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MaxUnique — Guide to Making Hetagames
#hetalia #cliche #games #guide #howto #plot #rpgmaker #hetaliaaxispowers #hetagame #rpgmakervxace #help
Published: 2016-01-26 10:30:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 5626; Favourites: 103; Downloads: 10
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Description
The next guide on mapmaking is released! You can find it here: maxunique.deviantart.com/art/H…This is sort of a preview to different mistakes that are typically made by new hetagame developers.
If you want me to focus on a certain topic, leave a comment below and I'll make another guide.
Much love! ^^
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Comments: 74
Oh I was going to start it in a meeting but I can change first setting.... *facepalms* Idiota....
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how exactly do you make one though i cant sccript at all or well i dont know how to script
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So glad to have come across this, I actually just made an account to favorite it, watch and comment. I'll be reading through the next guide as well. I love hearing other's opinions when it comes to Fan-games. I'm actually in the midst of planning one of my own so finding these guides is super helpful. Thank you for making these! Can't wait to read more.
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I was just looking for some randoms fan-arts, then I found this. This really help me for making my future hetagame(s), especially the reasoning part. Now, I have to think twice for the antagonist action not because 'I want to rule the world!'-thing, also I'm gonna need to reduce some character so all character has their own purpose, not just some unneeded extras.
Once again, thank you for making this.
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I faved this before, but I felt pretty sick before I could make a good comment. Now's the chance. =^^=
Anyway, I'm really glad someone made this. Because when it comes to Hetagames, I'm honestly quite picky with them. Call me a snob, but just because this isn't "critically acclaimed" games land doesn't mean that the quality with the story, gameplay and characters has to be sub-par or cliche. Don't get me wrong - cliches can sometimes be done well, but most of the time it's not. Now, onto more analysis and input with the following points: (WARNING: Pretty long ahead...
1. Quite a typical cliche that is, and for me, it's more of a hit or miss. Because I understand why people choose to open a game like this since it's the famous opener to the series, but at the same time, having played a number of games myself, it's easy to open a game with a different scenario in mind. The suggestions you offered are definitely good alternatives: I especially would love to see a game opening with everyone on a picnic. =^^= another alternative I'd like to suggest is just two characters talking to each other or even in the middle of battle or an action scene. For instance - in Final Fantasy IV, the game starts on an airship where the protagonist not only recollects what he's just done (killing and stealing), but he also enters two fights against monsters right off the bat. If there is a myth, folktale or backstory to the game that puts the game in place of the present, then looking at games like Okami and Fran Bow really help (the former starting with a scrolling legend then cutting to action; the latter highlighting the murder of the titular protagonist's parents: hence explaining her placement in the mental institute).
2. Writing character dialogue can definitely make or break a game. You don't want characters to highlight the obvious, otherwise the player can get frustrated at the hand-holding, or being implied that they're too stupid to comprehend the situation. Likewise, writing how a character says things can make things effective - speech pattern can show what sort of a character they are, and what personality they have, and likewise, it can show whether someone is OOC or not. For instance, compare the two ways these two characters from Castlevania Judgement speak:
Alucard: "Though once we were comrades, I will not hold back. Apologies, but I cannot allow myself to be defeated."
Grant: "You ain't changed a bit - I'll put some colour in those pale cheeks of yours. Whaddya think? Like what you see, eh?"
Noticeably, the first character, Alucard, does not use contractions (words with apostrophes) - hinting he is proper and formal, which is befitting as he is the vampire prince. Likewise, the second one, Grant, not only uses contractions, but also slang ("whaddya" instead of "what do you") which shows he's more casual and straightforward - also befitting as he's a relaxed swashbuckler. Ending his sentences with "eh' as well gives Grant not only a verbal tic, but makes his speech more distinct (and no, he's not Canadian). Having characters with more distinct and different speech patterns can and should really expand one's imagination instead of back-questioning. Using the two characters I used before:
Alucard: "It seems that you and I are the only ones remaining."
