DEVELOPER(S):Kasey ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace GENRE: RPG, Exploration, Comedy WARNINGS: Blood SUMMARY: Jimmy dreams of the most fantastic things. He dreams of big yellow fields of sunflowers. He dreams of living woodwinds and talking mice. He dreams of his mom. He dreams of his dad. He dreams of all the video games he’s played with his uncle. He dreams of his brother standing beside him like a ten-foot giant. Sometimes he has nightmares, too. Jimmy’s about to go on the adventure of his lifetime - and no one’s going to know about it but him.
Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!
Introduce yourself! *Howdy! My name’s Kasey, and I’m the lone dude working on Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass. You might also know me as Housekeeping on rpgmaker.net. I’ve been working with RPG Maker seriously for about six/seven years now, I think. I was also the developer of A Very Long Rope to the Top of the Sky, The God of Crawling Eyes, and The Heart Pumps Clay; I was also one of the developers that worked on Born Under the Rain (I mainly did the script and the music on it). Before that I played with RPG Maker on and off for years; I even made a 5-10 hour game on the Playstation version of RPG Maker in high school, which is clear and indisputable proof that I was the most popular guy in school. I also have played guitar for fourteen years, have an MA in English with an emphasis on creative writing, and if you put a dog in front of me I will pet it until it gets tired of me.
What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Kasey: Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is about a lot of stuff, but I think that what it’s most about is depicting what it’s like to be a shy, introverted kid. It’s also about success and the pressure Americans put on themselves to be successful, the importance of empathy, imagination, video games, fear, family, etc. Basically, these are all things important in childhood, so I think that’s the umbrella theme that works best. For Jimmy’s subject matter, I was inspired by several things, so it’s hard to pin it down. But, in a more practical sense, I’d been wanting to move forward and make a commercial project since I first started seriously working with RPG Maker, but I always thought that I would have to find a team. So, I think what inspired me the most to actually get on this path by myself was seeing in-development screenshots of Lisa. I said, “Hey, this guy’s doing everything by himself, and his art style might be simplistic, but it looks great, so why can’t you do that?”
How long have you been working on your project? *Kasey: I’ve been working on Jimmy for about two-and-a-half years. Before that, I was working on a shorter version of this game for a half a year or so, so let’s call it an even three.
Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Kasey: Oh yeah! Earthbound is the first and most obvious influence; there’s some tonal similarities, but I mainly used it as visual inspiration. I was also inspired by Yume Nikki’s approach to using setting as a form of characterization; that opened up a whole new world of storytelling for me, which is pretty exciting. Jimmy essentially has a “class system” in that he can imagine different monsters and change his abilities; this was heavily influenced by Final Fantasy 5’s class system. The field actions are somewhere between Breath of Fire and Lufia 2/Wild Arms’s tools; they give Jimmy new ways to interact with the environment, including solving some basic puzzles, but the game isn’t puzzle-heavy like Lufia 2.
Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Kasey: Yeah; in a game this size, you run into all sorts of things. I think the biggest challenges for me tend to be with drawing. I’ve got a lot of experience writing, composing, and eventing, but I’m a middling-to-poor artist, so I’ve had a major learning curve there. There’s not much of a story towards overcoming my artistic deficiencies; I just keep at it. The cool thing is that I can see some clear progress from when I started, and that keeps me on task.
Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Kasey: Here’s a boring answer: basically, no, my initial concept is the same. Well, that’s not entirely true; like I mentioned earlier, Jimmy was originally a much shorter game that wasn’t going to be commercial (it was also drawn with crayons and looked like garbage), but, once I committed to making a full-length RPG, it’s been the same. This is probably because this isn’t my first rodeo, so I knew what I could do and planned within the boundaries of the engine.
What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? *Kasey: I am…utterly alone. Boohoohoohoohoo!
What was the best part of developing the game? *Kasey: I like writing/eventing scenes the most, which sucks, because it’s a relatively short part of the process, and it’s one of the last things I do.
Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Kasey: There are things I learned–mainly about drawing–that I would have liked to know when I first started. Like, I wish that I would have known what saturation was; yeah, that’s how clueless I was. My early work was super saturated and is an eyesore; I had to go back and lower the saturation a bit. I would have liked to know I could hold ctrl when using the select tool in Graphics Gale and push the arrow keys to test to make sure that tiles looped correctly. I would have liked to know that you can create a picture file that’s the same size as the resolution of your game, place images on that, and use the x/y coordinates to determine where your pictures using the move/show picture commands will end up. That’s the kind of stuff I wish I knew–would have saved me so much time early on.
Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Kasey: It’s going to be a standalone game. I have a very rough idea for another game in the same universe, but I’ve got a lifetime of ideas, so I would need a very good reason (inspirationally) to pursue that.
What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Kasey: I just want to see people enjoying it!
Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Kasey: Yeah: I’m scared to death of marketing. That’s why I’ve been dragging my feet on getting a promotional video together (don’t worry, I’ll get to it this summer). I’m afraid I won’t be able to reach enough people and not many people will play it. I’m afraid that the coolest thing I’ve ever done will be overlooked.
Question from last month’s featured dev: Which character from your game do you relate to the most? Why? *Kasey: This is an easy one: Jimmy. I’m still a fairly quiet adult when I’m with a large group of people, but when I was a kid, I was so, so shy. I remember when I was a kid at church camp (don’t laugh, I’m from Texas; this was inescapable), we were doing some exercise in compliments, and the camp counselor said that I was quiet, but he could tell that “the wheels were always turning,” and I think that was a pretty accurate description of me–now to a degree, but especially then–and that’s what I’m trying to depict with Jimmy–all those wheels.
Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Kasey: The best advice I can give you is to get into every aspect of game development. Make a short project–maybe an hour or so–and do EVERYTHING. Make all the graphics, make all the music, experiment with every single eventing command, make little puzzles, change the window skin–do it all. Some of it’s going to feel like cleaning the gutters, but you’re going to get so much perspective. Even if you end up working on a team later where all you do is draw character cut-ins, you’ll at least know to an extent what your other team members are going through, and that’s IMPORTANT. Also, play lots of games with a critical eye; think about why things are engaging and how they could be improved. Culture is built off of itself, so learn from the past and make it better.
We mods would like to thank Kasey 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!
DEVELOPER(S):Lydia ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace GENRE: Horror, Puzzle, Exploration WARNINGS: Blood, minor jumpscares SUMMARY: Aria is a bookworm who loves adventure stories and always spends her free time in the library. One day she falls asleep while reading a book and when she wakes up the library is closed. Believing that they forgot to wake her up, she tries to find a way out… In that moment she becomes the protagonist of her own story.
Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!
Introduce yourself! *Hi! I’m Lydia, the developer and artist of Aria’s Story. This is my first time developing a game but I’ve been in the RPG Maker fandom for almost 4 years!
What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Lydia: Aria’s Story is a horror game about the adventures of a girl trapped in a library. She will interact with many books while trying to find a way out! One of the main characteristics of the game is the contrast between cute and creepy.
What inspired me were games like Ib and The Witch’s House. I love writing stories and they inspired me to create my own game.
How long have you been working on your project? *Lydia: Almost 2 years, I started working on this game on March 2015.
Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Lydia: Basically other horror games like Ib, The Witch’s House and Dreaming Mary. Also, many tales and books influenced maps of the game. Madoka Magica and Harry Potter also influenced some aspects of the game!
Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Lydia: I think the biggest challenge was the beginning. I didn’t know how to use RPG Maker so I spent a whole month trying to learn how to use it! Sometimes it was a bit frustrating because some events didn’t work how I wanted.
Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Lydia: It doesn’t differ much from the initial concept, I always wanted this to be a game about a girl trapped in a library. I think the biggest change was the true ending of the game, but this happened before the game was announced.
What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? *Lydia: It was just me and two friends (Kali and MerúM) that helped me with character designs and sprites. Before the release of the demo I recruited the voice actors (Rindre, HonorPress, Adox) and the composer (Adam). Rindre, Aria’s voice actress, also made the english translation of the demo!
What was the best part of developing the game? *Lydia: Programming cutscenes and making maps! I love when I see what I had in mind turned into a part of the game and the characters interact with each other, I feel like all the effort was worth it. Also, another important part of developing a game is that it allowed me to meet wonderful people!
Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Lydia: When I was planning the game I decided that different actions and decisions would affect the ending the player would receive.
However, I recently decided that only the actions and decisions that the player makes during the last area will affect the ending they will receive. This way, the player won’t need to replay the whole game only to obtain another ending. I had to change some dialogues and it was a bit tedious, I wish I had planned it better.
Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *This game doesn’t need a sequel or a prequel. If I decide to make another game, it will be something new.
What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Lydia: I hope people who aren’t very interested in books will find them more appealing after playing the game!
Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Yes! I hope the game doesn’t have bugs when I release it, or at least not a bug that will crash the game or something like that.
Question from last month’s featured dev: Is there anything you’ve added to your game for no other reason than because you’re hoping fans will get a kick out of it? *Lydia: Yes, the game has a lot of jokes and interesting dialogues related to books that I hope the players will enjoy! I thought about making references to other games when the player interacts with some bookshelves, but I decided to discard the idea.
Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Lydia: Just do it, don’t be afraid!
Take your time thinking the plot and what kind of game do you want to make, take a rest if you need it! Keep in mind that you don’t need to do all of it by yourself, you can make your own team! There’re many talented people in the community, you can try asking them for help. It will be difficult at the beginning, but it will become easier as you progress. All the effort will be worth it, I promise! You just need to have a lot of patience and keep a positive attitude!
We mods would like to thank Lydia 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 Aria’s Story if you haven’t already! See you next month!
DEVELOPER(S):Skitty,Kwillow,Ellie,Natasha ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace GENRE: Western, Drama, Farming Simulation WARNINGS: N/A SUMMARY: Wishbone is a character drama-slash-farming sim game that takes place in a wild west-inspired setting. The player takes the role of a farmer, fresh off the wagon in a new town and tasked with building a successful ranch. Wishbone might seem sleepy and mundane at first, but there’s trouble brewing on the horizon: a fierce, prolonged standoff between the lawmen and the outlaws that will decide the fate of the town itself.
Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!
Introduce yourself! *Skitty: Hello! I’m Skitty, a scruffy weirdo whose hobbies include drawing, programming, and cooking. I also happen to be the coder, project manager, and one of the main artists. In 2014, I released my first game, Theo’s Big Adventure, but actually haven’t really been involved in the community… I’m a bit of a hermit.
*Katie: Hi! I’m Wishbone’s portrait artist, and I also do some other less easily categorizable stuff, like writing, spriting, concept work and research! This is the first game I’ve ever been a part of the team on, if you don’t count an unfinished choose-your-own-adventure game I made in Flash when I was 13.
What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Skitty: It’s kind of a funny story. Several years ago, I used to be part of the Fallout: New Vegas roleplay community on tumblr. Just for fun, a few of my friends and I came up with an alternate universe where instead of living in the post-apocalyptic desert, all the characters lived in the wild west instead. We ended up having a lot of fun with the idea! My friend, Ellie (who is also working on this project as a writer), suggested the idea of an Animal Crossing-esque game based on that setting… and I, having coding knowledge and having made a game before, volunteered to make it. The struggle between the four central characters remains the same as the initial concept, but the project and the people of the town have evolved a lot since then.
How long have you been working on your project? *Skitty: I started it around April 2015, so it’s a few months short of two years old. Progress has been slow because I’m also juggling a job and other obligations, but even during busy times, I typically manage to work on Wishbone every week. Every couple weeks, new features get done and updates are posted to the dev blog.
Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Skitty: The three biggest ones are Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and Red Dead Redemption. From Animal Crossing, we have have befriending townspeople and decorating your house. From Harvest Moon, we have the farming mechanics and romance. From Red Dead Redemption, we have hunting, foraging, and outlaw bounties. And I suppose Fallout: New Vegas deserves a shoutout for kicking the whole project off, albeit indirectly.
*Katie: I’ve liked Wild West settings for a while, but this project has made me go big on trying to absorb as much information from both the actual time period and from media as I can. Lately I’ve been trying to cram as many old Westerns into my eyeballs as I can so I get a good picture of the (romanticized) aesthetic and shorthands that have been used for this genre in the past.
Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Skitty: Honestly, we’ve been fighting against RPG Maker’s limitations since the beginning, since the game we’re making is quite unlike a top-down RPG.
I would say that the biggest difficulty so far has been the patch of code that manages animals aging, getting sick, eating, giving birth, etc when the day rolls over. Originally, each animal event had an autorun page that would process that information when the player entered the barn map, but that would get very messy if the player didn’t enter that map all day. It got even messier if the player sent the animals in the barn out to pasture! To solve this, I first had to learn the order in which autorun events are evaluated (tip: it’s determined by the event ID number!). But that wasn’t enough… as more features were implemented, it became obvious that that approach just didn’t work. There were too many conflicts, and every time I’d fix something, I’d have to go through 20+ animal events, each with 40 pages, and change something over, and over and over… it was incredibly inefficient, typo-prone, and hard on the wrist. Eventually, I got sick of it and recoded the whole animal system to use “generic” Common Events for interaction (basically I copy the animal’s specific stat variables to “generic” variables used by the function, then call it), with the aging/giving birth/eating/etc handled by a single event that was called once when the player slept. In hindsight, it seems so obvious… but my previous project didn’t use Common Events at all, so the first year of Wishbone’s development was largely dedicated to learning how to use them effectively. *Katie: My biggest obstacle has been myself. I’m both a procrastinator and a perfectionist, which is just a horrible combo for ever getting anything done. Thankfully Skitty keeps me as on task as she can, but I still get mired in fixing-loops, and you would not believe the amount of times I’ve sent her revised images just because I moved a nostril two pixels to the left because it had been bothering me so badly.
Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Skitty: It actually hasn’t changed a whole lot. In the beginning, we had this core concept, basically just Animal Crossing plus Harvest Moon. But even back then we knew we wanted a big plot and minigames and sidequests and stuff… it was just a matter of figuring out if those were feasible to program.
I’d say it actually has more features now than it did in the original concept, too. I think in the beginning we had maybe five minigames, now it’s more like 8-10ish (depending on what you consider a minigame). *Katie: It’s far larger than we had intended, that’s for sure! The art style has also shifted quite a bit, from the switch to wholly original graphics from borrowed sprites to subtle alterations in the sprite and portrait style. I think the biggest, most significant change, aside from making all-new sprites, is the inclusion of the sky in most of the game’s maps.
What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? *Skitty: It’s pretty much the same as it always was–me as the programmer/project manager/spriter, Katie as the portrait artist and other spriter, Ellie, Dax, Jester, and Reuben as character/plot contributors. Oh! I guess the big difference now is that we are in the process of hiring a composer?
What was the best part of developing the game? *Skitty: Seeing it all come together into something finished and cool. Sometimes I like to just lovingly look at the maps and videos and such I’m proudest of and think “wow, I did that! And it turned out almost exactly how I’d imagined!”
*Katie: Agreed! The little bits and pieces don’t seem like much, but when they’re part of a whole it’s like they’re completely transformed. I’m also happy to be working in a group - it makes me so proud to be part of this effort!
Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Skitty: Man, I’d definitely be craftier about how I handled the code for the animals. I didn’t know a lot about scripting at first, MONTHS worth of headache could have been avoided if I’d known how to use script calls.
*Katie: I don’t want to say ‘I wish I could change everything!’ because that’s not true, but it’s hard to keep myself from feeling I can always improve the parts I’ve contributed to the game. I’m doing a lot of learning on the job, and when I look back on things I’ve done before - even just a couple of portraits or sprites ago - it feels like I need to do everything over and make it better!
Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Skitty: We definitely have plans to use the characters again, but when they’re revisited, it’s going to be in different contexts. You won’t see the desert of Wishbone again, but the characters will absolutely be popping up in future projects.
*Katie: Yeah, these characters are sort of like… actors, in a way. Type-cast actors. We like to put them in different scenarios and see how they adapt.
What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Skitty: Gosh, it would be amazing if people liked the game enough to call themselves a fan! I’m definitely looking forward to people’s reactions to discovering plot twists and easter eggs and such. I hope people like the characters, too.
*Katie: Having something like this done would feel amazing. I’ve never been part of something this big before, and it’s a lot to be proud of. After that - if even a handful of people like the game, I’d be elated!
Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Skitty: I hope there aren’t too many bugs in it when I release it! I mean, I’m testing it as I go, but it’s a really big and complex game… there are going to be things I don’t catch. I’d be really disappointed if I released it with a glitch that broke people’s save files.
Also, I really do hope people actually like the characters… I’d be sad if they didn’t. *Katie: I hope the art does justice to the game… I’d hate for it to be distracting or off, it’s something I worry about frequently. And boy I hope the story and characters come off okay!
Question from last month’s featured dev: What’s the biggest turn off you can get on an RPG maker game? *Skitty: Hmm… honestly, using the default sprites tends to be a pretty big turnoff. As an artist, it is very important to me that the game have an “aesthetic”, a sense of atmosphere, that the characters feel like individuals… that’s what really catches my eye and makes me want to learn more. I know not everybody is an artist, but like, a simple 8-bit sort of style, or even a “shitpunk” style like Space Funeral is more eye-catching than the default tiles.
Also, I find games made with the default tiles tend to be very easy to get lost in due to the generic nature of said tiles… if you gotta use those, at least make sure your maps are tightly-built and easy to navigate. I’ve played several RPG Maker games where the player spent a lot of time in huge, empty green fields with little or no landmarks. Add some stuff to make the area memorable… players will thank you for it!
Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Skitty: Try to set realistic goals for your first (or second, or third…) project. It’s so tempting to want to tell your magnum opus immediately, but that’s usually a recipe for ending up frustrated, disappointed, and quitting. My first project, Theo’s Big Adventure, was fairly short, used mostly ripped sprites from Mother 3 and ripped music from other video games, and still took a year and three months to complete.
