Stuck on project

[Kyonstar]

After the past 7 months of developing my game, i have come to an empass on my work. I have come to the realization that my dream project is way to big for me to make in even 3 years on my own. I think that i have reached the limit of what I can do as a single person. This is my very first official project.

It is so hard trying to be an indie developer, but it is essentially what i want to do. What do you guys think I should do? Should i get help with my current project or do you think that i should stop this one and do a smaller one instead.

 

[Nightblade50]

What do you guys think I should do? Should i get help with my current project or do you think that i should stop this one and do a smaller one instead.

7 months is a lot. How about you try reducing the original size of your project? You shouldn't give up when you've come so far. Believe me, giving up never helped me get any of my projects done.

EDIT: Getting help with it might be a good solution as well, but you should try to finish your game

 

[Frogboy]

I did the same thing as you. I don't know if I'll ever finish it and I'm even thinking about chopping out some of the ideas and putting them into other projects. I realized that I had a lot to learn and ended up making a couple of smaller games since. I've enjoyed making games I can actually finish and the new stuff I learn from doing so. One day, I'll likely start that first project again but it'll probably be a much different game than I originally planned it to be.

 

[Andar]

1) you just found out one reason why we always suggest to keep the dream idea for your second project and start with something else that is smaller.
2) as said, 7 months working on a project is already good. A lot of new users abandon RM when they realise that game development needs more time than a single weekend.
Most people who are working on big games have three or four years on them without being close to finish.

3) there will always be times when motivation is low, no one can work constantly on the same thing. I suggest doing something else for a month and continue with RM when you're motivated again. Don't scrap seven months of work for nothing.

 

[SOC]

Personally, I think you should always start small with your first. Being able to make reasonable goals with something very basic and simple will help you learn so much more in efficiency and basically everything else when it comes to RPG Making. The act and practice of doing it will improve your skills over time, so that tasks that would normally take days or weeks will only take you hours. If you're doing a big project all at once and trying to practice that way, you end up only building certain skills rather than all of them needed to complete the bare minimum requirements for a project. It'll also cause you to burn out much easier since you don't really feel like you're making true progress. So, start small, plan realistic and achievable goals, get that first game out there even if it's less than an hour long, and you'll be much better for it.

 

[Guiguimu]

I agree with what many said before... You should start off small always, then move to bigger projects.
But again, it would be a shame to throw 7 months out of the window. Here is my opinion: give yourself a month off, like Andar said, maybe even start a small mini game, just to learn a little more and relax, and after that month try to see if you still want to continue. If you do, and you feel like working alone, go for it. Or you can get a team then, too. Lack of motivation happens to everyone, but if you believe in the project, don't give up.

 

[bgillisp]

I take a break and play a game from start to finish. Usually by the time I beat that game I'm ready to resume work. Though watching a TV series from start to finish is a pretty good break as long as you don't take too long of a series.

 

[Kyonstar]

Yeah i agree with you guys i should take a break. I think think most of my frustration comes from fear of failure and not being able to finish what i start. I often never finish anything that I start. It is hard for me to complete things because I am a perfectionist and want more than something simple.

If I can find something simple that I like, athat is also accomplishable then I would be very happy. I think that i will start a very small project and pick at least one of the features that I like from my current project. I will test that feature and see what I think. Oh and one last thing. Does anyone know any people that they reccommend i get help from. It would be great to get a team. I need at least a graphic artist and a music maker. Other than that i am good. Thanks everyone for helping me out. I feel a lot better now.

 

[Nightblade50]

Yes, taking a break works well.

I need at least a graphic artist and a music maker

Want music?
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...-used-for-commercial-works-mp3-ogg-m4a.81589/
Or if you are okay with paying:
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/scythuzs-music-sound-effects-design-shop.8636/

Want graphics? This might be good, but it costs money:
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/open-linhtendos-art-shop.41186/
or
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/hiatus-adyrns-art-shop.22547/
or (and I think this could easily be the best)
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/averys-resource-shop.60128/
This is free:
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/leilas-resources.16414/
Fantastic free battlers:
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/thalzons-battlers-and-faces.49/
Great tilesets for free:
http://pixanna.nl/materials/celiannas-tileset/

You didn't say you wanted a coder, but this is really good if you do:
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/yin-coder-for-hire.76376/

 

[Frogboy]

Don't worry about assembling a team for graphics and music. Just make something with the RTP resources. Assembling a team should probably be reserved for when you are super serious about making something that you might want to sell or perhaps for a game jam or something. Of course, if you find someone who is down to work on something that's not too serious then great but it certainly shouldn't be a requirement for you to proceed. Since I stopped working on my first project, I have developed the two games in my signature. While they aren't going to win any Game of the Year awards, I'm really happy with how they turned out and have learned a lot making them especially from the feedback that the community has offered to me. Just make something you like and put it out there.

