Chapter 2: Pride

We crashed pretty hard last night. So hard that in all honesty I couldn't have written any more if I wanted to. Even if I could have, though, I really didn't have much to say at that point. I was on a plane for 12 hours, and a bus for 2 more hours. I was uncomfortable, tired, and sore. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was blog. Oh, the things I do for you guys. <3.

Today, however, things finally got underway. We woke up around 5 AM courtesy of the jet lag, unable to go back to sleep. When I tried, I ended up diving into a nightmare where I was about to graduate high school but couldn't because I somehow forgot to go to my AP English class for half the semester. How this could have happened is beyond me, but I was more than relieved to burst out of that dream and awaken back in Tokyo. Let's get this party started!

We got things underway by exploring the area. I tried several times, unsuccessfully, to convince Lisa to go to Akihabara because I had a craving to buy some games. I tried everything from "I can't read the menus at the restaurants, let's go to a district where I can" (partially true), to "I won't buy anything" (blatant lie). It didn't end up working since she knows my tricks, which was for the best regardless. We went to one of the 24-hour convenience stores to pick up some drinks, as we were already completely parched from walking around Shinjuku for an hour or so. I ended up getting Calpis (NOT Cow Piss) Water and Lisa ended up with a peach nectar. Both were delicious and we'll probably end up getting those drinks again tomorrow. With that taken care of, we ventured back out into the wilds of Japan and noticed - everything was STILL closed (by now, it was 9:30 AM).

One interesting thing about Japan - for as hard as these people work, they sure don't get up early. The Tokyo Salaryman Commuter Army (hereafter referred to as TSCA) doesn't hit the streets until 9:30 AM or later. Most of the stores don't even open until 10:30 or 11:00 AM. Restaurants are pretty much the same deal, except for the 24-hour shops like Yoshinoya (more on that in a moment), coffee places, or places that serve morning set meals to snag the commuter crowd - and there are less of those than you'd think given the size of said commuter crowd.

As two fully rested gaijin who were up since daybreak courtesy of jet lag, we found the late opening of the stores to be more than a minor inconvenience - it was a down right pain in the ass. Lisa got frustrated that we weren't "doing anything interesting", I got frustrated because there was nothing interesting to do. After a little back-and-forth, we decided the best course of action would be to grab a bite to eat and go back to the hotel to wait out the store openings. Unfortunately, we ran into a small snafu. You see, a lot of these smaller chains in Japan don't have English menus, kana menus, or even hiragana menus... that's right. The moment you step in the door of one of these places you are most likely going to be _blasted_ with a full 100% Kanji menu. For a person like me who can actually read some kanji and all the kana, this is a huge pain in the ass, because not only can I not read half the menu, the parts I can read I'm not even sure I'm pronouncing (and thus ordering) correctly! And unfortunately, the only place that seemed to be open at the time - Yoshinoya (a big chain) - was currently up to its ears in TSCA and I wasn't about to go in there and try my best gaijin deer-in-headlights impression.

Needless to say this was frustrating - but I had a plan. We went back to the hotel and I installed RikaiChan (a kanji dictionary/lookup tool) on this laptop. Then I pulled up Yoshinoya's menu from their website and went to town. From this I was able to deduce the items we wanted (gyudon/beef rice bowl) and the size (small). Then it was easy-peasy from there. We charged in, gaijin-smashed our way to the seats, and I spoke up clearly:

"Nami-gyudon wo futatsu kudasai."

Easy as that. Within five minutes we were chowing down on the BEST $2.80 meal in the world. Take THAT, Sam's Club Pizza. If only Rochester had a Yoshinoya. I can dream, ne?

Unfortunately, when it came time to pay I was stuck with a huge handful of different coins, which the guy at the counter started plucking from (without my permission I might add, I was perfectly capable of counting it out myself). Accidentally, he grabbed a rogue penny still left over from when I was in the US (mistaking it for a 10 yen coin), and stopped us at the door. I was really embarrassed, even though it wasn't techically my fault. I handed him the 10 yen and we were out the door.

We walked around a bit more, found some game centers. I got to play Tatsunoko Vs Capcom arcade version (actually the Wii version is superior) and even Gaijin Smashed the hell out of a local player using my team of Ryu and Morrigan. Yep. I beat a Japanese man - at a fighting game! Amazing, I know. Unfortunately, he put in another coin, causing a rematch, and he unleashed his latent Nihonjin Smackdown Power(tm) using a team of Yatterman and Batsu. Never in my LIFE have I played anyone who loves to use low jab so often. There was no way to knock that guy up in the air for my Combo of Doom. So I lost, and then played some BlazBlue (actually not as good as I thought it would be) and Otomedius (still crazy fun). We went upstairs soon after that and tried out DDR X, which in this arcade had an entire setup which both flashed large sets of stage lights (not just the ones on the machine - these were hooked up to the sides too) and fans blowing on the players. It was easily the most comfortable game of DDR I've ever played. Not sure what I think of the new interface though. It all seems a bit - much - like it's compensating for something...

