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Is my game a born failure because I use RPG Maker?

A topic by Xanda created Aug 25, 2020 Views: 589 Replies: 12
Viewing posts 1 to 6

I'm sorry for the blunt question. As a developer and content creator for the game I have been progressively creating, I've slowly been converting so much of the code, music and sprites for a really original game. Learning from the ground up has taught me allot of lessons, but one thing that always comes to mind is that RPG Maker has a really bad rep, and game makers who use it seem to be blind sided. 

These are just my thoughts, but I would really like to know if I made a huge mistake and what I could do to fix the last 6 years and complete this game one way or another that can be played without all the prejudice of RPG Maker that has sadly been a dent in the real work I and many put in to making the program work in a different and original way using original content and ideas. :( 

I would love to hear from those who use commercial game makers such as Unity,. Feel free to also judge my work based on the screenshots and artwork. I really hope you can excuse some of the RPG Maker assets still being used. I'm trying to get as much converted to original content as possible.

https://enzo36t.itch.io/heavens-heroes-unite

Moderator(+1)

The tool that you use is not that important when making a game. Some years ago someone created tic-tac-toe which can be played using pebbles and sticks.

I used RPG Maker many many years ago, so not sure what has changed since then, but one thing I remember is that games made with it are fairly similar with each other. Sure it offers a lot of tools to flesh out your own story, and your own characters, but the gameplay itself is (was?) difficult to change.

That’s not to say it’s not possible to make something fun with it, but more like it requires more creativity on your end to pull it off.

So no, your project will not automatically fail because it is using a specific tool. Tools just make different options easier/harder to add.

Thanks for your reply :) RPG Maker is still the same, It has newer versions, and Java Script is new to MV. I really agree on your statement. How the tools are used are important. It gives me some hope!

Hey, Alexanda! I keep asking myself the same question, even if I can see how I'm making some different things with the tool.

I'm an actress from this theatre group called ultraVioleta_s, and we're about to release our "performative" RPG created with RPG Maker. So, we're using our creativity to add new ways to play with this software. Our hopes that it still a cool experience are not over. So I should say the same to you! I just took a look at your game, and it looks really amazing! Keep up with the good work, one step after the other!

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I am glad RPG Maker caught your attention. I went from zero knowledge when I began, and gradually you just start to learn more stuff because you want to do things better.   I can't wait to see what you come up with in future. :)

Yeah!!
Really cool! RPG Maker helps a lot! I can tell you when I release my game here!

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I’ll be blunt here, sorry for that, but a lot of people will simply “bounce off” your game page the moment they see the stock assets that you’re using. Yes, RPG maker has kind of bad rep among mainstream gamers. But then, there’s still an audience for that kind of game. You just have to capture their attention with your originality and creativity somehow. Good luck with your game. :)

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It's horrible how there are people who despise games made with RPG Maker. The important thing is the effort that is given to the game, the story, that it entertains you, no matter the engine used.

I think you could add gifs, some video (either a devlog or a small trailer of how it would be) to get people's attention.
I hope you have luck with your game, I see the screenshots and I really see the effort you put into it!

PS: Sorry for my bad English :(

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Your English is possibly better then mine, No need to apologise. And, a sincere thank you, I wasn't wanting to bait people to my page through this discussion, I hope there is no misunderstanding with this post. I just had the urge to really grasp the on-going concept that RPG Maker is a troubled engine to use due to it's history of bad games, half complete projects, many projects like mine, which got started, then eventually ran out of gas along the way. And there are a fair few troll games out there too which were made poorly on purpose to be played by Let's Players..

I needed to vent and discuss the topic which seems to be a big one. I would read allot of hate comments and also You-Tube is full of videos on it. 

The hardest part so far has been really showing how my game is different, I do have a trailer, and that is focused on the story aspects of the game which I have been really guarding. It will be out very soon!

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I finally decided on finishing a trailer. It's made up of in game scenes, and music was difficult, but I managed to make an orchestra track.

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There are many awesome games made in RPG maker, so it really depends on the content. RPG maker is probably one of the easiest tools for developing games, so if you think you want more, you can try to learn to use some new engines which expand the possibilities of your game. I played your game for a while, the art is good, the whole system is already there I think. Something you can improve is the transition between scenes. Because even if you have a great story (which I think you probably have), if the topic and scene are switched too abruptly and frequently, the player may not be able to catch up, as they may not know the story as clear as you do. So try to arrange the events in a more fluent way I guess? I'm not a pro, it's just something that pops up in my mind when playing it :P

Great effort put into the game, keep on!

I'm very grateful to you, I really didn't want to use this post as a promoting ground.  I really thank you so much for playing! The Demo is a year behind or more, and there have been some re-writes of the intro. You're feedback means the world, and I really want to get this right.  I'm currently trying out Unity, but I kind of may need much more time to get used to. 

In the mean time I'm learning to create 2-D to  3-D parallax maps, and it's the most crazy thing to see really detailed scenes pop out of such a engine. I still think RPG Maker can do some great RPG's, it's what it's for! It's really the creator that needs to open the book, give the story life, and unlock the imagination of the player. Even if it doesn't look like Skyrim, it can still open a world like a book which is just text, our brain makes the characters come to life, and we live in that moment. 

I'm in agreement that not all RPG Maker games are bad, but I do remember that I side-lined a really good game I was invited to play from a game developer when I did allot for a YouTube channel I used, and because the game was like Minecraft, I turned it down, it became pretty well known after a few months, and I could have got more views, a bigger channel and more exclusive games.

 It was a really big mistake I made, because I saw blocks, and nothing else. Things were not the same after that and it haunted me as I never got any more games from the developer. I made a huge mistake labelling a game because of how I compared it. Knowing that the same happens to RPG Maker games, I think I really want to hope people won't look and see the stock stuff and say it reminds them of a really bad RPG Maker game they played, or it's lazy. There are differences.

I'm glad that you appreciate my feedback :DD Yes, graphics really doesn't matter I think, Minecraft and Undertale are two of my favorite games of all time, and their graphics isn't that appealing. You can have awesome graphics but disastrous games (Last of... cough cough... us part 2, Titan... cough cough... fall). But looking attractive surely brings you some audience, which I think Unity will do a better job. So keep on learning it, and some day I may be playing an amazing game from you!