New to RPG Maker (Thinking of making a game)

I'm new here so sorry if don't meet any terms or whatever.

A friend and I were thinking of creating a game (we are going to be using RPG Maker 2003. If we are successful with this game and decide to make more we'll eventually move up to VX or VX Ace). We were (and still are) being influenced by games like OFF by Mortis Ghost and Dreaming Mary by Accha. We've got a basic idea of a story and already have some character designs, but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for the actual game-making part of the whole process. We are new to this, so help would be appreciated.

(We don't have a fixed genre yet, but it will contain creepy/horror elements, however it won't be a horror game. We're trying to avoid cliche's and the infamous jumpcare tactic that most games use. We are also going to be using our own custom graphics and music for the game. We're also focusing on the effect of choice and how that changes a character's interaction with the player, as well as altering the story).

http://rpgmaker.net/tutorials/rm2k3/ 

for 2003

http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/11719-master-tutorial-list-vx-ace/

http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/support/products/tutorials

for VX Ace

Hope this helps. :)

Game-making is much like any other creative process... either you have a very good idea of what you want and base it completely off of that. OR you are exploring and have inspirations but not a very clear goal in mind. 

When using an RPG Maker, start with the basics. If you are using your own graphics, then you must have an idea of how mapping works. The other thing is learning how events work and how to execute them efficiently. The tutorials posted above are a great place to start. If you have a specific question about how to do something there's probably a tutorial for it. I haven't used RM2003 in many years so I'm not terribly familiar with it, but I hope you have fun! Welcome to the Forums! 

P.S. I don't mind throwing around ideas with people either so if ya'll want some feedback on something don't hesitate to PM me.

Hello and welcome in this community. I' m sorry if my tips is not good, but when I make a game, I like to divide it part by part and make a schedule. For example Part 1 will contain 10 map, 1 town, 1 or 2 dungeon, 1 or 2 mini boss, and then 1 boss. Then I try to work on that before I thinking about anything else. Of course I should stick to the whole story line. After I finish it, I begin to create a cutscene and try to connect the line of this part 1 story with the main story line, After that I play test from the beginning until the very end of the part 1, until I found no bug or glitch with all cutscene, imbalance battle, or else. If I success and the game didn't has any bug and go smoothly, then I call it a day, and take a rest for 1 week to refresh my mind, but still in my rest I keep watching my game so I don't lose track in the project. I also use external document to documenting many things, it helps a lot. In this rest week I usually wandering to many forum to search for resource I use for the next part(if I haven't had it or just to add some things).
I'm doing this so I'm not overwhelmed if my game is a big project. I always think part by part. If part 1 clear then there's no need to worry for it, then after part 2 finsihed I will play test the game again from part 1 until part 2 end, if there's no bug, then let's continue move on.
Hope it helps for the tips :)

As a reminder:


We do not offer support for RPGMaker 95/2000/2003 or the console RPG Maker series.


Also, be adviced that there is no legal english RM2K3 - all translations of the japanese RM2K3 are pirated translations, it was never officially translated.