Revo's Game Making Tips

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. This is a list of tips I have made and learned throughout my game making experience.

General Game Making Tips:

1. Don't make a fan-game as your first game. Why? Cause Fan-games tend to be difficult. Also, your awesome idea for a Naruto RPG will probably turn out to not be as great as you think. If you wait, you'll realize what makes a good game.

2. Before you start a game, look at other people's games. Go into the Projects area and take a look at some of the good games. You'll see that they have good stories, unique gameplay, and maps that more than 5 minutes were spent making them.

3. Don't get lazy. Don't take shortcuts. It will seriously hurt your game. I would know. I'm a lazy person. My game tends to suffer because of it.

4. If you're not happy with it, improve it. They say the artist is their toughest critic. Well, in game making, if you think the game is crap, it probably is. So, just work on it and you'll figure out what you need to change. If you can't figure it out yourself, ask others how they think it could be improved.

5. Work one 1 or 2 projects at a time. Don't do like me and do 8378387209 different projects. I lost most of them in a lighting strike, and I now find that it's a lot easier to focus on 1 game. Remember, quality over quantity.

6. Play games. Other people's games on this site, PS2 games, arcade games, whatever. Find what's fun in them and what's not fun. Figure out a way to put the fun stuff in your game and keep the not fun stuff out.

7. Plans are not pointless. Don't just start mapping a game without any storyline or plot planned out (Unless you're just trying to get better at mapping.) Try to get as much detail into a design before you start making it. It'll make it a lot easier in the long run.

8. Don't try to make a MMO as your first game. Yes, MMOs are awesome. Yes, there are programs like Eclipse and stuff that say it's easy. And yes, they lie. Making an MMO is not easy. Even with Eclipse, there are some technical things that can be quite hard to get past. I would wait until you have a firm standing in game development before you attempt an online game.

9. Be persistent. If you think your game is crap, don't just give up. Keep trying. You may just hit that breakthrough that will make your game the next Project of the Month.

10. No one paying attention to your game? Screw them. Usually, new games get a little bit of attention, but then start to lose it. This is because, it starts out as a neat new idea, then it becomes old. When you finally get a major update to your game, attention will usually come back.

11. Don't post little updates like "I finished 3 new maps!" I'm going to be honest. We don't really care. What about that ABS? Or that minigame you were putting in? If you're gonna say something about your maps, do stuff like this... "I've completed about 50% of the maps." and... "90% of maps are finished." We don't care about 3 maps. Over half of the maps? Yes, we'd like to hear about that accomplishment.

12. Get a team. almost no professional games are made by one person. You're gonna need back-up if you want a good game. And don't just recruit your friends. Yeah, they may be cool, but you want people with real skills.

13. Someone insulted your game?! *gasp* Guess what? There are jerks out there. Ignore them and move on. If they continue harassing you, get someone in charge.

14. Remember this quote: "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." Don't change your game to try and make everyone love it. Because, you'll simply fail.

15. Cliches. Are. Unavoidable. Everything has been done before. Nothing is really new. The only thing you can really do is make it interesting enough that people will finish the game. Every game will have cliches, you just have to tweak them in a way that's interesting.

16. If you have come to game design thinking that you will make the next "big thing", you are sorely mistaken. If you claim to have the greatest idea ever, you are most likely wrong. You're also an egotistical bastard. Game designers are humble people. Hell, can you actually name the guy who originally came up with the concept of Final Fantasy? You might be able to, but most people can't. If you're in game design for the glory, leave now.

17. For the love of all that is holy, learn to take criticism. I've seen a ton of newbies come on this site, post their game, and then get absolutely pissed when we tell them ways to improve it. Just cause your buddies think the game is awesome, it doesn't mean it is.

18. Learn some skills. Learn to draw well. Learn to compose music. Learn to map awesomely. Learn to script. Learn something that will be useful, and people will be more willing to do some work for you in exchange for you doing some for them.


RPG Making Tips:

1. It's the little things that count. Minigames. They can make dull moments fun. And they are usually quite simple to put in. There's quite a few event-based ones here on this site.

2. Serious or silly? Serious RPGs tend to get a bit boring unless you keep the action constant. Add some humor in it to keep things lively. Add a comical character. Or an absurd town. Trust me, it'll help.

3. Religion. Lot's of people avoid it in real life, but in RPGs adding a religion can help with story problems. You don't have to make it insanely detailed, but just give the people of your world something to have faith in. It also helps with creating believable characters. It's always kinda odd when you're talking to a nun about the world-wide religion that you've never heard of and you're near the end of the game.

4. Characters. Detailed and believable characters can make the most cliche story come to life. Bob could be going to defeat the Evil King Raul, but if he has interesting quirks and a detailed personality, it could be a unique story. You could have the most unique story, but if you have bland characters, the story will be lost.

5. RPGs always have this problem that I hate. 1 desert, 1 mountain range, 1 snowy area, 1 field. Somebody go check a globe. Guess what? There's lots of deserts, even more mountain ranges, entire countries that are snowed over, and more plains than anyone cares to count. Make yourself a realistic world.

