In 2016, when I was 14, I used RPG Maker to make a game made up of almost entirely recolored undertale graphics. It was awesome (in my head) and it will stay that way because I deleted all the files. :)
Well at least I can now say that I wasn't alone making an Undertale like game in 2016. XD Hope if you make more stuff in the future I get to see it! :P
I started learning in programming recently, as I saw this video I immediately clicked on it because of my experience with rpgmaker games (MGQP :)), I've never tried making an rpgmaker game but would love giving it a try cause I can make plenty of pixelart. Would be nice giving it a try this summer :)
Ty for sharing your experience here. I started w RPG Maker for PS 1, back when I was a kid too. And, Idk, I've always seen the merit of it. I got serious a couple of yrs ago about doing it again. But, as of a few days ago, 2 yrs worth of work was corrupted and my back ups had been damaged enough- like someone had shot it w a shotgun. So, I'm starting over- but, you know, you make a great point. You can take what you've built on and you can grow. That's what I feel I've always done, w unfinished ideas or products. Thanks again for sharing your story and achievements! I hope you'll continue to grow and develop as well- your skill is evident and I wish the best in your endeavors.
I just started using it a few weeks ago, I do have a hard time figuring how I want towns and maps to look. I spent so much time on the first town, then I redid cause I felt I could make it better, and know I'm still on my first town right now. I've looked online for some inspirations, but I don't want my maps to look too similar to others out there.
Castle of the Blue Flame: Corrupted Onyxk looked hella sick, honestly. It looks like the type of game I'd be interested in playing nowadays. Big-Balls Bertha is, indeed, quite hilarious. Since Prism Collider is still up, I may give that one a shot, haha. May be fun for a stream... Complementary would be the bane of my existence; I've always been really bad at those puzzles. Looks cool, though! WALL: Runaway is if Thomas Was Alone was a runner game. Understanding the origin of I NEED A NAME makes me appreciate it even more than my bleeding ears already did. Oops, haven't played Tartarus Experiment yet. This was a really fun video, honestly. Hearing you absolutely lose it over CHEESE DEMONS and the like is sorta relaxing for me. I don't know, maybe I just get too invested when listening to other people pantheonize their works. Either way, good stuff! Vexation looks sick already!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! It was for sure interesting to revisit all these old games and I'm glad that you now know about I NEED A NAME's origin and hopefully that makes it better. XD I would be for sure interested in seeing you play Prism Collider but I think I'll have to go back into the Steam version and fix that 144fps bug I talked about in the video. Give me a heads up if you wanna stream it so I can make that update. Won't take long but I'm working like a madwomen right now getting the demo done for Vexation. XD
@@GestmorphGames For me, I don't think the 144fps thing will be too much of an issue since I can switch my monitor between 60Hz and 165Hz, but I'm sure other people would appreciate it!
Rules a being a developer 1.need to be 18 and older. this is important because life experience, expanding ideas beyond the childish hero saves the world trope. experience with games knowing what works and what doesn't. as well as given more time to mature. because there will always be people who don't like what someone makes. and the creator needs to be mature enough to know when they should Engauge or ignore those people. and not take things as a personal attack. 2.know how to write proper grammar in the language the game is written in. it is very frustrating. when words are misspelled incorrectly used or swears are used. this isn't a skill everyone has. but it can make or break an experience for many people. the genre is called Role Play mind you. the story/dialog is very important for some of us. that is it really, i would suggest making something you personally enjoy. if you actually enjoying playing what you make (especially if it isn't just because it has inside jokes between friends) then there will be people who enjoy it. and development should be less stressful than making something you don't care about. if you are not passionate about what you are making then just stop. and do something else or wait until you have what you need to make a experience you care about making.
Those are some good rules. Although it is important if you don't fit those qualifications to still try making games anyway. You don't have to release them but you can still use them as learning experiences for development, writing, balancing, etc. :P
I started with RPG Maker 2000 on the original Playstation... I would always hit a wall with trying to implement more and more complicated mechanics that would eventually cause me to go to a different engine like Godot to create a 2.5D isometric RPG. But being only one person and having to create my own assets, produce my own music, and actually program the game using GDscript (Python) I would get overwhelmed and burnt out before completing the game. Alas I always find myself coming back to RPG maker as I can actually FINISH a project as long as I keep my ambitions in check. Best tip I can give after 20+ years is to focus on good writing and storytelling. Create characters and plots that the player becomes emotionally invested in, give the player a reason to care and want to continue playing.
