A starting point for new users (V1.2)

Andar · 2013-06-28T18:39:35+0900

Hello and a welcome to all beginners in the RPGM-community EDIT: The forum update has destroyed the original links in this topic. I'll repair it when I have time, but unfortunately this may take a week or two... Note to RMMV users: While this tutorial was written for VX Ace, everything above scripting/plugin level is identical in RMMV and RMVXA. There are a few wording differences and you can't open VXA games with MV, but otherwise just work yourself through these tutorials. The purpose of this topic is to provide a starting point for all beginners by explaining how some things are handled in these forums, providing links to important topics and explaining those strange abbreviations you might read while making your game. This intentionally goes beyond RPGM/program handling and includes general points that any game developer has to keep in mind, and I'm more concerned with pointing into the correct direction than with creating complete link lists (which will change anyway when new games or tutorials become available). Let's start with a basic sentence: 1) Creating games is fun and work. A lot of people stop reading that sentence at the word "fun", and there is no problem with that. For myself I developed several story/world settings knowing (before I put down the first word in the first notebook) that I'll never play in those worlds with anyone else - simply because it's fun to think out and develop new stories. However if you want others to play in your world and distribute it, then it takes more to create the game - that is where the "work" part becomes important. If you think you can purchase a RPG-Maker today, learn how to use it tomorrow, create your game next weekend and have it played by half the world next week: Please think again, because that is absolutely impossible. This topic intends to help you make your game as fast as possible, but no one can work miracles ;-) There is one more reason why I began this topic with comments on how much work creating a game can be: You don't have do put in all that work yourself. This community is one of the most helpful communities that exists - there are several request forums here where you can ask others to make pictures (sprites, logos, tileset,...) or scripts or events for you for free, and those request are often answered within a few days. But they cannot make your game for you - you need to show and prove that you put your own work into your game as well. If you do this, then the request are usually solved fast - otherwise they might be ignored. But more on that at a later point, we're still at the beginning. 2) What is the first thing to do after installing the RPG-Maker (or better, even before that)? Download the sample game Crysalis (for VX Ace) or Knight Blade (for XP) and play it for a minimum of one or two hours. If you have not yet installed the full editor or the trial, you will need to install the RTP before you can play. The RTP is available at the download area as well. http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/download/additional/sample-games There is no official sample game for RMVX, but several can be found on the list of unencrypted games (link below) There are two reasons why you should do this. First, Crysalis uses the default VX Ace engine - no scripts have been added to the game. You can learn what is possible without big problems in RPGM-Games by playing this sample game. Second, that game still contains all project data and can be opened in the editor. If you want to know how something is done, you can open the Crysalis game in the editor and check all events and maps and how they work. Many other games are encrypted and can't be opened in the editor any longer, but there is a list of other unencrypted games that can be checked in the editor, allowing you to learn from them: http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/13580-list-of-unencrypted-games/ 3) Doing the tutorials There are a lot of tutorials available to help you to learn how to make your game. The most important advice about them is: Do not simply read them, but make your own project to completely do the tutorials. On one side of your computer's screen you open the RPG-Maker and start a new project "Tutorial", on the other side you open the browser or the PDF with the tutorial. And every step the tutorial talks about, you do for yourself in that tutorial project. Do not try to get away with simply reading the tutorial, because in a lot of cases that would be a waste of your time. There are a lot of tiny details that can't be explained or learned just by reading a tutorial, you have to see what happens if you use the tools or options described. If you have any problems with any tutorial, simply ask in the forum and someone will answer – but that only works with specific questions of where you’re stuck. Asking general questions without trying to work through the basics first usually becomes obvious fast, and it’s difficult to answer such general questions… The official tutorials cover…

● ARCHIVED · READ-ONLY

Started by Andar Jun 28, 2013, 09:39 AM 93 posts Page 2 of 5 View original ↗

Andar

#21 May 23, 2014, 05:31 AM Source

I don't know about the official tutorial set, but there are additional tutorials in the blog that are not linked in the support/tutorial area, including some on how to make a game.

And if you ask specific question on what you need help with, you always get answers on the forum.

But as I said in the beginning of this tutorial, you can't expect to learn how to use the program in a few hours, it's simply too powerfull to allow that.
Jernau Gurgeh

#22 Jun 7, 2014, 11:50 AM Source

This is a brilliant overview guide - not just to RPG Maker but to interactive media development in general - and one that I wish I had read a week ago!

It should be pinned, but I do feel it could benefit from some tidying up to the formatting. There are lots of new paragraphs without a gap between them that makes it a bit more difficult to read. Also, some sections have sub-headings but these are written in the same styling as the body text.

Finally, and I'm sorry to be a punctuation fascist, but there really shouldn't be an apostrophe in the word beginners in the first line heading!
BardicHeart

#23 Jul 16, 2014, 10:25 PM Source

Just wanted to add my "thank you" for this intro guide. I got VX Lite a few months ago and worked my way thru making a simple tutorial game that turned out okay (I had a lot of trouble balancing the final encounters). Today I got the ful VX Ace finally and will be starting a new project soon. Reading over this helped me with a few things I didn't know. I'm still reading as many tutorials as I can find, but it can be a little overwhelming (there's a lot of info out there). One thing I'm still feeling particularly confused about is using Common Scripts. Since that was disabled in the Lite version I've not had any chance to practice with those. Any pointers or links to good intro tutorials would be hugely appreciated.
FlamyFire

#24 Dec 18, 2014, 01:02 AM Source

I just want to really thank you for this start tutorial. Although I feel overwhelmed and scared of how difficult and complicated it was to make RPG games. I have so much to learn.
LootHunter

#25 Apr 3, 2015, 07:33 AM Source

Great post for beginners. Though this is somewhat confusing:

Andar said:
if you're in doubt, better prepare everything in the way for a commercial release - if that is too much additional work and cost, you'll know why you'll decide to go free later...

