Puzzle League/Panel De Pon General (Former SSB4 Lip Support Thread)

[PsychoJosh]

Could try making a webcomic.

 

[N. Onymous]

We could, but I'm not sure it would be a good idea. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in making a web comic, especially in collaborative ones. Mostly, I'm just not sure what we'd even do with it.

Unless you mean something like Shifty Look...

 

[PsychoJosh]

Not even. Just a bunch of silly comics with Lip and friends doing silly things.

 

[FalKoopa]

Oh, I got VX Ace Lite from their website, by the way. I hope that won't be a hinderance?

--------------------------------

About the webcomic, anything as simple as "a gag a day" comic like Brawl in The Family should do.

 

[N. Onymous]

VX Ace Lite... that's a bit limited in some ways. It's really meant as a trial for the full version, to my understanding. There's a limit on the things you can add to the game (caps on maps, characters, items, monsters, etc.). It's great for making a short game to test out what the engine can do, but if you want to get anything approaching a big-name RPG, you'll probably want the full version.

Brawl in the Family would be a good choice to base the webcomic on, yeah! Something cute, silly, and family-friendly, although maybe with a few longer arcs. Lip never properly appeared in the comic so this would be a good way to "make it up".

 

[Laniv]

Have a short 'n' sweet Lip animation

 

[N. Onymous]

Adorable pic, Laniv. Mind if I put it up on F Yeah Panel de Pon?

 

[Arcturian]

I bought Pokemon Puzzle Challenge on the virtual console a few days ago. I forgot how fun the Panel de Pon games are! The only other one I've played is Tetris Attack, and it's been a while since I've played it.

 

[N. Onymous]

Cool, it's nice to see another PDP fan around here! Hopefully you enjoy the characters too - I'd love to see them come back someday and I could use a hand!

 

[Deleted member]

Happy late New Year's, guys.

Now that all holidays and birthdays are outta the way (December and early January is a bit hectic for me) I also resumed working on the model. There's nothing to show, so far I'm just shaving polys off where I can.

As for the RPG, I do have Ace VX, though I never once used it, so graphics is pretty much the only thing I can help out with, development-wise, besides maybe some easy tasks you don't need much RPG Maker experience for, But the only thing where I can that it is flat-out impossible for me are sound and music related things, as I don't even have any sound on my PC.

Also the webcomic idea is pretty cute, so good luck to everyone who decides to draw one.

 

[Laniv]

Adorable pic, Laniv. Mind if I put it up on F Yeah Panel de Pon?

Sure, go ahead!

Source

 

[Conren]

Hey guys, I made a Lip moveset, go check it out: http://smashboards.com/threads/make...en-rider-ac-lubba.404766/page-6#post-19548157

 

[N. Onymous]

That is actually really clever. I like how you managed to incorporate some nods to the actual gameplay of Panel de Pon while at the same time emphasizing that Lip is a flower fairy. Nice work. ^^

 

[CH4F]

I watched the Salty Cupcakes, with Lab Zero's team. They made a PDP tournament and someone shoot in the chat "LIP FOR SMASH!".
Is that one of you guys?
http://www.twitch.tv/twingalaxieslive/v/33272835?t=07h06m50s

 

[N. Onymous]

It wasn't me. I wish it was me, but it wasn't.

It's nice to know there are people off-site who like Panel de Pon and want Lip in Smash. I guess statistically there have to be. ^^

 

[N. Onymous]

I know this topic (well, really it's more like both topics, but ah well) has come up in here before - and if memory serves I was the one who brought it up - but the overwhelming success of Splatoon is one of the best things to happen to the Panel de Pon fandom in a long time.

