full game. I love playing what I have so far. I love experiencing what I’ve done. It’s amazing to walk through Telrain, and be proud of your map. It’s awe-inspiring to get into battle and choose from the variety of spells your characters have. It’s nostalgic to look over some of my greatest scenes that I’ve made, such as Mirime’s scene, as well as Miresa awakening.

I love Gemsinger Chronicles. I remember when I first started working on this, I didn’t know much about it. But that didn’t stop me. I took what I knew, and made something out of it, despite the fact that the game was absolutely terrible. It was my second attempt at an RPG Maker VX game, and I didn’t know that much about RPG Maker anyway.

After a while, I went through many new Gemsinger drafts, bringing along new technique and skill, and passion. Gemsinger Chronicles X had a lot of it. Gemsinger Chronicles R did as well. But here I am, 4 years later, and I’m stuck.

I’ve been stuck for about 2 years. Ever since I got a bit far into Gemsinger Chronicles R, my motivation to work on these games has diminished. It’s no question that I started Gemsinger Chronicles R in 2010, and ended it in 2012. That’s two years. That’s enough to make three, full, in-depth RPG Maker VX games, assuming you work on it frequently.

I only got three chapters in. The reason? I only worked on it when I had motivation, which only game a few times every few months. Basically, I only worked once in a blue moon. Most of the time I spent “Working” was just staring.

Staring, the abysmal and frustrating feeling. You’re inable to work. You cannot progress in your game. All you can do is stare and imagine.

RPG Maker VX Ace came out March 2012, and I started working on Gemsinger Chronicles Ace. I didn’t make much progress, but in the 6 months that I did, I managed to get a bit into Chapter 1.

I was considering scrapping the project completely, but then I met join.me. Join.me is a miracle worker, which allowed me to Co-Op with SparklingBlue in order to progress in the game. We worked together. She gave me the lines, the ideas, and I made them. I made it possible. The Join.me’s inspired me to start working again. And for a few months, the effect continued, I was able to work and work. I got all the way to Chapter 3. I made so much progress in a few months, that if I had actually been working hard for the amount of time that I did since March 2012, Gemsinger would be done.

To put it simple, I have no excuse for not finishing this game. I have no excuse for only being on Chapter 3. The only “Excuse” I could come up with, is that I have absolutely no motivation for working on this game.

Part of me thinks I should just give up, but the majority of me is against it. I love Shokiyu. I love Gemsinger. I really, really love this world, this creation, this idea, this game. Sometimes, when I need inspiration, I play what I have done. To put it simply, I want to finish this game really, really badly. I want to put all my effort into it. I want to enjoy my experience. I want to have fun with SparklingBlue as we create a visual and playable world together in this miracle program, that is called RPG Maker VX Ace. I have no plans to stop Shokiyu. I’m going to keep going, even if it is slow.

The problem is, I just cannot work. I cannot get myself to do anything in this game anymore. What am I missing? Have I really just gotten this tired of RPG Maker? I mean it HAS been 4 years after all. But how sad, that all I can do is dream of a game that I can’t even put the effort into making. Some say it’s the journey, and not the destination. But for me, it seems all I focus is on the destination. What do I do? I’m not sure, but what I do know is, I don't want to give up.

I needed to vent, to rant, or whatever you call it. It’s weird for me to be getting all emotional about this, but after talking to a close friend about his troubles with game creating (he’s at this massive block as well), I’ve been inspired to post my feelings on the matter, and why there hasn’t been much Gemsinger updates. It’s extremely difficult to continue to work on something for a long period of time. It’s something that most game makers, I would assume, go through.

So that was my mini, er, long rant about how I can’t really work on Gemsinger as much. I need motivation… but just what am I missing?

My Current Gemsinger To-Do List

I don't often update this blog as much, since the birth of the Gemsinger deviantart group, but I thought I'd might as well post what I'm currently working on in Gemsinger Chronicles:

• Make the watchpost event
• Add NPCs to Selance (and castle)
• Finish the Selance Magic Shop
• Add new enemies to the Forest of Dawn
• Finish Neras
• Make the lighthouse
• Make the magic guild
• Finish Kythria
• Make Ability Symbols
• Create the Ice Challenge Dungeon
• Make enemies in the Water Shrine
• Add enemies to the Glace Forest
• Finish Seppen
• Finish Kinuli
• Touch up on overall maps
• Add new spells
• Finish the fishing minigame
• Make new sidequests
• Add items to the shops
• Create new accessories
• Create new items
• Create battle items
• Finish Selance

So, as you can see, I've still got a lot to do left before a demo is ready. I'll update you on progress as time goes on.

Chapter One Plotline

Here's all of Chapter One: (Things may change as time goes along)

- Miresa has a dream that the demon lord is trying to break free into the world, which is being guarded by the eight holy goddesses. He then breaks free and jolts Miresa from her dream.

- Miresa then visits Galia to talk about the dream. The converse for a while, and Galia blows it off as just Miresa's innate time powers awakening, and they decided to leave it be.

- Miresa then returns home to find Arune awake, so they go out to train. After battling a few training slimes, they return home to find that Miresa's parents have gone on an urgent trip to the north to trade with mountain men.

- Miresa and Arune decide to take a quest to pass the time. They visit the mayor and he charges them with the quest of delivering a letter to Queen Leria in Selance.

- The group asks Bradlin to go with them. He agrees, and joins the party. They then leave for the Forest of Dawn.
________________________________

Optional (Before going to the Forest of Dawn):

- Visit Gemsinger's Point: There will be a suspicious demon that you can defeat for experience points. After defeating him, some of the townsfolk there will reward you with items.

