RPG Maker Reflections!

[Korimax]

I see some interesting development is occurring here, ha ha

Anyway to my moment:

I think my most memorable moment was when I was 12, when I discovered RPG Maker, I don't think ACE was out back then I think it was only XP and VX, but I can't be sure. Either way, I remember being instantly drawn to XP due to its superior looking Graphics (I was biased against Chibi characters since the beginning). So I decided to try the trial, and after 30 days I concluded that I was incapable of making a game through the RPG Maker, which was frustrating for me, because for as long as I could remember I've wanted to make a video game that everyone enjoys or at least a reasonable crowd. I remember day dreaming all the time about what my game would be about and the adventures my characters would go on. I didn't get RPG Maker for another 3 years or so, I got Ace, and I am not sure what made me decide on getting the useful tool, maybe because it was newer. I couldn't just give up on something I continued to fantasize about, and even today I still face similar struggles, most of them involving art, usually I get frustrated whenever I picture the characters in my head so clearly, yet being unable to draw them. But I've been working to move past it, and I hope in the future I will make that game, I imagine that if its as successful as I always dreamed when I was younger, that it'll pay for resources for the Sequel to the game, and the Prequel and so on and so forth.

I don't know if I did that whole paragraph memorable moment thing right, but I gave it my best shot.

 

[Minnow]

Pre-warning: this get's pretty personal.

I think the first time I ever played with a game making engine I was about 7 or 8 years old and it was an abomination of a program called something along the lines of 'Zelda Maker' (I can't remember exactly and I can't seem to find it anymore). I'm not even sure I can begin to describe the limitations of that software, but what I can say is that after using only that for a year or two my mind was absolutely blown when my brother came running in my room one day telling me about something he found called "Rpg Maker". I became obsessed with RMXP and would seriously run home every day after school to game make. I was bullied badly as a kid and never really had friends, but RM helped me through that. As I grew into a teenager I grew apart from RM. I changed schools and finally had friends, and then there was suddenly boys to think about too.

When I was 14 years old I was removed from my home due to abuse/neglect and forced to go live with my aunt. It had been a long time coming but it was still devastating for me. Right after I found out I left on a trip for a few weeks with a friend and her family. I remember vividly that all I could think on the way back was that I wouldn't be allowed to sleep in my own bed when I got home. It was summer, my aunt lived in a different city and I couldn't easily go see any of my friends from school. All I had was my laptop (with no internet). Finding myself once again alone with my computer, I fell back in love with making games. I had showed my younger cousin (who I now lived with) the program a few years back and she had gotten into it as well. We spent the entire summer making games together. We frankensprited, we recoloured, we scoured forums for scripts. We did a thing called "One hour games" where we would get a random plot from an online generator and see who could do the best with it in an hour. (They were always terrible). It's sounds so over-dramatic but that summer changed me. I went back to school the next year a different person. I made an unbreakable bond with my cousin who is now one of my best friends. 7 years later and it's still the best summer I've ever had. When I look back on what could've been one of the toughest times of my life, I don't remember all the family problems, I remember the fun I had making games with my cousin.

I feel like Rpg Maker has been a part of my life for so long that my interest in it will probably never really go away, and even if it does I will always have an immense amount of nostalgia and love for it.

So yeah, thanks RM <3

tl:dr - Rpg Maker got me through some really rough times and I am eternally grateful.

 

[Dalph]

M-my goodness, I am sensing a little hostility here.

A-at least I tried ;w;

@Dalph: we will have to settle our score elsewhere, my friend.

I was also kind (and umcomfortable with it), Ulrika wanted me to be like that...for you and to celebrate the special day.

Every RTP place is fine to settle our score, but must be RTP or else it won't make sense.

 

[Chaneque]

I was first introduced to RPG Maker by my (frankly amazing) stepdad one summer when I told him I wanted to make my own games. He consulted the internet and showed me a video of RPG Maker XP. We watched some tutorials together to see how it worked and he did some more searching, then we came upon the latest engine, VX. He got me the trial and printed off BenKo's guide and so I spent my summer making crap games and trying to figure out how the system worked (as a newbie does). Very simple story, to be honest, but it holds a lot of happy memories for me. Summer is my favourite season, after all  

We bought VX and my stepdad helped me with games until eventually I went solo, and since then I've been in and out of using RPG Maker. Thank you, stepfather~

 

[Candacis]

Okay, here goes..

