Castle Paradox

[Moogle1]

[TMC]

Uh oh. I've played pretty few games since last time - there are enormous amounts of great games I need to play (like Boundless Ocean), but I just never get round to them.

Hey, I see people voting for series here. I think top game lists have to figure out a good way to deal with series votes rather than not mentioning the issue and leaving votes in limbo.

1. Sword of Jade - I came across a screenshot of this the other day and it brought up a lot of emotions
2. The Adventures of Powerstick Man - Pepsi had me absolutely hooked on this game's story. I wonder if he forgot he was going to work on the Extended Edition??
3. Walthros - An epic game set in an amazingly large world
4. Monterey Penguin - I don't remember much besides Barney and desert sharks, but I remember it was great
5. Wandering Hamster - Spiffy spiffy!
6. Thanksgiving Quest - PS: OHR House 1 over no. 2
7. Time Flies - It felt a little unfleshed-out, besides being unfinished, but this was a quality game
8. Fantasy Under A Blue Moon X Version 4 - This used to be a big name, though people have forgotten it (too much leveling of course)
9. City Of Dreams - A very lonely game, this has a really special atmosphere.
10. Lolsidothaldremobine - I threw in a random deserving game to round the list out, even though I never finished this either


Authors
1. Orchard-L - That's a lot of effort in a lot of games. Orchard's been mysteriously forgotten by voters.
2. Moogle1 - Moogle's been a legend for an awfully long time.
3. Retrogamer - Retrogamer comes out of nowhere and achieves raised eyebrows without fail.
4. Shadowiii - However, Mr. B deserves plenty of credit too.
5. PHC - PHC's games blend together because his naming scheme just doesn't suit my recall well. Arrays of released games.

Five is rather few of the OHR's most influential authors, but making a top 30 list out of it would be pretty unpleasant.
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[Rinku]

Fine, I change my vote from Ben-Ohki to Komera.
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Tower Defense Game

[Komera]

[Battleblaze]

Well I guess we can just forget my top 10 thing...My lis tis gonna be weird


1) Destiny Calls- Fuck you guys I love this game and wish Stellar would get off his ass and do the remake.

2)The Ritual- The story was engrossing.

3)Boundless Ocean- Friend is the graphical mastermind. Not only that but this game touches on serious topics and combines gameplay, story and actually has overtones, somthign we rarely see in OHR games. Sadly I suck to much to finish it.

4)Walthros-This is the game that set a bar for the everyday OHR user. Not great grpahics or a super original sotry, but that dosen't mean you can't make a great game.

5)OHR House season 1- This was simply fun as hell. I remember wishing I could become and influential enough member just to be in this damn game. Wow

6)Smokey Magoo's grand adventure- Took the still buggy as hell sword script and made a whole funtioning game with minigames etc. Not a small deed

7)Wandering Hamster- My personal most downloaded game. Everytime I got a new computer I made sure this was the one I get first and used as a refrence point for graphics and gameplay during my early years.

8)By The Seventh Book- No it's not that influential but who cares. I liked the story of the game and the game mixed up gameplay with its cinematic elemnts and various minigames (fencing).

9)Crescent Dream- Just a great game. Better than usual art. Adrian came out of nowhere and kicked some ass.

10) CastleParadox Versus- Yeah I know it won't get on the list. But I took endless tons of crap on this game, hell I STILL hold the record for most talked in Journal Topic (12 pages I think). And I fianlly got to the poitn where I could release a dcent demo and I did it. I released a game with alright gameplay and an intresting storyline. It wasn't revolutionary but I was proud of myself and the fact that I made a better game the Legend Of Zelda Sword Of Gods.

Users
1) PHC- I used to hate PHC because he (and hunter green and the rest of the vets) used to malke fun and get on my nerves all the time. But really in the end being under fire just made me work harder on my stuff so people wouldn't have anything to make fun of. Not only that but the game Walthros was great. PHC didn't have super art skills or a very original storyline. But he took his project and used OHR to bring his idea alive with a complete and enjoyable game. To me this kind of embodies the "Joe Everyman" of video games. A normal person who took their idea and brought it to life, which is what the OHRRPGCE is all about.

