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I'm making a Horror game that's basically "Buckshot Roulette meets Undertale."

A topic by Chillitch created Feb 23, 2024 Views: 2,892 Replies: 106
Viewing posts 81 to 92 of 92 · Previous page · First page

Story Update:

Ok, I'll be honest, I did not have a lot of time to make my game today or even these past three days (yes, including my birthday). I've been doing a lot of stuff so it's been kind of hard. All I can say is the way I'm having the story laid out is getting pretty good but Worldbuilding is getting a bit hard. I know that sounds kind of dumb for an RPG, but there's some areas that need to be fleshed out, that I'm not quite sure how to fix. However, I'm sure I'll figure it out, I'm learning how to use "soft world building."

If you don't know what that is, then watch the video below.

Story Update:

I've been writing some more stuff in the main story. It's been going good, despite a few bumps, haha. I'm still kind of wondering how my world building should be. Well... There is people to talk to, who can tell you why the world is the way it is, but I'm mainly talking about soft world building. I really like soft world building but I also debate on if I should add a hint of "Tell don't show." So I'm mainly debating on what parts should have it in.

This is especially a problem with "MT.Go"... Does anyone even remember that name? If you guys remember the lore, you would know that "Mt.Go" is the mountain with a talking carved face. He may not seem that special of a character, but he does indeed have a MAJOR role in the story. It's been hard figuring out what I should do since soft world building is kind of hard in certain areas, where I feel like there's no other way than to explain it right in front of the users face. 

(+1)

I would've made an update yesterday, but I was so tired when I went to make an update. 

Story Update:

I'm feeling more confident on what I should use for soft world building. I'm having an easier time understanding what to use for soft world building now... Ok there's still more I have to figure out, but it's been going better. 

Also I want to express that I wont use soft world building ALL the time. I plan to use some hard world building as well, but I'm trying my best to use more soft world building.

I recommend watching this video to see the difference between soft world building and hard world building. This guy will do a way better job on explaining it.

I'm really excited to see what you're cookin' up!

Anyways, I have a little question:

Does the game have music?

If it does, do you make it yourself or commission it or use royalty free music?

(1 edit) (+1)

I have an AMAZINGLY good humble bundle deal for some music. The deal is gone now but it was "HUMBLE BUNDLE Melodic Mayhem: Tier 3." It comes with amazing music including some horror music.

It cost 1,650$, but I got it for I believe only 20$. If you wanna know how I found it, then you should go watch "GamesFromScratch." He talks a lot about bundles that you can get for game development. He's really helped me a lot.

GamesFromScratch

Also I will be using some of the built in music in RPG Maker VX Ace for certain parts. I don't know if I'll change the battle theme, because I really like the one I have right now (AKA "Battle 8" and "Dungeon 9")

Battle 8: 

Dungeon 9: 

Weapons Update:

I know I said I would talk about the story more in these devlogs, but an idea came in my head. I'm thinking of adding a gun that gets more powerful the more you shoot a blank at yourself. So basically +2 damage every time you shoot yourself with a blank. It can be a good competition for the Double Barreled Shotgun on who's the strongest weapon. In my game there's 9 blank rounds and 1 live round. Meaning it has the chance to bump up to 18 damage! I'm thinking of nerfing it, but it's such a fun Idea.

Story Update:

I had a problem in the story. In the pacifist run, I realized that it would be a problem if you didnt kill anyone, but you would be mean to people. Since the ACT system in my game allows you to be a total a**hole, it can make people mean or evil. Of course this isn't pacifist worthy, so I will count the act of changing someone into being evil as killing someone. I mean, making people evil is way worse than killing them. After all, just like Jesus said "do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." >:) >:) >:)

Will making people evil count towards the genocide ending? That's a good question... I don't now how to answer that. Either I will make a new ending or maybe just put it as a genocide ending, but I'm really not sure, I'll think about it. 

I'm getting better Ideas with the story. I cant wait to reveal some of the more important characters I haven't showed off yet. 

Also I'm debating on the cassette tape mechanic becoming a VHS tape mechanic. Does anyone remember the cassette tape mechanic? As of typing this, it was an update 13 days ago. For anyone who doesn't remember, these cassette tapes were something you can find to reveal more of the story. Anyways, I'm thinking of making it VHS tapes instead, for more visual parts. Now I still want to use "Tell don't show" so not all of it will have visuals, but it is something I'm thinking of.

Just a thought!

(1 edit)

Story Update:

Lets talk about LUCK! Of course we all know luck will be in the battle system, but this goes for the story too. The story will have moments where luck is involved. Think of it like "Dungeons & Dragons" when you roll the 20 sided dice to get the best outcome in a story. Ok I never played D&D before, but I kind of understand the concept of the 20 sided dice.

