Domino effect: I try to fix something, then something else goes wrong.

I been going crazy with my game. I have given up on it until I can get my head together to give it a 2nd 3rd or 4th try.

I came to the mag a long time ago with lots of questions for RPGmaker3.
I had lots of help with it. And yet things are starting to go down hill very fast.

I made a game thats sitting at 70% done. I did lots of debugging at this point.
Everything looks good. So I try to test play it from the start. I see things that I really don't like. So I decide to fix it. And when I do that... I mess up a whole line of events that happen later in the game. So.. I go back and fix that. Then... I mess up a whole different line of events that happen, in a side quest of the game. And the more I fix... The more of a mess I make. Now my game is one big mess. Full of things I want to keep. Full of things I want to change. And full of things I need to get rid of.

I'm sure this can happen with any of the RPGmakers. I think I'm doomed no matter what I try.

I was talking to some people in the chat room about this.

We call it the "The domino effect"

If there is any ideas on how to help this problem please tell me.

Keep track of variables and such you use later on in the game, and don't touch them if you're editing things that happened earlier.

In my game, I keep track of everything in several .txt files

For example: Seeing as I'm using RM1, I have a document dedicated to swiched I've used that can be recylcled, switches that have to stay on no matter what, switches that were used in specific scenarios, switches that were part of puzzles, ect.

This why if I have an issue later because an event takes off (or doesn't) because of switches, I'll be able to trace it back and fix it.

Wow. KittyKicker, sorry about this frustration you're having!

Yeah, this can happen with any maker. I had worked for days on days on an RPG Maker 2 game a couple of years ago, and I got so frustrated that I just deleted everything on a whim. I don't recommend doing that though, especially because you have things you like and other things you just want to change.

Well, what kind of advice can we give?

Maybe-

1. Get rid of everything you want to get rid of
2. Go through your game, reviewing all event codes and variables writing down what variables do and keeping that info. in a folder(as people on here have already mentioned)
3. Change the tweakable (is that a word?) things
4. Create new things (keeping track of the new variables that you're using)
5. Playtest the game again
6. Write down mistakes as you encounter them
7. Repeat

The nice thing is that there really is no rush. If you really want to make your game, just do it when you're inspired, and as you get closer to it completing it, it will get easier because you can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sigh.. I feel like I just want to kill every event I made. Kill off all the people. And just keep the villages and fields.

I think its better to start on a clean slate almost. But even then I worry that I'm going to have the same problems coming back. I go to change something and something else falls apart.

Or maybe I should just build everything that I want in the game and just leave all the event building until the end. But do it on paper first.

Sigh.. Let me know if I'm shooting my self in the foot or not. I like hearing all your ideas before I settle on my own.

@Lantis RPGmaker 3 don't have txt files. But I guess if I decide to use the other RPGmakers I can keep that in mind.

by txt files, he means on your computer. Use one of the writing programs on your computer, I use Notepad.

I've always used a notebook and written down every switch I've ever used.

I myself half all the switches I'm using listed in a notebook, giving them simple names so I'd know what exactly they're used for. For example, a portion of my list reads:

018 - First Battle
019 - Sarah Joins
020 - Boss: Panther
021 - Beat Panther
[022 - Found Blue Vase in Death Cave
023 - Start Other End in Mt. Shela
024 - Met Jahova

I marked 22 with a [ because it was a switch that wound up becoming unused by the time I reached Death Cave, so I used it for finding the blue vase in Death Cave and marked it so I knew that it referred to a later event (the Death Cave switches don't start until switch 87). I'm currently up to 109 switches, so this list is definately useful.

Sometimes you have to make a compromise to make things work.

Many times I want an open area with lots of events. Problem is, it's tougher to control them. So I shorten space to make evetything work. Less freedom for more control.

Lol, I haven't had that issue.

The last scene I did in my game had 65 events.

Zomg, the takeovers...

Ah, So I went about this all wrong from the start. I did do writing on a paper first. But it was only to get my head together on what kind of story I wanted to tell.

Maybe if I started using RPGmakers1 and 2 before I got to 3 maybe I would be better at it by now.

Also the booklet that you get with the game says nothing about taking time out to plan things. Its just... See the demo we give you? Like it? Good.. Get to work and have fun.

I'm sure some of you are thinking.. Well its just common
sense. It is to a point. You should always write down what ideas you have. I'm a big believer on that.

It took me by surprise that I made almost a whole game. With all my ideas. And that I tried to change just a few things.

