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[RMMV] I'M MAKING A GAME FOR MY DAUGHTER
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serious77
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CloseHello. My name is Sal. I've dabbled with RPG Maker for a while now but have never created a game fully.
My daughter is 5 years old and she has been become quite the little gamer. She plays a variety of games, but recently, she has been playing a lot of Minecraft and Miitopia lately (even got me back into playing MC and we have been enjoying the latter, together). She just finished Pre-k and has made remarkable progress with reading. At the start of the year, she only knew her alphabet and now impresses me with her reading capability.
Taking all of those into account and the fact that Miitopia is a wonoderful introduction to RPGs like the ones that I played when I was young (Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy), I thought it would be a wonderful gift to make a custom RPG for her. I have been writing the story and getting the basics together. I hope to start production within the week (actually developing the assets and making the game).
The kicker is her birthday is in 3 months (September 14th) and I know that doesn't give me a lot of time. I thought I'd drop a line now as I may be seeking assistance as development progresses. I realize that I may not complete the game, but if I can at least finish an "Act" or two by her birthday, that would be a great start at least. Anyway, while some resources, like charsets, battlers, etc. (I'm no artist) and music (I'm certainly no musician) would be great, perhaps the biggest assistance I could ask for is testers. I'm far from that stage, but I just wanted to get that out there.
In closing, first, I wanted to put this out in case anybody is interested in helping (whether through testing, resources, plugins and programming, or even just suggestions and tips). Also, while this project is personal, I may consider releasing the game commercially. I'm a writer by trade (well, I'm working on it) and anything I can get out to fund (even just a little) my writing career would help. Thanks for your time and I look forward to talking with you all and sharing my experience.
My daughter is 5 years old and she has been become quite the little gamer. She plays a variety of games, but recently, she has been playing a lot of Minecraft and Miitopia lately (even got me back into playing MC and we have been enjoying the latter, together). She just finished Pre-k and has made remarkable progress with reading. At the start of the year, she only knew her alphabet and now impresses me with her reading capability.
Taking all of those into account and the fact that Miitopia is a wonoderful introduction to RPGs like the ones that I played when I was young (Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy), I thought it would be a wonderful gift to make a custom RPG for her. I have been writing the story and getting the basics together. I hope to start production within the week (actually developing the assets and making the game).
The kicker is her birthday is in 3 months (September 14th) and I know that doesn't give me a lot of time. I thought I'd drop a line now as I may be seeking assistance as development progresses. I realize that I may not complete the game, but if I can at least finish an "Act" or two by her birthday, that would be a great start at least. Anyway, while some resources, like charsets, battlers, etc. (I'm no artist) and music (I'm certainly no musician) would be great, perhaps the biggest assistance I could ask for is testers. I'm far from that stage, but I just wanted to get that out there.
In closing, first, I wanted to put this out in case anybody is interested in helping (whether through testing, resources, plugins and programming, or even just suggestions and tips). Also, while this project is personal, I may consider releasing the game commercially. I'm a writer by trade (well, I'm working on it) and anything I can get out to fund (even just a little) my writing career would help. Thanks for your time and I look forward to talking with you all and sharing my experience.
RPG Maker is an easy enough engine that will definitely let you build whatever you want for another person, provided that person is ok and familiarized with playing on a PC. Mobile apps like easyrpg can, in a limited form, also allow you to play games of a few of the rpgmaker engines on a phone, but if you'll opt to do this it will benefit you if you don't stray off too far from the vanilla experience of an RPGMaker game, since they start to go wonky or crash if you use any sort of plugins or patches that are not interpreted correctly by the app.
Additionally, if this will be your first attempt, try to cut costs. There's plenty of free to use material online which you can use to supplement some areas where you are lacking. Like music repositories, free-to-use graphic resource packs, and a lot more. Using these might not result in a 100% homogeneous or original looking/sounding game, but it will still be original enough if you work hard in your side, the writing and eventing.
author=serious77Some people are ok with revenue sharing, but it will help people know if this is a project for them more if you talk in details about your revshare plans, and how much of the game's potential income will go to either spriters or musicians or what have you. As in, if the shares they'll get will be according to amount of work done for you, you should specify what this means and stuff.
Also, while this project is personal, I may consider releasing the game commercially. I'm a writer by trade (well, I'm working on it) and anything I can get out to fund (even just a little) my writing career would help.
Additionally, if this will be your first attempt, try to cut costs. There's plenty of free to use material online which you can use to supplement some areas where you are lacking. Like music repositories, free-to-use graphic resource packs, and a lot more. Using these might not result in a 100% homogeneous or original looking/sounding game, but it will still be original enough if you work hard in your side, the writing and eventing.
