What's your favourite aspect of developing RPGs?

[PixelLuchi]

My strongest points would be mapping, world-building, dialogue ( both main characters and PCs ) and keeping that all important 'player hook' in play right until the end of the game. Worst would be working with variables and stuff ( but I know enough to make sidequests and such and simple puzzles ). I'm not sure how I fare on the 'interesting battles/epic boss battle' scale though. I'm more like a jack of all trades. Not amazing at anything regarding RMing, but not terrible either.

 

[Quigon]

My favourite thing is taking about a week to fully complete a database and then decide that I hate every feature and item in my game and start from fresh.

Nah, seriously though, I love writing the story and the music, and mapping. I also love finding simple solutions to solve what would be eons of databasing time - cutting down the fat is super refreshing.

 

[West Mains]

I love doing the story and all the individual dialogues for npcs, items, everything.

Although I have a huuuuge love for just tinkering with stats and adding all kinds of crazy stuff to the database.

 

[Matseb2611]

I do think mapping is a ton of fun, I just wish I was better at it! The templates in VX Ace help a lot, but that only serves to make your game less original. As such I've spent nearly 60 hours on the first town and dungeon area just to make sure they look as good as I can possibly make them, maybe to the point of being nonsensical (my first dungeons is a forest inside of a cave, for example.)

Makes sense. Perhaps you should be a bit easier on yourself. At the end of the day you can't expect to get things perfect the first time. Just make sure the area follows some sort of structure that you want it to have and add a few details and then move on to the next map. There'll always be time to come back to the previous maps and to modify them. I find that sort of approach always helps me, because later on in making your game you might uncover something you didn't realise before and you'd be able to come back to previous maps with more knowledge and experience of the RPG maker. 

 

[awesomerhys]

Makes sense. Perhaps you should be a bit easier on yourself. At the end of the day you can't expect to get things perfect the first time. Just make sure the area follows some sort of structure that you want it to have and add a few details and then move on to the next map. There'll always be time to come back to the previous maps and to modify them. I find that sort of approach always helps me, because later on in making your game you might uncover something you didn't realise before and you'd be able to come back to previous maps with more knowledge and experience of the RPG maker. 

Sound advice! I guess more than anything I want to make a strong first impression. BUT I do want people to at least be able to try my game and give me feedback so I will try to speed things along. Not rush things by any means, but once I have a demo out I'll be able to better focus on the stuff I'm doing right, and better correct the things I'm not doing so well in.

 

[Clord]

Sound advice! I guess more than anything I want to make a strong first impression. BUT I do want people to at least be able to try my game and give me feedback so I will try to speed things along. Not rush things by any means, but once I have a demo out I'll be able to better focus on the stuff I'm doing right, and better correct the things I'm not doing so well in.

I have mentioned this probably few times in this community. If you release your demo too early it can kill your motivation to finish the game unless it is commercial project where there is other motivation sources too (like the fact you have spent money on it so you want to actually get it finished.)

 

[awesomerhys]

I have mentioned this probably few times in this community. If you release your demo too early it can kill your motivation to finish the game unless it is commercial project where there is other motivation sources too (like the fact you have spent money on it so you want to actually get it finished.)

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. The last thing I want is for me to lose my interest in the game. What used to happen for me is I'd come up with an idea, map out a few, well, maps, create a bit of an opening chapter, then I'd get bored and move on to something else. I'm not letting that happen this time, and yeah the fact that I paid for the program gives me extra incentive to keep going until I have what I deem a full game

EDIT: Any criticism/praise I receive when releasing a demo will likely spur me on towards creating a better end product. At least, I hope so!

 

[Galenmereth]

Speaking for myself, releasing a demo of the start of my game helped me gauge the interest in my concept before I had spent countless hours moving in the "wrong" direction. This might sound weird when coupled with the fact that my game is non-commercial, and the main reason for creating the game is because I want to share a story and the gameplay with others. But it's actually a very logical thing: I want people to play my game. That means that even though I have many core principles I don't want to change regardless of feedback, the way I tell the story (setting, exposure, characters and dialogue) must be open to critique. So for me it was very motivational to get early feedback on these things so I knew how to move forward.

