Storyteller-Hero

I was going to make it several different stories to choose from at the beginning, but I can do more with this particular game's premise if I condense the different stories into one.

Hmm... So what's your planning process?

Form concept --> Make setting --> determine source of conflict --> determine characters --> determine character objectives --> brainstorm possible interactions between characters --> determine endgame --> explore mechanical limitations and possibilities --> revise and repeat as necessary any of the previous steps while trying to refine the expression of the game's concept

Interesting issue...

There's a couple of characters that I intend to use in the pack for my first game, and I have to make edits to them - fortunately edits are allowed for commercial use in RPG Maker on this pack.

Good to hear.

If it's MV, you can check if it's a hardware problem with this scan (didn't test the scan tho, but should work): https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/rpg-maker-mv/14336

When does it crash? Taking it on safe mode can reveal culprits.

It's the hardware. The insides get loose and end up touching the bottom casing. I'd had this problem before but it was never fully solved. I could try taking it in to have everything tightened up, but I can't afford to set my wallet back any more than I already have.

Are you still blocked if you open RPG Maker while off-line?

I don't know. The last time Steam did an update blocking OS, it blocked my ability to open RPG Maker.

Actually, you know what? I'm going to try seeing what happens if I put Steam on Offline Mode just before the deadline, and see if it keeps the client working on my OS.

Physically abusing technology always makes it behave. I've found myself threatening my computer on occasion. I think there might be a domestic abuse hotline for machines in the future. xD

You consider slapping the bottom of your laptop in order to make it work as not a major issue? For some reason I am thinking of that one meme with slapping the top of a car.

It has to do with a loose thing inside the laptop touching the bottom casing and shorting out.

fingers crossed it dies when you're done backing up and not sooner

After a few months, I'll have hopefully saved up enough for a new home computer that will probably be 100x more reliable.

Well, I'll help you hope

Yeah I got it too, mostly for the 8000 sound effects.

Yeah, I already have the sound effects

I think you can get a lot of that stuff from GameDev Market. Lots of good resources there.

Fortunately, the resource flip book that I'd made was backed up before my home computer died, otherwise I'd be much, much more set back than I already am.

Happy you're continuing on, and not letting your pc stop you.

@Storyteller-Hero That's rough. Feeling for ya

Well, if i'm still alive by then, there's always next year, and I'll be able to start right away by at that time if they do the same thing again.

P.S. for anyone who has an old Mac, if your computer is already having problems, don't update the OS - my already damaged hard drive couldn't take it and got stuck in an endless restart loop with drive locked. The last OS update not so long ago went smoothly so I didn't expect the drive to tank. Even Time Machine wouldn't have helped, apparently.

But there's more than 15 days.

What I had in mind for the demo would have barely made it to the deadline because I'm still learning how to event. A few days lost plus a few more to re-organize my resources has made it unrealistic for me to finish in time.

I could finish something simple, but it would be neither competitive nor representative of what I wanted as a first game made in the engine.

Yeah, she's made some fantastic plug-ins. I really like her horror effects plug-in.

The horror effects plug-in actually surprised me. I thought it was just a screen-wide thing until I saw how the plugin could affect individual actors - that makes it versatile enough for a lot of non-horror themes as well.

I'm using it to create a video effect for when the player looks at monitors. It's much better than using either a static video effect image, or manipulating multiple images to create the illusion of movement.

samkfj, feel free to send me a link to where it's streaming, but I won't be able to give full feedback 'til after the IGMC deadline, when things have settled down. I'm juggling quite a bit to make sure I have time for stuff.

@bgillisp Steam's documentation even recommends your trailer be focused more on gameplay and action than the traditional longer, more drawn-out theatrical trailer. I kind of bank on that personally 'cuz putting together gameplay clips is simple enough but I just don't have the creativity or skills to make a better trailer, nor the resources to hire a professional to do it for me.

After I've completed enough to sample from each of the seven ensemble characters' storylines for my game (free demo will have the first chapter of each storyline), I'll make a sample trailer and use it in a basic guide (on the forum) with sample outlines and tips for improving a RMMV trailer. Almost anybody can make a good trailer if they have sample outlines to work with. That'll probably be in January or February.

We need a petition to add more hours per day for sure.

You'd also need to shadow clone your computer lol.

Hey, if you found anything on my thread you'd need, lemme know if you need something in a pinch.

Just so I can send you a message and say "Hey--you get that thing I sent ya?" Always wanted to say that to someone.

Thanks. For now I'm going to sleep and hope that I don't have nightmares about people getting their stuff pulled off threads because they forgot to check the terms of what they attempted to share. There was a lot of that in the second half towards the earliest threads. Yikes.

I'll be lucky to even finish my first prototype in time, but if things go faster than expected, maybe I could submit a second entry. Dreamers can dream.

For example, one game disabled certain commands during the opening battle tutorial, to guide the player as they learn to use the interface.

Give the player the option of skipping tutorials , especially if nothing is particularly unique about your battle sys. This goes double for replays on your title