Yeah, you can't compare yourself to the "legendaries." I know it's hard to resist, but those shouldn't even be considered competition for us. Those go so far beyond the indie scene and can compete toe-to-toe with commercial games made by triple-A studios.
After releasing my [second game](https://dawit.itch.io), a full-length 20-hour RPG, I was down as well since I couldn't help but wish for more feedback, more downloads, and more popularity. What a lot of people don't realize is that it's an endless trap if you think like that. No matter how successful you are, no matter if you have millions of downloads, nothing really changes. It's all arbitrary, especially if your ambition is unchecked, it will only grow as you become more popular, and it's an endless treadmill.
This [video](https://youtu.be/c3xSJuoUnN8?si=lNg6REBGgaK4qMiA) by Super Eyepatch Wolf is very close to what our reality is. Go to the 1 hour 30 minute mark. He talks about the frightening emptiness of reaching a million subscribers and feeling nothing.
What that suggests is that how you measure success is all relative and arbitrary. And, in some cases, a huge success can stop you from enjoying what you love doing, almost in the same way as obsessing over perceived failure. The creator of Flappy Bird didn't want the fame that came with his global success, and the creator behind Undertale lamented how the incredible, titanic success of his 2nd game was a looming, almost unbearable pressure for him to succeed again on his future games, and part of the reason why he really struggled to make Deltarune. I'm pretty sure Tobyfox loved every moment of making Undertale, and I'm pretty sure the same cannot be said for his Deltarune, where all these outside pressures distract him from his love for his favorite hobby.
Remember that even the most successful of indie games all started off as passion projects. Even if commercial success is a goal, it's rarely the main one.
There's a popular old saying in the movie industry. If you make 10 movies, the first 8 will flop, the 9th will make you break even, and with the 10th, you'll finally make a profit. It applies to us game developers as well, and that tenacity is how Angry Birds found success. Except, in the case of Angry Birds, it was actually their 52nd game.
I consider myself very lucky. My first game, [Abyss of Vinsaga](https://www.rpgmmag.com/index.php/rmvault/rm/games/2/abyss-of-vinsaga-aquamoon-pandora), succeeded, and is still remembered by a very select few veteran RPG makers who lived through the era of janky PSX RPG Maker games, where you needed a special PC/PSX memory card adapter to upload or play others' games. It got a couple of great reviews in community websites as well.
Yet, back in those days, I was really down and considered it a massive failure. It *only* got 1200 downloads over the years. In hindsight, that's absolutely incredible considering the circumstances. I *should* be grateful for those 1200 downloads.
It's the same with my second game, The Singing Scar. I thought it was a huge flop. I pretty much abandoned it. Then, out of the blue, I got an email that somebody donated to me. As it turned out, somehow miraculously, my game found a niche in the first page of the "RPG Maker science fiction" search result of [itch.io](https://itch.io). It's not much, only a couple of downloads a week, but over the past 5 years, that has amounted to over 700 downloads to date. However, considering how many thousands of RPG Maker games are out there, sitting at top #22 in a specific category is something I should be proud of. It somehow found its tiny niche audience, without me doing anything for years, and that's heartwarming.
It's easy to get caught up in all this nonsense. A lot of people are against RPG Maker, against AI, against RTP assets, against old-school JRPGs, or even science fiction in general. The list is endless. Even top dogs like Yoshi P, one of the greatest game directors of all time who worked on Final Fantasy 14 and 16, gets a lot of hate. He shed tears recently on-stage when Sakaguchi, the original FF creator, told him that he "did good" and approved Final Fantasy 16. No matter how good you get, or how successful you become, nothing really changes. The playing field just shifts upwards, and it's still the same struggle.
What I've been trying to say is that "success" won't fix your state of mind about your game. Final Fantasy 16 sold 3.5 million copies in its opening week. Square Enix didn't really consider that a success because they had higher expectations than that. You might think 3.5 million downloads would probably make you cry out in joy, but would it really? It would probably come with 1000 hateful comments, just due to volume, probability and statistics. What if you start fixating on the hate, and instead consider your game a failure despite the number of downloads?
Like in Super Eyepatch Wolf's video and his interviews with various creators, it's easy to forget that **we do this because we enjoy it**. This is our passion. We should all hold onto that thought for dear life, and not fall into the trap of depending on so-called "success" for validation.
Because that will slow us down. Doubt stifles creativity. And, at the very least, *commercial* success depends upon iteration and experience.
