OT. Anyone ever try RPG Maker XP

[lavaelf1024]

Anyone ever hear of it?  I was looking around yesterday after reading a post about other map editors and came across it.  It seems pretty cool but is $60 to by the license which isn't too bad.  There are alot of map tiles in there and looks likt you could create a game along the lines of FF and other turn based RPG games.  Looks like it'd take AOLT of work as there are no real forums for it and the help feature is horrible.

Each "map" you create can only support 1 "tileset" so you'd have to make a zillion maps for a large game.

Just wondering.

[dmpdesign]

I have never used that version of RPG maker, but from experience with other versions the tool is pretty useful if you are looking to make a very basic style RPG. 

The ones I have experience with don't lend themselves to being terribly creative with customizations, however those were on console systems without hard drives, so I suppose since this is PC based it might let you create your own enemies etc rather than tweak whats available in the editor itself.

I think Martin may have dabbled in RPG maker a bit, perhaps he can give some insite.

[lavaelf1024]

Thanks, I didn't play with it much past making 2 small maps and figure out how to get from one to the other.? I did look into the dtabase and there seems to be ALOT in there and event setup lets you pick your events then customize them but there's ALOT there with no real descriptions.?  It looks like you can create your own monsters, moster "groups" and even characters.  Looks alot like a Final Fantasy style game.  My son likes that style and thought it'd be fun to make a game he'd actually play.

 I don't have time to play with it right now as I'd like to at least tackle map level one of the SOM game first and see if I want to contiune with map 2.? My only problem is getting time to work on it.? I haven't touched it since last Tuesday with work and feeling crappy.

[HwitVlf]

I have heard of it and I did a little research into it while pondering the merits of Sword of Moonlight, but I've never actually used it.
It looked to me like it is easier to use than the console RPG makers and one of the best 2D turn based RPG makers available, but that's just my uninformed opinion. There are some links below that might give you some info:

General Info:
http://rpgmaker.neoseeker.com/wiki/RPG_Maker_XP

Screen Shots:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Games/Products/PC/rpg_maker_xp/screens.html

Forums:
http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/22121/
http://gokujrsforum.yuku.com/forums/7/t/RPG-Maker-XP-Forum.html

Has anybody ever heard of a turn based strategy RPG maker? I think that would be neat.

[dmpdesign]

I but that's just my uninformed opinion.

Very nice and subtle John 

[lavaelf1024]

Thanks John.  From what I had found online, it looked like one of the best/cheapest for purchase RPG makers that I could find.  I love FF and games like that and so does my son, so basically making a game like that is appealing to me.  However, being 31, I like the old school stuff so a game like SOM is fun for me as well.

[darchangel]

Actually I thought that rpg maker was a lot easier to use than Som...I used one of the older versions and not XP so I'm not sure what improvements were made.

You get more options for your events than you do in Som.

It uses more common types of files for music and graphics so you can create just about anything you want to customize your game, from monsters to npc's, items...you name it.

I made a game with it but I kinda drifted away when I discovered Game Maker...now if you or your son want to make more kid friendly type games (other than RPG's) you should look up Game Maker...it's a lot cheaper and you can make just about any type of game.

If your programming skills are like mine, there is an option were buttons are pre-programmed with actions. So all you do is click and combine buttons to make your game.

It also has it's own programming language so you can get more into heavy duty programming by typing in all the commands, instead of using the pre-programmed buttons. You can even use a combo...it's really up to you.

So I would say, if you want to make rpg's only - Go with RPG Maker
If you want to make other types of games - Go with Game Maker

This is their website, so you can see for yourself: http://www.yoyogames.com/   

 

[lavaelf1024]

Thanks for the response.  I'm really into RPG's and so is my son.  He's only going on 10 but he is extremely smart and I'm sure I could teach him and I think he'd have fun with it and I'm always there to help out. 

Not big on programming though I do have some limited experience from college.  I used to do websites based strictly by HTML code so I'm sure I could figure it out.

Thanks again!