I can't figure out if my memory is bad or if I've mixed up the projects. Weren't there mansion location, forest, and a few quests in 0.0.0.1?
I released version 0.0.1 in December 2024. The game has mixed reviews; some players complain about the quest gameplay of gathering mushrooms, and I got some compliments for the CG. This led me to just scrap the entire quest and focus on finishing the entire story for version 0.0.2 that I released in March 2025. I got some praise for the CG and then some complaints about the lack of quests, gameplay, or any classic RPG form, etc., etc.
I tried my best to listen and learn from the feedback that I'm getting. But this results in some contradiction on where the game should actually go. Should I focus on the story or gameplay, a classic dilemma?
I also waste hundreds of hours of my free time creating the entire map using the default RPG MZ tileset and spending at least a thousand dollars on some plugins, tilesets, music, etc., etc. Basically, I invest too much time in making the maps and characters, and spend too much on stuff that I won't use.
The scope is getting bigger and bigger. It was more than I could handle: hundreds of maps, 90 characters in total, and thousands of dialogues that needed to be readjusted and fixed, fixed, fixed, fixed, fixed, fixed.
I asked myself. Where should I go from this? Every day, I spent my free time after going home to work on my project, and each time I tried to make the game better, I received some comments that I should do this and that. So I do just that; I do this and that. If I get a comment that the CG looks nice because it feels cinematic, I try to improve my craft there. If I get a comment that the gameplay is terrible, then I will shift my focus there, either try to fix the gameplay or scrap it entirely, but I did a poll on Patreon that said most of the people that like my game like it because of the story and sex scenes, so I scrapped the entire gameplay.
I second-guessed myself on my creations. By June 2025, I should've finished version 0.3.0 instead of just releasing 0.0.3. Why does this happen? I tried too many things at once and failed at most of them. And the result is I have nothing to show for it.
Why doesn't this plugin work? Why doesn't this tileset work? Why does this resolution go wrong? Why won't the colors adjust? Why does the file size keep bloating up? Why won't this font automatically adjust? Why won't this music play? Why is this tileset set to a different pixel size? Why is this tile too big? Why is this tile too small? Why? Why? Why?
This repeated for 3 months, and look where it got me. Most of the mistakes that I made are self-inflicted. I put too much focus on trying to create a masterpiece instead of just focusing my effort on making and finishing a game.
I know that I should've stayed focused on completing the game. And yet I didn't do that. Why? Instead, I just keep buying plugins, tilesets, music, and stuff that I probably wouldn't use.
Should I do this? Should I do that? What should I do? Am I going in the right direction?
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.