Mysterious Song is now released

[OldRover]

I canceled all of my Xbox 360 projects since XBLIG is all but flushed once the Xbox One comes out. My plan for an Atari Jaguar CD conversion is still in the queue though. Any feasible projects I had on the Xbox 360 have been moved to the Ouya.

[grahf]

Any thoughts about bringing them to Steam or Desura?

[td741]

Any canucks got their copy yet?  I'm still waiting....

[oldskool]

Are there any more of these left?  I would be greatly interested in this as I am a big fan of the classic JRPG.

[liquitek]

@td741 not me.  Still waiting in BC.  Nothing yet. 

[OldRover]

liquitek, I'll get another one out to you. PM me your real name and I'll take care of it right away. Everyone's has been sent, some multiple times, but it seems some are still going missing. I won't know unless someone tells me. If anyone else's is still not there, please let me know so I can take care of it.

[BlueBMW]

Not here yet, but technically I never "ordered" one, just traded some mish mish.

[termis]

Still no news Rover....  I've sent you a pm about a month ago (or maybe even more)?  but no news.

[BlueBMW]

Come on termis, lets go play Pier Solar...  

[OldRover]

D'oh, I must have missed it... sorry dude.

[Xak]

How and where do I order  a copy? How much? Do you do Paypal?

[Mathius]

https://web.archive.org/web/2000/http://www.frozenutopia.com/purchase.html

[Xak]

Can someone point me to a mini review with no spoilers?

[Mathius]

http://www.thebrothersduomazov.com/2012/10/mysterious-song.html

[CrackTiger]

Can someone point me to a mini review with no spoilers?

You can also learn more about the game here-

https://www.superpcenginegrafx.net/mysterious_song/about.html

[OldRover]

Come on termis, lets go play Pier Solar...   

Them's fightin' words. ;)

[termis]

Got it - thanks

[RayXambeR]

I haven't received my pre-ordered copy ...

[VestCunt]

So... Rover, this is blunt, but I've got a few things stuck in my craw:

*Why was mailing after mailing thrown down a black hole without ever paying 80¢ tracking to figure out what was going on or reassure the customers?

*After mailings continued to disappear for, like, a year, why wasn't a big box sent to Keranu or someone in the continental U.S. where mail can be sent internationally without vanishing into the Bermuda Triangle?

*Why the sudden bargain-bin purging of all remaining MS stock on the forums, with no advance notice, no email to prior customers, and no announcement on the Frozen Utopia webpage?

*Why did the ebay listing show some guy's hand getting fingerprints all over the disc? Why not clear pictures of the nice artwork and pristine games in boxes?

*Why the stubborn, preemptive vow to never do a reprint? Reprints are cheap, the game was barely advertised on its release, English-speaking Turbo gamers are starved for RPG's, and ITS A GOOD GAME. There's going to be a continuous trickle of demand for more copies. Are you allergic to money?

*Why were all of the games advertised on FU and the back of the MS manual (Dragon Arm, Valkyrie Midnight, Jungle Brothers, Xymati, Project Monolith, Neutopia III, etc., etc., etc.) abandoned for yet another game (Lucretia) and a whole new company (Eponasoft)?

*Why repeat the same mistakes on Lucretia, open preorders, and announce pie-in-the-sky release dates when there's still a crap-ton of work left to do on that game?

*Why don't you advertise either Eponasoft or FU in your signature instead of a how-to site full of dead links?

[esteban]

Vestcunt, please stop sugar-coating your comments and lobbing softballs.

Seriously 

I'm going to avoid 99.99% of the issues you raised, but I will say this: I don't care what projects nodtveidt commits to, nor do I care if said projects are cancelled/delayed/etc. As long as he is contributing, in some way, to PCE goodness, then I feel it is his prerogative to choose what he wants to do. This is the only way to move forward: go with your heart. (Trite, yet true.)

That said, I agree that prematurely opening pre-orders is a mistake. He is entering into a contract, guaranteeing a deliverable. THIS IS THE SOURCE OF ALL PAIN. IT MUST BE AVOIDED. Fundraising via pre-orders might sound good in theory, but it is a bitter fruit that stains our hands and TurboPads.

TRUTH: Rover deserves our support, financial and otherwise, for all the time & energy he pours into PCE development. The current model, where the development team makes all the sacrifices and takes all the risks, is flawed: it creates stress, frustration and pain—three things that can grind any project to a halt.