One problem that I have is that I plan to do something simple and it turns out much bigger. If I plan to write a short story (for example) it turns into a novel. With this game I'm working on, I was planning on doing a small adventure that is a bit tongue-in-cheek. My outline has turned into a grand epic.
It is very Final Fantasy inspired. The concept was an evil sorceress kidnaps Savannah's parents (Savannah is my daughter's name) and she must set out to rescue them. In the beginning, Savannah and her father are exploring a cave and find a crystal orb that fuses with her. With it, she can be bestowed powers from 5 elemental crystals that can be used to defeat the sorceress. My outline has grown into quite the epic with pitfalls, twists, and a cast of interesting characters (including a cat knight named Sir Meowsalot).
I am loving the story that I have developed, and I plan a bunch of side quests was well. Keep in mind, my daughter is only 5 years old. She'll be six this September which is when I was going to have it complete. I doubt that week happen at this point, but if I can get maybe the first half done, I may present it to her.
It is very Final Fantasy inspired. The concept was an evil sorceress kidnaps Savannah's parents (Savannah is my daughter's name) and she must set out to rescue them. In the beginning, Savannah and her father are exploring a cave and find a crystal orb that fuses with her. With it, she can be bestowed powers from 5 elemental crystals that can be used to defeat the sorceress. My outline has grown into quite the epic with pitfalls, twists, and a cast of interesting characters (including a cat knight named Sir Meowsalot).
I am loving the story that I have developed, and I plan a bunch of side quests was well. Keep in mind, my daughter is only 5 years old. She'll be six this September which is when I was going to have it complete. I doubt that week happen at this point, but if I can get maybe the first half done, I may present it to her.
I think it might be best to keep some ideas you have in mind for, perhaps, a different game. Not every single idea you have should be used for this project. Like, you're already experiencing scope creep with your story, and maybe the gameplay could be hit with scope creep at one point down the road?
Don't loose sight of your audience. Remember that you're making a game for your 5-turning-6-year-old. That kind of audience is not likely to enjoy a meaty, complex story. I can totally understand that you might be having a lot of fun making a meaty, complex story, but, cuts will probably have to be made for the sake of your audience.
Don't loose sight of your audience. Remember that you're making a game for your 5-turning-6-year-old. That kind of audience is not likely to enjoy a meaty, complex story. I can totally understand that you might be having a lot of fun making a meaty, complex story, but, cuts will probably have to be made for the sake of your audience.
SpiraPhantom
558
I'd like to note that you're a good man, sir, making such a present for your girl. I, personally, have some experience in making "game presents" - a game here for New Year Celebration, a game here for a birthday, and I can give some tips from experience.
I noted one thing for myself, perhaps, you could take it too: if you want to make a game present on a short notice (less than 6 months), you may not want to implement a traditional battle system. Or a battle system at all. Calibrating numbers takes a long time however you look at it. You could apply the method from Yanfly's educational comics, but it still takes a while.
There's also another methods in developing short games: you create a fixed set of 5-7 maps and try to make a story, limited by those.
You won't likely have enough time to make unique assets, but that's not really always necessary - there are plenty of graphic and music packs out there, which could add particular charm to your present.
I noted one thing for myself, perhaps, you could take it too: if you want to make a game present on a short notice (less than 6 months), you may not want to implement a traditional battle system. Or a battle system at all. Calibrating numbers takes a long time however you look at it. You could apply the method from Yanfly's educational comics, but it still takes a while.
There's also another methods in developing short games: you create a fixed set of 5-7 maps and try to make a story, limited by those.
You won't likely have enough time to make unique assets, but that's not really always necessary - there are plenty of graphic and music packs out there, which could add particular charm to your present.
This sounds like a great project! I'd be glad to test it when the time comes. That said, I definitely agree with some of the other commenters re: trimming it down a bit for time/your audience. the ideas you have sound very interesting though!
A nice thing about developing a game for a 5 year old child is that there's just so much to it that the child won't be able to immediately absorb and understand. Depending on how it's written, you can create a piece of narrative or an experience that they will be able to revisit and view from another perspective years in the future. Perhaps pick up some nuance about their parents' relationship, or about parenthood itself, that they couldn't at first. It's possibly the greatest gift a parent can give a child. My grandmother was a singer and pianist -- I really wish I had some recordings or some originally written songs of her somewhere to look back at her and "talk" to her in 2021.
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