Using RPXP on PC's with no admin rights

[kR1pt0n1t3]

So, I'm trying to make my RPXP somehow to work on PC where I don't have admin right but I have the following problem.

Using PC at my home I installed steam on my USB drive and logged on it.
Via steam, I installed the RPXP in the new repository I made on the same USB drive
When I put the USB inside a PC with no admin rights, I can start steam just fine but I get the error that I have no RTP installed when I start the RPXP.

Since I don't have admin rights, I can't installed RPXP RTP so my question:

Can I somehow trick the program to think RTP is installed or point it to the folder where the XP RTP files are located?

Is there any workaround to this problem? I tried googling but most of the things I read there include using keygen and some fish registry editor tricks (not that I can change the registry on PC with no admin rights).

Can the RTP be installed with the steam RPXP? Why is the RTP separate?

 

[Andar]

you should be able to install the RTP manually - the admin rights is usually only needed to automatically start the RTP-installer as part of the setup process.
But you can download the independent RTP-setup from the download links top right and manually install it.

If that is on a computer where every executable was blocked from the user, then I strongly suggest against using workarounds and ask the admin responsilble for the block. Such blocks are only there for specific reasons and ignoring them usually risks some form of computer instability.
This goes double since RMXP was programmed with WinXP in mind and is known to cause problems on modern Windows versions.

That said, you can simply place the entire RTP into its custom resource folders in your project, those take precedence over the general files. But that will increase the size of your project...

 

[Jaiden]

RMXP was programmed with WinXP in mind and is known to cause problems on modern Windows versions.

Do you have a source for this information? This is simply untrue, as myself and many other users are running RPG Maker XP on the newest build of Windows 10 without it causing problems.

@kR1pt0n1t3 You should not need admin rights to run an RPG Maker XP game. The RTP installer really isn't much more than all of the RTP assets compressed. If you are using the Steam version, the RTP is stored in the C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/SteamApps/Common/RPG Maker XP/rtp/ folder.

If you want to ship your game to a player, then you should be copying the assets you used from the RTP directly into their respective locations in the Audio / Graphics folders in your project folder. Note you may need to delete the word "Standard" after "RTP1=" in your Game.ini file.

There is no disk usage difference between doing this or bundling the RTP installer with your game. If you are only selecting the assets you used instead of just copying all of them, this will actually use less space than having the end user install the RTP.

 

[Andar]

Do you have a source for this information? This is simply untrue, as myself and many other users are running RPG Maker XP on the newest build of Windows 10 without it causing problems.

Then you already sidestepped several of the problematic points.
For example the original default path to create new projects was the program folder which is now a restricted folder.
All it takes is to once redirect the output folder (because RMXP remembers it), but if you don't then your first project creation will fail. you can find dozens of topics "why can't I create a new project with RMXP) here on the forum.
Another problem is that the registry variable to store the invisibly color number is no longer correctly accessable, resulting in the option to choose that color go wrong. Again you can find dozens of topics about it if you go back in the archive of this site.

You can run RMXP under Win10 - I never said that it were impossible to do so. But it does have a few problems because the defaults were no longer the same as in the older Windows versions.

There is no disk usage difference between doing this or bundling the RTP installer with your game. If you are only selecting the assets you used instead of just copying all of them, this will actually use less space than having the end user install the RTP.

That assumes that the player only plays a single XP-game and will never play another.
If the RTP is installed regularly, then that counts for every XP-based game.
Copying the RTP into the game folder means that every game needs its own version of the RTP - ten games would result in downloading the RTP ten times if everyone did this.
That is why the option to do both was given - for people only playing a single RMXP-game, including the RTP made the installation easier without costing anything. For people who downloaded and played a dozen RMXP-Games it was much less download and HDD-use if the RTP was only installed once and then all games were downloaded in the version without RTP.

 

[Jaiden]

You can run RMXP under Win10 - I never said that it were impossible to do so. But it does have a few problems because the defaults were no longer the same as in the older Windows versions.

I was under the impression OP and your response to him was talking about running RPG Maker games, not the engine itself. Even then, I have both the Steam version and the standalone v1.05 and didn't encounter any of what you've mentioned--on multiple PCs. So perhaps this was limited to old, outdated versions of RMXP?

For people who downloaded and played a dozen RMXP-Games it was much less download and HDD-use if the RTP was only installed once and then all games were downloaded in the version without RTP.

Sure, but this is hardly the case anymore, especially with RMXP games being few and far between. In 2007, when everyone was playing RMXP games and hard drive space was hard to come by, this was a fine solution. The standard now--where most Steam games are in the 10s of gigabytes--it is much wiser and safer to just bundle the 20MB in RTP assets with your game to avoid facing the same issues OP is facing with permissions or having the end user stumble with an additional installer.

 

[kR1pt0n1t3]

I'm not trying to run RPG Maker XP Game.

I'm trying to start the RPG MAKER XP GAME ENGINE that is used to make a game.

 

[Jaiden]

I'm not trying to run RPG Maker XP Game.

I'm trying to start the RPG MAKER XP GAME ENGINE that is used to make a game.

As far as I am aware, my steps should still apply. In your Game.ini for your project, remove the "Standard" next to "RTP1=" and make sure all of the RTP assets are copied into the Graphics and Audio folders.

Otherwise, you might be out of luck here, assuming the Steam version is trying to access the RTP from the Program Files folder regardless. Most programs are not really intended to be run via USB. As Andar mentioned, it would not be wise to try making workarounds to the registry, etc. without checking with the system administrator, since these block are in place per the institution's policy (assuming it is work or school).

 

[kR1pt0n1t3]

Thanks for the reply, but I don't even get to load my project.

The moment I start RPG XP Game Engine, I instantly get an error that I'm missing RTP.
I'm assuming that the engine is trying to find a registry key and uses that as some kind of reference to see whether RTP is installed or not.

I'm getting desperate with this. I'm gonna try using the VMWare program to make a virtual copy of installation for both Steam and RPGXP. I've read that VMWare also copies registry keys and some other files so I'm hopeful this might actually work.

 

[DerVVulfman]

Okay, I'm going to assume that your issue is not a the Game Engine, but you are unable to open the Game EDITOR... that which makes your game. And it is claiming that it cannot detect the RTP. If you did not install the RTP, this would be understandable.

When Installing the RPGMaker XP RTP, it creates a key/value combination in the registry. This key/value combination is for your Enterbrain - RGSS - RTP key, and the 'Standard' value which holds the path of your RTP folder.

UN... fortunately, the editor itself looks for and relies upon this registry key. The Editor 'creates' the Game.Ini file, but doesn't rely on it. Only the Game.Exe does for gameplay and playtesting purposes.

So I hope you have luck with VMWare... gaining actual permission to install an RTP package. The registry entry and path itself will be necessary for game development purposes.