Any advice for an Upgrade Newb?

I used to be really into the old RPGmaker 2000 scene when I was 11 or 12, back in the heady days of Don Miguel and the late 90s/early 2000s. I even "finished" a project (if you can call it that) called the Ruiners. Yeah, I know that's a stupid name now. I was 12!

Recently, I've been getting those nostalgic urges to pick up one of the newer programs and get back into it. So here I am with a sale priced copy of RMVXAce, a lot of experience with an out-of-date program, and no real idea what to expect. I've played around with the program a bit with the little time I've had it, and things look pleasantly similar to RM2000 (except that whole tileset thing and the character generator).

I guess what I'm wondering is if any of y'all pros who had experience with RM2000 or 2003 have any advice for getting into the new programs. Mostly VXAce obviously.

[move]RPGMaker VX Ace/move][/move]

I suggest you follow the link to the starting point in my signature.

There have been massive changes between RM2k and ace in the way the engine works, so the best wway would be to check the basics for comparison.

Since you already have a vague idea of how the flow of the program works, I'd recommend creating a couple of basic maps, then adding Events to that map and trying to make those Events do cool things, like disappearing once you've collected 5 of a certain item, or causing pictures onscreen to change. Maybe create a little minigame. Playtest, make sure it does what you think it does - and if it doesn't, figure out how to correct it.

After that, play around with the battle system, which should mostly be familiar, but it's in a different perspective than 2K. Be sure to visit the Skills tab and make a few new skills, because a lot has changed there. Look through the different Features available (in the Features box) in the Skills and States tabs.

Finally, learn a little about RGSS3 scripting at a conceptual level. Learn about the amazing flexibility it can give you to customize your game.

^ What @Andar said

Thanks for the advice! I've been browsing a lot of the text tutorials and finally getting a chance to mess around with stuff.
I guess the hardest part so far is resisting the urge to make art assets before I even know what I'm doing.

Why not make a simple game to test it out? Like Eric rescues Mr Whiskers the housecat from the sewers?

Making a test game is the first step of learning any rpgmaker, definitely. I guess what I was looking for were any areas that might look similar to RM2000 but function differently. Like a heads up on stuff that might slip me up while I'm learning the new system.