I guess to give you an example, lets say someone tried to punch you. If you want to kick them and rolled a 1. Then when you kick the person, not only does your kick do nothing to him, it hurts your leg instead. However if it was a 20. Then when you kick the person, he falls and hit's his head hard on the ground so hard it instantly knocks him out. Also, just like dungeons and dragons, I want to reward the player for creative thinking. In D&D, you can do aaaannnnyyythiiiing you want (technically), since you cant really deny any players request. So I plan to make a lot of things a possibility in this game. For example, lets say you encounter a locked door. Well other video games will tell you to find a key. You can choose that approach in my game, but you can also break the door. As long you roll a high number. Of course I don't wanna be too ambitious, so I might not have this feature in everything, but I'll try to implement it in as much as possible.

However to help me make it more balanced and also to give myself not such a headache when I put it in my game. I'll be using the "YES, AND.

What's a "YES, AND?"

This is a 3 minute video on the "YES, AND." I HIGHLY recommend you gave it a watch to understand what I'm gonna do with my game.

Much like he said in the video, it still can break the story. For example, right now I plan to have a side quest where you can explore a haunted mansion, and you can bypass all of it if you have a good roll.       T-T

But that's ok because I want people to have freedom. This helps make my game more about roleplaying, so the player can be encouraged to act exactly as their character. Much like what he said at 0:54, if you have a character that wants to do something, even if its outrageous, he can still (technically) do it, but it comes at a cost with the "YES, AND."

(1 edit)

Story Update:

Wow I'm happy with what I got to do today. Right now I'm writing how the ACT system should go for a special character and I feel really proud about it. The ACT system is getting better and the characters are getting more development. I kind of dreaded writing for the main story at times, but I'm getting more happy with it. After all, I really feel like I got a lot done today. 

Also I really wanna say I'm inspired by the "Fools Gold" Series by DingoDoodles. If you read the update above this one, you would know she's responsible for the "Felix D&D Tips" video as well. Dingo and her boyfriend Felix really inspired the way I write the story for this game. If you don't know "Fools Gold" is a series that she does where she animates her D&D campaigns. Its a really entertaining watch, go check it out.

Fools Gold

But what really caught me was the fact that this wasn't just some writer making this story. It was her group of friends having a D&D campaign where luck was involved and there choices mattered. It made me wonder "Man what if RPG's had something like this." And that's kind of one of the reasons I wanted to make this game. It made me feel like RPG's could be so much greater, and yet RPG's were based off of D&D (So I've been told). While my battle system is mainly Russian roulette, there's times in the story where you have to do traditional fights. No, it's not like every other RPG where there's a menu system to select what you wanna do and having to do big numbers. It's more like a choose your own adventure way of fighting. Which I know sounds dumb since I just said its not like a menu system. 

To give an example, lets say you fight a thief. In a traditional RPG, you would basically have to dwindle the HP on that thief till he hits 0. But in my game, not only can you attack the thief, lets say you can shoot a padlock on a cage for a bull, now the bull can run out and chase after the thief. Or lets say your riding on a motorcycle on top of some canyon and your being chased by a biker gang for whatever reason. You can ram them into the ravine, or maybe trick one of them to ram you, but then right as he gets close, you floor it and he accidentally crashes into his buddy's. It feels like there's more story involved, and you can use the environment around you to make more interesting choices. Rather than just, "You use 'attack'. oh you did 20 dmg... You used a 'special'. Oh it missed. You used 'attack'. Oh you did another 20 dmg."

Sorry,  just wanna say I'll be using stuff like the environment and story to make more engaging fights, thanks to "Fools Gold."

Story Update:

I’m gonna talk more about the ACT system and the cassette tape mechanic. These both really complement eachother because the cassettes reveal a lot of information of the past and present. Yep, this will definitely help get some info on pacifying someone. For example, a cassette tape can give you info on someone’s child hood. So you can use that info to help them. Perhaps they were abandoned, ignored, or hurt in their childhood and that shaped the way they are. This is all sad, but it can be helpful information for you to use in order to change them, much like psychology. I don’t want cassette tapes, just to be lore dumps, I want them to be useful.

there’s more I plan with cassette tapes, I hope to talk about them again some other time.

Story Update:

I'll be adding robots to the story     :D

Ok, well what's so special about them? well first off you can have one as a partner for the partner system (if that ever gets implemented.) They also might be involved with some side quest. Also you can put someone's conscious into a robot, which can be really interesting for some story parts if you want to revive a character. That actually reminds me. Whenever your partner dies, they stay dead. It's not like every other RPG where your partner faints but comes back when out of battle. Nah bro, they really dead, unless you give them a revive syringe or put their conscious into a robot.

Why would you add that? 

Because for a horror game, if your partner dies, it makes your choices feel more anxiety driven. Like you don't wanna pick the wrong choice, so your friend doesn't die, which gives off decidophobia.

Story Update.

Remember when I said you can choose to be in groups (clans, organization, whatever). Right now, there's one where you can join a murderer on his quests. It's one of the ways you can unlock the double barreled shotgun. He goes on a total killing spree for a horrifying reason. If you agree with his actions, by all means... join him.