- Visit the Watchpost: The Watchpost is a place where volunteer soldiers from Telrain, Selance, Ralidor, and Neras watch for demonic activity on the western border of their section of the Eastern Continent. You can offer to take the night shift to watch the post while their soldiers sleep. If you do so, you'll be rewarded with a small amount of pearls. There is a small chance of demons attacking the post when you watch it, and if you defeat them, you'll be handsomely rewarded with many pearls. (And possibly items.)

- Visit Neras: This is a coastal town that is struggling with the fact that their docks were closed down. There isn't much to do here besides purchase weapons and items. It is advisable to buy some weapons, but note that prices are unusually high here. If you need healing items, it is recommended to buy them in Telrain.
__________________________________

- The group travels a bit through the Forest of Dawn, until Miresa receives a message from the goddesses, causing her to collapse. Bradlin and Arune rush her to Galia. Miresa awakens in her house, where Arune, Bradlin, and Galia were watching over her. Galia, having business with the seer of Selance, asks to accompany the group to Selance. The group agrees to be her escort, and they set off back through the Forest of Dawn.

- In the Forest of Dawn, the group encounters Dorian, who's playing his harp by a pond. Miresa offers to play with him, and together the play a beautiful tune. Afterwards, Dorian thanks Miresa for her generousity of playing with him, and offers to tell her story to all.

Note: Dorian now appears in every town, where he will remind you of your quest.

- They begin to leave the Forest of Dawn, and are attacked by a Flame Lizard. After defeating it, they leave the forest and arrive at Selance.

- In Selance, Galia leaves the group to discuss her business with the seer of Selance, so Miresa, Arune, and Bradlin go to see Leria.

- At the castle of Selance, Miresa delivers the letter to Queen Leria, and is rewarded a nice amount of pearls.
________________________________

Optional (Before leaving Selance):

There are a number of shops to visit in Selance. So it is recommended to check them out before leaving.

- Visit Farfalla: Arune's fairy friend, Farfalla, has come to Selance as a merchant to sell valuable goods. You can buy all of Arune's chimes from her. It is strongly recommended to do this. With each chime, Arune learns stat buff spells, debuff spells, and status inflicting spells. She becomes very useful with these new spells.

- Visit the Ability Symbol shop: Ability Symbols take up an equip slot and there are a hugh variety of them. They're small symbols that when equipped, can raise a certain stat, protect from a certain status element, and even reduce MP usage for magic. They may be expensive, but if you've saved enough money, you won't regret buying them.
________________________________

- The group meets up with Galia and leaves Selance. They travel back to Telrain.

- Once arriving in Telrain, the group splits up, and Miresa and Arune are on their own again.

- The return back home to find Miresa's parents are back. After a small conversation, they hear a loud noise outside.

- Miresa and Arune rush outside to see Telrain is attacked by monsters. Bradlin and Galia help them fend off the invasion. After a chain of fights, Miresa then accidently casts an Earth spell, causing the invaders to flee.

- They check around for damage and confirm everyone is alright.

- Galia then brings them to the temple, where she casts Gem's Knowing on Miresa. She is shocked to find that her heart shines with all eight colors of magia. They determine that during the invasion, Miresa had awakened as the Gemsinger, causing her to sing that spell.

- Now as the Gemsinger, Miresa must now journey to Selance to be charged with the Gemsinger quest. However, before they leave, the group splits up for the night and decides to leave Telrain the next day.
________________________________

Optional (Before retiring to bed):

- Visit Losi at the temple: Losi has been given the quest to find the sigil for her clan and become a full member of the Sapphire clan. If you talk to her, she will ask you to accompany her. If you choose "yes", she will join your party.

Note: If you start this sidequest, you will not be able to retire to bed until it is completed. Consider that before you begin it.
________________________________

- The next morning, the group gets together and leaves for Selance. After another journey through the Forest of Dawn, they arrive in Selance to visit Queen Leria.

- At the castle, Leria charges Miresa with the Gemsinger quest.

- They leave Selance to visit the Earth Shrine.

- Upon arriving, they travel through many puzzles before arriving at the sigil. There, they will fight a boss (an earth dragon), and after defeating it, Miresa is granted the Earth Sigil and masters Earth spells.

Note: If you complete a few optional puzzles in the Earth Shrine, the Earth Goddess Terre will appear and challenge you to a battle. This is not a required battle to win, and if you lose to her, you won't be punished. If you win, however, you'll be granted a valuable item.

A Possible New Idea

I've been thinking about spells in Gemsinger, and I've been thinking of the idea of element combinations. Combo spells which are dual-elemental and are, as you have obviously guessed, a combination of two different elements in one spell.

Sound like a good idea? If so, what are some good spell names I can use. I'm in the process of creating my first combo spell, which will be Fire/Water.

The Gemsinger Chronicles: Demo is out!

Here's a link to the demo:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zpc0cpxvazawlb0

Also, if you do not own Rpg Maker VX Ace, you will have to download the RTP to get Gemsinger to work.
http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/download/run-time-package

EDIT: You also need this BGM file in the BGM folder. It was left out on accident and the game cannot proceed without it.





http://www.mediafire.com/?9wnqi15hfmzv216

Just go to audio, then BGM, and put this song in there. Then the game should be fine.

Not going to let this blog gather dust any longer.

Not much has been going on in the video game world of Gemsinger Chronicles.

But I have picked up on it after a long hiatus. I plan to start using this blog more. So stay tuned for updates.

Here's a picture of an unfinished Gemsinger Point. (Locations on the novel Gemsinger will be making their way into the game)

Not much progress happening on Gemsinger...

At the moment I'm taking a break from RPG Maker, so progress is slow going. However, I am hoping progress will pick up during the holidays.

And I don't want to leave you guys with nothing, so here's a screenshot of the Sayamir Caverns!