RPG Maker MZ Preview #1: Music, Battles, Animations!

[Eliyud]

The particle system makes me imagine that it is possible to create complex turn-based 3D battle systems. Am I right?

 

[Starmage]

Oh woow! A built in ATB system like RM2k3! I loved it! <3 So nostalgic! And I cannot wait to see if you can make your own busts as well with the chara generator! <3 ^_^ Though tbh, it would have been super amazing if the chibi sprites were replaced with the taller sprites that we have going around the MV resources forum. I mean, chibi is cute and all, but I just wanna see my people clearly doing their pose and all of the detail of what they're wearing and etc. xD Chibi just makes them look like floating heads tbh x((

Btw, that new animation system is sick! <3

Consider me officially wowed! (for now) xD

 

[Candacis]

I'm looking at the rtp, the little you could see in the preview video, and am not entirely convinced.
A lot of the tiles seem mismatched. The 2 trees look like they are from two different packs. The green flowers on the ground look like a different style, too.

I'm missing a cohesive look so far.

 

[pasunna]

Sideview ATB YESSSS! It feels like I'm a 13 year old discovering RM2k3 all over again. So excited! Thank you so, so much for this!

So with the new animations system, is it impossible to use sprite sheets like older RMs? Or are the 3D particles compatable with sprite sheets? It looked like they were still being used in the video.

wait are you the legend Abyssal wolf himself?

 

[Milennin]

Video review:

• Built-in nametags on messages is nice.
• The RTP on the forest map looks like a somewhat altered MV tileset, but looking quite nice nonetheless. The only mismatch are those thinner trees, I'm guessing they're unfinished?
• I like the new RTP facesets a lot. These might be amongst my favourites in RPG Maker.
• Default system sounds are a huge upgrade. MV's were very sharp and harsh on the ears. These are a lot softer, but still distinctive.
• Yay for faces in combat. Though I could see myself looking for a plugin to tighten up the gauges nearer to the bottom and leave more space open for the face graphics.
• The UI looks pretty basic, but functional...
• Still no visible enemy HP gauges in 2020? Boo.
• A shame a lot of the sound effects are still the same, or very similar to previous RPG Makers.
• Post-battle cutscene before the victory scene... interesting. I don't think that was possible, previously, without using plugins.
• A built-in battle animation screenshake? Nice.

Overall, it looked pretty decent. I've never been a huge fan of ATB-like combat, but this version seems pretty good, without the massive downtime that usually comes with them. I do like having insta-casts, makes things feel so much smoother in combat. With a few tweaks, I could see this becoming my favourite battle system to play with (a lot like my custom RM2K3 system, but without all those glitches).

I'm going to need to take a look at the particle creator program linked in the post. Going by the preview images, it looks to have some good potential, but I've got literally no experience working with any of this, so hopefully it's not too complicated to make something in it. All I'll say is it looks interesting, but can't say too much about it without having used it myself yet.

 

[Parallax Panda]

@TWings
Plugins and animations aside. The scripts from VxAce where not magically ported over to MV with the converter either, but it did help by converting some database stuff and your map data which was still very helpful if you had a project that was further along.

 

[Knightmare]

Not bad overall.

-I'll remain open minded about Effeseeker, seems great in most ways but not so great in a couple others, but overall I think it's a net plus.

-Not a fan of the Main Party Menu, hopefully we can change that easily enough.

-Don't like boy heroes or the lack of nose detail on the default characters but the generator will fix this so not a big negative.

-Battles were a net plus and I like how the animations mix well with it, I do like the Battle UI better and built in ATB is definitely good.

-Music is mixed, some decent but nothing grandiose imo.

Excitement level for this is is inbetween for me as of now, I'll still almost likely get it but hoping for a little more sizzle and spice in the upcoming weeks. The database is where I "shine" so hopefully that allows some better options than MV.

 

[SquallStorm]

I'm overall pretty stoked. While I'll continue making Epheria in MV, I'll use MZ on the side for smaller projects that I can use to challenge myself. Also you guys really went and made a Reid: Shadow joke. Even if you didn't meant to. XD

ATB is a yes, I've never heard of Effesker (probs spelled wrong) but looks good. When can I preorder?

 

[velan235]

Whole UI is much more cleaner than MV, it might still too boring for some, but for me it's an improvement.

Music is much better than MV RTP. I still prefer some of trinity OST though (might be included in the full release)

SFX (slash etc.) is meh.mostly we get the same SFX like the past rpg makers.

I really hate confirm/escape SFX in MV (they are loud and too high-pitched IMO). MZ ver. is an improvement.

not really an animator, while Effsker looks neat, I think I can't really utilize it.

still waiting for that eventing, system and database (and scripting!)

 

[JosephSeraph]

(Repost from RPGMaker.Net)

I'm 90% sure it's going to be way easier to do sprite/pixel animations on EffekSeeker than is on any current RPG Maker.

I mean, do you really think someone placed these frame by frame?


Starting from the Potion animations:
That's a single pixel art animation on a spritesheet, that you'd place on the screen on effekseeker and play out. You just duplicate it two more times with a timing offset and it'll look exactly the same.

On RPG Maker you can't just place a spritesheet and have it play out like that, you either place each frame individually (from a spritesheet limited to 45 frames) or use the Tween function (then risk messing up the more different frames you need to tween from / to)

And to make an animation like FFVI's potion effects you only need cells that are 32x32 pixels large. Yet you were still forced to use 192x192 cells even then.

