I'm curious; Do any of these RPG-maker types allow you to make a Secret of Mana-type game? In terms of the battle system?
Yes, such a system is possible. In fact, I have even played a Secret of Mana sequel demo put out years ago by some guy going by the handle of rusty that featured the famous round menus as well as an on-screen battle engine (that admittedly had some kinks to be worked out). The demo boss was one of those long snakes that appeared in the original SoM, making clever use of multiple simultaneous events. This sort of exotic sleight of hand was possible on the old RPG Makers only with great diligence and extremely laborious coding through a very limited interface. Now that RPGMXP offers user-end access to an entire coding language, the work gets much easier. (Well...it's not a true coding language, in the strictest sense. We're talking scripts. I believe it's called Ruby.)
I also forgot "mode-7" type graphics. Can RPGMaker to that?
Blimey, Gray! Yes, you can produce crude 3D simulations with RPG Maker XP. You could do that with the older verions, as well. Isometric projection? Sure. Mode-7 emulation? Sure. Just look at some of the fanworks that have been out for years.
Now, rendering and true 3D, you've got me. I don't know. Rendered 3D graphics are pushing the limit of the classic 16-bit era anyway; that's Donkey Kong Country stuff we're talking about, at the very minimum. From what I know, I think it would be possible, but I wouldn't want to be the person to write the code, and I expect it would make prohibitively poor use of system resources. But if you like, you can
look at the documentation and answer your own question.
But enough is enough. You don't like RPG Maker; fine. We get it. This is a happy thread for anyone who's been a fan of the software and may be pleased to hear that it is now legally available in English, and in a far more powerful form than ever before. Like I said earlier in this topic, I quit using RPG Maker 2000/3 for over a year because it couldn't deliver the functionality I needed. But RPG Maker XP is what I've been waiting for, hoping for, and I'm going to use it. Take that as you will.
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