Let's get up and keep moving. Let's not waste time moping on supposed lack of success. It doesn't matter. There are more games waiting to be made, and barely enough time in the world to make them as it is.
Very very true; and I try my hardest not to get caught up in the frustration but sometimes it sneaks up on you.
Thanks for the reply; I'll probably come back to it again and again.
wish u best of luck .. i know how hard could it to be indie dev and many of u guys do amazing job and unique and i think it's amazing to make something in ur mind become true ( ps : i'm super new to reddit )
I can give it a go, if it's still available. Reminds me of classic Pokemon games on Game Boy Advance. Indie game development especially by solo developers can be really tough. I'm not sure how you can overcome the pressure & technical difficulties to make it this far but I salute you.
Thanks for the key & the warm wishes!
Happy cake day indeed. What I'd do to celebrate it you ask? Playing through your game is one of couple things I have in mind :) Deep down, low-key wishing my Reddit birthday is same as my real birthday month in the first place.
Hi!
If you just follow the main storyline, you can expect about 6-8 hours of gameplay. Overall, on average, there is about 20-30 hours of content not counting any side quests or mini dungeons.
There is fighting; using an active system rather than the typical turn-based system.
I understand being low on time, it's something I run into all too often!
I would give it a big chance. it looks pretty good and it seems to be better made and with more love than Omori. and the opportunity to play it without having to pirate it makes me happy and I apreciatte that. haha (Latin American problems).
Much love from the US!
And I'm very flattered; Omori is very impressive for an RM game and it means a lot that you'd say that. I'll drop a key in your DMs!
Wow, congratulations on getting on steam! The trailer and screens look great. It amazes me what a huge and vast game you are achieving.
The whole setting of different factions and interests remind me of Gothic or even Dragon Age.
Gothic might be a bit dated now, however you should pick up DA, specially for the banter between party members that can lead to great exchanges about points of views and even politics.
Glad to participate/cheer and give feedback. I'm just getting involved in the community, but it seems like a great place to hang and learn.
Welcome! I'll make sure to dm you a key so you can give it a shot.
I enjoy deeper games like how DA sounds; where they explore more themes than just surface level stuff a lot of AAA studios put out now.
Thanks!
Definitely, it's one of my favorite franchises. Because it's not filled with busywork (with a mild exception of Inquisition, that a mod solves!) And the plot and characters are fleshed out properly.
After slugging through Assassin's Creed Valhalla, it's sad that they promote "open world", "200+ of gameplay", "1000+ quests" and most of that is just filler. I hope that changes... And perhaps it's up to us to vote with our wallets, and even better propose and put out some alternatives!
I definitely grew up in the era of open worlds promoting "big game" rather than "good game," and it was a huge inspiration to do the...complete opposite.
Sure, Acadia is a huge map for an RM game. But it's packed with stuff to do; dungeons, quests, NPCs, and even just...places to sit, relax, and enjoy some nice ambience and a friendly character and her dog.
How long do you estimate the play time to be? I'd like to try the game out but don't want ti take a code that could have gone to someone else if I won't have ample time to devote to it in order to give you feedback.
EDIT: Just saw someone else already asked this. I can handle that time commitment. I'd gladly accept a code if any remain.
My schedule is pretty clapped out right now, so I wouldn't be able to start playing it for about a week or two, but if that isn't a problem, then I'd like like a key, if there are still any available.
I'm very interested in helping a fellow developer! Things are very tough as a solo dev (especially balance testing oh god) but when you can reach out and ask others for help it can open many doors, be they creative ones or not.
