RPG Maker XP finally Legit in English

[Lord J Esq]

It's here! It's here! Hooray for the legit English version of RPG Maker XP! Hooray!! And hooray for Enterbrain for making it happen!

RPG Maker XP is big. Bigger than you think! Previous versions have not offered enough power, nor enough features, and, excepting the Playstation version, have not even been legally published in English. But now savvy video game authors have the legal and technical means to produce (and sell) games of the same caliber as anything from the 16-bit era. Something wonderful has happened here.

[GrayLensman]

Sphere and Verge are still far superior.  Plus, there are all these other free alternatives.

[Lord J Esq]

Sphere and Verge are still far superior.  Plus, there are all these other free alternatives.

Fair enough; an opinion's an opinion, but have you seen RPG Maker XP? In addition to offering all the usual features of previous versions, which really take a bite out of the steep learning curve for programming novices, XP also gives us access to a fully operational internal coding language, meaning experts who need more power can take their gloves off and reach for the big guns, while still enjoying the convenience of XP's automated, point-n-click functions. This pairing of convenience and power is an awesome bet, and I think it'll attract amateur developers in droves.

I've used Sphere myself. It's the best of the bunch you mentioned. Powerful, yes it is. Easy to use, not in the least. You have to do a lot of work to make use of Sphere, and that's going to discourage many people...which is why the illegal RPG Maker has always been more popular in the first place.

[GrayLensman]

My experience is with RPGMaker 2000, but I am aware of the XP version's new features.  I agree that RPMMaker is easier for beginners, but the "point-n-click" features make for crappy, generic games.  People with the skill and drive to make a good game using RPGMaker's advanced features would be better off using Verge or Sphere.

[Sentenal]

I think with RPGMaker 2000, I made a decent game, but never finished it.  I got to like a big plot twist, and just stopped because of how level design is.

[GrayLensman]

I think with RPGMaker 2000, I made a decent game, but never finished it.  I got to like a big plot twist, and just stopped because of how level design is.

I was only referring to technical aspects of a game.  Of course, the quality of the design and writing depend on the creativity and skill of the developers.  However, it is much better for these people to learn a little bit of Java or C and create a game which looks and plays better than anything RPGMaker can offer.

[Mystik3eb]

I started making a game in RPGMaker 2003, but it got overwhelming. I'm just not good at that kinda stuff.

[Radical_Dreamer]

C++? Anyone? Come on now, show some OOP love.

[Mystik3eb]

C++? Anyone? Come on now, show some OOP love.

What about C++? I studied it for two years, remember nothing. It's so outclassed by other languages these days, I don't know if I care to learn anymore of it.

...or so I heard? If it truly is outclassed, please let me know, and let me know which languages are the ones to know these days, so I can start learning those instead.

[Chrono'99]

Sphere is nice but its community on the whole internet is less than alive...

[Lord J Esq]

Sphere is nice but its community on the whole internet is less than alive...

That's a very good point. One of RPG Maker's biggest draws is its vibrant developer community. This makes it much easier to seek out advice and resources. Gray was right that earlier versions of RPG Maker were not powerful enough; this version changes that by offering full coding control, and what with the community already behind the platform, RPG Maker XP stands ready to make a breakthrough in the world of amateur game development.

Indeed, I myself gave up on RPG Maker when RPGM2K3 offered only marginal improvements upon RPGM2K, but instead of transferring my loyalties to another system, I put my work on hold in the expectation that this day would come, when a fully-powered, legitimate version of RPG Maker would be released into the American market. Thus you can understand my euphoria that this day has finally arrived!

My experience is with RPGMaker 2000, but I am aware of the XP version's new features.  I agree that RPMMaker is easier for beginners, but the "point-n-click" features make for crappy, generic games.  People with the skill and drive to make a good game using RPGMaker's advanced features would be better off using Verge or Sphere.

Do not mistake the ease of point-n-click functionality for the utility of it. RPG Maker has some very powerful functions encapsulated in this way. Now I grant that, when ease-of-use is out of proportion with the power of a function, inexperienced novices will abuse these features much in the manner you describe, but you don't win any points for blaming the victim. I don't want my hands tied to a program that forces me to go through the busywork of doing stuff manually that ought to be automated, just so that only those people "with the skill and drive to make a good game" will bother themselves to use such a laborious program. Serious developers appreciate every shortcut they can get their hands on, and RPG Maker delivers this up in spades. Even the previous versions did; XP's biggest advance by far is allowing developers to not be limited by the point-n-click functions. RPG Maker XP gives us the best of both worlds: Shortcuts where shortcuts ought to be, and the raw power to trailblaze where few have dared to go.

[Luminaire85]

I would argue that you have to do a lot of work to make any decent RPG, independent of the method. That said, RPG Maker provides a nice interface for doing so if you want a Final Fantasy-esque result. And having a good developer community is good too. Personally, however, if I was to write an RPG I would want to do as many unique and customized things as possible, so I would probably go another route.

My impression has been that C++ and Java (very similar, of course) are at the forefront of programming languages these days. As a programming hobbyist, I almost exclusively use C++ for several reasons, including speed and OOP. So I would disagree with you, Mystik3eb, and say that C++, while by no means perfect, is a very good programming language to know.

[Mystik3eb]

My impression has been that C++ and Java (very similar, of course) are at the forefront of programming languages these days. As a programming hobbyist, I almost exclusively use C++ for several reasons, including speed and OOP. So I would disagree with you, Mystik3eb, and say that C++, while by no means perfect, is a very good programming language to know.

Good to know then. *sigh*...grr, I wish I didn't have such a hard time grasping the concepts of the language. I don't seem to learn it as well as everyone else in these classes I take.

[GrayLensman]

Do not mistake the ease of point-n-click functionality for the utility of it. RPG Maker has some very powerful functions encapsulated in this way. Now I grant that, when ease-of-use is out of proportion with the power of a function, inexperienced novices will abuse these features much in the manner you describe, but you don't win any points for blaming the victim. I don't want my hands tied to a program that forces me to go through the busywork of doing stuff manually that ought to be automated, just so that only those people "with the skill and drive to make a good game" will bother themselves to use such a laborious program. Serious developers appreciate every shortcut they can get their hands on, and RPG Maker delivers this up in spades. Even the previous versions did; XP's biggest advance by far is allowing developers to not be limited by the point-n-click functions. RPG Maker XP gives us the best of both worlds: Shortcuts where shortcuts ought to be, and the raw power to trailblaze where few have dared to go.

If you wish to create custom menus and battle system, those default settings will not be of much use.  On the whole, RPGMaker is less capable than the free alternative.

RPGMaker

• Default Menu and Battle Systems.
• Music and Graphics library.
• Midi and WMA support.
• $ 60.00 price tag.[/list:u]
  
  Sphere
  
  
  • Unlimited screen resolution.
  • Unlimited tile and sprite size.
  • Unlimited map layers.
  • Customizable 2d and 3d rendering functions.
    
  • Can use all the sound and graphics resources from the RPGMaker community.
  • Completely free and open source[/list:u]

[Lord J Esq]

You're right that the RPG Maker license costs money and Sphere's doesn't, and I'm sure that's important. Also important, though, is the product itself, which you misreported almost entirely. All of the featurs you listed for Sphere are now available with RPGMXP. There's no sense building a straw-man, when you've got a workable argument on grounds of price. It is a personal choice whether to fork up $60 for RPG Maker's superior functionality, or slog it through with Sphere for free. I'm sure a dedicated developer could go either way. Me, I'd go with the functionality.