CaptainArcane

Wow! Thanks, LordVurtax!

Unfortunately, I no longer have any images of the maps with the FR/LG spriting style that Pokémon: The Lost World originally began with. There are some maps that are still in that format that I never finished, such as Olivine City. Perhaps that will be the next relic I dig up.  

Despite the unfortunate turn of events that seem to eventually curtail just about every fangame project, the whole journey was a very positive learning experience for me personally. The sheer amount of excitement and support which I received during the development of the game was truly the most inspiring and encouraging force that kept me going. There are few things that are as humbling as the feeling of having so many passionate fans and knowing that the work you create is not only appreciated but desired.

Though, just as you have encouraged me to pursue my hobbies without inhibition, I will do the same towards you. You shouldn't base your hobbies on the appeal or recognition of others. Hobbies are for your own enjoyment. And even though the interest and support of others can be a great force in propelling you forward to progress in that hobby, it shouldn't be the determining factor for why you do it. You should do the things you like because you like them. Otherwise, what's the whole point?

Either way, I just want to say thanks again, man. I feel very honored to have taken this journey with you and so many others. I can only hope that I'll be just as lucky when I begin my next project.  


Thank you so much, man.  

Hey! Thank you so much, Zeemo! 

I love the criticism, thank you so much for providing it. Even though this is something from the past and part of a long since dead project, the critique is still very valid and I really appreciate the time and thought you put into providing it. I think my favorite part though was that you were able to decipher something which the map actually doesn't show (I'll get to that part in a minute though).

Now, as the description explains, this is was one my early renditions of Viridian City - I did not consider it complete when it reached this stage. Though I did consider the overall layout complete, so I was content with the formation of the streets. At this stage of the level design, I started designing a lot generic placeholder buildings to at least fill out some of the space and make it look inhabited and developed. Had I continued with this project, the majority of the buildings would have eventually been replaced with buildings that were specifically designed to reflect the atmosphere and concept of Viridian City itself. But, as you said, the structures definitely look repetitive. One especially unfortunate building that I wasn't able to finish was the building with the tables and chairs outside. That was a restaurant called the Cordon Vert - a high-class restaurant that catered to established Pokémon trainers who had earned at least 10 badges from the Kanto region. Oh, and that big TV screen near the downtown area (next to the PokéMart) was actually completely animated. I'll have to upload a gif of it, but the upper left side of it would cycle through the original three starter Pokémon, the Pokéball on the right would continually rotate on a tilted axis, and both text boxes would actually scroll. During special events, the TV screen would be interrupted with special broadcasts and the like - overall, walking in the city with the screen animated really gave the impression that the city was alive.

I've not seen anything Pokémon anime related in a long time, so I'm not sure what Viridian City looks like according to concurrent canon. However, during the time when I created this (about 8 years ago), I used whatever available visual anime, game, and manga sources that were available to me.

Now, back to the part that I mentioned in the beginning. Viridian City is by no means a large city in the Pokémon games, by any measure. So when I began toying with the concept of creating gigantic cities for Pokémon, I realized that I wouldn't be able to just create super large cities without providing quick and convenient methods to travel within them. This was especially true because my Viridian City was still going to be considered small in comparison to cities such as Celadon City and Saffron City. So my solution for this was actually pretty simple - Taxi Cabs and Buses.

While in cities, players would be able to hail taxi cabs. Once the player had entered a taxi cab, the radio would begin to play a random song from Pokemon and the player would then take control of the vehicle itself. By controlling the vehicle, players would be able to shuttle themselves around the city with ease at a very brisk and convenient speed.

Buses, however, were a way for players to quickly travel between different cities. Once a player had visited a city or town, they would be able to approach a bus stop and take a bus to that city. The only way for a player to reach an unvisited city would be if they received a bus pass for that location. Either way, once a player stepped onto a bus, they would choose their desired destination and then be shuttled there automatically. 

Once again, thanks for the awesome feedback! This map eludes to a lot of features which were going to be implemented in the game, so thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak about them a bit.


Cheers man!

Haha! Thanks for being so interested for so long! It's always nice to have fans!

Though, as I mentioned in the information and the backstory, this is from a long dead project. I'll never be working on this or anything Pokémon related ever again. Anything that I post that is Pokémon related will just be old work that I have never shown before.

Amazing job man! Absolutely imaginative beyond most Fakemon and original Pokémon species!!

Yeah, haha. 

By the way, I love your work man! It's really great!