GENUINE SUPPORT: If folks want to support PCE development by donating money/resources to Rover (with the understanding that it is a donation to help him pay his bills, NOT a guarantee/contract to deliver a finished product)...well, I think that would be kool.

Sadly, I don't think many folks would "donate" without expecting something in return, so I freely admit that I don't have a solution to the conundrum.

RESPECT: vestcunt, you know I respect you...and you raised valid points. I would never stop you from questioning the decisions made. That said, I want Rover to know that we, collectively, recognize the harsh realities of PCE development. Simply pressing and distributing a CD-ROM is a hellish amount of work, let alone the initial creation of assets/coding/testing/bug fixing/optimizing/flan eating.

[Psycho Punch]

I would say that development of a game with that level of detail, even on platforms like PC, isn't for the faint of heart. Rover should get support from all of us (unless he does a sequel to Gunboat or something of that caliber )

That said, I would like to know if you have a donation link/account anywhere. Wouldn't mind to donate some money to someone who's doing such an amazing work (I don't buy the games because I don't have my obey compliant machine anymore).

[OldRover]

*Why was mailing after mailing thrown down a black hole without ever paying 80¢ tracking to figure out what was going on or reassure the customers?

Ever since the USPS allowed doing it online through Paypal, not a single order has gone missing. Tracking has been done for quite awhile now, and every order shipped with tracking has indeed arrived. Any reports of shipments not arriving were from the previous shipments that were done by hand and not tracked. Emails *have* been sent to many customers, explaining the situation, and news was written about it on forums as well as on the page.

*After mailings continued to disappear for, like, a year, why wasn't a big box sent to Keranu or someone in the continental U.S. where mail can be sent internationally without vanishing into the Bermuda Triangle?

Keranu was originally doing the mailings, and he did a great job. It was not until international mailings from here in PR started that things started going missing. When the mailings shifted over to us, Keranu was very busy at the time and I wanted to take the workload off of him. Maybe this mess could have been avoided by having him continue to do the mailings, but what's done is done.

*Why the sudden bargain-bin purging of all remaining MS stock on the forums, with no advance notice, no email to prior customers, and no announcement on the Frozen Utopia webpage?

Why not? Why not give some people a chance to snag the game a bit cheaper, people who could not swing the $40? Not everyone is made of money, and they simply were not moving any longer at $40. They sold like wildfire at $15, and now more people can enjoy the game. It's about getting it in the hands of more people.

*Why did the ebay listing show some guy's hand getting fingerprints all over the disc? Why not clear pictures of the nice artwork and pristine games in boxes?

I have no idea what you are referring to.

*Why the stubborn, preemptive vow to never do a reprint? Reprints are cheap, the game was barely advertised on its release, English-speaking Turbo gamers are starved for RPG's, and ITS A GOOD GAME. There's going to be a continuous trickle of demand for more copies. Are you allergic to money?

This isn't about money, it's about OBEY. I also don't feel like disturbing MSR's grave... the game is finished, out the door, done with, gone. There is absolutely no need to go through the expense of a second pressing, especially since the game has already been ripped and put up online for free. Doing a second run would just give the impression that we want to ride the coattails of a single project for as long as possible without ever doing anything new.

If there was a huge, overwhelming demand for a reprint, I would consider it. But without such a demand, there's simply no point in going through the process yet again. I would rather use my time to work on something new.

*Why were all of the games advertised on FU and the back of the MS manual (Dragon Arm, Valkyrie Midnight, Jungle Brothers, Xymati, Project Monolith, Neutopia III, etc., etc., etc.) abandoned for yet another game (Lucretia) and a whole new company (Eponasoft)?

They weren't. Eponasoft was formed in 2007 as a PC and Nintendo DS development group. Once it seemed obvious that the Nintendo DS aspect was going to go nowhere, it shifted focus to the PC Engine as well. Eponasoft functions as a multiplatform, team-per-production group, whereas Frozen Utopia functions as a PC Engine-exclusive core-team development group. Different development strategies, but same overall goal... make new games.

To answer the specifics about each of the games you mention:

Dragon Arm is still in the conceptual stage. The character artist is still developing sketches and fleshing out the character designs.

Valkyrie Midnight was put on hold when Seldane left. It has never been put back on the burner and won't until some other projects are taken care of first.

Jungle Bros is lord cack's project and is currently suffering the game designer's version of writer's block. Paranoia Dragon is still making its music, however.

