Have you ever heard of National Novel Writing Month in November? (NaNoWriMo). That's a month-long challenge to hit a certain word count and finish a rough draft of a novel for you to work with. The Prize? The work you completed in that 30 days and a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Now, folks have decided to do a spin-off of that concept with National Game Development Month (NaGaDeMo). Different group it looks like, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is this: During the month of June, from June 1st to June 30th, you start development on a game. You then try to make something small and finished by the end of those 30 days.
It's ideal to start with something from scratch (don't bother starting a big ambitious project or continue something you've already started because you'll probably be too attached to it to make the cuts needed to finish in 30 days). Instead, start something new, come up with whatever concept you like, and just grind something out in 30 days. The point isn't to make something elaborate, but to just make SOMETHING.
This can help you get more familiar with your maker of choice, (XP, VX, VX Ace) or just help spread the word of RPG Maker to others. You can prototype some ideas for your big personal project in here that you have yet to get to work on. You can just try something you're too scared to try on your "baby" project (as in a project that you care for it like it's your child). But most importantly, you can try to make and complete a game in 30 days!
For more details, check out the page for the contest here: http://nagademo.com/index
EDIT: You can start writing down ideas and planning for it, but don't start putting it together in RPG Maker until the 1st.
Edited by Reynard Frost, 24 May 2012 - 01:54 PM.
