Should I get RPG Maker MV?

I've been working on a video game in RPG Maker VX Ace for a couple hundred hours, and I've just recently thought about getting RPG Maker MV. At the time of this posting, it's on sale for $20, and I was thinking that if I really want to get my game "out there", I should buy it. Stuff like the multi-platform thing, you know.

It seemed perfect, except for one thing: how easy would transferring be? I've looked online, and it seems that a lot of things are quite simple, but I'm really worried about the graphics and scripts. Does anyone else have experience transferring a game from VX Ace to MV? If moving everything should only take a few hours, I'd be fine with that.

Note: Pretty much every script I'm using is a Yanfly script, so if that makes things easier, then good.

Getting a honest answer on this topic is always hard; those who bought MV will tell you to do so, weither it's to justify themselve buying the tool or because they genuinely like it; those who didn't buy it will most likely advise you against.

with that said, 20 bucks seems like I fair deal so, even 'tho I don't like MV I would still go for it... it's a good investment in my opinion

@Otto very true. 20 bucks isn't much, so even if the transferring ends up harder than I thought, it'll still be a fun tool to mess around with, I guess.

If you plan on doing another game after the one you're working on and you plan on doing it on MV, you should buy MV now (for 20$ it's a really good deal).

To answer your question about transferring a project, don't do it. It's going to be a pain in the a**. MV uses 48x48 tiles, so everything you have now will need to be resized. I think there's a vx ace/mv converter out there, but there's a limit to what it can do. Also, probably the most important part, MV runs with javascript whereas VX Ace runs with Ruby (RGSS3). Different programming language means different scripts/plugins and no compatibility. Even if Yanfly makes scripts for both MV and VX Ace which have similar effects, they are different scripts.

So if you got a couple hundred hours on your current project and don't want to lose it, don't convert it to MV. Finish it in VX Ace, and then you can switch to MV if you want to do another game.

@MushroomCake28 those are very good points. There's only one issue - this is a very ambitious project that me and my friends are working on together, and we plan on going way further than what we have now.

My argument for transferring to MV is that now is the best time to do it: I don't have a huge amount of custom resources just yet, and I can always remake characters in the MV character creator. The transferring would be worth it as long as the game could be so much better.

On the other hand, my argument for NOT transferring to MV is just like you said:

I'm really conflicted here. At this point, I'm pretty sure that I want to buy it during this great sale (75% off!), but the transferring issue is still bugging me. Does anyone else have an opinion?

@LuckyAndrew13 I actually just bought it myself (thanks for bringing the discount sale to my attention, by the way :) ).

I don't plan on doing anything with it right now, but 20$ (17 euros in my country) is a steal, I'd probably buy some useless crap I don't need on amazon with that money, so...

Like I said, it's an investment, it might turn useful in the future.

@LuckyAndrew13 It is not impossible to convert, it's just tedious and long. And the bigger your current project, the longer it'll take to convert. But sometimes you really need the new features of the new engine, so it's really a "you gotta think about the pros and cons" situation.

Here are some advantages to switch MV:
- Bigger tiles = better resolution = more detailed graphics (in general).
- Javascript >>> Ruby RGSS3 (as someone who coded in both, I prefer by far javascript).
- Crossplatform compatibility (which is mainly thanks to javascript).
- Unlocked screen resolution, meaning you can freely decide the screen resolution (apparently it might have been possible in VX Ace with a script that I'm not aware of, and I've used VX Ace for a long time).
- Side view battle by default in engine (but I assume you've used some battle scripts).
- Lot less locked than VX Ace (very good if you're a coder).

Cons of switching to MV:
- Have to convert everything you've done.
- Maybe not necessary to switch for your project. Some upgrades are sometimes not necessary. No one would care if there's a "4k" setting in a 2D game for example.
- A lot more scripts in VX Ace than MV since VX Ace is older (although that doesn't matter if you code your own scripts).
- More available resources for VX Ace.

Well that's what I could think of. I was in the same situation as you 2 years ago and opted to switch. So far I don't regret it. But I was still at the begining of my project and didn't finish programming my custom battle and menu, so I thought switching wouldn't lose too much time.

