What makes a good first game?

[Punamaagi]

As someone who has been toying with various RPG Makers for over a decade yet never finished more than 15-20 minutes' worth of playable material, the question in the title is something that I've been thinking a lot about, especially recently. I have a tendency to aim for the stars with my projects, whether it means fully custom graphics, an epic story or some kind of game mechanics which complicates the development process, and that usually leads to me running into the limit of my skills and energy - and eventually draining all my motivation.


It would probably be wise to start from something relatively simple, but... that leads to my other problem. I can't seem to muster inspiration for anything like that.


So, back to the question after that bit of introductory rambling. What do you think makes a good first RPG Maker game? Should the developer aim to finish their first project before moving onto others? Should the first project be published somewhere (to receive feedback and such), and should the first project be done by yourself or in a team? Is it better to work on something grandiose which you feel enthusiastic about or try to focus on something more simple that is more likely to be finished, even if the story doesn't inspire you as much?

 

[bgillisp]

I personally went with the grandiose story which you feel enthusiastic about, however, many will say to not do that. If you do decide to go my route, though, you should go into it with the understanding that you will probably be working on the same game for 3 - 5 years, and you will restart it at least 5 times in the first year (and probably more if you haven't finished a game in any engine at all).


Otherwise, if you wish to go for a simple project, I say pick ONE concept and run crazy with it for an entire project. Maybe it is all about battles. If so, make a dungeon crawler, where the entire focus is to get to the exit alive. Or, maybe it is about relationships. If so, make a game all about building up relationships, with little to no battles, and with simple quests (and by simple...look back at Rune Factory 2's quests. Most of them were fetch quests where you had to dodge monsters to get to the item). Plus, you can even use these to practice for the main game. I actually made a dungeon runner this year (it's unpublished), and used it to balance battles for my main game, and the fact that I knew I was using it to test something for the main game kept me interested enough in it to finish it.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Simple doesn't need to be uninspiring. Some of my favorite games have simple mechanics and easy stories to follow, but they have deep and intricate applications of their simple rules. In fact sometimes it's limitations that enable us to really work the most creatively. When you define a set of rules you can next ask yourself what you can twist and weave those rules into, instead of adding more variables to create depth. Every project can be an opportunity to do your best and create something you're passionate about. If the project is short and simple it just has to be executed within its limits.

• I think a good game does not necessary have complex mechanics and elements, but has a deep understanding how they all interact with each other.
  
• I think jumping around to projects is fine as long as you don't have a million of them and aren't getting way ahead of yourself. I feel entirely comfortable doing certain aspects my main projects, so when I get the itch to do some of that I'm not going to be all "but, dude, your other game isn't finished yet."
  
• I'm always going to say that feedback is important. You probably don't have to put everything out there if you're really just messing around, but you could even send those to friends to try out. The first major completion though? I'd say that's pretty important to receive feedback on. 
  
• Working alone and working in teams both provide advantages and disadvantages. Working alone may provide you a roadblock if you feel especially weak on some development issues, but it does allow you to focus entirely on your ability and your ideas. Working in a team can be a positive experience if you have a skill you're especially strong on, but communication falling apart is really quite common and you may not be faced with your biggest hurdles.
  
• Perhaps in a two hour game there isn't time for the absolute operas with multiple time sinks some RPGs can become, but your characters can still be highly expressive and developed. The events can be enticing and dramatic. Developing a short game that feels complete is its own challenge, but it's a smaller scale not a lower bar.
  

 

[Nirwanda]

I think you should go with what inspires you, otherwise you won't be seeing it to completion. Personally, my first (and only so far ) finished project was made in two days and lasted less than an hour, but I was really engrossed in the characters and story. If it was up to me I would recommend you to give smaller projects another try, it's a whole different perspective once you have your own finished work out there. But if you really feel that you can't, then go ahead and make a big one: it's very important you feel confortable with what you're doing.


About teams, I would be leaning slightly towards the no since it's a lot more complex and needs more coordination, so unless they're all people you know and trust there are several tings that can go wrong (of course it could also be a great experience, it all depends on luck!). Definitely publish: feedback is priceless and it makes you feel good about yourself, when you hear someone laughing at a joke you wrote, having fun with the battles you designed or feeling for the character you created, well, you'll know what I mean. It's a great feeling.

 

[Frogboy]

I'm in the same boat you are so all I can say is what I have planned and hope works out well for me. My project is aiming for grand scope yet simple mechanics. I want the game to feel big while also placing realistic development requirements so I can actually finish it. Here's some things that are always in the back of my mind.


RTP assets


I still haven't figured out what the acronym RTP stands for but I know I need to learn how the base resources work before I go and try to change them. I've only made small edits to the default tilesets, mostly to just fix things that don't seem to look or position correctly. It also takes long enough making unique characters with the generator. I don't even want to know how long it takes to do all that artwork by hand. No thanks. Not ready for that yet.


No intensive plug-ins


If it's quick and easy to implement, fine. HP gauge, simple animations for the battles, sure no problem. I'm not integrating a big mining, crafting, monster catching, relationship, quest, weapon/item/skill slot system (or worse, several of these). It's too much work.


A big small world


I'm using multiple overworld maps as opposed to Zelda style to retain the epic scope but not have to spend a years worth of dev time connecting everything together. World maps are easier to make.


Small but significant tweaks


As a JavaScript developer, I could go absolutely crazy changing all of the rules of the game engine. I must resist the urge. So far, I've gotten away with two small custom scripts that most people outside of here probably won't even notice but will have a big impact on gameplay. Again, I really need to learn how things work by default and do something compelling with before I go and change the whole system around and expect to not get lost when thing behave unpredictably.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

RTP = Run Time Package.


I think the best to achieve something is to have a clear idea of what you want, and once you settled on it, stick to it.


It's easy to fall into feature bloating if you are not focused or let your plans being changed by the release of a new cool plugin or art resource that you will try to fit in your game.

 

[Frogboy]

RTP = Run Time Package.

Cool, thanks!

 

[Punamaagi]

Thanks for all the replies! I was rather busy for the past week, so I didn't manage time to read through all of them before today.


I think that I will stick with my main project for now. I've been recently trying to come up with ideas for smaller projects, but so far the ones I've liked the best either couldn't be published anywhere (due to being fan games) or wouldn't very likely interest a large audience (a reboot of one of my oldest game ideas, which is essentially a parody adventure situated in my home country - and at least originally not even done in English). I might start a secondary project nevertheless so I can work on something else if I hit a wall with my grandiose game, but most of my effort, attention and inspiration will be focused onto that game. I do agree that it's better not to have too many irons in the fire.


One thing I'd like to say is that I didn't mean to imply that 'simple' means 'boring'. Games can be good without multitude of features or (overly) long and complex storylines; I just have a bad habit of coming up with ideas consisting of either (usually the latter). I rather liked @bgillisp's idea of picking one concept, too: maybe that's something I should consider.

 

[Frogboy]

Good luck with your game!