Anyone else notice this?

[silver wind]

Armor King, send some ideas my way :p
I can't seem to find an idea for a single character.

I never released a game or a demo, My only excuse is I work alone. When I started I was a noob at spriting, scripting, mapping and using RMXP in general. No one would have joined me. so I started working, I jump from one task to another, and get nowhere. I don't have enough for a demo yet, and I get discouraged by the amount of work left to do

 

[Love]

Armor King, send some ideas my way :p
I can't seem to find an idea for a single character.

I never released a game or a demo, My only excuse is I work alone. When I started I was a noob at spriting, scripting, mapping and using RMXP in general. No one would have joined me. so I started working, I jump from one task to another, and get nowhere. I don't have enough for a demo yet, and I get discouraged by the amount of work left to do

I believe it's always better to learn RMXP's basics and get the hang of everything before ever even planning to make a game. So what you did was the right thing. But don't be discouraged by the amount of work, just always know that it's ok if you take so long time making something, as long as the quality is going to be good and the time is worth it. :wink:

 

[silver wind]

Hey, thanks it's exactly what I needed to hear. ^^
I didn't mean to sound so depressing, I do intend to finish my game, even if it takes a while.

 

[Jason]

A good technique you can do is;

Open Notepad (Or any other writing software for that matter), and start writing out a sort of checklist of things you need to do, just don't get discouraged if it takes you forever because of the amount left to do.

Then, start working from your checklist, but don't push yourself, only really do something when you want to, for example, it might look like this;

 

---To Do List---

Make forest map          [x]

Sprite forest elder      [x]

Event forest cutscene    [ ]

 

And finish it at your own pace, atleast that's what I do anyway, I find it helps me keep track of what I need to do, and I can choose which ones I want to work on first.

 

[RadethDart]

Wow, so all of these are really great reasons to why no one is completing games...I think that some of us should brainstorm reasons and ways that people with little time on their hands can complete games within a certain amount of time. I think that if we come up with ways to complete games, even if they are RTP games, people around here will be able to understand how to manage time better, and come up with short stories to allow them to make the game off of.

Not all games have to be 10+ hours long to play. If people were making short games that only took an hour to beat, I am sure they would be a big hit if those games are complete games with a full story at hand. Anyways, if people agree to making a topic about how to manage game design time, and planning for games, I would love to make the topic to get started on getting these ideas out to people.

Thanks for reading,
~RadethDart

 

[silver wind]

That's a great idea, RadethDart
jbrisrt, I do that too, but my tasks are bigger, like 'script a battle system'. :D Small tasks do make more sense, taking things step at a time and all. I should really do that.

 

[Jason]

Lol then break your "script a battle system" up into chunks...

Example;

 

---To Do List---

Battle System; Player      [x]

Battle System; Enemy       [x]

Battle System; Cursor      [x]

Battle System; Skills      [ ]

Battle System; BGM         [ ]

 

Obviously there are alot more parts to a Battle System, I was just making an example, lol.

 

Y'see what I mean ? That way you can just code chunks at a time, and come back at a later date to finish it off, without forgetting what you've gotten up to, lol.

 

[EpE]

o.O its hard to do the game im making alone ...

I would finish it in some point ... even thougth I wish I had scripting skills ..... and music making skills is all I need .... the music is easyer to do than scripts ....

I would make all the graphics my self .... it may take years to finish due to other stuff I need to do in life ..... ive been working in my game for 1 or 2 years now in RPG maker XP but I only got it about 10% done o.O ..... maibe is because im not working on it often ... ill start doing it faster in weekends now T.T .....

I have lots of ideas but im not good on organising them xD
its going good so far ... still need a person to do my scripts .... so I need to make a group name .....

Overall its fun making it .... and when its finished you would admire your success =D

 

[Miss Dani]

For me, I've definitely started making a game. My problem is finishing it. I know that I'd feel really good once finishing a game, but my main issue is the actual work involved. Nobody I know in real life uses RPG Maker and none of them are good at any of the type of skills needed, which means that I'm a one-person team. And as I often lack motivation to finish big projects, they just don't get done.

That, of course, doesn't mean I don't come up with concepts and ideas - which I do. By the bucketload. In fact, I've made countless Notepad documents filled with ideas. But ideas alone don't get you somewhere, you need to put in lots of hard work to make the game happen. I'm really hoping I'll be able to get it right this time because I'm starting small.

Plus, I'm currently working on learning how to script (not just edit), learning how to draw (realistically), and polishing my pixeling skills. Once I get one or more of those down I have a feeling I'll do a lot better.

