Jump to content

Pahrak Model ZX

Premier Outstanding BZP Citizens
  • Posts

    5,462
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    35

Blog Entries posted by Pahrak Model ZX

  1. Pahrak Model ZX
    That prompt seemed awfully daunting at first. A game with absolutely no violence? Is such a thing even possible?! But after a bit of brainstorming, I’ve developed a peaceful game that I want to throw into the ring.
     
    The Great Career Fair will need 12 players to get started, no more, no less. Each player will represent one of the professions available to Matoran in the city of Metru-Nui (two from each Metru), and every 24 hours or so we’ll randomly determine a type of event that you will have to book a venue for. Try to spend your money wisely and figure out how to make the most of your innate abilities so that you can convince as many Matoran as possible to pursue a job in your field!
  2. Pahrak Model ZX
    April is known for rain, I think?
     
    Well now stars will fall instead of water, because Jirachi is available from April 1 to 24! This is another one you can get from home, just use Mystery Gift.
     
    Of course, you might already have one if you’ve visited Japan, they get one like every single year for Tanabata, it’s totally unfair but once I get mine I’m going to be less angry about it.
     
    721 HERE WE COME!
  3. Pahrak Model ZX
    The second part of Beyond Ruin has been posted, this one focusing on the Queen of Nature!
     
    Prior to this, all I had really said about Nature was that she wanted her queendom, Arbolana, to be as independent as possible, and that she brought her pet bird wherever she went. I figured I should try to come up with reasons for these traits as a starting place for developing her. I’d say her character’s starting to come together now, though I’d like to do a little more work. (Even though she might not appear in the novel as much…)
     
    This is also the first time I’ve written a description of one of the Ruinous. I might change it around a bit, but I think I do want to keep to the basic idea of them being bizarre amalgams. Gosh, I hope I don’t cross the line into ridiculous.
     
    I believe I want to try a chapter focusing on the Queen of War next. She already got a close look in the piece Goddess of Evolution, but I feel she would be finding herself in a very difficult position at this point in time, and it’s something I’m eager to explore a bit. Stay tuned for that.
  4. Pahrak Model ZX
    Don’t get too excited, Tournament 4 isn’t going up just yet. Having heard that a G&T contest is on the way in April, I’m entertaining the idea of entering it, and even if I don’t it’ll be difficult to compete for attention with all the entries that will be popping up. So I’m planning to host Technic Tournament 4 in 3D this May, in theaters near you.
     
    But I figure I can give you a little info. As always we’ll be having Bionicle G1 and G2, Slizers, and Hero Factory. Galidor and Knights Kingdom are also making a comeback, and one Exo-Force mech will be used in the Misc category alongside newcomer Metalbeard who can’t really be fit into a category. For the eighth category, after watching Star Wars Episode VII I really wanted to put those constraction sets in the game, so that’s what I’m going with.
     
    This is the first time in this whole series we’ll be having a game with no RoboRiders.
     

    Roster -Onua Mata
    -Avak
    -Akida
    -Uniter Lewa
    -Ski/Ice Slizer
    -Spark Slizer
    -Nathan Evo
    -Vapor
    -Allegra Zane
    -Jens
    -Jayko
    -King Mathias
    -Stealth Hunter
    -Metalbeard
    -Rey
    -Kylo Ren

  5. Pahrak Model ZX
    I just posted the first chapter of Beyond Ruin over in OTC! Again, I’m not sure this part does anything particularly new or special, so I’ll just summarize the basics of the idea here.
     
    Beyond Ruin is intended to be a set of short pieces fleshing out the characters and world of my work-in-progress story Divine Strength. It takes place at a point in time where the Queens, who have been constantly at war for the three hundred years since their creation, have just defeated monsters known as the Ruinous and declared a truce. This peace will (for the most part) last for thousands of years, at least up until the timeframe I want to set the main story in. Since this is a huge turning point for the Queens, I think this is a good time to explore their characters, as what they do now will come to define them for well into their future. The review topic also has a short FAQ that hopefully clears things up for newcomers, though if it proves ineffective I’d love suggestions to make it more user-friendly!
     