Grant: "The hell...? You're kiddin' me, right?"
Alucard: "........."
Grant: "Nah, what am I sayin' - you ain't the type to kid around! Damn...so now what're we gonna do?"
Alucard: "For once, I am unsure on what to do in this situation. It was highly unexpected."
Grant: "Well, great...so we're screwed, eh? Still, we ain't gonna just stay 'round here and do nothing, right? Better to try!"
Alucard: "Though a rash decision that may sound...for once, I agree. Come - let us go forth."
(This is off the top of my head, so if it still sounds dumb or still ends up back-pedalling in dialogue, I apologize...
3. Oh dear God, YES. This point annoys me, because you get random events, occurrences or fights coming in, and then they're never mentioned or brought up again! A huge Big-Lipped Alligator Moment that frustrates me. Sometimes it can be used to invoke humour, but I've rarely seen this done correctly. Like, what's the point of throwing a Succubus, Lamia or Cockatrice at me, but they've got nothing to do with the story or plot? Like, if it's an encounter in the wild, that can be easily explained with the wildlife and setting, but if they're boss battles or such, at least explain why they're necessary.
4 & 5. I'll classify these together as they both honestly piss me off a lot. I myself am not a huge fan of drama, but I do admit that at times it's necessary for a character to grow or for the plot to develop. However, do NOT have these characters wangst or cry all the time, because trust me, it gets annoying. Also, since it's Hetalia, it can make characters look really OOC. I actually found what you said about a speechless death definitely being far more effective. For instance, in Dragon Quest VIII, Abbott Francisco's death happened without any dialogue, yet you felt shock, horror and many emotions when it happened. Hell, his death isn't even fully seen (it's a silhouette), but the lack of dialogue, and being shown (somewhat) of how it happened was still all the more shocking and upsetting. For the whole "whiny character" ordeal - you can have a character suffer or have inner turmoil, but they don't necessarily have to cry or whine. For instance - in Point 2, I used Grant from Castlevania Judgement as an example, and I'll use him again here. In his story, he's still nursing a broken heart upon his best friend marrying the girl he loved - not even attending their wedding. However, he doesn't at all cry, whine or mope about it - in fact, you don't realize he has this sort of inner turmoil until later on in his story with his first encounter:
Grant: "Friend or foe...?!"
Golem: "Me not enemy."
Grant: "Fine by me. Hey, big man - ever been in love?"
Golem: "Love? What love? Love tasty?"
Grant: "Love ain't a snack, genius. Here, why don't I show you? Come on."
*After winning the battle.*
Grant: "Yep. Love is war, pal. If only I'd fought for her..."
Though it also may seem random on Grant's part to ask about love, one can argue he wants to let loose with his emotions a bit, which is understandable - as a person has their limits with how long they can hold it in for. Continuing on with Grant, he doesn't go "life is unfair" or bear any ill will to his friend or the girl he loved, either. Nor does he shut himself away from the world and hide in his blankets to mope and cry - in fact, he's doing the complete opposite. Because the land he lives in is torn up by demons and vampires, he's trying his best to make it better for everyone and rebuild the land. It can be interpreted that he made his pain his strength (despite not fixing his broken heart, he can fix the land). In fact, making a character with inner turmoil, yet not appear to have them at first is something I find more effective. As most people seem to forget that when it comes to one's own emotional pain, there are people who don't really like to express it or make it known in front of others as they don't want to show weakness, or don't want others to worry. It also boils down to what kind of character you're dealing with.
6. I see this quite a couple of times, and it's more disappointing than irritating - though sometimes I do get annoyed. Most of the time, I keep seeing England, America, Japan and Germany moving the plot forward, while you have others in the background. In all honesty, I want to see other characters take the spotlight for once. This point though is usually with overambitious creators I notice, and it can really shoot you in the foot because I know everyone has a bias to a character. Though you want to include everyone, it's hard to do so simply because face it - you care more for a set selection of characters. If that is the case - then just focus on them and make it good. Nothing wrong with it.