6. Immune characters?! Have you ever noticed how almost no characters in RPGs get sick? Or so injured that they have to sit a battle out? I think it's time for a change. Give your characters real status problems.

7. Weak girls. Yeah, I know lots of girls that could kick my dad's ass. And at 300lbs, he not very small. Also, something else. If I was a girl... and if I was traveling the world fighting monsters.... I would not wear a skirt/dress and heels. Give me a pair of pants and some boots.


And this tip should be a rule.... 8. If you're gonna make an RPG Maker game, CHANGE THE DATABASE AT LEAST A LITTLE. I am SO sick of seeing the spells, Fire, Greater Fire, and Mass Fire. And if your main character is named Arshes... I will personally come and put your game into a meatgrinder. (Unless, of course, you are making an Arshes game)


I've learned a lot of these by making the mistakes in my own projects. Well, that's all that I have for now. I might update this later if I think of some more tips. (Plus I know I've forgotten stuff.)

I hope this helps someone. Comments are welcome. Thank you.

That is all.

Nice list. It should help get people started.

Great stuff. +rep!

Very nice tips, Revo.
These things are what most people need to understand before they start their projects.

Wow. Very good tips, will make a good reference for newbies to rpgm.

"7. Weak girls huh?" that one made me laugh. Basically, make all classes and/or characters equal. No one wants to play a under powered character, unless its a temporary storyline kinda deal.  Skirts and high heals? that depends on the character and/or class. One of the games I've always loved "The 7th Saga / Snes" the single girl actor in it wore a long pretty dress... however she was the strongest magic user in the game.

"6. Status" I'd say just one thing here. Don't take it too far. In real life it can take a month for a broken bone to heal. And if you get in a fight you'll just rebreak it. Put that into a game and you'll have serious issues. "Fallout / Pc" is an example of a good status effect game. In Fallout you could have your eye, leg, arm, whatever, damaged and it would take a great long time to heal unless you traveled to a doctor and payed him to quick heal you. <not real life but closer>. If your going to use that type of status effect make sure the player can see the status effect clearly and easily so as not to frustrate them.

Don't forget one of the biggest 2 of all.

Don't make the final boss God, and then get whooped by perfectly mortal heroes with swords and shields and magic like he was human. FFVI pissed me off for that reason(Kefka became god, then got beat.) Also, don't have the villain meet the main character, then say something like 'you're not worth killing' and let him live to fight another day. No insane person in their right mind would do that.

Instead, how about doing something like having the main characters be killed by the final boss? Like, you know, game over at the very end. Let the evil guy rule the world, the quest failed and whatnot. That'd be new and interesting.

Very nice got some good tips in there.

Instead, how about doing something like having the main characters be killed by the final boss? Like, you know, game over at the very end. Let the evil guy rule the world, the quest failed and whatnot. That'd be new and interesting.

The problem with such an ending in a good-guy oriented game is that the sense of achievement at the very end is a crucial part, and removing it will take half the fun. If the purpose of all the epicing is to destroy the villain at the end, people will be very angry when they do all that work raising their party to level 100 just to die finally.

Sweeto tips. I'd  like to comment on the NO ARSHES law. First off, what kindof a name is Arshes, second, if you're too lazy to change it or think of another one, you shouldn't be making games. Honestly . Also, another Suggestion:

USE PROGRAMS!! There are some great programs out there that are useful for thinking up names and for working with graphics. I personally use an AL Bhed translator that a LoTR Fan made up to make up ALL of my Char names!

Instead, how about doing something like having the main characters be killed by the final boss? Like, you know, game over at the very end. Let the evil guy rule the world, the quest failed and whatnot. That'd be new and interesting.

The problem with such an ending in a good-guy oriented game is that the sense of achievement at the very end is a crucial part, and removing it will take half the fun. If the purpose of all the epicing is to destroy the villain at the end, people will be very angry when they do all that work raising their party to level 100 just to die finally.

I did this for a game. People were unbelievably pissed off. One of your characters went off and joined forces with the evil at the end of the game, so you had to fight 2 with only 3 characters. The boss was supposed to win, but only after one of the longest battles ever. Anyone remember Maia 2K3?

Sorry if my posts come across as spammy, but before I can actually start looking at other peoples' projects I have to post some.

I have been in the process of realising a personal RPG dream of mine for several months, but only just discovered this site. Initially I was very lost, but this post was the perfect introduction to the site and generally a great source of help for someone who isn't particularly advanced regarding RPG Maker 2000. Now, in response to the original post...

Sorry, but I am guilty of that "One desert, one forest, one mountain" syndrome, but it's more to do with the size of the actual game. The world map is very snowy (because that was the kind of setting I wanted) but each of the individual dungeons has its own theme. If I had like seventy maps, I would obviously have several deserts, forests etc.