 

[blakependragon]

gogogadget; that's a good point about the 'rigid' plot. we have changed small and large peices of our games' plot, all the way down to re-designing the characters to better fit the new story. we never had a complete story when we started, so it's very flexible. the story starts of ok, then gets good, then we just keep improving on it.
but it helps having someone to work with, my brother and me bounce ideas back and forth, critiqueing the other's idea, then we figure out how to make it better.

i think releasing 'chapters' is a great idea. as the game can be cut into smaller, easy to complete sections, rather than getting overhwhelmed by a huge chunk. and it will keep up the hype, especially if you end a chapter with a cliffhanger hehehe :haha:
question though, if chapters are done to release a game over time, can the players keep their saves and continue?

maybe we need to start a group project... just to get a game done. and to 'show' how to do it. :thumb:

 

[Venicia]

I've been working on the same game for about 5 years now, yet I've never even reached the demo phase, because everytime I make significant progress, I look back over the start and hate it. So I scrap everything and start over...
Well, at least I've never abandoned a project, I guess :grin:

 

[QuantumMindGames]

I'm sure all of us have had great ideas that we really wanted to finish into a game, but never did due to our own reasons. Here's a thought about that: post what you do have so that someone else might be able to work off of your ideas, or expand on them, or just use them as an example or inspiration. Too many ideas are lost when a game stops being made, and these ideas could hold so much inspiration to another person. If you can't finish your story, give it to someone else, so they might be able to further it. A game doesn't have to die when the creator decides to quit.

 

[regi]

That's actually a great idea. If you decide to abandon a project for whatever reason, you could upload it and have someone else finish it. If people are interested in this, we could set up a thread.

 

[Schism]

I made one game on 2k3 that was about an hour or two long, in which the hero went on an epic adventure to save the mayor's prize chicken. XD It was all RTP, and obviously not serious, I just wanted to see what I could do with the program.

I've been working (and I use the term VERY loosely) on a project on and off for about five years now, and I've gotten more or less nowhere with it. I've developed a renewed interest in game making recently, and I think I might incorporate some of the elements of the old idea that I liked with the new one that I've been tossing around for a week or so. Hopefully this one actually goes somewhere. >.>

I think one of the biggest problems most of us have is that we all seem to be flying solo. Sure, it's nice to have the only say about what goes in the game, but at the same time a partner would work wonders to keep you motivated, and having someone to bounce ideas off of is a great way to work out plot malfunctions. Not to mention it would ease the workload a bit. Problem is, finding people to work with isn't easy. Unless you already have a big shiny project with which to attract people, or a few friends around the community that know you aren't a waste of time, you're pretty much out of luck.

 

[EpE]

I've been working on the same game for about 5 years now, yet I've never even reached the demo phase, because everytime I make significant progress, I look back over the start and hate it. So I scrap everything and start over...
Well, at least I've never abandoned a project, I guess :grin:

lol

its a good thing to hear that you are still up to doing your project =D

Ive been doing it for 2 years only ... the probleM with Me is not finishing My projects due to lack of tiMe I put into it xD

 

[QuantumMindGames]

That's actually a great idea. If you decide to abandon a project for whatever reason, you could upload it and have someone else finish it. If people are interested in this, we could set up a thread.

feel free, I know I could definitely contribute.

 

[MCsephiroth13]

The only game I have ever finished was my beginner game, which was probably an hour long and looked like crap. Now I'm working on two games, one more than the other, and I definitely plan to finish them both. I have almost all of their stories mapped out and configured, which is good because lack of story interest is why I quit games. That, and when I get stuck on a scripting problem.

 

[RadethDart]

Wow, this is progress that we are getting here! So, I decided that making a topic about game development and help would help the community a lot. We could combine ideas into making it so people can learn how to manage time and balance their game design into their day. Everyone could benefit from having this. I will start working on this when I get the chance, but I would still like to hear from everyone else, and why they don't finish games.

~RadethDart

 

[QuantumMindGames]

As already stated, not having a friend helping you along the way is a big reason why so many solo games stop. Sadly, finding someone to help with your specific idea is tough, and rarely occurs. I think to solve this, we need to find a group of people before any development starts at all. A basic summary of the game, at best. This way, it's easier to collaborate on a game, and everyone has a say in the game's progress instead of being worker drones to a game they want to change around a bit.

Another reason I think games don't work is that they are poorly developed in the beginning stages, before you even open up the RPG Maker program. I'm referring to the notes, character backstories, game plot, etc. Game making is a hobby, but if you want to make a good game, it will need a solid foundation with which to work with. Maybe someone could make a tutorial on the guidelines of the Design Documentation phase of game making, which is the very core of a successful game. In fact, I'll get started on that in just a few.

 

[Schism]

I think to solve this, we need to find a group of people before any development starts at all. A basic summary of the game, at best. This way, it's easier to collaborate on a game, and everyone has a say in the game's progress instead of being worker drones to a game they want to change around a bit.

This is actually a really good idea. After all, commercial games are developed by teams, and I think a small group could definitely put together a hell of a project.

Would anyone be interested in something along those lines? A collaborative project from the ground up? I'd love to try something like that, and if anyone else is willing to give it a shot, we could try and put something together. ^^