More pet peeves that annoy me:
- Ships/Insertion: I'll classify these as the same, as they include shipping regardless. But for me, ships either are a sale or no sale to me when it comes to Hetalia games. Mainly because I'm a rare/crack shipper, it disappoints me whenever I see majority of games have USUK, Spamano, PruCan, etc. Likewise, there aren't many games that focus on just friendship or an adventure - there usually has to be some kind of subtext or ship tease, and it annoys me especially as I hate these pairings, and don't want any more of it shoved in my face. A noticeable game that averts this is Hetalia Islands where it's purely adventure. Likewise, with inserts stories, like with problems I have with Reader Insert stories, I'm a generic shy female moe blob. What about the Hetalia fanboys? Or the lesbian, bi or pan Hetalia fangirls? It would be better to have a gender option, and choices of both genders at least to include everyone. It may seem hard, but really, it's more time consuming than hard (thanks to variables).
- 2P's and Lack of Nyotalia: Something that always made me wary is seeing games with the 2P's involved. Likewise, there is a huge lack of Nyotalia characters, which disappoints me as I'm a huge Nyotalia fan, and would love to see them more often. With the 2P's, I know it's easy to have them be villains - I myself use them as villains - but at least make them original villains, or why they're villains to be original. Have them either be diabolically entertaining like Disney villains like Frollo, Maleficent or Jafar; or make them charismatic and cunningly manipulative like Soul Calibur's Raphael. Most of the time it's "I WANT TO TAKE OVER DA WORLD AND REPLACE MY 1P!1! MUST KILL EVERYTHING!!1!" and trust me, it's get old pretty damn fast, and I'm sick of seeing the 2P's being portrayed as nothing more than flat killing machine yandere murderers.
I just realized I wrote a bit too much...maybe I should do a journal series about this. Because I'm quite passionate about games and Hetalia, so Hetagames obviously makes me very passionate. =^^= anyway, once more - thank you so much for writing this up, and sorry for taking so much space and making this so damn long.
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Now that you mention it, I never found a Nyotalia (I love Nyotalia too) game. Also, I feel like the girls are kind of left out. Beside Seychelles' Journey by kido4ever (kido4ever.deviantart.com/art/S… ), the girls never had a game of their own. I would love to see a hetagame with Belarus as the main character.
Also, speaking of main character, most of the hetagames have America, England, Japan or Italy (not that I mind, but it's boring to see only those characters) as their main character. It would be nice to have a hetagame with the other character, like Austria, the girls, or the micronations as the main character.
And the ships... ugh... why can't we have more family-oriented hetagames? Most of the game has yaoi, like USUK, but I see them as father-son relationship then yaoi. I also ship rare pairing (my brother made a short game with Italy x Belarus). I would be happy if I see somebody make America x Belarus or Seychelles x Egypt (never saw Egypt in any hetagame), and maybe some Seborga x Monaco or Sealand x Wy.
Okay, I'm done talking (or writing).
P.S. I looked at your profile and saw that you're making a journal for hetagames and character journal series. I'm glad you make it and hope that you keep continue. Now, I can make the characters least OOC.
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Indeed, it's a shame Nyotalia isn't featured as much. :\ I've seen one game that features the Hetalia girls only (no males in sight) - Hetageist, though I'm unsure if it's still being continued. Demo is here, though, and honestly, it's really promising.
=> www.deviantart.com/art/HetaGei…
England's not really my favourite, but I'm okay with him. It's just, as you said, boring to see only these characters to be the leads, and it could cause potential Hype Backlash (i.e. something popular gets hated because of it's popularity). I've seen one game called Home where Sealand was the main character. And in Seychelles' Journey, you have Seychelles being the star, and she's with Sealand and Prussia, which is a far more interesting combination.
