Homestesque - [RPG] Explore TOTAL. (AKA. "REDACTED")

Hello everyone! Figured if anyone's going to recognize this project, they're gonna be here on Eagle Time. If you weren't around during the MSPA Forum's lifetime, or you just weren't aware of this ancient MSPFA, you may be wondering what the heck the thread title is about. Well, allow me to explain...

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6-something years ago, I was running a Homestuck fan adventure called Homestesque. It was going strong for about a year, but then I decided to kick off the 2nd Act with a little... project. This project was called [REDACTED], which was obviously going to be a walk-around game in the style of a top-down RPG.

It was also one of the biggest mistakes I'd ever made in my entire life.

School, work and real life took precedent to the point that [REDACTED] was no longer being worked on. Production dragged and dragged. What happened eventually was that [REDACTED] managed to outlive my friendship with two of my best friends, the people that had inspired the main characters of Homestesque. I also had a falling out with baronAngle, the primary sprite artist for [REDACTED]. Combine all of this with a poor choice in development software (RPGMAKER XP, ANYBODY?) and it resulted in me ultimately cancelling the adventure and abandoning [REDACTED] entirely. There it would sit, 3/4ths finished on a thumb drive, forever.

... Until one day, I found it in a bin somewhere, and decided to put an end to it once and for all. Fast-forward to today, after working on it bit by bit at the pace of human molasses, [REDACTED], or rather, "[RPG] Explore TOTAL." is finally finished, at least to the point that I'm willing to finish it. What I mean by that is, it is 100% complete-able from start to finish, however the game's major easter-egg is missing a couple features.

I need to get this thing off my chest forever so I can move on creatively. It's been up on MSPFA for a day or two now, but I need to put it somewhere where it can be received in context, ideally by people who may be familiar with Homestesque. So if you're reading this and you remember, or even if you're someone who's got no reason to care whatsoever, I hope you'll enjoy toying around with something I promised to finish many years ago (if you can get it to run, anyway). Technically... VERY technically, I've fulfilled that promise.

And yes, I did sort of keep you waiting all this time for an RPGMaker game. My ticket to Hell is in the mail.

TL;DR - Scope is everything. Don't go throwing away your forum adventure for a giant, flow-ruining project that literally no one asked for. Keep it simple! KEEP IT SAFE.

So regardless, I hope you can manage to get this thing running... A lot of work did go into it, nearly all the music is original and the spritework is great, and there's about 2 hours of content in there, more than 3 hours if you're trying to find everything. Please enjoy! (Also I posted this in here because I don't know if there's a better subforum for it... Sorry! ;-; Please move this thread if I did a dumb thing)

If you've never experienced the original adventure, I highly recommend you do so before downloading. Click HERE to read Homestesque!

CLICK THE IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD [RPG] Explore TOTAL.

Installation:

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1. Extract the "Homestesque[RPG]ExploreTOTAL" folder from the compressed RAR file using WinRAR or WinZip.
2. Open "Game.exe" and enjoy.
(Ignore the "Setup" folder. You don't actually need to install anything to start the game.)

4?. You may encounter an error message that reads: "RGSS player has stopped working." The solution to this may be different depending on your operating system, but for Windows 7 users, follow these steps:
1. Open Start Menu
2. Search for "Advanced System Settings"
3. Click "Settings..." under Performance
4. Go to the "Data Execution Prevention" Tab
5. Tick the second bubble
6. Click "Add..."
7. Select "Game.exe"

Controls:
Arrow Keys = Move/Navigate Menus
C/Space = Talk/Examine/Confirm
X/ESC = Back/Cancel/Pause Menu

Some experimentation with item and Shenanigan effects may be required.

Just to clarify, this isn't a "Revival" thread or anything like that. Homestesque is probably going to remain inactive for a very long time, unless... Idunno, something AMAZING happens. I just wanted to finally get this thing out there for the people I promised it to years ago. Hope you guys are still out there...

... So yeah, how is everyone?

EDIT: Erroneously included a Setup folder in the RAR file and instructions on how to install the game's engine. You don't actually need to do any of that. Just open "Game.exe" and it should work fine.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY

SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETS

Wow, it's this thing! Welcome to the flotsam and jetsam of the wreckage. I don't remember if I suggested much but I do remember this adventure, yes.

Wow, it's this thing! Welcome to the flotsam and jetsam of the wreckage. I don't remember if I suggested much but I do remember this adventure, yes.

Thank you for keeping your old avatar, cause I just got a wave of nostalgia. Long time no see Xin!

https://soundcloud.com/freshercheddar/sets/redacted

yes hello again I made music for this way back when. The above is some of the songs, plus a few that either didn't make it into the end release or are updated versions of the originals.

I was halfway through a full remaster of tracks in 2016 but lost most of the process during a hard drive failure. However, if Mr Sheets has a few legacy files somewhere (those silly samples :P) I might be able to pick that up again.