Some of the mistakes I made I should have probably know before hand is making the Art before the first systems/mechanics.

But to go in order, there are some things I recommend, learn from my mistakes.

Planning: Even if it's just a .txt file. Pour everything you want your game   to be in a GDD (Game design document).  It doesn't have to be too detailed. But basic stuff like what the game is going to be about, The genre, etc. Should be there. Also, if your game is long to develop, try to keep track of the different things you are doing, about to do in a 'to do list'. 

Developing-phase 1: In the desired engine, Create the systems/mechanics your game is going to have, you don't need to create sprites or any specific stuff now, you can use coloured circles and squares. The idea here is to make sure the different ideas you though are actually doable. Don't be afraid or feel bad if you have to change or discard many system/mechanics/ideas for any reason. All games went through that (even AAA).  Did you know about the dev rooms in games like TLoU or Sonic? Those are make here. Also, if you are a solo dev, or part of a small team, keep things small. Do not try to create an epic CoD, an MMO, or the next GTA. Or in your case you mention RPG maker, a... idk  'The Witcher'. 

-----Small note: If it's your first time with that or a new engine.Don't start with your game right away. Perhaps it's better to first create a small and more or less simple 'ugly' game, no to publish, but for you to practice and learn how the engine work. Also, test stuff, test your game like if your life depends of it (okay not so drastic) but try to 'break' your game while testing it, like, idk, see what happens if you smash a important button fast,   what happens if you make your character to go the other direction, try to open a door that you know should be close, things like that.

Developing-phase 2: Once you have your game (or at least many scenes) pretty much created with grayboxes, placeholders simple 'beta' feel, etc. It's time to decorate it. Polishing sprites, creating new ones, loading the right music for the scene, etc, etc. 

I think pixel art is still pretty good. All depends of what aesthetic and 'feelings' you want to transmit. Games are Art, and Art is a entertainment medium where a creator transmit sensations and feelings towards an spectator.

Of course, many things will be different depending the engine and genre you wanna make, but I think this wall of text pretty much summarise the overall process.

Also, it's okay if you don't get many or any players at first, specially if you don't promote your game in forums/socials.  That or the fact my games are kinda shitty haha, so, perhaps you wanna take all I said with a grain of salt.

Lucks. 

I have used RPG Maker MV for years. It's a bit pricy so I recommend getting it during a sale, a demo version, or uh... (getting it 'elsewhere').

If you ever need any help there's lots of resources for it and RPG Maker is capable of making all types of games, not just 2D rpgs, when you start getting into the scripting + plugin side of things. Just remember to take it slow and focus on learning. RPG Maker has an easy interface and the coding is akin to scratch so I think you'll be able to pick up on it well. If you have any questions I'd love to help!

Hello!

First of all, good luck with your game.  😘

It took me just over two years to get my first project to a playable stage, and I also chose RPG Maker to design it...

As for something I’ll bear in mind for future projects, it’ll be to narrow down exactly what I want to do; in this case, I wanted to make a game that wasn’t too long, and it has between 10 and 14 hours of gameplay. 😅

And as for pixel art, I still love it for this sort of game.

If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them!

I started with 2D platformers, realized that was far beyond what I was ready to take on with how long it would take me to figure out the available software. Nodes? Mapping? Pixelax or however that’s spelled? These were totally unfamiliar unless I considered vague memories of making vector art in Inskscape or watching behind-the-scene specials for animation. Watching developers struggle with exports and backups of Scratch on one side, pretty much everything including game playing in Unity, and the slopification everywhere, I realized I needed to be picky about the programs used.

I was coming from story writing; webpage building; raster art on free, low-resource software; and very limited experience as a game player. The obvious way for me to start learning gaming concepts and culture was with visual novels and mixed-type game development spaces like here.

I’m planning on returning to my 2D platform games next year, likely in Godot or with LUA, assuming I can afford to maintain any computers then. 😅 I sporadically focus on the sprites, backgrounds, and instructions for those games.

I guess my point is to figure out what you already know and are comfortable doing and build up from there.

For your last question: As a pixel artist, I’m fond of (genuine) pixel art. 😄

Back in 2013, I was lucky I got my hands with a game development book, using Java at that time (which I was a noob at coding too), that took me to a very nice step by step guide on how to make it, it took a week or two to make. This taught me many valuable lessons about game dev but I think some of the few more important ones are this:

• It is mandatory to aim small. Small enough that you have something playable (far from perfect) asap
  • Nowadays, with the help of AI, you can and should be able to have something playable in a day or two, however bad it is. Back then (in 2013), without AI, it was about 2 weeks
• For the first game, it does not have to be an innovation, but along the way of making it you will get shots of creativity to include in it.
• Procrastination happens because you are over-complicating things and that makes you tired and frustrated that you want to take breaks often
  • This is one of the reasons why many people are here on itch instead of actually developing their games
• ALWAYS focus on mechanics first and iterate until you have something usable
  • You'll have time to add art, sounds, music and story later, but if your mechanics are not there then nothing else can fit it. Mechanics are the backbone of the game.
• Practice detachment from ideas (yours or other people's)
  • Some ideas just get stuck or just sounds great in theory but don't work in reality
  • A rule of thumb for this is if you don't have something playable in two weeks you are either wasting time because your idea doesn't work or you are over-complicating things. Leave it and go for something simpler, you can come back later with a fresh mind

• About Marketing: Share your game's playable file or link asap so you hear feedback from players. Post regular updates on features, struggles, ideas, future, etc.

• And finally: Give back to the community. If you share tutorials or some stories on how to do something in particular or assets, etc. the community appreciates this and tries your game. This is how I got a book contract.

Best of luck, and feel free to reach out if you need a hand planning your game. I offer free consultation (been doing it since 2024).