RPG Maker Forums

Hello! Doubt you knew that I was gone, but now I'm back.


I've been messing around with RPG Maker (first XP and then VX Ace) for a number of years now, but have yet to complete a game. A while ago I thought that I was ready to begin what would become my first, but other things came up, and what little I did get done has apparently been lost with a change of computers. So now I'm starting over, and being assailed by the usual doubts. This first game will be relatively unambitious, with a standard fantasy setting and straightforward plot. I'm not looking to do anything revolutionary in terms of game mechanics, and will probably rely mostly on the RTP's resources. I think there's a chance that it will be a nice little game, and it's a game I want to make, but it's hardly my "dream game." Now, probably few people here have the skills/resources they need to create their dream game. Even my choice of genre is partly arbitrary - I'll be making RPGs partly just because RPG Maker is the only game-making engine simple and intuitive enough for me to understand. I can't create graphic art or music, and can't script, so whatever finished product I come up with, it won't measure up to the vision in my head.


And yet I really want to make my own game. So now I'm wondering why that is. It's not the mechanics of the RPG genre that I'm infatuated with, though I have nothing against them, and might even be able to think of interesting things to do with them (if not with this initial game). I think I'm more drawn to the idea of creating a world for people to walk through. Areas to explore with atmospheres of their own (though it remains to be seen whether I can make an RPG Maker game atmospheric), some interesting monsters and special attacks, some fun characters, and all that sort of thing. An interesting story too, though like I said this game's plot will be nothing groundbreaking.


One reason that I'm making this specific game my first is its relative simplicity. Its more or less generic nature means that the RTP and other resources I've collected over the years should be able to carry it to completion with minimal outside help. It's a good foundation on which to build a game-making "career." For my more innovative projects, I'm going to need help from the community, probably a lot of help, and ideally enough help that I have sufficient resources to make my games truly unique. It leaves me trying to find a balance between, on the one hand, wanting to make this first game a short and simple one that I know I can finish, and, on the other hand, one that stands out enough (in whatever way or ways) that it might get artists and programmers in the RPG Maker community interested in my future projects. No one without a game or two under their belt can go to the Project Recruitment board and expect to find a team of people interested in working with them on their ideal game (which is especially true for me, since all I can offer in return are my writing and proofreading skills).


But I look at all the innovative stuff that other people in this community have done, and it makes me afraid I'm going to get dismissed by people looking at this first completed project and thinking, "Oh, this game's just RTP stuff and a popular script or two. This guy's boring." I guess I'm basically asking whether I'm thinking about / going about this "career"-building thing the wrong way, or making the wrong game. I really don't know what I'm asking, and I hate to leave this topic's first post as this rambling, stream-of-consciousness thing, but I feel like I need some kind of advice or guidance if I'm going to break out of this paralysis. Has anyone as ill-equipped as I am ever managed to accomplish something unique and worthwhile?