I did a review on Hetalia Islands, and that Hetgame not only focused on some characters that you don't typically see (i.e. Sweden, and you can even play as Gilbird at one point), it has no pairings, and if anything - it focuses on platonic relationships. It's not a finished game, and it's pretty simple, but I do recommend it. I have no problem with yaoi, but my main issue is that most people don't differentiate between yaoi and shounen-ai: they're completely different things. Same here - I see USUK as more platonic, and I actually hate it romantically. I'm too into rare ships, but I like to multi-ship and like the idea of giving options to people so that it's not that restrained. (I'd like to see that game, please - ItaBela is a soft spot on me owo). I'm a fan of AmeBela in all forms, and I love EgySey as well. It's truly a shame Egypt isn't featured in any Hetagame except being Chekhov's Gunman in HetaQuest where his pot saves Italy from a dark spell. Plus, Egypt can do magic, so it's a shame he hasn't appeared in a game. It's usually England who's the team's mage. :\
Thank you! I'm currently writing up two journals, but I have to finish my assignments first.
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Well, when my brother made the game, he said it was only going to be a demo, he didn't continue it when it was finished. Also, the plot is way to similar to Escape From Siberia (autumnflower1991.deviantart.co… ) and has Hitler the Third in it . He has his own imaginations.
Maybe I can continue it or add it in my game as a mini arc, but I have to change the plot though so it won't be a rip off of another game.
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Ah, fair enough. I know of Escape From Siberia, but I haven't really played it - it's not really a game that captures my interest.
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I know it's a really old comment, but have you checked out Dream-Thunder's Hetalia RPG~Hetalia Floral Orchestra (Ch. 1-3) ?
It's amazing! And completely based on the girls, but not NyoTalia (Not that I know of right now.)
I can always ask Dream if she'll include them!
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Yeah, I saw and played it. I believe it's the next game I'm supposed to be reviewing. >w>
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I'm not a fan of reading, but what doy ou think, I couldn't stop reading this. You've came up with even better words to describe things that I pointed out! And you're right about the role of 2P''s in HetaGames. I had an idea of make an entire guide on how to make an good antagonist, including the 2Ps
Thank you very much for your response and detailed analysis, it was enjoyful to read
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Thank you very much for taking your time to read my long comment! 
You're welcome, and honestly, thank you for making this guide for everyone, and inspiring me to also make my own with some of my own analyses. =^^=
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Awww, judging by your skills I really hope to get to play your game if you make one! I have no doubts it would be an amazing experience
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Sorry for being late with replying!
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I've noticed something else of late, especially in 2p games and/or magic themed games.
Mirrors.
Every single game I've looked at of late has mirrors somewhere in the plot, and someone always gets dragged through one, or they jump across one, or something, and typically find the 2ps on the other side. I'm not sure what's made mirrors so attractive to every Hetagame maker (maybe Dreamtalia; I feel like it may have introduced the mirror concept), but whatever it was, it's getting on my nerves. Can't we find a better way to introduce 2ps or magic???
This is a very helpful tutorial! I'll certainly reference it as I work on my own game, Hetadox.
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Ah, yes! I have an entire thing about implementing 2Ps in Hetagames. Personally, 3 things usually get me about this: they perform evil plans without motivation or any other reason than simply being evil; they're almost always in parallel universe that can be accessed with mirrors; Oliver is portrayed as the only 2P with a kind heart that doesn't want to kill (I mean, we're talking about the guy who makes poisonous cupcakes from human meat). I'll dedicate an entire guide to introducing 2Ps in HetaGames. I think.
Always welcome, I'm happy to be helpful
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6 is probably the best example for hetafire; and the reasoning too I swear to God. I would also like to mention blatantly ripping off other RPG games. Hetafire is a bad case of that also- taking a puzzle straight out of The Witch's House. My friend in her game took another puzzle straight out of it without considering how bad the puzzle actually was. I do understand taking *inspiration* out of a puzzle, but you shouldn't openly rip it off.
