[Discussion] Tips and Helpful things for beginners

I want to start making fan-games and join this community, and I'm planning on doing so soon. What are some helpful tools, tips and tricks for RPGMaker XP in making a fan game for pokemon. It would be very helpful.

Well, to begin with, I'd recommend looking up some tutorials on RXMP and Essentials before starting to make a game. Look for Thundaga and Atomic Reactor. I haven't personally watched much of either series, but I have indeed heard that they're a good place to start.

Then I would say to not overdo it on your first attempt. You don't have to make a full-length Pokemon game your first time around. It would be much better to make a smaller game to start with, just to get used to the basics of Essentials and how everything runs.

A lot of people just try to recruit a team right out of the gate when they don't know Essentials or RMXP. Don't be that person. Your chances of finding a team increase as you grow more capable with Essentials. Potential teammates look for developers who have a good grasp on what they're doing rather than a bumbling developer who doesn't quite understand how to make the game.

Know that you're going to fail time and time again. It's all a part of the learning process. Not everything you do is going to work perfectly, not every event will run as intended, not every map is going to look good - it all takes time and practice. No one's best work has ever been in their early days. Just keep knocking away at it and you'll see yourself improve more and more.

- Playability before plot
- Give to your characters at least three traits
- Test the difficulty thousands of times

I'm just copying my post from the Quick Design questions thread, which is pretty relevant here too.

Vendily said:

Well, there are quite a few things to begin with.
First, what engine or base will you use? Most people use Pokemon Essentials, which requires RPG Maker XP, if you didn't already know. However, you can also use one of these, or even make your own from scratch.
If you used a base, you should read up on the manuals and make small example games to practice. For Essentials, read the wiki. Seriously, there are quite a few questions in the Essentials forum that can be answered with the wiki. (There's also the forum so you can ask questions.)

Now for your game itself. (I am not an expert. I have merely failed many times.)

1. Don't pressure yourself to include every feature under the sun, or play keep up with the latest generations. It's a lot of work with limited assets.
2. Focus on your game's main idea, main feature, or main theme. And try to keep the number down. This ties in with number 1.
3. Don't try to fit in 80+ hours of gameplay. Start small, a few hours, something you can play in a day or two. Make that game fun to you.
4. Stick with the default Essentials graphics. That way, you don't need to look for graphics or make your own.

Now, designing the game itself. That really depends on your style. I kind of jump in and make assets and story on a whim, but my friend will plan literally everything before she even starts. Don't be like me, I burn out too easily. Have a basic idea of the main events in the story, a few towns, and most of the Gym Leaders and their types, the Rival and the Team (the last three are optional, technically). Main events vary from game to game, but they will include:

• Getting the starter
• Rival encounters
• Villain/Team encounters
• Legendary encounters

This post is pretty long now, didn't realize I've been typing for so long. Hope I helped a bit, and didn't reiterate stuff you already know!

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Especially in the beginning you should focus on what most fun for you and try out everything you can imagine. Start small and make a small game just for yoursef before you think about publishing a howl 8-gym game with all Pokemon and everything. If you like what you are doing try out other things you may not be too comfortable with and you may learn to love them.

That's at least the way I did it. :)