The first question you have to ask yourself is: "Is this my first game project?"
If the answer is yes, then scrap any idea of going commercial
So, should I start making commercial project or no?
Andar

#26 Apr 3, 2015, 08:13 AM Source

LootHunter said:
So, should I start making commercial project or no?
Perhaps this can help to clear up confusion:
If you see a realistic chance of your project becoming commercial, then you should prepare everything as if it will become commercial.

However, no matter what you think - if this is your first game project, then there is absolutely no chance of it getting commercial, because you're simply lacking the experience needed to even see the problems and work that takes.

That is why that second sentence is there - sometimes new developers (new as in "having no project completed") make the assumption that they know the work neccessary to complete and sell a game, and that is wrong.

So, if this is your first game project, then there is no chance of it becoming successfully commercial, no matter what you believe. If you have completed a game (even somewhere else), then you might consider preparing for commercial release.
bgillisp

#27 Apr 3, 2015, 11:58 AM Source

Andar said:
So, if this is your first game project, then there is no chance of it becoming successfully commercial, no matter what you believe. If you have completed a game (even somewhere else), then you might consider preparing for commercial release.
What Andar should say is there is a 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% chance of it going commerical and being successful. There's *always* a chance it could work out for you, but it is so minute it should be considered 0 for practical purposes.

Though, for the record, I'm on my 7th game project (I completed 6 in middle school/high school, though 3 were modules for Unlimited Adventures), and the third restart of my current project. So the odds are very high that you will have to scrap your first project and start over, either by rebooting the current project, or by starting a new one.
LootHunter

#28 Apr 4, 2015, 08:12 AM Source

Ok. Got that. Only one question - what is the difference, between making free and commercial game? I mean from development point of view. I understand that if you go commercial, than you should begin some sort of marketing and PR campaign, which is not necessary for free project. But what about making the game itself? What is done differently?
Andar

#29 Apr 4, 2015, 09:06 AM Source

The main difference is the licence of the materials used.

A lot of material around here is free for non-commercial use, but if you want to use it in a commercial game, you need to check what is required for a commercial licence.

And that needs organisation of the resources, keeping track what you have to do for which part of what sprite, tileset or sound.

Sometimes you have to pay for the extended licence, some artists only want a copy of the commercial game, some want a link and a reference and so on.

And even the definition of "commercial" differs from one person to another - there are a few out there where even a donation button on a site with a free game is considers as turning that game to a commercial case, while others don't care and so on.
zeello

#30 Apr 8, 2015, 10:09 PM Source

I just downloaded both of the sample games but neither of them work.

Chrysalis says "RPGVXAce RTP is required to run this game."

Knight Blade says "RGSS102E.dll could not be found."
Andar

#31 Apr 9, 2015, 04:06 PM Source

zeello said:
I just downloaded both of the sample games but neither of them work.

Chrysalis says "RPGVXAce RTP is required to run this game."

Knight Blade says "RGSS102E.dll could not be found."
If you have not installed the trial or full versions, you need to download the RTP and install it separately from the links at the top of the pages.
zeello

#32 Apr 9, 2015, 04:19 PM Source

Andar said:
If you have not installed the trial or full versions, you need to download the RTP and install it separately from the links at the top of the pages.
I have the trial version of VX Ace downloaded from Steam, so I think Chrysalis ought to work. Maybe I extracted the game to the wrong folder or something?
Andar

#33 Apr 9, 2015, 08:28 PM Source

To all: I've just updated, partially rewritten and added to this tutorial. Everyone is welcome to check it again.

@Zeello: That should not make a difference, but Steam handles the data differently than the standalone. Just test it by installing the regular RTP in addition to Steam.
GrandmaDeb

#34 May 16, 2015, 06:05 PM Source

Gratz on the rewrite! Very clear and as always, helpful.

/me looks down in her sig spoiler at the support bar she carries for this topic all the time
Andar

#35 May 16, 2015, 07:16 PM Source

GrandmaDeb said:
(lol is it still V1.0?)
No, the rewrite made it V1.0 - it started out as 0.6, became 0.8 about a year ago and 1.0 only last month.
Took me longer to find the time for it than I thought.
Seriel

#36 May 29, 2015, 08:07 PM Source

RM95, RM2K, RM2K3: Older PC RPG Makers that have no legal English versions (only pirated translations) and are not supported by Degica or on these boards
You might want to update that, RM2K3 is now legal, so it could be confusing to RM Beginners.

Great Tutorial though! If only I saw this when I started with RM :p
Tigersong

#37 May 30, 2015, 01:00 AM Source

Just to clarify- which link has the official sample games?
Andar

#38 May 30, 2015, 01:02 AM Source

The first link under point 2 - also available if you simply go to "download" on the top right of the forum page and select sample games
daylight5

#39 Jun 7, 2015, 01:50 PM Source

I really liked Crysalis. I wish it were a little longer, but I trust the authors choice. I tried to play Knight Blade but I get I'm missing rgss103e. Darn. I was wanting to play more. lol. Well, Good going on crysalis and if anyone knows where to get rgss103e, take few minutes to reply. good day everyone!
Andar

#40 Jun 7, 2015, 04:31 PM Source

Try installing the XP trial and see if that helps