Medusa
My name is Trista and I am a female solo indie game developer. I am above forty (call me an eldritch abomination!) and it's very safe to say that my blood has been entirely replaced by coffee and other caffeinated substances.
My engine of choice is RPG Maker VX Ace, though I have been using the RPG Maker series ever since Don Miguel hacked and pirated RM95. While I have used every iteration (as of February 2025) in the RPG Maker series, VXA has been and likely always will be my favorite engine.
It probably shouldn't surprise anyone, but I am completely self-taught; I do not have any educational or professional experience regarding game development.
It's hard to pick just a couple of aspects of game development I like the most, but my favorite parts have to be: mapping, tileset, sprite and faceset editing, world-building and lore, writing and character development.
As I am not an artist, musician or scripter, I purchase most of the resources I am using; others are free for non-commercial games and I make sure the artists allow their work to be edited before I do so.
I will not put a list of credits on my blog, as that is something that will be found in a text document in my game itself, in addition to the end credits.
Professionally-speaking, however, I am an award-winning poet with five published collections. I have also written fiction, non-fiction and advertising, in addition to doing freelance editing and proofreading work. Other than that, my work has been completely commonplace.
My educational background includes jewelry design, abnormal psychology, criminal psychology, criminology, criminal justice, classical singing and graphic design.
I am completely against using AI for any reason.
Though it is completely irrelevant to game development, I am very much a fan of all things horror, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, dark fantasy and psychological. History and mythology (especially Roman history and mythology) interest me a great deal as well. My favorite musical genres are: metal (and all its sub-genres,) punk, Industrial and opera.
When the weather permits, I enjoy kayaking, along with exploring and treasure hunting in ghost towns, ruins, mines, caves and other abandoned places.
Just a few of my favorite games include:The Suikoden series, the Metal Gear Solid series, Dragon Warrior/Quest, Crono Trigger, Brigandine, Wastelands, Fallout 1 and 2, the Disgaea series, Tactics: Ogre Battle, Xenogears, Swordcraft Story, the 'Tales of" series, the Legend of Mana series, EVO: The Search for Eden and the Mother/Earthbound series.