The thing I TOTALLY agreed with is the database editing. When I started creating my game, that was one of the first places I went. Disregarding all the complicated things like graphics, the database is the easiest thing to change, so CHANGE IT YOU MUST. I went there with all kinds of ideas for weapons, spells, characters, even properties, because I had some kind of IDEA about the game I wanted to create. And it's all laid out in such an easy-to-use manner that practically anyone who knows Windows can use it.

As for the "weak girl" thing, well there is one in my game but she's the comedy character, so I think it's reasonably justifiable.

Sorry if my posts come across as spammy, but before I can actually start looking at other peoples' projects I have to post some.

I have been in the process of realising a personal RPG dream of mine for several months, but only just discovered this site. Initially I was very lost, but this post was the perfect introduction to the site and generally a great source of help for someone who isn't particularly advanced regarding RPG Maker 2000. Now, in response to the original post...

Sorry, but I am guilty of that "One desert, one forest, one mountain" syndrome, but it's more to do with the size of the actual game. The world map is very snowy (because that was the kind of setting I wanted) but each of the individual dungeons has its own theme. If I had like seventy maps, I would obviously have several deserts, forests etc.

The thing I TOTALLY agreed with is the database editing. When I started creating my game, that was one of the first places I went. Disregarding all the complicated things like graphics, the database is the easiest thing to change, so CHANGE IT YOU MUST. I went there with all kinds of ideas for weapons, spells, characters, even properties, because I had some kind of IDEA about the game I wanted to create. And it's all laid out in such an easy-to-use manner that practically anyone who knows Windows can use it.

As for the "weak girl" thing, well there is one in my game but she's the comedy character, so I think it's reasonably justifiable.

Agreed on the size of the game thing. Some games cannot have multiple deserts and stuff because they are short or are in a small area.

The comedy character does justify that. I think you're doing quite well.

I think it's also important that someone shouldn't be concerned on making their game EPIC or have CUSTOM WHATEVER HERE so that they'll finish something and mess along with the program first :3

Games shouldn't be epic, at least free games shouldn't be epic simply cause there are so many that people who come out with games and no one wants to spend 40 hours completing them.

Custom this or that shouldn't really matter.

Fun should matter.

my games epic and fun...and I spent 2 years making and re editing- re adding, re vamping, re -reing...ing
we'll its not epic in internet terms nut it has a good plot to it...and its an ABS!

I'm quite an experience user, but even I learned from this. Well, not really, it's all stuff I've heard before, but IT IS ALWAYS GOOD, EVEN WHEN YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A PROFESSIONAL, TO REVIEW BASIC SKILLS TO A GOOD GAME LIKE THIS.

Someone sticky this. It definitely deserves to be said.

A high five for this!

I very very much liked this thread.. Good job.. very helpful

Great tips, I am sick of the cliche storylines, characters, events, and places.
I once found a grand master list of cliches for RPG's...its always nice to see originality
within the story and game.

For me though the music is number one tied with a detailed and unique story that is.
Thats kind of why I stay away from re-making an RPG that already exists....

Added tips 15, 16, 17, and 18. Read and learn. 15 does have a few exceptions, but VERY few.

Also, I should bold, underline, and color tip #17. >.>

Your head is in the right places, but you're having a bit of difficulty getting your point across at times. I would suggest rereading a few of those and making sure you said things the way you wanted to say them- some of those rules may partially discredit you as an authority on the subject. : o

I see what you mean. I'll go back through and edit things. Thanks for that, Arrow.

Actually, if you could tell me what parts you think I screwed up on, it might help me fix it better.

It's a pretty good list to keep around to read from time to time even if you're not that new to game making, to keep reminding you that years of experience don't  protect you from making mistakes.

Maia's gamemaking tips:

New Town - New Quest - New Town - New Quest - New Town - New Quest - Old Town with New things unlocked method from Dragon Warrior works best. Because then everything looks fresh and it makes people feel like they are accomplishing something. Then you revisit one of those things so people can recall areas that were not unlocked, but they are now unlocked.

Quick text like 'kill the monster' works best. I have heard far too many comments like... too much reading. Plus having 2 pages of dialog, banter and character building can lose the message you are trying to convey like... "kill the monster!"

Cliche storylines are not appealing as cliche storylines with a twist. Cliche we have to kill the monster was turned into we have to throw a ring into a volcano for Lord of the Rings (and kill a series of monsters between).

Cliche and stereotypical characters work best. Look at the Simpsons and Lord of the Rings or every sitcom that has the lovable moron, the smart one, the normal one and the trouble maker. See every single NBC sitcom in history for that. By using stereotypical characters it makes them more familiar to the player, reader, or viewer.

Cliche and stereotypical characters work best. Look at the Simpsons and Lord of the Rings or every sitcom that has the lovable moron, the smart one, the normal one and the trouble maker. See every single NBC sitcom in history for that. By using stereotypical characters it makes them more familiar to the player, reader, or viewer.

I'll consent to some extent. . . However, I believe there is a fine line between stereotypical and archetypical . In my mind, stereotypes are conventions that hidebound people resort to because they think in terms of existing material, and archetypes are collections of characteristics that resonate so well with the human psyche that they demand to be expressed and to impact.