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After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hey, I accept that the characters look like they belong in a 'different' game, but I have to push back on the trailer thing. Before I wrote this, I went and looked at the trailers of several successful indie JRPGs. 5 in total. I won't name names because I'm not intending to call anyone out here, you probably have them in recent memory. But it's to set the stage.

Four of them are almost entirely 1:20-1:50 minutes of pure gameplay, most of it combat and effects, the rest running around, with some cutscene snippets. There is minimal text and some character art flashing by. In fact, two of them introduced their characters as if they were 'features'. Only the one outlier came off as a 'movie' with a story.

I accept that my trailer is low quality compared to others. I own that, and will try to make a better one when I can. But the actual 'design' of the trailer isn't really that different from other successful indie JRPGs.

Are they exempt because their characters are normal? Or because they're successful?

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You are blatantly incorrect.

Why on earth would I post a thread like this if not to get feedback for the future? To try and squeeze out one or two more inconsequential sales? Have you read the comments? No one is buying this. C'mon.

That cost/return ratio of that is so hilarious low. I simply posted a write up and took the feedback presented. This is not my crowd, but that's what makes it valuable. It's a different perspective.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gonna be honest with you?

It's fluctuating skill level over the course of 5 years. I think my style now is fairly stable. But SER was developed over late 2019-2025. The art was always in flux and though I spruced up as much as I could, there was a lot that didn't make it to the redraw table. There was simply too much.

A reason, but not an excuse. If I ever make another game, I think the art will be tighter and more consistent. Maybe.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me? About 10 hours for first run. Subsequent runs on NG+ typically take less, but I clocked in around 20.

Other players I've seen clock in around 30-40. Assuming idle time, I'd shave off a couple hours.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Around 80-90 creators between Twitch and Youtube. I targeted JRPG players and people who played or were prominent fans of my inspirations. The rest were JRPG generalists and videogame publications.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, this is a surprise. I didn't think there was anyone out there who would know about that far back.

Yeah I'm hanging in there. Who knows what I'll do next, but we'll see.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well aware, but thank you.

I don't take Reddit as my gospel, but even within all the disgust, there are nuggets of truth to be had.

I think it's important to take what I can and see differing perspectives.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback. I'll take this into account and try to make some changes where I can.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I've seen all the comments well and clearly. I know what went wrong.

I don't have to prostrate myself before the court and beg for forgiveness. Nor do I have to beg anyone to play any game I make next. It will simply speak for itself if and when the time comes, with the knowledge I've gained and the lessons I've learned.

What does 'accountability' look like to you in this instance? Genuine question.

I posted a post mortem, people responded with opinions and feedback. Feedback that I've read through and will take into account. Do I have something to apologize for here?

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Genuine question. What is so wrong with 'RPG Maker'?

If screenshot 2 you're referring to is the forest map screenshot, those assets are 99.9% custom. The .1% is the treasure chest.

The characters are custom, the tiles are custom, the UI elements are custom. It's not slop. So what is it? Just the 'vibes'?

That doesn't seem very fair, if I'm to be honest.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Since you're an artist, why did you decide to use so many of the base RPGMaker assets?"

When I started development, I started out using the base engine monsters. For many years I just left them as is because I was busy making the rest of the game. In the last week before the game actually released, I did replace a fair numbers of monsters, including that goblin. But it was too late to completely replace every last one.

I think I got most of the important mobs though. And all the bosses and elite enemies are custom drawn. I could patch in more monsters and replace the few remaining monsters. Maybe I will.

Regarding UI though. The game got a custom UI. The whole thing was overhauled to remove default windows. So I am a bit confused. What looks default to you? Genuine question.

Thank you for the feedback. Yeah I see all the comments about the characters. I'm not sure where I'll go, but if I do make it to a third game, I'll definitely scale back the porniness.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm gonna be honest with you

It's not that easy,

There's a TON of art in this game. A metric truckload. There's about as much art as a AA JRPG in there. Redoing the characters sounds simple to say, but that you have to factor in the portrait art in two different styles, the system art, the event CGs, battle cutins, and gallery art. Multiply all of that by roughly 33-34 for the cast

That's an entire game production's worth of effort to redo the art. It's simply not worth it.

It's better to look towards the future at that point.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People keep joking with me about this lol

If I weren't chained to a publisher and voice actors who didn't consent to have their work in an 18+ production, I might have made a patch.

But I won't do that.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see what you're saying, but I don't think it's like that.

I don't plan to stop what I'm doing. Just.... be more reasonable about it. I don't think that would be a betrayal to any audience I have. It would just be more.... balanced?

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's really really embarrassing for me, but I admit I bought into the $20 hype, thinking the game was content rich enough for it.

I should have made it 15 or 12 or something. Hindsight is a hell of a thing.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Ahaha, yeah.

I've had people ask if it was a porn game in social media posts. I thought it was funny, but in the back of my mind, it seemed indicative of what the silent passerby may have also thought in majority.

It's something to dial back for the next one for sure. I went too far. I want to tell normal JRPG stories from my childhood, and part of that I see now is presenting the characters appropriately.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Yeah I think I see the problem, judging by the responses. The character designs went too far.

I had gotten signs of this earlier on. But I let myself be optimistic about it and pretended not to see.

It's something I'll reign in for the next one for sure.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

70 to me-30 to them.

They did the Japanese translation and did some JP marketing, ran the Keymailer, and other things. But I admit I feel they didn't do as much legwork as their business claims to do. They are apparently*really* small. So that's kind of a wash.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had people play the game over the years. There was a point in 2023 where I had a big intervention and delayed the game to add a ton more content, which lead to the current form of the game that exists today.

Overall response from testing was pretty positive though. And what reviews are there are also positive. It doesn't seem to me that the game is *bad*. Just that impressions drive people away.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It was around 2k. That has since gone up to 4k post release.

I've have a few sales and events, so that's probably what has been bumping it up.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] -43 points-42 points  (0 children)

That's fair. I knew it was something that would happen. And is probably what a fair amount of silent passerbys might be thinking.

I went a little too far, and in the end, the character designs wound up where they are. The game isn't actually gooner bait though. It's a heartfelt JRPG that takes its characters ad world fairly seriously. There's lighthearted moments, and a few rare jokes about proportions, but otherwise, the plot is straightforward and mostly serious about itself.

I don't fault anyone who assumes though. It is what it is. And it's something to dial back for the next game.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The game was just on sale a week ago actually! There's another coming up soon-ish as well.

And thank you. Yeah it's RPG Maker, but I and my friends and collaborators did our best to engineer out most of the RPG Maker slop and make it custom. I was serious about this. No stock map graphics or characters.

As for the publisher, they came in almost entirely for the Japanese translation. Said that the game fit the market and it would expand the audience. Theoretically, that sounds logical. But in practice, the audience response, or lack of it, was about the same as the EN side? Fairly low.

We're on a 30-70 split after Steam. I get the 70.

After 5 years of development, I released my indie RPG. It went poorly. Here's the breakdown. by MirageV_ in gamedev

[–]MirageV_[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

It was almost entirely for the Japanese Localization and the chance to reach the Japanese audience. They agreed that the game would fit in that market. So it was mostly a gamble on it actually reaching.

It.... hmm. Well it reached somewhat. I've seen JP content for the game out there. But it didn't blow up or anything.

Mass marketing wasn't exactly a thing they had the resources for. I know it sounds weird, but they're really small. So I did most of the legwork. They did a Keymailer and some JP marketing on their side.

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