Hello! I have dabbled in game making before with programs like scratch, but this is my biggest project yet. I am using RPGMaker MV, and I am basically going in blind. All I learned before the jam started were the basics of maps, events, and the character creator. I’m following SomeRanDev’s beginner tutorial series and it’s been very helpful! I definitely recommend checking it out.

Originally I was going to create the beginning of a story I’ve wanted to tell for a long time. However, I was worried I’d get uptight about making everything just right (and I would need to put in a lot of extra work making custom art), so I decided to instead work on a short story set in the same world, but before everything went to hell set before the main story. The main characters are mostly different, and it will be less epic but more cozy. I’m kind of just making it up as I discover what this software can do!

So far I have:

• Created a basic overworld

• Started the main town
• Started the beach area
• Created ¾ of my party members + 3 NPCs

• Finish main town exterior
  • Work on interiors (find tutorial because I cannot for the life of me figure out what all the different tiles do and how to make the houses look good)
• Create rest of essential characters
  
  • Try using the Extended Generator
• Learn how battles work

I don’t know if I’ll finish this project during the jam, but I want to get as far as I can! :)

Part 2:

Things I’ve done:

• Finished(ish) town exterior
• Began work on interiors
• Finished* main character appearances + some additional expressions

• Learned about battles
  • Created some enemies and troops (not implemented in game yet)
• Learned about classes, skills, and items
  • Fiddled with these a bit
• Learned about states and traits
• Learned about switches
• Added a hungry chicken

To do next:

• *Find better hair for Bonnie (char #4)  Edit 8/5: Changed! ^ Thanks, Jack Saintsworth! (Also apparently I forgot to give Laurence ears for awhile there WHOOPS)
• Finish interiors
• Add more events
• Add intro sequence

A Brief Postmortem

You can find my submission here: https://starfangdragon.itch.io/staceburg-chronicle

I did have to narrow my scope mid jam, but I managed to adjust my goals to be attainable rather than crash and burn. I was able to create a small town from scratch (I used the prepackaged assets, but all maps were made from scratch) containing custom characters (most of which did not exist prior to this and were created to be NPCs here) with at least one dialogue each. I successfully identified, researched, and resolved/circumvented issues I faced in the course of the jam. Overall, I’m satisfied with my work.

I learned a lot about RPGMaker MV during the jam, including a bunch of stuff I haven't used in the game yet. I am looking forward to continuing to work on the game, as well as other related projects, when I have the time. Next steps will likely be implementing random battles, as well as adding the other areas necessary for the main plot. I also want to start adding some non-human characters and maybe even try making my own parts for the character generator. We’ll see how that goes.

With that, it’s goodbye for the time being. I wish all my fellow students a happy or at least non-stressful back-to-school season. :)