Köpke's Adventures I & II
Köpkes Adventures was probably the first time I tried solving a problem through code1. I can't remember how it started - for whatever reasons, I suddenly had the plan to create a game and make my friend Nils Köpke the main character.
So I sat down and started with Köpke's Adventures I, which was basically a browser-based text adventure2. However, I was not satisfied with the first prototype, even though I had given it my all and added an auto-playing MIDI and a Java applet that did nothing else than displaying some cheap water ripple effect.
Then along came the RPG Maker 20003, and I was immediately in love. I was (and still am) a huge fan of games like Secret of Mana, and RPGM2K offered me an easy way to build my own. And thus, the idea for Köpkes Adventures II: President Ivel4 was born!
What I learned
Actually doing things is much, much harder than I thought. It's one thing to play around with a few things and once you do something that looks nice, draw a bull's eye around it and pretend that this was what you wanted to do all along - and it's a completely different ballpark to envision something - especially a game - first and then try to build it.
How it ended
I never delivered. However, the stuff that I did build in RPM2K was not half bad, it even included self-recorded voice output (All my voice, with different filters applied to conceal this fact), a playable intro, quests5 and puns. Tons and tons of puns.
I even created promo material: a self-made puzzle which, when put together, formed the logo of the game.
Image credit: Promo picture for RPGMaker 2000 on Steam.
For some definitions of the word "Code".↩
True to the well-known adage involving hammers and nails, I mostly knew web technologies at that point and therefore thought them a great platform for writing a game.↩
In case it isn't immediately obvious, the German pronunciation of "President Ivel" sounds like "Resident Evil".↩
OK, one quest.↩