Your "OCD" in game making.

[BK-tdm]

I have no idea either how people could bear to use a placeholder.



If it is a placeholder, at least it should be closer to the real thing so I can fix it later or make it better. Not by using cow or chicken for every character that doesn't have the sprite yet. Like... seriously?

Ah yes, fear the dark overlord apocalord of doom! *menacing chicken appears*

Sorry for the double post, phone shenanigans slipped

 

[TeiRaven]

I can only use placeholders for very specific things. Trying out the position of something like a faceset in a message script? Sure, I'll draw a smiley face in MS Paint at the right size and make sure it's working right. ...Then I'll wander off and draw something closer. (And then I'll probably change my mind and ditch the message script entirely.)

Placeholder tilesets or character sprites? Nope, stars, can't do it, not today. I may go back and tweak them later (maybe this character's coat should be blue instead of green) but I have to at least get close.

Other small compulsions of mine include maps being an odd number of tiles wide (I have to have that "middle" point) and a tendency to refuse combining a bunch of small interior room maps on one large map. It would save maps! ...but when in the world am I ever going to be in danger of running out of maps?

 

[TheoAllen]

Bumping this because I want to hear more stories <.<

 

[TheAM-Dol]

Bumping this because I want to hear more stories <.<

It worked, I'm biting.

Any changes to even a lightly complex event requires me to immediately play test those changes, even if I know 100% for sure there are going to be no problems because the change was so insignificant (sometimes as small as just fixing a typo in some dialogue) I still, no matter what, must play test.

I always click "Apply" and then "Okay" (reference my memes posted in the RPG Maker meme thread). I've tried to break the habit, but I still find myself clicking "Apply" and then "Okay" and if I ever do click "Okay" I second guess myself that I clicked cancel and immediately open the event/database to make sure I clicked "Okay" and not "Cancel"...and then immediately proceed to click "Apply" and then "Okay".

Organization of all of my game entities: variables/switches/database objects/events. And this one kills me the most, because RPG Maker is the absolute worst tool for workflow organization. So I try to plan ahead "Oh I probably will need 20 switches for this area" so I set aside 21 switches, with the first one labeling this section of my switches as "Switches for This Level"...and then 2 weeks into development I realize 20 wasn't enough but guess what, switches 22 - 43 have already been claimed by another level. God if this app just allowed for folders or drag-and-dropping items around the database I would be a much happier camper.

Closing RPG Maker as soon as I am done with any work so that I can ensure Steam's Usage Time tracker is as accurate as possible. This often creates funny behavior that makes me wonder what my Steam friends are seeing since often times I will reach a stopping point in my development, close the app, then maybe a few minutes later I think of something I need to adjust or change or something I forgot to do, causing me to open the app again, play test the change (see above), then close the app. Then sometimes I think of something else and repeat the process again. There have been times I've gone through this loop 3 or 4 times before finally closing the app for good for the day.

edit:
I feel like I should add this as well, and I feel like this borderlines legitimate OCD - but I'm no doctor, so we'll just call it "obsessing" but not "obsessive".
If I am not able to solve a problem, and it's late, and I'm closing RPG Maker for the night, then it will haunt me, for the rest of the night and I am guarenteed not to sleep for the night without heavily medicating myself with..."cough medicine"....NyQuil to be specific. Even though, that's more like forcing my eyes to shut, but it still feels like despite being "asleep", my brain is still firing on all 8 cylinders, so I wake up feeling groggy and miserable and the bug/problem/whatever is still right at the top of my mind.

 

[Kes]

I haven't replied to this thread before because I thought OCD? I'm not like that.
But then I read this:

Any changes to even a lightly complex event requires me to immediately play test those changes, even if I know 100% for sure there are going to be no problems because the change was so insignificant (sometimes as small as just fixing a typo in some dialogue) I still, no matter what, must play test.

Arrgghhhh That's me.

 

[RCXGaming]

A few things:

* I need a document open at all times to keep track of changes and things I need to do otherwise I will forget everything + having goals helps me actually finish.

* I've gotten paranoid about playtesting because at any given moment fiddling around with something innocent could possibly reveal some new, crippling problem that I would have never discovered normally or waited far down the line for my players to discover, which is far worse. So I have to keep the document open to keep track of every new discovery.

* I feel @TheAM-Dol 's event thing in my heart, because I will literally fire up the game just to see if the changes I applied to an event actually happened and isn't something I just imagined I did. Because there's been a lot of times where I think I've gotten something straight only for to playtest it a second time... only for it to not have been working the entire time?

I have trust issues.

 

[Ratatattat]

Yep, I definitely fall victim to this thinking lol.

Equal numbers of each gender of playable characters (including nonbinary), check.

All classes needing the same number of skills/special items/perks/subclasses/etc., check (even though with the variety in natures with which my classes are designed, this is completely impractical and I need to GTF over it).

Same number of main/named/socializable NPCs per class, check.

And everything needs to be even-numbered. If I add a new class, I feel like I have to either brainstorm another one or combine two existing ones to even it out again.

