Description


RPG Maker 2003 is back and out of retirement! Degica by order of KADOKAWA GAMES/Enterbrain and with the cooperation of Cherry and Archeia_Nessiah has released an official English version of RPG Maker 2003. To celebrate we're having a Golden Week of RPG Maker 2003 and everybody's invited! Veterans, dust off your copy of RM2k3 and reach into the depths of forgotten memories and show you still have your skills. Newbies to RM2k3, try out a new RPG Maker engine, experience one of the tools that brought RPG Maker to fame in the English communities, and show those oldbies up with your spunk and RPG dev skills!



Your quest is to make a game in RPG Maker 2003 in a week and a weekend! Form a party or take it solo in any version of RPG Maker 2003 and tell your story. Our judges - Liberty, GRS and unity - will decide which game is the best and who will become the Heros of A Golden Week of RPG Maker 2003!



RPG Maker 2003 aka RM2k3 is a modified version of RPG Maker 2000 aka RM2k released in 2002 only in Japan. RM2k itself was released in 2000 also only in Japan but was translated into English by Don Miguel. RM2k's ease of use, quality included graphic and audio assets, and number of features for creating RPGs made it an instant hit and a community around RM2k formed.

When RM2k3 came out a few years later it was quickly translated to English by RPGAdvocate and it became a community favorite for its side view battle system and ATB turn system similar to the one used by the SNES Final Fantasy games. Many classic and revered games like Hero's Realm, Alter A.I.L.A Genesis, Leo & Leah: A Love Story, and Phantom Legacy were made using RM2k3. Over time users moved on, some from constraints of the engine and others a desire to use the newer and more robust RPG Makers, and RM2k3's usage has waned. Some enterprising hackers like Cherry worked on hacking the RM2k3 executable itself to make it more extensible called DynRPG. Others like WolfCoder have been working on their own RPG Maker inspired by RM2k and RM2k3. Others yet have also made their own player for RM2k and RM2k3 games called Easy RPG. RM2k3 may have been hurting but it certainly wasn't out and there was still a lot of interest in using it.

In April 2015 an official translation of RPG Maker 2003 was finally released, and celebrating that is what this event is all about. To differentiate the new official RPG Maker 2003 is called RPG Maker 2003 on RMN's engines list with new icons. The fan translated version of RPG Maker 2003 is called RPG Tsukuru 2003 with the classic icons.



Here are the official rules of the event:

  • Your game must be made in RPG Maker 2003, the trial for RPG Maker 2003, or RPG Tsukuru 2003 (the fan translation of RM2k3). No other engine will be accepted.

  • Your game must be complete. This may be a celebration of an old favorite tool but we won't accept the trend of never finishing a game for this event!

  • Your game must be submitted by the end of of May 10th. Check the time the event ends on the right and make sure your timezone in your account settings is correct.

  • Your game can only use the RM2k3 RTP. What you get with the editor is what's allowed! The RPG Maker 2k RTP is not allowed except what's already part of the 2k3 RTP, such as sounds or music. This means no rips or other assets from other games, resource packs, or RTPs. You can download the 2k3 RTP here.

  • No DynRPG or similar patches are allowed.




Only the following non-RTP assets are allowed:
  • Splicing and rearranging existing RTP graphics. For example you can make a new tileset out of existing tilesets or create a faceset out of battler graphics.

  • A custom title screen for your game. Your title screen must use an RTP title screen as a base and recognizable as such.

No other edits or custom assets are allowed.



To submit your game to the contest:
  • Create a new gameprofile (by going to Submissions > Submit Game). The game must go through RMN's standard game approval process. (Get your gameprofile submitted early so that you aren't at the mercy of the whims of the Submission Manager!)

  • After the gameprofile is approved, upload the game to the Downloads section of your gameprofile.

  • Come back to this event and submit the download for judging! There is a Submit button in the upper right of the event page.





