I’ve been thinking about starting a project. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at making video games—and not just any kind of video games, but RPGs in particular. If anyone here has ever tried something like this, I’d like to know if it’s at all feasible for me to attempt something like this. I already know how to program and would not have trouble learning another programming language, but I also have no skill at either artwork or composing. Also, does anyone have suggestions on what kind of software would help with this? I don’t want to spend time reinventing any wheels that I don’t need to. For example, I have Neverwinter Nights 1, which comes with an elaborate module-building toolkit, and I’ve heard of some software called “RPG Maker”...
The graphics and music can be solved later; you can use some temporary graphics while you work on the program.
It has the advantage that if you don’t succeed in making the game—or if your ideas gradually change so much that many of the original ideas will not be used in the final version—you don’t have to pay for things you don’t use. Also, when the program is ready, it is easier to explain how the graphics will be used, and you can test it immediately. After playing the game you will also know whether some things should be made bigger or smaller, which would again have some impact on graphics.
(With regards to code, I am fan of reinventing the wheels, because it feels to me that I only need to reinvent each wheel once, but would probably need to learn new toolkits again and again just to find that some important functionality is missing or full of bugs. But this is not a recommendation, just my specific experience which may be not typical; and the experience is not with RPG makers.)
Could you be more specific about the RPG? There are many options: isometric or 3d, turn-based or real-time… Will it have a story, or just a lot of random fights? If the story, will there be branches and multiple endings? How complicated it the system of magic or whatever (is it enough just to attack and expect that a higher-level character automatically does higher damage, or is it necessary to use a proper action to solve the specific situation)? One character or a party? Is the game over when one of your character dies, or do you just recruit a new one? Etc. -- Think about how your choices fit together. For example, if the world is automatically generated or you replace dead members with new recruits, how will you keep a meaningful story?
The graphics and music can be solved later; you can use some temporary graphics while you work on the program.
According to my research, RPG Maker has a lot of built-in tile graphics you can use if you don’t want to make your own, so I could use them. I think the default graphics look kind of like Final Fantasy IV or Final Fantasy V.
Could you be more specific about the RPG? There are many options: isometric or 3d, turn-based or real-time… Will it have a story, or just a lot of random fights? If the story, will there be branches and multiple endings? How complicated it the system of magic or whatever (is it enough just to attack and expect that a higher-level character automatically does higher damage, or is it necessary to use a proper action to solve the specific situation)? One character or a party? Is the game over when one of your character dies, or do you just recruit a new one? Etc. -- Think about how your choices fit together. For example, if the world is automatically generated or you replace dead members with new recruits, how will you keep a meaningful story?
I want to eventually make a story-driven game, with two endings and a few branch points that can pull you off of the default branch; the specific details of the battle system is not particularly important. (Although it might be nice to be able to pull off some tricks with the battle system, such as presenting you with two enemies fighting each other, and giving you a different story branch depending on which one wins.) I might start with something simpler than the story I really want to tell, though, just to get experience with the system I intend to use.
One reason I want to tell the story as a game, rather than as text, is that I want to set the player up for a fall: start the player off working for the bad guys, and give the player the opportunity not to realize that the side he’s working for is actually evil; the player character won’t make a Heel Face Turn unless the player does something special to get off the default story branch. At the end of the game, the default ending will show the player several times he or she could have done the right thing, but didn’t.
I’ve been thinking about starting a project. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at making video games—and not just any kind of video games, but RPGs in particular. If anyone here has ever tried something like this, I’d like to know if it’s at all feasible for me to attempt something like this. I already know how to program and would not have trouble learning another programming language, but I also have no skill at either artwork or composing. Also, does anyone have suggestions on what kind of software would help with this? I don’t want to spend time reinventing any wheels that I don’t need to. For example, I have Neverwinter Nights 1, which comes with an elaborate module-building toolkit, and I’ve heard of some software called “RPG Maker”...
The graphics and music can be solved later; you can use some temporary graphics while you work on the program.
It has the advantage that if you don’t succeed in making the game—or if your ideas gradually change so much that many of the original ideas will not be used in the final version—you don’t have to pay for things you don’t use. Also, when the program is ready, it is easier to explain how the graphics will be used, and you can test it immediately. After playing the game you will also know whether some things should be made bigger or smaller, which would again have some impact on graphics.
(With regards to code, I am fan of reinventing the wheels, because it feels to me that I only need to reinvent each wheel once, but would probably need to learn new toolkits again and again just to find that some important functionality is missing or full of bugs. But this is not a recommendation, just my specific experience which may be not typical; and the experience is not with RPG makers.)
Could you be more specific about the RPG? There are many options: isometric or 3d, turn-based or real-time… Will it have a story, or just a lot of random fights? If the story, will there be branches and multiple endings? How complicated it the system of magic or whatever (is it enough just to attack and expect that a higher-level character automatically does higher damage, or is it necessary to use a proper action to solve the specific situation)? One character or a party? Is the game over when one of your character dies, or do you just recruit a new one? Etc. -- Think about how your choices fit together. For example, if the world is automatically generated or you replace dead members with new recruits, how will you keep a meaningful story?
According to my research, RPG Maker has a lot of built-in tile graphics you can use if you don’t want to make your own, so I could use them. I think the default graphics look kind of like Final Fantasy IV or Final Fantasy V.
I want to eventually make a story-driven game, with two endings and a few branch points that can pull you off of the default branch; the specific details of the battle system is not particularly important. (Although it might be nice to be able to pull off some tricks with the battle system, such as presenting you with two enemies fighting each other, and giving you a different story branch depending on which one wins.) I might start with something simpler than the story I really want to tell, though, just to get experience with the system I intend to use.
One reason I want to tell the story as a game, rather than as text, is that I want to set the player up for a fall: start the player off working for the bad guys, and give the player the opportunity not to realize that the side he’s working for is actually evil; the player character won’t make a Heel Face Turn unless the player does something special to get off the default story branch. At the end of the game, the default ending will show the player several times he or she could have done the right thing, but didn’t.