Other pixel effects are a matter of doing the exact same thing, but moving the cells around from point A to point B. Instead of typing in initial and final coordinates, you'll type in initial coordinates, motion and particle death, for example. You can have the pixel cells move along with easing rather than the annoyingly linear movement of the Tween function.

It's powerful. It's gonna take a while to learn, but by learning he most basic functions you'll already be able to do way more, way easier, than on any RPG Maker.

And the time you save not hand placing stuff from a limited 45 cells sheet already justifies the learning investment.


edit: Look at the White Magic casting effect. Think about how HELLISH hand-animating each of these little dots would be. Not to mention, it'd be almost impossible on rpg maker because of the 16-cells-per-frame limitation.

I don't know if EffekSeeker supports paths (so you can have the particles move along the heart-shaped path) but that's certainly what FFVI did -- either that, or a rather complex formula in the position field.

Speaking of which, I also don't know if that's how effekseeker works but, yeah, on some particle engines on the "position" field of a given cell you can type a formula. Like, for example, X = 100 + T*2, which would mean that the X position of a given cell would be 108 at frame 4, or 120 at frame 10.


edit2: I'm looking forward to the possibility of spawning the particle system in a coordinate and moving it to another. Like for a Drain spell that starts at the enemy sprite then moves toward the player. But that's unlikely. The good thing is, the hard part that was implementing the particle engine within MZ has already been done. It should be easy for plugin developers to extend its functionality.

 

[Chaos17]

I noticed in the beginning of the video that the heroes have big bust portraits?

Are they official or just made for the trailer?

 

[The Stranger]

I think those big pictures\busts might've been @Archeia's handiwork, but I could be wrong.

 

[Kima_Prince]

Okay, seriously. Just give me a pre-order option and/or release date please!

Assuming that no plugins were used (or at least any used are available with the engine) I see tiny details I love like the dialogue message boxes not being the full width of the window....and....after reading 8 pages of replies....I forgot all the little things I saw lol.

Effekseer at least gives me something official to play with until the engine comes out! Excited to see what I can do with it!

I....liked the menus? Except for those mobile-focused buttons like the back arrows but I'm sure that will get a plugin (or maybe even an option in the editor) to remove them. Otherwise I was actually loving how the menus looked! They didn't look...idk...like old-school trying to fit on a hd modern screen like I feel MV's current menus are.

RTP looks really cute, but RTP is mostly placeholder for me or at least reserved for smaller games. While they are still chibi, I do like the character sprites better tho!

Battle system was just epic. Love having a new battle style. Will totally take advantage of that. Also, face graphics in the status screen? Can I assume that's true in frontview as well so we won't need a plugin?! (yeah, I went back to rewatch to find details again)

Also the battlers! Of the few we have seen I have not been dissapointed by them! I may actually use default battlers if this keeps going the way it is!

Assuming no plugins were used, we will have options to change the game screen size, and the window skin looks like it will be much more customizable, or at least easier to make look cooler.

Spoiler: Screenshots

 

[Redeye]

Ok, I guess I'm wowed now.

For the ATB system, @Touchfuzzy (Assuming you're now starting to answer the bigger questions), are we going to be able to do more complex ATB mechanics like Cast Times, Cast Interrupts, and the ability to alter Casting Speed via states?

Also, judging from Reid's genderbending technique, that means there's a way to summon actors or have actor transformations in battle?

 

[JosephSeraph]

that means there's a way to summon actors or have actor transformations in battle?

I think it's the same way that there's always been, i.e. simple eventing


I actually REALLY like the new menus, yeah! But I'm also happy that some people hate them because that'll motivate them to make new plugins

I think the new look is really sleeky and modern. The menu panels aren't quite centralized which iffs me a little but it shouldn't be hard to fix. And I don't think it looks to "mobile-like", to me. That, I reserve to this;




EDIT: The UI seems like it IS better designed for multiple resolutions, too! Which is a GREAT option! I'm so excited for that. Although I do expect that there will be NO lowrez UI support whatsoever, like with MV. Eventually I learnt how to shrink most windows on MV though.

 

[Pharonix]

Not gonna lie,
Was hoping for tactical battles.
Guess I'm sticking with MV for a while yet.

 

[ThreeSixNine]

One of the things I hated the most in rm was making skill animations, but that is gonna change drastically apparently, it actually looks very fun to make them now!
And I'm thrilled to see what animations people will make, now we have no more excuses to neglect them.

That being said, I liked the video showing off the new battle system, hope that will be a sample game because it's well made, and to whoever made it, big kudos.

Music is pretty nice too and so is the RTP and the new UI (from what I can see).

So yeah again, I'm wowed so far.
Keep me wowed thanks.

I actually didn't mind making animations in the editor. I know it was limited but those constraints made it what it is, similarly to RPG Maker FES.

That being said, I am looking forward to see how this new method turns out. I'm always down to try something new.

 

[MajinSonic]

OK, ATB Battlesystem. I don't like ATB battles. I prefer CTB. But, that's ok.
New Animation System. Like it! Sometimes you have to drop old things to gather new ways.
I'm very impressed.

The new main menu... ok... finally somnething different. But hey... UI can be changed by plugins so...it doesn't matter.

Music is ok for a rtp I guess.

Can't wait to see the new plugin manager. Is it still JavaScript? I would prefer C#. (But it will be JavaScript I guess)

Let's see what comes next

 

[Chaos17]

Edit: nevermind, need a cup of coffee.

 

[Redeye]

I'm pretty sure the difference between Active and Wait is that in Active, the ATB gauges keep moving while you're in the menu and selecting your options, while Wait basically stops time while you're making decisions, no?