2)Camdog- Short stories as videogames. I'm honestly a story man myself. Story is one of my favorite parts of anygame and is usally the motivation to keep me going. Even though he lacks graphical finesse his games are among the top rated. He also had the bookclub running for awhile. Somthing I'd like to see back up and running again.

3)James Paige- Do I have to say anything? He started it all up and continues to take time to amke it better. Infinate kudos to James.

4) Inferior Minion- We continue to dig into this man's paycheck and IM dosen't really even make games. IM's a pretty cool person.

5) RMZ- Reminds me of what I wish I could do. Which is work off the karma of bad early games by continously making newer and better games and becoming one of the most important people int he community. Red has heart.
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Indy OHR! and National OHR Month Contest going on now!

"Aeth calls PHC an anti-semite; PHC blames anti-semitism"
-squall

[Charbile]

Ben Ohki was the greatest drama tactician ohr emblem has seen. But. I wouldn't count him as prolific in so far as results. He has no lasting mark on any ohr officer save the memory of a paranoid suicidal queen.


Ludcepts
1 "Sword of Jade" - Heil fuhrer Wulff!

2 "Catman" - For all its faults, it managed to present something pure. The character interactions range from amusing to funny. Playing it reminds me of the child me who wanted to make his own video games. It's a feeling most ohr users seem to quickly lose, which is a shame.

3 "Boundless Ocean" - It was a complete and fun play. This is very rare. Before finishing Sword of Jade, I would make it my homework to play any and all ohr games released simply to have a working knowledge of what and how people have used it. It was the first one, and one of the last I played, that had a complete and integrated feel to it.

4 "Timestream Saga" - This was the game to beat in terms of a 'ohr rpg'. For little credit, Fenrir has repeatedly been able to put his ideas to game, and I mean the ideas that brought most everyone to the ohrrpgce--having your own storyworld and characters to put into rpg format. Timestream Saga stands out the most to me largely in the scope of the story and cast. It was fairly innovative in the things that count, like the tagged textbox chains so that NPCs wouldn't say the same thing every time you talked to them.

5 "Tilde and the Mask of " - It took me a while to really appreciate the story-world Rinku and Harlock had created. It needed much better execution game-wise, but the theme had real worth in the way they presented it through well-known xmas fantasy.

6 "Wingedmene" - For as much as I like picking away at this game, it has a lot there. Komera knows rpg. It's the most classical playing of any, largely due to the ff4 influence, which game also got me into rpg making.

7 "Crescent Dream" - Adrian X for Xtreme also knows what he's doing, though it does come across as ever so slightly cookie-cutter bland anime, but still neat to look at and fun to play. One of the few ohr games whose battles I enjoyed.

8 "Memoria" - This used to be the game to beat before Fenrir crashed ohr town. It had everything there during a period where everyone else struggled. It's aged badly, but it was fun, and much more upbeat than that awful ends of earth which had such a cop-out ending! for shame. If Royal would have stuck around, Sword of Jade would have still put Destiny Calls to shame, fyi.

9 "Spellshard" - I'm surprised nobody else has made a better attempt at an 8bit style rpg. It's easy to do, works, and is fun to play. Spellshard has plenty of Konami / Shizuma, needed more Harlock + story, though they were avoiding it to maintain the outdated fighting style of empty palm.

10 "BLB" - Cutting edge innovation!!



(doing this in terms of the ohr, not at large, and excluding Spam Man since he's really the most prolific ohr person by default of making it)


Prolific Artists

1 Fenrir - It's like everywhere I look, someone has to say something about how they wish they could pixel like him. Everyone seems aware of his result, that neutral though set personality that has made a lot of large games and has acted as person who keeps ohr world from falling too far into the gutter. He's *the* person I think of when I think of what's right with the ohr. He really should move on; why he stays is beyond me besides having fun with what can be had from the close-knit community, and making that Vikings game.

2 PHC - I've never really understood how he was able to do it, or if it was even him at all, but he's the icon for the joke game. Nobody took it more seriously or was more vehement in its defense, or offense against others as it was. In terms of influential result, his effort ended the golden era of the ohr, stymied authors who made rpgs, and basically the signature forum junkie slash meat-grinder game churner who best represents what the current "community" is.