That doesn't make much sense on the surface since one franchise has absolutely nothing to do with the other, but hear me out. Despite the competitive nature of the gameplay, Splatoon is an adorable game. There's really no getting around that. Almost everything is colorful and cartoony, there's a good-natured air that seems to radiate from everything (even the villains aren't really evil), and I can't name a single other piece of media, ever, that's made me want to hug a squid as badly. That being the case, it's exactly the kind of game Nintendo wouldn't dream of releasing unedited twenty years ago. They'd have listened to Shigeru Miyamoto and made it a Mario spin-off for the sake of marketability.

So why is Splatoon's success a good thing for us? Because it's a cute, fun game with a heavy focus on female characters (the female inklings were the first seen in the E3 2014 promo, the early Japanese and European ads showed only female inklings, they're pretty much the game mascot at this point, they were designed first, and for a while during development they were considering having only girls playable), just like Panel de Pon. More importantly, Splatoon has proved that cute can be successful worldwide. On release, it naturally sold really well in Japan, but it was also #1 on Amazon UK and near that spot in the US, and the amiibo sell so well that finding them is a chore. And on top of all that, it managed to beat out industry titans like Call of Duty and Halo to win Best Shooter in IGN's Best of 2015 awards. And that's not even getting into the merchandise spawned as a result of its success! We're already getting plushies, Nintendo Badge Arcade stickers, and almost certainly more further down the pipeline. It's amazing what a little positive word-of-mouth can do.

Along with many other recent smash hits starring cute female characters, particularly My Little Pony and Inside Out, Splatoon's success has proven that Nintendo really has nothing to lose by making a new Panel de Pon game. With luck, it'll convince them to rethink their stance on the series and revisit it with a new game starring the fairies - maybe, if we really hit the jackpot, something as excellent and successful as Splatoon, turning it Panel de Pon into a major, profitable series standing alongside Mario, Zelda, and Kirby. At the very least, if we play our cards right, it should be easier to convince other people to join the fandom.

 

[CH4F]

The connection is good, but you miss a huge point.
Splatoon was a best-seller mostly because of his gameplay. Nothing to do with the female inklings.
Besides, Lip is a character in a lore. Splatoon doesn't have main characters. The inklings are just the only species you can play and customise.
Don't forget that Splatoon is a (very well designed) shooter. A kind of game WAY WAY WAY more profitable than puzzle games. Lip isn't avoid any problem she could have by being more exposed, because of the female inklings.
So, yes, you can always bring that example up, when someone says "I don't want that loli in Smash.", but you'll take a huge risk eating a "so what?" with my answer.

 

[Staarih]

Finally stumbled across this thread again and now that I'm here, here's a thought (probably discussed earlier): wouldn't Panel de Pon work amazingly as a mobile game? Seeing as Nintendo is venturing to the mobile market with its IP's, a puzzle game like Panel de Pon would surely be popular with the likes of Candy Crush Saga doing well within that market, and I could see it working really smoothly on a touch screen and being super addictive. Not sure if you guys would like to see Lip becoming an icon for Nintendo's mobile market, but I think it could be fun.

 

[N. Onymous]

Any Lip at all is a good Lip, in my opinion. Pokemon Shuffle was jointly released on the 3DS and mobile devices, for bonus points, so there's no reason PDP can't get a simultaneous launch as well... Just as long as they don't get greedy and ruin the whole thing by pumping it full of microtransactions. I've mentioned already that I hate the idea of microtransactions in Panel de Pon because it would remove any element of skill from gameplay and reduce it to a contest of who has more money to flush down the pink, sparkly, floral drain. But, given Nintendo's "experiments" with things like Nintendo Badge Arcade and the general state of mobile gaming - and especially mobile puzzle games - that's probably exactly what they'll do.

I really do kind of wish Nintendo would pull the same kind of marketing blitz they're trying with Yo-kai Watch to pull Panel de Pon out from obscurity. Even if it's not centered on a new game. Yo-kai Watch seems like a more male-oriented series despite the general cuddly aesthetic, so maybe Panepon could be its feminine (or feminist? the characters, particularly Flare, seem like the kind who'd appeal to feminists, and I've always felt a good PDP cartoon would take after Friendship is Magic) counterpart.