I started with RPG Maker 95.. (gah, I'm old) in my youth, but I just tried a few things here and there, passing the time, nothing real serious. I looked the RPG Maker up again last year out of a whim and started reading some tutorials, trying out the editor and so on. I was always very creative, trying to write stories or making art, but at that time in the year, I had massive doubts about my creative abilities. If it was even worth it, while everyone in my familiy was somehow waiting for me to do something productive with my life. I knew since my youth that I wanted to do something creative, something I'm really passionate about. But everyone looked at that like it was just my pasttime, my hobby, and that I was still trying to find myself. I started to belief this myself, I couldn't write anymore because nothing seemed to be good enough, and it even made me feel guilty because it wasn't a real good use of my time. Or so I thought. I picked up the RPG Maker VX Ace, again with a guilty feeling, another way to pass the time. But it was fun and helped with my writer's block.

And then someone contacted me out of the blue, if I wanted to make maps for them for a commercial game. I didn't look for this, I didn't even knew this was something I could do. This person just looked at some maps from me that weren't even finished and had faith in me. So I took the offer and now I'm making maps and it doesn't feel just like a guilty hobby anymore. It feels real and gave me confidence enough to have a long talk with my family about what I want to do. They accepted it and support me now. I don't feel guilty anymore when I try to write.

So, long story short, besides joy RPG Maker gave me, oddly enough, confidence in myself and my abilities.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

I was trying to find good indie RPGs in the internet a few years back when I stumbled upon Aveyond. Then from a little bit more searching, I learned that it was made using a tool called RPG Maker. So I searched for it. I think the latest during that time was still XP. But being the poor me (I was in HS by that time), and also having really no method to buy (ordinary people like me in this country don't normally have a CC), I just looked for trials and you know whats... Tinkered with it in private for quite a while, then realized that VX was there so I tried it out too. Anyway, no real success for those two, I've just been not into it during those times...


Then Ace came, and oh well, there was a thing called Paypal at that time and there was also this reloadable Mastercard from my bank so I finally got to buy a license for an RPG Maker, hurray! It was also then that I stumbled upon this community of awesome people. So I tinkered with it, especially the scripting part. Released a few scripts that I made during my test projects. And after a long while of practice and numerous trashed attempts, I finally got to release a game! It was Chicken Games. I hope for more RM years to come!


and one of the most memorable experiences, aside from releasing CG and getting nice feedbacks was that when I won a VX license during the Christmas event. XD

 

[drago453]

Oh goodness I'm late!

RPG Maker, boy.

My first encounter was when I was doing my daily search of "How to make a game" at age 12. My parents had posted a strict download filter that wouldn't allow me to download anything. However, when I saw RPG Maker, I knew I had to do something. When my mom left, she kept her account on the computer open. So, without missing a beat, I went in, downloaded the demo (Sorrry Mom!), and made the most god-awful thing you've ever seen. However, even at age 12, something seemed... right. Like I was MEANT to be making stuff with this. So, a few months later, when I was still longing to make games, the teacher at my school brought up our next project. A persuasive essay. As my other classmates wondered what to make, I knew exactly what I was going to ask for.

Today, I'm working on a game, Leap of Faith. The Facebook page has 206 likes, and that means so much to me. This game is going to be the best thing I've ever created, I can tell you that now.

Whenever I browse online and see an RPG Maker game, no matter how bad it is, I find myself cheering for it, yet getting competitive, trying to break that habit

Sorry for the lengthy post, this means a lot to me!

EDIT

I see now that I posted this roughly 3 hours too late. While I hope this doesn't exclude me from the giveaway, I understand if it does.

 

[Deckiller]

Thanks for your reflections, guys!

We are no longer taking new reflections as of this post.

I'm sure Ralph will have the winners for you tomorrow

Edit 1: (Ralph's in a food coma though...so it might take some prodding...)