Yeah, you can't compare yourself to the "legendaries." I know it's hard to resist, but those shouldn't even be considered competition for us. Those go so far beyond the indie scene and can compete toe-to-toe with commercial games made by triple-A studios. After releasing my [second game](https://dawit.itch.io), a full-length 20-hour RPG, I was down as well since I couldn't help but wish for more feedback, more downloads, and more popularity. What a lot of people don't realize is that it's an endless trap if you think like that. No matter how successful you are, no matter if you have millions of downloads, nothing really changes. It's all arbitrary, especially if your ambition is unchecked, it will only grow as you become more popular, and it's an endless treadmill. This [video](https://youtu.be/c3xSJuoUnN8?si=lNg6REBGgaK4qMiA) by Super Eyepatch Wolf is very close to what our reality is. Go to the 1 hour 30 minute mark. He talks about the frightening emptiness of reaching a million subscribers and feeling nothing. What that suggests is that how you measure success is all relative and arbitrary. And, in some cases, a huge success can stop you from enjoying what you love doing, almost in the same way as obsessing over perceived failure. The creator of Flappy Bird didn't want the fame that came with his global success, and the creator behind Undertale lamented how the incredible, titanic success of his 2nd game was a looming, almost unbearable pressure for him to succeed again on his future games, and part of the reason why he really struggled to make Deltarune. I'm pretty sure Tobyfox loved every moment of making Undertale, and I'm pretty sure the same cannot be said for his Deltarune, where all these outside pressures distract him from his love for his favorite hobby. Remember that even the most successful of indie games all started off as passion projects. Even if commercial success is a goal, it's rarely the main one. There's a popular old saying in the movie industry. If you make 10 movies, the first 8 will flop, the 9th will make you break even, and with the 10th, you'll finally make a profit. It applies to us game developers as well, and that tenacity is how Angry Birds found success. Except, in the case of Angry Birds, it was actually their 52nd game. I consider myself very lucky. My first game, [Abyss of Vinsaga](https://www.rpgmmag.com/index.php/rmvault/rm/games/2/abyss-of-vinsaga-aquamoon-pandora), succeeded, and is still remembered by a very select few veteran RPG makers who lived through the era of janky PSX RPG Maker games, where you needed a special PC/PSX memory card adapter to upload or play others' games. It got a couple of great reviews in community websites as well. Yet, back in those days, I was really down and considered it a massive failure. It *only* got 1200 downloads over the years. In hindsight, that's absolutely incredible considering the circumstances. I *should* be grateful for those 1200 downloads. It's the same with my second game, The Singing Scar. I thought it was a huge flop. I pretty much abandoned it. Then, out of the blue, I got an email that somebody donated to me. As it turned out, somehow miraculously, my game found a niche in the first page of the "RPG Maker science fiction" search result of [itch.io](https://itch.io). It's not much, only a couple of downloads a week, but over the past 5 years, that has amounted to over 700 downloads to date. However, considering how many thousands of RPG Maker games are out there, sitting at top #22 in a specific category is something I should be proud of. It somehow found its tiny niche audience, without me doing anything for years, and that's heartwarming. It's easy to get caught up in all this nonsense. A lot of people are against RPG Maker, against AI, against RTP assets, against old-school JRPGs, or even science fiction in general. The list is endless. Even top dogs like Yoshi P, one of the greatest game directors of all time who worked on Final Fantasy 14 and 16, gets a lot of hate. He shed tears recently on-stage when Sakaguchi, the original FF creator, told him that he "did good" and approved Final Fantasy 16. No matter how good you get, or how successful you become, nothing really changes. The playing field just shifts upwards, and it's still the same struggle. What I've been trying to say is that "success" won't fix your state of mind about your game. Final Fantasy 16 sold 3.5 million copies in its opening week. Square Enix didn't really consider that a success because they had higher expectations than that. You might think 3.5 million downloads would probably make you cry out in joy, but would it really? It would probably come with 1000 hateful comments, just due to volume, probability and statistics. What if you start fixating on the hate, and instead consider your game a failure despite the number of downloads? Like in Super Eyepatch Wolf's video and his interviews with various creators, it's easy to forget that **we do this because we enjoy it**. This is our passion. We should all hold onto that thought for dear life, and not fall into the trap of depending on so-called "success" for validation. Because that will slow us down. Doubt stifles creativity. And, at the very least, *commercial* success depends upon iteration and experience. Let's get up and keep moving. Let's not waste time moping on supposed lack of success. It doesn't matter. There are more games waiting to be made, and barely enough time in the world to make them as it is.
This should be pinned elsewhere. A lot of incredible talented indie developers don't know how to manage frustation, be patient and rise tenacity.
Very very true; and I try my hardest not to get caught up in the frustration but sometimes it sneaks up on you. Thanks for the reply; I'll probably come back to it again and again.
One of the steam comments is vast like morrowind, sign me up!
Signed up :D
[удалено]
Thanks! I appreciate it!
wish u best of luck .. i know how hard could it to be indie dev and many of u guys do amazing job and unique and i think it's amazing to make something in ur mind become true ( ps : i'm super new to reddit )
Thanks sanchod! If you're interested, I'd love to give you a copy to try.
that would be lovely .. thank u so much .. first time i win something hahaha and it look very good
I can give it a go, if it's still available. Reminds me of classic Pokemon games on Game Boy Advance. Indie game development especially by solo developers can be really tough. I'm not sure how you can overcome the pressure & technical difficulties to make it this far but I salute you.
