Just a Rant About The Limits of RPG Maker MV

I'll keep this brief, I'd like to let out something I've been struggling with.

So, I've tried my hardest to make a good, compelling, fun rpg with RPG Maker MV using nothing but the default assets and what is possble within the engine and the database by default, with no plugins. I am here to vent that this task is quite impossible, at least with my design ideas. I've tried so many different ways to make unique and interesting skills, equipment, monsters, and strategies, but every time I get a good idea (eg, a cover skill that works all the time instead of when the hp of a character is about to drop to 0; or a system where shields cause a % damage mitigation at a % rate when equiped) it seems like the system cannot make this possible unless there is a plugin creating it. I guess I'll have to cave in and find the plugins to make the systems work.

I still love this engine, I just wish the basic battle system didn't rely on so many plugins to make anything more interesting instead of the bland battles I see in trash rpg maker games. (Not that all rpg maker games are trash, btw.)

In my eyes, the "plugin barrier" is what makes the game unique. RM engine had been improved quite a lot. In the past, the VX engine and before, there was never been a damage formula, or trait system. The damage formula was hardcoded, and unless you have scripting skill or script provided by the community, you stick with the default skill formula for all the skills.

Now with the release of Ace (and many of its features carried around to MV), it offered a lot of flexibility. You can define your own damage formula, and more flexible trait system (in Ace, it's called 'Features'). It cuts a lot of the need to use third party script from VX era. However, the trade off is the user took it for granted. Everyone has an access to the feature. Every game made also use the same function from the editor, which makes most of RM games, "just another RM games".

If you want to standout, you have to do something "out of the box". Which that back to my first statement.

Your first stop: Yanfly Plug-ins.

lol - MV would have to be THE most flexible RPG Maker we've ever had, and you're ranting about its limitations?

You CAN make a game with just the RTP and no additional resources or plugins - if you design your game with that in mind. But if you have a game in mind already that you want to make, then yes, you might come up against some issues that will require extra resources and/or plugins.

I think you've got to decide your goal up-front - either you want to make an RTP game, or you want to make YOUR game. Maybe they can be one and the same, but in most cases, I suspect not.

I hear a lot about people afraid of using plugins or consider using them as something "bad" to do. To me it is like buying a basic car and then getting accessories that make it special - like tinted windows, leather seats, etc. The good part is that MV lets you do that without scripting knowledge via plugins. I have no javascript skills at all and have found using plugins to be quite easy (most times) and rewarding for making my game stand out. Yanfly was mentioned as a plugin provider in an earlier post and you should definitely check his variety out.

The good rule to consider is don't install plugins that you don't need or want. Some people add them all in, but lets face it, if you don't plan on using SV battles, what would be the point of setting up a SV battle plugin? Also some plugins fall behind as far as staying updated with current MV versions so choose one that seems to still be getting support from the creator. You don't want to center a game around a plugin that is outdated and unsupported.

Your concern seems to be with the battle system and yes, without plugins it is quite like unbuttered bread. Definitely don't let fear keep you from trying a plugin or two to enhance it. There are plenty of helpful people here for guidance.

Straw Man?

I take it you weren't around for the days of RPGMaker 2000/2003.

It was always quite possible to do those things you mentioned even back then. You just needed to put in a lot of effort. Which most people don't bother because they buy RPGMaker to pump out (to use your words) "trash games" quickly, without needing the extra time and effort.

Back then, the most ambitious ones like Legend of the Philosopher's Stone and Seraphic Blue (and Sacred Tears True, if you want an example of a commercially sold game) went the whole mile creating whole battle systems from scratch - purely through events, without any form of plugins whatsoever since those weren't available at the time. It was and still is very possible to do so.

Slightly less (but still) ambitious games like Balmung Cycle and Forever's End using the default battle system evented their custom mechanics through Troop Events. Literally dozens of pages of Troops events, replicated across the Troop database for every single Troop entry there was.

Your "% damage mitigation" gear doesn't even need all that. There's multiple ways to do it. You could just make the gear alter the actor's Physical/Magical Damage SP-Parameters to however much less than 100% you want the mitigation to be. This wouldn't affect Certain Hit attacks, so the other way to do it (if you wanted it to cover Certain Hit skills as well) is to make the equipment boost the actor's Element Resist rate (or rather, drop their Element Rate to <100%) of all Elements by whatever percentage you want the damage mitigated by. And then ensure every skill in the game has an Element attached to it (that is not Normal Attack or None).

If you didn't realize you could do that, you have yet to explore all the avenues of what is possible with the default engine.

Meanwhile your cover mechanic could be simulated by using Troop events to check for (I assume you would have made a state for it) "Substitute" State and jack up the Target Rate of the covering defender while dropping the Target Rate of the covered actors to 0, while also activating a switch to prevent enemies from using any multi-target attacks and instead only use single-target attacks to ensure only the coverer ever gets hit while the effect is in play. Though if you wanted it to cover for multi-target attacks, you would need to event the whole battle system from scratch.

Of course, there is a much more efficient method than that, which is the whole point of why we have scripting and "plugins" nowadays. And I use the term "plugins" in quotation marks because, you don't actually need a plugin (even though you could make one for it). You could just modify the JavaScript files directly. All of it is there in the "js" directory of the project folder for open editing.

In this case, making it so that the Substitute state doesn't check for critical HP is literally a matter of deleting one single word in the rpg_managers.js file.

Get rid of the "target.isDying() &&" part and your cover mechanic will behave how you want.

TL;DR - If you are having trouble setting % damage mitigation on shields, you are far from familiar with the limits of the engine and ranting prematurely.