A Random Maze

  • Download Link: Itch
  • Platform: Windows PC
  • Game Time: 5~10 Hours
  • Team size: 3
  • Project Session Period: 8 Months
  • Event: COMICUP 23 (2018)
  • Game Page: Lofter
  • Walk Through Videos: bilibili (16 Episodes)

A Random Maze is a horror RPG game made by Utopia Museum Studio, which is formed by me (programmer) and two other Chinese developers (designer/artist Ebonbio, and musician Karane). We met online, started the project in May 2018 and published the version 1.0 in December. (While Ebonbio has drafted this idea for several years.) The development processes were very enjoyable and smooth all the way. Every of us worked very hard, respected each other and communicated thorough all the time. I feel very lucky to have joined such a good team.

Before I joined the team, Ebonbio planned to do the programming himself and chose RPG Maker MV as the engine because it is very non-programmer oriented. I kept the plan, because I wanted to try a new engine and a new language (JavaScript). RPG Maker has easy-to-use graphic interface and a well-designed form that enables anybody to implement his ideas into a game software without any programming skills, while it lacks programming interfaces and the extensibility of its integrated functions, just like two sides of a coin.

I went through some tough time in lack of official documentations and professional tutorials, but finally I found several websites and online groups, and gradually fell in love with utilizing and/or modifying the source codes to extend its functions. From the small parts like fading in/out of the background music (RPG Maker doesn't provide coroutine function), to larger tasks like transmitting game data to future gaming, to making tools for the convenience of the development, I had great fun doing these and all the efforts paid back. The game version 1.0 has shown great quality in almost all aspects. And we are still polishing and extending the game for further versions' publishments. My teammates, back in China, are also very happy about the acheivements we made together. They brought our game to the COMICUP 23 event and won handreds of fans.

Img 1. My notes on programming interfaces
Img 2. The tool for the artist to adjust portrait positions
Img 3. One of the functions working for the global data transmitting feature
Img 4. Our display position on COMICUP 23 (under building)
Img 5. My name tag (with avatar) on COMICUP 23