Hi Everyone! (Developer here^^)

[supershigi]

Hi folks! My name is Laura, and I'm the creator of the game Rakuen. I thought I'd drop by and say hello and thank-you to everyone who has been kind and supportive throughout this whole development process! It's been quite tough at times, but overall a really wonderful challenge. I'm SO excited to share the game with you all ^__^

Anyways, feel free to post any questions about the game here, and I'll try my best to answer them. You can also follow me on Twitter at @supershigi and join the Facebook group[www.facebook.com] for regular updates.

[bufkus]

I can't wait!

[Portoro]

Hey Laura!

I'm so stoked for this game. I visit the Leeble forums from time to time, but haven't seen if you have answered this anywhere, so I'll ask here! I was curious to know if your game "Melolune" influenced this game at all? Obviously I see the Leebles are in the game, but did you take other aspects from that as well?

Thanks!

[JayCatnip]

Will there be 8-directional movement? Because i can't stand RPGs where you can only move in 4 directions!

[丂丅乇リ工乇]

Can I play it on my Macbook Pro? I'm so excited!

[Quintalian]

Hello! I'm excited to play what you've been working on after so long & will be following the Steam page. Really like your music posts & Emmy's art! Good luck with everything, looking forward to the release!

[Gaizokubanou]

Hello!

[MallowOni]

Originally posted by Stevie Fazman the Slavboo:

Can I play it on my Macbook Pro? I'm so excited!

The store page only lists Windows so you'll have to try a Windows emulator.

[rathgar_foulbreath]

Man, I really need to learn how to import sprites, art, and animations to RPG maker. Some of that stuff can get super intricate. Was actually trying to make a game based off of one of the super old programs, but I've unfortunately just been using the default music and sprites. Looking forward to Rakuen and here's to hoping my crusty old dinosaur of a laptop can handle it.

[Shook50]

I'm looking forward to playing it from the bits that I've glanced at. I try to keep myself blind to a lot of details beforehand if I think it's a game I'll enjoy. Especially if it's heavily story driven.

[supershigi]

Does anyone know if I can respond to each post individually? For now, I'll just try to respond to everyone in one big post!

@diedrupo: Thank-you Died!

Originally posted by Portoro:

Hey Laura!

I'm so stoked for this game. I visit the Leeble forums from time to time, but haven't seen if you have answered this anywhere, so I'll ask here! I was curious to know if your game "Melolune" influenced this game at all? Obviously I see the Leebles are in the game, but did you take other aspects from that as well?

Thanks!

Good to see you again Portoro! Overall, Melolune and Rakuen are pretty different. However there were a few things that carried over... As you mentioned, the Leebles and their culture (the yearly Star Night festival, Sila Berries, Panky's pancake eating contest, etc.) are present in Rakuen's fantasy world. The sassy wooden signs (like the one from the Doogay Swamp) are their own race. There's a puzzle mechanic from Melolune that I ended up reusing. And while there aren't any "musical dungeons" in Rakuen, you do learn a special song after helping each of 5 characters in the game. Each of those song's main melodies combine to form a 5-part harmony song that the Boy will need to perform at the end of the game.

Originally posted by JayTheGameGuy:

Will there be 8-directional movement? Because i can't stand RPGs where you can only move in 4 directions!

Aww I'm sorry, Rakuen only moves in 4 directions! Hopefully it won't be too troublesome for you!

Originally posted by Stevie Fazman the Slavboo:

Can I play it on my Macbook Pro? I'm so excited!

Thank-you Stevie! Right now we only have a Windows build, however I am planning on porting it to Mac and Linux after we finish stress testing!

@Quintalian: Thank-you so much! I'm so happy you've been enjoying the music, and I'll definitely let Emmy know that you like her artwork ^__^

@Gaizokubanou: Hello! Thanks for stopping by!

@Mallowiest of Onis: I am super curious what your name comes from! "Mallowiest" makes me think of marshmallows :)

Originally posted by rathgar_foulbreath:

Man, I really need to learn how to import sprites, art, and animations to RPG maker. Some of that stuff can get super intricate. Was actually trying to make a game based off of one of the super old programs, but I've unfortunately just been using the default music and sprites. Looking forward to Rakuen and here's to hoping my crusty old dinosaur of a laptop can handle it.

Thank-you, I really hope you'll enjoy it! And I'm pretty sure it will run on just about anything, since I actually made the game in Windows XP if you can believe it, haha! It has very low system requirements :) Importing sprites, art and animations to RPG maker is pretty easy, I'm sure you can learn really quickly! Do you have any specific questions about it?

@Shook: Thank-you! And ah, I totally know what you mean! I remember back in the day, I had a major plot twist from FFVII revealed to me before I had the chance to play the game. My friend was like, "ohhhhh I'm sorry I thought you already passed it!" Hehehe :)

[Mc_Laine]

Is that the same kind of experience as To the moon is?

[supershigi]

Originally posted by John_Mc_Laine:

Is that the same kind of experience as To the moon is?

Rakuen is a story-driven game where you get to know the characters really well by the end, and the way you control the character and interact with NPCs feels like an rpg from the SNES (but with keyboard or mouse controls)... so I think in that sense it will feel similar to To the Moon^^

However, Rakuen has things like room escape puzzles, dialogue based mysteries, and a cave dungeon with a layout similar to something you'd find in Zelda: Link to the Past (but without any fighting)... so I would say the gameplay feels a bit different.

[JayCatnip]

Originally posted by supershigi:

Does anyone know if I can respond to each post individually?

I'm pretty sure you can respond to each post individually.

Originally posted by supershigi:

Aww I'm sorry, Rakuen only moves in 4 directions! Hopefully it won't be too troublesome for you!

Originally posted by supershigi:

Originally posted by John_Mc_Laine:

Is that the same kind of experience as To the moon is?

Rakuen is a story-driven game where you get to know the characters really well by the end, and the way you control the character and interact with NPCs feels like an rpg from the SNES (but with keyboard or mouse controls)... so I think in that sense it will feel similar to To the Moon^^

However, Rakuen has things like room escape puzzles, dialogue based mysteries, and a cave dungeon with a layout similar to something you'd find in Zelda: Link to the Past (but without any fighting)... so I would say the gameplay feels a bit different.

*sigh* Even though this seems like the type of RPG i despise with all my heart, i'll give it a shot and review it, who knows... Maybe it won't be as bad as i think it'll be, or i'll hate it and use it as an example of games that really didn't need to be games.

But i won't know until i start making reviews on YouTube. Which won't be for a while since i don't have the proper equipment yet. Not having a job, which'd allow me to get said equipment faster and easier, is so great, thanks social anxiety! :D

In all seriousness, that's the reason why i haven't started making YT content yet.

[WildDuck]

Hey Laura!

I really enjoy story-driven games, and you have always been a rock solid content creator, which is why im looking forward to this so much! :)

I have a big worry with trailers nowadays giving away waaay to much of the story, so much so that ive just stopped watching trailers all together so that I can experience the big moments of my game myself. Do you think Rakuen does a good job at not doing this?

Thanks for reading :D

[Crimms]

A friend (well, two) keeps asking when it's going to be released, and I keep telling them to just get into Steam and be surprised like the rest of us.
This is going to be amazing!