Electric Airship Forums

Better ingredients make better pizzas of content!

I want to share all my very best tips about making portable video games with my fellow forum members. Some are obvious... some are not.. and some you could have never guessed; but all of them will make your game better one day, and most of them won't cost you anything now!

* Take care when creating your key art!

You need three layers, principally: BG, Title, and Characters. "Characters" is flexible.. probably the heroes.. could be a tree or something. But it's really simple: keep the layers, the more the better. The three main elements are absolutely required for console store pages, but you will also appreciate later having characters drawn for promotional purposes: decorating web sites, putting in press kits... even printing stickers!

If the key art assemblage is sketched all at once, you might have people in layers with their bottoms cut off. That's how some artists work... but it is good if you ask them to finish up those characters while it's fresh on their mind. If we don't get layers, when porting, we will have to reconstruct them.

* Render your audio absurdly high quality and save the wavs!

Our porting tech can swap in higher-quality audio than RPG Maker (and most engines) can handle. We've taken advantage of this in all the ports we've done so far, to one extent or another, but it's required devs to plumb through their archives. Consoles like to output at 48000hz, and most can even output 24bit or 32bit, but what's most important is that we can use lossless audio formats to bloat your game and make it sound great! So even though you have to crunch, crush, and otherwise munge your audio to get it into your engines... save the original renders! You can put the high quality ones on Bandcamp, too!

One more thing you might not have thought of... you will forget how to render your audio, because your plugins and settings will bitrot. So do it on day one and you won't have to regret it later!

One more thing you REALLY haven't thought of... any plugins using an LFO will never render twice the same (they are on oscillators independent of the render t=0), so the exact version you fell in love with won't ever be exactly reproducible.

* Keep your assets tidy!

There's no time like the present. You will get mixed up later, you know it. And if you are getting mixed up, imagine what happens when you hand it off to someone else to port it! And then they'll be asking you questions about it... and now you're on the spot to answer... so many weird duplicate files which may or may not have minor variations. Which are getting used? Who can even remember? Yeah, deleting something may break something. Breaking can be fixed. Confusion is forever. It only gets worse as you get older...

* Your text won't show up the way you expect unless it's a sprite font!

RPG Maker is using the system's text renderers, which means user preferences (and other random stuff they may not have chosen and have no control over, including even forced software updates) cause your text to look different on everyone else's system. It's not just cosmetic... things will get misplaced and wrap wrongly.

That also means that any pieces of art in the game you hand-render using your system's text renderer or even staged screenshots from your RPG Maker exports won't match on most people's systems. This is especially pernicious if you have "cleartype" enabled on your system. That's tuned (or should be tuned...) for your specific LCD panel. It's definitionally inappropriate for any other application. Screenshots of that spread like the plague. They will get scaled up, jpegged, and splatted all over the web, getting more and more smeared every time, and eventually getting memorialized in a wiki or book somewhere in an unflattering form. Don't do it!

You can insulate yourself from all of this by using a spritefont plugin or a software TTF renderer plugin. You're highly advised to do this...

* Don't save too often!

Saving is slow on consoles and we're limited in how much we can do it (no game is allowed to wear out the storage medium). Save points are obviously okay, and even saving every time you go in and out of a room is pretty okay. Just don't save every step, please.

* Go to a black screen for a few frames before loading anything!

LOADING is slow on consoles, too! I mean, the disk in general is a big problem. Something that's instant-load on your workstation will create visible hiccups on consoles. So try to only load assets while screens are fully faded-out. And make sure you hold for 1-3 frames at least in the faded-out state so the loading doesn't hitch while unfaded frames are still being shown. Otherwise you'll have a 3% visible mostly black frame for a quarter of a second. It just looks bad.

* Try not to copy/paste too much scripting!

It's really a maintenance hazard. In your main production pass you can keep it all in your head perhaps, but it will evaporate immediately afterwards. In RPG Maker you don't have many options for user-defined functions but Common Events... but I really suggest you try to use them like functions. Anything you have to do over and over is a liability the moment there's a reason for you to do it over and over AGAIN, differently.

