Otherworld Inspiration and Influences

I was asked some days ago about the inspiration behind Otherworld and its influences.

Although it draws its inspiration from several sources, its main influence is Celtic mythology, with others interwoven into its conceptual faric. I’ve also drawn on my own experiences as a "paranormalorist", a term I coined to combine parapsychologist and paranormal investigator. (I have a little over 30 years experience in the fields and, although I’ve now retired from the investigations side of it, am still consulted by individuals and groups on paranormal, psychic and spiritual topics.)

When I first wrote the short story, upon which much of the game is based, its basic concept was that the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped. Usually, ghosts and spirits are invisible but every so often manifest physically.

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Q-Engine v5.0 In Progress - Improvements

The Q-Engine and its add-ons are undergoing some improvements.

This is primarily to remove the dependency on the UCSM. Instead, the Q-Engine will contain the global settings required for the main scripts and the relevant configuration settings will be placed in the add-ons themselves. This will make it much easier to tweak rather than relying on a single configuration to set them.

I'll also be creating a downloadable demo (finally), which will enable you to install the Q-Engine and all of its available add-ons without having to copy and paste them individually.

I'm making this a priority over the next few weeks to get this done as quickly as possible so I can focus on my other projects, especially Paranormality: Otherworld.

Karma (Good vs Evil) Script - Game Notes

The Karma (Good vs Evil) script was created for Otherworld to present a number of moral dilemmas that Anna, the main character, faces.

Hence, because of the nature of Otherworld and ultimately its underlying moralistic theme, I decided to have some kind of system in place where actions and interactions are influenced by alignments. After searching around for a decent "good vs evil" script, however, none of them quite fit in with these requirements.

Most of them were the simple generic Good and Evil scripts that only really showed characters' alignments and that's pretty much it. There were a few "morality" systems that gave some scope for reactions from people depending on alignment, but these were still limited.

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Where Are All The Updates?

That's a good question, since this blog has been sadly neglected! This does not, however, mean that RPG Maker Times has been abandoned, nor has my interest in RPG Maker diminished. Most of the updates now occur on the new RPG Maker Times & Companion blogsite.

Those who follow me on Google+, Twitter and Facebook will already know what I've been up to. So, for the latest updates, why not follow me at one - or all - of them? Each one usually has unique content!

Otherworld (Paranormality) - RMVXA Project

Otherworld is a paranormal-themed RMVXA project I'm working on. Development will continue on it until its completion, on my days off or when I have some spare time in between work and time off.

All updates, including game pages, will be on the Otherworld (Paranormality) official blogsite.

Without giving too much of the plot away yet, the game is single-player, focusing around Anna Carrera. She's an ordinary but introverted girl with nothing extraordinary about her. She leads a normal life, studies diligently, works hard, yet she doesn't really socialize much, so she has very few people she calls "friends".

One fateful day, however, on her way back from school, something happened to her that changed her life and her perspective on things in general. And she embarked on a journey to the "other side" and back to change the course of history and save Mankind from a deadly fate.

This supersedes my other projects, Paranormality: Portals and The Gladiator Project.

Update: Q-Engine v4.0 Release Notes

The Q-Engine v4.0 is being restructured and rewritten with newer cleaner code before its final release. I'd like it to be perfect first and thoroughly tested before uploading it to the blogsite. This also includes the add-ons:

• Animated Title Screen Add-On
• Equipment Add-On
• Status Screen Add-On
• Game Over Add-On
• Combat Add-On

And also eventually:

• Animated Game Over Add-On
• Character Add-On
• Map Add-On

If you'd like to be a pre-release beta tester, write "BETA TEST" in the comments below. Nearer the time, you'll have exclusive access to the script right before its release to test for errors and/or incompatibilities.

Map/Compass HUD Script (RMXP) - New Script

The Map/Compass HUD script is available. It places a window on the map displaying the current map location and the party's compass direction (the direction in which it's moving), as well as the XY coordinates.

Originally written specifically for my upcoming RMXP project Paranormality: Portals, but I decided to release it as a standalone plug-and-play script.

"Fortune's Tavern" - The Fantasy Tavern Simulator

Fortune's Tavern is a real-time fantasy tavern-simulator, where you assume the role of Mathias Gambridge, owner of this notorious tavern. Your job is to rebuild and renovate the ailing tavern amid a turbulent world at war.

Making a profit is made difficult with infestations, hauntings and zombies, and guests bent on killing one another. There is a plethora of unique features to boost your income and make life reasonably pleasant for your guests.

There is a Kickstarter fund set up for this interesting game, so please consider contributing towards its development and you'll receive some unique items when the game is released. Come pay day I will be making a payment towards it.

I also have the opportunity and pleasure to be one of the winners of their recent competition, earning me the right to be immortalized as a unique NPC in the game.

The Paranormality Trilogy

The Paranormality trilogy is a series of games for RPG Maker, loosely based on a set of unpublished short stories and novellas I wrote, actually inspired by some of my own experiences.

The entire trilogy focuses around paranormal investigator Jack Urban. Alyssa, his sister, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, so his mission has become to find out exactly what happened to her. His quest for the truth will take him to the Other Side and back, pitting him against some of the most nefarious daemons in the Seven Realms.

Portals revolves around the events leading up to her disappearance and is the prequel to Darkling for RMVX and Nexus for RMVXA (planned as future projects).

"To The Moon" by Freebird Games - Highly Recommended Game

Freebird Games' To the Moon is an award-winning indie adventure RPG about two doctors who travel through a dying man's memories to fulfill his last wish: To go to the moon.



I've just finished playing it and it's one of the best RPG Maker indie games I've played in quite some time. I would highly recommend it to those seeking an evocative, very touching and enjoyable love-story game that is quite different from the "norm".

To The Moon is evocative, intriguing and compelling. It's heart-warming in places, tearful in others, but with just the right amount of humour injected in it to balance it out. The plot kind of unravels bit by bit to keep you going until the end, just to find out the reasons behind the request and what ultimately happens at the end.

The music is awesome, especially the piano theme music, and the customised graphics add an extra dimension to the game! It also has the game Whack-A-Mole, which I used to be good at (my record is 95%!).

This is why To The Moon has been pre-selected for my upcoming Wulf's Choice Award.

You can buy To The Moon on Steam or visit Freebird Games' Products Store for additional add-on products.

Tweaks & Add-Ons Script RMXP (TWAXP)

The Tweaks & Add-Ons script is available. It adds several tweaks to RMXP, including for layout. It also adds some unavailable features and functions and other enhancements.

Read more about it on the Tweaks & Add-Ons page.