What are the biggest mistakes begginers do?

[Aoi Ninami]

Zelda 2 has I am Error in that game (which was a mistake that slipped through).

That's not true -- his name actually is Error. It forms a theme naming pair with another character, Bagu, which is meant to be Bug.

 

[Kage]

Thank you everyone. This is so helpful x

 

[Mr. Detective]

I think we have had a few similar threads like this one already, no?

OP, I think you can read this thread for references. It's old, but I still remember the discussion we had after all these years, well somewhat.
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...e-1-mistakes-that-rpg-maker-games-make.23503/

Also, maybe have lower expectation for your game. For my first game (a very otaku-ish fan game) I put in a lot of effort, seriously a lot, and I had things that were not found in other RPG Maker games implemented. I didn't get enough people on board like I had hoped, so I lost hope and haven't been able to resume since then. I kind of threw a tantrum on here, too, but I hope no one remembers that... Perhaps I was too immature and impatient, perhaps it wasn't mean to be, who knows. Compete with other games, just don't be so hard on yourself.

 

[Accendor]

I really have to disagree with all the people saying "If you have a great idea, save it for later, do something else first."
No. Don't do that. It is very possible that this will crush your motivation and your fun. Aim for the stars right from the start. Learn from your mistakes and rewrite your scripts and events as you go on. Do not start with another, smaller project, just because you think you can not handle the one game you really want to make. Do what you WANT to do and motivates you.
This does not mean of course that you can not try out new things in different side projects if you want to test something. Just don't shift away your main focus away from your primary goal.
Yes, it will cost you more time this way to finish your project, but you will stay motivated the whole time.

That being said I have another tip for you:
Before you do the first programming make sure that you really know what you would like to do. Be sure that you know in advance at least the following things:
- Genre of the Game
- Story (if applicable)
- Character (if applicable)
- An overview about the maps you will need
All of this things can change during the development, but don't just start working without having them planned out, because it is very likely that you will produce an incoherent mess. The more you have planned before, the better you can actually build your game.

 

[bgillisp]

@Accendor : I'm going to disagree with you, as basic statistics of all of the big projects attempted vs those finished show that almost no one finishes a big project if they do it for their first project. About 90% of indie games are never finished, and if you do a huge project or the dream game then it gets worse. From what I've seen, in my time here, big projects as first projects either:

1: Never finish

or

2: Be like Grimore and take 23 years to complete it.

 

[punchybot]

@Accendor : I'm going to disagree with you, as basic statistics of all of the big projects attempted vs those finished show that almost no one finishes a big project if they do it for their first project. About 90% of indie games are never finished, and if you do a huge project or the dream game then it gets worse. From what I've seen, in my time here, big projects as first projects either:

1: Never finish

or

2: Be like Grimore and take 23 years to complete it.

Yeah... I agree with this.

What is the reason people tell you to start a small game that isn't your dream story?

So you can understand the engine, not waste your story on a side game, and gain skill.... So you can make that dream game you want to make but more realistically.

A lot of people think of these huge epics for their game and get very frustrated because they don't understand the amount of work and walls they just put in front of themselves and once they find something they can't do they don't proceed until they get it or scrap it. That's heart breaking.

 

[bgillisp]

@Yanfly posted this on the meme page but I thought it's so relevant I'll repost it here. In spoilers as the image is big:

Spoiler

 

[TheoAllen]

I really have to disagree with all the people saying "If you have a great idea, save it for later, do something else first."
No. Don't do that. It is very possible that this will crush your motivation and your fun. Aim for the stars right from the start. Learn from your mistakes and rewrite your scripts and events as you go on. Do not start with another, smaller project, just because you think you can not handle the one game you really want to make. Do what you WANT to do and motivates you.
This does not mean of course that you can not try out new things in different side projects if you want to test something. Just don't shift away your main focus away from your primary goal.
Yes, it will cost you more time this way to finish your project, but you will stay motivated the whole time.

I get where this comes from. "It has to be this project, otherwise why I even bother?". I know and I won't deny it because it was used to be me for years until I actually derailed from my main project to make a side project. Then I wish I did that years ago.

After all, it was just a suggestion considering these two factors:

> The beginner dev usually inexperienced on handling the software. They want to do this, but they don't know how. Their idea started from nowhere that they want to realize it in RM. However, by doing a smaller project, you do the opposite. You create the idea based on what you know about the engine, or the project is an attempt to know how the engine works. The project act as a media to know the engine.

