Dead of the Brain

[LimpingFish]

Hi,

I just found this thread through google, so if you'll bear with me for a moment I'll explain why I'm here.

I first found Dead of the Brain on the MSX2, and was immediately taken with it's take on the b-movie zombie genre.
Having never heard of it before, I decided to dig around a bit and discovered that not only did a X68000 version exist, but that it was also ported to the PC-Engine CD along with a sequel.

My reasons for the interest in this thread? I am a member of the AGS (Adventure Game Studio) community, and I thought it might be fun to port the first Dead of the Brain into the AGS engine. Unfortunately, I am less than fluent in japanese, so my idea wasn't to be a straight translation of the game, but rather a "new" story using the basic storyline and gameplay from the original, but reinventing the characters, dialog, etc. The game would play out the same, but the characters would be written differently (and maybe interact differently) than in the original game.

So I played through the X68000 version, writing along the way, and came up with "Downtown Zombies":



But with the discovery of an english translation in the works (excellent news, by the way ), do I

1. Continue with "Downtown Zombies" regardless.

Or...

2. Attempt a "proper" port of Dead of the Brain when the english translation is complete.

Or...

3. Call it quits because it's a pointless idea anyway.


I'd be happy to hear peoples opinions on the matter.


LimpingFish.

www.limpingfish.org

[Kaminari]

Unless you intend your dialogues to be very funny and entertaining (think "What's up Tiger Lily"), I'd advise you against such revisionism. I'm not challenging your writing abilities, it's just that the concept has proven embarassing in the long run. Like that Macek dude who thought it would be a good idea to entirely rewrite and merge a couple of obscure Jap series which he believed nobody would remember about... Silly Carl.

[Keranu]

Totally go for your own script! Since the game will (hopefully) already be translated in English anyways, it will be fun to see a cheesy humerous story for another version  ! Of course, you could make two versions with both the English translation and your own story.

[sunteam_paul]

Make your own, it will be fun!

That AGS looks interesting, I'm starting to get urges to do a PC Engine related game now...maybe I'll download and take a look.

[esteban]

I'd be happy to hear peoples opinions on the matter.

Finish it. Period. It doesn't matter what other folks are doing, you started a neat project and it should bring you satisfaction to complete it. You never know what will happen with other folks and their projects -- plus, you're not being 100% redundant (that is, you're not working on the PCE version specifically) -- so there will be an audience for your finished product. Goofy translation of X68000 version Part I? Yes, I'd check that out.

[Turbo D]

I say go for it man. You can count on me to play it and enjoy it and thats all that really matters anyways 

[sunteam_paul]

Have you looked at SCI Studio? Is it better/worse or pretty much the same as AGS for ease of use?

[LimpingFish]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

Yes, it was my intention to put a cheesy-esque slant on the storyline (although not to the extent of humorous irreverence contained in What's Up, Tiger Lily?), as it already contains references to humorous horror films such as Re-animator and Evil Dead 2, and, yes, it will be based on the X68000 version rather than the PC-Engine version.

Have you looked at SCI Studio? Is it better/worse or pretty much the same as AGS for ease of use?

LimpingFish puts on his pimping hat...

I've been using AGS for the best part of three years, and can honestly, in my experience, say that it's easy to use and very flexible. Version 2.8 in currently in late stage beta-testing and brings a whole new intuitive GUI to the editor, as well as new functions in the scripting language. Simple games can be made without any coding, so the learning curve is also flexible, which is why I also favor it over similar engines like Wintermute or Sludge which generally require learning of the engine code from the start.  Plus it has a very active community on the AGS forums, with lots of people willing to help out with tips on coding and general use of the program.

End of pimping session.

It's interesting to know that other people are familiar with Dead of the Brain, and gives me an opportunity to clarify some version differences:

1. Does the PC Engine port contain the hentai elements of the MSX2 and X68000 versions (the sex scene in the warehouse/building, the attempted rape scene in the department store, etc)? These scenes seemed awfully tacked on in the versions I played and, although I have no love for censorship in general, I would lean toward leaving them out of Downtown Zombies. Or at least giving the player the option to bypass them at their discretion.

2. Is the sequel a direct sequel, and does it carry on the (bizarre) Terminator-esque skew the original storyline seemed to take on toward the end? Or is it a sequel in name only?

Again, I'm grateful for any input.

LimpingFish

www.limpingfish.org

[2X4]

If you want to make a totally different story, why do you need association with Dead of the Brain?  So often people want to bastardize things with their creative liberties, and the result is never good.  If you want to port the game, port it.  If you want a new story, don't half ass it, write a new story and use Dead of the Brain and other sources for inspiration and not for spackle.   Isn't a game involving the termination of zombies unoriginal enough without borrowing characters, titles and other content from an existing game?

That said, this is your time and energy, if you have a vision just make it the way you feel it should be made.