NEW USER TRYING TO MAKE HIS FIRST GAME! ANY ADVICE WELCOME

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Hey! It's hard to say how this will go, but I've been a writer on text-based RPG sites for over five years now and, recently, I just sort-of decided that it might be a goof idea to try and make an RPG to maybe get into game development and that lead me here. Just today, I downloaded Construct and began trying to make classic sprites to use for character models. Hopefully it goes well, but I know nothing about programming or stuff like that and I'm not great with computers, so it's been confusing to try and download some stuff, so this is definitely something I'll have to keep working on before I start figuring out how to get everything done.

Any advice, tips, and help would be super appreciated because, again, I'm basically in the dark here just hoping to make something work.
Kloe
I lost my arms in a tragic chibi accident
2236
Don't try to make a masterpiece of your first game. Seriously. Like so so so many RMers try to make the game of their dreams on their first attempt. Don't fall into that trap. Start of with a small, simple project to help boost your understanding of the software. Maybe even your first 2-3 games, or at least until you get a feel for what you're doing. Games with small scope are the best, because you can have fun with it and you have no pressure on you. It also makes it easier to learn and means you don't have to worry about being amazing and can just work at an easier, steadier pace as you mess up completely while making a rubbish game, so that your next game will be better than it.
That is probably my number 1 advice for any new RMer ever.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Kloe
stuff

Oh, yes. So much yes.

Also:

LockeZ
You need to level up more before you can finish an impressive game. Grind experience points by making tiny shitty games

And yes, your first game is going to be shit. Accept that fact now, and you'll be much happier for it.
Yeah, you're right, it's probably going to be crap, lol! I'm thinking that I'll probably put up something that's not going to look good or be that impressive that goes through like a few floors without any town or real overworld and then I'll take feedback on it, see what I can fix. Then, I'll go back, improve things as much as I can, maybe add in a bit of plot and another few floors, and throw it up somewhere. And then after that feedback comes in, I'll try to fix what I can, change things from the last area maybe, improve a bit, add another few floors, throw that up. HOPEFULLY, by the end of it all I'll have something half-decent that's not exactly good, but is at least not offensively crappy. Then, MAYBE I can take what I've learned and potentially, MAYBE, hopefully re-make it all and see if it comes out good.

It probably won't ever be something amazing, but, by the end of it, hopefully I'll be able to make something that at least feels like I'd be able to suggest to a friend or something. And then, after all of that is over, maybe I'll be able to do something genuinely cool for the next project.
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
I don't have much else to add and I think sometimes these things come with time and experience and bumbling your way through it at first.

But, welcome to RMN! To game development and to the best of luck in your future endeavours! :)
Kloe
I lost my arms in a tragic chibi accident
2236
Exactly that deathollow! :D

Also I forgot to say, Welcome to RMN!! :D
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=Kloe
Exactly that deathollow! :D

I read that as "deathblow". :P


Anyway, the best advice I can give is to not be afraid to tinker around with stuff just to figure out how it works!

*Edit: Oh yeah, I should probably do the thing too.

Welcome to RMN! Share your creativity with us!
As you're making the game, don't underestimate the usefulness of topics like the New Developer Mapping thread or the Screenshot Thread for feedback.

Also, there's a Discuss server where you can chat about game dev and post wips to get feedback too.

https://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/20615/


Best advice I can give is to make a mess-around project and just try everything in the engine to see what it does. You can't really break it (you can reinstall if something messes up after all) and you'll get a good idea of what you can do with the engine.

Also, play a few 4 or 5 star games from the engine you're using to get an idea of what can be done with it and to give you some ideas of how to map and lay stuff out.

Lastly, be patient. Skills aren't built over a day and it might take some time before you see some payoff but keep moving forward and listen to advice/feedback given and you'll get better. ^.^)b

Welcome to RMN~
Thanks for all the helpful advice, guys. I've already made a sprite and managed to make it move in a small contained area, so I guess that's something? Now all I need to do is figure out how the heck menus work in Construct and then figure out how to create and apply some form of basic stat system for a turn based game and then design and somehow setup randomized enemies and figure out how the heck I can make a combat screen work.... Then I'll finally be able to start maybe including some form of plot, somehow making scripted events happen, and I'll finally be prepared to send it out and get back all the negative reviews over how bad it is, lol!

I can get a basic grasp of how this system seems to work, but holy crap, am I going to need to start making threads if I want to ever get anything done with this.... I expected that I'd have to make stuff from the ground up, but I had no idea how 'from the ground up' you needed to work to just make something as basic as "hit space to talk to NPC" or something.
I don't know how well it translates to other engines, but you may find this bloody-newcomer-tutorial helpful : )

https://rpgmaker.net/tutorials/1027/

Good luck!