 

[kirbwarrior]

There's a few things, but probably the one that bothers me the most is when my game has one more party member than party size. Like, why do I have five characters for the player to worry about when the party limit is four? Either make more characters, take one away, increase party size, do something to fix this nonsense.

 

[cthulhusquid]

One thing I tend to do is refuse to use large numbers in damage formulas or stats because I feel like there's no easy way to balance them. I don't see a difference between 3957 and 3495 damage, but I see a difference between 5 and 10 damage.

Same with party members having the same amount of skills, gaining 1 party member near the start of the game, only having hard difficulty, etc.

I would say whenever I am playing through my game and spot a bug my brain immediately wants to go into the editor and fix it. When I am test-playing the whole project I have to make a conscious effort to not do that so I could get an accurate playtime.

I literally do this too, but I always end up fixing the bug because I'm trying to have a cohesive playtest, and if I don't fix it right there and then (usually with a slew of other bugs) I'll forget it, playtest in the future then wonder why I didn't fix it before.

It worked, I'm biting.

Any changes to even a lightly complex event requires me to immediately play test those changes, even if I know 100% for sure there are going to be no problems because the change was so insignificant (sometimes as small as just fixing a typo in some dialogue) I still, no matter what, must play test.

I always click "Apply" and then "Okay" (reference my memes posted in the RPG Maker meme thread). I've tried to break the habit, but I still find myself clicking "Apply" and then "Okay" and if I ever do click "Okay" I second guess myself that I clicked cancel and immediately open the event/database to make sure I clicked "Okay" and not "Cancel"...and then immediately proceed to click "Apply" and then "Okay".

Organization of all of my game entities: variables/switches/database objects/events. And this one kills me the most, because RPG Maker is the absolute worst tool for workflow organization. So I try to plan ahead "Oh I probably will need 20 switches for this area" so I set aside 21 switches, with the first one labeling this section of my switches as "Switches for This Level"...and then 2 weeks into development I realize 20 wasn't enough but guess what, switches 22 - 43 have already been claimed by another level. God if this app just allowed for folders or drag-and-dropping items around the database I would be a much happier camper.

Closing RPG Maker as soon as I am done with any work so that I can ensure Steam's Usage Time tracker is as accurate as possible. This often creates funny behavior that makes me wonder what my Steam friends are seeing since often times I will reach a stopping point in my development, close the app, then maybe a few minutes later I think of something I need to adjust or change or something I forgot to do, causing me to open the app again, play test the change (see above), then close the app. Then sometimes I think of something else and repeat the process again. There have been times I've gone through this loop 3 or 4 times before finally closing the app for good for the day.

edit:
I feel like I should add this as well, and I feel like this borderlines legitimate OCD - but I'm no doctor, so we'll just call it "obsessing" but not "obsessive".
If I am not able to solve a problem, and it's late, and I'm closing RPG Maker for the night, then it will haunt me, for the rest of the night and I am guarenteed not to sleep for the night without heavily medicating myself with..."cough medicine"....NyQuil to be specific. Even though, that's more like forcing my eyes to shut, but it still feels like despite being "asleep", my brain is still firing on all 8 cylinders, so I wake up feeling groggy and miserable and the bug/problem/whatever is still right at the top of my mind.

I'm pretty sure that second paragraph about the Apply and Ok is legitimate OCD. I've done something similar with locking the front door, like I cant just look at it and see that it's locked, I have to feel the lock to make sure it's locked even though it's in the locked position.

I really feel that organizational post too, since my databases usually end up messes because I don't give myself enough room to expand, and then I end up reorganizing and moving things around which can take hours.

That last paragraph to has also happened to me, but it's usually project changes. If they are significant enough, sometimes I feel like I have to get up and write them down so I don't forget. I have also been unable to sleep because my brain wanted me to write an idea down but I decided not to, I usually cave it an write it down because by that point my sleep is totally screwed anyway.

 

[Iron_Brew]

All shadows must be a layer at 63/255 opacity, or I will explode.

 

[Classic_Review]

Equal numbers of each gender of playable characters (including nonbinary), check.

I have never played a single game of pokemon without doing this exact thing. Bad natures be damned if I don't get that perfect male/female ratio.

It's the same case when I make Rpgs as well.

 

[KoldBlood]

The thing that's actually killing my project is my obsession with perfection. I've been promising " demo coming soon™ " for 10+ years (no, I'm not exaggerating) but I just can't bring myself to release anything less than "perfect", even if it is just a demo.

Every time the demo gets close to a release state I end up not being satisfied with a certain aspect and reworking it which usually breaks everything else which then turns into several months of work rebuilding it back to that playable state. Rinse. Repeat. It just seems to never quite feel "good enough to show off" for me.

I'm a 1-man show with no writing, art, or music skills to fall back on and limited resources to use. All I've got are gameplay mechanics and a vision. If anything, I care too much about my little insignificant game that no one will ever probably even see.