Back to the hotel for a bit of rest, and then to Yadobashi Camera to look at game prices. One thing to keep in mind here if you're a gamer traveling in Japan: EVERYONE SETS THEIR OWN PRICE. In the three places I've already been, I've seen price differences from a few hundred up to a couple thousand yen - so make sure you shop around, especially if you plan on buying used games. Anyways, I found some stuff I want, but I put off buying it until the trip to Akihabara tomorrow, since I want to make sure I'm getting the best deal.

We then were off to meet Satoshi at Takadanobaba station. I hadn't seen him since his last visit to Rochester, and since he was promoted he's not on rotation to travel over there anymore, so it was nice to see him. We got coffee to catch up, and then went to a Yakiniku restaurant. Now, for those unfamiliar with Yakiniku, it works like this. They bring a charcoal grill to the table. You order raw meat and veggies. You cook said raw meat and veggies on the grill. It's delicious and not very expensive - especially when sharing. This was my first time trying beef tongue, which actually (aside from being a little chewy) tastes like - you guessed it - beef. It wasn't bad at all. Lisa was a bit hesitant at first but ended up trying it as well.


After dinner we went to Shibuya for karaoke. Shibuya is the young peoples' district where people go to unwind after work. It's a cheaper, younger Roppongi, I suppose. We met Jun-san, Nobu-san, and two people I hadn't met before: Misa-san and Aya-san for karaoke. Note: it's really good to see that IBM is hiring women into technical positions. Misa and Aya are both technical/semi-technical workers, and there is a general attitude that companies in Japan will only hire men for technical positions (hiring most women as OL - office lady - secretary jobs), so I'm very glad to see this is changing.

But anyways, back to Karaoke. Each floor of the place we went was "themed". There was Cinderella, Moon Princess (a Japanese fable), Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. Our karaoke booth was on the Snow White floor. Um...OK??? Fuzzy animals and bright vistas? At a karaoke bar?

Not a chance.

I don't know what version of Snow White the Japanese read, or who the hell translated it into Japanese - but whoever did must have been on imported opium, because as far as I know, Snow White has nothing to do with the Seven Deadly Sins or gothic poetry - were the dwarves really that evil???

This was on the wall of our karaoke booth - an advertisement for one of the drinks available at the bar: Pride Tonic. There was also Sloth Fizz, Red Envy, etc, and each one had a corresponding gothic Engrish poem on the walls of the hallway.. But this one was especially blatant:



I had to explain to our hosts why Lisa and I were laughing when we saw it. All we could say is that there are a lot of people in America who would have been disturbed and/or offended by that poem.

We sang karaoke. Lisa did amazing. I sucked monkey butt. That's about all I can say there :).

And with that...yeah, I need sleep.

Chapter 1: Arrival

Today started out early enough, finishing up packing, saying goodbye to the kitteh, and then riding the shuttle up to the Cities. Although we got there within plenty of time for the flight itself, we ended up getting there with a bit TOO MUCH time, so we spent some time walking around the airport looking for anything remotely interesting when we stumbled upon a Guitar Hero ARCADE cabinet.

Wait, really? Am I seeing things? I thought this was just announced?! Well, I'm not a huge Guitar Hero fan by any stretch of the imagination, but this is a chance to try out something new that a lot of other people haven't had a chance to see yet. Thus, it's a chance I couldn't really pass up. So I put two bucks in the machine (one for me, one for Lisa) and we get ready to rock out. Much to our dismay, when we finally got to the song selection menu, we got a big shock.

Most of the songs that people would deem "worth" playing were listed under the "premium" category. Meaning, the machine was asking for $2 more in order to "unlock" the song. What kind of bull%&^* is this crap?! Is this how low you've sunken, Activision? Charging us $1 for a single song, and then locking out half the songlist unless the user pays more money upfront? Yep. Sounds about right. In fact, the whole experience was a big mistake, as I have a strong suspicion that this gaming blunder might have turned Lisa off entirely to the idea of game centers. Damn.

So we finish up and begin walking towards gate G4, where our flight was boarding. Surprisingly, boarding took much less time than expected, although the plane was quite a bit larger than I was expecting too, with a lower and upper deck.

