RPG Maker Forums

I've been working on my game for over a year, and I will admit that most of it that time spent has been struggling to cope with severe writer's block. I just recently took about a week off to give myself time to process, returned to the computer and still found that I was stuck. So I thought, and I thought, watched let''s plays of similar indie games, and still nothing. 


So I took a different approach, this time I asked myself what I planned on implementing into my game that had not yet been done. That list is as follows: 


1.) Quest Log


2.) Menu


3.) Maps


4.) Biographies


5.) NPC Dialogue


6.) Items


7.) Many skills


8.) NPC Sprites


9.) Story


The list is not complete, but that is what I could compile off of the back of my head. I contemplated which of these tasks needed to be completed most urgently, in the order of importance, thus focusing on one item on the list. 


I chose Story, as all of my mechanics would tie into that. Thus, I created 2 new lists called Story. 


One is completed aspects, the second is incomplete. 


Completed: 


1.) main character


2.) antagonist


3.) secondary antagonist 


4.) Ally


5.) Secondary Ally


6.) Surprising Ally


7.) Setting


8.) The path that paves the character to develop  (main character starts off naive, blindly trusting, insecure, and ends the game trusting her instincts and is able to stand up for herself). 


Uncompleted: 


1.) Relatable dynamic between the two main characters, why does their friendship work


2.) What leads the player to make the story go forward. The motivation to uncover more of the story


3.) Rewarding the player for progressing through the game


4.) At what point does life as she knows it for the character begin to unravel. 


In conclusion, I think lists brainstorming the aspects you are missing in your game is very helpful. I couldn't identify what I was missing or where to begin, but once I began to brainstorm I saw the bigger picture much clearer and from a perspective that almost wasn't my own. 


Have you tried list making? what are your lists and how do they work for you?