This isn’t absolutely common among new video game designers – most of them want to start from creating RPG.

Perhaps due to nostalgia and good memories, to such games as Tibia, Ultima Online, Diablo 1, which were great productions back then.

What Is An RPG

What is an RPG? Role Playing Game is an form of entertainment where player assumes a role. In real world, people would pretend they are knights, mages, and such.

In video games, although most people don’t pretend they are a knight, they for sure enjoying developing their characters.

Mostly such games have features such as levels, items, shops, and killing mobs then collecting loot.

First, Find Inspiration Among Existing Titles

Although most people take this step too seriously, and they make yet another game that’s just another copy of popular title, I still think this is very necessary step.

If you loved some RPG games in the past, or, any games, then why don’t borrow a feature or two from them? For example dungeons in Diablo 1 were amazing.

Instead of having huge map and boring lore like in most MMORPGs, you had dungeons with one not many entrances, and only one at first.

Every time you finish a level of dungeon, you go below, and below, and mobs are getting stronger.

I find that feature especially entertaining. Especially when theres fear of not remembering the way back. Its much better than just killing mobs in open area.

So that’s one interesting thing to steal, another could be, if you played Fallout 2238 (community-powered multiplayer server of fallout 2), there was ability to have AI-driven followers.

They could be either paid (mercenaries), captured (slaves) and convinced (companions).

It was absolutely great idea. You could not only attack other players with your slaves, you could sell them or fight PvE with them. Heal them. Or tell them to carry items when your backpack is full.

Now, connect these two features, slaves and dungeons, and you have absolutely new game, with two interesting features. Not just another clone of existing title.

Choose The Right Tools

You can pick any language you want. Any framework you want. And any game engine.

This mostly depends on what you’re comfortable with. There’s no point learning C++ to create your game, if you are comfortable coding it in Java, and vice versa.

Unless, you have a certain reason to use specific language, other than these you have already mastered, don’t do that.

But, if you are new to programming, I will recommend you to use one of three popular game engines.

Godot C#, C++

Godot is, although often disregarded by huge Unity and Unreal userbase – a great open source engine, that has its own audience, of people who love open sauce. (Linux users, I guess).

And that’s another good reason to use it. It works on Linux! Although Unity works on Linux too, people claim it’s very buggy.

Godot is completely free of royalties. Other 2 engines are free till you start making money on it, then you pay a small fee. That’s not the case with Godot. Here, it’s 100% free forever.

It was also recommended by Blender Foundation (creators of popular 3d modelling tool).

Unity C#

Unity is awesome. Most popular 2D and 3D game engine. It has a small royalty.

Developers code in C#, but engine is coded in both C++ and C#.

There are many mainstream, popular games that sold like crazy. Such as Rust.

Unreal Engine 4 C++

Unreal Engine 4 is second most popular engine. And its fantastic. Developers use either C++ or visual scripting (blueprints).

However, It speeds up things a lot too. There’s no reason to feel bad just because your game was made without coding.

So you can make top notch game with astounding graphics while not even knowing how to code. It may sound sad to some, because, it’s making the whole process easier.

Blender

Blender is amazing free tool for making 3D models to your game. Trees, characters, cars, armors, dragons and weapons.

The best part here is that Blender is as functional as these pricey premium modelling software, such as Maya.

Make Your Game Assets In Advance

It will be easier if you create your character, weapons, armors, trees, and such, in advance.

You can always swap it later. Having these models, you can just drag and drop them later then write a script (or not).

This way u don’t have to make breaks in coding because you are out of models to use.

Use Blender for that.

And don’t worry about size, you can always scale and rotate them later in game engine.

Think Of Game World And Audience

You already planned features your game will have, but what will the world look like?

Science Fiction? Medieval? Modern World? Or maybe combination of Survival and Sandbox (Hello again, Rust).

It is important to locate your audience (if it exists). For example, most sandbox lovers are currently smashing keyboard building things in Minecraft, or destroying their foreign neighbors bases in Rust.

Make a list of places where your target audience may be. Their subreddits, forums, blogs, anything!

Then, after your game is done, or even when half of it is done, post some screens in these places.

Not only you will get valuable feedback, but these people will actually attempt to promote your game for free!

And don’t forget about the scope of your game.

Conclusion

RPG is great genre that you can do lot of crazy things with, and most likely these changes will seem like good additions.

All you have to do is to start.

And remember the most important thing.

Players love RPG! Anyone can be your audience.

There’s a little bit of RPG in any game, whether is car racing, MOBA like League of Legends, and so on.

So just go for it :).

I know what you feel.

That feeling of annoyance and boredom.

Everytime you launch an MMORPG game. Everytime you feel like you lost another 10 minutes of your life. Everytime you get zero reward in the form of entertainment.

But that’s why you launched that game right?

That’s why you spend hours testing games that may ‘just have it’ and even longer on looking for these games.

Unfortunately. All games you tried, are essentialy less developed clones of World of Warcraft.

Zero new features.

Everything the same.

Only graphics worse.

And different items in item shop, that you can obtain for real life cash.

Yeah, developing games is a business. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with getting some cash from players

But most developer companies fail to create most important thing.

Yeah. They fail to create at least somehow interesting gameplay that just isn’t a copy of other game, containing ONLY attacking mobs, 3d graphics, inventory system, pvp, shops, maybe mounts, etc.

That’s sad, but that’s the creativity limit of most MMORPG developer companies. Of course that could apply to any genre, but it’s surprisingly highly correct statistic when it comes to that genre.

No idea where the game comes from, China, Japan, Korea, UK or USA, it always fails in the same way.

Poor Indie Developers Produce More Interesting Games Than AAA Companies With High Budget

Another sad fact. You will never hear about most indie games even if they have interesting gameplay.

Why? Because they probably didn’t finish their game. And if they did, then they had no money to pay influencers, publishers and marketers to tell about and advertise their game.

Unless they have as much luck as Notch, creator of Minecraft, then most likely world won’t get to know their greatness, their art, and their soul, all mixed and evolved into a game.

What is needed? IMO there should be more websites promoting indie games for free. This way, when someone makes his own game, and posts it there, if the public likes it, they will rate it better, and this way more public will see it.

Like Kickstarter, but without sponsoring. Why? It’s not sponsoring what indie games need.

It’s recognition.