I'd like to say the flight went well, but that was not to be... for a number of reasons:

1.) Although we were obviously in coach, NWA/Delta's idea of international travel in coach is substantially different than United's. Last year, United not only gave me quite a bit more legroom than NWA, but also every passenger (yes, even in coach) got their own video screen with several selections of movies and programs. Not here. Oh no. You get nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. You better have brought something to amuse yourself, otherwise it's going to be a VERY long flight...

2.) The previously mentioned lack of legroom combined with a person sitting in front of me who I shall deem "Recliner Bob". Good old Bob decides, 20 minutes into the flight that he wants to get some shuteye. Attempting to get comfortable to do so, he presses the recline button on his seat and leans back, sending the metal part of the seat straight into my already scrunched knees. Oh, NO, YOU DID NOT. Oh yes, he did. And when he hit my knees, he thought the seat was broken, NOT THAT IT WAS PINCHING SOMEONE'S KNEES, and decides to keep ramming his seat back attempting to get the most possible space. Well, Bob, sorry, but the laws of physics don't exactly allow your seat to go THROUGH my legs. I was so pissed. I gave him the finger several times from behind (which he didn't see of course), and bit my lip. Two hours later when they finally served us food for the first time, he sat back up. And when he did my legs shifted into battle position, ready to defend what was left of any slight HINT of legroom.

3.) They fed us well. Almost too well. The food wasn't great quality, but we were all stuffed, uncomfortable, and cramped in a very small space. I tried to get some sleep, but didn't have much success at all.

Overall, this flight gets a 2...out of 5.

Finally landing in Tokyo, my Japanese really came in handy when attempting to change money and get through customs and onto a Shinjuku-bound bus. The busride was long but interesting, and at this point we're both so completely exhausted that I have no desire whatsoever to finish this entry. I'm going to crash now, I promise my later entries will make up for this disappointment...

Two Days 'til Tokyo: Gaijin Blackout Countered

Today is the second-to-last day before the Tokyo trip today, and I'm really starting to get restless. Today, however, was an adventure in itself. I already mentioned before that I had plans to attend Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy in Minneapolis today, and I also mentioned how I was going to attempt the world-famous Gaijin Blackout on the one and only Nobuo Uematsu in an attempt to get information regarding the theme song for Final Fantasy XIII. As you can probably guess from the victory pose in the picture above... well... Uematsu, 1; Angsty Gaijin, 0. But then again, I'm probably getting ahead of myself...

We actually got to the Cities around 4pm and met some friends for sushi at one of the better All You Can Eat places in Minneapolis. Now, under normal circumstances I would advise the majority of people to stay away from AYCE sushi. Usually the quality isn't there, the fish isn't fresh, and you're DEFINITELY going to be sorry the next day when it comes out the other end. But luckily, Ichiban isn't one of those places. It's good sushi. And since neither of us had anything to eat up until that point, we ate VERY well. I tried a test-run of my Gaijin Blackout on the sushi chef, in order to special request some tamagoyaki (egg sashimi) which worked flawlessly. I managed to provoke a response of "Fluent Japanese Barrage" which I managed to parry successfully with a well-placed (understanding) nod, and was soon enjoying tamagoyaki. Win.

Oh, I almost forgot. Though I explained the Gaijin Blackout on a previous entry, here's a quick reminder (from GaijinSmash.net):

Why didn't the dude understand me, then? It's a side-effect of the Gaijin Smash, the Gaijin Blackout. The Japanese person is so flustered, so mind-blown over you not being Japanese, that they instantly become incapable of normal human functions. A Gaijin can speak perfect Japanese to them, and they would fail to comprehend even one word. I think you could even punch a Gajin Blackout-afflicted Japanese right in the face, and they would be too flabbergasted to fall down.

This will come into play later. Anyways, after we stuffed our faces with sushi goodness, we went to Gameworks to kill some time and allow our friends to pick up their tickets. We all got bored at Gameworks pretty quickly, since the game lineup hasn't changed at all in the last two years since I've been there. There was one new game, 2Spicy, which can be described as a "street" themed versus rail shooter. The mechanics actually work surprisingly well, and it was quite fun.
Despite that, it didn't take long to become bored in Gameworks, and we headed to the concert hall soon after.

When arriving, it turned out they were already letting people in, so we didn't have long to wait. I got in line and purchased an overpriced T-Shirt and program booklet ($50)...typical Square-Enix tax at work.


The concert itself was amazing. Though a lot of the music that was played was pretty much expected, and they had technical difficulties with the projector during Dear Friends...when they finally got it back online, they were showing video from FFVI. Wrong game, geniuses! (Dear Friends is from FFV, by the way). The best part of the concert, by far, was the live performance of Maria and Draco. The old lady singing for Maria got so into the role, she grabbed the hand of the young guy singing for Draco and looked into his eyes. Poor "Draco" didn't know how to take it and limply held her hand awkwardly, trying to finish the song without incident. The look on his face was priceless.

