Introduction

Hello fellow RPG Makers. You and I both know that the gamut of RPG Maker games expands far beyond the typical "RPG Maker Game" stereotype. I figured I would make this blog to give you an idea of what you can expect, and not expect, from this game.

What is The Control Group

I originally wrote The Control Group for the subreddit NoSleep. After receiving a positive response on NoSleep, I published it as a novella through Amazon. It wasn't until recently that I realized it would make a fun little horror role-playing adventure. Translating the story's format from print to game has been a fun challenge. The major difference is the interactivity involved. I wanted to make sure the game is one that I would enjoy playing. In order to make the game fun, I changed the pacing and added upon, and sometimes deleted portions of, the story.

The biggest change is that there are now multiple endings. I never liked the idea of "Here are the three bad endings and here is the one good ending." For that reason, I haven't included "Bad" endings and "Good" endings. I like to think that there is only "Your" ending--the ending that each individual player earns after playing the game. There is certainly an ending that is most canonical with the novella, but that doesn't necessarily make it the best ending.

I feel as if I have accomplished my goal to make a fun game so far. Hopefully you will enjoy it as well.

What to Expect (and not expect)

I'll start off with what you shouldn't expect from this game.

• Beautiful graphics. Artistic ability is my shortcoming when it comes to game design. While I consider myself slightly capable with digital photo manipulation, my ability to create graphics from scratch is still very infantile. I feel as if I've done sufficient to do the story justice, but I know that other artists would do a much better job.

• A complicated battle system. Battles are an important part of a lot of RPG games. This is not one of those games. The story and puzzles drive this game forward and battles have little place in the story.

But here's what you can expect with The Control Group.

• Challenging puzzles. Some puzzles you've seen before and many you haven't. I've always loved logic and had a lot of fun putting together the puzzles you see in The Control Group.

• Good music. While I have no music of my own in the game, I understand the importance of music in interactive media. The music I have chosen fits the moods and themes of the game.

• A good story. The story behind The Control Group is tried and tested. Here are some comments from the finale of The Control Group when I posted it on NoSleep:

"It was fantastic. Very few things manage to really move me emotionally, but achieved that."

"WOW! AMAZING! Wonderful writing! Fantastic twist in the story, I absolutely love it! . . . Amazing, truly amazing!"

"I will be thinking about this for a long time to come."

"I cannot control my feels right now... opened my mind to what people are capable of."

Game's Current Progress

I have currently finished the first two chapters of the game and am about halfway done with the third, and final, chapter. After that, I have to finish coding all the puzzles in the game, which will take up a good chunk of time. The tentative release date is Early 2019, but I can see the game coming out much sooner than that.

Conclusion

Hopefully you will enjoy playing The Control Group as much as I am enjoying making it. If you enjoy the game, please share it with your friends and check back when the game is finished.

All the best,

-Matt