Hi guys

Hi guys, I am new to this forum, and RPG Maker generally, so obviously, I have few questions. I purchased RPG Maker through Humble Bundle(Tier 2), whcih means, that I have VX Ace and XP, and lots of resources included. However, I do not know with which to start(VX Ace or XP) and how to start. There are many tutorials on this forum, so I would like to ask you, what is "the best way".

Thanks.

For those, who did not know about Humble Bundle RPG Maker, for me(Tier 2) these software is included: VX Ace, XP, Royal Tiles, Adventurer Journey, Tyler Warren 1st 50 Battler Pack, Modern Music Mega Pack, High Fantasy, Futuristic Tiles, Inspirational Vol I., Tyler Warren 2nd 50 Battler Pack, Stempunk/Western Preview Pack, Humble Bundle Exclusive Resource Pack(includes 21 songs: 4 from JDB Artist, 5 from Kairi Sawler, and two 6-song minipacks from Quigon; and revamped and enhanced portions of the RTP town tilesets by Lunarea.) and some games - Skyborn, Sweet Lily Dreams, To the Moon, Deadly Sin 2 and Free Games Bundles from RPG Maker Web. I also purchased Modern Day and Old School .

Ace in infinitely better then XP. XP is really awkward, and the only thing it has over Ace, is that you can have more layers in the maps.

First I suggest going over all the even commands in the editor, to figure out what they do/remember what's their. 

Then spend a few weeks-a month trying to figure how everything works/trying to make events.

Then if you still need help uderstanding what a feature does, check out tutorials.

The best way to learn how a program like RPG Maker works, is by doing, tutorials slow down the learning proc, if not prevents you from actually learning why something works X way in Y situation, so tutorials definitely aren't the best place to start.

Thanks. So I wonder why XP was included.... At least I can use resources from it.

Excellent advice. :)


I went from XP to Ace, so Ace actually feels awkward to me, but I'm sure it's only because I started with XP. I do miss those extra map layers, though... :(


But as for making a robust game, Ace does have more interesting features. Plus, you can always get scripts to restore things like fogs and overlays (Shaz and Dr. Yami made good ones, respectively), plus there's Yanfly! Ohhhh, sweet Yanfly.

Yea, and speaking of scripts, the other day someone posted a comparison between RGSS1/RGSS2, and RGSS3. OMG it wasn't pretty, RGSS1/2 looked more like a webpage formatting language, while RGSS3 looks very similar to other actual programming languages, so It's a huge upgrade in the capeablilities of scripting I'm sure.

To adamh: It was probally added in as just a bonus. Having XP as well, is not completely useless however, since this allows you the rights to use the XP resources, in ACE(some of the resources may need to be reformatted to do so, but still).

A small word of defense of tutorials.

They are not incompatible with learning by doing.  In fact, the official tutorial here teaches you by making a game with you, so that you are precisely learning by doing. 

Every method has its own learning curve, and people have different ways of learning.  I am cautious about declaring only one way as being correct.  The fact that there are several different ways of learning RM is testimony to the fact that there simply is no one way which is ideal for everyone.

Putting people off the idea of using tutorials is possibly counter productive.  Think of the number of help topics there are from people asking basic stuff where the answer isn't obvious from just looking and playing around, but which they could have easily found out if they had looked at a tutorial.  Andar's compilation thread serves a great purpose.  And it's also worth remembering that - by definition - people aren't always aware of what they don't know.  Think of Rumsfeld's distinction between known unknowns and unknown unknowns.  A feature of learning known to every good teacher.

A good tutorial provides a well thought out, structured approach to learning the basics.  It is not, in my view, to be despised.

OK, Thank you all, I will do what I can do :)