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Milennin
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I create games because I enjoy gaming, telling stories, writing dialogue and drawing. Making a game is all of those things combined into one. However, my greatest passion with game making is designing battle systems that require thought and resource management within battle itself. I'm always looking into improving my skills, so if you've played one of my games, please do leave a piece of feedback on my page.
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A handful of usable writing tips
I like this article, but for a bit of critique from me:
"Add personality"
I do think mentioning facesets would be a good option here too. You can have 2 identical lines of text that will feel very differently, depending on the faceset that accompanies them. And yes, I realise this is solely about writing, but this is writing for a game. There's no need to ignore the widely used faceset option during dialogue.
"Be concise"
I do agree with keeping the amount of text boxes needed to a minimum, but in my opinion, sometimes it's better to split up multiple sentences spoken by the same character just so your text box doesn't show up as a wall to players. Other times, you might want to consider splitting up to change facesets during a character speaking multiple sentences.
"Surprise me"
I think the examples shown there are bad. You show the original line that sounds like pretty serious business to me and change it to a line I'd expect to find in a comedy game. These examples wouldn't work at all if you're going for a serious dialogue.
Other than that, it's a pretty good article. Improvising dialogues is what I always do, but more so because I suck at planning ahead, lol.
"Add personality"
I do think mentioning facesets would be a good option here too. You can have 2 identical lines of text that will feel very differently, depending on the faceset that accompanies them. And yes, I realise this is solely about writing, but this is writing for a game. There's no need to ignore the widely used faceset option during dialogue.
"Be concise"
I do agree with keeping the amount of text boxes needed to a minimum, but in my opinion, sometimes it's better to split up multiple sentences spoken by the same character just so your text box doesn't show up as a wall to players. Other times, you might want to consider splitting up to change facesets during a character speaking multiple sentences.
"Surprise me"
I think the examples shown there are bad. You show the original line that sounds like pretty serious business to me and change it to a line I'd expect to find in a comedy game. These examples wouldn't work at all if you're going for a serious dialogue.
Other than that, it's a pretty good article. Improvising dialogues is what I always do, but more so because I suck at planning ahead, lol.
Five points of designing a boss
Gaming Advice With Professor Know-It-All: B-But I Can’t Compete With That
If you quit a hobby only because there are people who are better at it than you, you won't have anything left to do in your free time, lol. Make a game because you have fun working on it. If other people who try it happen to like it, then that's a nice bonus. That's how I see it.
But really cool article. Loved the music and Billy's story. :D
But really cool article. Loved the music and Billy's story. :D
Please, Stop Writing Happy Endings
I'll start off by saying that I haven't read previous comments on this, so I might be repeating others, but here goes:
I don't agree with the article at all, and find it somewhat poorly written - way longer than necessary, failing to establish what exactly makes a happy ending, and presumes that every game is trying to make a point or tell a message through its story. So, some counter arguments from my point of view:
Making the mistake that every game should be about telling a powerful story or that it needs to help people in some way or another. I'm sorry, but do people really get hurt over a story in which the RPG hero kills the evil overlord who tried to open the gates of Hell to create pandaemonium on Earth?
I'd much rather have the game developer spending his time balancing out the combat system or making a fun side-quest than analysing the game's story so that it might be able to tell some deep message.
Know your audience. The majority of people like to see the good, honest guys win. Exactly for the reason that in real life things often don't work that way. This is why so many stories work this way, yet you think you know better.
I'm pretty sure your average player doesn't take your story this serious. They beat up the bad guy who tried taking over the world, feel good about it for 5 minutes and move on with their lives.
I'm pretty sure that you don't want the mega powerful warlock capable of transforming into a fire-breathing dragon that requires the legendary sword of the 4 elements wielded by a level 99 protagonist to beat to sit in your prison cell and expect things to go well. Besides, sealing the guy away only makes a good plot point for the next game in the series taking place 1000 years in the future. RPG logic has taught us that the best way to get rid of evil is to kill it.
Indeed they are. When the bad guy enslaves half of the continent, rules over countries with an iron fist, burning down villages and turning the planet's landscape into an inhabitable wasteland I think we can all assume the guy's past the point of redemption.
