History Trivia / Mother4

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane, an up-and-coming musical artist who technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game (from when it was still going to be ''Mother 4''). They came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney letting him strike a deal with]] [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought. However, weeks later [[https://twitter.com/Mother4Game/status/937785969088057345 the staff made a deal]] with [=GameChops=] to get the rights for the non-remix songs for Mother 4, with the aid of DJ Cutman.
* DevelopmentGag: [[http://imgur.com/iOOHdYn An NPC from the gameplay trailer looks like Meryl's design from an old prototype.]]
* DoingItForTheArt:
** Why this whole project began. It started as a game made on VideoGame/RPGMaker, then moved to GameMaker for better capabilities, before finally having its own custom engine made. Simple, low-quality sprites evolved into what they are now, cleaner, polished looking sprites similar to ''VideoGame/MOTHER3''. To top it all off, the team went all the way, even having clay models of the cast created like past games. All of this was done for free, no donations, no gifts, just the MOTHER 4 team wanting their game played when it comes out after over around ''seven / eight years'' of development.[[note]]It should be noted, however, that the game in its current state has only existed since 2012, when it was taken more seriously.[[/note]]
** Then when the devs rebranded to an original I.P., many were worried that they'd end up putting it up for sale. However, in a surprising move, the devs made it explicitly clear that they would ''not'' be accepting any form of payment for it. The game will still be 100% free. That's right. After years of working on it, years of polish and script rewrites, and creating something very much worthy of selling for a good price, the devs are ''still'' putting it up for free, just so people can play and enjoy their game.
* IKnewIt:
** Many fans speculated that the tentative release date would be in June because of a Konami-style easter egg on the site. (If one were to type "magic" while on the site, the layout would switch to a Moonside-esque colour scheme. One would have had to type in "June" to turn it back to normal. This function no longer exists.)
** When the devs noted there was going to be a big announcement on 3/1/17, many correctly guessed they were going to rebrand the game into an original I.P., given the record of what has happened with other Nintendo fangames at the time.
* ScheduleSlip:
** Got hit with this ''hard'' during 2014 / 15. After years of development, the dev team finally announced a release date of winter 2014... which eventually got pushed back to summer 2015. They then said it would be sometime in June... only to ''then'' announce that they'd no longer be announcing release dates until they were sure it was one hundred percent ready. When the rebranding trailer was revealed, the only hint of a release date was ""It'll be out when it's ready. Relax til then."
** To note; the dev team ''has'' said the game is complete, but it's still rather rough around the edges. They want to touch up on certain aspects of it before releasing to make sure there aren't any major {{Game Breaking Bug}}s, as well as touch up on certain story aspects and map design, while also making sure the difficulty is well balanced. They've also ramped up the development team and are putting more effort into it than before to hopefully get it out quicker. All of this is to hopefully prevent a possible backlash from releasing ''then'' fixing these possible issues, which other fangames such as ''VideoGame/MegaManUnlimited'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManRockForce'' ended up experiencing from doing that.
*** That said, they did also send out a message asking for staff.
*** Fast forward to 2016: [[http://blog.mother4game.com/post/139340665329/update-11-update-for-the-birds "We aren't done with the game."]] But they ''will'' try to finish one major area per month.
*** They eventually lampshaded this on [[https://twitter.com/Mother4Game/status/807300278689103873 their Twitter account]].
---> Making games is hard.
* TrollingCreator: When the dev team started up their bi-weekly updates, they immediately started playing with the fans expectations with what the updates were. Some examples include...
** When they first started, one of the dev posted a gif of Travis walking up to a broken spire. People believed the update would go into what the spires were. Turns out, the gif was part of the game's AttractMode, which is what the dev ended up showing off next update.
** During an update going into how ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' style battle backgrounds are made, one of the dev showed off a tool he created specifically for the game. [[note]]Also, no, for anyone wondering if it was released, it wasn't. According to the Dev, it only works and translates well for ''Mother 4'' mechanics and programming, and thus wouldn't work well for any other ''MOTHER'' fangames on the net.[[/note]] Notably, in the window showing what background it is, the name for it is conspicuously blurred out. Naturally, fans ended up having a field day over guessing what it's for.
** During an update when they were going into the streamlined menus, they had a gif that quickly went over Zack's inventory that was filled to the brim with items, and went to fast to properly see. [[FreezeFrameBonus Taking a screen cap of it at the very second]] it shows reveals... [[https://ssl-forum-files.fobby.net/forum_attachments/0039/9919/Zack_inventory.png An undershirt]], [[AntiClimax nine cups of coffee, and a banana]].
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: As said under AscendedMeme on the main page, the dev team is going to great lengths to avert this trope. One of the set rules they have in place, in addition to no meme references, is no references to then current events and famous personalities either, to give the game a good timeless quality.
* {{Vaporware}}: Hey, it wouldn't be a ''MOTHER'' game without a downplayed version of this trope. To give a good idea, the game started development in early 2008, and didn't even get an estimated release date until ''2013'', and ''that'' release date got pushed back to ''2015'', and ''then'' the team stated that they wouldn't make that deadline and will no longer state prospective release dates until it's done. On March 1st 2017, the devs revealed the game would be undergoing heavy rebranding. While the game is still in development, this also means there is no MOTHER 4 anymore.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As mentioned many times on the pages of this work, the game was originally intended to be a proper FanSequel to the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series. However, concerns over getting [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Cease and Desisted]] by Nintendo over them wanting to protect their I.P. made the dev team rebrand the game into an original I.P., so that years of work wouldn't go to waste.
----