> The beginner dev usually inexperienced on handling how to concept. This usually because of lack of vision. Do they need this feature? do they need to add this and that? The smaller project means a smaller scope to try to prove the concept. They may always scrap their main project because "Hey, I learned a new stuff, I should revamp everything and start from the ground up again". This can be worse if they want their first project to be their masterpiece ever built, which it won't. The more they build smaller games, the more you can gain experience later to build their dream project.

Of course, all of these matters on their personal choice whether they want to take it or not. But it was strongly suggested. Because most of the experienced user care of them so that they don't fall into the same mistake as they did.

 

[Kupotepo]

@Kage, you need to read all of "Content" manual because it will explain the different buttons do and maybe answer some of your questions. I am still learning the software. It is a spectrum of learning actually. It is not like if you are mastered this; you will get a certified paper after you are finished. Yanfly and Akashics are amazing people who will make many things impossible possible for you.
When an advantage user talk about learning (Sadly, I am not that stage yet), he/she means that they are able to draw on a computer excellency, composed music or make music on a computer, and write a code on the software or plugin. Please do not think about what you cannot do too much because it will make you depressed or go insane.

 

[Aesica]

Almost positive this has shown up in multiple posts already, but I figured I'd say it myself as someone who fell into the trap:

Make your first game something basic. It doesn't have to be stock everything, in fact it probably shouldn't be. Experiment around with plugins, write some of your own even if they're just a few lines of code, make a few custom sprites and tiles to see how they work out. "Git gud" at mapmaking by practicing on several towns, dungeons, etc. Go nuts and treat it like a developer sandbox as you build it until you finish. Then, see which parts people like and which parts they hate. If lots of people complain about that super cool epic battle system you were hoping to use in your "real" game, it's worth considering that maybe it was boring, unbalanced, or just a pain in the ass, and learning this from a lower-effort game just saved your good game. Any feedback you get on it can be turned around and applied to your "dream" game.

I've made games in the past, although not RPGmaker. As such, I figured I could just jump straight in and make my "perfect" game. Yeah nope, I've since put that game on the back burner in favor of the original-titled "Harold's Quest--An RTP Adventure" where I plan on trying out all the random systems, skills/spell designs, plugin combinations, etc I plan on using on my actual game. Basically, it'll be throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks so I don't muck up what I'm hoping will be TEH BESTEST GAEM EVAR.

 

[Countyoungblood]

Some mistakes people make....

• Answering forum posts with their own interpretation of what the poster wants rather than what was requested.
• Asking questions that could be answered easily with some research.(not this one)
• Making huge maps leading to lag.
• Using unessesary inefficient events for more lag
• Lazy spelling errors
• Not enough combat options making combat boring.
• Too many options leading to decision fatigue
• Cheezy on the nose writing(look into show dont say)
• Unimaginative tedius fetch quests
  
• Bad combat balancing
• Bad combat balancing
• Bad combat balancing

 

[KB]

Here's what I would recommend, based on the Yanfly comics and other suggestions that were given to you.

If you have a big idea, get the bones down first. Chances are you don't need to rewrite RMMV to bring a lot of those ideas to life, and, as you familiarize yourself with the program, eventing and even scripting will start to come more easily. Start with a basic premise, and if you don't have the graphics pack, tile sets, animations, scripts, etc. for some elements of your game, first work with what you have and design what you can using what you know.

Then, after you've created something, play test it and go back and make notes on what you want to add. Then, slowly add all of those bells and whistles you were thinking about. This will help you familiarize yourself with coding and game creation overall, instead of relying on complex scripts that you cut and paste and don't really understand.

I'm also going to just name some things that kill game play:

Sending the player on aimless quests
Making puzzles that are almost impossible to solve (if you want to make a puzzle for the player to solve, start out with something easy and then gradually progress the difficulty as the player goes through dungeons)
Not scaling difficulty and making enemies either too easy / too hard
Causing the player to have to "grind" to gain experience or making it where the player can't gain enough experience.
Making levels too big
Making maps too big (if you have to use multiple maps, do so, but don't create a huge map that takes several minutes to load)
Having spelling and grammar mistakes with NPC dialogue and thereby breaking immersion. For example, if the NPC is supposed to be from a well-to-do family, make his dialogue fit.
Not being familiar with the basics of RPG Maker and believing everything needs a script. In reality, most things can be done with events and do not require modifying existing scripts.


(Of course, I'm one to talk. I started out making games using special scripts, and they made somewhat complex game mechanics part of the standard code. Without the scripts, my games don't look nearly as impressive, but at least I am learning something about coding in the process.)