Edit: Oops .. just saw you used construct, and not RPGMaker .. ehehe.
Then listen to the other guys!

Make crap you are proud of, for you MADE it!
I've found a lot of stuff talking about construct 2, but I'm having a really hard time finding things that can help me out with construct classic. And since I can only make one thread a day here, that's going to probably REALLY slow me down.

Should I download construct 2 and just start over with what little I've got done? I found a thread saying construct classic was sort-of better and that construct 2 might surpass it one day, but it was also made in 2012 and a lot has probably changed in the last four years. Also, I'm seeing a lot of stuff for construct 2 in plugins(?) and nothing for classic, so that seems like a big plus.

I probably should just go ahead and do it, but I want to kind-of hear what the people who know what they're doing say about this because I don't want to leave the little progress I've made behind for something that might ultimately be a worse system.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Personally, I think a game dev should use every engine available at least once. Should you start over? No. Should you download Construct 2? Definitely.
author=pianotm
Personally, I think a game dev should use every engine available at least once. Should you start over? No. Should you download Construct 2? Definitely.


Thanks, that makes complete sense to me. Also, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea because when I say "start over" I mean like "pasting tiles onto a room, plugging in a walking animation, and using collision tiles for a border." Which honestly probably won't take me like 10 minutes or so now that I kind-of know what I'm sort-of doing and have the assets? Like I don't want to mislead people, I basically just have a blank one-room sprite-based walking sim at this point, lol.
author=dethhollow
author=pianotm
Personally, I think a game dev should use every engine available at least once. Should you start over? No. Should you download Construct 2? Definitely.
Thanks, that makes complete sense to me. Also, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea because when I say "start over" I mean like "pasting tiles onto a room, plugging in a walking animation, and using collision tiles for a border." Which honestly probably won't take me like 10 minutes or so now that I kind-of know what I'm sort-of doing and have the assets? Like I don't want to mislead people, I basically just have a blank one-room sprite-based walking sim at this point, lol.


You are my hero.

Seriously, that's what you should do!
It sounds like a healthy pace to me
Dudesoft
always a dudesoft, never a soft dude.
6309
Welcome to RMN. Don't be like Dudesoft.
author=Dudesoft
Welcome to RMN. Don't be like Dudesoft.


Thanks for the warning, Mr. ....... Dudesoft....
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
Aim small, but aim unique.
Try to do something you haven't seen done before.
Set a deadline for yourself. A contest deadline motivates, but if that doesn't exist, set your own. A month is a good option.
1 hour is a good first game length.
Try to make the player engaged throughout that 1 hour.
Use your talents. This is a learning experience.
Try all you can to make sure you complete this game. A completed game is worth 5 in development.
If you can complete every game you start, you will be a very, very rare developer. Try starting by never starting another game until you complete your current one. It may take huge amounts of discipline, but these huge amounts of discipline will determine your future as a dependable developer. In my experience, it has been one of the single most fulfilling events that happened to me as a developer.

The second-best developer thing that happened to me was when someone reviewed my game. When you complete your game (and repeat to yourself: when), request in the review request thread for someone to review your game. Or just ask the users called NTC3 and Kylaila. They tend to be on a massive reviewing buzz lately, and they give massively helpful advice.
Cliche incoming: do not give up. Perseverance is key.
Another cliche incoming: enjoy the process. Learning how to make games will be alternately fun, boring, exciting, frustrating, lovely, harrowing, encouraging, discouraging, and all the in-between. Just don't give up. It'll be worth it in the end.
And lastly: try to have fun doing it! Share your creation with people (if you dare!) and you may find it is one of the best feelings. Or not. But try anyway!

(And lastly: I should remember to follow my own advice more often.)
Good advice, but I probably won't be able to really get back to working on the game in a bit. I've already started helping someone else by writing stuff for their project so... I guess that's a few of your tips broken there already, lol. And next month or so I'm going to have to do a big event thing for another site and I'll be amazed if I have enough time to even think about level design between trying to run 5 characters at once and everything that comes with that.

But after that's over and I've done all I can on the other big project, all of this is totally going to apply, hopefully! At least by then I'll be able to make threads freely, so that will be EXTREMELY helpful if nothing else.
just trawling through all these comments and it seems we all want the same thing.
good luck - enjoy it.
Welcome. Aim for creativity over professionality. You can make the most polished, well designed game in the world, but no one will care if there's already a thousand other games like it.
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