We have five achievements participants can earn:
  • Friend of 2k3: Everybody who participates during Golden Week earns this. No game submission needed! Take part in the discussion, give feedback, and cheer others on! Just like a good NPC!

  • Player of 2k3: Everybody who plays a game created for this event and reviews it (either through an official review or Let's Play video) is dubbed a Player of 2k3. This award will be available until the end of May 2015.

  • Party Member of 2k3: All teams that submit a game that abides by the above rules earn this achievement. These devs were not content to repeat their one line ad infinitum and found their way to the Hero's side to fight evil!

  • Villain of 2k3: What's a quest without a villain? The team whose game is judged to be second only to the Hero's own will earn this achievement. Foiled again!

  • Hero of 2k3: Only the best game will earn this achievement! Whichever team's game is judged to be the best will become the Hero of A Golden Week of RPG Maker 2003!



We have additional prizes beyond the above achievements. The Hero and Villain teams both get one game gifted to them on Steam. All teams that submitted a game get a ticket in a raffle to win an official copy of RPG Maker 2003 on Steam!

Only one game or copy of RM2k3 awarded per prize; the winning team is responsible for receiving and distributing their prize. The Hero team gets dibs on the Steam game award over the Villain team.



There are many resources available for learning RM2k3 and tips and tricks on using it. You can check the RPG Tsukuru 2003 engine page for a collection of tutorials and articles users have written over the years. Some articles that are recommended reading are:



If you're looking for more specific advice feel free to ask questions on the event page or post a new topic on the Help Me! forums. We have many RM2k3 veterans here that would be happy to help.



Details

Achievements
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Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for A Golden Week of RPG Maker 2003.

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Teams Members Entry
Gimme dat shiz ;p
KING OF VAPORWARE RETURNS
Why the hell not?
McBacon's right eye
RTP Luv
J-Team (I'll try and get something finished in 10 days.)
Longtime procrastinator trying to finish a full mini-game in a week! :D
Cernus
r m 2 k 3 b o y z
No Self Switches I'm Going to Cry
My body is ready
A very silly entry
Zombies ate my videogames
LOVE or MONEY?!
Co-op block pushing!
GoldenGuard GO!GO!GO!
the old dog squad
Good morning, you have amnesia!
jk i'm using 2k3
Babby's first RMN event
Loyalty Pays Off
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
Not In The Slightest
*Smash announcer* BABBY!
Count me in!... Now. How do you use this thing.
Strong Opinions on ATB
aight lets do this
Project Starcrossed
It's time to shine (light flickers)
Because Pizza
hi i ned 9 more teamates join plz
I dont have time but I'm doing this anyway
Pom Gets 2k3
Team Review Something
Gam mak tyme!
I've got too much going on right now but whatever
Why do I keep signing up for these?
YOGURT
Butterball Babe
'Cuz Nostalgia, That's Why!
A New Game of Thrones

Posts

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Turbo852
276
05/11/2015 06:51 AM
Ugh, just discovered that right before I submitted, I deleted an event to clean up the final boss map since it wasn't needed. But another event was referencing it...
All I had to do to fix this was delete the reference. It wasn't anything that even affected the game. I'm uploading the fixed version.

Edit: Updated link:
2 Player Block Puzzle Fixed Version
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
05/11/2015 07:07 AM
Well I didn't make the deadline, but I'm still proud, because I did a sizable chunk of gam mak in an engine I'm not familiar with, and I was proud of the results, it just wasn't complete, and I wasn't comfortable with releasing something unfinished or rushed. I think the game was actually really good and had a really good central mechanic, but there were things like story and pacing issues that ultimately led me to not be able to finish the game. Also the fact that I only just encountered the primary mechanic of the game at about the 8 day mark. Perhaps I'll continue with it soon, but that would be if I legitimately purchase the 2k3 engine. If this was a month long contest, my entry would've slayed, but I didn't expect for the project to be of this scope.

