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My first thought on seeing the RPG in a Box homepage is that the graphics don't really do anything for me. Maybe it's just nostalgia having grown up playing Fin

My first thought on seeing the RPG in a Box homepage is that the graphics don't really do anything for me. Maybe it's just nostalgia having grown up playing Final Fantasy games for SNES, but when it comes to graphically simple games, I find that pixel art graphics resonate much more with me. So I would probably lean more toward RPG maker if I wanted to make an RPG. But then I had a look at the community showcase [1], and it's really impressive what people are doing. I've played a lot of Minecraft, and have experienced genuine awe and terror in those environments. And some of the community showcase screenshots definitely give me that same immersive feeling that I get in Minecraft, and which pixel art games don't really offer. I just had a look in the forums and it looks like you can do pixel art games in this engine, too. [2] So I guess my advice is to maybe highlight more of the community creations on the homepage as well as first-person worlds. Anyway, any tool that encourages and enables creativity is awesome. This is very cool! [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/rpginabox/comments/1hqx3h4/im_so_grateful_to_present_the_community_showcase/ https://www.reddit.com/r/rpginabox/comments/1hqx3h4/im_so_gr... [2] https://rpginabox.com/forum/d/547-the-twilight-isle/8 https://rpginabox.com/forum/d/547-the-twilight-isle/8

johnnyanmac 1y ago
>So I would probably lean more toward RPG maker if I wanted to make an RPG That may be a part of why they chose to take a 3d approach instead. RPG Maker has 20 years of iteration, so it's pretty hard to compete in that space. It's already a bit difficult as is to stand out in a 2D space to begin with. Meanwhile, 3D is still a hard problem and Voxels give that flexibility to make assets by hand that fit into an overall game.
- koonsolo 1y ago
  Hey, developer of RPG Playground here, and I agree with you. My platform has moderate success (multiple games released each day), but to compete with RPG Maker means being 10x better. I was hoping to grab some of that market, but marketing wise it's incredibly difficult.
  - jamalaramala 1y ago
    Blender had moderate success when it was closed source, but not enough to pay its development, so it was going to die. After its creator raised €100,000 to release it under the GPL, Blender became the leading open-source 3D tool it is today. And they make enough money from recurring donations, service subscriptions, merchandise, conferences and trainings.
    - koonsolo 1y ago
      Blender is great, I also use it. It's a nice example on how a non-developer tool is successful with open source. There are/were plenty of open source RPG makers, but they never gained any real traction. I considered open sourcing my product in the past (did so with a previous game), so maybe one day. I still have some big things planned :).
    - mkesper 1y ago
      I think Blender was (and still is) exceptionally good at community building. Just freeing your product might not get you enough traction by itself.
      - popcorncowboy 1y ago
        Clearly you are unfamiliar with the process. Step 1, open source project. Step 2. Step 3, profit.
        jamalaramala 1y ago
        * Step 1: Ask for $100,000 to fund the start-up * Step 2: Open source project * Step 3: Find other streams of revenue (donations, grants, subscriptions, sponsorships)
      - Suppafly 1y ago
        >Just freeing your product might not get you enough traction by itself. Plus not everyone wants to give their product away. I see that advice all the time here and reddit and other places, "just opensource it" as if that's a solution to every problem a creator might have. I even saw it on a gamedev subreddit where a guy was asking how to make more money and people were saying to make it opensource, as if making it free would somehow increase sales for him.
vanderZwan 1y ago
I guess the showcase is all stills mainly because it's a collection of screenshots shared on the forum, but I really would like to see the engine in motion! I'm not demanding great animation or anything. I get that individual passion projects are limited in their time and energy budget, and he voxel graphics editor looks intentionally minimalistic. But it would still feel more alive.
Max-q 1y ago
There’s a new generation that played Minecraft when they where kids, so a new generation of nostalgia ;)
jamalaramala 1y ago
You'll probably love [TIC-80](https://tic80.com/ https://tic80.com/).
nottorp 1y ago
> it's just nostalgia having grown up playing Final Fantasy games for SNES What did Nintendo do to you people? I've grown up playing very pixelated games on the ZX Spectrum but I have zero nostalgia for those graphics.
- kubb 1y ago
  It’s because the art for these games was so good, it didn’t feel like the hardware was a limitation, more like it just had a particular style. I’m currently playing Octopath Traveler 2 and it completely recreates this feeling, the art is beautiful and very pixelated.
  - nottorp 1y ago
    Well, at least the Nintendo nostalgia is saving me money since I can't even look at fake pixelated graphics when I look for new indie games to play. This is not the only way to do low budget graphics. Too bad very few creators realize it.
    - endemic 1y ago
      What are some other techniques you’ve noticed?
- freetime2 1y ago
  Final Fantasy IV and VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Ogre Battle, and Zelda: A Link to the Past all still look great to me to this day. I think it's just a timeless art style. And it's not all just nostalgia, the early 3d games which came in the next generation of consoles, and which I probably spent even more time playing, all look like trash to me.
Kiro 1y ago
The community showcase makes it look all over the place and hard to understand what it is (is it just another engine?). I love the current graphics on the homepage though. I'm also sure it's a good choice for their target audience who probably knows RPG Maker but want to make it 3D, which is in fact nostalgic since they probably grew up with Minecraft etc.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