An early demo can be a good idea, but it also depends on the game; not every type of story or gameplay will work within one. But I think getting early feedback on dialogue, design and concepts is helpful no matter what, if only from screenshots

 

[awesomerhys]

Speaking for myself, releasing a demo of the start of my game helped me gauge the interest in my concept before I had spent countless hours moving in the "wrong" direction. This might sound weird when coupled with the fact that my game is non-commercial, and the main reason for creating the game is because I want to share a story and the gameplay with others. But it's actually a very logical thing: I want people to play my game. That means that even though I have many core principles I don't want to change regardless of feedback, the way I tell the story (setting, exposure, characters and dialogue) must be open to critique. So for me it was very motivational to get early feedback on these things so I knew how to move forward.

An early demo can be a good idea, but it also depends on the game; not every type of story or gameplay will work within one. But I think getting early feedback on dialogue, design and concepts is helpful no matter what, if only from screenshots

I'm operating on more or less the same logic; it's my first "proper" game so it's going to be free (most assets are the ones included with RMVX by default unless credited otherwise), I just want to tell a story and share it with people. I guess this is gonna be my first experience game; a stepping stone to more ambitious projects. Saying that, can you guys remember roughly how long your first game was? Running through the story in my head, I think mine will end up being around 6-10 hours, not counting side quests or the odd secret.

 

[Lars Ulrika]

As strange as it may seem for me who is first a musician, my favorite part is....writing dialogs. I just love to express my character's personalities through this and try to give every npc a special flavour. World building and character design take the crown too. 

What annoys me the most is probably databasing items. Well, annoying is a bit of a strong word but it's often the moment I must take some minutes to prepare myself psychologically before starting lol. 

 

[Daughter of Evil]

I really enjoy eventing. It helps develop my understanding in certain aspects of my game.

 

[awesomerhys]

I really enjoy eventing. It helps develop my understanding in certain aspects of my game.

Experimenting with events is one of the best ways to get better at RM in my opinion. Sometimes I make little test maps just to try out new ideas.

 

[Matseb2611]

Saying that, can you guys remember roughly how long your first game was? Running through the story in my head, I think mine will end up being around 6-10 hours, not counting side quests or the odd secret.

My first one was about 5 hours long, but I think it depends on what type of gameplay your game has - how much combat, how much travelling through maps, how many cutscenes, how long the characters spend in the cities, etc.   

 

[zacheatscrackers]

Making the battles.

That, and developing major parts of the story. Juicy details and events really get me involved in the creation process and gets my brain working. I do even better with brain food, as it jogs my creativity and idea-making.

 

[vanillacoke]

Writing the story and watching my characters come to life. I also enjoy doing maps from time to time.

 

[Solo]

Writing the story and watching my characters come to life.

This. I've had some fantastic bursts of exuberant, creative energy while writing the dialogue for my game.

Before I began my project, I really enjoyed designing my characters and fleshing out their stories.

 

[CWells]

I like creating the battle formulas. A lot. I may not know much on getting creative without asking for help but I love playing around with the numbers and coming up with as much variance as I can, both in the ailments and in what does whatever damage. It's just fun for me. My current project now has...7 or 8 elements that can weave in and out of each other in their compliments or contradictions. Just full on fun.

 

[awesomerhys]

I like creating the battle formulas. A lot. I may not know much on getting creative without asking for help but I love playing around with the numbers and coming up with as much variance as I can, both in the ailments and in what does whatever damage. It's just fun for me. My current project now has...7 or 8 elements that can weave in and out of each other in their compliments or contradictions. Just full on fun.

That's the kind of thing I wish I was good at. I get really lost when it comes to writing the damage formulas; even the auto-formula confuses me somewhat! I just don't know what the numbers mean. I know what they correspond to, just not how the values scale in comparison to the battles. I'd love to get better at it, though. I bet I could create some mean status effects with it!

 

[CWells]

That's the kind of thing I wish I was good at. I get really lost when it comes to writing the damage formulas; even the auto-formula confuses me somewhat! I just don't know what the numbers mean. I know what they correspond to, just not how the values scale in comparison to the battles. I'd love to get better at it, though. I bet I could create some mean status effects with it!

If you are using VXAce, read this thread then:

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/1143-how-to-make-the-most-of-custom-formulae-part-1/

 

[awesomerhys]

If you are using VXAce, read this thread then:

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/1143-how-to-make-the-most-of-custom-formulae-part-1/

Hey thanks man! There are some really cool scenarios in that post. I'll study it posthaste