Immediately after the expected One-Winged Angel finale, it became clear that far more people had purchased tickets to the meet and greet than either one of us expected. They began to gather us at stage right of the theatre. It appears that at least ONE-THIRD of the main level of the theatre had tickets to the reception, and because of this it turned into a cattle call really quickly as the line grew - eventually expanding out the door of the theatre. "Yay, just like ACEN", I muttered to myself. I wasn't wrong. Only this time, no line nazis.

None of the security guys seemed to have any clue what to do with us, a massive queue of otaku with premium reception tickets. One of them told the entire second half of the line to go sit down and wait to be called (YEAH, RIGHT, like that was gonna happen) while another seemed to be trying to find a way to get the line moving. Now, my girlfriend and I were standing about halfway up the line, right near one of the emergency exit doors, next to one of the line "nazis". This wonderful security guy decides he's going to start leading people down to the reception - STARTING FROM THAT DOORWAY. So basically, within the span of 5 seconds, we became the first people in line - much to the chagrin of all the people in front of us clamoring to get backstage. HAHA! Finally, revenge for the Tower Records debacle that was the last Nobuo signing.

Surprisingly, the community theatres I've worked with have better dressing rooms and backstage green rooms than the Orpheum. I'm absolutely surprised that famous/semi famous actors actually get ready and put shows on in this theatre. Backstage is pretty much a dump. It's not dirty, it's just very...empty. No amenities whatsoever, and the room where they had Nobuo and Arnie's table set up was a gigantic, empty "basement".

So we get down there, the first ones in line - and the band members are just finishing up getting their autographs. Good old "Draco" is getting his music book signed by Uematsu-san (ignoring Arnie Roth altogether, which seems to be a pretty common pattern...poor Arnie). So "Draco" gets his picture taken, and then a few more bandmates go up and begin chatting up Uematsu-san, and at this point it's pretty clear to me that he can't understand a single word they're saying to him, so he follows up with the typical Japanese "smile and nod". Sitting next to Uematsu is a young Japanese salaryman with dyed hair and a spotless black suit. This guy followed Uematsu out during his concert introductions with a camera in his face, and was the sole member of Uematsu's "entourage". My girlfriend referred to this guy as Uematsu's "Metrosexual Aide". Originally I thought he was supposed to be his translator, but the guy didn't do any translating whatsoever. In fact, his only job as far as I could tell was to record Uematsu walking around and waving at the crowd. I still have no idea what that guy was doing there, but he certainly wasn't translating anything.

So as the bandmates are talking, I look behind me and notice the rest of the line is following us in. We're first. I stand there for a few seconds like a deer-in-headlights, as I got no response from the minimal security "force" as when it was OK to approach the table. Now, being a well-trained ACEN lemming, I know perfectly well that bum-rushing a guest table before you're supposed to is a bad idea, and I figured I'd have to wait for SOMEONE to give the OK or they'd have a hundred otaku swarming poor Nobuo all at once. But...the security force was nowhere to be found, and after a few seconds my girlfriend prods me and says "go ahead".

OK. I guess. It's go time.

I hand Nobuo my ($30) program and ask, "Would you sign this please?" in perfect Japanese. To which he replies something like "Oh, Japanese... wow!" and signs his name. This is the opening I've been waiting for...time for a Level 3 EX Gaijin Blackout!!!

"So," I say, again in perfect Japanese: "Do you have any plans to write the main theme for Final Fantasy XIII"?

WHAM. I got him. For a second. He starts to respond "Et...to", turns to Mr. Metrosexual Aide, who didn't seem capable of giving him any help with formulating a response...then he turns back to me and counters - no - completely REFLECTS my Gaijin Blackout with playful Engrish: "No Commento". Stunned, I had no idea what to say. Originally, I WANTED to say "If you do end up writing it, could you please make sure there's an English version too?" But the Japanese words weren't coming to me. At all. I was blacked out. Flawless victory, Mr. Uematsu. Flawless victory.

After getting my stuff signed by Arnie too (see, I'm a nice guy, I didn't forget him) and getting my picture taken, my girlfriend tries briefly conversing with Uematsu saying that we met him once before at PLAY! in Chicago with Angela Aki. But it's pretty clear he doesn't understand a word of it, and yet again Mr. Metrosexual Aide is unable to assist with translation. I couldn't help either, as I was still reeling from Uematsu's Level 3 Focus Nihonjin Blackout.

But overall, it was a great night, and I'm really looking forward to Tokyo.



Gaijin Blackout counter...one day I will get my revenge.