It can be tough to be a solo dev for a lot of reasons and you do line them out pretty well. I do also think that, especially with RPG's, it's a good idea to focus on interesting characters with good writing and storytelling. Hopefully if I make a game that is more about story than gameplay I'll be able to pull that off. XD
Man this brings me back, I also wanted to do an epic fantasy aventure where the hero were going to defeat this big bad guy. I added a lot of scripts from the internet for effects and all but it didn't work out, I ended up getting bored. Then I started making a project as a joke and it because a complete game with lots of simple minigames in it to break the flow of just going around and doing battles. I'm very proud of it, even if it's made of cringe and unfunny dialogues.
I feel so old now, I started with RPG Maker 2000 like 20 years ago. Nowadays I'm just using Unity for most of my projects, but I get every new RPG Maker for nostalgia and making tutorials and to see if they finally changed something after 20 years. 😂
very cool! when I started RPG Maker I got stuck in my desire to also learn how the engine worked and how to manipulate everything with Ruby scripting and I never actually got anything done. I've since become rather proficient with Python and I find disdain toward current versions of RPG Maker falling into the trap of Javascript.
Javascript for sure has some issues that I've encountered. I think MV/MZ are overall better for the types of stuff I wanna do, but that doesn't stop the issues at the core from showing through. XD
Yeah, OK, I've finished now. I'm subscribed, I'll check out your games, I'm invested in your indie dev journey now. I've got a very different personal style in my art and writing and gamedev BUT you're super cool and chill... So can we be friends? XDDD Regardless of your answer, please keep up the good work! You're doing good stuff! YOU make that game! YOU never give up on your dreams!
I know it's been a month since you commented, but you're free to join the Discord server if you wish! It's a very quiet place but I'll always respond if possible! And thank you very much for all the kind words!
It is! But honestly I can't recommend it. I've spent the time to learn how to make those things easily in RPG Maker but you could just as easily learn in a different engine in a lot less time. :P
The original Trikumax came out in 2019, before MZ was out. Trikumax Arena was made in MZ and the improved performance of the engine compared to MV made a world of difference!
@@GestmorphGames thank you so much for explanation. I understand from your response that MZ currently has better performance compared to MV, is that correct?
@@InfolinkStorage Yeah, for more intense games I would recommend MZ over MV as it is a world of difference in terms of frame rate. I spent a lot of time optimizing Vexation, as an example, but I could only do so much in MV before moving it over to MZ and the frame rate became perfectly smooth with no dips. But, if you already have MV then I can't say it's worth the price to buy MZ. There's a few new cool features and the improved frame rate is nice but the fact that it's full priced makes it not worth it in my eyes.
@@GestmorphGames I have both MV and MZ, but I remember having a lot of issues with MZ at the start, and I didn't like the default set of graphical resources at all. So, I worked on several projects and prototypes with MV, and after a while, I switched to Unity. However, given the recent events with Unity's pricing policy and the apparent unpreparedness of RPG Maker Unite, I am considering the possibility of returning to RPG Maker for some projects and comparing MV and MZ regardless of the price - considering the expenses for custom art, it's a minor factor.
@@GestmorphGames I have both MV and MZ, but I remember having a lot of issues with MZ at the start, and I didn't like the default set of graphical resources at all. So, I worked on several projects and prototypes with MV, and after a while, I switched to Unity. However, given the recent events with Unity's pricing policy and the apparent unpreparedness of RPG Maker Unite, I am considering the possibility of returning to RPG Maker for some projects and comparing MV and MZ regardless of the price - considering the expenses for custom art, it's a minor factor.
You know what would be great if you could be able to burn this onto a cartridge kind of like the Nintendo switch cartridge just to have it as a souvenir But there would also work on a portable system out there like a raspberry pi or one of those emulation systems will you be able to play it back but you Won't need to since you already have it on the computer! It just seems like the appropriate thing to do create some sort of physical collection that you can have of games you already made yourself kind of like someone who has it NES game collection something like that will be great for RPG maker games or practically any other game as well the one question is how and where?