    Updates will be sporadic, but the second one should be up fairly soon—it’s done for the most part, I just want to edit it a bit. I hope you enjoy the story!
  6. Pahrak Model ZX
    Slizer Dome just wrapped up, naming Jamie (El-P) the Champion of the Millennium. I feel like the scenes quickly became very basic, so I want to apologize for that, and for pushing some deadlines back way too far. Overall I had fun! Thanks for playing!
     
    If anyone has any comments, I’d be more than happy to hear them! I’d like to run a sequel if I can make it work, since the Slizer line actually had two years of story (well…two set-ups), but I’d like to refine the basic system before I make the big changes that would be necessary for Slizer Dome 2000. Maybe I’ll run one in between that uses the multiple planets version of the story so I can tinker with the system without it being in the same storyline as the first…Slizer Dome US: The More Convoluted Version?
     
    The only thing really on my mind right now if that I wonder if I should provide more ways to overcome elemental advantage, or maybe make it the second deciding factor while weapon advantage is first. There’s no guarantee the players’ elements will be balanced, and I feel like this time around they weren’t, and I worry it might’ve ended up a bit unfair. I don’t know—I want elements to matter, but I don’t necessarily want them to unbalance everything. Then again, my basic ideas for Slizer Dome 2000 sort of make elements a moot point, so…maybe I should just ditch them? (Though they could still be useful in Slizer Dome US…)
  7. Pahrak Model ZX
    (Well, technically, Technic Tournament is the spin-off and this is trying to unspin it a little...)
     
    Even if it did die out, I still feel like Technic Coliseum was a bit more popular than Technic Tournament. However, I feel far less able now to keep up with a game that big, and I really do want to continue the Tournament-style games. But I am exploring some options.
     
    I’m thinking that part of what made Coliseum so well-liked (in its day) was the level of customization it offered. So, in an attempt to make that work in a smaller game, I ended up with the following idea, tentatively called “Technic Coliseum: Limited League”.
     
    A set of fighters will be selected, of course, and then either players will choose them (first come first serve) or be assigned them randomly. You will then have a set amount of Widgets to use to prepare your fighter for a match. You can choose from the available trainers and equipment however you see fit, but you have to keep it within budget. Fighters will then be paired up and fight. Then their slates will be wiped clean and they’ll be rerandomized, or put up for grabs again with whoever sponsored them last round being forced to choose someone else. Your budget is reset, and you now have to prepare that fighter for their match.
     
    A big concern I have is what to give the winner of each match. If I give them more Widgets, then they’re going to have an advantage that will quickly leave other players in the dust, and start another arms race like the one that killed activity back in Coliseum. Now, since this game will only go on for a few weeks, this might not be as big a deal, but I still want to try something else. Right now I’m thinking that if you win, you get to keep your fighter for the next round, though I might still put some restrictions on trainers and equipment so that you can’t have the exact same set each time—that would be boring.
     
    There’s also the matter of settling matches. Fights like these need to be run like they were in Coliseum: you each post a strategy, I compare them, and I give a judgment on who I think would win. I worry about such subjective criteria. Also it’ll take a lot more of my time and focus that way and I’m not sure I’m up for that. I don’t know, maybe I could have the other players vote? But that’ll require a lot of participation on everyone’s part, and if we don’t hear from people it’ll really, really hurt us. Hmmm.
     
    And of course, whoever sponsors the most winning fights by the end of the whole thing wins the game. That part’s probably obvious.
     
    I don’t know, I still need to work out the kinks and there’d be a lot of work to do trying to balance everything. If anyone has any comments I’m happy to hear them—this is just a rough idea right now, so I make no promises of it ever going up. I just want to gauge interest before I go through all that work.
  8. Pahrak Model ZX
    This is the story of a trainer named Pahrak and his trusty Chandelure.
     
    Pahrak and Chandelure arrived in the Ferrum Region, having heard tales of the Pokken Tournament and deciding they wanted to compete. A girl named Nia was kind enough to teach them the basics of how Ferrum Battles worked, and after getting down the basics, Pahrak and Chandelure decided to get started.
     
    It was immediately apparent that Pahrak really had no idea what he was doing, but his sheer dumb luck seemed to work for a time. He and Chandelure made it into the Green League’s top 8 after only two sets of trainers, won the tournament, and earned their rank promotion!
     
    But then, a mysterious Shadow Mewtwo appeared. Chandelure was defeated in mere seconds.
     
