How much have you improved?

[Sagitar]

Just for fun I remapped one of the first houses I ever created in RPG Maker back in 2008. A combination of the amazing resources that are available today, the help and advice the community has offered over the years, and my own hard work have improved my skills a hundred times over.

So I was curious... How have you improved your game-making abilities since you started working with the software? Scripting, mapping, spritework, anything! I'm interested to hear everyone's stories about their first projects and how / how much you've gotten better.

 

[Lorenze]

I think I've improved a lot, in all of my skills (mapping, writing, etc.).

Here's the first map I made from early 2010.

Here's what I do now.

I think seeing other people's games helps. It's good to look for inspiration in them,

as well as seeing what they did right, and avoiding what they do wrong. :3

 

[TDS]

XP Days:

Putting commas in numbers (1000 = 1,000), Dubealex method.

case $game_party.gold
when 0..9999
  gold = $game_party.gold
when 10000..99999
  gold = $game_party.gold.to_s
  array = gold.split(//)
  gold = array[0].to_s+array[1].to_s+","+array[2].to_s+array[3].to_s+array[4].to_s
when 100000..999999
  gold = $game_party.gold.to_s
  array = gold.split(//)
  gold = array[0].to_s+array[1].to_s+array[2].to_s+","+array[3].to_s+array[4].to_s+array[5].to_s
when 1000000..9999999
  gold = $game_party.gold.to_s
  array = gold.split(//)
  gold = array[0].to_s+","+array[1].to_s+array[2].to_s+array[3].to_s+","+array[4].to_s+array[5].to_s+array[6].to_s
end

Now:

   $game_party.gold.to_s.gsub(/(\d)(?=\d{3}+(?:\.|$))(\d{3}\..*)?/,'\1,\2')

 

[Jet]

   $game_party.gold.to_s.gsub(/(\d)(?=\d{3}+(?:\.|$))(\d{3}\..*)?/,'\1,\2')

$game_party.gold.to_s.reverse.scan(/(?:\d*\.)?\d{1,3}-?/).join(',').reverse

For me, I've improved in coding more than anything as well. I went from making simple windows, to making a program that lets others make simple windows without coding. That's a sizable leap.

I can easily make real ruby applications now from the knowledge I gained starting with VX.

 

[punram]

I've definitely improved with every new maker I've tried out. It's taken a while learning the tricks of RTP spriting and tileset drawing, but I think I've gotten pretty far in terms of what I used to be like.

Mapping... I don't know, I've certainly improved in using pictures and weather effects, but parallax and custom tilesets never really appealed to me, so I'm still best with good old JRPG-style maps. Then again, I've learned that clutter almost always improves a map when it's used right.

I think the 'secret' to improving is just to do what you have to, and try new things out along the way. I know I wouldn't be half as good as eventing as I am now without exploring and messing about with the event windows from time to time.

 

[Cryranos]

I absolutely hate looking at my old work in XP; it's absolutely atrocious compared to what I can do now... I was THAT bad. I can say I've improved quite a bit in the last seven years.

Avvy and Sagitar saying that these are some of their first maps. I just have to say, damn did I suck when I first started out. In every interior map, there would be a line of wall at the top and bottom with windows in it, and a hole in the front for a door with clutter scattered around. For every dungeon, it was a dirt path in the middle of water/lava/empty space with doorways in the middle of a cliff wall that came straight out of the tileset. Don't even get me started with field maps... Now I find my work at least halfway decent.

My stories were also so awful that they mostly weren't salvageable. They either involved chasing someone for no reason or finding macguffins for no reason. Now my stories are of political intrigue and supernatural forces that work on blue and orange morality.

My events are much cleaner, and I find balancing a lot easier than I used to. Scripting is still awfully foreign to me, but I can customize a module and make two scripts compatible without having to copy a fresh Scripts file when I'm done.

 

[Espon]

Writing. I can't stand reading my old stuff, it makes me want to cry. I cannot figure out how I came up with such terrible and confusing storylines and extremely dull characters.

 

[Shablo5]

Writing. I can't stand reading my old stuff, it makes me want to cry.