Now I must say by change I mean "delete" I end up deleting other events in other places. And I had so many events running on just one event. I messed up like 50% of my work.

well, the instructions in those manuals are for the average person... People like us who plan on releasing our games in public with tons of stuff in them need to write things down.

^ Your 100% right on that. When I first got my RPGmaker game, I had no idea there where sights like this one where you can upload your game to.

I said to my self.. I don't have many friends.. It's just me and TAI my husband.. So who's going to see my work anyways?

I need to pick out the best way to go about this. Either that or.. I just give up. And then I will just use the RPGmakers to download all of your games off the mag.
So not like I waste any money.

Well as mentioned, go through your scripts and stuff, see what changes what. Then when you fix more stuff, you'll know what not to touch as you're fixing it.

This is some pretty terrible news. Sad to hear that you've come so close
only to have it fall apart.

Generate a "game plan" for the whole game from start to finish. Here's
what I did. I think of my game in terms of segments. Each segment is
like a chapter in the story. So, each time the story advances a notch, it's
advancing one step closer to the ending. I used one variable for this.
A "where are we in the story" variable.

0 = starting out
1 = completed first segment
2 = completed second segment

And so forth. In my game, the story is advanced a notch when you defeat
the current segment's boss character. So during that event, I add one to
the variable. All the other stuff that changes during the game runs off of
this variable. Like, for example, every time you advance the story, all the
townspeople have something new to say. All of those characters run off
this one variable.

Side quests and stuff that is ... well, "on the side"... stuff you can do
that's completely optional and doesn't affect the story. For that side stuff,
I used other variables. I kept track of my variables on paper. Listed
what each variable is for.

I can't really say that I understand your problem, as I haven't had any
problems with the changing or deletion of one thing messing up everything
else. But it really helps to structure the whole thing with segments (or
chapters) and a "game progress" variable.

I also kept my database structured. I created my main characters first.
Then I created all the towns, dungeons, and field maps I'd need for the
game (in that order). Then items. Then I started working on it one
segment at a time. I did the first segment of the game, with all the events
and stuff that happens there. Then I did the second segment, and so
forth. When I had completed the final segment of the game, I added in
townspeople, side quests, prologue, epilogue, and everything else.

I also labeled everything. If you look at the event database for my game,
you'll notice that all the events that happen in the Ruins are together, in
one chunk of the database (instead of haphazardly situated throughout the
entire database). So if I need to edit something that takes place in the
Ruins, I know exactly where to look on the list.

So... My advice is to structure the whole thing, keep notes (especially for
variables), and have a "game plan" in mind for how the story's gonna
proceed from start to finish.

Perhaps you could look at your travails as a rough draft. And now that
you're more experienced with it, you'll know how to avoid the pitfalls.

The thing I was trying to do is.. I want to have constant weather change. So almost every event I had It would change the weather some where else. So I made it like this.

field one spring.
field two summer.
field three fall
field four winter.

All of these where linked to a guy named. For an EX. Sam.
Now when you go talk to a girl named Sue, it will make it
rain/snow in all 4 of those fields. Including another event
lined in with her.
Then I have a guy named Steve, Steve is going to now make all the fields go to night. And the fields where number 2 is summer and number four is winter we will change that to spring and fall.

Ok everything above is right. So now.. Who can tell me what happens if we take Sue out of the story? We will have an event that needs to be redone some where else. And If I wanted any kind of rain and snow I would have to replace it. So I do all of that fixing. Then I decide that to get rid of Sam. Ok Sam's gone. Now all
the seasons go to spring. So now depending weather Sam is toward the beginning of my quest or the end it may or may not be raining or snowing when I want it to be. So I have to retrace all of my steps. Because I have
like 10 people controlling the weather and I don't know who is doing what. All I know the whole game is going crazy.

Yes yes.. I'm going to need to take a lot more notes. I know this now.

I would recommend taking notes on what those people do, I would also say that you should reuse the same character later in the game to either get the same weather affect or a new one.

Kitty - Oh. I didn't realize you were doing something so complicated. My
hat's off to you for doing something so surreal and ambitious. For
something this convoluted, you definitely need to follow Facts' advice and
document the whole thing on paper. Write down what each person does
and where each person is. You need to have organized notes you can
look at, so you can know exactly what the weather and season is going to
look like at any given time during the course of the game.

I will try my best. I know I thought I wanted my game out for Halloween. I guess I'm looking at 07.

I'm going to have to make a ton of changes.

Thanks for all of your support.

Hey, KittyKicker,
I'm glad you're going to press on with your game. Cool!! I'm looking forward to playing it when it comes out.