Impatience and a respite

Still making preparations, and the start of the trip can't come soon enough. I've all but completely checked out as far as work is concerned. I'm going to sign on tomorrow, get a few things done, and that will be it. No more work - for two weeks. In all honesty I probably need to spend more time cleaning and packing than I do working, since most people are going to be gone for Good Friday anyways.

This year we were thankfully spared from going anywhere for Easter - and thus also spared from the girlfriend's extended family drama - which is a long story but to put it in the simplest terms possible, my girlfriend's mom and aunt do not get along. And they attack each other passive-aggressively, which makes family gatherings...interesting. For her grandparents' 50th anniversary a year or so ago, the aunt made it clear what she thought of us by sitting my girlfriend, me, her parents and brother, and nephew all downstairs in the basement for dinner while everyone else ate upstairs around the kitchen table.

"We're out of room, so you're eating downstairs". SHENANIGANS I SAY. I was even slightly offended and usually I'm pretty low-key about these kinds of things. It's not like I'd have much to say to anyone at the table anyways, but the way the seats were divided it was blatantly clear what was going on. So every Easter for the last three years we've gone over to the aunt's house, and each time, while bearable, is incredibly awkward. And as much as I'd like to say it was the aunt's fault completely, a lot of the blame falls on my girlfriend's mom - who simply cannot get over the "favoritism" her mother showed for her sister, allegedly. This is what I hear, anyways. They're all nice people and I hold no hard feelings towards any of them, it's just an interesting mix. You know what they say: you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.

My family has its own drama and its own feuds, but for the most part people just don't talk about it. The biggest issue involves a feud between my own mother and aunt, which I don't really know the full details of, and my aunt ended up skipping out on her own stepmother (my grandmother)'s funeral due to this feud - which is a real shame. I really hope my sister and I are always on good terms, I'd hate to deal with a lot of the crap that goes on in people's families. If someone has a problem, let's talk about it and try to fix it. It's awkward for a few minutes, but I'd rather have someone tell me I was being an ass, than be completely oblivious to it and have people making comments about something I did or said behind my back. You can't fix what you don't know is broken, that's for sure.

So on Saturday we get to go to Minneapolis for yet another Final Fantasy concert. Now keep in mind, I already went to a Nobuo signing in Chicago and two FF concerts there, but with one in Minneapolis, there's just no excuse for me NOT to go. Especially when I was able to get meet-and-greet tickets for the reception afterwards... a perfect opportunity to perform a Level 3 Ultra Gaijin Blackout on Mr. Uematsu and trick him into telling me whether or not he's composing the theme for Final Fantasy XIII. What is a Gaijin Blackout, you ask? It's simple.

Japanese people, by nature, do not expect foreigners to know any Japanese - AT ALL. Anything beyond "karaoke", "arigatou", "sushi", and "konnichi wa" causes a null pointer exception in their brains.

In other words (for you non-programming folks out there), to get hit with well-executed Japanese from a gaijin source actually confuses them! More often than not, this causes a loss for words and they don't really know how to respond to the Japanese-speaking gaijin... "gaijin speaking Japanese...? Does not compute... WTF... uh...uhm...et to...". This lowers their J-defenses, which is a sure-fire way of getting information (i.e. TRUTH) out of a guarded Japanese person. In this case, theoretically, a flawlessly-executed Gaijin Blackout might force Uematsu on the defense and the theoretical NDA he probably/definitely signed about his work on XIII may not be the first thing that pops into his mind as a response, and he may actually tell the truth. It might not work, and I'll have to make sure I can Gaijin Blackout him when he's away from his translator (Japanese that are fluent in English are obviously immune to the Gaijin Blackout) but it's worth a try. If successful, it will be my first ever Gaijin Smash attempt. If I can get something out of him, you can bet it'll show up right here on this blog!

And as I finish this entry, I sit here playing with my new digital camera that will be put to use on the trip to Tokyo. Here's a picture of my kitteh, Hikari.

4 Days Until Tokyo...

I'm just about finished up at work now, and I've taken to completely slacking off. It's not so much that I don't have anything to do as much as it is that starting on a bunch of stuff right before vacation will really get me nowhere, so I'm better off hitting the code hard as soon as I return, as opposed to the two days before I leave.

I've spent the last hour or so scouring the intarwebz for maps of the areas where we will be frequenting, in hopes that it will help with navigation purposes. I stumbled on a color-coded map of Akihabara sorting out all the shops by type and location (all the game centers and game shops are highlighted one color, the gundam figure shops another, etc.)

Since Lisa and I are only really interested in the game shops, it'll be a lot easier to navigate with an idea of where we're going. Akiba is going to be one of the few multiple stop locations on our trip, and I want to get the most out of the time we have there, too. I found the location for Super Potato - arguably THE most insanely awesome retro store in the world. I can't wait to stop in there, although at this point I really have no idea what kind of items I'll buy.

