I must disagree with the assertion that a game "needs" 20 hours+ before you can even consider it finished. I have played some excellent games with less time than that, as well as games where I've sunk over 100 hours to finish. Length is too variable to have hard and fast rules. The length of time needed is that amount which enables you to tell your story in a convincing way, with good character development etc., and side quests if you are putting them in.
As for bug-testing: absolutely! Test everything to destruction as you go along and I can guarantee you that someone else playing your game will still find something that you didn't. This is particularly true if it is possible to do things in a different order to the one that you envisaged - and even where you thought there was only one way, someone is going to think of a different approach. So having at least a couple of other people testing is vital. Then, as Andar recommended, once you've cleared all reported bugs you can think about releasing.
Not RPGs, you haven't, 20h RPGs are meh at best, and usually even worse. For a "RPG" to only have 20h of gameplay, means there not much gameplay at all. There has never been a RPG I beat in 20h, that I didn't feel extremely disappointed with.
Wild Arms(by the time you feel like your char are finally developing nicely, the game's over), FF 9(omg what a POS that game was, I swear, I got to the boss of the game in 10h, without using a walkthrough, and with it being my first time playing it), Chrono Trigger(I already discussed how shallow, and half fast this game was in another thread), ect.
Yea you might be having fun while it lasts, but the one thing all 20h or so, and shorter RPGs have in common, is they leave you extremely disappointed when you beat them. A big factor in the quality of the gameplay of a RPG, is longevity/replay value.
If people wanted a quickie, they would play a platformer or something along those lines. RPGs are about the Journey/Adventure, char development, exploring maps for treasures, usually hunting some mastermind who really doesn't want to die, ect.
There really is no legit reason, for a RPG to only be 20h to beginwith. To kind of need to purposely rush a RPG, to come out with a RPG that's only 20h.
Hell the original Dragon Warrior game is more then 20h(even if you know where everything is, and beat the game many times in the past), Believe me I know, I tried everything I could, to beat it in a day, It's not possible(you can get up to the Dragon Lord's castle in 24h, if you're a legendary vet, but you can't get through the Castle, and beat the DL within the day).
Now if that teaches us anything at all, is the main culprit for lauphibly short RPGs, is atrocious maps(because DW has a very short story, and there Isn't much content, however it has pretty awesome maps, especially being the grandfather of RPGs, and all). Then you add the lack of content which is also a mainstay in short RPGs, there you have it.
Longevity comes from gameplay, which technically the story Isn't a gameplay aspect its self, It's a supplement to gameplay, there's a big difference.
If your game is nothing but a wannabe modern Square game(nothing but story, and CG, maps exist for no reason but to go from one story CG scene, to another, ect), then It's not a game at all. Perhaps you should just make a movie or novel instead at that point.
What, you didn't test all the possible ways a event could be triggered, why not? Ofcourse if the developer doesn't properly test all their systems fully, there's bound to be bug, but in general, RM games should have bugs to be found by the time it enters beta.
People: fully test your systems out when you first add them to the game, and retest it, if you later add to it.
I had just utterly insane events going on in past projest, infact so insane, that they were more along the lines of event hubs, then they were just normal complex events. I had what like 6 possible party outcomes, each one tied to a handful of choices made in the game, and sharing the same event, it was crazy(and there were multiple maps, where there were these event hubs).
Talk about a eventing nightmare, but I'll tell you one thing, once it was finished, it was working, and had no bugs. During the development of such, there were graphic bugs, among just trying to get everything to go off at the correct times, however all that got fixed before moving on, because I can fix, and test it out myself(and RPG Maker makes testing things so easy/fast, It's not funny), until It's perfect
If you're using Byond/another engine to make a game, It's not a option, because 10 jobs are split between 5 people at the least, making it impossible to fully test out every little thing you add to the game, but in RPG Maker, the only reason a bug should exist after a system/event was added to the game+ the developer moved on to developing something else for the game, is if the developer is slacking off.
Hell if I wasn't testing everything to make sure they all work, and I was just popping out systems/events, I would probally be 1/3, if not more done with the game already. However even with how good I am at eventing things, that would just be asking for trouble(especially with all the complex things I have going on, It's always good to push yourself/strive to improve your skills).
To OP: It's that kind of thinking, that makes other people think RPG Maker has many limitations, so many you can't make quality games with it, which infact, It's the exact opposite, RPG Maker doesn't have any limitations worth mention(the few limitations it does have, don't even effect the game its self, It's about the viewing window, scan rate, and other such things).
If someone truly made a great game through RPG Maker, and it got a physical release, I would so pay 50-60 bucks for it. The problem is with the RM community, is they're in such hurry to release the game(s), that the odds of a truly great game being made, is a lot lower then it bloody hell should be.
A game made through RPG Maker not being great, is all the developer's fault, the engine has no limitation at all, that would prevent high end Greats from being made.
Oh It's not a RPG, then it maybe drastically different then that, RPGs have to hold to a especially strict quality standard compared to other genres, just to be a solid very good, nevermind Great.
No, still ask your self that, even if you're not selling your game. For a game to be ready for release, you should still have the mindset, if this was in a store, would I buy it. It will help keep your quality standards high, and thus help you decide when the game is actually finished.
