#plueschkatze

Introduce yourself! *Hi everyone! My name is Plueschkatze, which might be hard to say for anyone that’s not used to German, so feel free to call me Plue!

I started using RPGM in 2016, but I’ve been into game development since 2013. Last year I published two games and both have been products of teamwork for game jams. They are ‘The Beast Named Eliza’ and ‘Dear Edwin’.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Plueschkatze: Ceress and Orea is about love. It’s a short game (about an hour) that follows Ceress, who is overcoming death to be reunited with her Love, Orea. It’s an adventure game, inspired by many of the amazing modern adventures/walking sims. You’ll traverse a cave system, which is basically a spirit realm. And yes, it’s about the love of two young women. Love itself is such a bittersweet experience, because it can mean happiness and pain all at once. I hope you can sense some of that bittersweetness within this game, but I wanted Ceress and Orea to be mainly a somewhat relaxing experience, that helps people to escape their stressful day for an hour. It has also given me the opportunity to grow as a game dev and tell one of the many, many stories that are in my head.

How long have you been working on your project? *Plueschkatze: I created the RPGM project folder in November 2017, and I’ve been developing CaO full time since January 2018. So I’d say CaO has been in development for about 4 months now.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Plueschkatze: Yes. Games like, Life is Strange, To the Moon, Telltale’s the Walking Dead, and many other modern adventure games and walking sims influenced what I want from games. They are the main reason I don’t have a combat system in my game, because it’s only telling a story. It’s more like taking a walk, than heavily action packed gameplay. Even titles like, The Last of Us, Fragile Dreams - Farewell to the Moon, Zelda Twilight Princess, and Breath of the Wild had an influence, at least to an extent, and the beauty of abandoned and overgrown places inspired a few of the maps. Though I wouldn’t compare CaO directly to any of these named games.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Plueschkatze: Oh, yes. There have been many smaller challenges. From buggy plugins, to not being sure how to effectively show and tell what I want the player to experience. And also being limited on time and money. I’m a freelance artist and am currently living from savings. I’m hoping that CaO will sell well enough that I can keep making games afterwards. The future will show~!

Regarding bugs… I contacted the creators of the plugins and all of them have been very nice people and fixed them for me! If you provide them enough information to quickly get an idea what they need to fix, the chance is pretty good they’ll do it within a short time. This community is great, and most people are very willing to help each other.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Plueschkatze: It hasn’t changed THAT much. A few ideas for the backstory changed, especially for one of the characters. But overall it’s been a pretty straight forward process.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don't have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Plueschkatze: I’m solo developing on this project. While I enjoy teamwork with like-minded people, I also very much enjoy working alone. But I’m sharing my progress with a few friends, which is a joy. Having people around me that share the same passion (game dev) really has a huge impact on my productivity!

What is the best part of developing the game? *Plueschkatze: Normally it’s world-building, but CaO doesn’t have much of that, because it’s such a short project. And as an artist, it’s of course the art part. ;3

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Plueschkatze: I don’t have much time to play games. So I usually only play the games I really, really, really badly wanna experience by myself. The last one was actually Zelda Breath of the Wild, and I avoided footage of some that I’d love to play in the future (like Nier: Automata and The Last Guardian). But I tend to watch let’s plays and streams while I’m working. I also follow a lot of devs on twitter and check forums to see what other RM and indie devs are working on. I see myself less as a ‘RPGM Dev’, and more as a general indie dev, because I wouldn’t mind switching to another engine, though I really, really love how kind hearted this community is. The engine is also really easy to use.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Plueschkatze: The deity is my favorite, since they are fun to write. But I feel very connected to both Ceress and Orea, I love both girls.

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Plueschkatze: Because I’m not done (the last 20%!), I can’t tell yet. So far I’ve really enjoyed this journey and you’ll ALWAYS have parts that you could improve. Nothing will ever be perfect. At least not to everyone. The biggest challenge is to know when to stop and call it done. Many devs get way too lost in their process.

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore the game's universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Plueschkatze: I don’t have plans for a sequel (or prequel), but one never knows.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Plueschkatze: This is my first commercial release. It’s also my first game that will be on steam. I’m really looking forward to that experience and to learn from it, so it will be better the next time! I’m also SUPER curious how people will react and if they’ll enjoy the game. Thinking about it makes me really nervous, ha ha ha!

Is there something you're afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Plueschkatze: I’m afraid of rude comments. Ugh. But who isn’t, right? I’m also afraid of being unable to keep making games, because I enjoy it so, so, so much. But I have to pay my bills, so more freelance work means less game dev time for my own projects.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Plueschkatze: If you’re serious about gamedev, try to learn. Do not only watch RPGM tutorials, but also some about character development, world-building, documentations about the era you’re game is set in, etc. etc. Also, network with other game devs that are in a similar position as you and that are like-minded. Sharing knowledge will help you improve and grow a lot! Also share your progress. Good feedback will not only help you improve your game, but also encourage you to stay motivated and to actually WORK on your game.

Question from last month's featured dev @lonestargame: What's the most ambitious thing you've tried to do with the engine? *Plueschkatze: Uff. I think there’s nothing overly ambitious/complex within my current project, so this is a tough one for me! Ha ha.

We mods would like to thank Plueschkatze for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved! 

Remember to check out Ceress and Orea if you haven’t already! See you next month!