SBESTER'S PROFILE

I've finished many games in the past, but none were ever released ( most are stuck on a different comp and will die there). Don't get me wrong, some were great! But I'll only release a masterpiece. Anyway, I also have many unfinished games, many of which I'll never return to ( even though I still think some of them are great too). Here are a few things I've noticed in completing games vs not completing them:

1) PLOT AHEAD!
and make it good! Make sure you know your characters through and through so that you can anticipate huge plot twists later on. I find when you have these devices in place, you are more eager to make certain points in the game.

2) FIND A FOCUS POINT
What do you like most about RPGs? Is it the story? The battles? Find something that you really like the most, or at least something you think you're the best at like map design or dialogue, then focus all your attention on the point you've chosen. The rest of the elements will eventually fall into place, but you need to set your focus so that you are more likely to WANT to keep making your game. For example, let's say you love map making. Do a lot of this, and I Mean A LOT! Take little breaks in between to focus on other things. You don't want to save them all for last, so just even out your time. Your game may not end up being an all around perfect creation, but in the end, you'll have a finished product that people will remember for the map design (in such a case).

3) DON'T GET TOO TECHNICAL
A POWER UNLEASHED is a project I had that was very ambitious. It was essentially one of those RM2K movie games with minigames in between acts. It is freaking awesome to watch, has some of the best fight scenes ever. IT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED. I challenged myself in every way I could to make the minigames as original as possible, motorcycle chases and whatnot. It's just too complicated to get to work the way you want, and it requires more time testing the thing than it does actually programming. Not a fun deal.

4) STICK WITH YOUR ORIGINAL IDEAS
It's okay to make plot changes and such, and to polish different areas of the game. Thsi is fine. But don't bite off more than you can chew, to use an old phrase. My Sonic The Hedgehog RPG is a good example of this problem. It was essentially programmed as a regular oldschool sonic game, platform gameplay with the jumping and the rings and robotnik fights, etc. It was perfect, and it works well too. It also had rpg battles along the way, which was fine, a little out of focus but hey, it's an rpg too. Then I wanted chao gardens, and races, and bonus rounds, and it went on and on and on and I just added too much. Frankly, I just don't have the drive to do it anymore because it isn't the same game I started to make. It's like 10 games in one, and I'm only 4 stages in!

5) THERE IS A WAY AROUND EVERYTHING IN RPG MAKER
If at first you don't succeed, expect to fail another 50-100 times before you get it right. These programs don't always act the way they should, but there is ALWAYS a way to compensate. Don't give up just because something is not going right, you'll never get back to it. But if this happens multiple times, refer to lesson 3.

6) COMBINE GAMES
Yes, the urge to begin making a new game is always there. You get an idea and suddenly your first project doesn't seem so great anymore. Often there are ways to incorporate these ideas into your original game, however. I once plotted an entire game out called FRAGILE HEARTS, from beginning to end. I also had a final fantasy 1 hack I was doing, a black and white one I called KNIGHTS OF EDEN. Now I have a black and white RPG on RM2K I'm making that combines the two, using the best elements of both, while the previosu projects have been scrapped. This new game has been in the making for about a month and I've been forging onward like never before because by merging these projects, everything is already in place for me to start working on.

Anyways, these are just a few little observations I've made.

I haven't played too many I was highly impressed with, to be honest. Most of them just become to flawed to finish, or aren't long enough.
I did just beat Laxius Power I last night though, and agreeing with a few other, quantity over quality for sure made me want to finish it. And it was just so damned hard, how could I not accept the challenge?
The Way was awesome too, I got stuck early in ep.6 though and never finished. I'll probably replay them one day.

I'm with existence00 on this one, it's impossible to find and I actually was one of the few to like it when it was first released

I've been trying to download the original version from your site for a couple years now, hoping maybe the link would eventually be fixed. Hasn't happened yet... :(