I will, however, try to review as many submissions as possible. Congrats on all who finished!
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
05/11/2015 08:26 AM
Congratulations to everyone who submitted! You guys turned out some awesome stuff in the week we were given!

Here is my progress so far. I excluded Dragon Tooth and On Wednesday because they all require the illegal jap version and I'm too lazy to download the same RTP.

A Traitor's Hold
Show
- This had SO much potential. The dark comedy this game has made me grin, but at the moment it's completely unplayable. When I select the priest to "attack" the slime, I the game crashes with a "description violation" or something like that. Further on, it looks as if you forgot to turn the player's transparency back to normal in your cutscenes. So yeah... Sorry bud!


Cave Adventure R
Show
- So I guess I wasn't the only one with a goofy game idea!

- The dialogue is hilarious, and the battle system seems pretty well-handled; I like how you have freedom to assign any character skill books/equipment. The slowness of the gauges makes everything kind of boring, though, and the difficulty progresses from being nearly too easy to being near-impossible when you get to the colored slime boss.

- The slime bosses are where I gave up. You didn't provide many options to prepare against it, and the with how RNG-ridden the battle system is, it just wasn't worth it for me. Sad, because that's the ONLY thing that's dragging your game from awesome to crap.


Dule
Show
- All I can say is DAMN that presentation! You did a fine job utilizing the RTP to make some stellar maps.

- ... Unfortunately that's the only aspect I can honestly commend this for. While the game play is competent and polished, both the enemy encounters and the dungeon design lack variety (with the dungeon's, I'm speaking less on atmosphere and style, because you nailed that, and more from gameplay content. Most dungeons were just "walk through a maze" or "find a key to open a door", which isn't very engaging). Couple that with how easy the troops are to defeat, and top it off with a strange lack of sound effects playing, and you got a game that is really, REALLY boring!

- I admit I'm not the smartest when it comes to reading between the lines, but... What was the point of the outcome of the story? Like, I didn't understand why that girl had to stop doing whatever she was doing to that crystal. I felt like the game ended without any sort of resolve to anything.


Ghost Visit
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- This is one of the better projects I've played so far! The gameplay style isn't really my thing, but it wins for presentation in my book! I did like the whole ghost-switching gimmick, though!

- The ending left on a COMPLETE cliffhanger. Why, man? Why?


Golden Guard
Show
- I hate to slam on this game, because the whole "100% visual storytelling" style isn't common in RPG Maker games, and the entire game exuded so much charm, but I'm afraid this game is further proof that ABS' don't work in RM2k3. Enemies take no recoil from your hits, and their weird, randomized default movement patterns that 2k3 enforces makes staying alive harder than it should be. You are forced to play a "hit and run" type of game, and with the clunky hit-detection, it's not very fun.

- That boss battle was pretty awesome, though.


Jack's Magic Beans
Show
- Please don't apologize in-game...

- When I exited the church with the "42" chairs, I was teleported behind the building, and I got stuck.

- I really don't understand anything with this game. I get the objective, but how do I solve that objective? Everything kind of felt shoved into my face all at once.


Lost Land Renard
Show
- It's like one of those early 2000 games that put you through cutscene hell before introducing actual gameplay. Maybe an actual battle system fight against those red monsters would have been better than a scripted cutscene.

- Playthrough was cut short as the screen stayed black after the monster fight scene.


Starship Tsukuru
Show
- I loved this to bits! I didn't mind having to use my imagination for the way everything's supposed to be personified as sci-fi creatures. I found the whole thing very well-polished and hilarious!

- Some of the battles are kind of brutal. I don't even think the south cave should be accessible before heading into town, since a whole lot of things can kick your ass down there. I'd also like some advice on how to beat the last two bosses. The scarcity of SP resources in that dungeon makes it feel borderline impossible to beat the final boss..

- I REAAAAAALLLY hate slow gauges! Perhaps you could adjust the AGI values of the party a little bit? I don't think it would make things too easy, especially since there are those points when enemies don't do anything and you are just staring at the screen waiting for that bar to fill, not doing anything.