Also, try to make working on your project a habit. I find that the hardest part is often just getting started… but once I get in the zone, I can work for hours. Set goals for yourself (whether it’s as big as “I’ll finish Chapter 5 by April” or as small as “I’m going to work on my project for at least 30 minutes today”) and reward yourself if you complete them. If you don’t complete them, don’t beat yourself up… just set the goal again (adjusting it to be more reasonable if needed) and give it another shot. Oh, and one more thing… it’s alright for something to not be perfect. One of the biggest killers of a long-term project (aside from overambition and having it not be a habit) is perfectionism. Don’t get caught up in the cycle of continually revamping the same pieces over and over again–just let it be imperfect and move on. Nobody’s first project is perfect, but future-you needs the experience and confidence you’ll gain from finishing it to pull off the project of your dreams in a few years. *Katie: All of the above, but from someone who’s less disciplined, to people who perhaps have similar issues: get somebody who’ll keep your nose to the grindstone and get you working and finishing things when all you want to do is either chase butterflies or toggle an eyeball back and forth to make it “perfect”. You would not believe how much it helps.
We mods would like to thank SkittyandKatie 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 Wishbone if you haven’t already! See you next month!
I 100% down for getting criticism and feedback on all my games and projects.
I really want to improve as a dev, writer, and artist. Since I’m actually planning to make a commercial game which would maybe be my next big project.
So if anyone plays Desolate Village, Demon Tea, and/or Friend Hunt. Feel free to send me and give me feedback on my work. Since this would help Verloren and later projects. OvO/ I really do appreciate feedback and I love hearing how I can do some better.
I tried to get into a different style and tested some stuff out (i even sorted about my brushes). Picked one of the children from Alice Mare and yeah why not Stella
Sorry if i didnt give her justice. I was just doing some trials. I thought at least it looked nice so i posted it, haha
her hair is salmon color, and her eyes (when they’re open) are red. her seifuku is really basic, and she wears a cherry pin (the student council badge!) on the collar. her hair clips are those round kind that also resemble cherries. (the motif is pushed so hard because her original name really was “cherry girl”, lol). unseen: wears knee-high socks and plain brown loafers.
I also just hit 50 followers today! thank you !!!! (❁´◡`❁)
You NEED to have RPG Maker’s RTP installed to be able to play the demo. You can download it from HERE
Have fun playing :) And if you happen to find any bug or errors, or just want to leave you opinion about the game, send me a message. Any kind of comment really help me to develop the final product :)
her hair is salmon color, and her eyes (when they’re open) are red. her seifuku is really basic, and she wears a cherry pin (the student council badge!) on the collar. her hair clips are those round kind that also resemble cherries. (the motif is pushed so hard because her original name really was “cherry girl”, lol). unseen: wears knee-high socks and plain brown loafers.
I also just hit 50 followers today! thank you !!!! (❁´◡`❁)
Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it. Happy Thursday to those that don’t!
Since MB will be released Saturday now [working my butt off to make up the time I lost!], I wanted to release SOMETHING today. December is my favorite month. I want this year’s December to be filled with goodies. Starting with the Giveaway results and now this!
Ask a Maimie’s Toybox character anything week! For 1 week, this blog will turn into an ask blog. Ask anything you want, and I’ll draw the character answering it! Want to know what type of boxers Daniel wears? Ask! Want to know who Mary’s favorite doll was? Ask! Anything goes!
Look forward to the Mindless Box demo release and have fun! I look forward to any questions.
From now on I will have less duties, so I’m completely back! ヾ(＠† ▽ †＠）ノ
I’m ready to try to catch up. AkYA, though, unfortunately still isn’t totally free, but soon enough she will have time to get back to work in the game as well.
Buuuuut, since I’m responsible for most of the work, you can now expect a more significant number of updates!
This mounth I’ll work on:
- Satoru’s mugshot expressions (+ ver. with mask)
- Game’s logo
- New sprites
- Maps
And you will have:
- New pamphlets
- New theme
- A Livestream after reaching 500 followers (right now we have 479)
- A whole bunch of updates~
- Old requests done (we have about… 4 requests, I guess? I’ve made one only, though orz)
- English helper chosen
Well, that’s all!
b/f’s team is alive once again, so please, don’t lose your hopes on us! Keep giving us support! ╭( ･ㅂ･)و
I’ll be working on more map stuff. Also for people who are newer, my livestreams are on mic and last for about 4 hours. Sometimes I talk sometimes I don’t.
Since I won’t be working on Rya anymore, I want to showcase a little of the work I did. This was supposed to be the main poster of the game and the title screen.
