Today marks my 2nd year into making my game, Visions of Liberation. As a solo dev there are surely ups and downs to the experience. And I thought as part of me contemplating through the journey that I write down my thoughts on what has transpired and if it was worth while doing it solo.
PART 1- THE WHYS AND DRIVES
Started in 2022, I was looking for a way to get creative again. I had a rough impression on what the hack scene is as of now for Fire Emblem (With titles such as The Last Promise and Crimson Arm). But with my experience with Fire Emblem being mostly vanilla, I was getting bored of the same gameplay loop over and over. So that got me thinking,
If I have a lot of complaints and gripes with games I enjoy in the series? Then what do I want out of a strategy game?
That dawned on me during one of my college classes as I was out of the loop and I started sketching. I had a bunch of maps and character sketches started. Some of them are loosey goosey and looks cartoonish but I tried imagining what they would all look like. So… I introspected what I like from every FE game I played (Hacks included, limited at the time… but included nontheless). The main why on why I made Visions of Liberation is a simple two box checklist: To get creative again, and to learn something new to satisfy my boredom. I know the second reason is stupid but I don’t like getting bored so I might as well satisfy that boredom.
PART 2- THE EARLY STAGES
Originally the game was called “Liberation of Chevrell”. What started as a story about a Knight and his Princess (Yeah… I made the Knight the lord on the first iteration). I started writing biographies and motivations. I had written these characters and gave them enough love that I could even use them as DnD characters.
The original story was actually told from the Knight’s POV (AKA Walter’s POV). As Walter was designed as a usual sword lord (Cuz… I don’t wanna think too hard on my lord back then.)
Translating it to FEBuilder was… hard. I had a bunch of ideas but 0 technical skills to execute it.
I was really proud at least when I made my first cutscene and learn how text logics work. I even showed it off to my cousins feeling so proud to show a crappy cutscene.
That scene sparked joy to my beginner brain that time as I tried making a prologue level. After replaying it now… I can see the genuine experimentation I want to make there but damn it’s not the pace that I envisioned now for the game. But there was a genuine story I wanted to tell. I can see that there is a story here I really wanted to tell. But… my limitations came to arrival and in an elephant sized stump.
PART 3- CRITICISMS AND THE TRAGEDY…
When I was stumped on a certain chapter due to being overzealous, I was really saddened that I received criticisms not only with my code, but the visuals. At first I really did not pay mind to the visuals comments being “Dead” or “Lacking Life” or “Miscoloured”. But the same comment was growing more and more on me. Till someone actually taught me how to do pixel art colors better. Someone actually had the patience to help me make colors pop, and even used my characters as example.
I never really knew that people actually care about the visuals A LOT. Even I thought “Maybe I can salvage the appeal with gameplay?” And then I made another form of progress in the form of a recruitment convo.
This conversation above is the original recruitment message between Lapiz and Armina for Chapter 3: Gentle Flowers. I really was happy with how the emotions are pulled between the two. But the visuals comment still goes on and on and on.
So, I made an effort to fix the visuals. Until… one day… the hard drive where the first versions of Liberation of Chevrell was… got corrupted. I was devastated that my hard work was deleted and corrupted. All I had left was version 0.1… the Alpha baseline with all the crappy stuff.
I was slumped… heartbroken even. All of the effort I made just to rekindle my personal love for everything creative… gone… I didn’t touch the game again since…
PART 4- VISION BOARDS AND VISIONS OF LIBERATION
I had a professor in College who was also like a mentor figure to me. I was trying to be a normal person and tried to graduate art school despite the creative slump + personal problems I’d rather keep to myself. We were talking about my progress as a creative and as an artist. He then went through all of my normal works and he thought everything was alright and mid at best. Then he wanted to see what other files I have… Then… one file caught his eye as he asked, “What’s that NKO?” as he pointed to my animation sheets for Liberation of Chevrell.
The genuine surprise at my professor’s face when he found out that I was learning how to hack a rom was the one thing that stuck to my head. After he saw my collaterals for these beta designs he asked me why I wasn’t continuing this. I told him that it’s not the career path I see myself doing as of that time and wanted to focus more on my photography and video editing. He then told me “NKO… I want you to make a vision board for this. Your ideation might be the thing that pushes you to the industry. Sure… its game development and not photography… but this is actually really good. What’s the name of the game?”