Better to be average than bad I'd say! Although the typical RPG Maker game wasn't something I wanted to keep making. But if someone is aiming to use the engine to make a fun game using default assets and such; I hope to see it succeed! A lot of cool things you can do using just the defaults! :P
Honestly I feel like I could make a video on why Rayman 2 is my favorite. XD But I'll just say, even though I played both 2 and 3 as a kid, that Nostalgia plays a good part into it. XD
*plays weekend free of RPG Maker MV* then *buys RPG Maker MZ and spends 50 hours learning stuff* *comes across this video* Ah yeah.. im definitely making a generic game! But its a learning phase and im having fun doing it. I'm sure I will get less generic as time goes on if I continue to mess with it. -.- Edit: Im not 14... lol 14+31 but I was a fan of Final Fantasy
Doesn't matter if it's generic or not, It's your game! And I hope it turns out the way you want it to be! :P I for sure think there's a lot of cool games that have been made with what people call "generic" so I hope at some point to see what you've made!
@@joshua7426 Not really how game dev works sadly. Even with some of the best games things don't sell for a lot of devs. But hey, maybe one day I'll get there! :P
As a full time game developer, I LOVE looking at the work of solodevs because there's no one to tell them "No". And it's just so so personal to them and you just get to see how they grow. It's just this really cool, intimate experience. Great video! I'll definitively have to check out your good ones XD
I agree completely! And although I feel sometimes maybe a "no" would have helped here and there, at least I can say my failures are my own! XD As for the good ones, I hope you enjoy them! :P
Yup. At least we can all know that we aren't alone in the idea of trying to make a giant game when we have no idea what we're doing. So we can all look back at them together. XD
Inspiring! Love your humility and willingness to learn from your past projects. I myself am working on my very first RPG Maker MV project.... and I'm 47 years old. Never too late to make that game, right? :)
Exactly right! It's never too late! It's always super cool to see people outside of the "expected age rage" making their first project, just going for it! Super excited to see what you make and hope you enjoy it! :D
Either learn to code or use something like gms2 or construct 3 , rpg maker games will always be considered trash, no one will ever take it seriously , ultimately a waste of time.
@@TruckPuzzles with logic like that. I see you'll easily be able to prove me wrong with your rpg maker game prolly using thr stock assets or time fantasy assets
So wholesome, hearing you laugh. As you talk about & judge your older projects. Most other developers cringe, and feel embarrassed. So... this was absolutely wholesome, and inspiring! To not only recognize, but treat your older work as building blocks to where you are today. (╥﹏╥) And it hit hard near the end... when you compared your first generic game, to your last specific game. On that note... great job and congratulations, Syphyous! For 10 years of building fun while having fun! ( ‾́ ◡ ‾́ ) Also... R.I.P RPG Maker XD ... your developer may have forgotten you. But I never will...
Thanks so much! I'm glad that I can look back with at least some sort of positivity, even if a lot of it isn't the best. XD But don't worry I haven't forgotten RPG Maker XD. However, I was only including games and projects that were of a certain size or I would have been here for another two hours going over all the little experiments and side stuff I made. XD
Exactly! The best thing to come out of making a game is the fun you have doing so. Sure, it can be tough at times but the overall experience should be enjoyable! :P
How did I end up on this video, why did I watch it all, and why am I so fired up about you succeeding? Hell yeah man, you go! That last one you're working on looks like a nightmare in the best possible way
So, I got rpg maker specifically to make rpgs but it seems most people don’t do that. At least so far I feel like I’m making it at least more visually appealing than most classic ff style rpgs but is there anything gameplay mechanic wise that I can do in mv without plugins to make it stand out? Like I’m not trying to make it super long but like at least 2 or 3 acts with about 40min-1 hour each but I will try to have a lot of side quests and stuff to break up the main story. I just really don’t want to make something that no one will play or even want to play and really more than anything, I want to be proud of it and be able to show it to my friends without being embarrassed or have them hate it.
