Dracarys!
Gender: Male
Location: In a courtroom, for some reason
Rank: Ace Attorney
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:00 pm
Posts: 1224
DudeWithAMask wrote:
Fangames take time. If your fangame is traditional length (let's say 4 cases or so), be aware you could potentially be looking at 4 years of work, if not more. After all, you have other commitments.
This, so much. I honestly groan every time I see somebody claim that they're gonna complete a 4-5 case game within a few weeks. It's just not going to happen. It takes me that long just to beta-test, after most of the long work has been finished. Each of my 4 longer cases took at minimum a year to complete.
Also, I'd like to add... Don't add arbitrary lengths to your cases ("I'm gonna make this case 3 days and the final trial have 20 cross-examinations!"). There's no reason to shoot for length, just so that you can boast about making a case bigger than Rise from the Ashes. Make the case be exactly the length and complexity that it needs to be. Take into consideration... Does this case work better with two days or three? Or how about even just one?
I actually fell into that trap myself when I made The Rogue Turnabout. There were a few cross-examinations that were largely just made separate so that I could pad the length of the case. In my later cases, I actually ended up REMOVING testimonies that I had planned in my outlines or rough drafts. Each of the trial sections in T-Unknown had maybe 3-4 fewer C-Es than I had originally planned for. I took them out because when I was writing the actual coding/dialogue, it no longer made as much sense to include them and it just felt more natural to continue to the next part.
That's not saying go out of your way to remove things. Just make it natural and make sure that every C-E has a purpose. (Like DWAM said, a purpose to each contradiction).