Hey Allan, You So Fine, You So Fine, You Blow My Mind, HEY ALLAN!

Ahem.

On other video game programming type things...

There is a video game college sponsored in part by Nintendo of America,located in Vancouver Canada, called DigiPen (http://www.digipen.edu),and Sony has Net Yaroze (http://www.scea.sony.com/net/). There's alsoVerge (http://www.verge-rpg.com) and Official Hamster Republic RPGConstruction Engine (http://www.cyberverse.com/~spam/wander.html), butthose are computer game makers...Though you are more than welcome to tryand port whatever you want as they state on the pages. ^_^

I tried to find that interview of the Pong Guy (What IS his nameanyway?) on Videogames.com, because I'm pretty sure that's where I sawit, but I couldn't...

~Ian P.

Dear Double Agent,

I thought that Final Fantasy 4 had one of the best combat enginesthat I've played on. Since I've started playing square games, I havebeen a huge fan of their active battle system. I feel that it reallyadds excitement to the game (especially with boss battles), while barelydetracting from the strategic aspect. Unlike the later FF games, FF4'sbattle engine featured spells and skills that weren't executedinstantly. Certain spells and skills, like meteo, psych, stone, white,third level elemental spells, and Kain's jumping ability requiredconsiderable time investments before you saw results, which seems tomake more sense than the instantaneous spell casting of later FF games,and most RPG's I've played. In addition, in my opinion, FF4 was one ofthe last FF games that didn't have many game breaking spells or items.No abundance of megalixers (indeed, none at all). No life 3. No KOR(though I realize few people would have found KOR in a normal gamewithout consulting the internet). No armor that resisted all elementalsor permanently hasted the wearer either.

Throughout the game most skills were exclusive to one or twocharacters at a time. This made for much more strategy than in say, FF6.Do you have Cecil try to do a wimpy cure your party, or attack and hopethat ends the battle? Should Kain jump and give more damage or stay onthe ground to be targeted by the next Cure spell? White or Life2? Psychor nuke (or asura)? Even in realtime, the toughest of the battlesrequired a real element of strategy and brainpower to win.

Other than FF4 though, I found Final Fantasy Tactics' battle systemto be top notch. In many ways it resembled FF4's only more so. It toofeatured charging times and an agility based move system. It added theconcepts of terrain, friendly fire, more expensive spells that werefriendly fire free (summon spells), "real" ranged weapons, and a fairlyrealistic movement system. It also had an extensive online help system,that aside from the so-so translation, was a real convenience, and whichall future games ought to employ. Other battle engines did featurethings that weren't found in FF4 or FFT (limit breaks and combo attacks,for example), but I think overall, those were the two types of battlesthat I most enjoyed playing.

- Ari Rosenbach

Just a few questions for Q&AM...heh, Double Agent....

1) I just recently got one of those neato T-shirt making things and someT-shirts, and I was just wondering...I don't think I have the nerve toactually go right out and make a Zelda/FF T-shirt of some sort...but I haveto have some subtle way of letting those rare RPG-loving girls know I'm anRPG-loving guy, no? Should I put something like the Shinra logo or theEthos's symbol (that ankh+cross thing) on a T-shirt? Or maybe I should justgo with a simple phrase like "I had a good feeling." or "Did you see my MADskillz?" I'm hoping this question will at least get picked based onoriginality. ;)

2) I've come to the conclusion that I'm the only person in the U.S. (whowas, in fact, bred on Dragon Warrior and the original Final Fantasy...ohboy, I'm old-skool =P) who genuinely loved FF7. Sure, some reputable peoplelike Thor and Fraundorf have admitted that they thought FF7 was, in fact,above average...but still it seems to be no one's favorite...except mine.And the majority, of course, can say things like "I played the importedGrandia (better than that crap Final Fantasy 7!)"...and not think twiceabout it.

But that's not the question (sorry for drawing that out)...what wasJAPAN's opinion on FF7. I mean, are dedicated Japanese RPG-players activelybashing it, or do they really like it, or what? Or do you know? =)

3) What *exactly* is that star burst symbol supposed to represent. Youknow, the one that's always swinging around when Fei and Elly are in theirchairs (no doubt trying to match Krelian for who can bore the players themost). I've seen something almost exactly like it somewhere before (can'tput a finger on it)...and I was wondering if you knew of any specialsignificance it has...?

