Retro turn-based RPG, good indie idea?

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46 comments, last by JLW 10 years, 9 months ago


Yes, we're going to do it. Why?

I'd be interested to see the result.


I'll be adding more info about the game soon. Think it should be here or in another thread?

Create a "Your Announcements" thread and keep adding to it. That seems to be the going trend.

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I'd be interested to see the result.


That's nice to hear.

Create a "Your Announcements" thread and keep adding to it. That seems to be the going trend.


I'll do that, then. I'll link to it through here once it's up.

There's two of us on this account. Jeremy contributes on design posts, Justin does everything else, including replying on those threads. Jeremy is not a people person, so it's Justin you'll be talking to at any given time.

Aelsif's Patreon.

Oh cool another person develop retro turn based RPGs! I've been working on a new engine engine lately. Fancy chatting Jeremy?

I started making "retro turn-based RPG" thinking there is a shortage of these. But when I received comments (after posting on RPG sites/forums) I was very disappointed. No one really needs a new RPG, they don't say "yes! finally someone is making a retro RPG, we were waiting for it for ages" instead they ask "how it's different from thousands of RPGs made recently"? In retrospection, I regret starting that project, I would do much better focusing on another genre.

You probably could do it, but only if it's a very high quality (preferably AAA). But you won't get any novelity points for making retro RPGs, it seems the market is saturated (don't ask how, I don't see all these new RPGs being made, hust judging from the response of RPG fans).

Stellar Monarch (4X, turn based, released): GDN forum topic - Twitter - Facebook - YouTube

I started making "retro turn-based RPG" thinking there is a shortage of these. But when I received comments (after posting on RPG sites/forums) I was very disappointed. No one really needs a new RPG, they don't say "yes! finally someone is making a retro RPG, we were waiting for it for ages" instead they ask "how it's different from thousands of RPGs made recently"? In retrospection, I regret starting that project, I would do much better focusing on another genre.

You probably could do it, but only if it's a very high quality (preferably AAA). But you won't get any novelity points for making retro RPGs, it seems the market is saturated (don't ask how, I don't see all these new RPGs being made, hust judging from the response of RPG fans).

Unfortunatley Acharis has a point. Thanks to RPG Maker, so many people can churn out "average" RPGs. The only way to get people into your RPG is to make it different. For instance, in my RPG we're realizing what it means to be a "Fantasy" game. So many games have lost their way but we're doing our best to make it feel like a strange new world!

The point is, you need some sort of hook. A hook that makes them think "I should check it out!". For Rain-Slick, it was the fact it is a Penny Arcade game. For KEMCO, they do old fashioned RPGs. For my series Legena, we push the controversial boundries (within reason). Like I said, you need a hook to get the marketing. And that's how you get people to play your game.

I'll save time and respond to all of you at once. You guys are thinking about the wrong kind of game. This really can't be helped because our industry doesn't have proper genres and there is no unambiguous term I can use, but if you had read further in you'd know that I am not talking about a "Final Fantasy" style RPG. This game plays like a turn-based strategy, and is controlled from a map screen, not a menu. Think "Fallout" or "Temple of Elemental Evil." This is not the kind of cookie-cutter nonsense you produce with RPG maker, it's not even the same genre, and it really makes me wish our industry had proper genre names so we could avoid confusion like this.

There's two of us on this account. Jeremy contributes on design posts, Justin does everything else, including replying on those threads. Jeremy is not a people person, so it's Justin you'll be talking to at any given time.

Aelsif's Patreon.


it's not even the same genre, and it really makes me wish our industry had proper genre names so we could avoid confusion like this.
It's called western RPG and the Final Fantasy thing is jRPG.

And yes, I was referring to a strict western RPG that is completely impossible to do in the RPG maker. And I was reaching to sites that don't even allow talking about jRPG. There was no difference, they didn't seem thrilled at all, they had enough of the western RPGs already and wanted to know what's uniques from all the other westerm RPGs :)

What I'm saying is, you won't get any novelity points for making a full blown western RPG that can't be done in any RPG maker. That alone is not enough to interest anyone... You need to outbeat other western RPGs. There is no shortage (again, don't ask why, I don't get it either since I can't recall that many western RPGs being made; still, that's what those hardcore players said...)

Stellar Monarch (4X, turn based, released): GDN forum topic - Twitter - Facebook - YouTube


it's not even the same genre, and it really makes me wish our industry had proper genre names so we could avoid confusion like this.
It's called western RPG and the Final Fantasy thing is jRPG.

And yes, I was referring to a strict western RPG that is completely impossible to do in the RPG maker. And I was reaching to sites that don't even allow talking about jRPG. There was no difference, they didn't seem thrilled at all, they had enough of the western RPGs already and wanted to know what's uniques from all the other westerm RPGs smile.png

What I'm saying is, you won't get any novelity points for making a full blown western RPG that can't be done in any RPG maker. That alone is not enough to interest anyone... You need to outbeat other western RPGs. There is no shortage (again, don't ask why, I don't get it either since I can't recall that many western RPGs being made; still, that's what those hardcore players said...)

I am pretty certain that either you or they are confused as to what kind of RPG I am describing. Go take a look at Fallout (1 or 2) for a good example of the genre. Even if you understand what I'm referring to, they sure as hell didn't. The genre is non-existent today and even at its height was still one of the smallest genres in the industry, so there's no way in hell there are a lot being put out.

There's two of us on this account. Jeremy contributes on design posts, Justin does everything else, including replying on those threads. Jeremy is not a people person, so it's Justin you'll be talking to at any given time.

Aelsif's Patreon.

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