 

[LisaW]

*obsessively turns the game on and off and on and off to 'playtest' eventhough I already checked the newly added event like 5 times in a row*

 

[Iron_Brew]

The thing that's actually killing my project is my obsession with perfection. I've been promising " demo coming soon™ " for 10+ years (no, I'm not exaggerating) but I just can't bring myself to release anything less than "perfect", even if it is just a demo.

Every time the demo gets close to a release state I end up not being satisfied with a certain aspect and reworking it which usually breaks everything else which then turns into several months of work rebuilding it back to that playable state. Rinse. Repeat. It just seems to never quite feel "good enough to show off" for me.

I'm a 1-man show with no writing, art, or music skills to fall back on and limited resources to use. All I've got are gameplay mechanics and a vision. If anything, I care too much about my little insignificant game that no one will ever probably even see.

Never forget: Perfect is the enemy of great!

 

[Ellenor]

Everything needs a reason is probably my biggest "OCD".
Meaning I will write lore for everything.
What is magic? Where does it come from? How does it work?
Why does this town exist here? What are the resources? what do they do for fun? what is the local food?
And so on...

 

[Iron_Brew]

Everything needs a reason is probably my biggest "OCD".
Meaning I will write lore for everything.
What is magic? Where does it come from? How does it work?
Why does this town exist here? What are the resources? what do they do for fun? what is the local food?
And so on...

Meanwhile, in my creative process:

"I'mma make these knights go to the Internet hurr hurr funnee puns"

 

[cthulhusquid]

The thing that's actually killing my project is my obsession with perfection. I've been promising " demo coming soon™ " for 10+ years (no, I'm not exaggerating) but I just can't bring myself to release anything less than "perfect", even if it is just a demo.

Every time the demo gets close to a release state I end up not being satisfied with a certain aspect and reworking it which usually breaks everything else which then turns into several months of work rebuilding it back to that playable state. Rinse. Repeat. It just seems to never quite feel "good enough to show off" for me.

I'm a 1-man show with no writing, art, or music skills to fall back on and limited resources to use. All I've got are gameplay mechanics and a vision. If anything, I care too much about my little insignificant game that no one will ever probably even see.

This hurts. I've been using RPG Maker for, I don't know, for 10 or so years now, and have 1 demo to show for it that's only like an hour long. That being said, I did release an earlier demo of that which was like 6-8 hours long, but I decided to revamp everything in it, so here we are.
I'm also only 1 person with hardly any art skills and no music skills. I can write decently enough I suppose, but like you I have specific visions I want to achieve and care too much about them.

 

[KoldBlood]

Never forget: Perfect is the enemy of great!

Thanks for the reminder! I was feeling kind of down about it but this has inspired me to pick back up and keep going.

This hurts. I've been using RPG Maker for, I don't know, for 10 or so years now, and have 1 demo to show for it that's only like an hour long. That being said, I did release an earlier demo of that which was like 6-8 hours long, but I decided to revamp everything in it, so here we are.
I'm also only 1 person with hardly any art skills and no music skills. I can write decently enough I suppose, but like you I have specific visions I want to achieve and care too much about them.

While it helps knowing I'm not the only one, I hate hearing that some is also struggling with this. Good luck with your project(s) and keep pushing forward!

And now I feel bad for the killing the mood so how about a light-hearted quirk?

I've got a real weakness for female party members (they can be cute, badass, funny, doesn't matter). No matter how many times I've reworked my project my main protagonist has always had 3 females accompanying him (its not what you're thinking so don't worry). These character's have more or less been set in stone since the project's inception 10+ years ago and each brings with them an insight into the game's main themes (rich/poor, commoners/nobles, natural/magical, prejudice/equality).

Funnily enough, this quirk extends even to when I play other games too. If there's an opportunity to have female party members count me in! In Tales of Arise I ran my party with Alphen, Shionne, Rinwell, and Kisara. Back in Vesperia it was Yuri, Estelle, Rita, and Judith. I could keep going but you get the idea.

 

[kirbwarrior]

No matter how many times I've reworked my project my main protagonist has always had 3 females accompanying him

I remember that being a pretty big trope where every rpg has either 1 or 3 female members so you're definitely not alone in that. In fact, in this list it's number 97;

The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches

 

[RivalRamen_Games]

Well, let's see...
- EVERYONE must have AT LEAST ONE defining feature. INCLUDING NPC's! Default old man? NAH! How about the old man having a stutter when he speaks? PERFECT! And the unique things don't have to be verbal either! They can be oriental, physical/vanity/looks, and disabilities. Chat with a shopkeeper with vitiligo or take a quest from a teen with ODD!
- All numbers set in the database CANNOT be prime numbers! Except for when they're one digit long.
- The protagonist CANNOT be a "Super-straight, rich, white teenage boy, who is also, according to a***ists, "Right in the head" or "Normal"." Likewise, I don't like writing cliches like "Teenager's entire village has been killed so he seeks revenge on the big bad evil guy, Edgy-Mc-Edgerson!"
- Reasons for EVERYTHING. "Why is that rock there?" Oh. It was set as a waypoint in the [RANDOM] wars for the imperial army, but now it's used as a pillbug-person fortress.
... Maybe that's why my games take so long...