Magical Game Factory Official Thread

[Joe Redifer]

admins are supposed to be impartial are they not? joe has consistently shown that he is not this.

Oh are you still sore because I deleted that picture you couldn't figure out how to post properly?

its a fucking joke he is still allowed to be an admin here

Um, no, but I wonder why you are still a member here.

It's like he's trying get banned. His past post ranting about my crazy acts as mod even though I have left pretty much all of the babysitting to Baloo since he was promoted is pretty much proof of it. He said he'd probably be gone after that post. Makingagenesis, your fits are amusing but unnecessary. Also, this is not a democracy.

So I would love to know. How much money has been "invested" in this game? Also in the future, are we going to see a break down of how all of the money has been spent?

That information will surely never be released publicly and I certainly wouldn't blame Watermelon. I think they are just drumming up financial support for the game and giving people items to vote on as incentive to donate. They'll use the money where it needs to be spent. I can't imagine that if 20,000 people voted for genre and 5 people voted for Meg Power that the game would remain having only 4 MEGA POWER.

[Zebbe]

"You" as in "Watermelon". Sorry for not making that clear. But if you (Watermelon) lie to your customers, being called "morons" is a pretty light retaliation. If there was no original lie and you all were just dumbfounded as to why the original discs did no work, then "morons" could be used in the quite literal sense.

We haven't lied, but we may have "been wrong" in that case (it's two different things, I hope you get what I mean). But we see the CD issue the same as we say officially, and in case that is incorrect, then the correct information is not with us. Producing a pressed disc to an old CD system has many different complications and factors, which makes it nearly impossible to do it right these days, as the systems are old, the discs are different these days and many other things. Fonzie worked like crazy on the disc, went to several factories and the disc was tested on many different Sega CD systems and variations. It was the best that could have been done all things considered then. The post you referred to in the Pier Solar thread, which I wrote, is a bit incorrect as well, as it's not certain even this time it will work for everyone. One can hope. But I assure you, we are doing our best and never intentionally lie to anyone about our business.

[Joe Redifer]

Did you correct the left-steering audio as well? I imagine so. Not that I'm accusing anyone of lying about that.

[havok666]

admins are supposed to be impartial are they not? joe has consistently shown that he is not this. its a fucking joke he is still allowed to be an admin here

It's a fucking joke you're still allowed to be here. All I've seen you do is suck off team Watermelon.

[Phosis]

admins are supposed to be impartial are they not? joe has consistently shown that he is not this. its a fucking joke he is still allowed to be an admin here

Does that mean that because one is a forum administrator that they are not allowed to have and voice an opinion? Apart from your lame accusations, Joe has proven himself to be a respectable member of several communities and has contributed work in other areas besides those as well.

Like Christuserloeser said, just what have you done lately besides whine and bitch? That sets you apart from exactly zero other below average forum members, and therefore your opinion about one who consistently contributes their time is entirely worthless.

[tomaitheous]

We haven't lied, but we may have "been wrong" in that case (it's two different things, I hope you get what I mean). But we see the CD issue the same as we say officially, and in case that is incorrect, then the correct information is not with us. Producing a pressed disc to an old CD system has many different complications and factors, which makes it nearly impossible to do it right these days, as the systems are old, the discs are different these days and many other things. Fonzie worked like crazy on the disc, went to several factories and the disc was tested on many different Sega CD systems and variations. It was the best that could have been done all things considered then. The post you referred to in the Pier Solar thread, which I wrote, is a bit incorrect as well, as it's not certain even this time it will work for everyone. One can hope. But I assure you, we are doing our best and never intentionally lie to anyone about our business.

So, you got this issue sorted out? Can you share the details on it? I mean, did it just boil down to finding the right pressing house for the CD that works in the SegaCD reliably? It'd be nice for people that have to go through this situation in the future (for themselves, I mean).

[old man]

Personally I was hoping Joe would have just apologized to see if they actually would answer his questions. I'll ask them again though.

@zebbe (or any member of watermelon)
Can we get a refund if the game we voted for isn't made?
If we pay twice as much as the game sells for do we get two games?
How about if we invest three times as much?
Will extra go towards shipping?

Please don't vanish or give me some lame crap about my needing to log on to watermelon's site and post there. You've already been in this thread more than me. I think these are all valid questions, and there is no reason my questions can't be answered here. Thanks.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Rather than looking at issues that occurred previously with the development of Pier Solar (a very good game might I add), let's focus on the current game that is in development. I'm going to try and get this topic back on track. Choo choo!

The train has now left the station and is heading in the direction of new possibilities! Choo choo! If you are on this train, let's continue the discussion about this new game!

