When I set out to make The Black Knight Chronicles: The Widow Without Time, I had exactly two things:

1. A love for snow levels (seriously, they’re the best).
2. A title so long it could double as a haiku.

That’s it. No story, no characters, just vibes.

I’d already created the Black Knight as a secret character in Citadale years ago, and I wanted to expand the lore—but not in another action-platformer. Enter RPG Maker, which I owned but had not properly used in years. Turn-based combat felt like the right fit, especially if I could make battles strategic (think rock-paper-scissors, but with swords and magic).

Early Struggles:

• No Plot? No Problem? I started by loading sample maps and tinkering. Ideas emerged randomly: ice temples, ancient ruins, a demonic final boss. I scribbled notes like a madman.
• Music First: I couldn’t compose without a vision, so I licensed tracks from Alexander Ehlers. His music became the game’s soul—each track inspired a location or character. That somber piano piece? That’s the antagonist’s theme now.

Most RPGs start with a story. I started with teleporters.

Level Design Philosophy:

• Every dungeon needed a unique gimmick (e.g., a teleporter puzzle where you hunt for a lever mid-boss fight).
• No filler: If a puzzle was solved in your head, the game should immediately reward you. No mazes, no endless backtracking.
• Small but dense maps. Players would learn layouts organically—no minimaps allowed! (Sorry, GPS generation.)

Characters from the Soundtrack:

• Quirky track → Snarky sidekick.
• Mystical theme → Wise sorcerer.
• Upbeat tune → A DOG. (Mandatory. 10/10 good boy.)

Dialogue wrote itself over time. At first, characters were tropes, but they grew personalities like fungus in a damp dungeon.

Sidequests Were Supposed to Rule: I told my wife, “Half this game will be sidequests!” Spoiler: It’s more like 30%. But what’s there is quality:

• Lore-heavy mini-stories.
• Time-sensitive quests (fail them, and they’re gone forever—marked in red in your log).
• Zero “collect 10 bear butts” tasks. (I ended up doing some of those, too)

The No-Map Experiment: I hid quest-givers behind “?” and “!” markers but refused to add a map. Playtesters (aka my wife) navigated just fine. Victory!

The game released on June 28, 2024, after a chaotic but magical dev cycle. Key takeaways:

1. Let music guide you. It’s a cheat code for creativity.
2. Tropes are tools. Overly-long anime titles? Yes. Self-insert protagonists? Hard no.
3. Players aren’t GPS drones. They’ll learn your world if you design it with care.

Final Thought: Making this game felt like herding cats, but I’ll do it all again. Thanks for reading—now go freeze to death in my snow-covered world! ❄️