 

[Kage]

Thank you everyone. All the advice is appreciated. Thanks to you I have a brief idea of what I want to do now.
I am going to start working on my game but I'm going to start small first, for example, only beginning at this point, one part with one linear main quest, where the player fights first boss at the end. Slowly I'll be adding mechanics, maybe yanfy scripts and updating visuals. Along side I will start another dummy project where I can just test complicated mechanics and ideas without messing and screwing with the main game.
Things like oversized maps, to many events or bad battle mechanics are usefull to know. I wasn't even considering puzzles but now I think it's a must to keep your game interesting but at the same time I don't want to put things in, just for the sake of it or as a filler. Ideally everything in the game is for a reason.

 

[FluffexStudios]

I would say one of the biggest mistake is having too much expectations and demands for the first game created. The developers eventually learned that what they set up for themselves is farfetch and unrealistic, but by that time they might already invested too much into the project. That's how a lot of project flopped and/or forgotten.

 

[Kage]

I would say one of the biggest mistake is having too much expectations and demands for the first game created. The developers eventually learned that what they set up for themselves is farfetch and unrealistic, but by that time they might already invested too much into the project. That's how a lot of project flopped and/or forgotten.

I'm happy for my first project not being epic as I would like it to be. As long as I have engaging story, none of the pointless grinding, just in overall enjoyable play I'm happy. I'm not expecting to make another final fantasy for sure

 

[onipunk]

Thinking every game you make must be "the big one", that it has to be perfect right from the get go as soon as you open the program for the first time. The advice I would give, and it applies to all artistic endeavours, is "don't be afraid to make bad art". Your first few games will probably suck. You don't have to release them, and if you do, listen to the feedback you get and learn from it. Every game you make will be better in some respect than the last one so keep making games. Don't get tied to the idea that every game has to be perfect or epic, some of the most fun stuff I've done has been prototypes exploring a specific set of mechanics or aesthetic style and only sharing it with my friends, or just making it for myself. Everything you make is a learning experience so make games, keep making games, and keep learning. They don't have to be good and you don't have to release them, so get away from the idea that every game must be great and must be the next Final Fantasy and create bad art.

 

[bgillisp]

@onipunk : Or use placeholders. There's nothing wrong with using placeholder art and music while you work on the rest of the game.

So my advice is...go placeholder crazy. Otherwise you might spend forever on the intro only while you get the perfect art and music for it, then much later you'll learn you need to change it but any art and music you got for it is now useless. It's even worse if you paid $$$ for it as you're out the money now too.

 

[onipunk]

@bgillisp Oh, I meant art as in an entire, cohesive creative work, ie the game itself, not in the sense of the game's individual assets. Should have clarified this a bit, my bad! The placeholder advice is great too, I think new devs should stick to the RTP as much as possible until they grasp the program itself and how it works, and then concern themselves with aesthetics once they've got a firm handle on mechanics and how to make the game work.

 

[Kupotepo]

@Kage, I forget to mention. People who make a game here are split into two groups: hobbyists and professional game makers who make a game for a living. If you do not mind I ask you, so I can give you more clear advise, What do you want to be? Do not be sad if your progress and your learning curve are slow of comparison to others. The secret sources are either an individual started at a young age, talented, or have proper education classes. Many people take courses in animation, coding, or digital art. Of course, those individuals have an easier time gasp the concepts because they learned before.

Finally, you need to focus on RPG maker for now because if you focus on art or code, it would derail from you learning about switches, variable, and common events. You might think it is simply which the tutorial show you. But if you look further, you will see more buttons and more options which you need to know, so. you can do many with simply click a button.

 

[Aoi Ninami]

Forgetting to future-proof.

When I started my current project, the first weapon I made was a Niblick (a type of golf club), so I put this in slot 1, and put the first dagger in slot 6, leaving 2-5 open for other clubs, and similarly I put the catapult in slot 16. Now, I've just finished and gotten my first feedback on the first dungeon, and I realise I need more variety in items to steal from enemies and find in chests, so I'm spreading my weapons out so I'll have 10 slots for clubs and 20 for daggers. I won't have ten tiers of club, but this allows me to throw in items like the Rock Arm, which you can steal from the Rock Golem and is a club dealing Earth-elemental damage.

This means I'll have to update every event and shop so it points to the correct weapon again. Not too much work, as I only have one dungeon -- but imagine if I made this decision when I already had four or five!