This very largely depends to what extend it happens and for what reasons he uses these kind of tactics. If your game's protagonist does use plenty of deception and trickery to reach his goals, he'd be more like the anti-hero type of character, or maybe he's the story's villain, but the guy you are playing as in the game (and then the happy ending might result in the protagonist taking over the world at the end of the game).
They are not more unrealistic than stories that are nothing but misery and sorrow.
My final thoughts on the subject:
I don't care whether your game's story is happy, bad or something in between that. What matters is the execution, how well it's told and doesn't feel forced. If your story can justify a happy ending and make it feel good, then that's awesome. I'm one who likes happy endings, it makes me feel like the time I spent finishing the game paid off. My guy is the guy who pierced the heavens. He's the one who did the impossible. He's the champion!
If the story ends badly, maybe with the protagonist's death or fails to succeed in what he was trying to do, I might feel like I wasted my time. Why go through all those hours of gameplay when my guy dies or fails at the very end? What was the point? Not saying that a bad ending is impossible to pull off, it sure can work for some stories, but for me, I prefer happy endings.
I don't agree with the article at all, and find it somewhat poorly written - way longer than necessary, failing to establish what exactly makes a happy ending, and presumes that every game is trying to make a point or tell a message through its story. So, some counter arguments from my point of view:
author=Sailerius
It’s easy to invent excuses (“it’s just a story!” “it’s just a game!”) to escape responsibility so that we can happily write whatever kinds of stories we want, but as writers, we wield a tremendous power to transform the world. We need to analyze the stories we’re writing and make sure they’re nudging people in the right direction. When you’re planning out your stories, ask yourself what messages and behavior you’re condoning. Who could your story hurt? Who could your story help?
Making the mistake that every game should be about telling a powerful story or that it needs to help people in some way or another. I'm sorry, but do people really get hurt over a story in which the RPG hero kills the evil overlord who tried to open the gates of Hell to create pandaemonium on Earth?
I'd much rather have the game developer spending his time balancing out the combat system or making a fun side-quest than analysing the game's story so that it might be able to tell some deep message.
author=Sailerius
Whether we intend them to be or not, all narratives are inherently argumentative. Most sports movies argue that the path to victory is through lots of tough practice and teamwork. But is that really self-evident? Can’t you normally overcome someone who’s better than you by cheating? And so these movies often have a subplot where someone gets caught cheating and they suffer for it, arguing that cheaters never prosper. Sometimes, the good guys win even though the opponent is cheating to show just how strong their teamwork is.
But in the real world, cheaters prosper all the time.
Know your audience. The majority of people like to see the good, honest guys win. Exactly for the reason that in real life things often don't work that way. This is why so many stories work this way, yet you think you know better.
author=Sailerius
The problem with happy endings is that they’re inherently prescriptive. A narrative with a happy ending is a guidebook, teaching readers the correct way to live their lives. When you write a narrative with a happy ending, you have a very tall order ahead of you: you need to be aware that you’re condoning the protagonist’s methods and everything they learn.
I'm pretty sure your average player doesn't take your story this serious. They beat up the bad guy who tried taking over the world, feel good about it for 5 minutes and move on with their lives.
author=Sailerius
-In a narrative with a happy ending, killing an antagonist condones capital punishment, violence, and war. Just making them dissolve or fade away or otherwise sugarcoating it doesn’t escape this message; you’re still metaphorically killing them.
I'm pretty sure that you don't want the mega powerful warlock capable of transforming into a fire-breathing dragon that requires the legendary sword of the 4 elements wielded by a level 99 protagonist to beat to sit in your prison cell and expect things to go well. Besides, sealing the guy away only makes a good plot point for the next game in the series taking place 1000 years in the future. RPG logic has taught us that the best way to get rid of evil is to kill it.
author=Sailerius
-In a narrative with a happy ending, having wrongdoers be irredeemable is to claim that rehabilitation is impossible, that once someone has done something wrong that they’re evil for life. This often goes hand in hand with killing them.
Indeed they are. When the bad guy enslaves half of the continent, rules over countries with an iron fist, burning down villages and turning the planet's landscape into an inhabitable wasteland I think we can all assume the guy's past the point of redemption.
author=Sailerius
-In a narrative with a happy ending, if the protagonist uses deception or trickery, then the narrative asserts that the ends justify the means and that lying and deceit are okay.