The PC Engine version of Xymati is a collaboration between MindRec and Eponasoft. It has not been abandoned, but the level of technical expertise required to complete it was above and beyond my current abilities at the time. It is still in the works. Working on Lucretia has given me the necessary level of skill to complete Xymati.

Monolith is currently lacking artists and will resume as soon as this void is filled.

Neutopia III was canceled due to trademark issues.

There are other projects which are not even known to the general public, and they remain under wraps on purpose. Equuskia has two projects of her own under the Eponasoft label, I have a solo project under the Eponasoft label, and there are four other projects with various people... one under the Frozen Utopia banner and three under Eponasoft. There are also projects which really were abandoned for various reasons that are either not known about or were forgotten about.

frozenutopia.com/eternal-0003.png
Mysterious Song II: Eternal Silence

Why so many projects? Two reasons. One, I can't stand to be doing nothing. If a project reaches a standstill, I can't pause working until it resumes; I need to keep busy, so I work on something else until it resumes. Two, having a variety of things to do prevents burnout, which is a huge problem for people like me when we focus too long on one thing.

*Why repeat the same mistakes on Lucretia, open preorders, and announce pie-in-the-sky release dates when there's still a crap-ton of work left to do on that game?

This was not my decision, unfortunately. I would not have done it so early, even though we were right on schedule. I am not the one who runs Eponasoft, I'm simply the project manager/coder. It was a fuckup, a bad move, a mistake. And now I am the one who has to deal with the fallout.

*Why don't you advertise either Eponasoft or FU in your signature instead of a how-to site full of dead links?

My signature is my preference, not anyone else's. Why does your signature say "Topic Adjourned." rather than containing a link to VestCunt.com?

[spenoza]

Wow, thanks for the straight answers. I worried you might have perceived Vestcoat's inquiry as an attack rather than genuine questions and gotten a little snarky on him, but I'm glad you didn't. Your honesty is much appreciated.

[OldRover]

Responding in a snarky, condescending manner would be a total dick move and I try not to be a dick. All of this has been a huge learning experience for everyone involved, and there have been pains and stumbling blocks along the way. Nothing is ever learned by being an ass except "hey, that dude was an ass".

If there ever was demand for an MSR reprint, I would at least fix a few things in it. For one, I am going over the map designs right now and I am noticing a number of tile errors, especially on the Illus map. Map 25 in Ziemja's Canticle has an incorrect segment that prevents it from being completed, so I would also fix that. The bonus minigame has a couple of flaws in it as well that would need to be corrected. That's about as much as can be fixed in it without committing to a huge restoration effort. One of the gripes about the game so far is that the enemy designs are lacking and limited in number. Also, of course, the game is too short. Instead of trying to fix those design flaws though, I would rather do them correctly in the sequel.

[_Paul]

Monolith is currently lacking artists and will resume as soon as this void is filled.

Really? This is news to me, why has it not been mentioned on the Monolith dev forums? I might have jumped in at the time quite prepared to do some spriting work.

Personally, I slowed down my work on the background tiles partly awaiting clarification on several level sets, but mostly because the development seemed to grind to a halt with a lack of any updates on how the game was progressing. Then you seemed to move on to other things so I assumed that the whole project was either on hold or cancelled because there was nothing posted on the dev forums about the current status.

There was certianly enough art to build a lot of the game, allowing for some temporary elements to be upgraded later. Basic placeholder sprites can be easily generated and maps can be adjusted later when more art is complete. I don't understand how this can cause the sudden halt to production?

[OldRover]

Really? This is news to me, why has it not been mentioned on the Monolith dev forums? I might have jumped in at the time quite prepared to do some spriting work.

I had hired someone to fill in for Keranu while he was away. And I do mean "hired"... as in, paid money to... he did a few sprites and then disappeared. Nando was doing the cutscenes but then got busy with other things.

Personally, I slowed down my work on the background tiles partly awaiting clarification on several level sets, but mostly because the development seemed to grind to a halt with a lack of any updates on how the game was progressing. Then you seemed to move on to other things so I assumed that the whole project was either on hold or cancelled because there was nothing posted on the dev forums about the current status.

I'm not big on giving regular updates; that's why I tend to just list out the work to be done and let everyone work at their own pace. There seems to be less stress on a project that way.

There was certianly enough art to build a lot of the game, allowing for some temporary elements to be upgraded later. Basic placeholder sprites can be easily generated and maps can be adjusted later when more art is complete. I don't understand how this can cause the sudden halt to production?