3 Rinku - I have understood how he has done it. He's the icon for those who have aspired to make something of worth for the ohr. He was the man who brought the very concept of "game design" as something tangible, as a craft, to the ohr public. In terms of result, I doubt many see it, but it's there. Saving grace and worth of the ohr "community".

4 JSH - There have been many people who have tried and failed to do what he succeeded at, which is to make *the* community game. His success was largely due to not putting it into the hands of others, but doing it himself. It's a bit fuzzy, but if I remember correctly, it kind of died out with ohr house 2, which he had others making it with him. There was that one Specplosive made earlier, but until JSH, it never took off. He lived the dream.

5 Kumkwat/Ramsey/Misteroo Trio - The first two for being so absolutely retarded funny, and the last for making a name for himself off of it. All classic ohr humor stems from them. The results can't really be seen much anymore on the forums, but when it was going... it was like when Beavis and Butthead came out and everyone talked like them.

[Moogle1]

[khfan15]

Yeah, but (if you don't mind me being pretentious here) OHR House was the first one to really succeed and get people excited (I only vaguely remember Veteran RPG, but I'm pretty sure it was just a cookie-cutter OHR Game with the only thing that made it different being the cast). The production of the show had very little input from other community members (votes were important, but they only made slight differences between episodes) and didn't require them to send in graphics or make a huge commitment to the project (IIRC OHR Battle did). In a way, it was the first successful community game because it involved so little of the community, while still keeping the community interested and being vaguely about it. At least I think that's what he was saying. In any case it's what I'm saying.

Edit: And OHR Noel wasn't really about the community per se. It was just an excuse to make a CT-style battle system without a real plot.

Edit 2: Also, re:Charbile, OHR House 2 WAS finally completed (just last week). The cancellation had nothing to do with working with other authors (Admittedly that could have caused problems, but I still did the majority of the work scripting, mapping, spriting, etc). At the time I was frustrated by the lack of votes, which was pretty dumb in retrospect, but I'm satisfied with the final three episodes the way they are, so things worked out for the best after all!
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I love Kingdom Hearts!

JSH Land: Official Site of All Things JSH

[Rinku]

I don't think I was the first to introduce game design as a craft to the community. I think Vidual was the first, if anyone remembers him. Too bad most of his articles are lost forever. But he was the first to write about game design as a craft in this community, he had tons of articles on the different aspects of what makes a RPG good.
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Tower Defense Game

[TMC]

If you mean the RPG Online articles, I have them all on my harddrive. I forgot to put that mirror up.
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[Rinku]

Do it!
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Tower Defense Game

[Pepsi Ranger]

Okay, I decided to play a few games I hadn't played before to see if I could change my old list a bit. Unfortunately, most of them were single-map disappointments involving no interactive characters (the NPCs were there, just not the accompanying text to make them characters), so there isn't a huge change:

1. Lolsidothaldremobine
Honestly, I doubt anything will knock this game off my number 1 spot. The story is original, hilarious, and well-written. The gameplay: standard, but sensible. The special effects were revolutionary for its time, something that today's games are finally catching up to. If Hollywood got this one in its clutches, I'd spend $9 to see the movie.

2. The Adventures of Powerstick Man
Of course, I'm biased. I know the future of the story and the lack of what's already there; yet, I love the evolving course it's taken. It's also an example of what one can achieve without a plot or a plan, but just a random sense of what needs to come next. (Yes, kids, it's still possible to make a fun game without 200 pages of notes beforehand). And it comes with supplemental files that all OHR users should own.

3. OHR House 1 & 2
I regret not playing these back when they were new. I admit the only reason I played them at all was because it added the Bob the Hamster subplot after Epic Marathon 4 started, but I couldn't stop laughing once I got past that formality. This might very well be the best OHR movie on the market. JSH needs to make an official 3rd season sometime or else I might be upset.

4. Walthros
I remember thinking this was one of the best traditional RPGs released during its first-run demo back in the O:OHR days. Then PHC added to it, then he finished it, and then I played it again. And yes, it was definitely finished, but lost its charm after Super Walrus Man got all depressed and political. I wasn't as much of a fan after that, but still appreciated its completeness and overall superiority to 99% of everything else available. I also thought the mind trick at the end was brilliant (might even be the only thing keeping this game fixed so high on my list for so long).