My recommendation is to mess around with different ideas for what you could do gameplay wise and see if any of them fit into your game. It's sort of hard to describe what you can and can't do because technically you can do anything without plugins you just gotta know how to. Best way to learn is by just trial and error. See what silly, fun and creative ideas you can make with just commands and stuff. :P Regardless, be proud of what you make even if it isn't exactly unique. Because finishing a game at all is a difficult thing.
I'm learning to make games and it is so inspiring to see your journey.i get hyper focused in trying to learn unity and 3D, but looking at simple 2D rpg maker games makes me think of how having fun matters a lot!
... friend You is the legend😅😅 you is really make good things in rpg maker, supposely rpg MAKER is for make simple only, but WOW😱 You is make awesoemr thing and concepts, even is you different types of game EVEN 3DE😱 how possible? i realy not understadnt, so awesome you really. , i have xpereience and tryed Rpg maker but is rpge 2003 (to make yume nikki fan game) and even if ist sis so simple i nut understand😂 varyable and swicth not works and event is not seleced player touch and not works!!, i really not understand so I give up in Yume Nikki fan Game😓 , i am very stoupid for this things so is yes work but You is so good!😄😄
I very much appreciate the kind words! I hope one day you'll be able to make the game that you want because, I think I can speak for a lot of devs here but, finishing a game is never easy! Hope to see your stuff if you go back to creating games! :D
I just found this video and I love watching people grown and learn with rpg maker! I think you've definitely improved over those 10 years! As a rpgmaker dev you always kinda start off shitty lol ik I did
Id give anything to replay the first rpg maker game i ever finished. It was in like...2005. I recolored the assets and used random cropped photos as enemies. I remember making the final boss just a transparent photo of my friends floating head.
I know the feeling very well that people just not playing the games we make can give. But I hope whatever you end up doing in the future, making more games or not, that you enjoy what you do! :D
Ya the sad truth is most people won't wanna play your games until you already have a following. And even then depending on why they're following you, a good portion of them probably still won't care enough to play your games. I don't know the answer to get people to play your games but if you keep working making games, eventually you'll get good enough to make games worth playing. I would recommend smaller games to start off with so that you don't put all of your eggs in one basket and so you can get a lot more experience with different type of games.
@@freya9107 Compound all of that by the fact that the internet expects everything to be free... I definitely don't think my games are *bad*. But I'm not putting a ton of effort in begging people to even look at them. Fuck 'em.
@@freya9107 There's a lot of things that people with no budgets can do to improve their odds in the world of being seen in game development, and one of them is absolutely to make smaller games so you don't dedicate years to a single thing that goes no where. I'm not saying soon, but some time in the future I do plan to do a video talking a lot about the "indie game" scene and how it's changed. But, if I'm gonna be talking about other games that are huge in anything but pure positive light, even if I still absolutely love those games, anything I say will be seen as being jealous of their success unless I'm also in a position where I have a popular game. So, hopefully one day I can make that video. XD
@@JasonZChristie It is true that even selling a cheap game is really difficult. But if you're in a position to, which I understand a lot of people ain't, but if you can make games for free and just enjoy making them then it's ok to do that to. However expecting money from a game you might have put a year of your life into isn't wrong, it's just that unfortunately a lot of people have linked the idea of getting money for something as bad. Not super sure right now how to get around that. XD
In 2016 i worked on and "Girls & Dungeons" and biy was it fun and rewarding, when it finally was put on steam! ^^ I put so much work and effort into it and it was just great to see it completed. Same with "Girls & Dungeons 2 " that then followed a few years later.
Ah RPG Maker. I have some nostalgia goggles. I used to mess around with the RPG Maker 2000 and then the 2003 ones. It is nice to see it been using as a full engine and not only focused on RPG at all. Well done!
Dude, some of these look impressive! Especially the Trikumax one. And you say you didnt use plugins or coding?! Seriously, I NEED to know how you made that one! I really want to make a Castlevania fangame and I always thought I needed another engine for that, but if it can be done on RPG Maker then I need to learn that!
Honestly I would recommend using a different engine. Not because it can't be done but just because you'll have a way easier time doing so if you do. XD I spent my whole time in RPG Maker not using plugins and finding a way to do stuff my own way via eventing that it's now just second nature to me. But trying to explain that nature? I haven't got a clue. XD
@@GestmorphGames I see. I tried using Unity once, and while its a great engine I would have to learn coding to make games on that one, as well as get more experience with the engine itself. With RPG Maker it would be more familiar for me and possibly with no coding involved. But I understand. Just knowing its possible to make a 2D game like that on RPG Maker without coding is already great to me.