** Got hit with this ''hard'' during 2014 / 15. After years of development, the dev team finally announced a release date of winter 2014... which eventually got pushed back to summer 2015. They then said it would be sometime in June... only to ''then'' announce that they'd no longer be announcing release dates until they were sure it was one hundred percent ready.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As mentioned many times on the pages of this work, the game was originally intended to be a proper FanSequel to the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series. However, concerns over getting [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Cease and Desisted]] by Nintendo over them wanting to protect their I.P. made the dev team rebrand the game into an original I.P., so that years of work wouldn't go to waste.

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane, an up-and-coming musical artist who technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game (from when it was still going to be Mother 4). They came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney letting him strike a deal with]] [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought. However, weeks later [[https://twitter.com/Mother4Game/status/937785969088057345 the staff made a deal]] with [=GameChops=] to get the rights for the non-remix songs for Mother 4, with the aid of DJ Cutman.

* {{Vaporware}}: Hey, it wouldn't be a ''MOTHER'' game without a downplayed version of this trope. To give a good idea, the game started development in early 2008, and didn't even get an estimated release date until ''2013'', and ''that'' release date got pushed back to ''2015'', and ''then'' the team stated that they wouldn't make that deadline and will no longer state prospective release dates until it's done. On March 1st 2017, the devs revealed the game would be undergoing heavy rebranding. While the game will be finished, this also means there is no MOTHER 4 anymore.

** Why this whole project began. It started as a game made on RPGMaker, then moved to GameMaker for better capabilities, before finally having its own custom engine made. Simple, low-quality sprites evolved into what they are now, cleaner, polished looking sprites similar to ''VideoGame/MOTHER3''. To top it all off, the team went all the way, even having clay models of the cast created like past games. All of this was done for free, no donations, no gifts, just the MOTHER 4 team wanting their game played when it comes out after over around ''seven / eight years'' of development.[[note]]It should be noted, however, that the game in its current state has only existed since 2012, when it was taken more seriously.[[/note]]

** Why this whole project began. It started as a game made on RPGMaker, then moved to GameMaker for better capabilities, before finally having its own custom engine made. Simple, low-quality sprites evolved into what they are now, cleaner, polished looking sprites similar to {{MOTHER 3}}. To top it all off, the team went all the way, even having clay models of the cast created like past games. All of this was done for free, no donations, no gifts, just the MOTHER 4 team wanting their game played when it comes out after over around ''seven / eight years'' of development.[[note]]It should be noted, however, that the game in its current state has only existed since 2012, when it was taken more seriously.[[/note]]

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane, an up-and-coming musical artist who technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game (from when it was still going to be Mother 4). They came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney letting him strike a deal with]] [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought.

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane, an up-and-coming musical artist who technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game (from when it was still going to be Mother 4). They eventually came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney letting him strike a deal with]] [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought.

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane, an up and coming musical artist who technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game (from when it was still going to be Mother 4). They eventually came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney letting him strike a deal with]] [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought.

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane, who is an up and coming musical artist who technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game (from when it was still going to be Mother 4). They eventually came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney letting him strike a deal with]] [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought.

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane (a main composer for the game), who is an up and coming musical artist who technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game (from when it was still going to be Mother 4). They eventually came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and [[OnlyInItForTheMoney letting him strike a deal with]] [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought.

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane (a main composer for the game), who is an up and coming musical artist who [[OnlyInItForTheMoney technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game]] (when it was still going to be Mother 4. They eventually came to the tough decision of removing the former soundtrack and letting him strike a deal with [=GameChops=], which distributes video game-related albums that can be bought.

