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I have always loved long games that last at least sixty hours -- but I wonder how that would work in an RPG Maker game? Have any developers made a game this long, or is it usually safer to stay under thirty hours? I love to create epic tales that are large in scope. I am an aspiring writer and hope to one day own my own multimedia company. I want to pilot a variety of creative projects across multiple outlets such as webcomics, cartoons, video games, webseries, and indie films. Right now I am in the "starving artist" stage, just keeping my eyes open for that spark that will unleash the Fires of Creation 
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.For roleplaying games, I envision the world of Krystaria, with a variety of stories in mind crafting tales across tens of thousands of years, from the first vestiges of civilization to the farthest reaches of space. High fantasy, modern supernatural, and futuristic science fiction, all rolled into the same ever-changing world spread across vast expanses of time. From the first man-made fire to the last, the over-arching narrative of Krystaria would tell the entire history of the people. Krystaria isn't actually the name of the world, but the title of the series as a whole. Krystaria is what many people consider a goddess, an ancient fae queen who sacrificed herself to erect the Crystal Pillars, a network of tower-sized gems that dampens the gathering of Akudar, dark energy cast off by negative emotions.
Akudar, if left unchecked, is drawn together similar to mass/gravity. It clumps and becomes these dense spheres of pure negative emotion, and eventually gathers enough substance to become self-aware, thus sparking the birth of a minor demon. In that way, demons are given life by hate, fear, and anger. They can keep absorbing Akudar until they manifest a physical form or possess a body. The Crystal Pillars project a dampening field to vastly weaken this process, ensuring that the majority of Akudar fades from the physical plane of existence before becoming self-aware. The largest of the Pillars -- the Mother's Sapphire -- sits in Krysthaven, the capital of the known world. Encased within is the form of a beautiful young woman, frozen in time. Many consider this to be Krystaria herself, and have even erected an oppressive religion around it, eventually leading to the Holy Krystarian Empire and a series of crusades and inquisitions, similar to our own world.
The main story of the first game would take place in the middle of the timeline, where the Holy Krystarian Empire has an iron grip on most of the known world, but they haven't yet developed modern technology or conveniences, similar to the Dark Ages. The main protagonist is Darbin Crest, the teenage son of High Inquisitor Ladarsa Crest. Generally, there are twelve High Inquisitors and they answer to the Lord Commander of the Knights of the Mother. In most cases, each High Inquisitor will have a staff of lesser Inquisitors and will be tasked with maintaining religious courts of justice in one of the Empire's regional areas. They usually work alongside local Regents.
But Ladarsa is different. He was such a brilliant soldier and tactician in his younger days as a Knight, the Emperor and Lord Commander couldn't allow him to be shoved into a court once he ascended to High Inquisitor. He was granted his own army and a fleet of ships, and sent south to battle the growing resistance in the island kingdoms of the Sea of Uhlakar. Within only a few years, he had crushed the voices of most of the islanders, burned apostates at the stake and demanded complete and total obedience from all with absolutely no mercy. He took the port city of Hedenmoor as his capitol, executing the inhabitants of the palace and naming it his own. Ecstatic with Ladarsa's immense success, the Emperor also named him Regent of the Sea of Uhlakar and chose him as next in line to become Lord Commander.
Fast forward a bit, and Darbin is born. Raised in Hedenmoor and taught to hate all who oppose the Empire, he shows every sign of becoming the tyrant his father is. Once turning sixteen, Darbin is required to undergo military training and continue the legacy. On his first training mission, he accompanies his father on a voyage south to the island of Rendari, where reports of a young girl who can use magic have surfaced. Mages are rare and anyone with such talent is required to attend the College of Sorcery in Krysthaven and pledge themselves to the Empire.
So they arrive at Rendari, and after a chase through the woods, they catch the girl. Her name is C'marya, and Darbin is a bit conflicted because to him, she looks like a lost and scared child. At first, Ladarsa wants to take the girl alive so she can be sent to the College of Sorcery, but it quickly becomes apparent that she will not cooperate, and so Darbin is ordered to make his first kill and execute the girl.
Clearly disturbed by this, but bound by honor, Darbin unsheathed his sword and walks over to her. She cowers before him in the wake of the magic dampening chains that have bound her, and he lifts his blade to strike. He whispers, "I'm sorry," and swings downward. A moment later, he is frozen in place, and he hears his father and the soldiers yelling. Turns out the girl was only playing with them and the chains had no effect on her. She has placed an enchantment on Darbin, preventing him from moving. She comments that she can sense a kind soul in him beneath the layers of darkness, and that she will hold on to him for a while until he learns to respect life a little more. She then smiles and also reveals her enchantment compels him to protect her and to get her as far away from the Empire as possible.
Another daring chase scene unfolds as Darbin fights his father's men and struggles to get off the island with C'marya, his own personality still intact but driven by the enchanted compulsion that causes him intense psychological trauma if he does not comply. From here, the story opens up as they go on a series of adventures across other islands and eventually the mainland, gathering a cast of characters along the way. Darbin unwillingly aids in building a new resistance against the Empire, forced to obey by the enchantment. Over time, C'marya deliberately weakens the hold so that he is making these decisions with more and more of his own willpower, ultimately unsheathing the hero that was within him all along.
