Noob questions about RMVX Ace capabilities:

[LootHunter]

Hello.

A little more than a week ago, I downloaded RPGMaker VX Ace and began to learn about it through turorials (I've finished Encounter turorials yesterday). And few days ago I got a letter from here, which encouraged me to register on this forum and ask questions. So here I am

1. What are the differences between normal and light versions of RPGMaker VX Ace? I think such ifno has to be on the front page or in the description, but I didn't find it. Maybe I missed it? Anyway I would like to know.

2. Can I use some othe character progression system, besides default autolevel-up? Like changing classes or "progressing in skill that you are using" which I saw in FF games (actually it's after playing FF2 and FF3 I became interested in RPG Maker in the first place)?

3. Are battles, travels and other game modes can be only turnbased? Or there are possibilities for real time action? I mean without advanced degree in programming.

4. There are also "extra" tutorials on the front page, about creating and importing tiles. But there are no actual explanation about how do I make tiles for import in RMVX Ace. Also I wasn't able to find part 5 of those turorial. Does it exist?

 

[Keniisu]

Hello.

A little more than a week ago, I downloaded RPGMaker VX Ace and began to learn about it through turorials (I've finished Encounter turorials yesterday). And few days ago I got a letter from here, which encouraged me to register on this forum and ask questions. So here I am

1. What are the differences between normal and light versions of RPGMaker VX Ace? I think such ifno has to be on the front page or in the description, but I didn't find it. Maybe I missed it? Anyway I would like to know.

2. Can I use some othe character progression system, besides default autolevel-up? Like changing classes or "progressing in skill that you are using" which I saw in FF games (actually it's after playing FF2 and FF3 I became interested in RPG Maker in the first place)?

3. Are battles, travels and other game modes can be only turnbased? Or there are possibilities for real time action? I mean without advanced degree in programming.

4. There are also "extra" tutorials on the front page, about creating and importing tiles. But there are no actual explanation about how do I make tiles for import in RMVX Ace. Also I wasn't able to find part 5 of those turorial. Does it exist?

As a kinda of experienced user. Here are my answers

1. Light has limited features, and use of materials.
2. Yes you can with use of scripts.
3. Sorta of. You can do a lot more with the battles and game mods with again, scripts.
4. I'm not sure actually.

 

[imascribble]

1. I fiddled around with Lite for a good while before I bought the full version. I found that Lite is, basically, a free trial version - designed to get a basic feel for the software and nothing more. It has a lower map limit and an event limit (among other things), and generally less customization options as it doesn't allow the use of scripts.

2 & 3. There are many scripts to change the default systems of RPG Maker into whatever you want that are fairly straightforward to use - each one has instructions on how to customize the scripts to fit your needs. The Master Script List would be a good place to check out to get an idea of scripts you can use - http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/11708-master-script-list-on-site/

4. I don't know about a tutorial, but check out this blog - it should be able to help you  http://blog.rpgmakerweb.com/tutorials/anatomy-of-an-autotile/

 

[bgillisp]

1) I started with the full, so no idea

2) Sort of. There are class change scripts (Yanfly has one, others might exist too), but skill progress scripts I'm not sure of as I don't use those

3) Depends on what you want. There are some popular ATB systems that work a lot like the FF games (4 onwards that is). If you want real time battles on the same screen as the map, that will take some advanced programming I'm afraid.

4) Not sure. I usually just copy an old tile set into GIMP and edit it. Try that, and you will learn the dimensions needed at least. I would recommend only working with the B - E tiles first though, as the A tiles are trickier due to the autotiles.

 

[LootHunter]

1. I fiddled around with Lite for a good while before I bought the full version. I found that Lite is, basically, a free trial version - designed to get a basic feel for the software and nothing more. It has a lower map limit and an event limit (among other things), and generally less customization options as it doesn't allow the use of scripts.

