#land sea entropy

August’s Featured Game: Land, Sea, Entropy

DEVELOPER(S):Rozel
ENGINE: RPGMaker MV  
GENRE: RPG, Fantasy, Adventure
SUMMARY: Land, Sea, Entropy, is a story-heavy action role-playing game with elements of mystery and horror. You live beneath the sea in a small village called Tidemoor. To the North is a labyrinth inhabited by strange monsters… and their numbers are only growing. So as one of Tidemoor’s warriors, your job is to thin the beast’s numbers and protect your town. But you get too greedy, go too far, and reach a point of no return.
You find yourself in a world far different from your own, but it isn’t all full of monsters. There are peaceful places too, areas that are completely safe and untouched by any beasts. As you come to meet the inhabitants of this new land, and seek to return to your own, strange phenomena begins to occur and a mystery surrounding the unknown world unfolds. 

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! 
Hello, I’m Rozel! I began playing around with RPGMaker back in 2014, starting with a trial of RPGMaker XP. This is when I started practicing pixel art more and learned some of the ins and outs of the engine itself.

My hobbies are digital art and fiction writing, so I was interested in combining those with my love of games to make something of my own!

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially?
*Rozel: I’ve always enjoyed role-playing games. Although I had used RPGMaker XP awhile back, I didn’t do much with it. One day as I was looking at a pixel RPG, a sudden thought popped in my mind. “Hey, this is neat… I could make something too.” So I started planning out an RPG of my own, and later bought RPGMaker MV.

Land, Sea, Entropy, is a game involving exploration, action, mystery, and lots of choice-making. You play as a warrior, lost far beyond the comfort of your home. You try to return, but you become connected to something larger and more sinister. Obstacles arise one after the other, and home only seems farther and farther away.

My goal was and still is to make something that had the fast-paced fun of real-time combat, the challenge of puzzles, and the immersion of enjoyable character interactions. The main character falls into the ‘silent protagonist’ type, but this is because the player’s role is more about choices and experiencing the influence they have on others—instead of having a set-in-stone personality. When it comes to character development, it’s the other characters that are given the spotlight.

How long have you been working on your project?
*Rozel: I started forming ideas for the game around March, 2016. It was also around this time when I bought RPGMaker MV, so I was still learning how to use it.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project?
*Rozel: I was partly inspired by a manga called Pandora Hearts. In it, conflict occurs between the characters but they’re all still so likable at the same time. I also love how deeply connected the characters are to the story and each other, and how some of them have so much history together. LSE sort of adopted that interconnectivity, history, and hopefully I can achieve similar likability.

In general, I pull inspiration from lots of different fantasy stories and sometimes folklore.

And, like many RPGMaker devs, I’ve been inspired by Ib in some ways. The atmosphere, the simple yet creative visuals, and the puzzles in it are all great. Ib and other RPGMaker horror games are part of what led LSE to having some elements of horror. But when it comes to the combat style in my game, my main inspirations actually come from online action RPGs. In particular, the side-scrolling ones like LaTale and Elsword that I used to play. In LSE, you’ll be comboing attacks and using your fast reflexes to avoid enemy retaliation.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them?  
*Rozel: Self-doubt. I’ve dealt with this in waves throughout development. I’ve gotten so much positive support about the visuals, but that’s just part of the game. Is playing it actually fun? Will people enjoy the story and characters, beyond the simple descriptions I’ve revealed? I won’t know for sure until I start sending the game to testers, but it isn’t quite ready for that yet.

Sometimes I work on one aspect of the game for so long, repeating it over and over again, so of course it won’t be fun to me in that moment. But when I go back to other parts of the game, I remember that I do actually enjoy playing my own game. It gets me going again. There are still early parts of the game I’ll have to redo, but I’m not going to let myself get stuck remaking endlessly.

So I’ve resolved to complete the game all the way through as it is before going back to update older sections. I’ve learned so much from making LSE, and hopefully I’ll be a better artist, writer, and game designer by the time I get to the end.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept?
*Rozel: Yes! It’s evolved a lot. I was originally going to make something small and more simplistic, but I gradually got more and more ideas about the characters and the world. I’m at a point where I’m satisfied with what I have and the game is sort of shrinking again as I pick out the best ideas to use.

The tone is also a bit different. The plot was going to be nonsensical and comedic, which I’m honestly just not that good with. I still hope to put in some comedic flair, but the project is taking a more serious and in some cases darker turn.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone?
*Rozel: I’m working alone right now, though I’ve gotten great feedback and advice from friends! I prefer working alone, it’s easier for me to make things closer to how I imagine them. I tend to have weird way of organizing and plotting stuff out, too, so it would probably be tough to keep others in the loop with my mess of ideas.

What was the best part of developing the game?
*Rozel: I love seeing my ideas come to life, and it’s really satisfying to feel like I’ve finally figured something new out (even if I really haven’t)! There’s a lot involved in developing a game, so you sort of have to become a jack of all trades if you’re going to develop solo. I’ve been able to pick up new skills and improve on skills I already had, it’s been lots of fun.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?)
*Rozel: Every character has pieces of me in them, and lots of big differences too, but the character which stands out as being the most similar is Vyn March. She’s introverted, keeps a positive attitude about things, and writing is her hobby. Much of her character is built on the experiences I’ve had in the past, but I won’t go into it further because I don’t want to spoil things!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently?
*Rozel: Maybe I could’ve spent more time preparing, maybe I could’ve set better rules of consistency to follow when designing the game. But I needed to mess up a few times in order to learn. I think everything I did helped lead me on the right path, even if I had a shaky start. Mistakes are all a part of the process, so I don’t have any regrets.

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is?
*Rozel: There’s a really small chance I might make something that takes place in the same universe, with the same rules of magic and so on. As for the characters, their stories will have reached a conclusion at the end of the game. I don’t think I’ll have anything more to tell about them and will move on to new characters for the next project.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release?
*Rozel: I really hope that I can affect someone in a positive way, whether that be through the characters and writing or just by providing something fun to play.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? 
*Rozel: I think the worst thing would be releasing it with glaring bugs and plot-holes I somehow didn’t notice, but that’s what testers are for. Fingers crossed that nothing is missed!

Question from last month’s featured dev: Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing?
*Rozel: I do play RPGMaker games occasionally. Getting familiar with what other devs come up with in the engine is a good way to gain inspiration.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs?
*Rozel: Critique is a useful tool, but I want to add to that. If someone is rude in their critique, it doesn’t necessarily invalidate their opinion. It definitely doesn’t mean they’re right, but there’s still a chance you can find useful information.

Also, sometimes people are just really bad at wording things so they come off as rude when they don’t intend it. So don’t write off a suggestion just because it seems mean-spirited. At the same time, everyone has a different idea of what makes a good game. Don’t make changes only to please someone else, make the game you want to make!

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We mods would like to thank Rozel for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved! 

Remember to check out Land, Sea, Entropy if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum 

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