Great video! Love this sort of thing. Sometimes I think about the thousands and thousands of projects like those you mentioned early on that just sit on peoples hard drives and never see the light of day...
To be honest there are a bunch of tiny things that I didn't show off in this video and I'm sure some stuff I did has just been lost on old hard drives. Maybe at some point I'll go through those too! XD
You made a nice variety of games and I think it's an accomplishment to do something for 10 years. I would have started my game dev journey 4 years ago this year. While January of 2023 I started developing the first game I would sell. (Looking back mechanically I don't like it but the story of the game has yet to be topped.) You made me want to play some of my old games and see what I think of them.
@@GestmorphGames I spent yesterday afternoon playing through some of the games I made. I have definitely grown, there were games that were bad, one that was disappointing, some that were average and one that surprised me. But, most of all, it reignited a flame in me that I didn't know wasn't ignited.
I think you mentioned this a few times, but I always believed the best way to build an RPG maker game is to make the game for yourself while keeping new players in mind. If you do that, all those years of building your games won't feel like wasted time. This coming from a guy who also spent 10+ years building RPG maker games that most people won't even play. I don't regret any of it lol
Glad to hear from others who are as in deep as me for RPG Maker. XD I honestly think that through the fails, lessons and fun that as long as I don't regret making what I've made then it's all worth it in the end!
This super very interesting and inspiring to watch. I want to do my own big, complex and way too long rpg horror game some day, but I'm somewhat afraid of going into it and not understanding what to do. Seeing those games with your commentary and all the unique and unexplored potential mechanics that can be made really encourages me to give it a try and see what I can do.
I really hope it goes well for you! It can be hard to stand out when doing RPG Maker horror due to how many games are made but I'm rooting for you to make something super cool and interesting!
How are these games "no plugin"? I'm someone that uses a TONNE of plugins myself (probably too much tbh), but I can't possibly imagine how you can make games that look as AMAZING as yours do without any plugins. No way this is all in standard vanilla RPG maker.... right.... right?
Legend of Dragoon was and still is a legendary game. I got RPGMaker MV just to make a Legend of Dragoon Fan Game lolol Then, just like you, it spiraled into legit game making with the engine haha
Ya know, it's funny that after both your FNAF fangames, you went on to make a game that looks *way* closer to the Scott/FNAF style just a year later. Seriously, Desolate looks like a lost Scott game for years back. Mainly the eyes and grungy, dirty textures on everything, I think.
Adding to that, the characters in Desolate where modified versions of characters from a game I was gonna make for my brother which was a FNAF style game so, you know, it comes full circle right? XD
@51:00 don't say that ! it looks like a Ben10 pizza tower gamebefore pizza tower XD mixed with Sonic evidently! :P I would pay 5 $ in summer sale on steam for it.,.. like i would pay 20$ for ZOMBOCALPYSE the flash game if it was on steam. I love it that much!
i realized that the video is 1 hour long when i was at 45 minutes, is interesting so i didnt realized the time that have passed but something did make me reconnect to reality so suddenly i thought "wait, how much time have passed, its night time already". nice video man
I think back fondly of RPG Maker in the same way. So much time sunk into this engine without material gain, but it was just plain fun to mess with. And you having some game dev friends to share that experience with must've made it that much more awesome. Hope you keep having just as much fun making your games in the future, and if you have a hit here or there, that's just bonus content.