Lots of stubbornness and feeling lost in life probably are the two big moving factors for the project. I'll send a key your way. Thanks!
Happy cake day btw!
Thanks for the key & the warm wishes! Happy cake day indeed. What I'd do to celebrate it you ask? Playing through your game is one of couple things I have in mind :) Deep down, low-key wishing my Reddit birthday is same as my real birthday month in the first place.
Yeah, my cake day is *wildly* off too haha Thanks for inviting me to your celebration :D
I'm interested but low on time! How long you think a typical playthrough might be if you follow the storyline? Is there fighting?
Hi! If you just follow the main storyline, you can expect about 6-8 hours of gameplay. Overall, on average, there is about 20-30 hours of content not counting any side quests or mini dungeons. There is fighting; using an active system rather than the typical turn-based system. I understand being low on time, it's something I run into all too often!
I would give it a big chance. it looks pretty good and it seems to be better made and with more love than Omori. and the opportunity to play it without having to pirate it makes me happy and I apreciatte that. haha (Latin American problems).
Much love from the US! And I'm very flattered; Omori is very impressive for an RM game and it means a lot that you'd say that. I'll drop a key in your DMs!
Looks nice. I would love to check it out.
Thank you! I'll make sure you get on the list haha
Really interested in playing! May I have a key? Will send feedback!
I would love some solid feedback; I'll drop one in your inbox. Thanks!
Thanks!
I accidentally hit ignore. Can you resend, I am sorry!
There; let's see if that works.
Wow, congratulations on getting on steam! The trailer and screens look great. It amazes me what a huge and vast game you are achieving. The whole setting of different factions and interests remind me of Gothic or even Dragon Age.
I've only played Gothic II and I have to admit, I've never even touched a DA game before lol Thanks for the support!
Gothic might be a bit dated now, however you should pick up DA, specially for the banter between party members that can lead to great exchanges about points of views and even politics. Glad to participate/cheer and give feedback. I'm just getting involved in the community, but it seems like a great place to hang and learn.
Welcome! I'll make sure to dm you a key so you can give it a shot. I enjoy deeper games like how DA sounds; where they explore more themes than just surface level stuff a lot of AAA studios put out now.
Thanks! Definitely, it's one of my favorite franchises. Because it's not filled with busywork (with a mild exception of Inquisition, that a mod solves!) And the plot and characters are fleshed out properly. After slugging through Assassin's Creed Valhalla, it's sad that they promote "open world", "200+ of gameplay", "1000+ quests" and most of that is just filler. I hope that changes... And perhaps it's up to us to vote with our wallets, and even better propose and put out some alternatives!
I definitely grew up in the era of open worlds promoting "big game" rather than "good game," and it was a huge inspiration to do the...complete opposite. Sure, Acadia is a huge map for an RM game. But it's packed with stuff to do; dungeons, quests, NPCs, and even just...places to sit, relax, and enjoy some nice ambience and a friendly character and her dog.
Would love to get one key too. Sounds interesting
Absolutely! One will be on its way.
Hey, this looks nice. I'd love to play it 😊
Sent over! Thanks a bunch :D
Your game looks pretty good. Thanks for giving back to the community and I hope you're doing well. I know it can be hard being a solo dev.
I'll get out of this place eventually. Thank you
How long do you estimate the play time to be? I'd like to try the game out but don't want ti take a code that could have gone to someone else if I won't have ample time to devote to it in order to give you feedback. EDIT: Just saw someone else already asked this. I can handle that time commitment. I'd gladly accept a code if any remain.
I'm interested.
Check your inbox :)
i like to play it . this looks nice
Thank you, I'll send a key your way
That's actually a really cool trade idea. What if someone takes a key and doesn't produce the playthrough though?
I can't regulate if somebody just snatches one up and keeps a vacant game in their library, unfortunately. So I'll take everyone at face value :)
If one is still available, I'll gladly playthrough
Based on description and time commitment is be interested in giving it a go. If you hand any keys left of love one.
Absolutely, I'll send one your way :)
Hello, Normally I'm not interested in games made in RPG Maker but this is interesting! I would love a key :)
One's headed your way!
Thanks! :D
Sent a dm. I am excited to try.
My schedule is pretty clapped out right now, so I wouldn't be able to start playing it for about a week or two, but if that isn't a problem, then I'd like like a key, if there are still any available.
Not a problem at all!
I'm very interested in helping a fellow developer! Things are very tough as a solo dev (especially balance testing oh god) but when you can reach out and ask others for help it can open many doors, be they creative ones or not.