The connection is good, but you miss a huge point.
Splatoon was a best-seller mostly because of his gameplay. Nothing to do with the female inklings.
Besides, Lip is a character in a lore. Splatoon doesn't have main characters. The inklings are just the only species you can play and customise.
Don't forget that Splatoon is a (very well designed) shooter. A kind of game WAY WAY WAY more profitable than puzzle games. Lip isn't avoid any problem she could have by being more exposed, because of the female inklings.
So, yes, you can always bring that example up, when someone says "I don't want that loli in Smash.", but you'll take a huge risk eating a "so what?" with my answer.

I think you misunderstood my post a smidge. My point is that Splatoon was an overwhelming success despite its cuteness - not because of it - and proof positive that cute female characters (the female inklings are the most visible in advertising and marketing) are no longer an excuse to a. not release a game internationally, or b. completely scrub the game of them for... I'll be nice here and say "marketing purposes".

Plus, as I've brought up many times before in this thread, what I want the most out of Panel de Pon at this point isn't a puzzle game. An RPG starring the fairies isn't much better than a pie in the sky right now, but if it ever happens, I'll be one happy camper.

 

[TryrushDeppy]

Plus, as I've brought up many times before in this thread, what I want the most out of Panel de Pon at this point isn't a puzzle game. An RPG starring the fairies isn't much better than a pie in the sky right now, but if it ever happens, I'll be one happy camper.

Sounds like you want Madou Monogatari. That's a cutesy RPG series starring the female protagonist of a puzzle game. Though Puyo Puyo was based on MM and not the other way around.

 

[N. Onymous]

I'm aware of Madou Monogatari, but I want to see Lip and the other Panepon fairies again specifically. Not that I don't like the MM characters, but the setting, designs, and characterization don't appeal to me anywhere nearly as much as Panel de Pon's.

(Besides, Puyo Puyo as a series is still strong and has had much of its potential explored. Panel de Pon needs some serious help - or a miracle - if it wants to get back on its feet again.)

 

[Conren]

That is actually really clever. I like how you managed to incorporate some nods to the actual gameplay of Panel de Pon while at the same time emphasizing that Lip is a flower fairy. Nice work. ^^

Thank you. ^.^ I took some inspiration from how the Lip's Stick item was handled.

 

[TryrushDeppy]

Overall, the falling/sliding object puzzle genre isn't considered suitable material for consoles and gaming handhelds anymore, since they're not where the casual players who make up the biggest audience for puzzlers are anymore. The vast majority of these games are exclusive to mobile nowadays, in particularly wretched forms like Candy Crush, with only the three biggest classic heavy hitters of the genre (Tetris, Puyo & Dr. Mario) maintaining some presence on dedicated gaming devices.

Even if Nintendo made another Panel de Pon game, I'm sure it would use the same generic abstract style as the DS & DSiware outings, with not even any cameos from the fairies. It's much cheaper than hiring a character artist, and makes things easier for localization teams.

 

[N. Onymous]

Even if Nintendo made another Panel de Pon game, I'm sure it would use the same generic abstract style as the DS & DSiware outings, with not even any cameos from the fairies. It's much cheaper than hiring a character artist, and makes things easier for localization teams.

They wouldn't if it was an RPG. (Partially because they couldn't.) If they pulled a reverse Puyo Puyo and spun off Panel de Pon into a series of games in a completely different genre, it could evolve to stand on its own as a new/old franchise for them.

This is fairly obvious, but at this point, I'm dead set on this idea. I've always felt the characters of Panel de Pon were better suited for something story-driven, like an RPG as mentioned, an action-adventure game, or even an anime, than a simple sliding-blocks puzzle game, so it's the fairies I'm most interested in seeing making a comeback, not so much the gameplay. (At this point, like you mentioned, there are so many similar games that Panepon pretty much has to reinvent itself if it wants to stay relevant.) One of my primary goals in making F Yeah Panel de Pon is to spread awareness of the characters so that, hopefully, that character-driven spin-off can become a reality.