 

[Kyonstar]

That's the point though, I am very serious about making money for my first project. Maybe a little too serious. The problem is that I lack the experience, money, and team to make my project happen. Believe it or not my project was inspired by a vivid dream that I had and when I woke up I knew I had to make it into a videogame so that I could experience that dream again.

My smallest dream is to make a four player 2d platformer like the old game's from Nintendo and sega. My biggest dream is too big for even a full experienced team to do now. My biggest dream is to make a virtual reality game like Sao where people could escape to and have fun. Truth is, whenever I try to make a game it kind of feels like a lonely empty experience.

I am not happy with making games just for myself because there really aren't any games that I would like to make that are one player other than my horror game which is a very tiny simple game. I am my biggest critic. Success breeds success. I just have succeed somewhere.

 

[Kes]

I am very serious about making money for my first project. Maybe a little too serious

It is extraordinarly rare to make money on your first project. If you set out to do that, then basically you are setting yourself up to fail. You might pull it off, but probably not.

The problem is that I lack the experience, money, and team to make my project happen

And this is the reason. Without experience how are you going to get the money and attract a team?

What I suggest you do is ask yourself a series of questions.
What is more important to me - making money or making a particular game?
If it's making money, then there are better, quicker and easier ways of doing it.
If it's making a particular game, then am I ready to do the necessary preparatory work?
If yes, then make a short game to test out an aspect of it and start building up the necessary expertise.
If no, then ...

You have to be clear what your goal is if you want to have the motivation. If you see the short game(s) as essential stepping stones to your dream game, you will approach them very differently than if you just see them as "not my dream game" games.

If your dream game is one which no one has successfully made in RPGMaker (at least I am not aware of a successful 4 player platformer, let alone a virtual reality game) then you have to ask yourself if you want to put yourself through all the experimentation needed to pull this one off. If you haven't got the motivation to do the various testing/proof of concept/learning what the heck I'm doing small games, then you will not have the motivation to do all the experimenting, trials, failing and working out why and how to improve the next iteration stages of making your dream game.

 

[Frogboy]

You keyed in in the reason why most of us are saying to take a step back and work on other small projects in the mean time: Experience. The last thing you want to do is get good while making a huge, commercial video game because you'll always look back on your earlier work and want to make it better with the new skills you've learned. It's also a lot easier to attract a serious team dedicated to helping you make your dream project a reality if you can't show them that you've finished anything. Odds are much higher that you'll only be able to attract people who aren't as committed and that can lead to disastrous results and can even kill your entire project when it's half done. Say you get an artist and they make the art for half the game in their own unique style and then they drop out. You pretty much have to start over from scratch with your art and maybe even a lot of other things that you modified to work with the custom art.

You can still indirectly work on your project while working on other smaller ones. I'll use my two completed games as an example. My first one, Heir to the Kingdom, is a puzzle game that focuses a lot with on-map dangers (spike traps, floor pits that open and close, floating platforms, icy floors etc). My second game Eremiel focused mostly on making a good action battle system. Not sure what my next game will be but it'll definitely focus on some aspect that I'm interested in and want to gain a really good understanding of. While I'm not purposely making these games as part of a larger project idea, I'm quite certain that I will end up reusing this knowledge in larger games sometime in the future.

One of these days, I will probably decide to venture back into a full-scale project and look for a team to fill in the areas that I'm deficient in (art and music mostly). When I do, I'll have a lot of work to prove that I will be able to follow through with my tasks. I'm also becoming part of the community and getting to know everyone so that should also help out too. While you are free to make your own way and not follow my advice, I believe that the odds of realizing your dreams will go up significantly if you do. Either way, the best of luck to you.

Edit: Damn! Ninjaed.

 

[Kyonstar]

I have waited a whole month without doing my project but it took me playing an rpg game to get me in the mood to continue to make my rpg game. What i realized through playing that rpg game was that it was quite simple, and yet enjoyable. It had equipment, stores, monsters, npcs, and a straight forward story. Maybe i don't need to make a complex game, but rather a unique one instead. Something with my own flare and or materials.

 

[Nightblade50]

I have waited a whole month without doing my project but it took me playing an rpg game to get me in the mood to continue to make my rpg game. What i realized through playing that rpg game was that it was quite simple, and yet enjoyable. It had equipment, stores, monsters, npcs, and a straight forward story. Maybe i don't need to make a complex game, but rather a unique one instead. Something with my own flare and or materials.

Well said. You are exactly right in that.

 

[bgillisp]

Sometimes that is what it takes.

Closed at OP's request