SMILE GAME BUILDER

Mapping looks interesting, but no scripting ability makes me wonder about its limitations. (Though after I get through making my current game using Lua I might want to take a break from scripting.)

author=kory_toombs
Mapping looks interesting, but no scripting ability makes me wonder about its limitations. (Though after I get through making my current game using Lua I might want to take a break from scripting.)

From what I know of my own experience and talking to others, there's no scripting ability which means there's some hard-and-fast limitations. Don't expect the flexibility of RPG Maker engines.

author=daiconv
I'm interested in learning about how in-depth the default battle system is.

As far as I know, not very. It doesn't have battle eventing, nor does it allow you to assign monster groups. The battle system is a lot like front-view PSP Japanese Dungeon Crawler-RPG hybrids. It's simplistic but it was made to emulate that kind of game.

author=EgyLynx
why again steam???

Because it makes it easier to get a program out to a broader spectrum of people, I gather. It's also good publicity for new engines and games because they get spotlights when new and when on sale, and I think the publishing side is more easily handled, especially when it comes to supporting and updating the engine (instead of having to download a new update each and every time, it can automatically update for people).

author=Cap_H
I'm interested in two facts:
1) how does importing custom resources work
2) exporting games. There are some fake engines on the market, which can't make engine independent games and work more like an extended level editor.

That's one of the things I didn't experiment with much when I did a play-around stream because I had the trial version, but the importing is easy enough (with some custom additions for if you want to mess around with stuff like checking how things animate and the previews are quite good.



I checked out the Trial Version on this stream, if you want to have a look without having to download the trial for yourself.

Bought the thing. If you want even a bit of customisation or complexity stay the hell away.If you want to think of limitations:
>Battle system is dumb. The only thing you can really handle are elements and attack/defense.
>Only 3 stats for attack/defense/agi with no magic variants, you can only set a limited amount of elements.
>The ailemnt states are fixed and you can't change their effects or setup.
>No troop event configuration (you can only set actions as skills by hp or turn).
>No common events.
>No parallell events, only autorun or activate.
>Eventing interface is bulky with extremely limited commands.
>Single item screen with everythign on it as you picked it up (no sorting, it's a damn mess)
>NO SCRIPTED CAMERA CONTROLS. All you can do is (by map only) fix the camera in place. For a supposedly 3D engine where you CAN manually switch views that's a big ass flaw.
>Multitude other niggles.


Overall it's made for the BARE MINIMUM. The only good thing it has is the 3D mapping, and even then for people who handle that it's still grid-based and very rigid.
There are next to no hotkeys (you can't even CNTRL+C/V event commands), stock resources are hilariously limited (interiors are a joke, not to speak of any dungeon decoration: there are literally more possible party face images than actual furniture models). If you can make 3d models you may enjoy customising it within the specs, but that's about it.

Any specific questions I'll try to answer but yeah. Unless you're really into the 3d aspect, keep in mind this will limit what you can do a LOT. And there is no way to work around the limitations at all, what you get is what there is.

On the other hand, if you want something SUPER basic and cant handle RM, it may be a simple option. I still wouldn't recommend it at full price.
Try out the demo if you want to poke around. The only thing you can't do with it is import new resources and some of the generic resources are restriced, as well as not being able to export game projects, but for the capabilities of the engine you can see them all.
If I had to say one good thing about is is that it makes generic events very easy. Simply clicking on a generic object and settings will bring up common events (talk events, item events, chests, etc) that simplify a lot of stock events which can be helpful for quick eveniting. Also elevation mapping is nice, but the texture types make it kinda sketchy to us them too much as theres no clear borders. Try it out by yourself in the demo, you'll see what I mean.

TL;DR It's not worth the full price compared to RM engines. If you're curious maybe try to get it when it's on sale at maybe like 20 bucks? Definitely not worth anything above 30 for me, tho. I got too impatient and it gnawed at me till I got it and I kind of regret it.

It's sad to say it would have been easy to simply reproduce AT LEAST the event commands or part of the battle system from the RM engines, but it seems they stuck to the msot simple shit. This means a lof of games on it will be samey as all get out.

I've been making resources for this engine since its release and I will say this at the very least: It's steadily getting better. They've added 3D battle system, some additional event options that it really needed, and they just keep coming. It's almost like it's currently in Early Adoption.

What's great to me is that the devs are really listening to their audience. Yes, right now it's rather limited, but in the future, it could really be something as good as RPG Maker as far as functionality goes. It already does something that RPG Maker doesn't and that's 3D environments with full camera control. I'm really hopeful they'll add scripting, but at the very least they could make it as functional as RPG Maker. That would greatly improve it's usability and customization.

If you'd like to see what I've made in the engine you can follow me on my facebook page: facebook.com/Jacobs3DArt

I personally think it's worth just the investment to the Devs themselves. Good 3D engines are nothing to scoff at and they seem very dedicated to their work.

I'm fairly sure this is an editor with great potential. It might be puny as of now but It's steadily becoming more impressive.
A huge letdown though, is not having dedicated forums. I feel this is really curbing the growth potential of the engine.

I really want to see a community making the most out of SGB, and I want to pair up with a 3D artist eventually t o create art assets : P

Steam Summer Sale has the engine for $23.99 right now for anyone who might be interested in giving this one a go! Great deal IMO!

recently watched blight dream, its a horror game made on this engine, its pretty good.