5. Walthrus: Return of the Crystals
I remember PHC telling me what this game was about before he released it (myself thinking it was the fabled "Alternate Reality" he reserved on the old O:OHR game list) and then me laughing at the idea. I told him that was like me making a "darkly serious Powerstick Man game," which he in turn thought would be funny in its own right. What I never told him (or anyone else, for that matter) was that this very idea inspired me to do just that with the 4th act of the Powerstick Man series, which, as far as I know, will still happen in some form or another. Anyway, this game had me rolling.

6. Mr. Triangle's Maze Madness
This is a game I didn't want to play initially, but decided to try after Red asked for people to submit their heroes that he might use as bonus characters. What I found was an intelligently laid out puzzle game that extended well beyond the lame block-pushing elements featured in most other OHR puzzlers. Very addicting, and something I wished he had finished.

7. City of Dreams
I don't know if this is Friend's best game or not, but it's the only one I played so far. I suppose that's good for everyone else considering if I had played his other games, they'd probably dominate my list and all the other authors out there would be left in the cold. Anyway, I thought this game had perfect atmosphere, well-defined mood, and an excellent ad campaign (which wasn't a campaign so much as it was just a letter from the missing character in the game, but very enticing). And, of course, it's a mystery game rather than an RPG, which I can appreciate. I should really give Missing a try next.

8. At the Risk of Manipulation
I could say I'm biased to this one, too, but no. If you haven't tried this yet, you should. It features a unique system where the NPCs do all the work and the hero just simply "persuades" them--his effectiveness depending on how cool he is. Granted, I still need to fix a few technical things, and then I need to add new areas, but that'll all come. And if it isn't already obvious, Friend designed the promotional screenshot (which I failed to credit in the original text file, but added in the currently unreleased one). Anyway, I'm rambling...

9. Bandit Revolver
Another game I appreciate simply for the ad campaign behind it. Like Airship 2600, Gilbert created a massive promotion that made this game out to be greater than Sword of Jade, but in the end the game turned out to be nothing. I think it perfectly satirizes the way Hollywood promotes summer blockbusters, creating tremendous ad campaigns for movies that aren't even worth $5 for the DVD--movies like Godzilla (1998), for instance. I'd liken this game to a smack in the face, which is essentially what Gilbert was going for. Well executed.

10. Darkmoor Dungeon
Like Mr. Triangle's Maze Madness, this game specializes in its design more than so than in story. And it does it so well. This game, in my opinion, tops what And& perfected so long ago: to make a brilliant game based only on battles. If everyone could design battles like these, most of our games would no longer suck.

Honorable Mentions:

Just because I like to cram everything relevant into one post, here are a few games that missed the cut, but I still think are worth looking at--

Death Wears a Green Tie
-Not a "good" game, but a unique one; fairly clever in its storytelling.

Ends of the Earth 2
-The classic example of traditional RPGs. No OHR user should call himself a user until he's played this one. Not sure how well it's aged, though.

Genesis
-Barely missing the Top 10, this game brilliantly uses character animation to help tell the story--a feature I'm always happy to see in games, and one I try to use myself as often as possible.

The Last Blitz
-You'll probably have to get this one from Rinku, but it's worth playing if you do. The story is decent, but the characters are some of the coolest in the OHR library. A great play if anyone wants to learn how to steer away from generic heroes.

Locked
-I just played this about two hours ago. And though I think the puzzle links are pretty stupid (sorry, Iblis, they are--who discovers a photograph underneath a friggin' cereal bowl?), the design itself is very well crafted. And the 8-bit graphics: stellar. Another game just missing my Top 10.

matricx re-hacked
-My favorite parody of a non-OHR source. I think this game is highly underrated and deserves more attention. Byako is a genius.

Memoria
-Another classic that probably plays like crap on hasta-la-qb, but was brilliant for its time. Might very well be the best of the non-plotscripted games.

Origin
-Excellent story, bad graphics--everything a growing boy needs. Play it today.

Plip-Tamer
-I was addicted to Bejeweled 2 for about a week in February (maybe earlier, I don't remember), so I was happy to see a free alternative available when James released this. If only he had implemented power plips and hyper plips, too.