@Otto no problem! I just downloaded the trial, so I'm going to see just how great it is before buying.

@MushroomCake28 even though I've put so much time into my game, it's not an incredible amount of time. A lot of time at the beginning was dedicated to browsing tutorials and re-learning my way around the software (I had just come off a 2-year break).

I personally know a decent amount of JavaScript, so the fact that the entire maker is so open is perfect for me.

I'm a very graphics-dependent person, so while I understand that the better graphics aren't a must, I think it'll make the game much better for me and other people who love great graphics.

I was using a side-view battle script made for VX Ace, but since this side-view built right into MV, it'll definitely be easier to use... probably better?

I do understand that converting MV will be challenging, but I think my mind is made up to transfer to MV. My friends on other platforms will be able to play, and besides, if I can make a phone game, I'll be the coolest person at school.

Thanks for the detailed explanation!

I am a honest person, RPGMV is the best out there in RPG Maker series. RPGMV > RPGAce+VX+XP

@LuckyAndrew13, you should buy RPG Maker MV is on sale for $20. Wow that is a lot of discounts.
You can resize your vx ace resources with Photoshop or Gimp in MV.
As the plugins, the plugin of vx ace and MV are incompatible. The problem is some of the rpg maker vx ace plugins that exist currently do not exist in RPG maker MV.
Remember, switches/variables copy and paste. It is going to be insaningly hard works.
Plus you have to spending your time to learn basic stuffs about RPG maker MV, too.
If you are transfer your project in rpg maker vx ace into rpg maker MV, is that equal start new projects if you are transfer ?
Whatever, you and your friends want to do, you ask them too. That is what I think.

OK here a few comments to converting:

Non-scripted parts can be automatically converted with shaz' script for this. This includes maps but only default tilesets, not custom tilesets.
If your maps use only default RTP tilesets, then they will be automatically converted. You'll have to correct some event sprites, but everything else will be automatic.
If you use custom tilesets, you'll have to manually resize their tilesheets for the maps to work again.

However, anything using scripts (including skill damage formula or script commands in events) will have to be rewritten manually. That can be a lot of work.

Suggestion: download shaz script (it's on the forum here), apply it to either or both of your project and the Ace demo game Crysalis and then use the RMMV trial (20 day limit) to check the conversion result.
Crysalis only uses RTP, so you can see how easy a non-custom and non-scrioted game is to convert in comparison to a more complex project.

@Isabella Ava yeah, I would definitely think that the newest one is the best, save for a few features.

@Kupotepo can you elaborate? What do you think is the hardest part of the transfer?

@Andar that's a great idea, thanks. I haven't made a tileset just yet, so I'm glad that it won't be an issue. It'll definitely be problem going back through the entire game and making sure everything still works, but if it's worth it, I'm going to do it. On the topic of scripts, I'm sure that Yanfly should have scripts for MV equivalent to the ones I used for VX Ace.

Thanks to everyone for all the good points made!

I finished making a game with Ace, and now making a new one with MV. From my aspect, MV is far better than Ace, and there are tons of plugins for MV already so you don't need to worry about that.
If you have a plan to make another RPG-Maker game in the future, don't hesitate. Just buy it.

@JamesRyan I do plan on making a sequel for my game if enough people play it. The thing is, my game is so far from done that by that it's done, VX Ace will be completely obsolete in comparison to MV. So yeah, if MV is as good as people say it is, I'm going to go through the pain of converting.

I wrote most of things regarding the two engines here, https://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/24081/

P.S: If your question about buying or not, go buy. I stay in VXAce but I own MV. You can decide your main engine later. Since it's sale, it's the best time to do so.

@TheoAllen you made some fair points in your post. I think that the trial for MV will be the deciding factor in this case.

Even if you don't end up transferring your game MV would be a great buy, for your next game (and you can't beat that price!). :)

@Tea's Jams that's true. It definitely looks like something that would be fun to play around with. And if I do eventually use it, that'll be great... all for only $20!

Rpg Maker MV on Steam is almost $80. If it's going for $20, I would pick it up or just wait for the next sale.

@evmaster I think this is the perfect time to get it. Unless I don't like the trial at all, I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy MV within the next couple of days.