Why Rose Chronicles is the Perfect RPG Maker Project
An editorial on the manageability and focus of one-man projects.

It is a rarity in the amateur game making community that an epic, lengthy RPG is ever successfully produced. It's what everyone dreams of making upon first laying hands on RPG Maker - to do everything you've ever wanted to see done in the games you grew up playing. But the reality is that such an undertaking with a one man team is more often than not doomed to failure. It's just too much work for one person, especially when the ambitious notions of elaborate battle systems and original graphics come into play. After months or even years of gathering anticipation and support in the community, these projects are usually canceled when the author realizes his ambitions cannot be achieved. It's a shame that all the work they put into their project is never released and never completed.

 One such RPG that did see release - several, in fact - was the much-loved and well known Naufragar by Legacy001. It was a lengthy game with a solid story, loads of locations to explore, specialized game mechanics, and several interesting minigames. Recognizing that Naufragar was a project years in the making with a staggering amount of man hours put into it, it's easy to understand why Legacy opted for a different approach with his next project.


Various locales from Naufragar.

 Rose Chronicles was first released in 2006, and in stark contrast to Naufragar it was not an "epic" RPG. Not a novel, but a short story. Each chapter of the game was its own release, a relatively short but enjoyable stint lasting one or two hours. It was not as well advertised as Naufragar and as a result is somewhat less known, but many regard it as one of the best projects to ever hit the RPG Maker scene. And better yet - its installments were released frequently! No waiting years, no deadlines slipping by time after time. The three parts of Rose Chronicles that were released came out within months of one another, giving everyone in the community something to enjoy and discuss on a regular basis... at least more so than the numerous projects that never come out at all!

 Sounds great, doesn't it? By taking on a project that is actually manageable and conceivable for one person to work on, everyone benefits. We don't have the funding of professional game developers, nor the staff. So why are we so frequently taxing ourselves with the same tasks? The key is focus. Come up with a solid concept and a manageable story and focus on it. Keep the scope of your project within your means and aim for a realistic goal. Maybe you'd like to release your game in two hour segments like Rose Chronicles did. Make a goal of perfecting that first section of the game and getting it released. Subsequent releases will almost definitely come much more easily. After all, you've already established your setting and characters, programmed the main systems the game will be using, and assembled the necessary resources.


Rose Chronicles in action.

By working this way not only will you be giving people something enjoyable to play with regularity, you'll have the benefit of their feedback and enthusiasm as you continue the development process. A project that you keep to yourself for years as you chip away at it will inevitably become dull to work on, even for those who claim to be making games for themselves. Well, maybe they are, and that's perfectly fine - but anyone who has received praise and criticism from those who've enjoyed their work can attest to its motivational power.

"I don't want to make a small, chapter-based game though. I want to make something big!" some may say. That's okay! You don't have to center your game concept around a piecemeal release format. It's certainly feasible to keep your epic story and broad concept and still release it in segments. Your 50 hour game is not doing anyone any good just sitting on your hard drive! Every large story has multiple arcs that begin and end within the greater whole. Try aiming for a release at a point in the story where one such arc ends, or right after some big cliffhanger or plot twist. People will be that much more excited to play the next part of your game if it fades to black on an exciting moment. So focus on producing a few hours of game play at a time and you'll have the many benefits of a smaller project like Rose Chronicles and still be able to tell your "big" story.



Think about what you can achieve with the resources available to you and focus on creating something feasible. If everyone took the more manageable approach that Legacy did with Rose Chronicles, the amateur game making community would be a much more prolific and entertaining place.

Rose Chronicles is available for download here and you can get Naufragar: Crimson here