/fg/ - Fangames

I can't say for actually making RPGM maps, but music and/or messing around within an editing program (preferably in a way that doesn't damage the product) helps me with making things.

As for making your own sprites, you can always go with minimalistic tone. Take a look at Neftalia for example. What I mean to say is that you don't need to try doing some fancy graphics (altrough you may). It can be simple as long as it doesn't look out of place.

Eventually you can always take some simple spritesheets, analyze them and try figuring out how it was made.

And of course there is also option of using some free resources.

As for what keeps me going with my games is probably visible progress. Nothing is as satisfying as completed scene. It winds me up and makes me want to do more.

My advice is to make concept art first to pump yourself up. Draw your protagonist, design them fully and play with them a bit. Bond with them, it sounds cheesier than what's reasonable, but bond with them. It'll make you wanna see their world flushed out.

Pick out a couple things and areas you wanna have in your game and draw/design those.

Choose a look for your game that ties it together in some way. Yume Nikki tied itself together through distressing amounts of purple, and Psuedo!Aztec lookin' imagery. Ultra Violet tied itself together with a soft art style, and bunnies. Pick motifs and an aesthetic you like and run with them.

I recommend making your Protagonist's sprite and room first. So you have something other than the default resources to look at.

Just get going, honest. Progress isn't a forward only motion in the early stages of a game. Because you're allowed to play with your ideas and put them together and take them apart. You're allowed to revise. You're allowed to experiment.

Have fun with it.

>>9612
>I have entire levels planned out meticulously in my head
Are you even serious when you say you want to make a YN fangame or are you just feeling in the mood right at the moment? This is some serious dedication to not starting at all.

>>9616

Some people just have a hard time starting, bro. Shit's hard. It all takes quite a while and it's quite a task.

Imagining a game and making a game are VERY different.

>>9617
That's my point. The whole thing seems like just a good fantasy coming from OP. If OP had been atleast a bit serious about his game, he would have notes written down, sketches drawn up, probably even an alpha version, especially now that it has been a year.

But I can get that the OP is looking to push himself out of that state. In which case, I recommend a little, unlined notebook everywhere you go. Ideas aren't thought up while sitting down, sipping coffee, waiting for it to happen. Ideas will pop up any point in your day and its your job to take it recognize it and jot it down as soon as possible.
As someone who doesn't really make games but rather in the advertising environment, I suggest you don't think too deeply when cooking up ideas. Of course, this generalized idea only works for base ideas like what your theme for this world will look like for example.

Also google mindmap, its a really good way for conceptualizing ideas.

>>9616
I have written mostly everything down in notepad on my time off from work, I just failed to specify in the original post

but thank you for your advice everyone, I have been slowly working on learning how to sprite over the past few days. I have drawn concept art fairly recently as well, and am currently in the process of trying to translate it to sprites.

If you have levels already planned out, draw them out on graph paper (roughly) and see if they work. Head space and real space can be surprisingly different.

The best tip I can give you is start and don't stop. I'm one of those people that easily falls prey to not finishing stuff if I stop. (Which is what happened to my own fangame… At least it wasn't released at any point.)

General tips:
- Work on the most story essential stuff (as far as you have a story) first and finish it. Padding can be added later.
- Add your own flavour to your fangame. Even if you don't stray from the standard formula of exploration and getting effects, it's still a good idea to add something that makes you game identifiable among the crowd. E.g.: .flow is recognizable by its gritty, industrial style with body horror as a common motif, Ultra Violet has a lot of pastel colours and bunny-themed things, stuff like that.
- This is more of a personal preference, but avoid adding a hell maze. These worlds are commonly hated among fans, lack creativity and they often don't add anything to your game other than frustration. Smaller mazes are fine, though.

Some tips for pixelart:
- Practice small pixelart and go from small to bigger. Bigger pieces tend to take more time and patience. Find a scale you are comfortable with.
- Avoid using 100% black and 100% white, especially together. (Same goes for any highly saturated colours, like the ones commonly associated with MsPaint). It really strains the human eye to look at such intense colours. If you look at e.g. the White Desert in Yume Nikki and compare that to 100% black and 100% white, you'll see that the White Desert uses less intense colours. It's fine to use these for e.g. sketches and temporary lines, but in finalized pieces they should be nowhere to be found.
- Avoid pillow shading at all costs. (This one counts for art in general.)
- Try thinking of each tile in RPG Maker as roughly a 1x1m or 3x3ft square. You don't have to take scale too seriously, though, especially if you stylize rather than go with realism.

For music (finding music - I can't make music myself):
- I tend to prefer Japanese resource sites as they usually aren't very strict with any non-commercial use of their stuff. Try looking for loop sections as these are in general more fit for games. Do take note that some songs end with fading out music rather than cutting off to start again if you use MP3/OGG music rather than MIDI, so always check how it ends.
- Some artists are more okay with making small looping music for you rather than full songs, so do ask around if you know anyone that makes music and has a style you want for your game.

I hope this helps.