I want my horror game to be 3D, but I'm having the same thoughts I did back before I ever started trying to learn new engines to make that happen.

I already know RPG Maker forwards and backwards. I have faith that I could make pretty much whatever I want in it, provided it is still 2D. There is a 3D plugin for it, but developing maps with it is a massive pain in the ass.

I have so many things that I want to make. This horror game, the sequel to God's Disdain, a space drama (I've wanted to make this since like middle school), a God's Disdain 3, and another horror game after that. If I make all of these in RPG Maker that alone is already going to take the next ten years, at least.

Learning a new engine, let alone learning it to the same proficiency I have with RPG Maker, is a monumental task. If I had a pretty solid group of people helping me out I don't think it would be as bad... someone could be doing textures, someone could be modeling, I could be in charge of design/writing/soundtrack and probably a good chunk of coding, having another programmer would be nice, etc. As just one dude though, it seems like it is a little bit too much for me to do anything beyond a little demo. I not only have to learn a new engine, but I have to learn other stuff unless I want it to cost far more.

As of right now, I'm only a hobbyist. I'm DEFINITELY not making any money off of any of this. My game God's Disdain, I loved making that thing for the most part. It took 10 years. I spent way more money on it then I'll ever receive. In fact I haven't actually received anything yet because I haven't met thresholds for payouts. I made $5 off of a soundtrack sale back in like 2019 and that's it. Point is, if I want to keep doing this as a hobby, I think I might need to stick with RPG Maker for the time being. I have more things I want to create and learning all this new stuff is just kind of getting in the way of that, especially when I know I could already do it somewhere else and achieve a result that I still like, although it wouldn't necessarily be the original vision.

Then there is the fact that I actually would PREFER God's Disdain 2 to be a 2D game. I'm not really sure I want to learn an engine just for one game at the moment.

I do actually really wish there was something like RPG Maker 3 on PS2 but on PC with the ability to import your own models and use custom scripts if you so desired. That would make the transition so much easier.

I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to make a decision on how to proceed before I lose too much time. God's Disdain came out in March. I would hope to have something really going in the works a year later.

The only thing really keeping me wanting to learn something new (in this case, RPG In A Box) is the ideal of making a 3D game. I think people would be more interested in it, I think it could be more immersive. I would love for the game to be kind of like the original Silent Hill and 3D is a big part of that. However, I can't help but think that if I fully want to realize everything else I want in the game, making it in 3D includes really learning the ins and outs of the engine and that's going to turn this project into another massive endeavor akin to God's Disdain, which took ten years. TEN YEARS. It's just too long, man. All of the original hype people had for it completely died down. All of the people who helped work on it completely moved on with their lives and most didn't even react to its release. I got majorly burned out because of how long it was taking. I just don't want another situation like that to occur.

Plus, maybe this is just cope for being a lazy piece of shit, but 2D games can still be immersive and can be interesting. I mean fuck, a lot of people's game of the year for 2025 is going to be a 2D game (Silksong). I don't think that my success as a game developer is going to come down to whether a game is 2D or 3D but how good the game is and how efficient I can be when developing it so that I don't run into the same pitfalls I did before.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm just looking for some advice here. I know 99% of you are not game devs but still, I don't know maybe someone says something that pushes me one way or another.