Any ideas for getting productive or inspired on RPG maker developing?

When you get a writer's block, what would you do? Not all of us here is a generator of ideas. When you feel uninspired or borg down what do you do to lift yourself up? I know all of this questions are obvious, but others might have new ideas or unheard of. RPG maker delivering can be exhausting or stressful sometimes. Any ideas would be great and thank you for sharing an idea with the community.

If my question is unclear, please say so. I will give you more detail if you need more.

Yeah, do researches about the theme you wanna work with. research about games that fall into the same theme even if they are not rpgs.

I have to agree with Kovac. Research helps alot. TVTropes, games that are similar, movies, books, Wikipedia entries. It can really help inspire you to see what others have done and also what to avoid. I also suggest taking a short break and go do something. I have my best ideas while washing the dishes or mowing the grass.

@kovak, thank you for a quick response. When you are talking about research on a theme, what do you mean by that? I just ask to make sure because I might misunderstand of what you mean.
@OnslaughtSupply, thank you for your thought. When you talked about seeing other in action, you are mean watching youtube videos. I would like to ask you to elaborate your comments. To make sure I understand correctly.

To put it simple, plays people's game.

It's as @OnslaughtSupply said, you need to read, watch and play stuff about the theme you wanna work with.
And when it comes from playing games you must not limit yourself with rpgs only, just get anything you want, even if it's ing Duke Nuken.
If Duke Nuken is within the theme then go for it.

I usually watch YouTube playthroughs, read tropes about particular genres or maybe an idea I have, people expect certain things from particular genres and it's a great place to learn about pitfalls i.e. overused tropes failures of others.

@kovak and @OnslaughtSupply, thank you for clarifying. Now I got what you are saying now.
@TheoAllen, thank you for clarifying.

1. Try and help your brain cope with your ideas. For being productive on your ideas instead of clouded.

My first tip would be to try and make things simple and notice that little things together can and do go along way.

I think if your ideas are complicated it's then easy to feel down or feel certain parts of the complication are not good enough, because the brain can't process it as easy. Just one complicated piece can become difficult enough to cope with, having many can make it very hard to continue being productive on.

See if you can break down the ideas into smaller simpler ones, and see if that can help with productiveness. Taking it one step at a time.

Also knowing where you are going with the ideas you have, seeing the end as well as the beginning, or at least being able to see part of the end too.

It's a bit like jigsaw puzzle. First, you normally can pick out all four corners easily.. This is knowing the start and the end. Next, you don't need to have a completely different and new jigsaw puzzle piece meant for a different puzzle, you just need to try and put the pieces you do have together.

So try and keep it simpler for the mind.

2. Try to develop a positive mindset and attitude with your own work. For inspiring yourself to continue

We all can get down at times and that can't be helped, that's just the way things go. But as much as it can be done, without really having to force it as forcing isn't so good, try and have a positive mindset with what you are working with. Say things like "This could fit" "This could work" "Perhaps if I do it this way instead of that way". Thinking like this can get you further in your project than thinking something negative or the opposite.

We all can be very harsh or hard on ourselves at times too, and with our own ideas. We really should try not to be. Instead we should be pleased with any progress we do make, even if we have to scrap some things later, as we still did that and are practising. Practice always helps if we can learn from it.

So trying not to discourage ourselves can help a lot.

3. When stressed and exhausted, have a break. Don't rush yourselves beyond your capability.

As much as you may enjoy your RPG Maker game or want to complete it, there is no rush beyond what you are capable of doing. If you are feeling like you need a break then you probably do. When stressed or exhausted it's good to breathe and have that break. Try and do something more relaxing, something that calms you down or helps you out in those situations. It's almost never a good idea to keep going when your body and mind is telling you it's time to stop.

You can always go back to it when your body and mind say it's better. Whether that be in a few hours, the next day or sooner/later.

4. Writer block problems

As for writer block problems without knowing the solutions. Often solutions can be simple we just need to look at it from a different angel then before, and having a positive mindset can help make that happen more easier.

5. Thoughts on what to do when you can't think. For writers block. Also where to get
ideas from and some inspiration.

I would try and look at other stories, or ideas or themes or art or music or anything that works for you. All of this can create inspiration and help. Try and experiment and see what works best for you in particular.

For example. If you can see art and images of characters, and they feel they have personality, they may give you ideas for your own characters. If you look up a list of possibly plots, they may give you an idea of a plot you could have in your game or a subplot even.

You can also try to get some inspiration from these sources when looking for ideas.

6. Try and give yourselves more freedom and options to work with.

For example ask "what if" at times and "how about if I change this character to actually be that way?" or "this theme I'm exploring in my plot, what if I add another theme?" "Should I add in another scene at this part of the game?"

Try and make a list of ways the story can go or change that you can think of, like brainstorming, so you have a lot of options and see them clearly in front of you.

Then you can pick the ones that interest you the most. It's a bit like a formula.

What you don't want is to have all these possibilities and keep them in your head only, as it's always best seeing them clearer and in front of you.