Also the ACT system is getting better. I'm glad I'm not second guessing my decisions any more, and am feeling more confident with how my game should be.

sorry for such a short update, haha, I'm making this pretty late.

Happy Memorial Day!

Battle Update:

There is indeed bosses. My plan is to have 5 but I only have 3. To be honest I might just keep it to 3. Even most of my bosses are optional, and for good reason. 

what will the bosses be like?

well I plan for them to have smarter AI, and also tend to have more items than the usual enemy you’ll find. 

but what about the normal enemies you’ll encounter? Well, some of them are just like how the Opponent acts in the beta, however there’s ones with gimmicks attached to them. I plan to have an enemy that copies your move like a puppet, which will be interesting to fight. Also there’s some who might shoot themselves too much or might shoot you too much. I won’t be having any enemy that’s cheats by knowing where the live round is. Although the Opponent  will always know the last round, so I will be using that for all the other enemies.

also some enemies will have certain items allowed. Heck they might even give you free items so you can learn to use them.
(+1)

Hi! I have a few new questions:

-Are you planning to release a complete product & never touch it again (like Undertale) or release it and then keep updating it with new content? (Stardew Valley for example)

-After this project, are you planning to move onto a more complex game engine like Godot, Unity & GameMaker or stay with RPGMaker?

-Are you a hobbyist or do you want to take game development seriously and consider it you job?

-What kinds of marketing will you do for this game? (& do you have any advise on marketing)

Feel free not to answer some of these questions because they require a lot of planning ahead.

(+1)

I plan to make it a complete product. I'll only update for bug fixes and typos.

My next game Idea I have planned will probably be using Godot. I don't use Unity, also I don't have experience with GameMaker. Might use RPG Maker MV for some other projects, because I want my purchase to feel justified lol.

The third question is a tough one, because I want to make it a hobby but I also REALLY want to make it a job. I've learned from countless game devs about marketing, however I'm struggling with trying to put up my YouTube channel back up. So I am more leaning on making it a job, but I don't really like having my games be paid. Id rather them be free. Even if I did involve payment, I'd rather make it DLC but the game be free. 

Yes I do have marketing. Right now I only have my YouTube channel (That i need to open back up T-T). Also I did actually make an advertisement video on my Instagram channel, but again I'm not really sure if I want to use Insta that much.

Admittedly these videos are more about profit but they're still helpful information, even if you're making a free game.

Goodgis is a really cool youtuber. He has some good info in this video. He also talks about how you should TELL your story on social media. 

GoingIndie is another YT channel I love. He talks about why 96% of Indie game fail. Some people in the comment section disagree with certain points in the video, but either way it still has some good info if you want to make a game. He also says we should go out and talk to people if they want our game so we can understand what we should develop. For example, I have a devlog (of course) and I also posted my beta on the ScoreSpace Discord server because they have a channel for showing off work. However, there's still much more I plan to do other than just those two things. I'm gonna find some more people to talk to, just not right now, I have a lot to do.

Battle Update:

So another thing I might do is have the boss be a little cheeky cheater. This will really fit the boss.

Also, there's a problem with how Russian roulette works.

I'm not sure if I showed this video, but he basically explains why you should (usually) NEVER shoot yourself in Buckshot Roulette. If you watch the video at 8:15, he explains why the amount of ammo is a problem. So one of my strats is to cap the ammo to 10 rounds so it can be even numbers instead of odd numbers. It's not perfect but it helps. So what else can I do to encourage people to shoot themselves. Well for one I have four leaf clover which gives a 50/50 chance, to encourage people to use it in hopes of getting a shot. Also it might scare the player if the enemies use it, so they might be encouraged to shoot themselves to get a higher chance of the live round. But what else could I do?

Not sure if people remember, but does anyone know about that one weapon idea I had about where you could shoot yourself with a blank to get more damage on your gun. Well I'm thinking of turning that into an item or apply that effect to all guns.

Also, speaking of ways to encourage players to shoot themselves....

Item Update:

Explosive round: You can put in an explosive round in the gun. If anyone activates the explosive round when shooting at someone, the explosive round well... EXPLODES giving themselves damage. So you have to guess where the explosive round is, so you can deactivate it. How do you deactivate it? Well... by shooting yourself.

Battle Update:

Ok so I will probably not make the Explosive round an item but integrate it into the battle system. Again this is just to encourage people to shoot themselves more often.

Item Update:

This is just an idea that popped in my head when I watched Vsauce Kevin's video on Russian roulette.

Bullseye Card: You're allowed to shoot the enemy two times instead of one time.

Story Update:

All I can say is that I'm making great progress. Especially with the pacifist route and the ACT system involved with the main characters (Yes I'm working on the main story again /: )

Also I have another character that I might make as one of the main characters. Remember when I talked about robots being on your side? Well there's one robot you can talk with, to put him on your team. Although he doesn't feel emotion so you will have to use some clever talking to get him on your side.

It's been hard making the story, but fun at the same time haha. Hope you guys been doing great. Really wish I could talk about the story more, but I cant really reveal a lot. 

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