Scary Game 1 & 2
-The best of the "seasonal" games in my opinion, these games proved how fun mini-games could be if done right. And they were also plotscripting tour de forces for their time, something of which many users still have yet to mimic today. Moogle, if you're reading this, how about finishing Scary Game 3 this year?

Shifter
-My favorite "incomplete" game. Unique characters and colorful worlds made this game one of the best fantasies to never get off the ground. Hopefully Bagne will pop up out of the blue and give us an official demo someday. I really thought this one had potential.

Toy Town
-Another one I just saw on the game list today and thought: "this is neat." It's like a primitive SimCity, complete with mouse support. Pretty cool.

Wingedmene
-Probably the last great traditional RPG we saw before the joke game genre came along and bastardized everyone's attention. Incredibly hard, but worth the effort if you have the patience. Komera, if you're reading this, please do away with those pointless dead ends when you re-design it. That was the only thing I thought needed a change.

Games I'll Probably Love Once I Actually Sit Down to Play Them:

I'm only including this section for those who know they have great games, but can't figure out why I didn't vote for them--

Sword of Jade
Missing
Fox and the Eight-Six
Timestream Saga
Destiny Calls

And now for the Top 5 authors:

1. Friend
This guy's got talent, plain and simple. In fact, I have to wonder if he's really just one guy. First of all, and probably most important, he's consistent. You can spot his style from across the ocean he's so defined. Secondly, he maintains a high standard of quality. If it looks bad or plays bad, he won't release it. Simple as that. Thirdly, he's prolific. Like Stephen King, he can produce a great epic in short time, and it'll be a masterpiece. Fourthly, he's a brilliant advertiser. If anyone remembers the City of Dreams ad, you'll know what I mean. And these, of course, just scratch the surface. Authors like this are a rarity.

2. James Paige
Yeah, he's got the engine under his belt, but that's not why I'm voting for him. Like Friend, he's not only consistent with his style, but he keeps it his own. And it's quirky, which I can always appreciate. Plus, I think it defines the original spirit of this community before anime and the modern day joke game perverted it. Games like Plip-Tamer pull me back to that initial charm that we first found in Wandering Hamster, something that ultimately purifies what a lot of games today have bloodied. This isn't to say the other games are bad, mind you; I just think James's games remind us what the community style had once been.

3. PHC
And now we reach the other side of that coin: the champion of the new OHR. PHC entered the community with the old style in tow (which we can all agree Walthros resembles with its traditional and somewhat "innocent" presentation). But then, something changed. He snapped, creating the first spike into the old OHR's beating heart: Walthrus: Return of the Crystals. Like the Arfenhouse series, he created a beautiful mockery of the common OHR game. Then a chain reaction followed: JSH evolved from Duck and MJ 2 with his OMFG series; Gizmog1 evolved from that Santa game where you drop stuff into chimneys with the No Ingles series; and Gilbert--well, Gilbert stayed the same. Soon, the OHR became a hotbed of satire, cruelty to pixelated animals, warped McDonald's characters, and a number of things that could make the common 13-year-old blush. And he didn't flinch. Game after messed-up game populated the list, dominating Top 30 lists, and with it, segueing the hearts of many into something twisted. The new OHR was born. The joke game dominated. Contests exploded. And Super Walrus Man became a star. And the best part of all: PHC's quite humble about it.

4. Moogle1
Though some proclaim to be better plotscript artists than him, none can deny that he's the most vocal about it. Generally, if anyone has a question about a complex technique, he has an answer. If anyone could dare think of a design challenge for the OHR, he's probably already thought of the solution. With mini-games, tactic games, and all sorts of tech games under his belt, he's definitely the source of information when it comes to unique implementations for a game. And he's got that plotscript library, too.

For the last spot, I have to go with someone that most of you will probably disagree with considering most of you never recognized his talents:

5. Cube
I'm putting Cube above several others who are technically more influential than him for one reason: he's probably the best map designer here. He himself will admit that he suffers when it comes to storytelling; but then, ask him if that matters when you try out his dungeons. Deep down I wonder if he's missing his calling as an architect. If anyone has a problem with map design, I'd highly recommend asking him for advice.

And that covers my extensive votes here.

[Komera]

[Rinku]

Huh? I don't remember changing anything and not telling you. Except Rell, but that was a different file...
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Tower Defense Game

[Moogle1]