Castle Paradox

[St. Ajora]

I've been thinking lately... I can't think of a single RPG, OHR or otherwise, that was made from start to finish by one person: story, design, graphics, music, everything. Now, I know I'm not the first one to try this. Am I overlooking a game somewhere?

Let me be more specific. I'm not talking about half-hour demos or look-what-I-can-do games. I'm talking about full games, at a bare minimum three hours in length.

There is much to be gained by producing the entire game. The unity of vision is something that can't be matched with a team or even with only one other person on the project. Not needing to compromise on what you want the game to be means that when it is finished, it is truly your game.

If you finish, that is.

Now, I'm aware of some games that are almost one-man jobs. Games where, for example, only the soundtrack is by a different author. Games where one person created the entire thing but "borrowed" just a little from other sources. I'm sure you all know a few that belong in this category. But the entire game?

Why not? Is it too much for one person? Do the authors cop out by saying they're just not good at a certain aspect?

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of solo projects?

[JSH357]

Fantasy Under a Blue Moon X?

Walthros? (Well, it 'rips' music)

Working solo(or with just one person) is better for small projects and OHR games in general. It also directly benefits the game's design, since the designer is the master of his own world.

[Iblis]

I've never worked on a group project on the OHR, but it seems like it would be a lot of trouble. And recently I've found that working on weird little stuff is more interesting than big huge RPG projects. Better to release a bunch of 10 minute full games than work on a huge RPG for months and then drop the project due to lack of interest.

Hero's Journey was, I believe, made entirely by msw188. The music was original and what few graphics there were in the game were also original, and it was 13 hours long when I reviewed it (supposedly longer now). It's not really a good game, despite my newbie review, but I still am impressed with the effort that went into putting it together.

Most games on the list are, I think, made entirely by one author except for the music.

[St. Ajora]

I've heard of Fantasy Under a Blue Moon X, but wasn't aware it was made by one author. Did he write the music, too? I may have to play it.

[JSH357]

Maybe not. I don't really remember.

White Owl was one hell of an artist. He didn't even use plotscripting and the game is pretty impressive from an OHR standpoint.

[Ishrie]

Do you mean completely alone, as in not asking others to testplay, no graphic/gameplay critiques, ect., or just making the graphics, story, music, and scripts by yourself?
I love the freedom given from working alone, but the music... feh. That will lead to my demise. Also, it's fairly hard to find someone with a large enough attention span to work on one project for such a long period of time.
But, I agree, it would be wonderful to see more "one-man" games.
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[Setu_Firestorm]

Hrmm...well, it most definitely could be done. It would mostly depend on the person's commitment to the game. That'd be a long freaking time of production though, considering that NK2 has 2 hours of gameplay and I believe it took me 5 or 6 months to finish (and even then, I kinda rushed the ending).
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[St. Ajora]

[chris98]

After seeing how much you OHRers like one man games I really need to finish Peril of Cairnavon. I am using Rinku's article on design to aid me as I have never finished a game before.

[Ssalamanderr]

There aren't that many finished OHR games period. And group games often get dragged down because each member of the group has a different idea of what the game should be.
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Ukelele no good!

[msw188]

Yes, Hero's Journey is made entirely by me, although any designer certainly owes a great deal to his or her influences. My only playtesters thus far have been my little brother (now 11 years old) and Iblis (at least, Iblis wrote for me what I thought to be a very good and informative review, despite his/her claim of it being 'newbie'); besides myself of course. I too think that solo projects are usually the way to go, but if a good team is put together and able to work as a team, then the product is bound to be even better. A good team able to work together as a team is a rare thing though, I would guess.

In case anyone is interested, I've now been working on Hero's Journey for about four years, and it is around 16 or 17 hours long, I am guessing (it's hard to judge for the maker). That's about the same rate Setu was describing for NK 2.

[Me]

Doukutsu/Cave Story, while you might not consider it an RPG, is an incredible game that was made, as far as I know, by a single person.
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[Blue Pixel]

ive been working on mine all alone. it took me 3 years so far and im about 40% done.
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[Ssalamanderr]

Ah yes, Cave Story is awesome.

Ends of the Earth 1 and 2 are complete games. Weren't those made by one person?
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Ukelele no good!

[Tsunamidog]