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We're done! + Gamedev Decisions

Hello, everybody! I'm proud to announce that The Search for the Harp of Harmony version 1.2 is done and released! At this point, I believe that the game is "done" in the sense that I am proud of it being the way it is, and now I'd like to turn my focus elsewhere to future projects and graduating college.

Changes made in this one include: Complete map revamping, bug and text fixes, small glitch fixes, etc. It's hard to believe how much my skills have improved in such a short time, and I would like to give a huge thank you to several people who helped me along the way: SgtMettool for helping me from the start and for introducing me to RPG Maker in the first place, NeverSilent for taking the time to give me so many useful tips, tricks, and bug reports, BlackWolf1992 for all of their help, my playtesters Satsy and TerraChained for taking the time to help me make it awesome, and all of you for being so kind and supportive and giving me fantastic feedback! Thank you!

It's been a long road in a short span of time, honestly. Before I started this project (and I know I mentioned this in my other blog post, so I'll be brief about it here) I never thought that I could make games. I felt that someone from a humanities background with low technical competency like myself could never transform their ideas into playable games. However, I was surprised and really happy to discover that this wasn't true. I could make games, and not only COULD I... but I did. The fact that I did is what matters.

So, people have asked me questions about why I made some of the decisions that I did for the game. Well, here are some answers:

Why is there no combat?
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Since this was my first game, I was very intimidated by the idea of adding combat. The game was already meant to be short, and I didn't want to overdo it by adding in a combat system. I also didn't feel that with my current skills, I would be able to implement it well. However, there was one in the works at one point! Take a look:
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Both Taylor and Dan would have custom classes and movesets, based off of the pre-existing defaults in the database. Marietta, the little ghost girl in front of the Cave of Delirium, and Hillary the Bee who gives you Honey were also both going to be playable characters! I think it was for the best I scrapped those ideas, though.


What's with collecting all of those healing items and then never having to use them?
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All of those healing items were remnants from the days of when combat would have been considered for the game. However, because I didn't do combat, I had to rely on other gameplay elements like puzzles and riddles. I was initially going to have damaging terrain, but again, I felt that I was getting a little ahead of myself. After I decided that there would be no combat and no real means of damaging the player, I was considering taking the items out, but one of the main RPG experiences is gathering and hoarding items, and so I decided to play with the idea of hoarding items only to never use them, just like in many other games. It wasn't intentional , but it became part of the game (and led to some great interactions, like stealing the food from the fruit bowl in the Teahouse and the people berating you for it). I agree that this idea wasn't the most well thought out, and I'm not necessarily satisfied with the end result, but that's something that will be fixed in the next game, depending on what the next game is.


These "puzzles" could use some work; why were they so simple?
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I 100% agree that the puzzles could have been better. Absolutely, totally agree. If I could go back, I would have liked to implement one of those slidey tile puzzles like the ones in the evil bases on Pokémon, or even something like the teleporter puzzles (also from Pokémon) but I just decided that I wasn't going to go that far this time. Part of creating one's first game is creating a baseline, so that in future games, you can push the boundaries and come up with new and interesting ideas to go beyond the standard that you set at the beginning. However, I would have definitely liked to create something more challenging, and that's just going to have to be something I incorporate next time.


What's with all the references?
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What can I say? I love hiding little easter eggs. The Mayor's office has an Undertale reference, and the Bee and the Ghost outside the CoD are both homages to friends of mine. Dan is too, but I'm sure some of you RMN.net folks already know who he is. ;)


What are your future plans?
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Current plan is to graduate this May, find a job, go to graduate school in 2018 and keep working on games. While I can't share anything concrete for now, please know that I have been brainstorming ideas, and I hope that you will enjoy my next game, whenever it comes out. <3


Thank you all so much for supporting me; I have had a wonderful time making this game, and it has taught me so much. I hope that you all get a chance to play it, and please, leave me any and all feedback! Feedback makes me want to improve! ;D

See you all next time!
~LadyTe-chan

Posts

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NeverSilent
Got any Dexreth amulets?
6299
01/31/2017 08:16 PM
I'm glad you enjoyed the experience of creating and actually finishing your first game so much. That's a success not many beginning RPG makers can claim for themselves. This game will maybe never win any awards, but I'm fairly certain you couldn't have chosen a better way to gather your first experiences in game design. So, well done!


P.S.: I'm sorry I keep harping on about these things, but I still noticed a few errors and problems in the newest version. Should I report them to you once I've finished my playthrough?
LadyTe-chan
690
01/31/2017 08:29 PM
author=NeverSilent
P.S.: I'm sorry I keep harping on about these things, but I still noticed a few errors and problems in the newest version. Should I report them to you once I've finished my playthrough?


Yes please! Depending on how much there is to fix I may release a small patch, but either way it's good to know what I need to keep in mind for the future.
BlackWolf1992
234
01/31/2017 08:36 PM
Anyone can make a game with RPG Maker, but what truly sets one game from another is the developer's willingness to keep at their project, to listen to reviews/advice, and to learn from the mistakes they make.

If you keep doing what you are doing you will be making even better games down the road.
NTC3
5625
02/12/2017 08:19 AM
Hmm, I could've sworn that the altars with "an item disappears in a flash of light/nothing happens", as well as the nightstand you attempt, and fail, to lift, were NetHack references, no?
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