Making an RPG can be really overwhelming! What do?

One of the most taxing genres to focus making a game on, in my opinion, is an RPG. There is generally a very good reason why most creators who want to make an RPG are encouraged to make a short RPG, maybe 3-5 hours long. However, for those of us who have already done that and are foolhardy enough to try a longer RPG, what are some good things to think about before you're crushed under all the work that crafting such a game requires?

Image courtesy of
http://www.smallbizmodo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Busy_Man.gif

For months now, and when college and life in general have giving me time, I've been working on my own RPG, Legends of Adrigal. I have in the past created an RPG on RPG Maker for the original PlayStation, and I also tried remaking said RPG in RPG Maker 2003, which was an eye-opening experience. 

Legends of Adrigal will by no means be an immensely long epic like a Final Fantasy game or Dragon Quest, to name a couple. However, it will be the largest game I've ever worked on, and with that, it requires a LOT of work. There are the NPCs to make, the maps, the world, the scenarios, the dialogue, the characters, the battle system, the items, the weapons and armor, the music, and so much more that thinking about this might put off a less foolish person.

However, I AM damn foolish, and I'm going to try to see this project through. The main thing to think about when creating a game is whether or not you're having fun making it. Now, you can have a bad day or even a bad week while tinkering with your game creation, but if you're finding yourself frustrated much more than you're finding yourself having fun with your game, then you should step back and ask yourself what you can realistically change to make things easier on yourself.

An RPG is a HUGE time commitment-- even just a five hour one. Knowing that I just finished the NPCs of my first town and have yet to really get into the battle system or main hub of the game makes me think hard on how much work I have yet to put into my game. I then sigh, but I quickly realize that I'm still enjoying my time on the game.

HOWEVER! I have advice for myself and for people who are making a big game. The finish line is a loooooong way away, but there is something I do to make myself feel like I'm constantly making progress. What is it that I do? ...Do I see your mouth salivating in anticipation? Well, let me tell you before you drool on your keyboard!

A fantastic way of keeping yourself engaged in your project is to create goals for development of your game. I have the long-term goal of finishing Legends of Adrigal, of course, but I also devise multiple smaller goals as a checklist that I can be proud of having accomplished along Adrigal's development. 

For instance, one of my mini-goals was creating all of the events within Mabel, the first village of the game. This included NPCs, quests, and events that transfer the player from outside a house to its inside, like a door, for instance. I also managed to create the first leg of my item, weapon, and armor systems. I created different items and equipment, gave them numerical values (the cost of buying one, selling one, attributes, etc.), and was on my merry way. My next task is to fill Adrigal City, the central city of Legends of Adrigal, with NPCs and events. 

Think of your game like Adrigal City. It's devised up of various parts, and it's important to note that you don't have to do everything at once. Split up the work between different goals. For instance, make it one goal to create entrance and exit events for each house in the western portion of the map, while you have another goal to set up events for the eastern part of the map. Have another goal being creating the music for the city. The point here is to not think of the map as a whole, but instead the sum of its parts.

Some goals are larger in scope than others, such as my aforementioned task with Adrigal City. While completing smaller tasks all add up to personal satisfaction. Make the goals something you can realistically do, and something that you can be proud of when you've completed them. I've already completed over a dozen different goals, and I'll be creating some more for myself in the future so I have something I can always aim and strive for. 

It's even better if you treat your goal list as a means to treat yourself. For instance, I made it a goal to finish my opening cutscenes, where Casey and friends enter into the Adrigal video game. Once I completed that, I gave myself permission to play a new video game in my family's collection that I was excited to try out. You can set up miniature gifts and rewards to yourself for completing various goals as a way to entice yourself. Although this is not necessary by any stretch of the imagination.

Thus, Legends of Adrigal is going slowly but steadily with its development. I have to remember that I'm but one person working in a game genre that generally has dozens of team members working on it at once. Every little goal completed is a personal achievement and victory for me. It can also work to help you, and it doesn't even have to be something with as much work as an RPG. Whether big, small, or somewhere in between, make sure you're having fun, give yourself some obtainable goals to achieve, optionally reward yourself for achieving said goals, and you'll continue to make progress and enjoy what you're doing simultaneously!