(for the shipping it just gets so annoying in the dating games only being able to be a girl dating a guy. Like I no longer play them for that reason.) I'm bringing up hetafire again, more like the creator. She/he in every single game ships America and England according to Kyokyo. After the third game I think she/he needs to find a different thing to ship. Another thing with shipping is that I wish people chose more unique and uncommon shippings, which is their choice but still.
Sorry for this tangent but I have come to hate heta games due to their lack of origionality in puzzles lately and horrible plot working. Also one thing I felt you were missing in this is that a lot more games seem to involve England's "magic"; which is great, but makes me wonder what would happen if we focused on a different culture's magic like China or Japan. That would certainly get interesting.
If you want to do a different topic I suggest puzzles or shipping. I actually really love this thing you made and I pretty much screamed that some one else had pointed these out
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I believe Hetasparkle is one of the very few that does not use England as their main magic source. Norway took his place in that game.
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What if Romania did magic in a game omfg that'd be awesome.
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I did see some of that game. It is nice knowing *some* heta games don't follow the huge trend of having England do all the magic. It's just sad the majority end up doing it like that -_-
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Oh my, that's the hugest comment I've ever read!
Wow, I didn't even consider taking a look at shippings as I'm usually fine with any of them unless they become soapy and overly dramatic. But you're right, all romances I've seen lately in heta-games usually include America and England. It makes them look like the main characters in Hetalia universe, which is partly wrong, since any nation could make a perfect protagonost (I'll cover this also in another topic).
Yeah, I remember the symmetry puzzle but couldn't remember where it was from. And I usually don't review games that are remakes of other games with prefix "Heta" unless the creators drastically change the plot to fit it more for Hetalia. I like original heta-plots more.
Double wow! I didn't even think about other countries having magic. I mean, I knew it for the fact but totally forgot. Yeah, many games use Arthur's failed magic spell as the cause for the main problem in the story, which has become boring. I mean, when was the last time you saw General Winter come down to help Russia, for example? (Giving a double thumbs-up to the first person who implies it to their game after reading this XD)
I'll add puzzles and shippings to the list of what to review, those are really interesting topics to cover. Thank you very much!
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I look forward to reading them! (also thx for reading these comments sometimes I tend to make them really long lmao)
I want to know your opinion on this too. How do you feel about those games such as where you are shoved into a specific gender role?
It's not a huge issue but it's always concerned me that all those games(I can count at least 3 or 4) involve you being a girl, and dating a guy. I've never seen the option of being able to choose your own gender. Although I spoke with the creator of and she mentioned she would consider being more gender neutral in her next game. Although when she said "For the guys" I did have to mention to her that not all guys like girls in that way... Thankfully she understood and mentioned letting you choose your own gender and the gender of who you're dating. So it is nice knowing that some of the creators are self aware at least; but I'm curious on your opinion on this particular topic.
*someone make a game where Russia or Japan has magic. I would let's play the hell out of it.*
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Hi! I sort of read this since my game has been mentioned. And well, I only have some things to say.
I made the game "One Halloween Night" because it is something that I like to make. My target audiences/players are obviously girls. I did mention that in the description of my game that it is a "Player X Vampire!England" game. This is how I label my Fanfictions too. If it is something 'unfair' or what reasons you have, then I have nothing to do about it. I didn't make the game for Homos or any particular Ship. (i don't support those things anyway) because I am not interested. And besides, I make games for fun and it is up to you whether to play it or not.
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It's perfectly understandable. I was just using you as an example of a hetero game since yours is the most recent one I played(I recorded like half of your game but never finished) so don't take it too seriously. I'm talking about mainly the ones that are more geared towards actual date sims(yours doesn't count since you just mentioned it is a Player X game.)