2 & 3. There are many scripts to change the default systems of RPG Maker into whatever you want that are fairly straightforward to use - each one has instructions on how to customize the scripts to fit your needs. The Master Script List would be a good place to check out to get an idea of scripts you can use - http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/11708-master-script-list-on-site/

4. I don't know about a tutorial, but check out this blog - it should be able to help you  http://blog.rpgmakerweb.com/tutorials/anatomy-of-an-autotile/

Thanks for thorough answers. The only problem with a Master Script List is that there is no description of what script is actually do (even in wiki version many scripts lack it), so I have to look at each script's page to learn about it's functions.

 

[imascribble]

The only problem with a Master Script List is that there is no description of what script is actually do (even in wiki version many scripts lack it), so I have to look at each script's page to learn about it's functions.

We would likely offer recommendations if we knew exactly what you wanted (ATB-timed battle or overworld action? Weapon and skill level-ups similar to FF2? etc.), but in reality it's probably better for you to go and search through every one of interest in order to find one that suits your needs. They each have differences that make them unique and worth checking out. It's kind of annoying, but it gives you a better idea of the different scripts and types of engines out there

 

[DarrellLeon]

First and foremost, I wanted to say welcome to the world of RPG Maker VX Ace and welcome to the RPG Maker forums.

All your answers have been answered by multiple people so I won't dive into them deeply but one thing I did want to specify is, RPG Maker itself really is a out of the box, hit the ground running game creation tool. With the core default system you could make full RPG games in the base design quite easily, however of course it would be another clone of an RPG Maker game. To make your game your own and unique, that is where scripts come in. Scripts are all coded in the Ruby Programming Language, it's been around since about 1995 and works more on the basis of righting statements than other codes so it is a lot easier to comprehend.and learn than other programming languages. If you want to really make your own game your best bet is to start by simply looking through other users scripts,and placing them in your game. A lot will work together, then some will cease to work due to incompatibilities with each other. There is usually a lot of support for incompatibilities on this forum so if you come across any, the support section would be more than willing to assist you. Once you have got a feel for adding in scripts and making them work with each other and playing with the settings which most scripts have clearly at the top so they are easier to work with, you are ready to really start learning the language and developing your own scripts to make a truly unique experience. Think of something you want to do, it could be small at first and take you a few weeks to figure out or it could be something really adventurous and take months like mine did, but start looking for scripts that perform small functions of what your script wants, take their code and gradually combine it and alter it within your own script as a base line, building off of it until you have something not even close to what was originally taken but instead have your own complete script. This was how I first taught myself Ruby and got into scripting (I would like to mention that I am a very kinesthetic "hands on" learner and also have a past in learning various other programming languages which I had an affinity for because I am very left brained and logical minded) after I'd done this for a few months I had my first script of my own and I just went from there, learning off others ideas and methods and eventually started making my own scripts entirely that do the functions I want in the way I want instead of relying off others scripts. I still regularly look over others ideas to keep myself fresh and updated with the methods in which others achieve perhaps the same things I intend to but always find myself looking for ways to improve or shortcut the methods they've done to achieve the same things more effectively.

In short, yes you really don't need to be a pro coder to develop a nice, functioning game, however if you intend to dive far beyond the normal and build something with high quality, unique game play you wish to eventually release commercially, it's certainly advisable to start working in that direction, unless you have a small team of people and you work on the more creative sides of things while they continue on the logical side. For example, if you are particularly creative minded, you could work towards creating sprite sheets and tile sets for the game while they code the core functionality.

And last but not least, I wish you the best of luck in your RPG Maker journey, I remember when I first got it a few years back how exciting and difficult it was for me but with perseverance and some hard work, I got there and you can too.

 

[LootHunter]

Wow! That was some welcoming/  Needed time to digest it.

Also wanted to finish tutorials... However it looks like the main turorial series is incomplete.  So i still have to find proper explaination about events (like moving events, moving routes, erasing events, etc).

I have to say that all those little inconveniences are not making a good impression of RPGMaker. I see it's potential, but as of now there are many other make-your-own-game tools around (like Unity). So while I'm going to look some more into turorials, I'm still thinking if I should by RPGMaker or not (as of now I have some trial period left).