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I told myself I wasn't gonna do this - that I was going to wait until I'd all but finished and ask for beta testers. I ought to know myself better than that.
Malachi the Jerk is a dark but silly comedy in which Dink (and you) are tormented by a real jerk.
That word has a lot of meanings, so let me be crystal clear.
jerk (n.)
Someone who thinks they are better than everyone else. Arrogant, mean, conniving. Will use people for no other reason than to hurt them, causing themselves joy.
That's the kind of jerk we're dealing with here. He'll ruin your day for fun and profit.
The central theme of this story is "frustration." How much can one man take? How deep do you get in before you're just causing your own problems? Is perseverance even worth it in the face of so many setbacks? And by the way, just who does this Smallwood guy think he is, anyway?
He'll have to find out. So will you.
Screenshots.
1
2
3
4
I suspect that for you guys, this DMOD will be a bit of a throwback. That's okay. I'm not going to wow anybody with my programming or game design (and I certainly can't do my own graphics), but I'm doing my best on both while focusing on my strength, which is writing - at least, I hope it's my strength. Don't worry, I didn't use any of my best lines so far in those screenshots.
I've been working on this several hours a day since September 18 (and planning for some time before that), and I intend to continue working hard on it. Having said that, right now there's only 18 screens and 45 scripts. Some might call me detail-oriented, others slow; both would be correct. This is going to take a LONG time, folks.
It's an odd thing, making a DMOD now. I think I missed the boat by a couple of years, which is a real shame, but I'm going to do it anyway. 15 years ago, I was the worst person in the world at something, and I've never felt okay with that. I'm here to set things right. It would have been cool if any of the people who were around when I was a miserable drain on the community were still here to see it, but I'm really doing it for myself.
Hell, I've already put more effort into this one than all my previous mods combined. I never knew what a depth dot was back then, or how to use hardness tiles. I only ever knew a handful of DinkC commands. I've rectified all of that now (Thanks, Robj and other tutorial makers!).
I've already designed the broad outlines of the game and written some key scenes. It will feature:
*11 major areas, probably comprising somewhere around 300 screens total, although that's very subject to change
*A subquest that involves collecting things and leads to an alternate ending
*Just loads of dialogue. Seriously, I hope you guys like text.
*A respec system - this one is already fully implemented. Once per level, you can take all of the points you've assigned at level-ups and reassign them. Stats you got by potions are not affected and can't be changed. Anybody who knows DinkC knows how I did this, but since it was the first script I wrote after watching the tutorials, I'm rather pleased that it works.
*Lots of graphics from the wonderful dev files available on this site
I've also done lots of design work on an idea I have for a very serious and ambitious epic (a story I'm very excited about), but if I get around to that at all it'll surely be after I've finished my "play the DMODs" project.
So yeah, throw this on the pile of announcements. I shall continue to plow onward.
POST-RELEASE EDIT: Please post bug reports here. Post other discussion in the "new DMOD: Malachi the Jerk" topic. Thanks.
Malachi the Jerk is a dark but silly comedy in which Dink (and you) are tormented by a real jerk.
That word has a lot of meanings, so let me be crystal clear.
jerk (n.)
Someone who thinks they are better than everyone else. Arrogant, mean, conniving. Will use people for no other reason than to hurt them, causing themselves joy.
That's the kind of jerk we're dealing with here. He'll ruin your day for fun and profit.
The central theme of this story is "frustration." How much can one man take? How deep do you get in before you're just causing your own problems? Is perseverance even worth it in the face of so many setbacks? And by the way, just who does this Smallwood guy think he is, anyway?
He'll have to find out. So will you.
Screenshots.
1
2
3
4
I suspect that for you guys, this DMOD will be a bit of a throwback. That's okay. I'm not going to wow anybody with my programming or game design (and I certainly can't do my own graphics), but I'm doing my best on both while focusing on my strength, which is writing - at least, I hope it's my strength. Don't worry, I didn't use any of my best lines so far in those screenshots.
I've been working on this several hours a day since September 18 (and planning for some time before that), and I intend to continue working hard on it. Having said that, right now there's only 18 screens and 45 scripts. Some might call me detail-oriented, others slow; both would be correct. This is going to take a LONG time, folks.
It's an odd thing, making a DMOD now. I think I missed the boat by a couple of years, which is a real shame, but I'm going to do it anyway. 15 years ago, I was the worst person in the world at something, and I've never felt okay with that. I'm here to set things right. It would have been cool if any of the people who were around when I was a miserable drain on the community were still here to see it, but I'm really doing it for myself.
Hell, I've already put more effort into this one than all my previous mods combined. I never knew what a depth dot was back then, or how to use hardness tiles. I only ever knew a handful of DinkC commands. I've rectified all of that now (Thanks, Robj and other tutorial makers!).
I've already designed the broad outlines of the game and written some key scenes. It will feature:
*11 major areas, probably comprising somewhere around 300 screens total, although that's very subject to change
*A subquest that involves collecting things and leads to an alternate ending
*Just loads of dialogue. Seriously, I hope you guys like text.
*A respec system - this one is already fully implemented. Once per level, you can take all of the points you've assigned at level-ups and reassign them. Stats you got by potions are not affected and can't be changed. Anybody who knows DinkC knows how I did this, but since it was the first script I wrote after watching the tutorials, I'm rather pleased that it works.
*Lots of graphics from the wonderful dev files available on this site
I've also done lots of design work on an idea I have for a very serious and ambitious epic (a story I'm very excited about), but if I get around to that at all it'll surely be after I've finished my "play the DMODs" project.
So yeah, throw this on the pile of announcements. I shall continue to plow onward.
POST-RELEASE EDIT: Please post bug reports here. Post other discussion in the "new DMOD: Malachi the Jerk" topic. Thanks.