    Though shaken, Pahrak and Chandelure moved on to the Blue League. Though still a relatively low league, it seemed Pahrak’s luck had run out, and his lack of skill finally caught up with him. The team has managed to start their climb up the rankings and have yet to suffer a loss, but nearly every victory is won by an incredibly slim margin. Pahrak is unsure if he can guide Chandelure even through the rest of this league, let alone the Red and Chroma Leagues beyond. It remains to be seen if he can ever master the techniques of “Blocking” and “Dodging”…
     
    (Pokken’s definitely fun, I just wish I was better at it. *sigh*)
  9. Pahrak Model ZX
    Slizer Dome feels a tiny bit shaky, but I still think it’s a decent entry for fishers’s contest. However, since she is allowing multiple entries, I decided to add another story to my mountain of ideas I need to get to.
     
    You see, for reasons I can’t explain, I still have a special place in my heart for RoboRiders—maybe just because, back when I was entering the world of Lego constraction lines, I was able to find three RoboRiders on store shelves as opposed to one Slizer. (I mean I have all sets from both lines now but RoboRiders still has +2 nostalgia.) I think this is a great opportunity to try giving the line another shot via a more fleshed-out story, so that’s what I’m going to do.
     
    Right now I’m calling it RoboRiders Re:Start to fit with the idea of this being a data-based world, though if I think of a title that feels less…general, I might change it. (RoboRiders Fwd:Motion, maybe?) Since it seems there’s meant to be a focus on speed in the line, I want to keep that, but I think it’s going to be difficult for me to make that work. It’s something I’m going to need to experiment with. But, since I’m always doing pre-release stuff and am always fishing for feedback no matter how early, I figured I’d post my first draft of the story’s opening and see how well I was able to capture the feeling of speed (or not). SO!
     

    Open File  
    Faster.
     
    Eighty. Eighty-five. Ninety. Uphill, sharp turn, leaning—they gripped the handles tightly. The motor revved and the wheels spun even more rapidly.
     
    I can go faster.
     
    Ninety-five, downhill, gravity pressing them into the bike, a truck on the other side of the highway, they ignored it and kept going. One hundred, one hundred five. The highway leveled into a straight shot towards the gunmetal skyscrapers in the distance. One hundred ten.
     
    It can go faster.
     
    Speed was all that mattered. One hundred fifteen, one hundred twenty, pothole—swerve—accelerate, one hundred thirty, one hundred forty. They were in the city now, the skyscrapers blurring past. Streetlights flicked on, one hundred fifty, one hundred seventy, they kept speeding up as the road gently curved. One hundred eighty five.
     
    We’ve built it better than this.
     
    Two hundred. Data had to move as fast as it could. If something in this world was too slow, it would be deleted and replaced. Two hundred twenty. They merged onto a larger highway. Two hundred thirty. Only speed could keep you from becoming obsolete. Two hundred forty. They could barely make out the vehicles on the other side of the road. Two hundred seventy, onto the bridge. It curved into the sky, high over the city square, three hundred, airborne for a split-second at the peak, they could see the whole city.
     
    I want this world to continue forward.
     
    It hit the ground hard, two hundred ninety, it held together, three hundred, off the bridge. Past more skyscrapers, a wrecking ball ahead, was there construction? Three hundred ten. It was cracked, the cracks formed a face on the ball, it swung forward, straight towards the highway, two hundred ninety, two hundred seventy five, too late.
     
    Collision. Zero.
  10. Pahrak Model ZX
    I was going to go with “Pahrak Master of Tournaments” but character limit ugh
     
    So my main ideas now are:
    -Stained Glass Pahrak
    -Pahrak III.7 HD ReNAME
    -Galactic Commander Pahrak
    -Sinnoh Slizer
     
    It’s a tough decision. Though since I’m now Pahrak the Sinnoh Slizer on another website I’d probably be better able to put that one aside to try out other ones for BZP here…
  11. Pahrak Model ZX
    Wait, when was the last time I did something related to Divine Strength? On second thought, I’m not going to double check, it’ll only discourage me. Suffice to say it has been months.
     
    Well guess what. I got a surprise burst of motivation at midnight thirty the other night (morning?) and wrote a 1200-ish word story. About Queens.
     
