Alvorada do Mal

Catchy topic name to make people read something on my "foreign" game blog. But this is more of a general discussion, so it's not just for Portuguese-speaking people.

This is a lesson on finishing games.

Alvorada do Mal was my first big RM project. I started it on June 2004, right after I joined my first RM community, RPG Menace. I had this interesting and vague game concept, and I envisioned a game that was actually based on the modern world, the real world, and that looked like the real work, instead of most other modern projects that either looked medieval or futuristic.

So I opened RPG Maker 2003, started designing the first characters, first maps, first scenes. It actually came along pretty nicely. I was so proud of it I decided to release a first demo. The reaction was very good. It motivated me to keep working on it. I worked a bit more, released the second demo... a bit more, and then came demo 3, on May 2005.

By the time demo 3 was out, I had already worked on this game for hundreds of hours, and created a certain hype around it. So I had to finish it. Quitting it was not an option. Also because I hated people that hyped their projects and quit them. We all know a game is as good as finished.

I was pretty green when I started the game, and I learned a lot doing it. I learned spriting, mapping, editting, coding. I could do stuff. But I started the game using RTP-style characters, DBS, D-everything. It made my game feel like crap. But I wanted to finish, I knew it would be stupid do go back and IMPROVE.

Another problem I had is that I had the FINAL SCENE of the game in my mind, but not the in-betweens. I was stuck many many many times not knowing and not having good ideas for what would happen next. That caused me months and months of not-doing anything, blank and block.

Still I was commited to the project, and I shut my mind from new ideas cause I knew if I worked on something else I would never finish this project.

My first betrayal happened on January 2009, when I made Marvel Brothel. It was for a contest, there was a deadline, and there was a prize. Not only I finished it in time (two months), but I was completely satisfied with the final result, and I was surprised I could work on it for up to 13h/day with no block or blanks, not losing motivation.

My second betrayal happened on May 2010, with Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer. Also for a contest, shorter this time: two weeks (as opposed to Marvel Brothel's two months). Still I worked 10h/day minimum, non-stop, never losing motivation, satisfied with the final product.

What really made me question my gamemaking process is that not only I finished these games in MUCH LESS TIME, but they were BETTER, and they got WAY MORE ATTENTION. So I decided to drop Alvorada do Mal, because I'm obviously wasting my time with it, and erroneously shutting myself off from new ideas because of it.

I'm about to start a new project. It's not for a contest, but I want it to be like Marvel Brothel and Beautiful Escape, not like Alvorada do Mal. Here's what I learned:

- Plan ahead. Everything. Write everything down before you start it. Dialogs, item stats, maps, everything. Sketch maps if possible. Making a game when you have the whole "script" made is much easier and faster, and it's hard to lose motivation since you objectively know what you're aiming for and how far along you are. Don't even start making the game before knowing everything you're supposed to do.

Well, this was supposed to be a list, but I guess it all comes down to this. If you have your entire project written down on paper, you like it, and you know you can do it, you're a moron if you can't finish it.

Oh, and

- Never make a game in Portuguese again.