Hi! My name is Charlotte Toumanoff, and I am a first-time game developer. This post is part of my project, “I Created A Video Game in 8 Weeks, Using RPG Maker MZ,” where I create a self-contained video game quest with impact, choices, and multiple endings, from scratch, using RPG Maker MZ.
To see the rest of the project (and play the game), click here!
Is this a familiar sight to you?
Have you felt that cold-veined panic of pressing “upload” on itch.io, only to see your beloved game get rejected because it houses too many files?
I have, and I’m here to rescue you from that late night ‘uh-oh’ moment.
...Welcome to my Pain Ted Talk.
Now, assuming that companies will not be comfortable downloading a mystery ZIP file directly onto their computers from a “Trust me, Bro,” stranger on the internet, I need a website to host my game.
I need itch.io.
Unfortunately, itch.io needs my game (and yours) to not exceed 1000 files.
This is doable, but not the easiest thing to accomplish. Luckily for you, I figured out the painfully-boring process, and am going to teach you everything I know.
Buckle up. Tedium lies ahead.
Identifying Unnecessary Files
Let’s begin with the summary: if you are working with a game engine like RPG Maker MZ, chances are good that the folder housing all of your game information is filled with files that you aren’t currently using. They are just lying there in wait, in case you need them...kind of like those band-aids your mother used to carry around with her everywhere she went.
For example, my game does not have a battle system. Correction: my game has a fully-formed battle system that I am not using, and is currently eating up space in my files.
Some of the goodies hidden within include:
A cool desert background that my characters can fight baddies against, in a cinematic tour de force that will suck you, the player, into a battle experience...or maybe make you wonder why your characters have found themselves fighting in a desert, when you encountered an enemy in the jungle.
A cool animation, comprised of four images, that makes it look like your character is entering the gaping maw of a dynamic, hungry, interdimensional portal to another realm:
A child-hungry clown that my characters will never have occasion to meet or speak with:
Slash marks that appear on the screen in the middle of a fight, in order to signify the very bad day your character is in the middle of having.
In essence, my game is filled with a lot of ‘just in case’ files that I’m not using.
Freeing up Space
Once you have identified each unused file, delete those suckers (but keep a backup somewhere on your computer).
As cool as they are, as fun as they are, they aren’t in use--unless their ‘use’ is to stop you from being able to upload your game.
This sounds easier than it is, especially when it comes to sound effects and map tiles. Some sound effects are easier to find than others--for example, the ones listed on the “Systems” section in your Database.
Others, like which sound effect you chose to play whenever your character walks through a door, have to be hunted down.
If you have enough space, I would recommend not even attempting to sort through either, because it’s incredibly easy to miss one, or two, or twelve.
However, if you (like me) did manually go through each sound effect and map tile, deleted the ones that you were confident weren’t in use, and brought the file count down enough to successfully upload your game--only to find out that it refused to load unless you stick one (or several) of the deleted files back in, this is where your backups come into play.
Using Your Backups to Fix Any Mistakes
Whenever you receive an error message from itch.io, it will include the name of the file it is trying to access to make your game run.
For example:
This file name is your best friend. It will tell you exactly where the file is located, cutting your file-searching time down to seconds, and saving your sanity.
In my case, the file was exactly where itch.io said it was supposed to be. I went to the “js” folder, and immediately saw “rmmz_sprites.js,” nestled in with its friends.
Then, it was as simple as putting the backup file back into the original game folder, creating a new ZIP file, crossing my fingers, and re-uploading...until I got the next “Failed to load” message, and repeated the whole process all over again.
Rinse and repeat until you stop receiving those messages.
But you aren’t done, yet.
Play-Testing the Game to Find More Missing Files
Chances are high that once your game successfully loads up, all you have achieved for certain is a successful beginning.
Now, you have to play through the entire game: interact with every single object, trigger every animation, reach your first “Game Over” screen (or all of them, if one ending functions differently than another), and hunt for more of these “Failed to Load” screens that crash the game. (You will probably find a few.)
Once you have played through the entire game, and added back in whatever files trigger a game crash, all that’s left for you to do is one final playthrough. One glorious example of gameplay in its originally-intended, un-stuttering, unfettered form...just as the Game Gods intended.
Congratulations, you now have a game to show! Along with a few new gray hairs.
Want to play the game that inspired this post?
...A recently orphaned boy, on the verge of adulthood.
...A mysterious summons from an ineffable presence.
...A cult that sprang out of a famine.
...A choice that impacts the lives of many.
Welcome to Visiting G.R.A.N.D.M.A.
Click here to play the game on itch.io!
(The password to access the game is: beginning.)
A few things to know before playing:
-- The game works in Firefox and Safari, but people are still experiencing loading issues when using Google Chrome.
-- You will need to make the game fullscreen in order to read any of the text boxes. You can do this by clicking on the ‘fullscreen’ icon on the bottom right.
--If you reach the “naming your character” screen without seeing any text appear, you need to restart the game in fullscreen mode.
--With the exception of outside walls, fences, cliffs, and border trees, everything that the player can touch is interactive. This means interior walls. This means beds. This means empty countertops. If your character meets resistance while moving, it probably means that he’s touching something interactive.
I hope you enjoy Visiting G.R.A.N.D.M.A!