FROM THE PAST

author=Marrend
There are still a plethora of games that are made by hobbyists that do not seek to gammak for profit. Though, I suppose there has been a movement away from using ripped resources, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

For my own part, when I do use rips, it's music. Though, there was a game some five-ish years ago I did that ripped graphics from Wing Commander - Privateer.

To be precise, I did not mean games with ripped graphics exlusively, rather those that recapture the feeling of the SNES-era games and games made in the old era of RM2000/3 - games with rips just happen to define this.

I'm so out of the loop that the last thing I know is that RM games apparently have a bad reputation now due to many RM VX (and after) first projects being sold for money, or at least according to some youtubers. Personally, when I looked at the official RM site, I did notice a shift in attitude.

I've always sought for games with simplistic graphics (2D pixel art, tile-based maps, no photoshop effects and panorama mapping and the like) and well-written, engaging stories; and great atmosphere.

author=LordBlueRouge

:) I see it uses the Sub-Zero Snowfield mountain from SD3 and portraits from at least one FE game (I recognize FE8 Saleh and FE8 Duessel).

author=LordBlueRouge
There are very few of us now, But Don't worry, You're among friends here Karsa ♥️. ;)

I assumed there'd be just a few people, if any. Do you stick together, discuss ideas amongst each other - is there any fear of ideas getting stolen if you do?

author=Sooz
A lot of people are afraid of idea theft, but it's a silly fear for two reasons:

author=Sooz
RPG Maker games have always had a pretty bad reputation. It's always going to be a problem in engines that are pretty user friendly: lots more people will finish a game, so there's lots more games from that engine, and 90% of everything is crap. Combine that with RPG Maker's distinctive aesthetics and it's suuuuuper easy as a player to notice all the crap and get discouraged.

From my own experience, RM2000/3 games always needed a little extra to stick out. My first ever game, Amnézia, only used assets from the RM2000 RTP, but it was a short story-based game with multiple endings dependent on elements more akin to adventure games (inspecting the environment for clues and staying on the good side of the heroine, the final area felt like traditional detective fiction), with minimal battles (a set of mandatory fights + 2 areas for grinding where you could easily gain 10 levels). It became quite a success in Hungary. The other succesful Hungarian game is Dragon Blade and its sequels. These games (made in RM2000 as well) always introduced new systems, most of which felt like experiments that turned out either good or annoying and dysfunctional (various ABS, then a fake real time BS, menu systems, buggy stealth sections, simple card games, minigames with terrible latency in the controls, footprint effects in sand, wave effects for walking in shallow water, the list goes on). These games owe their success to these systems, because nobody else could make something like them. (Well no surprise, not everybody studies to become a programmer....) As a result, there were attempts to steal these systems from the Dragon Blades. Another case of theft I saw was in a game obviously inspired by Unterwegs in Düsterburg. The story was the same, the graphics were the same, the custom animations taken without ever crediting the source material...

This isn't to say I'm afraid of theft. Thankfully, I've never had that happen to me. It's just people are likely to steal, even if only out of admiration.

author=Sooz
The biggest reason not to talk about your ideas isn't theft, it's the risk that you'll feel satisfied after just talking about it and never finish it!

Hehe. I like this thought. I have a story to go along with it, sorry if it's a little ranty. Although I did happen to abandon too many of my projects, the reason wasn't this, but because of others. I tried to be nice, even though my tastes and opinions heavily differ from that person's, I let a friend suggest some ideas for my own project because he was kind enough to write me into his game for helping out (with expert level stuff), but my efforts were never appreciated. Whenever I did something, I always got the remark that I could do better (and some harsher comments...), but when I was helping with that person's projects, he called my work amazing. One time I was asked for a short side story to create for this friend's birthday. I spent half a year, adding in, among other things, a custom battle system that didn't have any screen transitions like Chrono Trigger's and pixel drawing charset animations - it didn't feel too much because I was friends with that person and I liked designing dungeons, and what did I get? It was so terrible, he never finished playing it. The "problem" was with the base idea. I forgave this after half a year. Then I thought about creating a small game related to my main game for this Christmas, again, I allowed some easter eggs to be placed in reference to a friend's game, then right on Christmas Eve I was told I'm a jerk for not wanting to be friends with certain people. I'd really had enough at that point. I've always been helpful to everyone interested in RM, but I'm becoming disenchanted. I've always preferred doing everything by myself, not much of a team player, and these sorts of things made me question whether I should let people in on my ideas at all. ...oh well, it's not like I can't get over it.

author=unity
The things I end up not talking about are more often just stuff I want to surprise people with.

I feel similar. I like giving small sneak peeks of my projects, but always keep a few big things secret so as not to spoil the fun. I also don't like showcasing too much because I don't want to get peoples' hopes up. It's better to put out the finished game or maybe 1 demo (which doesn't make it feel episodic). Whenever I begin something, I've always worked out the logical connections and the endgame beforehand (usually in my thoughts, before falling asleep).

author=Sgt M
Even then, it's never a bad idea to have some sort unique spin on your game if you're going for the traditional approach. Players who are well-versed in JRPGs will know all of the tropes and, unless you know how to embrace the formula extremely well, including something they don't expect is a great way to keep people engaged with something new.

I've never found it necessary to learn tropes and study formulas. I like to go with what I come up with. The battles and mechanics aren't the most important elements of JRPGs for me, it's a great story I want.

author=Yellow Magic
For what it's worth I'm very much in the same mindset of preferring the less complicated old-school, SNES-y look when it comes to RPG Maker games - and I'm deffo not the only one around here.

Welcome to RMN!!

I simply can't get into the modern graphics. They feel over done, the games over designed. As I mentioned above, I prefer a great story to everything else. (However, one of the main things I love doing is mapping and level design. They're worth nothing without a story to carry the game.)