Edit 2: I also told Ralph about the most-liked posts, so any likes after this point will not apply as well

 

[Faerypixel25]

Since I was 7 I fell in love with rpg maker games such as Aveyond or Ella's Hope and I always wrote stories about things I wanted to make into video games. The rpg maker didn't only make my life long dream come true but it also gave me an enlightening experience. I learned that if you give up on something, it will never become a reality (I am looking at you million games that I never finished!) I was also allowed to let my creativity flow on a blank canvas that soon became my world. It also taught me something about doing what you want and not let people change your outlook. I have had a million people try to help me by suggesting ideas for one of my games. Without blinking an eye, I decided to use the ideas. I thought it made me look less... Stupid, but I felt disappointed and weak. Especially about the outcome. If I was going to make something, I wanted it to be something I had pride in. I like my own plans, And I want to stick to them. So in this adventure, I discovered that you need to have faith in yourself, and be happy about your own decisions and ideas. I love you, RPG Maker! And you have forever changed my life.

Oops, I am really late! Sorry. I just wanted to thank rpg maker and the forums anyways.

 

[Deleted]

Thanks for your reflections, guys!

We are no longer taking new reflections as of this post.

I'm sure Ralph will have the winners for you tomorrow

Edit 1: (Ralph's in a food coma though...so it might take some prodding...)

Edit 2: I also told Ralph about the most-liked posts, so any likes after this point will not apply as well

When do we find out the results? just curious    

 

[Deckiller]

Ralph's in the hospital. He broke his back trying to get Steam Workshop up and running.

(In all seriousness, sorry for the delay! We've been busy with the release of Workshop but we'll get this closed off ASAP~)

 

[Ralph]

Yeah yeah, so I was supposedly in the hospital. But I have returned!

And...I'm here to announce the winners:

Congratulations to....

Giveaway winner: drago453 (cool story, bro )

Most-liked reflection: Dalph (riveting tale, chap...though it pains me to be providing handouts to my evil half...)

I will be sending you messages about your loot...

(In all seriousness, thanks for giving me some fodder for my amusement thoughtful things to think about!)

 

[drago453]

Whoah, I won something? That's awesome! Thanks a ton for the fuel to the game making fire!

 

[Dalph]

I didn't expected that!
I'm happy now!
Thanks a lot to everyone who helped me to obtain this prize, seriously guys you're amazing.
And thanks a lot also to who created this cool contest (yes, also you Ralph...ahah).
It was so nice to read all the Reflections.

Cheers.

 

[Deleted]

Congratulations drago453 & Dalph. 

Hopefully you will tell us all what the prizes were you won, as i'm proper curious. 

 

[drago453]

I hope I can say this, but


I myself got anything I want from the shop, a pretty awesome deal if you ask me!

 

[Dalph]

Congratulations drago453 & Dalph. 

Hopefully you will tell us all what the prizes were you won, as i'm proper curious. 

I got anything that I wanted too.

I choose the DS+ Resource Pack...and I'm so impressed by it.

 

[Tigersong]

It was actually Mom who got me started with Ace. Before that, I'd dabble a bit in the Playstation and X.P. versions but never did much. (Someday I would love to buy a copy of X.P. It seems pretty cool.)

Anyway. I don't have many "reflections" per se, but right now there are several projects I've decided to make in Ace. Some of them are original; some are just "fan games". Some are original games based on titles I've loved (here's looking at you, Wolf Moon.)

Now that I think back, I remember two things about my time with X.P. One was using a well for a save point; the other was a phrase I made up. It was something along the lines of "You who dabbled in darkness, throw wide the gates of oblivion". ...Yeah, this was before The Elder Scrolls IV came out. Just saying.

 

[Julien Brightside]

At one summer vacation I decided to download the trial and do my best to make a game as I wanted to show others on the same forum how it could be done.

I wanted to do a game where you didn't necessarily play as the hero.

Obsessively I worked through the trial period and once it perished I had a demo.

But as time progressed, the urge reappeared and when a full version appeared on Steam for a cheap price, I could not resist.

Now I only need to find the time to work on my game.