 

[TryrushDeppy]

I think the best you can hope for that's not just a generic abstract PdP game is another tie-in with a much more recognizable IP, like what Pokemon Puzzle League was. Anything else will have to be a fan-created project.

Hell, the original PdP was a tie-in with Yoshi from the very beginning in America (as well as Tetris, though only in name).

Personally, I'd rather see a new version of StarSweep or Cleopatra Fortune, or a release of Jewelry Master Twinkle that will still be available after Microsoft discontinues the Xbox Live Indie Games service next year.

 

[N. Onymous]

Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree. Not every Mario spinoff is a platformer, and not every Final Fantasy spinoff is an RPG, so not every Panel de Pon spinoff has to be a puzzle game. I personally think the characters of Panel de Pon still have a lot of potential to be explored, and they don't need to be connected to other, more famous series for that to happen.

 

[Deleted member]

I actually did play through the SNES Madou Monogatari to get some ideas for a potential PanePon RPG. Mostly to see the character interaction. Sadly it wasn't that good of a game, but some things did stuck out, like how every single battle is a 1-on-1, which is pretty similar to a lot of VS puzzle games. I think something like that could work pretty well with some finetuning.

But the Madou Monogatari games are famous for not giving you much information about about, well, anything. And I think that's something that shouldn't necessarily be replicated. I mean, you kinda start to get the hang out of it after 1-2 hours, but I'm very much in favor of a typical HUD and status screen.

 

[smashkirby]

I actually did play through the SNES Madou Monogatari to get some ideas for a potential PanePon RPG. Mostly to see the character interaction. Sadly it wasn't that good of a game, but some things did stuck out, like how every single battle is a 1-on-1, which is pretty similar to a lot of VS puzzle games. I think something like that could work pretty well with some finetuning.

But the Madou Monogatari games are famous for not giving you much information about about, well, anything. And I think that's something that shouldn't necessarily be replicated. I mean, you kinda start to get the hang out of it after 1-2 hours, but I'm very much in favor of a typical HUD and status screen.

TBH, MM does not exactly go too into detail about their HUD in any game. It was kind of confusing at times. Speaking of which, I still didn't exactly understand the stories of Madou Monogatari ARS Does anyone know what those were about? Sorry if I'm going off-topic.

 

[Deleted member]

TBH, MM does not exactly go too into detail about their HUD in any game. It was kind of confusing at times. Speaking of which, I still didn't exactly understand the stories of Madou Monogatari ARS Does anyone know what those were about? Sorry if I'm going off-topic.

Yeah, I mentioned how the series is famous for not going too much into detail, which is kind of a shame. Your biggest clue are the animations and text, good luck seeing any number at all.

As for ARS, sorry, can't help you there, never been too fond of first-person dungeon crawlers. Is the trilogy even translated? I only know of MM1 (Game Gear), Kindegarten Kids (SNES) and multiple attempts at Magic Jewel (GBC). The others are, as far as I know at least, not translated at all. Nonetheless, maybe this will help clear some of the story up for you.

 

[N. Onymous]

I feel something like the Mario and Luigi series, or Intelligent Systems' own Paper Mario (before Sticker Star, at any rate) would be a better template for a Panel de Pon RPG than Madou Monogatari, honestly, both in general tone and in gameplay style. If you're going to replace puzzling with RPG mechanics and menus, you ought to make it so that skill is at least somewhat an element.

 

[Deleted member]

It's a good thing I said "inspiration" not "template", which implies copying, which I'm very much against of. So I think you got the wrong idea regarding what I said. I never said I wanted to use MM battle style, I said it could work with some balancing tweaking. Keyword being "could".