It's a funny thing to think about. Because of course I'd love to be able to be financially stable from my games alone, but I ain't at that point yet. At the same time though, the process of making games and finishing them is in some ways enough satisfaction to just enjoy what I've made. :P Of course, I'm moving towards trying to advertise and promote my stuff so it can be seen properly, but still, even with that extra work load it doesn't take away from the fun of making games. XD
i cant believe the amounts of things that can be done in RPG maker, platforming, bullet rail, maze running. thats very cool, i am currently trying to make a shooter minigame, and i thought its impossible, but now, i think i wanna try that
I hope it goes well! It's always super fun to see minigames and it can be tricky to get some things working! But the payoff for that cool unique thing that you made yourself is what makes it worth it! Hope to see it at some point! :P
I've also been using RPG Maker for a good 10 years now, as my first RM was VX Ace which I got as a Christmas present in 2014 when I was 12. Compared to you I've barely made anything. Tons of cancelled projects and abandoned ideas, most of the files being lost to time. Here's a general list of the games I've made so far: 2015: The Legend of Light - Ultra generic and super buggy RM game. At least it was "finished." 2015: Zero Gear Fighters - My second RM game and the first one I publicly released. Also very buggy but less so than The Legend of Light. Still used default RTP assets but this time with stolen music. Still avalible on RMN once the site goes back up. Had bizzare mapping, self inserts, and a secret boss against Mario of all characters. Was the source of the "cheese with hot sauce" inside joke. 2016: Dragon Ascension - Also known as Zero Gear Fighters 2, it was renamed to Dragon Ascension due to ZGF's poor reception. Was never finished, stopping right before the penultimate dungeon. Used outdated memes like Weegee as a secret boss and had Skeletron from Terraria appear as a boss. Also one of the bosses was a clipart shark recolored in MS Paint. 2016: Cookie Quest - A game I made for a game jam and my first game to use a class based system. Some concepts for it were reused in Crypt Challenge and it's remakes. 2016: Crypt Challenge - An EXTREMELY short game I made for a 3 hour game jam that used actually unique assets for once, but used extremely outdated MLG memes. 2017: Stardust Saga/Draco Anima Origins - A failed game originally made in MV but shifted over to VXA early on with a name change. I only developed up to the end of the first dungeon before I wanted to add an FMV and my poor art skills at the time screwed me over. I then lost the files to the game forever. 2018: Firebrand Chronicles - An early prototype for my future game "Chronicles: The Last Dragon's Elegy." Shifted between being a turn based and action RPG multiple times and most of its development was spent trying to get action combat to work in RM. It was never finished past the opening. 2018: Generic RPG Quest 3 - A generic RPG that was just a blatant rip off of FF1. Could have been the start of the Chronicles of Chronicles series if it wasn't cancelled. 2019: Crypt Challenge DX - A remake of crypt challenge made in RPG Maker MV and a tie in to Meteo Chronicles/Chronicles Meteorfall. 2020: Meteo Chronicles - The first game in the Chronicles of Chronicles series which while finished, failed due to its numerous glitches and lack of play testing. 2021: Chronicles: The Lost Page - My first completed game since Zero Gear Fighters and my first game that I can say I'm actually proud of. It still receive updates to this day. Uses default assets mixed with custom stuff and rips like Meteo Chronicles. 2022: Crypt Challenge EX - A remaster of Crypt Challenge DX that fixes "lore inconsistencies" and gameplay and story complaints with the DX build. It was finished but delisted and will be relisted in a final, third edition as DLC for Chronicles Meteorfall. 2023: Noel and the Tower of Doom - A massive game I made using RPG Maker MV during the entirety of 2023. It's a dungeon crawler with a 60 floor tower to climb and detailed character class and equipment upgrade systems, 4 secret bosses, 3 story routes, and 13 endings. It is avalible right now and is still receiving updates. 2024? - Chronicles Meteorfall - My first commercial game and my first game to use absolutely NO rips whatsoever. A remake of Meteo Chronicles, which itself was a reimagining of the Legend of Light, it is a massive 30 hour RPG with detailed character building mechanics and tons of optional content with 70 quests to clear and 9 optional bonus dungeons. It's demo is currently completely but needs to be playtested first.
My first rpg maker game was a parody of final fantasy and earthbound, I bought the old school asset pack that looked similar to earthbound and I made up a simple story where a guy has to defeat a delusional alien lord with his friends, instead of 7 melodies, you collected colored rocks of non-substantial purpose. The evil alien has great fear of fake shiny useless rocks for some reason. As for psi i used tonal energy, sort of like using sound and song to defeat enemies, heal debuff etc. I might remake it with online lobby hosted multiplayer if you guys want to play it!