At this point it's almost time to just settle in and prep for the ride. Saturday is the Final Fantasy concert, which will eat up most of the day, and then Sunday is a brief respite before the storm. GoPlanit.com has been a HUGE help, as it seems everyone I know in Tokyo seems to want to hang out with Lisa and I this time around, so having a set schedule makes it a little easier to make sure I don't ruin the "VACATION" by planning too much stuff. One of my favorite things last year about my vacation to Japan was simply walking around or riding the train to see what we could find...without worrying about having to be a particular place at a particular time....so I'd prefer not to bog us down in schedules.

I need to start cleaning the house, the last thing I want is to wait until the last day to get things done and have an "OH SHIT" moment right before we have to leave to catch the shuttle to the airport. As long as we don't forget the yen and our passports, everything else is replaceable.

Won't be long now.

Countdown START... 5 days until Tokyo

Well, it begins.

I've been waiting for a long time, but I'm finally going on vacation. Between the chaos at work coming from new responsibilities coupled with mass layoffs, and the flare-ups of my migraine condition, I've really needed this.

I've spent the last few weeks trying to get the schedule straightened out. It looks like I'll be meeting with people from IBM during the first few days of the trip, my uncle's coworkers over the weekend, and then have the next few days for travel to Kyoto, the Ramen Museum at Shin Yokohama, lots of Akihabara, NINJA Akasaka, and whatever else we decide to do.

I've made all the reservations, I suppose the last few things I need to do are:

Wrap up stuff at work (just finished my automation...YES!)
Call the credit card companies to activate my cards for overseas travel (I hate the phone...)
Obtain gifts for the folks that will be showing us around (Need something for Jean Francois, something for Satoshi, and a few little things I can give out should I need to...)
Begin putting stuff together (clothes, gifts, stuff to bring)
Decide on the final list of stuff to buy...

Well...about that last one:

FF Advent Children Complete with FFXIII Demo
Shirokishi Monogatari PS3 (it's _CHEAP_!)


JPWii / Advanced Classic Controller / probably a game or two, but nothing comes to mind
JPS2 / Arcana Heart 2 SUGOI! / Fate://Unlimited Codes / + more cheapstuffs
JP360 / DeathSmiles / Otomedius

Gundam vs Gundam/Eloquent Fist PSP

Hori HRAP (for Soup)
Kurukuru Kururin GBA (for axl)
Rhythm Tengoku GBA (for axl)

このリストは少し長すぎるかな。。。円がちょっと。。。
...I think I need more yen...XD
Good thing I have the big suitcase...

JRPG Creation for Dummies: Tutorial

FAQ:

Why didn't you pass this out at the panel? Why did we have to come to your stupid blog to get the goods?!

ごめんけど、しかたがない。このチュトリアルはちょっと長いから、大変でした。プリントできません。

In other words, it was too long. But I can get more and better information to you guys this way, and it provides an easy way to contact me if you have additional questions.

What is RPG Maker 2003?

An oldie-but-goodie RPG Creation Engine by game company Enterbrain. Although similar to the ones released for the Playstation and Playstation 2, the battle system and scripting language in RPG Maker 2003 is both simple and powerful. The fact it's a PC program allows for easy importing of resources.

Most of us otaku have dreamt of being able to bring our fanfiction or original stories to life in JRPG form (you KNOW you have, don't deny it). This engine allows you to do just that. It's complicated enough to be powerful, while simple enough to learn in a relatively short amount of time.

I'm a baka when it comes to programming. Is it really even worth my time?

YES! As a matter of fact, anyone with a little patience and creativity can craft a JRPG using this engine. Admittedly, it's a lot easier to find resources than make your own, but the engine provides all that you need.

I'm a baka when it comes to drawing. I can't do art. Is this really even worth my time?

DEFINITELY! There are plenty of resources included in the program as well as capacity to import other stuff you find around the intarwebz. Of course, you can always make your own too, should you be artistically inclined.

Why 2003? Doesn't RPG Maker XP have an official English release? Why use its predecessor for this panel?

I've tinkered with the official English release of RPG Maker XP, and although the engine is more powerful and flexible than RPG Maker 2003's engine, it is also a lot less user-friendly. As opposed to 2003, which uses an event-based scripting language, XP contains an entire programming language. Since this panel is meant for beginners, XP really isn't the best place to start when crafting your masterpiece. If you're familiar with code though, go for it.

Where can I get the program?

Here: http://www.geocities.com/rpgmlinks/rpgm2k3.html
I'm not going to be handing out copies, since the copy I have is a fan translation.

Where can I get charset/faceset/music/tileset resources?
Again, check the site above. Since a lot of resources are creations derived from existing games, I'm not providing direct links.

