So I was thinking it'd be good practice to just turn out some real easy and simple games that were still fun and had a good story.

The problem is, I'm so use to epic tales of myth and mythology and intricate systems that allow you hours of customization.

What I need is ideas for small, simple games with a definite beginning and end. I doubt I'm the only one too. Many RPG Makers try to create huge games only to give up for various reasons. Many of us, I think, need to try our hands at the smaller stuff and work our way up.

Maybe at the end of it we can compile what necessary components and regulations would be fitting for small game creation.

Believe me I got the same problem you do

Sticky note topic!
http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....c=31437&hl=
Getting simple ideas of what you want to happen and how things start is pretty much perfect, things like themes and location settings can fall into place later on.

Overthrowing a higher power is a pretty safe goal. Having that goal gives a lot of foundation for reasons as to why people gather to form a party, why you'll be venturing around the world/area and it also leaves room for a variety in back-stories for main characters and sub characters.

I like your sticky, it's helpful and informative, but I still feel it encompasses much larger games than what I'm suggesting.

I'm thinking games that have 25 minutes of play time maximum. Ones that only take 1-2 months to create. You can introduce yourself onto a single system for them, or practice a single element of game design.

Something like a man has journey out into the fog infested region where monsters sit in the densest fog to save his loved one and bring her back. That's it, just point A to point B, no huge plot twists taking you over the world and maybe 2 or 3 characters maximum in your party.

You can have your game be a fragment in a larger story. It doesn't have to be completely stand-alone, especially if you really like the universe you've created.

For example, you could have a game where you are a knight and the king sends you to solve disputes throughout the kingdom. You could build a new game around each area that would allow you to create different objectives and practice different things. Or, you could create a new kingdom for each game. Or, you could even take the role of a historian and have each game in a completely different time/setting - some in the medieval era, others in a far off future.

If it's too difficult to think of a simple plot, try a game where the plot isn't important. You own a farm, for example, and have to prepare for the fall harvest. This is a really simple setting that would allow you to practice eventing. Or it can be a dungeon crawler where the player is fighting battles/solving puzzles to reach new floors.

How about a small, self contained game that has a standalone story but leaves room for expansion in a much larger game if needed?

To make a short game, you can follow this formula;
- The game has three dungeons; two intermediate dungeons and a final area.
- The game has three towns, in between the dungeons.
- The game has three types of each equipment, which are sold in each of the towns, plus one special type of each equipment which is found in the third (final) dungeon.
- Each dungeon has five randomly encountered enemies; four normal ones, one stronger, rarer one, and a tough boss.
- The game has four characters; you start with three, and the fourth joins the party in the second town. One character is a fighter, one is a black mage, one is a white mage and one is a rogue/status inflicting character, to create a well rounded party.

This will make a small game that can be completed by the player within two or three hours, yet contains all of the features of a full size RPG - it's a mini RPG. You could then insert a story about a group of heroes journeying to free the kingdom from the tyranny of the final boss, whose palace lies beyond the third town - they have to travel through the kingdom to reach it.

This one I really like. It's actually something that can be readily done with the vanilla system and helps you practice how to use the engine. When I make more progress on my current engine, I think I'll turn around and try to do one of these. Isn't that what Castle Chasers basically was? Granted, castle chasers was a lot more sophisticated than that and it had a lot of polish, but that's essentially this philosophy taken to a full game. I mean, honestly, I can't give enough praises to the people who made this game. They basically took a single mechanic and pushed it to it's limit.

Now these ideas are getting my brain juices flowing for small project ideas. I like a lot of the ideas here and will probably trying executing a few to integrate myself with the RMVX/XP engines until they're familiar and seamless enough to handle bigger projects. It'll also let me know what areas I need to work on for game design.

here's another one, I would like to see very sophisticated and very in-depth conversation trees. In fact, let's give it a premise, this one is about the farmer in the previous idea who wants to get the best deal for his crops. In order to do so, however, he needs to talk to a lot of different people on how to get the best deal. Make this process of information gathering actually interesting.