Well I hope it was entertaining at the very least! Maybe staying with the same engine for 10 years was not the brightest of ideas but honestly I'm glad I did! XD (Also as a side note I'm a girl)
I'm impressed by what you were able to pull off within the limitations of RPG Maker. Maybe I'll try it out myself! P.S. Who's the character in the thumbnail?
In a way it is weird because most people would use it to make RPG's and horror puzzle games. I could have just used a different engine for the other stuff, would have been way easier but oh well. XD
When I clicked on this video, I expected a lot more of the traditional RPG maker fare. I can't say I know very many people who have been near-constantly making RPG maker games for 10 years, but I suspect that your journey is relatively uncommon. Most people move on to other engines, ha ha The only game from this video that I was interested enough in to buy right away was Second Thoughts, but I might try out Vexation if the "rage game" aspect is truly not the defining genre for it, I'm kinda over rage games and have been for more than half a decade lol
Most people do move onto other engines, I'm just stupid and insane enough to stay with this one. XD But with Vexation, I'm thinking about changing how I'm marketing it because I'm realizing that people see "rage game" as unfair, out of no where traps that you can't see coming which isn't what the game is about. It's supposed to be a very challenging but fair game while using the worse tropes from across gaming history like escorts and underwater levels. Hopefully I can make the marketing show a game that will interest you! :P
@@GestmorphGames Don't get me wrong, "rage game" type things can be great, and could easily still succeed today if they have enough originality and a compelling concept. "Will You Snail" is an example of a relatively recent successful rage game, owing largely to its integration of machine learning. It just takes something to stand out, and then the game can speak for itself!
@@vanderkarl3927 Well I hope to stand out as much as possible! I hope the idea of every level having a different art style and designed around different terrible tropes of gaming will make it stand out. Along with other stuff that I have yet to show off! Hope you like it when it comes out! :P
Also I would be super interested in how you were making Trikumax. Unless you don't want to share the idea or keep it to yourself, I'd be very glad for a video about it.
It is very easy to fall into a pit of limitation preventing someone from doing something. Which does explain why most RPG Maker games are unfortunately not all too good. But yes, it can be really cool stuf and hope this video helped! :P
If I remember correctly, it was just very long sprites that moved downwards and also had no collision on. I'm guessing for player detection it was just if the player hit a wall for too long or something like that. XD
I have only one question (as someone completely from outside after watching the whole video) why RPG maker? especially for the last game. The games are so interesting and fun looking... but... why make your life harder by using an engine, optimized (sort of) for one type of games, you are not interested in? it has to be a pain to make all this amazing shit in RPG maker instead of some other better all round engine?
Excellent question! It honestly all comes back to the amount of time spent in the engine. Not because of sunk-cost fallacy or anything like that but it's more to do with the fact that I can do the things I do in RPG Maker with relative ease. It would be a lot harder for me to spend a lot more time learning another engine to likely get a worse result because my lack of experience in that other engine would show through. There are for sure better avenues but this is the one I'm in. XD But also, I do plan for certain ideas down the line that I wanna use another engine like Godot to do 3D stuff. Because, while I could do it in RPG Maker, at that point it would be a waste of effort for something I could do far easier in another engine. :P
gosh I am so inspired to try getting back into getting something done game wise cuz I've worked on digital art for a while now and wanted to make a simple small game with an aquainted person who knows some stuff bout RPG maker cuz he's making his own lil project on it but it just kinda fizzled out cuz get got both busy and took a big break which just resolved in a silent stop, but now again really wanna get into it so bad cuz my feed has been giving me small game devs like yourself and after a few vids I am just buzzing with determination haha
I'm so glad to hear that! It can be really tough to get motivation back, especially after a burn out or when things get quiet but I really hope things go well and can't wait to see what you make!
LOL, your commentary is great! I enjoyed your enthusiasm and ended up watching the whole video before I realised it! Thanks for taking us on the journey :-)
This was a really great video to watch - it was both entertaining and interesting to hear your thoughts on your past works, and it's inspiring to see how much you've grown. While I haven't played them so I can't speak for the gameplay too much, I think you're a bit harsh on some of your older games - a lot of them have really neat concepts and look to have been made fairly well! I'm in a similar boat to you in that I'm a solo indie dev (and also didn't realise the power of advertising before releasing a game), and your words at the end about indies needing more views and people to buy their things really struck a chord - I don't think a lot of people realise that games like Hollow Knight or Undertale are the exception, not the rule. Best of luck with your future game endeavours - I'll keep an eye on them!