I wanted to say Liberation of Chevrell but at the back of my mind I know that sounds stupid. But this professor of mine told me to visualize my future. Visualize the things I love. So… on the spot… I changed the title of the game to Visions of Liberation. As an ode that I, as an artist and a storyteller, have a vision of a campaign I wish to see through. (And because I thought it was witty that in case I plan to make a sequel I can still use the acronym VoL as a double meaning for Visions of L____ and Volume 1 and 2 and the such.) If it were not for that professor… I wouldn’t be doing this game ever again and lose out on the people and experiences I cherish.
PART 4- GETTING BACK INTO THE GROOVE OF THINGS
So… I went back to work and I kept at it just to pass that subject through the early stages of this game. I may have lost a lot of progress, but I decided to redo everything from scratch. Taking in early comments and critiques and made sure I don’t make the same mistakes again on take 2.
It all started with the prologue as always. But unlike before, I am more guided now with vision boards, sticky notes, even a design bible for how I want the game to feel. Unlike before, the current version of the game I visualized to make it feel like a DnD campaign narrative wise than a Fire Emblem game. I strayed away from the idea of the Knight being the main lord and decided to tell the story from a third person perspective in the form of a writer/diplomat who perceived the whole story themselves. And what better storyteller than the player. It may not be an active role in the main army, but… as a player… I have different stories of different runs I have at different FE Vanilla games. And that is a perfect reason for me to add you as the story teller, due to the unique vision everyone percieves when playing the same game.
After reshaping the story and the cast, I had my first formal party of heroes.
I was excited top write a story for everyone in my first formal cast. I was reassured that the time I talked to my professor about my creative slimp was the wake up call I needed to make Visions of Liberation a reality. A game where I can truly express how and what I enjoy within the game series I love.
Making a thread in the server is always scary. I don’t know how the public would receive the game I made, the story I wrote, and the experience I wish to display to a general public. So… after many nervous pacing on an April Afternoon… I decided to post the first beta test of Visions of Liberation which spanned from Chapters 0-3. At first I was just constantly refreshing to see if people reacted already to what I cooked. Then turned into the sinking feeling that I was sure nobody was interested in the game… and then… a literal random mercenary commented at my work and that was all I need to see one morning.
Sure, it was criticism and bug findings. But that one comment made me realize that there are people who actually played my game. I was thinking at that time to make it just one act rather than overextend to make a full blown 20 chapter spectacle and just leave it as incomplete. But that Good Luck… that made my day. I am forever grateful for that comment.
PART 5- PRESENT DAY AND SELF REFLECTIONS
Currently I am at the point of wrapping up my original goals for the game, being one act. But have started expanding the story slowly with Act 2. I am still making adjustments as I come and go with my busy IRL schedule in preparations for FEE3 2024.
If anything… I think my 2 year journey so far making Visions of Liberation is full of highs and lows. The emotional highs I get when people compliment and aid me in my own efforts. And the lows when I get frustrated when things dont work as intended (Looking at you Creeping In…) But overall… let’s go back to the original question: Do I regret being a solo dev? The answer is… Yes… but mostly No.
Yes in a way that I could’ve been more bold and reached out to more experienced Wizards and Artists in helping me make this game that I visualized. Most (if not all) games have a team backing up the author’s direction and expression of what a game should be. And it’s that social aspect is one of the things I enjoy with my time here as a hack dev.
But… if I were to go back in time and do everything from the start? I wouldn’t change a damn thing honestly and do the same mistakes being a solo dev. Through me being a solo dev, I have learned how to code. I learned how to pixel art. I learned how to score my own music. I learned how to live with my own mistakes and learn from them on my own. Sure, I ask for help every now and then, but at the end of the day; it is still up to me to execute the learnings and teachings that the community gave me.
I dunno how many would read this appreciation post to the community and the creativity shown. Cuz I know there are a lot of people here who enjoys playing games, and making games even more. I guess the main takeaway I got as the dev of Visions of Liberation is this:
“How can you Envision something you didn’t want? How can you make a vision your own if you don’t take that first big step into the unknown?”
I want to show what I like about Fire Emblem, and games as a whole. This is how I envisioned a fun experience. And hopefully moving forward… I get to see my vision get that [COMPLETED] tag soon… and maybe this post can inspire others too to just do it… make happy mistakes, make engine crashing bugs, make accidental hard drive corruptions, make crappy OCs for all I care, and most importantly: make an awesome game that you can proudly call “Yours”. That’s all. Have a good day. Cheers!