[RMMV] THE TALE OF "TALE OF ARANATH": WHAT I'VE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY...

Hey everyone! So I started this whole gamedev journey from nothing except a general knowledge of programming... right now I'm on my 10th iteration of Tale of Aranath! I have about 200 downloads of the game across all versions (which I'm really happy about... and honestly surprised) of the game and about 11 subscribers interested enough in the game that they want to see the mundane updates I post in devlogs / blogs.

So as far as I'm concerned, I've already been mildly successful being as Tale of Aranath is my first game ever... like... ever, ever.

And so it begins:

I didn't really mess around with tiny games before jumping into a large project... I approached the gamedev thing with the mindset of "Hey, I have this game I've been thinking about for a really long time - I've just never had the engine, money, or anything else to get started" and then I downloaded RPGMaker MV on a steam sale one day and the engine just sat there for the longest... I think it was probably in my library for around 8 months before I remembered I had bought it. So anyways I open the program and immediately I was like "So this is what a game engine looks like...?" - I mean REALLY not knowing WHAT the hell I was doing AT ALL. So for me... it was a pretty steep learning curve. Hell, I didn't even know about plugins (I would like to say right now, thank God for Yanfly) until after my 2nd month of dicking around with the engine. I would just spend hours and hours watching sumrndmdde's tutorials and trying to emulate what he was doing and TRYING to understand EXACTLY what was happening on the screen and why it was happening... So I was essentially "trying to learn how to build the plane as I was flying it." Every bit of knowledge I managed to hold on to, I found a way to apply it towards the game. Doors, Map transitioning, events... everything. Somewhere along 2... 2.5 months is when the switch kind of flipped ON in my head.

This is when I began testing out new things and truly learning about the engine- what I couldn't do with it or what was impractical to do. I actually found a way (albeit a very long and tedious way) to make a polymorph mechanic for the game during this time and I remember feeling like it was a huge achievement or a milestone - and it was at that point - but I didn't see the real issue: I didn't have a plan of attack for the game except pick up everything I can as fast as I can and hit the ground running.

That process continued until recently - so let's fast forward to now.

I now had the abilities to use the engine, plugins, and the experience required to properly test new things I wanted to do with the game. I learned how to easily make cutscenes. I learned all about switches and variables and how to make the most out of them. I learned all sorts of things! I'm still learning all sorts of things and it's wonderful! So here's all I can really say about what I've learned about the entire process so far:

• For the love of god - if you don't know what the s*#t you're doing - START SMALL.

I never thought I would be the one to say this, but just start a little piece of crap game to familiarize yourself with whichever engine you decide to use. You won't have to go back (as I have shamefully done) and rewrite entire SECTIONS of the game... because it's just a crappy little game that doesn't matter anyways and you can easily scrap it and start fresh with no investment in it. So please, just do yourself that one favor if you DO anything at all.

• Re-watch any/all tutorials you may have seen

This is a necessary evil. Youve seen it like 3 or 4 times already, but i assure you that once you start your big project - youre gonna forget something. Something important. So - and this is what I actually did - until you've gotten to the point where you only need to ask VERY SPECIFIC, CIRCUMSTANTIAL questions, play the tutorials in the background like they're music! You actually learn a lot this way and I can just think time and time again when I wasn't sure about something, I could recall what the tutorial said if I actually thought about it (now it's pretty much automatic).

• Market your game. I mean ACTUALLY market your game

Yeah... If you're trying to sell a commercial game... turns out you have to talk to people (to my dismay). You mayg think that "OH, THIS GAMES SUPER BADASS AND IT'S GOING TO BE AMAZING AND..." Blah bla-Blah bla-Blah. Naw man, doesn't work like that unless you're a fluke (Minecraft)... and I do mean a FLUKE. You have to put in some SERIOUS time networking with other people and marketing your product if you want success. Like... weeks. Months... You get the idea. Keep in mind - ALL WHILE MAKING YOUR GAME. Sounds easy... but you spend 4 hours (minimum) talking to people on forums, social media, email, and everything else EACH DAY and see how big of a wrench it throws into actually getting to work on the game! Which brings me to my next point...

• Have a team; Someone; Anyone; Just get one!

You will be pulled thin in every direction without help. Find help. Buy help. Request help. Whatever you need to do: just get more than two hands working on the project. You will soon be in over your head and, for me at least, hear the phrase "I AM OVERBURDENED!" like a nonstop f*$^ing record in your head as you're rushing around trying to do EVERYTHING. So yeah... don't. Don't do everything... not alone, anyways.

There's a WHOLEEEEEEEEE LOT MORE to say l; but I've been typing this on my phone and it's very inconvenient... So I'll leave it here for now.
Heed my warnings - or don't.

-shyAway

Admin willing to x-pose to a blog post pretty please with sugar on top? :D

(still on my phone)