But none of that really matters when there isn't even a planning phase for a PanePon RPG. But speaking of work, for some reason I can't import any Brawl models into 3ds max anymore, so if I can't get it fixed, I might actually make some sprites instead. But that actually begs the question about the artstyle that people wanna use.

 

[N. Onymous]

That was poor word choice. When I said "template" I meant "general idea to use as inspiration", not, well, template. I didn't make that clear enough, I guess. Panel de Pon needs to be its own thing, not an offshoot of anything else - I think I've made my stance on that issue more than clear - so it should have its own style of gameplay too.

As for art style, that's a good question. The art style used in the games is good enough as it is I'd say. If you do want to update it, though, I'd say shoot for something between the games and the Pixiv gallery I linked earlier in the thread.

 

[TryrushDeppy]

The SFC Madou Monogatari is pretty import friendly, because the battle menu is entirely made up of picture icons, with no Japanese text. Of course, it's an overly simplistic game and like most of the series, was made specifically to be "my first RPG" for young children or complete beginners to the genre.

The Saturn MM is the only one that feels like it was made for teens and nostalgic adults. Although it has the characters grown up and allows for three-member parties, it's still very basic, probably out of tradition at that point.

I still don't expect to ever see an official Panel de Pon RPG with the fairies. I'm not saying it would be bad or undesirable, but even a Picross spinoff would be more likely.

 

[N. Onymous]

Of course a Picross spinoff would be more likely. We've already had several, after all (and Jupiter doesn't seem to be secretly ashamed of having ever made the series).
...Picross de Pon?

Either way I don't think looking to MM for inspiration would be a very good idea. I'd like to shoot for something that's easy enough to appeal to all age groups but which still provides its own challenge. If that makes any sense.

 

[FalKoopa]

I'm not sure if Picross is going to appeal to most Westerners.

Sure, addicts may like it, but it is comparatively harder than most puzzle game types.

 

[N. Onymous]

And there'd most likely be no real plot, on top of that (because, really now, plot? In a Picross game? Get outta here. Granted, the Japanese sequel to Mario's Picross did sorta have one...). For someone who's pushing for a plot-heavy Panepon spinoff as much as I am, that's a no-go.

 

[N. Onymous]

A little over a week without a new post... Must be time for me to break out the defibrillator again. Of course, between the continued fairy drought, due in no small part to both Intelligent Systems and Masahiro Sakurai having a dirty, dirty threesome with Fire "Depressingly Overrated" Emblem, there's not a whole lot to talk about.

On the subject of a 3D Panepon platformer, because it's something I've been thinking about lately: I can't remember if I've already said this in here or not, but if I had any say in it - of course I wouldn't, barring a miracle, but that's besides the point - I'd shoot for making it a Rareware-style game, i.e. focused on exploring large worlds and collecting items, in the vein of Donkey Kong 64 or Banjo-Kazooie (moreso the former, given). Collectathons may be old hat by now, but Rare's platformers in the N64 days did a lot of things right and they'll always hold a warm place in my heart. It'd be mixing my favorite video game franchise with one of my favorite game genres.

Maybe it could be something for Retro Studios to do in-between Metroid spinoffs and Donkey Kong Countries? They did work on Mario Kart 7, so they've proven they aren't afraid to work on lighthearted cartoonish games.

(Sooner or later you'd think I'd grow tired of talking about purely hypothetical unlikely-to-happen scenarios... and you're not wrong...)

 

[TryrushDeppy]

On the subject of a 3D Panepon platformer, because it's something I've been thinking about lately

Sounds like you want to play Napple Tale.

 

[RouffWestie]

I should have made some PDP-themed Valentines and given them to my coworkers.

 

[CH4F]

I should have made some PDP-themed Valentines and given them to my coworkers.

Next year.

Anyway, I asked this on /r/PanelDePon.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PanelDePon...u_think_this_sub_should_have_a_discord_group/
What do you think?