1.) Project Creation

File -> New Project

Enter a Name and Location for your game.

2.) Map Creation

In order to generate your first map, open your project and right-click the file icon on the bottom-left corner of the interface (labeled with the name of your game). Select New Map. You will then see the following screen:

You can do a lot from here, but the main items you want to consider as basics are:

Name - The name of your map (for easy reference within a project)

Tileset - The tileset that will be used for your map. Note that a tileset is a set of items and textures that are placed on a grid to create a map layout (as will be referenced below).

Dimensions - Each map is a grid. So the default demensions are 20 boxes long by 15 boxes high.

Enemy Encounters - This is where you set the monster groups you'd like to appear as random encounters on this map. In this case, we don't want any. Click OK and you'll have your map.

You can place objects from the left-hand side into your map using the interface above. The pencil icon allows you to place single-squares, the gray rectangle allows selection of map elements, the magnifying glass zooms using mouse buttons, the square and circle arrow icons allow placement of objects in a square or circle pattern respectively, and the paint can "fills" the entire area with the selected tile(s).

Tiles are multiple-select, so you can highlight a bunch at a time for placement...like so:

Placing the map is as easy as placing these tiles on the grid. There are three layers of tiles: the lower tile layer (represented by the green icon), the upper tile layer (represented by the blue icon), and the event tile layer (represented by the orange icon). Each tile layer has a different set of objects (though the event layer tends to overlap with the upper tile layer). If I select the event tile layer icon, look what happens to the interface:

The tileset changed. Each tileset has different objects for each of the three layers, so this provides a lot of flexibility when determining how to create your maps.

For now, switch back to the bottom layer and add some grass and perhaps a few stones and water to your map. It should look something like this:

3.) Character Setup via Database

In order to set many options for your game, that is create and set character sprites, skills, items, levels, etc., you will need the Database. To reach it, go to Tools -> Database. There are far too many options to discuss in detail here, so let's just stick to the basics. For starters, the Hero tab:

This is where you create your characters. The ArraySize button determines the number of hero (playable) characters in your game. There are some default characters created when starting a new project with RPG Maker. You can modify character parameters, etc. from here as well. The RTP (the set of items already present in RPG Maker in order for you to play with) has a bunch of character sprites, battle sprites, and facesets for you to play with, but you can also import your own).

In order to make a playable game, two more items must be taken care of. First, go to the System tab and ensure your first hero is selected in the Starting Party list.

Now exit the database and select the Event layer. Right click and select "Place Party Starting Position".

This will spawn your character at that particular location when starting the game. For now, place it as shown.

There! Now you can test your game! To do this, click the big yellow arrow. Say yes to save your changes, and you're off! Select New Game from the menu, and you should be up and running.

All you can do at this point is walk around your map for now, but that's a start. See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?

Now that we got the basics out of the way, it's time to teach you some cool stuff. Instead of boring you with mounds of instructions, though, I'll PROVIDE the code and just explain it slightly. First, the talking NPC.

4.) The Talking NPC

First enter the event layer and highlight the spot two squares north of your hero's starting position. This will take you into the Event Editor.

Name your event Talking_NPC and click Set under Event Graphic to select an icon for your NPC. For simplicity, I will use the first character in the "hero 1" sprite set. This is included in the RTP.

Now under movement type, I select "Random" to make him walk around. There's no rhyme or reason to the pattern for this option, just like with most old-school RPG townsfolk.

Click New Page at the top of the dialog to ensure your event has two pages (this will be so the speech will change when speaking to the NPC a second time, as discussed below).

Now, copy the following code into the first page ( by highlighting an empty line of code in the Event Commands window)... this should take you to the Event Commands dialog, which contains lots and lots of options. For now, concern yourself with just the Face Graphics button (third button from the top) and the Message button (first button from the top). Click the Face Graphics button, then the Set button, then select the first face graphic from faceset Chara 1, 1 from the RTP. Click OK. Next, click the Message button and enter the text "Hi, I'm a talking NPC!" and click OK. Click the Message button again and enter the text: "In order to make me say something different, I need a switch!", then click OK again. Click OK to exit Event Commands.

After that, your event editor screen should look like this (sorry for the blur):

<>Change Face Graphics: Chara1, 1, Left,

<>Message: Hi, I'm a talking NPC!

<>Message: In order to make me say something

: :different, I need a switch.

Now, highlight the last line as shown above and enter the Event Commands window again. Choose Switch Operations (should be the sixth button from the top) and click it. Note the Message and Face Graphics buttons are how you entered the code shown above, in case that wasn't clear from earlier instructions.