I'll play some more maybe tomorrow.
Cernus
674
05/11/2015 09:11 AM
author=pianotm
Well, A Traitor's Hold has some kind of a game breaking bug. When you go back in the game, your sprite disappears, and then if you get into a random encounter, the game crashes.


Sorry about that. This is incredibly frustrating. I play tested my game and I didn't get the error message that everyone else was getting. When I realised there was a game breaking bug, I tried to do a fix. Unfortunately I had to go to work so I rushed out a fix that actually contained another bug!

I've uploaded a new version of the game, with the game breaking slime battle removed so it should work fine now if anyone would like to play it.
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
05/11/2015 11:39 AM
I am absolutely impressed with the volume of games that got completed in this event. Excellent work, everyone! ^_^

I will be starting my official playthrus this evening after work. While I've poked and prodded at some of the games beforehand, I'll be re-downloading all of them to make sure I have the latest versions tonight :D

author=Ratty524
Starship Tsukuru
Show
- I loved this to bits! I didn't mind having to use my imagination for the way everything's supposed to be personified as sci-fi creatures. I found the whole thing very well-polished and hilarious!

- Some of the battles are kind of brutal. I don't even think the south cave should be accessible before heading into town, since a whole lot of things can kick your ass down there. I'd also like some advice on how to beat the last two bosses. The scarcity of SP resources in that dungeon makes it feel borderline impossible to beat the final boss..

- I REAAAAAALLLY hate slow gauges! Perhaps you could adjust the AGI values of the party a little bit? I don't think it would make things too easy, especially since there are those points when enemies don't do anything and you are just staring at the screen waiting for that bar to fill, not doing anything.


Thanks so much for your kind words and great criticisms. Your points are totally valid, and I plan to make an updated version after the contest is all over. I think I'll try to boost all the AGI values 150% to cut down on the wait time and add in more SP restoring items. As in tips for the last two bosses:

Show
If you're having SP problems, check out the Weapons and Armor sold by the Merchant Android in the Safe Room. She sells an expensive accessory called the Pocket Reactor that cuts SP use in half. By now you should have nearly enough Creds to afford it.

If you got Maelym's Vim Vapor move in the North Caves, you can use it to greatly boost someone's damage output on the final battles. Maelym or LR-338 are good choices.

On the second-to-last battle, try to take out Khain or RX-779 first, as they have punishing attacks, especially RX-779's hit-all abilities. Each of the three won't use their most damaging attacks until their health is low, and Lupin is pretty tame until he gets somewhat injured, so concentrate on taking them out one at a time.

For the last boss, if you have the GRS Stim Pack from back in the colony and haven't used it yet, use it here! It'll give someone double speed and a huge advantage. You can use it on Jean-Luc to help him on healing duty or on Maelym or LR-388 to give you a huge advantage in offense.

Maelym should be using Plasma Slicer (or Toxic Flechettes if your low on SP or conserving it) on the Princess, and she can also use Vim Vapor to boost damage output.

Jean-Luc should focus mostly on healing with his abilities, and also put him on item duty, restoring SP to anyone who gets low with SciFi Vials. Hopefully you have an Asimov Tank or two to help with that, as well.

There are two strategies for LR-388. Either keep using Fire Bomber, which will eventually toast the Princess's spawned minions (and all three of them are somewhat weak to Incendiary damage, being alien type enemies) or just focus all-out on the Princess with UltraBeam Cannon. She should eventually go down.


Hope that helps, and thanks so much for playing! ^_^
Liberty
RTP Princess
24266
05/11/2015 01:21 PM
While I'd like to do LPs of these, I can't because I'm out of my antihistamines and as such am quite blocky sounding. >.<;

That said, I'll do proper write-ups afterwards.
Roden
ALWAYS BE SAD
3857
05/11/2015 01:39 PM
Ratty
- All I can say is DAMN that presentation! You did a fine job utilizing the RTP to make some stellar maps.

