Graphics, Gameplay and prototypes - making a good 1st impression?

[CrazyCrab]

Hi everyone,

as every little bit is falling into place, my game may finally be somewhat ready to be released as a prototype, to just show off the gameplay mechanics and see how they work out - to balance this game I will really need a lot of people playing, as personally I can't just take every approach to city building ^^'. With that in mind, one thing makes me worry a bit - I've been sticking to RTP for the most part and not stressed too much over the writing, as I just wanted to get the game to work. As a result while the mapping is decent and so is the writing (hopefully), it's nothing to write home about.

I've been thinking of pushing back the ''prototype date'' and just completely revamping the graphics now, to make a better 1st impression - I worry that most people don't like the RTP and won't even try the game, so that would be a shame if I lost players because of that. 

That said, I'd really use some testers asap, just to see how it works out in practice from the perspective of someone who doesn't know every nook and cranny behind the scenes...

What would you recommend? 

 

[Kaelan]

I'd recommend getting testers to break it ASAP. If you don't want to hurt first impressions (which are important, as you point out), do closed testing. While that's happening you can work on revamping the visuals & bugfixes, and release a public version whenever you're ready.

 

[KanaX]

I'll be a tester.

I don't thinkthat we don't like RTP graphics, it's just that we have seen them so many times we just ignore them. Something even slightly different catches the eye.

 

[Jamaz]

Original graphics, a new battle system, and a pretty title makes me go "Wow, fancy! This has potential!" Then I play 15 more minutes and put the game down forever. What normally puts me off from these good-looking games are boring, flat characters you've seen dozens of time (e.g. Ralph, the unlikely, humble hero who has a love interest but doesn't know it) and "attack, attack, heal ad infinitum" battles.

Games that use just RTP but make it a priority to have original characters (e.g. Ralph the ego-driven lecher who tries to hide his incompetence with the sword) and more than a good-beats-evil story kept me playing the whole thing. Also please no heavy 5+ minute intro. Just throw me into the story and let me pick up the cues as I go along.

 

[trouble time]

Original graphics, a new battle system, and a pretty title makes me go "Wow, fancy! This has potential!" Then I play 15 more minutes and put the game down forever. What normally puts me off from these good-looking games are boring, flat characters you've seen dozens of time (e.g. Ralph, the unlikely, humble hero who has a love interest but doesn't know it) and "attack, attack, heal ad infinitum" battles.

Games that use just RTP but make it a priority to have original characters (e.g. Ralph the ego-driven lecher who tries to hide his incompetence with the sword) and more than a good-beats-evil story kept me playing the whole thing. Also please no heavy 5+ minute intro. Just throw me into the story and let me pick up the cues as I go along.

I can't actually think of a game with a less than 5 minute intro. Even fewer that have combat in the first 5 minutes, at the very least, not any with a story, except maybe God of War.

 

[Miss Nile]

I don't find the RTP repelling at all. In fact, I am one big fan of the RTP or anything RTP-style. Of course, it's best that the game is not purely all RTP-a few tilesets and sprites that are RTP-style but add a "new" look to the game can be really effective even if they really make a small percentage of the game graphics in the end.

Otherwise, I find that the story is what really decides how interesting the game is-the flow of the storyline, the cutscenes and how fairly gameplay is distributed are what really give the player motivation to continue playing and carry on. The graphics really just decide whether they download or not-big deal, of course, but if the game is looking all great, with a decent storyline and fair mapping, I don't think people would overlook it just because it's using the RTP. Then they're just being superficial, really. :3

 

[Razelle]

Feel free to message me at any time you need someone to test your game CrazyCrab.

I'm using RTP styled things in my own game, but even though it's important to make your game look unique, it doesn't have to mean gutting out the RTP. I'm making things unique on my end by changing up the menus and making a battle system look as different to the default layouts as possible while still pleasing to the eyes.

If you don't have the means to make the game stand out in the looks department, then being honest, you won't get much gaming traffic to start when it comes to people who use RPG Maker. But, what really attracts the players is the word of mouth from others. Not everyone will be repelled by default style graphics, some even prefer it in different cases, meaning there will be people that will play your game even if you stick to the RTP.

By making the graphics work for you, you'll have even less to worry about. Then comes the rest of the game, and if these individual aspects come together to form a game someone will want to talk about? That's the key here.  I know there's a lot of people who want more involved strategy in their battle systems, or a story that's not about rescuing the damsel in distress from an evil demon king for the 1000th time.

Regardless, I'd be interested in playing it. Wouldn't post otherwise.

 

[Luiishu535]

You can also make easy recolors/edits to the resources you're using (like the RTP). Either use something different or DO something different out of the ordinary, if you catch my drift.