    So I’m totally going to post it, but, I got to thinking. This individual thing doesn’t really do anything too unique, though it is the first thing I’ve really written since cutting down on the number of Queens and introducing The Ruinous into the backstory. Technically this makes it a reboot! But since this isn’t the first time I’ve tried a short story that’s basically just a conversation between Land and Gravity Sky, and since I think this might be a good opportunity to force myself to flesh out all the other characters, I think I might try to expand it. With multiple chapters.
     
    The idea is that I’ll write a short scene with each Queen (Land and Sky share, Light and Sea might as well) all set immediately after the Queens fought The Ruinous and agreed to a truce. Only Land and Sky’s is complete right now—I’m sure I’ll start posting before I finish all of them and then just go to inconsistent updates when I have them, but I think I’d at least like to finish a second one before I start posting. And once I get through the whole roster, who knows, I might even find an excuse to continue this.
     
    Hopefully it won’t take me too long to finish the Queen of Nature’s chapter. So I’m going to go ahead and say “Expect Beyond Ruin to appear in the OTC Forum soon!” and hope that’s not a lie.
  12. Pahrak Model ZX
    Wow.
     
    So, I had managed to make it to the Indigo Plateau in Virtual Red, and I was unsure what to do at that point. I set it down for a few days, but on Sunday I finally buckled down to grind until everyone was Level 50 (because Scorch badly needed Flamethrower and an evolution), minus Articuno who was already 51. Knowing that those numbers were still too low, I nevertheless made the decision to challenge the Elite Four and see how far I could get.
     
    Somehow I ended up winning.
     
    Hall of Fame:
    -Hana the Venusaur, Level 51
    -Scorch the Arcanine, Level 50
    -Gahlok the Vaporeon, Level 51
    -Sentinel the Marowak, Level 51
    -Aeroga the Aerodactyl, Level 50
    -Articuno, Level 52
     
    To celebrate I went and caught Zapdos, which was difficult because apparently Poke Balls can miss in Gen I, but I got it. Not sure if I want to do much else though. We’ll see.
     
    Now to replay either X or Y with the team I was planning to use for Pokemon Z.
  13. Pahrak Model ZX
    Slizer Dome has just gone live in Games & Trivia!
     
    If you'd like to experience the Slizer world firsthand, this is the game for you! Train your abilities, create disks, gather resources, fight elemental monsters, and battle other players to earn your place as Champion of the Millennium!
     
    Signups will only be open for 48 hours, so don't miss your chance!
  14. Pahrak Model ZX
    I’ve received a great one. Don’t tell Zuko.
     
    I have been promoted to Outstanding BZPower Citizen! I honestly never thought I’d earn this much proto, reclusive as I am, but it seems I’ve gotten a lot more mileage than I expected out of my Pokemon news blog posts and violent crossover games!
     
    Since I haven’t been keeping track of every increase I don’t know who each one came from, but I know Windrider’s given me at least two, so a big thank you to her! And thanks to everyone who participated in said blogging and games, I hope you all enjoyed the time you spent indulging me.
     
    Wait…does this make me a role model now? Yikes. Kids, let’s get one thing out of the way right now: do as I say, not as I do!
     
    Coincidentally, I recently realized that I’ve had this name since December 2014 and was thinking it was time to change it. And now I can abuse name changes more than ever. *rubs hands together in a vaguely sinister yet cheesy due to being cliché manner*
     
    Also for completion’s sake: I changed my blog title. Sinnoh forever.
  15. Pahrak Model ZX
    Prompted by fishers' contest, I’ve got a brand new game inspired by the constraction line that started it all!
     
    Slizer Dome will allow players a chance to immerse themselves in the overlooked world of the old line, becoming Slizers of any region they choose and pushing their abilities to the limits in order to battle it out in a planet-wide tournament! You’ll need to find disks, gather rare sources of power, and battle elemental monsters if you’re going to become strong enough to best all the others, and be named Champion of the Millennium!
     
    The game will start Monday. I’ll make another post here with the link, and then you’ll have 24 hours to sign up before the first round gets started. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
  16. Pahrak Model ZX
    My team has been completed!
     