I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed the video! And yes, it is super important for people to understand that giant games that make millions are not the norm at all. And most of the time there's a lot more than just the game at play for why they become a success! I hope to see your games some day! :P
I had no idea who you were until I saw I need a name. XD I've been working with rpgmaker for a while and had to delete the first priject I had because I made the mistake of putting ALL the plugins in and couldn't tell what wqs broken anymore.
While I don't use them myself, I think plugins can be great to enhance a game in so many different ways. But yes I have heard of it before where a game just starts breaking for unknown reasons due to them. It's about finding the right balance I suppose. XD Still though I hope your next project goes better for you!
Hey! Really inspiring and entertaining video. As a side note, I'm really interested in accents, and I feel like I can hear a British twang in yours at times. Am I hearing that right? Did you live in UK for a while?
How do you feel about the idea of a visual novel adventure game? Think like fallout, but with less action and more of bad decisions lead straight to death. I was thinking for story after a horrific event the world would looking a bit far more alien like then it now. Not like standard apoclaptic movies where when nature takes over everything just becomes green. But one where the disaster warped life so much places become borderline completely irreconizeable as anything people once new. Plantlife being warped so much they produce other forms of gasous chemicals making the surrounding atmosphere unbreatheable for most life for miles on end. Think of a world like cdda but a lot more streamlined.
I'm not an expert in which game ideas would work but if you think the idea can work well then I say at least try to make a prototype of it and show it off to some people! Get some good feedback and see if the concept will work! :P
@@GestmorphGames I'd love too. Unfortunately, I've been living without electricity for the past 3 years. So that $1000 gaming PC brick that I used to make pixel art with is kinda just taunting me as it sits there gathering dust.
Now out of curiosity, so you use no plugins. But do you script edit? Because I can't see how you can do the crazy stuff in your games with just what RM gives you out of the box.
The only thing I would edit script wise would be one line to skip the default title screen. Apart from that, nope! Just all done in the editor with what you're given. :P
If you're using RPG Maker MV or MZ it should run smoothly. VX Ace and before always were a bit choppy. XD Either that or a bunch of plugins make the game lag a lot, which I don't use.
Finishing a game can be one of the hardest things to do. Especially when you get to that point where the base of the game is all figured out and then you just have to get through all the not so exciting parts of game development. XD
It'd be honestly very difficult to explain it in a comment but, a lot of it is conditional branches and a ton of math. XD You'd be amazed how much math goes into using events to make collision, attacks, patterns, animations, etc.
I wasn't expecting to see Trikumax here. I can't remember how I came across it other than twitter. If the musician for it was TempXA then that was how.
It wasn't exactly what I'd call a success in terms of marketing. But that's because we didn't really market it at all! Lessons to be learned on how to get my game to an audience. XD (And as for "TempXA" I don't know who that is. XD)
It's true. I feel most if not all devs go through this period, regardless of what engine they use. But if they didn't they must have made some really good game right at the start and that's extremely rare! XD
I'll never understand why people get so elitist over standard assets. Not everyone has the money or the connections or the skill to make pretty pixel art.
Yeah I've never gotten it either. No harm at all using default stuff if that's what you've got access to. I learnt a long time ago that art was never really gonna be my field so if I personally didn't wanna use the defaults I'd have to think of things that I could do. Prism Collider and I NEED A NAME is like the limit of what I can do with my "art" skills. XD
Thanks for sharing your journey in game development! I only started this year and seeing the joy you had on the process of creating more than the product is really inspiring.
That's a long time ago! I think at that point I hadn't even played an RPG Maker game yet so it's always cool to hear from those who have experience from so long ago now. :P
Cool games. I wish i had the motivation to program something like these. I started back on xp but got distracted with writing prose. Now im back and released my own generic rpg with The Last Islands of Man. I used time mechanics to put a bit of a spin on it. I like it. The followup is in development. I should have never stopped a decade ago, its so much fun.
In it's own way it can be hard to keep going. But I'm glad to hear that you are back on it and hope to see what you make get to the places you want it to be ! Good luck and have fun! :D