* Be ready for alternate button prompts!

Why not go ahead and set up alternatives for different console gamepads? It'll make sure you're ready for it. Plan for success! This may mean you have to insert button glyphs into a TTF.. but you took my advice and used a spritefont, right?

* Document the provisioning of your asset pack stuff before you forget!

Most of you are doing a great job with this, but a reminder never hurts. We've got to get everyone credited!

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back with an update when I hit something else that makes me groan. Feel free to hit my up with questions on matters like this any time. I love porting games!

-- Electric Airship Matthew

Here's my review roundup! Let me know if I missed anything!

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Indie Hell Zone knows old Jimmy well, and says new Jimmy is "a re-release for the hard RPG sickos". Is "hard RPG" a genre or just a description? can Jimmy be both?
https://indiehellzone.com/2026/02/04/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-definitive-edition/

Davidvinc may have this confused with a SNES RPG? Perfect!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WWjM_tcRsU

Vulgar Knight has some uncommon insights:
https://vulgarknight.com/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review/

A-to-J connections gave an A-Z review! Very thorough, very critical, very appreciated!
https://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/when-empathy-gets-you-into-trouble-a-jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review

TheXboxHub spoke eloquently and quibbled with the humor of the script... it was very interesting, and made me, whilst next playing some scenes of the game, think in detail about the structure of comedy and such... I think there are some things which can be only at most exactly the most vivid observation of something intrinsically just intrisic but which gains comedic cachet from a shared recognition with a pithy expression. I suppose that's the nature of observational humor. Is that what's going on here? Just the silly joy of being.
https://www.thexboxhub.com/a-cult-rpg-classic-jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-creeps-onto-consoles/

Nintendo Life really liked it, I better let them speak for themselves:
https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/jimmy-and-the-Pulsating-Mass

Pixelbytegaming had a review that was #80 and #80, but 80% in the end!
https://pixelbytegaming.com/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-enhanced-edition-review-earthbound-down/

WayTooManyGames assigns Jimmy's character class as Fascinating Multitool Protagonist!
https://waytoomany.games/2026/02/05/review-jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-switch/

This is not new coverage but I wanted to point out this which made me laugh tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9NmqeUFCqI

NGC gaming community shared some interesting observatoins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45VfHTNr6MI

Solo Wing Fury has beat this game 6 times on Steam and judging from this video has finished it on console once more already! Sorry about the 100th floor thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajOp4WeFWEQ

Long-time supporters SML Podcast played it and think it's more 32-bit than 16-bit, d'oh!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rG0_75Pv8s&t=6537s

It's a bit too grindy for RPGamer but I can tell they stuck with it, thanks!
https://rpgamer.com/review/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-ps5-review/

RPGFan really liked the vocal lines in the music and gave a good, succinct overview:
https://www.rpgfan.com/review/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-2/

startmenu interviewed the developer and has a lot of juicy background info, nice!
https://www.startmenu.co.uk/home/how-jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-came-to-be

Game Critix liked it but thought the objectives were a little vague.. I can agree with that. You really have to pay attention!
https://gamecritix.co.uk/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review/

Games Asylum thinks the game may usher you from scenario to scenario too quickly.. hmm, I'd prefer to linger in some of my dreams to, but ... yawn now I've made myself sleepy.
https://www.gamesasylum.com/2026/02/06/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review/

Thomas Hadley Games likes how the game zigs and zags unexpectedly, though!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRP4XfTjew

Total Level - It scratched their Earthbound Itch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv3ZIhVpFho

Shawn K The King got Earthbound vibes too! I can tell he was enjoying it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy3bgXaNAnw

Pure Xbox gives it a ping on the Xbox gamers radar!
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/02/if-you-like-earthbound-this-new-xbox-game-is-getting-heavy-comparisons-to-it

The Geekly Grind objected to the grind in the game.. crushing review from an expert on grind, but at least we got a passing grade!
https://www.thegeeklygrind.com/all-posts/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review