    Hana the Venusaur, currently Lv 42
    Scorch the Growlithe, currently Lv 41
    Gahlok the Vaporeon, currently Lv 41
    Sentinel the Marowak, currently Lv 42
    Aeroga the Aerodactyl, currently Lv 41
    Articuno, currently Lv 50
     
    I haven't actually used Articuno yet since I want everyone else to catch up, but I think they'll really come in handy. Pokedex just hit 50 so I picked up the EXP All, hoping that will prove useful; I managed to beat Sabrina so I'm now exploring the Pokemon Mansion, which I might mess around in for a bit even after I need to in order to get some more levels. Although between Gahlok and Sentinel, I don't think Blaine's going to be much trouble.
     
    But Scorch, though. Poor, poor Scorch. Bad movepool, low stats, the only way to fix the former is by coping with the latter until Level 50...it's a bit frustrating. But, I'm gonna hang in there. We can do this, Scorch!
     
    Also why can Aerodactyl, a Rock type Pokemon, not learn any Rock type moves in this Generation? Kind of disappoint. (Aeroga's still freaking awesome though.)
     
    On another note, thinking about the team I had planned for Pokemon Z has made me think about restarting Y with said team, Zygarde included. I figure I'll decide after I finish Virtual Red and transfer my Living Dex to Omega Ruby.
     
    EDIT: ALSO, starting March 4 you can get the Regi trio with Hidden Abilities through Pokemon Bank! Sorry, can't believe I forgot that...
  17. Pahrak Model ZX
    So, March. The month of celebrating green!
     
    Because Celebi is now available! I believe this is one you can download from the comfort of your own home, so just use the Mystery Gift option and you should be good.
     
    Unless it shows up in a special Poke Ball that no one can open, and then you take it to an expert and totally forget that it ever existed in the first place. That would sure suck, wouldn’t it?
     
    721 HERE WE COME!
  18. Pahrak Model ZX
    I wasn’t going to buy the Virtual Console Pokemon games, but since we can transfer Pokemon from them to Sun and Moon and I had some leftover eShop cash, I decided to pick up Red.
     
    For one thing, it takes up basically no space and downloaded super-quick, I was surprised by that. Anyway, I’m enjoying it, which I wasn’t too sure I would. They’ve held up alright, though if the system had remained totally unchanged Pokemon probably wouldn’t have lasted 20 years.
     
    I started with Bulbasaur, named it Hana, it was the only Pokemon I used all the way through Vermillion. So Hana’s now a Level 37 Venusaur who’s basically sitting back and watching the new recruits try to catch up. Gahlok the Vaporeon is doing nicely at Level 32, and Sentinel the Level 32 Marowak very quickly became a pillar of the team. I also caught a Growlithe, currently Level 31, but the only STAB move poor Scorch has is Ember, which is pitiful—and they won’t learn anything else until Flamethrower at Level 50. So, that Fire Stone is going to be sitting in my bag a while…hopefully a flamethrowing Arcanine will be worth it.
     
    Scorch was able to beat Erika for me, though, so next up is Koga. But the first trainer in his gym has a Level 38 Hypno, so that’s not happening. There are still some sources of EXP around—especially Silph Co and the Fighting Dojo—so I’m hoping to power up there, beat Koga, and then go from Pallet to Cinnabar so that I can get Aerodactyl on my team. After a little time powering that up, I want to go to Seafoam Islands and use that Master Ball on Articuno. Perhaps then, I’ll be able to stand a chance against Sabrina…but, I’m getting ahead of myself.
     
    So yeah, Virtual Red is pretty fun! Now I’m considering future Virtual Console Pokemon games…
  19. Pahrak Model ZX
    Sun and Moon are legit, and on 3DS (thank God!)! And judging by how the video was only citing games which began a new Generation when it was leading up to the announcement, it sounds like it really is Gen VII! This adds new questions, but hey, new Pokemon! This year! On a system I have!!
     
    Not only that, but the Virtual Console games will be compatible with Pokemon Bank! It only mentioned moving the Pokemon from the VC games into Sun and Moon, so I don't think they'll be able to get to your Gen VI games, but that's still really good news! I think I'm actually going to play one now!
  20. Pahrak Model ZX
    Technic Tournament 3 & Knuckles just concluded with Knuckles acquiring a full set of Super Emeralds and unlocking an epic scene where Hyper Knuckles destroyed the Makuta-possessed Great Spirit Robot in a single punch and then flew around the eight realms distributing magic rings to their inhabitants.
     
