MARREND'S PROFILE

First things first, why did you start using RPG Maker? (And the associated questions, How long have you been using it? How did you find the program in the first place?)

As far as my history of making games in general, that story goes way back. The first game I ever made was on my Commodore 64 using the Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit. I must have been between the ages of seven and nine, so we're talking somewhere in the mid 80's. I'm not really sure when it was, but at some point, me, or my brother, found this program called RPG Maker 95. I played with that a bit, but nothing substantial was ever made. At some point, I got my hands on RPG Maker 2000. I didn't produce anything substantial with that engine either, but my brother managed to churn out a quaint game called Legacy, which I had a small hand in developing.

Can you tell me a little about the first games you created, and how long it took you to build up the skills to create something (what I'm assuming is) your current project, Matsumori Days?

Destruction Derby, the game I made with Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit, was very basic. I made all the graphics from scratch. Considering that I was barely ten years old at the time, saying that the game looked like crap would be an overstatement. However, it was a complete game, regardless of how bad it was. The next complete game I attempted was with RMG Maker 2000. It was a little something based of a book idea that was floating around in my head, but the end result was pretty weak. Mostly because what ideas I did have needed more fleshing out. As I mentioned before, I worked on Legacy in it's original form, but that's more my brother's game than mine.

As for the origin of my skills, I could blame it all on Heroes of Might and Magic 2 - The Succession Wars and Jack Hartman's Universal Game Editor, which go back as far as 1995, or thereabouts. After a few tests and trials with UGE, I started to get a feel for how data is stored. I became so good at using UGE, that once I find a traditionally large number, such as experience or gold for RPG's, I'd be able to find just about any other variable one would want to alter in a game. Indeed, I've been known to use the word "uge" instead of "hack" on various occasions.

Can you tell me how long it takes you to create something like Matsumori Days?

Matsumori Days has a particularly interesting story of project development. I originally made it in RMG Maker XP in response to my first play through of Shin Megami Tensei - Persona 4. I worked on it from the end of February 2009 to the beginning of April 2009. I ported it in RPG Maker VX sometime in June of 2009. I did a few revisions and additions, and ended up with a version that I was happy with by around February of 2010. At some point, I decided to look for communities that supported RPG Maker games. In May of 2010, I came across RMN. I was totally blown away with the kinds of things I saw there. I saw games like Avarice, and Hero's Realm, and started thinking that I could probably get away with tossing Legacy Reborn in RMN's direction, but I figured the then-current format for Matsumori Days would not be very well received. I needed to rework the game from practically the ground up. I've been working on Matsumori Days since.

Did you, or do you, ever plan to charge people for your RPG Maker games? Or is money not really an issue?

Money is not a a consideration at this point. Perhaps, at some point, after I become more confident in my skills, I will branch out and work on a more professional basis. I'm not sure if I would use RPG Maker as my engine of choice, though. Something tells me that I would want my own custom engine, or at the very least something of my own creation in Sphere. And since just thinking about making a custom engine gives me a headache...

What do you think of other people and even companies now that are selling games created in RPG Maker?

I was not aware of such entities. It does make me wonder what manner of game that could be offered so that people would want to pay for a game made with RPG Maker!

Why do you think so many people create these amazingly detailed games and make them available for free?

I'm sure there's a host of reasons why people do what they do. Perhaps some just want to share a bit of entertainment goodness. Some might be working towards the skills necessary for a position in the larger gaming industry. Others just want to make that "perfect" fan game that hits all the right references for the core base, but is still accessible to non-fans. Whatever the reason, I'm sure the gaming world will not be harmed by imaginative creations.

And finally, do you think games created with RPG Maker are looked down upon just because they've been made with a game creator tool?

There does seem to be a certain stigma attached to using resources that is not one's own. But I think it's important to know what one can't do. Personally, there's a lot of stuff I know I can't do. Music composition, graphics, animation, basically the things that make games flashy. Thus, the pre-made resources of RPG Maker are a true godsend for me.