There is plenty done so far using what resources it has already. There's just not a whole lot more I can do right now without new sprites. I do not like to use placeholder resources because it is an inefficient way to spend development time, especially considering things like frame count or even size can change, so things sometimes have to be done more than once. I prefer to work with finalized resources. If something is stalled because of that, then that's okay... the project will resume when it can. It's not a huge deal.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I had hired someone to fill in for Keranu while he was away. And I do mean "hired"... as in, paid money to... he did a few sprites and then disappeared. Nando was doing the cutscenes but then got busy with other things.

With the multitude of free artists who are enthusiastic about PCE, why would you even consider paying someone?  Seems like a waste of money, and a great way to get an inconsistent art style with the game.

I'm not big on giving regular updates; that's why I tend to just list out the work to be done and let everyone work at their own pace. There seems to be less stress on a project that way.

You've got plenty of Lucretia update videos on YouTube.   Probably more of those than the rest of your projects combined.

It would appear that not giving your team regular updates on projects they're invested in leads them to believe you have bailed for something else that you're starting/posting about. 

That might seem less stressful because no one is communicating, but is probably more of a problem in the long run.

There is plenty done so far using what resources it has already. There's just not a whole lot more I can do right now without new sprites. I do not like to use placeholder resources because it is an inefficient way to spend development time, especially considering things like frame count or even size can change, so things sometimes have to be done more than once. I prefer to work with finalized resources. If something is stalled because of that, then that's okay... the project will resume when it can. It's not a huge deal.

I disagree with this.   You should have set guidelines for art sizes and frame counts so you can plan ahead and get away with placeholders.

and if you're using something as simple as a #define, you can relocate things in VRAM with about 5 seconds of work.

same goes for frame counts. 

[VestCunt]

Thanks for all of the answers Rover. You explained most of my gripes away and the others don't weigh on me now that I've voiced them. My apologies for the dick tone. I'll continue to support whatever you do.

[OldRover]

With the multitude of free artists who are enthusiastic about PCE, why would you even consider paying someone?  Seems like a waste of money, and a great way to get an inconsistent art style with the game.

It was a waste of money and I hope the jackass never returns, honestly. I really like Keranu's style, and of course, that was the first thing this dope insulted before he gave me pixels that don't hold a candle to Keranu's sprite work.

You've got plenty of Lucretia update videos on YouTube.   Probably more of those than the rest of your projects combined.

Only because its development moved the fastest. I've never put together a game as quickly as Lucretia. But take note that no new videos have been posted lately.

It would appear that not giving your team regular updates on projects they're invested in leads them to believe you have bailed for something else that you're starting/posting about.

You're probably right.

That might seem less stressful because no one is communicating, but is probably more of a problem in the long run.

This is probably right too.

I disagree with this.   You should have set guidelines for art sizes and frame counts so you can plan ahead and get away with placeholders.

and if you're using something as simple as a #define, you can relocate things in VRAM with about 5 seconds of work.

same goes for frame counts.

I like to give a lot of artistic freedom to the artists. That's why they're artists and not just pixel-making machines.   So sometimes, things change around. We reorganized Lucretia's entire level 1 VRAM map four times before we finalized it because we had new things to add. It eventually settled, but it took a lot of reworking to get right. While some might argue that this is "bad design", I disagree strongly... it's dynamic design, and makes things more loose and free.

[OldRover]

Thanks for all of the answers Rover. You explained most of my gripes away and the others don't weigh on me now that I've voiced them. My apologies for the dick tone. I'll continue to support whatever you do.

No worries dude... thanks for being civil and cool.

[esteban]

...peace, love and harmony snuggled together in pcefxland once again...

[Mathius]

...peace, love and harmony snuggled together in pcefxland once again...

*sighs peacefully*

[_Paul]

It would appear that not giving your team regular updates on projects they're invested in leads them to believe you have bailed for something else that you're starting/posting about.

You're probably right.

That might seem less stressful because no one is communicating, but is probably more of a problem in the long run.

This is probably right too.

This.

For the sake of smooth operation on future projects, don't be afraid to over-update everyone on progress. I usually chat or email Arkhan on a daily basis regarding our games and it really helps to be in the loop. I have had too many bad experiences when I spent months drawing art and the programmer just gave up and moved on to something else that if I even see a hint of that, I'm gonna seriously reconsider my options.