June’s Featured Game: Queen Mary's Script Retold
DEVELOPER(S): Gabicho ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace GENRE: Adventure WARNINGS: N/A SUMMARY: Queen Mary’s Script is a tale of a young girl who finds a happy escape in her own dreams. She lives in a shell closed off from the world and only in her own room can she express her feelings. That is, until she happens upon the doll Clause and all at once, the magic she yearned for in her life is thrust upon her. However, she soon finds that magic isn’t always what it looks like in books and dolls are just as selfish as humans.
Download the demo here!
Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!
Introduce yourself! My name is Gabicho. I'm release games under the title "Maimie's Toybox". I've been making games for 5 or so years. I've released the original version of Queen Mary's Script, Ringmaster Clause and Monster Love Party. I'm working on about a million projects though.
What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Gabicho: Queen Mary's Script Retold is a retelling of the original Queen Mary's Script which is the 2nd game in the Sewn Family series. It's about a girl who, after wishing for a savior and friend, gets thrown into the hidden world of dolls. She discovers that humans aren't the only ones who want to hide from their pasts and that everyone has a story. QMS was created as an avenue to explore things in my own past as well as create a world for dolls and their powers.
How long have you been working on your project? *Gabicho: QMS has been a project of mine since high school, so around 10 or so years. It started as a novel and has just been built up to be a huge world told through action adventure games. I decided to recreate it from the ground up in 2016 and have been cranking away ever since.
Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Gabicho: A big influence to me is music. I'm the type of person that visualizes sort of like music videos in my head when listening to my favorite artists. For QMSR, a major influence has been the musician Kikuo.
Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Gabicho: Procrastination and feeling as if I can't face my game. I've yet to find a way to deal with it, but I've realized it's ok to take my time. I want to create a game I'm proud of, so I've stopped trying to rush.
Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Gabicho: A lot has changed overtime. The game itself is a recreation of the original QMS and it has had a complete overhaul. It's constantly changing as I improve. Characters are becoming more human and things like that.
What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Gabicho: I honestly can't see myself working as a team for my games. I do love getting criticism and have avoided a lot of bad choices because of it, but I can't adequately share my vision with people. I can only make it myself.
What is the best part of developing the game? *Gabicho: I love character design and world building. It's so much fun to have a new character come to life and to write little snippets of their life. Designing their outfits and faces is so much fun.
Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Gabicho: I don't really play many RPG Maker games. I really should, but I just can never find time.
Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Gabicho: My favorite character in Queen Mary's Script Retold is named Wren. I wish I could relate to her, because she's a fantastic friend. She's a very honest person and a bit pushy, but that plays well with the main character Mary's sort of hesitant attitude.
Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Gabicho: Every time I slack off or delay release, I feel crippling regret. I hate that it's taken me over 2 years just to get this game released. I wish I focused more.
Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Gabicho: QMSR was created because there was a sequel planned but the original game doesn't fit very well. Pretty much, this universe is told through 3 games. The original QMS was created 5 years ago with a prequel released a year after. As I was making the final game in the series, I realized the world had grown so much that the original middle game needed to be retold in order for certain characters' motivations to be clear. So tl;dr, yes there will be more to come after QMSR.
What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Gabicho: I look forward to finally delivering the game to people who have been waiting (thanks, guys!!) and to work on the sequel.
Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Gabicho: I'm always afraid that I'll release and not really have much interaction. Also, bugs.
Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Gabicho: Take your time.
Question from last month's featured dev @zmakesgames: How did you come up with or what inspired the design of your character(s)? *Gabicho: A lot of inspiration lies in lolita fashion, music and classic literature!
We mods would like to thank Gabicho for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!
Remember to check out Queen Mary's Script Retold if you haven’t already! See you next month!
- Mods Gold & Platinum