This very largely depends to what extend it happens and for what reasons he uses these kind of tactics. If your game's protagonist does use plenty of deception and trickery to reach his goals, he'd be more like the anti-hero type of character, or maybe he's the story's villain, but the guy you are playing as in the game (and then the happy ending might result in the protagonist taking over the world at the end of the game).
author=Sailerius
I struggle a lot with writing happy stories (if you’ve played any of my games, this should come as no surprise). When I was young, I just couldn’t relate with happy characters in any way except intense jealousy, and even now I struggle to see happy characters as anything but shallow and unrealistic. But now, remembering the struggles of my childhood and having spoken with others who shared my experiences, I’ve started to wonder if happy stories are not merely unrealistic but actually harmful.
They are not more unrealistic than stories that are nothing but misery and sorrow.
My final thoughts on the subject:
I don't care whether your game's story is happy, bad or something in between that. What matters is the execution, how well it's told and doesn't feel forced. If your story can justify a happy ending and make it feel good, then that's awesome. I'm one who likes happy endings, it makes me feel like the time I spent finishing the game paid off. My guy is the guy who pierced the heavens. He's the one who did the impossible. He's the champion!
If the story ends badly, maybe with the protagonist's death or fails to succeed in what he was trying to do, I might feel like I wasted my time. Why go through all those hours of gameplay when my guy dies or fails at the very end? What was the point? Not saying that a bad ending is impossible to pull off, it sure can work for some stories, but for me, I prefer happy endings.
Think Before You Remake
I didn't realise remaking your old RPG Maker games was actually a thing. I can't imagine wanting to do something like it unless your game really sucked but had a great idea behind it that you were unable to make shine due to a severe lack of skill.
Since I find myself with more ideas for games than I'll ever have the time or patience for to finish in one lifetime, it seems to me like remaking an old game would be a massive waste of time.
The only reason big companies do remakes is because their games were actually insanely popular, sold millions of copies and people attach nostalgic value to those games and will thus guarantee an easy sale.
Since I find myself with more ideas for games than I'll ever have the time or patience for to finish in one lifetime, it seems to me like remaking an old game would be a massive waste of time.
The only reason big companies do remakes is because their games were actually insanely popular, sold millions of copies and people attach nostalgic value to those games and will thus guarantee an easy sale.
A Plea: Don't Make Your First Game a Team Game
You'd think this would be common sense, but no. Sad times when something like this needs its own article. :(
I find it very disrespectful whenever some newbie joins this site (or any other RPG Maker forum) and starts asking for people to join him and make his game for him. Thinking their ideas are worth gold and that people on these forums are just waiting for someone to tell them what to do. I mean, it's not like people here have their own games to work on, right?
If it were up to me, I'd make it a forum rule to have at least 1 completed game before being able to ask for a team to work for you.
I find it very disrespectful whenever some newbie joins this site (or any other RPG Maker forum) and starts asking for people to join him and make his game for him. Thinking their ideas are worth gold and that people on these forums are just waiting for someone to tell them what to do. I mean, it's not like people here have their own games to work on, right?
If it were up to me, I'd make it a forum rule to have at least 1 completed game before being able to ask for a team to work for you.
Five points of designing a boss
author=LightningLord2
2. Even worse is when a game has 1v1 fights that include skills that stun the enemy for one round with no other effect - thanks for wasting time, game!
Could be used to disrupt an enemy's charge attack, though.
Five points of designing a boss
Puzzle Design: How to Make Them Fun and Addicting
One more thing: have a quick and easy way of resetting the puzzle or make it impossible to land in a complete fail state with no point of return (which would force you to reset it). Hate it when it takes longer than necessary to reset a puzzle section when I realise I made a mistake and can't put pieces back to their original locations.
Five points of designing a boss
author=LockeZ
If a skill has no way to respond to it, it's a bad skill. For example, randomly stunning the player for one round, with no way to avoid it. Even if you have a spell or item to remove the effect, it only lasts one round; removing it has almost the same effect as leaving it alone.
Cool article, but one point I don't understand. Stun/Paralyse/Freeze/Petrify are all extremely common conditions in RPGs, and are generally accepted as OK to use as long as they don't get abused.
And there is in fact a good response to random stuns. It forces the player to play more defensively for a turn, especially if a healer or tank gets stunned. Responding to this situation correctly should help the party survive the turn, even with a party member unable to move and support their team.
Unable to prevent a stun is different than being unable to respond to a stun.
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