Hello, gamers!

Recently I created a short introduction to a larger RPG I am continuing to develop called "Ever, In Time", for the IGMC '22 game jam! I had a lot of fun writing these new characters, working with the RMMV battle system and sourcing great music from my dear friend s0nderlust.

Development began quite late into the jam, so sadly I didn't get to present exactly what I was going for (such is the way of game jams) - but I’m still proud of what was achieved in a short timeframe.

The game was well received for its hook, characters, polish and a couple of accessibility features.

“Ever, In Time” finished 12th in the ‘People’s Choice’ award out of 147 entries.

Deep Dive

The majority of EiT’s criticisms covered the battle system being too simplistic , and the ‘rewind mechanic’ being ultimately too confusing to make good use of. The other pain point for players was the game opening mid-plot without much of an explanation as to the how/what/where/why of the situation our three heroes were in.

A lot of these criticisms are fair game and have been useful for me to build off of, but I want to address a few and talk more openly about them. I enjoy a bit of self-critque, so here it goes:

Turning Back Time

The rewind mechanic was generally considered a cool addition to the game, but left players feeling bewildered. Totally get that.

The mechanic would’ve been far more impactful had it had more purpose and stage time. Designing the puzzle that utilizes the ability was tricky, because the rewinding was actually in real time (rather than based on move routes). So… I had to hope the player would rewind time within a few seconds of needing to. This opened up so many issues in my design, which is why I felt the need to offer the player a ‘way out’ of the puzzle, and fast-track them into the next section of gameplay. I’ll admit that the execution of this feature in the game was undercooked, and I absolutely knew that going in. I wouldn’t entirely agree that the puzzle was confusing, though. There’s certainly a difference between ‘This puzzle is challenging!’ and ‘This puzzle is unclear!’.

Simplistic Battles

Definitely a common piece of feedback I got was: ‘The battles are too simple’ or ‘Why do I not have any skills?’. I’ll admit that I foolishly left tackling the battle stuff until the final few days of the game jam. I’m honestly amazed it wasn’t very broken or unbalanced - because it thankfully isn’t either of those things. It is however, simple, and by the end of the ~40 minutes runtime, you’ll only have aquired 3 skills — one for each character. Whilst small, it was entirely delibrate so that I could use those first 2-3 fights gently tutorializing the player on the ATB system and the ‘Vigor’ bar. I also personally don’t love RPG’s that overwhelm the player and offer up 5 skills for each character right at the beginning - I much prefer to earn abilities and learn about them as I go.

Fights were also super short, so you were never left mashing ‘Attack’ for several rounds. However, I absolutely agree that the ATB bar should’ve been faster!

Why can’t I ‘save anywhere’?!

I hear this a lot. So let me share my opinion here… ‘Save Points’ help control narrative flow, and people forget that a player doesn’t know where’s good, or where they should save in your game… They didn’t design the world, they have no idea what’s around the corner. Maybe they’ll hit a floor trigger that sets off a huge cut-scene and think ‘Oh no, I should’ve saved.’, whereas the game creator could’ve easily placed a Save Point before a moment like this. A Save Point is an excellent indicator that the player can take a breather. It feels good to find a Save Point, and gives the player a moment of respite. Save Points also help prevent a player from getting softlocked in a dangerous area. I know I’ve accidentally overwritten a save in the middle of a high-level dungeon where my party is weak and without healing items… Allowing gamers to do this isn’t good design, in my opinion. Finally, some people (myself included) simply forget to save… We’re too engrossed in the game, or our brains just need that friendly reminder, that glowing crystal, that spinning orb... Save Points can also represent safety in a video game (think: ‘Resident Evil’), which is so important for the player if they’re surrounded by danger and threats that could prematurely end their experience.

I do think ‘Save Anywhere’ is great for an RPG’s world map, though (if it has one), and I’d absolutely agree that there are plenty of exceptions and circumstances where saving anywhere is a very good thing.

It all depends entirely on the game, genre and its design. It’s an interesting conversation to have, but I do think the ‘Save Anywhere’ crowd can be quite aggressive, and I’ve seen a lot of ‘There is no reason to not let the player save anywhere’ comments out there, without thinking about the purpose of Save Points beyond perceived convenience.

Difficulty following the plot

I think there’s lots of ways I could’ve told a more defined story, but inside those two weeks it was definitely tricky. One addition that would’ve helped was a flashback halfway through the game that gave the player more insight into how these friends all knew each other - maybe even namedrop Antoine (the antagonist) a few times to create some good foreshadowing.

I really wish I’d driven home that Constance — like Ever — also has powers, but towards the end of the jam, I couldn’t figure out a satisfying way to communicate this — so her comment of stealing some kind of tech inside the building was definitely a: ‘Oh crap, I am totally out of time!’ moment.

Conclusion

Since the jam my brain has been exploding with ideas on where to take the plot and how to refine that entire opening. The IGMC feedback/comments/reviews/ratings have all been instrumental in my decision to take this game further and go for developing a full experience in RMMZ.

I’ll have more updates on “Ever, In Time” soon.

- coda 💚