* CreativeDifferences: Sadly, the staff eventually wound up arguing with Shane (a main composer for the game), who is an up and coming musical artist who [[OnlyInItForTheMoney technically owns the soundtrack he composed for the game]] (when it was still going to be Mother 4. They eventually came to the hard decision of removing the former soundtrack and letting him strike a deal with GameChops, which distribute video game-related albums that can be bought.

** Then when the devs rebranded to an original I.P., many were worried that they'd end up putting it up for sell. However, in a surprising move, the devs made it explicitly clear that they would ''not'' be accepting any form of payment for it. The game will still be 100% free. That's right. After years of working on it, years of polish and script rewrites, and creating something very much worthy of selling for a good price, the devs are ''still'' putting it up for free, just so people can play and enjoy their game.

** Then when the devs rebranded to an original I.P., many were worried that they'd end up putting it up for sell. However, in a surprising move, the devs made it explicitly clear that they would ''not'' be accepting any form of payment for it. The game will still be 100% free. That's right. After years of working on it, years of polish and script rewrites, and creating something very much worthy of selling for a good price... The devs are ''still'' putting it up for free, just so people can play and enjoy their game.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As mentioned many times on the pages of this work, the game was originally intended to be a proper FanSequel to the ''Franchise/{{Mother}}'' series. However, concerns over getting [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Cease and Desisted]] by Nintendo over them wanting to protect their I.P. made the dev team rebrand the game into an original I.P., so that years of work wouldn't go to waste.

** WhatCouldHaveBeen: As mentioned many times on the pages of this work, the game was originally intended to be a proper FanSequel to the ''Franchise/{{Mother}}'' series. However, concerns over getting [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Cease and Desisted]] by Nintendo over them wanting to protect their I.P. made the dev team rebrand the game into an original I.P., so that years of work wouldn't go to waste.

* {{Vaporware}}: Hey, it wouldn't be a ''MOTHER'' game without a downplayed version of this trope. To give a good idea, the game started development in early 2008, and didn't even get an estimated release date until ''2013'', and ''that'' release date got pushed back to ''2015'', and ''then'' the team stated that they wouldn't make that deadline and will no longer state prospective release dates until it's done. On March 1st 2017, the devs revealed the game would be undergoing heavy rebranding. While the game will be finished, this also means there is no MOTHER 4 anymore.

* {{Vaporware}}: Hey, it wouldn't be a ''MOTHER'' game without a downplayed version of this trope. To give a good idea, the game started development in early 2008, and didn't even get an estimated release date until ''2013'', and ''that'' release date got pushed back to ''2015'', and ''then'' the team stated that they wouldn't make that deadline and will no longer state prospective release dates until it's done. However, the game has only existed in its current state since 2012, so it could be considered not totally vaporware yet.

--> Making games is hard.

* DoingItForTheArt: Why this whole project began. It started as a game made on RPGMaker, then moved to GameMaker for better capabilities, before finally having its own custom engine made. Simple, low-quality sprites evolved into what they are now, cleaner, polished looking sprites similar to {{MOTHER 3}}. To top it all off, the team went all the way, even having clay models of the cast created like past games. All of this was done for free, no donations, no gifts, just the MOTHER 4 team wanting their game played when it comes out after over around ''seven / eight years'' of development.[[note]]It should be noted, however, that the game in its current state has only existed since 2012, when it was taken more seriously.[[/note]]
* IKnewIt: Many fans speculated that the tentative release date would be in June because of a Konami-style easter egg on the site. (If one were to type "magic" while on the site, the layout would switch to a Moonside-esque colour scheme. One would have had to type in "June" to turn it back to normal. This function no longer exists.)

* {{Vaporware}}: Hey, it wouldn't be a ''MOTHER'' game without a downplayed version of this trope. To give a good idea, the game started development around 2008-09, and didn't even get an estimated release date until ''2013'', and ''that'' release date got pushed back to ''2015'', and ''then'' the team stated that they wouldn't make that deadline and will no longer state prospective release dates until it's done. However, the game has only existed in its current state since 2012, so it could be considered not totally vaporware yet.

** To note; the dev team ''has'' said the game is complete, but it's still rather rough around the edges. They want to touch up on certain aspects of it before releasing to make sure there aren't any major {{Game Breaking Bug}}s, as well as touch up on certain story aspects and map design, while also making sure the difficulty is well balanced. They've also ramped up the development team and are putting more effort into it than before to hopefully get it out quicker. All of this is to hopefully prevent a possible InternetBacklash from releasing ''then'' fixing these possible issues, which other fangames such as ''VideoGame/MegaManUnlimited'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManRockForce'' ended up experiencing from doing that.