7. RPG Maker tutorials, articles and advice can all help.

As for developing in RPG Maker, you can see if there are any tutorials or advice people gave on a particular thing you are stuck with and see if that can help out.

You can find these through google, through RPG Maker forums, there some good tutorials and advice out there on Youtube channels, RPG Maker Reddit, Discord channels for RPG Maker help and such things. Just got to find them, but typing the specific thing you want help with in the search bar of these websites should help you out greatly.

Hope all this advice can help.

@atoms, thank you for your great advice and reaffirmed my knowledge.

Ok, well so long some of the advice can help you and/or help keep important tips in mind, that's great! :)

I suggest you give up before it's too late. I been working on my project for 3 years. And only got the chance to make into a reality back in 2017. And even to this day, it is far pass done. You will never achieve what you wish to achieve. You will never be as big as the people you are inspired by and you will never fully succeed or be satisfied by your work. So what's the point. Are we doing it because we like to? Well, yeah. But are we able to get the true end result that we wish to earn where are game gets a small following or even positive feedback? Never.

So please, just give up while you still have a chance. Because in the end, it's not as worth it as everyone makes it out to be.

@stoovan, thank you for stopping by and express your thoughts. If you would like for me to test your game, you can send to me anytime on pm.
My purpose of using RPG maker MV is to learn something new and challenges myself to do better. I do not worried much about wealth or prestige from the game.

@stoovan if you're in this for money or fame or glory, you're in it for the wrong reasons. Do it because you love it or have this story that you have to tell. When you do anything for the wrong reasons you will always be disappointed.

oh

I’m sorry you seem to have some regrets about the time you spent developing your game, but the way you’ve phrased this makes it sound like everyone in game dev has the same goals, and no one ever succeeds at anything. There’s certainly a place for realism and even cynicism in any major creative undertaking, but this advice is generalized past the point of usefulness. Not everyone is chasing recognition, and that’s not the only thing there is to take away from a pursuit which demands so much of oneself.

I’ll grant that lots of people come into their projects with unrealistic expectations. Most of them would do well to realize that they’re probably not the one-dev-in-a-million who’s going to spend 3 months making the next Stardew Valley and live off their game’s revenue for the next decade. Frankly, though, they’re probably not people who would listen to your advice anyways.

If we’re talking realism here, the truth is that talented, dedicated people fail regularly, both objectively and by measure of their own expectations. Some of us will never achieve our dreams. Whether it’s game dev or some other field, we can have everything going for us and still not come out where we want. That’s sometimes because lots of other talented people are working just as hard for the same things as us. Sometimes it’s a matter of having connections or putting ourselves out there at the right time. And sometimes it’s just a matter of luck. When we ask ourselves what went wrong, there may not always be a clear answer. But that’s just something we have to be okay with.

When we hear wildly successful people tell us to follow our dreams, we shouldn’t understand that as a guarantee of success. It’s an invitation to try. It’s an invitation to fail, to grow, and then to try again. Many people repeat that cycle many times before they even get a taste of success. But the ones who give up after just a couple tries don’t even get the chance. Hard work and talent are tools, not keys.

The thing is, even if we keep trying our whole lives and don’t end up getting where we initially wanted to, we’ll probably find some good things along the way. If we pay attention, we’ll probably learn a little bit more about ourselves, and we may find meaning in some places we never expected. That alone can make the effort worthwhile.

Again, sorry it didn’t work out for you this time. If you can’t find anything meaningful that came from the experience, that’s too bad. Better luck with whatever you do next.

I do sometimes feel you are just trolling. How could anyone who hates something so much still hang around the forums?

The OP has a good attitude, and when he gets stuck, he's willing to ask for help, talk to the people who offer help, and try new things. Please don't try and bring him down. Plenty of people here have completed games, and some are making decent money from them. I can guarantee every one of them has a positive attitude. Without that, everything is an uphill battle.

The things you say - never achieve what you wish, never be as big as the people who inspired you, never get a small following ... they are not things that happen overnight - some of those people who inspired you made dozens of games before they ever got successful. Building a following requires numerous games, not just one (except for a lucky few who managed to get the mix just right). Setting your goals too high could be the real issue here - for the things above, you need several goals/games to achieve over a number of years.

Just trying to help, Debbie Downer, but with your negativity and crap advice, it's no wonder you feel this way. Good luck on becoming a game dev with that attitude.

Which brings us to the OP' s question, I would like to add staying positive. Even Einstein had brainfarts and bad days.

I'll be frank, when i began i was there for the fun and right now i'm here for the money.
Even if i end up with a piece of junk i'm gonna sell it.
What was not used in the game is gonna be sold.
There's no reason to give up.
There's no reason to look at what i've done and not think that i should begin my next project ASAP.
There's no reason to do it non-stop till i've done 10 games in a row as i stare at my bank acc.

Do it for the passion, stay for the money, pray for the future.

Everyone Thank you for participating in this thread. I hope all of us stay on the topic. I feel that I am lazy and stress out recently. How to make the most of the time during game developing?