I'm just discussing that most date sims are fixed toward a specific audience.
Like I said it's not a huge issue, since some creators are just doing it for fun. I'm just discussing the lack of gender options in heta dating games.(I would make my own but HIGH SCHOOL IS KILLING ME. )
I should probably finish your game actually, after I finish hetaoni II on youtube i might finish yours!
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You see, I'm not such a big fan of dating games. It's just not my thing. But I get your point and agree that it'd be better to control your gender, especially since era of homophobia is mostly coming to an end. I think the only problem with that would be some specific dialogues that would need to be changed for different gender, starting with simple "he/she" and "him/her" and ending with more complicated things like "going to the girls' room".
So, in my opinion, accomplishing multigender dating game is a nice touch and a step forward, while it is also equally challenging.
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Now I'm going to find somewhere to add General Winter in my game. X3
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This was something that needed to be discussed
Thanks so much for doing this ahahaha
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No problem, it was a pleasure for me :3
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Would you mind taking a few of these ideas to put in a video that my friend and I are making called Tips for Hetagame Creators ? We're making them because both of us are experienced when it comes to at least game making ( not neccesarily Hetalia, but we found an over excessive ammount of similarities between fangames and other games ).
We'll credit you of course!
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Sure thing, it would be such an honor to me, thank you very much!
Could you please send me a link to the video when you make it?
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I'll be sending the video over notes whenever it's published, but I still have to get a friend of mine to record their lines for it. I used all but one idea I think, and it was a list of at least fifteen things.
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Wow, sounds awesome! Good luck
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So true. Glad I didn't have any of this cliche then, even in the future.
My prologue starts with Canada! *sparkles*
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Good luck with your game! Canada is a good choice for protagonist. Be sure to not make him a whiny character though
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He aint the only protagonist lol, he just have an important role in the end of the game that I put him a story teller for ---- 
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Very interesting observations. I'll admit that for my Heta-Game I see myself falling under certain cliches, however, I believe I'd be able to justify them.
One topic that I have in mind, that perhaps you could look into and cover, would be the use (and especially overuse) of tilesets in RPG Heta-Games. Here of course I'm referring to whether diversity and originality matter or whether the usual tilesets don't really matter a game.
Have a good day~
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Personally, I don't really blame creators for reusing tilesets, because the maker has those limitations.
You only get so many tilessets when you buy the maker.
If you are annoyed by busby's chair and the mysterious broken clock, however,I suppose the best way to fix such a problem is to download DLC.
It is important to note DLC can cost money.
Nevertheless, I think there is at least one free pack you can get on steam... and there are bundle websites you can get the DLC for cheap.
Coders will also need to figure out how to put it in the maker. (It is not too difficult, but there are also potential transparency issues)
DLC is amazing... I would recommend finding some. That is probably a tip I would give to anyone making a hetagame.
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Thank you for the comment and tips. I didn't expect it ^.^
Yeah DLC definitely sound like a good idea. Again, thank you for your opinion and help
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Hm, in my opinion reusing the same RPG Maker textures and decorations is not that much of a deal. It's like reusing the same character sheets and face sheets for hetalians. But what really is overused is two decorations: the wall clock that is always broken and the wooden chair that always makes it to the Basby's Chair joke.
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Ah yes, I see. Thank you for the tips ^.^
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Wow, my game seems to miss all of these overly cliche ones. Mine is in mystery genre. Are there any tips?
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I've got some tips on this topic and will cover them in another guide. Good luck with your project!
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This is actually really helpful ^^ Thanks! Since I've been kinda stuck on working on my game, HetaStone. And with me possibly getting my computer fixed within a few months, I'll be able to start working on it again.
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No problem! That's fantastic! Looking forward to trying out your game. Good luck!
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Thanks and again, this is very helpful. I will be sure to take your advice, as I was planning on starting the game with a meeting ^^' But now I know and will try to think of a more original beginning.
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