While riding this train, I was actually thinking to myself why everyone was so enthusiastic of the potential release of a beat'em up for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. The console has a pretty good assortment of games in it's library. And quite a number of the games in the beat 'em up genre have turned out to be above average. But then it occurred to me what the actual hoopla was all about and what we may actually see potentially in a new game. From reading the various posts over the years, there are alot of members who really enjoyed the Streets of Rage series and the Golden Axe series. Both series have their strengths The Golden Axe games had the distinction of allowing the player to use magic to take care out the various foes that appeared in the game. The characters possess a variety of attacks but at a very basic level. The one drawback was the lackluster backgrounds. It was not until the Streets of Rage series that we saw characters exhibit a variety of different moves but also have the option of unleashing combos and special moves as well. In this series, the backgrounds were a little more colorful but the musical incorporated in these games were simply amazing.

While considering the possibilities, my mind also wandered onto the Chinese unlicenced release titled Yang Jia Jiang (Yang Warrior Family). Although I've not played this game, from watching various gameplay footage, the game possesses really nice detailed backgrounds and very vivid colors. Some say that the quality of detail rivals some of the licensed games on the console.

Now imagine the next entry possessing all of these qualities but also allowing the player the option of using power ups! I've read that there is a small possibility that the game could be a mix of a beat'emup and RPG. Now initially I did not find this very appetizing but after looking at it from another angle, I have reconsidered my position. Imagine that as your character progesses through the game he or she has the ability to level up. As he or she levels up, your character also gains the ability to obtain various power ups. Now how cool would that be? I don't know what the end product could end up looking like but now I understand what all the excitement is all about. king kamahl, i am with you brother!

[Iced Snowman]

As for all the hate going on in this thread, business is business baby. The shipping delays, Enhanced CD that didn't work and all the other faults that came along with Pier Solar are just apart of business. Now had the game not worked or been terrible, Watermelon would have had folded.

I never thought back in 1990, when I was playing Altered Beast on my Model 1, that someday I would be staring at the "Magical Game Factory" website.

Honestly, I don't want to register on yet another website, invest "gems" on a game I know nothing about, have to pay some "handling fee for gems", etc.

I took a risk on Pier Solar's Posterity Edition because I could pre-order it, I knew what it was and what I was getting into. Bottom line = it was a simple transaction.

Zebbe, please ask your Watermelon Team to give us old-timers a bloody "pre-order" button with no damn fees for the Project Y Investor whatever game once you tell us customers what the game is.

[retrospiel]

Well, I think this has already been answered. Spent $50 Dollars to buy your Gems and you've preordered the game. Whether you want to use them to vote on the genre is up to you.

my mind also wandered onto the Chinese unlicenced release titled Yang Jia Jiang (Yang Warrior Family). Although I've not played this game, from watching various gameplay footage, the game possesses really nice detailed backgrounds and very vivid colors. Some say that the quality of detail rivals some of the licensed games on the console.

Yang is pretty decent, but Shui Hu Feng Zhuan definitely is better.

[Zebbe]

So, you got this issue sorted out? Can you share the details on it? I mean, did it just boil down to finding the right pressing house for the CD that works in the SegaCD reliably? It'd be nice for people that have to go through this situation in the future (for themselves, I mean).

No, it was much more complicated than that. I don't know the details, Fonzie does. PM him .

old man:

Can we get a refund if the game we voted for isn't made? No.
If we pay twice as much as the game sells for do we get two games? Yes.
How about if we invest three times as much? Yes.
Will extra go towards shipping? I think so, but am not sure. Sorry.

[mrpj]

old man:

Can we get a refund if the game we voted for isn't made? No.

A refund was never likely to happen. In the first round of voting, the Mega Drive platform won with 65% of the vote - they would have had to refund 35% of the money invested (a significant amount). If the genre poll closed as I write this, either Beat 'em Up or Platformer would win with only 34% of the vote. So again, a large percentage won't get what they voted for. The only compensation for this majority is that they'll receive a discount on the final game, even if they don't want it.

Judging by the comments so far, a lot of people who have invested don't fully understand the whole process. There really should have been a tutorial on the MGF site detailing exactly how this whole thing works. Instead we got a vague e-mail which focused on how great the whole idea was, but with no real substance.

[Zebbe]

The Terms of Service has the details.

[mrpj]

The 'Terms of Service' is a small link at the bottom of the page. I think we all know that very few people have read these (if anybody). It's been said already that WM have been hypocritical in accusing SFT of 'acting too much like a company'. I don't think anybody expected WM to do the whole 'small print' thing.

And like I said:

There really should have been a tutorial on the MGF site detailing exactly how this whole thing works.

The Terms of Service doesn't answer all the questions that have been asked.

[Zebbe]

The 'Terms of Service' is a small link at the bottom of the page.

Like for most companies.

I think we all know that very few people have read these (if anybody).

Personally, if I had put money into something I would have looked through the terms first.

It's been said already that WM have been hypocritical in accusing SFT of 'acting too much like a company'.

That was only the personal opinion of one member, not an official statement of WaterMelon.

I don't think anybody expected WM to do the whole 'small print' thing.

I don't know what 'small pring thing' is.

The Terms of Service doesn't answer all the questions that have been asked.

OK, maybe we should update it then. If you have any questions, please contact our support before purchasing Gems.