    Also Umarak became Champion and lost to Pridak in the Title Match. Not the ending I was hoping for.
     
    I’m not sure when I’ll host Technic Tournament 4 in 3D, but while this last game is still fresh in your minds I’d like to ask for any suggestions you might have. I’d like to make at least a few significant changes, else it doesn’t really feel justifiable to do another one.
     
    The only thing that’s really bothering me right now is that we still have most fights ending up with a character with Widgets vs a character with none. (Though this was averted relatively well in the Title Match, thank God!) The first thing I thought of was a limit on how many times each fighter can be promoted—like, in the first round each fighter can only be promoted by two players, and then they’re closed for sponsorship until round 2—but, I dunno, that feels a bit too restrictive…
     
    An alternative I like more: I was considering that players would promote a match rather than a specific fighter. You would of course state which fighter you preferred to win, and then I’d do another roll to decide how the money you bring in gets split between the two fighters. This would make it a bit more luck-based, since I’m tired of how easy it is to predict how the entire tournament is going to play out as soon as the first round gets underway. If I do this, I might also remove the “overpopular penalty” system, since it would probably be more obstructive here, and the bonuses and multipliers determined by type of promotion would most likely activate based on the preferred fighter.
     
    Trying to think of more wild cards, I wondered if I could add a “public opinion” system, which has an influence on how well certain lines do. Say G1 has +1 public opinion—if you promote a fight with a G1 fighter, they get an extra 1000 W or so. Meanwhile if Hero Factory has -1 public opinion, and if you promote that fight then that fighter makes 1000 less. (Though I may want to establish a lower limit, I’d hate for a player to bring in absolutely nothing based solely on this system.) I’d need to think of a good way for players to influence these values, of course, and I’m not 100% sure how to work that. My first thought was that it would be based on how many times fights featuring a specific line get promoted, but I also think it’d be more interesting if you could spend Widgets on more than just the promotion, so I might instead provide a set of campaigns players can fund to affect public opinion of certain lines. I think I’d like to randomize where these values start, and maybe add in a few random additions and reductions per round, but right now I’m thinking that for the most part I’d like it to be player-guided. That could change though.
     
    I also think I’ll reduce all rounds to 48 hours in length. Now that I’ve played a few more recent Games & Trivia games, I realize the rounds in the Tournaments are absurdly long, and it definitely gets driven home by the days spent watching the topic sit there with no activity because everyone’s already made their actions for the round. So Technic Tournament 4 in 3D should take only 10 days altogether.
     
    That’s all I have so far. Anyone have anything else to add?
  21. Pahrak Model ZX
    Technic Tournament 3 & Knuckles is on its Title Match right now, and I’m laughing.
     
    Partly out of rage at how the RNG seems to highly favor that wretched, boring, Sue-like shark over our challenger, I’ll admit.
     
    But mostly over this other thing.
     
    So, this time around, each player only gets one attempt at promotion during the Title Match—that’s it. You have one chance to bring in money for your fighter, and after that, all you can do is wait. Most people are doing what they’ve been doing even before this rule went into effect: throwing all their money in at once. Because of the additional multipliers I’m using on Title Match rolls, nearly every attempt is bringing in millions—Lucina brought in over 21 million alone.
     
    And then there’s this post, and the fact that it resulted in a whopping 4 W.
     
    Keep in mind, Luroka is the entire reason Pridak is in Technic Tournament, requesting the fighter when I announced the first tournament even though I had already decided on the roster so I decided to put him in Tournament 2. (A mistake, I now realize, but that’s neither here nor there.)
     
    So I can only envision all these investors meeting up at the Tournament facility, waving around giant wads of cash, and then Luroka walks in—Pridak’s number one fan, they think, the one who will ensure the shark’s victory. And he just pulls out one dollar. Sets it down on the table. We all stare at him as the ad airs, and we find out that it has sold almost half a ticket.
     
    And it gets better, because this is actually a great tactic! Because if Pridak wins, then all 50 million-ish Widgets this match has made is going to get divided up equally amongst Pridak’s supporters, most of whom currently have no money to their name and will be tied. But Luroka, who only sold half a ticket, has a 700,000 W lead on them.
     
    I’m not kidding when I say this has renewed my passion for running this game. Technic Tournament 4 in 3D just got moved up.
×
×
  • Create New...