And no, Hawaii doesn't have super-expensive prices. I remember ChronoTrigger being sold for $80...and yes, that was pretty expensive...even for acartridge game. I've wrote in before comparing it to Lunar:SSS's price,which comes with a bunch of extras, but none of those Q&A guys ever printedit. <=)

Sorry this is so poorly written, but I have to leave in just a bit anddon't have time to proof-read. Muchas gracias para leer...heh, I *know* Iwrote that wrong....

- David Barton

Hey Double Agent,

I've been reading your webpage for awhile now and I'm impressed with theinformation you've collected, and the GIA is now the only RPG page I go to.Anyway, buttkissing aside, I'd like to comment about the combat in RPGs.Far and away, my favorite combat engine in a game is the one in Persona. It'sturn based, which I prefer over ATB in the final fantasies. It just makes moresense to me that you should be able to think about your descisions. What setsPersona apart isn't the combat, but the fact that you don't have toparticipate in it. Contacting the demons for spell cardsand seeing all of theindividual personalities they have makes the usual boring combat of RPGsendurable. And the actual combat is good too, with sword and gun attacks, andsuch an extensive magic system. The ranges for character weapons and the gridfor placement adds another element of strategy, as you are forced to createformations that maximize on different weapons. Then there's added plusses likevoices for all the monsters and characters, and a pretty extensive auto battlesetup. Its really just a shame Persona isn't recognized by more people.

-Miaowara Shiro, the Small and Psychopathic

I've been thinking about my old favorites that deserve to be revisited.First let's get the obvious ones out of the way. FF Tactics, ChronoTrigger, Secret of Mana. All highly deserving of sequels, or at leastimitations. Hey Nintendo, you've got four controller ports, let's see afour-player adventure game.

Anyone remember Paladin's Quest(aka Lennus)? I can't recall any other gamethat was so uniquely designed. Weird round plants on stalks. Funny'shroom-like treasure chests. All kinds of bizarre races, not to mentionrobots and aliens. Crawling through a dragon's digestive system. The evilmonster is a reflection of your personality! Time travel to the past, whereeverything's in black and white. Then there's the gameplay of it! A magicsystem that combines eight elements. MP? What's that? Spells cost HP touse! Attack with either arm, head, legs, body... Probably the weirdest RPGever.

-Zenoki, Fnordgrokker

I think that FFIV's battle system was the pinnacle for the series. Ibelieve it was Square's first game to use their ATB "Active-Time-Battle"system. And it never got any better. While holding on to the basicturn-based style we console RPGers knew and loved, it introduced anelement of pressure to the mix. If you weren't quick enough decidingyour action, enemies wouldn't just sit there. They'd attack.Spellcasters took different amounts of time to cast different spells,depending on the power and type of the respective spell. Differentcharacters CLEARLY had different speeds. For instance, Edge wouldattack twice for every time Rosa got a chance to strike. Ever try tohave Rydia cast meteo? It takes about five turns! Not worth it,because in the same amount of time she can send out TWO Bahamuts! Lastbut not least, let's not forget about being able to fight with fivedifferent characters, each with his own talent/weaknesses. After thisbattle system, everything went downhill. From FFV's carbon-copycharacters, to FFVI's master mages, and finally to FFVII's "we'redifferent people, I swear! I have breasts and a neato limit break,see?", never has there been a battle system to rival the enjoyment ofFFIV's.

Edge

Mr. Double Agent -

When I read the story today about Modonna getting the movie rights toParasite Eve, I nipped right on over to Coming Attractions to see ifthere was any additional information on it. There wasn't.

However, since, as a secret-agent-type, spying and speculating are inyour job description, I'll ask you a few questions:

Who do *you* think Madonna will be playing? My first guess would beEve, since she does a lot of singing, although the weight of the GIAstory seems to lean toward Aya.

How do you think the movie will be done--Live Action, or CG? Nothingagainst CG, but I'm personally hoping that it'll be the former.

Any speculation on who'll play the other characters?

Peace,

Bart

What the dilly, Agent?

Now, on CG movies for RPGs. I like 'em. FF7s were great. But I think they function best as intros and endings. FFT had one of the best intros I've ever seen. I didn't like FF7's, though. It sucked. Of course, the best game intro ever created was Wild ARMs. The music fit it perfectly, and it looked cool too.

And now, to introduce more chum to the sharks, I think Squall's necklace sucks.

Enjoy the frenzy!

~Euleduc

BTW, one of my friends sez "koh-koh-boh". Scary, ain't it? They're everywhere!