First Steps

[Some1]

Hi!

I'm sort of new here, and to RPGMaker VX Ace of course.

I want to start creating my first game. I've tried playing around in VX Ace, just trying to figure things out and get an overview. I end up scrapping what I do, because I don't yet have a good blueprint of what i actually want to achieve.

So I have decided to check out some of the completed games for inspiration and to see the confines of the engine. I know you can do a lot with scripts, but I want to be realistic for my first game and not be too ambitious.

I am a huge fan of the "Mother" -series of RPGs, in particular Earthbound and Mother 3, so I have a modern RPG in mind. I want to incorporate a battle system like in those games and if possible, disable random encounters altogether and have randomly generated wandering monsters like in those games. Is this possible?

So, I was wondering if the veterans here could suggest some good VX or VX Ace games that have a modern setting like the "Mother" series. And also if you have any additional advice on what I should do now as a novice preparing to start working on my first game. I've done the "official" VX Ace tutorials already so I have a grasp with the basics.

I hope I'm not asking too much at once. I've been reading the forums quite a bit and I was touched by how helpful and passionate this community is!

 

[Tigersong]

Okay, so you read the official tutorials? Good. That's my mistake- I plunged right in without really knowing how to use Ace.

As for advice? I'd say, don't start with the story or with custom resources. Either one is a good way to derail your project in its infancy. I think a good example game would be "The Last Adventure". That has a very basic story and only one dungeon- a good way to avoid trying to make something too big at the outset.

 

[??????]

Hi!

I'm sort of new here, and to RPGMaker VX Ace of course.

I want to start creating my first game. I've tried playing around in VX Ace, just trying to figure things out and get an overview. I end up scrapping what I do, because I don't yet have a good blueprint of what i actually want to achieve.

I am a huge fan of the "Mother" -series of RPGs, in particular Earthbound and Mother 3, so I have a modern RPG in mind. I want to incorporate a battle system like in those games and if possible, disable random encounters altogether and have randomly generated wandering monsters like in those games. Is this possible?

Hello, welcome etc..

In the past, I have always made 'small' games of around 2-4 hours in length and always end up finding some feature I want to add and starting fresh.

Due to this, I would recommend that you think of your ideal game, start working on the lore / characters / storyline for this game, but do not start it.

You should always start small, while keeping your 'big idea' as secret as possible. Once you have enough knowledge of the program you can start expanding and creating larger projects.

At least, that is what I would do.

With regards to your question - disable random encounters altogether and have randomly generated wandering monsters like in those games. Is this possible?

The short answer is yes, this is very possible and wouldnt even take very long to setup.

One of the scripts I am currently writing (a zelda style ABS battle system) actually does this... Well, it 'respawns' enemies each time is has been beaten, but you probably wouldnt need such a thing...

If you are using the default battle style (transition into battle scene, win/lose, leave scene) then you could simply add something into your event (the one that triggers the battle) so that when it has been beaten, it will respawn in a preset location.

You could define this location within the event or alternatively, use a small snippet of code... like this for example...

#===============================================================================class Game_Map#===============================================================================  #--------------------------------------------------------------------------  # new method: get_random_region_tile  (Credit Yanfly)  #--------------------------------------------------------------------------  def get_random_region_tile(reg_id)    tiles = []    for i in 0...width      for j in 0...height        next unless region_id(i, j) == reg_id        next if $game_player.collide_with_characters?(i, j)        next if i == $game_player.x && j == $game_player.y        tiles.push([i, j])      end    end    return tiles.sample  endendand the use the script call

p = $game_map.get_random_region_tile(ENTER_REGION_ID_HERE)$game_map.events[EVENT_ID_GOES_HERE].moveto(p[0],p[1]) # For example, the script call would be something like...p = $game_map.get_random_region_tile(1)$game_map.events[5].moveto(p[0],p[1])# This would move event 5 to a random point within any terrain that was tagged with region id 1.

 

[Some1]

Thank you for the input! I'm going to get back to that script once I have a grasp of the language and how to incorporate them. 

From lurking the forums, I did discover that people generally recommend saving your dream RPG project for later, which I will do.

I'm going to use the RTP for my practice projects, even though it isn't very inspiring to work with.

So I guess for now I try to get the overview of what designing an RPG actually means, how it all ties together: planning the story, designing the maps, scriping etcetra.

Are there any specific tutorials out there that are like practice projects? By that I mean they aim at helping you develop a specific type of game and take you step by step through the process.

Since I'm new to the program, I really need to acquaint myself with the scope and conventions of it, especially considering that my practice projects will be very basic.

 

[??????]

I am pretty sure that there are some great tutorials available. I do not know where they may be but they are definitely out there. Pretty sure there is a splace on this forum for such tutorials.

Also, with regards to scripting. I wouldn't recommend that you attempt to script anything yet. At least not until you feel very comfortable with complex eventing as scripting is essentially a much more complex event.I would recommend that you use others scripts while you are learning though.

There are very many scripts available to use non commercially and chances are, if you think about it hard enough, you will be able to combine multiple scripts to achieve almost any feature you could want.

Yanflys scripts are probably a great place to start as they are very easy to understand and have a nice layout (not all over the place) ^_^

 

[Andar]

the link in my signature contains links to important tutorials, sample games and a number of tips and tricks to help.