Go Nagai World, Gamezilla, and stadiaverse.it are bringing the good news to the Italian crowd! Wow, such Italian support. I sure hope we get to add FIGS in the future!
https://www.stadiaverse.it/2026/02/08/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-lhorror-jrpg-arriva-su-console-a-febbraio/
https://www.gonagaiworld.com/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-amplia-il-suo-mondo-oltre-il-pc/?fsp_sid=8639
https://www.gamezilla.it/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-apre-le-porte-alle-console/

Blog PPN and PS4Blog cover the basics!
https://www.a4at.com/2026/02/08/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-console-enhanced-version/
https://www.ps4blog.net/2026/02/nintendo-switch-jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review

Press Play Media took a holistic approach and seemed to enjoy it!
https://pressplaynews.net/2026/02/10/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review-ps5/

FireOnXbox was lost and confused because he didn't pay close enough attention to the messageboxes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flt1A80LZZc

Marbrolay made it all the way to Smile without saving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgBQV4jkjdc

Official Nofriendo is looking forward into playing a lot more!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIcxVVaweu0

Reaper00702 got traumatized by the haunted mansion, oh no! Thanks for making this really thorough review your 551st!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRNMMCApOuo

Niche Gamer gave a spoileriffic review! No peeking!
https://nichegamer.com/reviews/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review/

ADEPTUS CRITICUS GAME REVIEWS reviewed the Xbox version but is gonna score the Switch version too so they can play on the move.. thanks!
https://adeptuscriticus.co.uk/2026/02/20/jimmy-and-the-pulsating-mass-review-a-pleasant-surprise-you-should-all-experience/

The game is now out on all consoles, all markets!

Big thanks to the hero who already gave it an honest rating!

Here's all the coverage we've found so far. Perhaps you can add to the pile... go here for a key! https://www.keymailer.co/g/games/d8148710

• This is an old review of the Steam version, but it's very exhaustively comprehensive as advertised: http://maniafig.blogspot.com/2019/01/kaiju-big-battel-fighto-fantasy.html

• Our favorite Australian zero-hour streamer (it's a time zone thing) did a twitch VOD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvoUvnJWmEQ

• AndoNPC is going to go all the way!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF9uEOwhbYs

• Our friends at the SML Podcast really enjoyed it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU3NLc_tLzk&t=2348s

• Coverage from thexboxhub.com: https://www.thexboxhub.com/godzilla-meets-wwe-meets-a-retro-rpg-kaiju-big-battel-fighto-fantasy-is-on-xbox/

• A mention from the one and only actual Kaiju Big Battel! Hey, who made the cute pixel style console icons? https://www.facebook.com/kaijubigbattel/photos/hey-did-you-knowkaiju-big-battel-fighto-fantasy-hits-consoles-today-go-get-your-/1257048649756080/?_rdr

• A mention from Kaiju Big Battel's homepage! https://kaijubigbattel.org/2025/05/14/kaiju-big-battel-fighto-fantasy-now-available-on-console/

• Diablotex is exploring as far as Egypt with Italian commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5PDVu16dA8

• SagiriOneeChan's giveaway: https://x.com/SagiriPSN/status/1923370450685505943

• Wrestling fan METASLIME'S played it 3 times already... I think he might be hooked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4aCtEArs4Y

• Duff85's Giveaway! https://x.com/Duff85_Gaming/status/1923627308474102166

• Duff85 is also first in the world to plat the game! Congrats! https://x.com/Duff85_Gaming/status/1924198704078094435

• A Japanese wrestling fan wishes it supported Japanese! boku mo... https://x.com/masked_hero2/status/1923620047609790874

• Rob Kamerer's podcasting about the game: https://www.patreon.com/posts/129281793

• TheRealAero is just trying it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkw6wPawdlE

• Our old friend RaLLe is looking for achievements, but it will take him a while... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjU3kAWoeBA

• Piep91 played for almost just as long! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH7Y17b7Jg8

• Another old friend Jav0rs put in a couple of hours on twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2465763416