johnnyanmac 1y ago

>So I would probably lean more toward RPG maker if I wanted to make an RPG That may be a part of why they chose to take a 3d approach instead. RPG Maker has 20 years of iteration, so it's pretty hard to compete in that space. It's already a bit difficult as is to stand out in a 2D space to begin with. Meanwhile, 3D is still a hard problem and Voxels give that flexibility to make assets by hand that fit into an overall game.

koonsolo 1y ago
Hey, developer of RPG Playground here, and I agree with you. My platform has moderate success (multiple games released each day), but to compete with RPG Maker means being 10x better. I was hoping to grab some of that market, but marketing wise it's incredibly difficult.
- jamalaramala 1y ago
  Blender had moderate success when it was closed source, but not enough to pay its development, so it was going to die. After its creator raised €100,000 to release it under the GPL, Blender became the leading open-source 3D tool it is today. And they make enough money from recurring donations, service subscriptions, merchandise, conferences and trainings.
  - koonsolo 1y ago
    Blender is great, I also use it. It's a nice example on how a non-developer tool is successful with open source. There are/were plenty of open source RPG makers, but they never gained any real traction. I considered open sourcing my product in the past (did so with a previous game), so maybe one day. I still have some big things planned :).
  - mkesper 1y ago
    I think Blender was (and still is) exceptionally good at community building. Just freeing your product might not get you enough traction by itself.
    - popcorncowboy 1y ago
      Clearly you are unfamiliar with the process. Step 1, open source project. Step 2. Step 3, profit.
      - jamalaramala 1y ago
        * Step 1: Ask for $100,000 to fund the start-up * Step 2: Open source project * Step 3: Find other streams of revenue (donations, grants, subscriptions, sponsorships)
    - Suppafly 1y ago
      >Just freeing your product might not get you enough traction by itself. Plus not everyone wants to give their product away. I see that advice all the time here and reddit and other places, "just opensource it" as if that's a solution to every problem a creator might have. I even saw it on a gamedev subreddit where a guy was asking how to make more money and people were saying to make it opensource, as if making it free would somehow increase sales for him.

vanderZwan 1y ago

I guess the showcase is all stills mainly because it's a collection of screenshots shared on the forum, but I really would like to see the engine in motion! I'm not demanding great animation or anything. I get that individual passion projects are limited in their time and energy budget, and he voxel graphics editor looks intentionally minimalistic. But it would still feel more alive.

Max-q 1y ago

There’s a new generation that played Minecraft when they where kids, so a new generation of nostalgia ;)

jamalaramala 1y ago

You'll probably love [TIC-80](https://tic80.com/ https://tic80.com/).

nottorp 1y ago

> it's just nostalgia having grown up playing Final Fantasy games for SNES What did Nintendo do to you people? I've grown up playing very pixelated games on the ZX Spectrum but I have zero nostalgia for those graphics.

kubb 1y ago
It’s because the art for these games was so good, it didn’t feel like the hardware was a limitation, more like it just had a particular style. I’m currently playing Octopath Traveler 2 and it completely recreates this feeling, the art is beautiful and very pixelated.
- nottorp 1y ago
  Well, at least the Nintendo nostalgia is saving me money since I can't even look at fake pixelated graphics when I look for new indie games to play. This is not the only way to do low budget graphics. Too bad very few creators realize it.
  - endemic 1y ago
    What are some other techniques you’ve noticed?
freetime2 1y ago
Final Fantasy IV and VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Ogre Battle, and Zelda: A Link to the Past all still look great to me to this day. I think it's just a timeless art style. And it's not all just nostalgia, the early 3d games which came in the next generation of consoles, and which I probably spent even more time playing, all look like trash to me.

Kiro 1y ago

The community showcase makes it look all over the place and hard to understand what it is (is it just another engine?). I love the current graphics on the homepage though. I'm also sure it's a good choice for their target audience who probably knows RPG Maker but want to make it 3D, which is in fact nostalgic since they probably grew up with Minecraft etc.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]