Don’t make your dream RPG as your first RPG Maker project.
RPG Maker is from my personal experience, the roughest place to start if you over-scope and mistake quantity for quality. If you do aim for RPG Maker try to have either one of these disciplines down: Storytelling or Gameplay. If you have neither, you have no sauce. And I hate seeing people waste years of hard work and is flabbergasted when their game has nothing special going for it.
An RPG is difficult, you need
- Progression Design
- Quest Design
- Narrative Design
- Combat Design
- Art Design/Music Design/Sound Design
- And so much more that I can’t name all.
The danger of using RPG Maker is that the engine already gives you
- Combat systems
- Dialogue systems
- Inventory management
- Quest framework
It lowers the technical barrier, but not the design barrier. Don't get caught up in making
-> 40 skills of slightly different variations (hit once, hit twice, hit three times)
-> 80 crafting recipes
-> 120 items, weapons and armors
And forget
-> "Why am I playing this game?"
Is it
-> Because the gameplay/combat is unique and interesting (I get to make unique class builds, the enemies offer dynamic challenges, and managing the party is fun?)
-> Because the story is compelling? (self-explanatory)
I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ and poke my nose where it doesn’t belong. Just know what you're getting into.
Kind of a rant over.
Opinions welcome. Do you think I’m overreacting or is there some truth to it?