• Shoutout from Wrestling GO.. thanks! https://www.facebook.com/WrestlingGO/posts/pfbid02b8nDcNfThFBfa7Pc13wHqVryEzP8nYdRRhZkXtJ2rVU98125mHN5gaN9Vs92EjnQl

• Renatoxboxgames did a quick test on twitch! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy0hnQ41D70

• Twitch streamer vaelushyn really likes this game! Check their vods: https://www.twitch.tv/vaelushyn

• Coverage from huebrin18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAl9MfiiuYI

• Coverage from jakou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0VmCpcH2I4

• Hykiri says he's gonna be checking out this game, and I believe him! https://x.com/hykiri_nation/

• Pixel Panther has some coverage. Does anyone know where that pixel art came from? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrpdUqjekBY

• An old Penguin Pop Games supporter BiG Porras has got coverage! Thanks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNpwOWI9kz4

I'm going to keep track of everything we're doing to the game here! Don't worry, we have a lot more brewing than just this (so far). Feel free to comment!

CHANGES COMING JUNE 2025

BASE GAME (19-may-2025 update):

• Fixed slow movement bug when arriving in Lost Roadway for the first time.
• Fixed issues with auto save on some maps.
• Fixed bug where attack descriptions were being skipped in CEO Battle.
• Balance edits: Reduced charge time on some Slo Feng attacks, increased MP restored by Sauna.
• Improved contrast for readability on some menus.
• Text box edits for readability.
• Adjusted some NPCs who were displaying incorrect palettes.
• Added sound effects when enemies are defeated.
• Adjusted defeat animation for Cubed Bot enemies.
• Updated enemy/group selection for some Robox attacks.
• Improved animation in New Abyss - Lost Roadway.
• Fixed some tile layering and wall mapping througout.
• Fixed a funky ear animation on one of the cats.
• Adjusted speed of water animations in Rome - Fortress.
• Adjusted speed of Penelope Plantain exploration scenes.
• Fixed a couple of inconsistent item names.
• Removed unneeded screen transition in Boston - B1.
• Fixed boss defeat animation in Boston - Nightclub.
• Fixed some maptile animations not updating immediately after changing rooms.
• Fixed bug where fires in Russia - Market could be skipped if players took Slo Feng back to Rome first.
• Improved responsiveness of Party Order and Team Swap menus.
• Dog NPCs have sound effects now.
• Adjusted volume balance on some sound effects.
• Reduced brightness of healing beacon scenes.
• Updated credits.
• Clarified name of abyss knife / cursed knife
• Fixed Suave snakesperson conversation glitch
• Lost highway Beetle and Abuelo sort wrongly
• Fixed some multi-targeting cursors going crazy
• Fixed misplaced screen wipe in tower basement
• Fixed typos "What is your essense", "Yeah right you'd...", and "These ceiling"
• Fix Worsto sorting over Dusto during showdown
• Missing obstruction in Carol Kapec's computer
• Change wiring of cancel button in party order menu
• Fix: Passcode in Russian building is controlled with wrong button on the NX
• Fix: Fire guarding red key room can auto-extinguish
• Fix: Rotten meat room fires appearing and disappearing
• Reinstate old seamless void scene transitions
• Fix NPCs that got stuck with wrong brown and gray palettes
• Improve collision around some crates in Russia
• Fix possible glitch in Russian Cube minions event
• Fix helmet vs barrel sprite placement conflict in Rome
• Fix Dr Cube flickering on top of archway art
• Refine walking behind/on-top-of some trees, mushrooms, railcars, columns, tall stuff all over
• Fix misplaced bubbles animation in sewer waterfalls
• Fix some rubble that should not have been obstructing
• Fix deflated mushrooms sorting over walls
• Improve some window BG/textcolor/selection choices

CONSOLE:

• Reduced stereo image of basic attack sound by 90%
• On Xbox One, Electric Airship splash FMV is sluggish
• Update to 26-March-2025 version of OHRRPGCE
• Update to latest console port modules
• Adjust overall loudness of the game to a more sensible level

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TODO:

• On Series X|S, the food/invaders minigames run at half speed (but can't repro?)