This is only the tip of the iceburg, and I feel like I couldn't accurately portray this tale if I cram it into a 20-30 hour adventure. I could do it as one huge 60-80 hour game, or maybe split it into a trilogy of shorter games. But what do you think, fellow developers? What has worked best for you? I played with the trial of MV and am purchasing the full version later this week along with Photoshop for parallax mapping, so I hope to have a demo with a 5-6 hour play time by the end of the year. I am skipping all my shows this year -- Walking Dead, Agents of SHIELD, Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, etc. -- so that I can have more time to work on my game. I have a full-time job at a call center, and usually if I try to fit in my evening shows, it's bedtime before I know it. So this year I'm skipping them all to open up an hour or two every evening and weekends for game development. Once I have a playable demo, I'm advertising the heck out of it through YouTube videos, a ******* page, my network of friends and contacts within the geek community, and any other avenue I can find.
But my main reason for posting this is to ask the question as stated above -- how long is too long?
Akudar, if left unchecked, is drawn together similar to mass/gravity. It clumps and becomes these dense spheres of pure negative emotion, and eventually gathers enough substance to become self-aware, thus sparking the birth of a minor demon. In that way, demons are given life by hate, fear, and anger. They can keep absorbing Akudar until they manifest a physical form or possess a body. The Crystal Pillars project a dampening field to vastly weaken this process, ensuring that the majority of Akudar fades from the physical plane of existence before becoming self-aware. The largest of the Pillars -- the Mother's Sapphire -- sits in Krysthaven, the capital of the known world. Encased within is the form of a beautiful young woman, frozen in time. Many consider this to be Krystaria herself, and have even erected an oppressive religion around it, eventually leading to the Holy Krystarian Empire and a series of crusades and inquisitions, similar to our own world.
The main story of the first game would take place in the middle of the timeline, where the Holy Krystarian Empire has an iron grip on most of the known world, but they haven't yet developed modern technology or conveniences, similar to the Dark Ages. The main protagonist is Darbin Crest, the teenage son of High Inquisitor Ladarsa Crest. Generally, there are twelve High Inquisitors and they answer to the Lord Commander of the Knights of the Mother. In most cases, each High Inquisitor will have a staff of lesser Inquisitors and will be tasked with maintaining religious courts of justice in one of the Empire's regional areas. They usually work alongside local Regents.
But Ladarsa is different. He was such a brilliant soldier and tactician in his younger days as a Knight, the Emperor and Lord Commander couldn't allow him to be shoved into a court once he ascended to High Inquisitor. He was granted his own army and a fleet of ships, and sent south to battle the growing resistance in the island kingdoms of the Sea of Uhlakar. Within only a few years, he had crushed the voices of most of the islanders, burned apostates at the stake and demanded complete and total obedience from all with absolutely no mercy. He took the port city of Hedenmoor as his capitol, executing the inhabitants of the palace and naming it his own. Ecstatic with Ladarsa's immense success, the Emperor also named him Regent of the Sea of Uhlakar and chose him as next in line to become Lord Commander.
Fast forward a bit, and Darbin is born. Raised in Hedenmoor and taught to hate all who oppose the Empire, he shows every sign of becoming the tyrant his father is. Once turning sixteen, Darbin is required to undergo military training and continue the legacy. On his first training mission, he accompanies his father on a voyage south to the island of Rendari, where reports of a young girl who can use magic have surfaced. Mages are rare and anyone with such talent is required to attend the College of Sorcery in Krysthaven and pledge themselves to the Empire.
So they arrive at Rendari, and after a chase through the woods, they catch the girl. Her name is C'marya, and Darbin is a bit conflicted because to him, she looks like a lost and scared child. At first, Ladarsa wants to take the girl alive so she can be sent to the College of Sorcery, but it quickly becomes apparent that she will not cooperate, and so Darbin is ordered to make his first kill and execute the girl.
Clearly disturbed by this, but bound by honor, Darbin unsheathed his sword and walks over to her. She cowers before him in the wake of the magic dampening chains that have bound her, and he lifts his blade to strike. He whispers, "I'm sorry," and swings downward. A moment later, he is frozen in place, and he hears his father and the soldiers yelling. Turns out the girl was only playing with them and the chains had no effect on her. She has placed an enchantment on Darbin, preventing him from moving. She comments that she can sense a kind soul in him beneath the layers of darkness, and that she will hold on to him for a while until he learns to respect life a little more. She then smiles and also reveals her enchantment compels him to protect her and to get her as far away from the Empire as possible.
Another daring chase scene unfolds as Darbin fights his father's men and struggles to get off the island with C'marya, his own personality still intact but driven by the enchanted compulsion that causes him intense psychological trauma if he does not comply. From here, the story opens up as they go on a series of adventures across other islands and eventually the mainland, gathering a cast of characters along the way. Darbin unwillingly aids in building a new resistance against the Empire, forced to obey by the enchantment. Over time, C'marya deliberately weakens the hold so that he is making these decisions with more and more of his own willpower, ultimately unsheathing the hero that was within him all along.
This is only the tip of the iceburg, and I feel like I couldn't accurately portray this tale if I cram it into a 20-30 hour adventure. I could do it as one huge 60-80 hour game, or maybe split it into a trilogy of shorter games. But what do you think, fellow developers? What has worked best for you? I played with the trial of MV and am purchasing the full version later this week along with Photoshop for parallax mapping, so I hope to have a demo with a 5-6 hour play time by the end of the year. I am skipping all my shows this year -- Walking Dead, Agents of SHIELD, Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, etc. -- so that I can have more time to work on my game. I have a full-time job at a call center, and usually if I try to fit in my evening shows, it's bedtime before I know it. So this year I'm skipping them all to open up an hour or two every evening and weekends for game development. Once I have a playable demo, I'm advertising the heck out of it through YouTube videos, a ******* page, my network of friends and contacts within the geek community, and any other avenue I can find.
But my main reason for posting this is to ask the question as stated above -- how long is too long?
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