Now, click the ... next to the Single Switch option, which should take you to the Switch array, allowing you to create a new Switch for this character. For simplicity's sake, name it "TALKING_NPC". You shouldn't need to increase the array size, as this will be your first Switch. My screen looks a bit different from yours since I have a few other switches spread across this project already.

Now click OK. Your newly created switch should be highlighted in the Switch Operations dialog. This is what we want.

Click OK again.

Your Event Commands should now look like this (commands listed below, to make up for compression blur >_<):

<>Change Face Graphics: Chara1, 1, Left,

<>Message: Hi, I'm a talking NPC!

<>Message: In order to make me say something

: :different, I need a switch.

<>Switch Operation: [0001:TALKING_NPC] ON

Now, since we created the second page of the event, click it. This will take you to a new Event Commands window. This time, we're going to utilize the Preconditions to make the Event Commands listed on this page occur ONLY if the TALKING_NPC switch is turned on. Do this by clicking the checkbox next to the first "Switch" Precondition, and select TALKING_NPC as your switch.

Set the event graphic to be the same hero as the first page (YES, you have to set graphics for events for each individual page. This comes in HANDY when doing items such as treasure chests, that have different graphics depending on whether they are open or closed!). Set movement type to "Random" again, otherwise your poor NPC will stop running around once you talk to him twice. Then enter some message text like that shown below (you can use Copy and Paste on Event Commands if you don't wish to re-click the buttons on the Event Commands dialog):

<>Change Face Graphics: Chara1, 1, Left,

<>Message: Hi, I'm a talking NPC!

<>Message: Wait a minute, didn't you already

: :talk to me?

Click OK and test your game again. Don't forget to talk to the NPC twice!

With that, you've been introduced to Events, and can make talking NPCs. Next, for the treasure chest...which really isn't that much different from what we've already done with the talking NPC!

5.) The Treasure Chest

I'll screen capture the event commands for the treasure chest, and then explain the new parts.

A treasure chest will need two switches and three pages. The first page will simply do a switch operation to call the second page, which adds the item to the inventory and changes the graphic from a closed treasure chest to an open treasure chest. The switches I created for this event are: TREASUREDEMO_1 and TREASURE_OPEN. The graphics used for the event are in the Object1 tileset of the RTP.

Select a location for your treasure chest and create a new event.

Here is the first page:

<>Switch Operation: [0002:TREASUREDEMO_1] ON

<>Call Event: This Event[2]

And the second page (note that the graphic is actually the same as the first page, but the facing is different... in order for the treasure chest to appear open, select Right facing for the treasure icon rather than Down. Don't forget your precondition for TREASUREDEMO_1. The next switch operation will allow the final page's text to display if the user tries to open the already-open treasure chest. You use the Item Management event command to add items to your inventory. You can choose the sound effect for opening the treasure chest, it isn't displayed in the event code but I used "Item 2".

<>Change Face Graphics: Erase

<>Move Event: Hero, Sound Effect

<>Message: Potion...GET!

<>Change Items: Potion 1 Add

<>Switch Operation: [0003:TREASURE_OPEN] ON

And finally:

<>Change Face Graphics: Erase

<>Message: It's open.

Now test it out. You should have a working treasure chest that adds a potion to your inventory, and tells you the chest is already open if you try to open it a second time.

7.) Miscellaneous Commands

Between the Talking NPC and Treasure Chest examples, you should be well on your way to understanding how events operate in RPG Maker...but there is so much more that events can do. The last section of this little document will point to some other event commands which have lots and lots of potential for interesting applications:

a.) Show Choices: This allows the formation of a Yes/No dialog and allows the user to make a choice. Separate event code is run depending on whether a user selects the Yes option or the No option. A more generic (and programmer-esque) structure is also provided in the "Conditional Branch" event command - which allows you to make If -> Else seletion structures. Loops are also provided in the "Loop" event command.

b.) Play BGM/Fade BGM/Play Memorized BGM: Allows you to change background music options.

c.) Tint/Flash/Shake/Pan Screen: Built-in special effects. You'll see that I used these several times in the Detour demo to provide greater variety in the dialogs. These are especially important when doing cutscenes with lots of interacting events.

d.) Show Battle Animation: Similar to what happens in the Final Fantasy old-school RPGs, this allows you to project a battle animation on a map screen as opposed to a battle screen. You can use this for dramatic situations in "cutscene" dialogs, or as effects with various purposes at other times (like blowing up boulders currently impeding a player's progress).

e.) Enemy Encounter: Generates an enemy encounter during an event. Great for "staged" battles during cutscenes, or battles with bosses visible from the map screen.

f.) Move event: Very flexible, allows the moving or teleportation of events. Useful in cutscenes and in other, slightly more devious and less obvious, ways.