WELL THEN your old self managed to capture the human emotion! Give your past self a round of applause

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

XP Days:

Putting commas in numbers (1000 = 1,000), Dubealex method.

case $game_party.gold
when 0..9999
  gold = $game_party.gold
when 10000..99999
  gold = $game_party.gold.to_s
  array = gold.split(//)
  gold = array[0].to_s+array[1].to_s+","+array[2].to_s+array[3].to_s+array[4].to_s
when 100000..999999
  gold = $game_party.gold.to_s
  array = gold.split(//)
  gold = array[0].to_s+array[1].to_s+array[2].to_s+","+array[3].to_s+array[4].to_s+array[5].to_s
when 1000000..9999999
  gold = $game_party.gold.to_s
  array = gold.split(//)
  gold = array[0].to_s+","+array[1].to_s+array[2].to_s+array[3].to_s+","+array[4].to_s+array[5].to_s+array[6].to_s
end

Now:

   $game_party.gold.to_s.gsub(/(\d)(?=\d{3}+(?:\.|$))(\d{3}\..*)?/,'\1,\2')

Yeah, but is the reduction in lines of code at the sacrifice of readibility? #justsayin

 

[Quigon]

mhmmmm.

 

[Emmych]

Then:

Now (ish?):

PLUS CUSTOM SAND SYSTEMS WOOOOO~~~

(...I really need to redo that sprite for you, man. God those old sprite wigs are so ugly to me nooooowww ;___

 

[Jalen]

Some stuff I was proud of when first making portraits. The first one is custom hair and shirt, second is some frankened and edited stuff.

Nowadays I just make everything from scratch.

 

[Lunarea]

First custom tiles:

Latest custom tiles:

Early portrait:

Latest portrait:

Early sprites:

Later sprites:

 

[Knightmare]

Then:

: \

Now:

: )

I've improved every aspect since RPG Maker 2000. At first I didn't have a clue how to do anything and now I can event, edit scripts, write decent story with good grammar, and can balance pretty well. I am still working on my almost non-existent mapping skill however.

 

[Samven]

Writing has always been my main focus with that and I'd definitely, without question, say that I made real progress learning about pace, character development, plot and good villains. Animations, similar deal. Maps... ahahaha... I, er... Well. You know. I was never very good at the whole... mappy... fieldy... towny... dungeony... stuff.

Nonetheless, in the five years since I made my first game I think I've improved at least a little on that front.

I went from thiiiiiiiiiss... (excuse the Hypercam; picture taken from a YT vid since I don't have the game file on my laptop).

To thiiiiiis...!

... Why am I stressing my "thiiiiiiis"'? Oh, God, it's already started! I'm turning into a villain! Ahhhh!!

 

[PixelLuchi]

I only seriously started working with the RPGMaker series around last year ( even though I first picked up XP in 2009, but that was all fan-related stuff, not worth mentioning here :\ ). So, here are some screens from around March 2011, and some more recent screens. With regards to writing: While some aspects of the plot have remained the same, I had to rewrite several scenes to get the flow of the story right, as well as getting rid of long intros and unnecessary scenes.

Hookay, here are the screens:

Interface design

Spoiler

March 2011:

May 2012:

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^^ Bye-bye place holder FE art, boring black menu and hello custom art and a snazzy red interface! XD Oh, and HP/MP bars with

​

current HP/MP shown too.

​

Battle layout

Spoiler

That bloody HUD... Oh, and really bad battlebacks. >< Pat, are you using a stick of broccoli as a weapon?

​

​

^^ Ditched that HUD, and used some snazzily edited VXAce battlebacks.

​

Maps

Spoiler

:\

​

^^

​

 

[punram]

@quigon

The weird thing is, I don't actually think that first map is half bad, considering it was one of your early ones. I think the worst 'noob' maps are ones that not only look mediocre but are tough for the player to navigate too.

@Luchino

That new battle HUD is way more polished, haha. If I try to tweak anything graphics-wise while working on a game I end up getting stuck on it. Nowadays I just use all of the RTP as placeholders and then fill in any custom graphics I need.

 

[Samven]

*Looks at Luchino's allegedly bad old stuff*

*Compares own recent stuff*

Do... Do I really suck that much? o _ o

 

[esby]

Started

Spoiler

Recent

Spoiler

 

[Samven]

I'm really curious now... How does everybody manage to add those lighting effects?