On RPG Maker horror games, and inspiration for the webcomic I've been planning to work on

RPG Maker Horror Games

I just finished watching Markiplier’s last episode of him playing Blank Dream. The game itself its a “freeware horror-exploration game”, and feels similar to Ib. Both games have a similar feel to it; probably because they were both made using RPG Maker.

These types of games always fascinate me. I’m not a fan of horror games, but these type of games have a deeper story than just simply being a horror game. Before, I would take the time to actually play the game for myself in order to find out the mysteries hidden behind its jumpscares and puzzles.

But lately I haven’t really “discovered” new games by myself; instead I saw them through some of the gamer YouTubers I watched on a regular basis—Markiplier, for example. I’ll only take the time to play the game on my own if said gamer YouTubers don’t get all the endings and i’m itching to know more about it.

These kinds of games give me inspiration to create my own stories. Before, I wanted to create a game on RPG Maker, too. Something similar to these games, but maybe without the horror. Alas, I didn’t really put some time aside in order for me to learn how to use RPG Maker. And at this point, I’m not that crazy about it anymore. It’s still something I want to do, though. But maybe I’ll go down a level and find out what I really want to do: create something visual based on a story I created myself.

Where the webcomic comes in

Even before I got the desire of making my own game, I’ve wanted to create a comic and post it online for the world to see. This “dream” dates back to the days when I still frequented DeviantArt and drew more. I also have a few attempts at doing so, but the first few versions were failures.

There was one time in high school that I almost got successful with creating my comic. I had the characters, some designs, a general idea of how the story will unfold… but after I got busy in high school, I lost the drive and the time to do it. I figured I’d move on with that idea, also. (After all, it was supposed to be about how I got together with my then-boyfriend, and how life was after that.)

Then came college. A friend of mine introduced me to the world of webcomics, and from then on, the list of the comics I read grew. Nowadays, I have a bookmarks folder dedicated to all the webcomics I subscribe to. I also set some time aside for me to read these webcomics. I usually read after 2 weeks or so, since by then, the updates could be more than 1 (if the artist wasn’t busy or something).

I grew to love the idea of showing a story through certain panels arranged in a certain way. I’ve known myself to love telling stories, and I also like drawing from time to time. Maybe, I could go back into my want to create a webcomic, I say to myself. The dream got rekindled midway through college.

The idea I have so far

I’ve stuck to this particular concept for a while: baggage. I want to create a webcomic that goes around the “baggage” that every person carries with them throughout their lives.

This was pretty interesting to me, and it stuck with me because of a few things:

• The webcomic won’t be about myself or my life.

• It forces me to create backstories for multiple characters, thus making me exercise my story-telling (or something).

• It’s something I also deal with, and I know other people deal with, too.

I didn’t want this idea to go to waste. I didn’t want it to be like all the other ideas I had before. I wanted to make it work. And so, I have a few character ideas in mind. I also already have a temporary name for it, because “Baggage” in itself already seems cool enough (at least for me).

It’s also an idea that I think can write itself along the way. I could start with a simple backstory for a certain character, and maybe in the future it could get mixed with another character’s story. Or maybe the characters will also grow in their own worlds. I’m not so sure how I’ll go about that, since I don’t think I have that much experience in telling stories, but I hope to do my best.

I hope I can make this dream a reality. I’ve always wanted to create my own story and present it with visuals. I want to give life to characters that I’ve created with my own mind.

I wish I don’t abandon this dream. I’ve written it here to store the idea somewhere, in case I forget it.