- ... Unfortunately that's the only aspect I can honestly commend this for. While the game play is competent and polished, both the enemy encounters and the dungeon design lack variety (with the dungeon's, I'm speaking less on atmosphere and style, because you nailed that, and more from gameplay content. Most dungeons were just "walk through a maze" or "find a key to open a door", which isn't very engaging). Couple that with how easy the troops are to defeat, and top it off with a strange lack of sound effects playing, and you got a game that is really, REALLY boring!

- I admit I'm not the smartest when it comes to reading between the lines, but... What was the point of the outcome of the story? Like, I didn't understand why that girl had to stop doing whatever she was doing to that crystal. I felt like the game ended without any sort of resolve to anything.


Yeah, I'll be the first to admit that the atmosphere was the biggest focus for me, because I wanted to avoid making a "happy go lucky" looking game with the RTP, which it seems like it was designed for. Being that this was literally my first time designing gameplay in an RPG I can accept that it's boring and uninspired, cause I literally had no idea what I was doing for the most part. It's why I kept the second dungeon short.

I've gotten some mixed reactions about the story. I think it wound up being a love it or hate it sort of deal in the end. I will admit that it's really bare though- I was more concerned with finishing the game ASAP so I could get back to working on my school projects during the week, and the story was the last thing I added to the game.

I've thought about redoing it in VX Ace with custom resources, but I'm not entirely sure about that at the moment.
J-Man
4684
05/11/2015 01:57 PM
author=Ratty524
Lost Land Renard
Show
- It's like one of those early 2000 games that put you through cutscene hell before introducing actual gameplay. Maybe an actual battle system fight against those red monsters would have been better than a scripted cutscene.

Show


Yeah, I fixed that problem that occurred. I completely forgot to add the switch condition before I uploaded it. My bad.

I guess I should go and do some playing of others games too. Are we allowed to post reviews on them?
Zeigfried_McBacon
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
3820
05/11/2015 03:00 PM
author=Ratty524
Jack's Magic Beans
Show
- Please don't apologize in-game...

- When I exited the church with the "42" chairs, I was teleported behind the building, and I got stuck.

- I really don't understand anything with this game. I get the objective, but how do I solve that objective? Everything kind of felt shoved into my face all at once.



Figures Id make a stupid error like that after overhauling that map, bugfix is up for anyone who still wants to take a crack at it.
Shoobinator
662
05/11/2015 03:19 PM
I'm thinking about streaming some of these next weekend. If anyone especially wants additional feedback, PM me your game link and I'll give it priority in my queue. Otherwise, I'll be looking at whatever I feel like.
thesacredlobo
62966
05/11/2015 03:33 PM
author=Liberty
While I'd like to do LPs of these, I can't because I'm out of my antihistamines and as such am quite blocky sounding. >.<;

That said, I'll do proper write-ups afterwards.


I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm trying to get LPs recorded for all of these games. Though, a few of them have ended up as Let's Trys do to the games having bugs that make the game unplayable or impossible to finish.
GreatRedSpirit
ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop
6514
05/11/2015 04:05 PM
Congratulations to everybody who finished! 16 games is more than what I thought would've been submitted. I'm going to download the whole lot when I get home tonight and get to playing.
Zeigfried_McBacon
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
3820
05/11/2015 04:09 PM
FYI: I cant change the submission link for my entry now, but youll want this version if you do bother with my game: http://rpgmaker.net/games/7683/downloads/6970/

edit: updated link with more fixes version.
J-Man
4684
05/11/2015 04:24 PM
I'm glad I fixed the game breaking glitch before the deadline! I've played a couple of the games on here, here are my two cents.

Dragon's Tooth
Show

This game makes my eyes hurt, the mapping isn't that great, the one thing that bothers me as well is the way you present the text. Doesn't help the slowdown on the battle system makes it hard to try and fathom any patience I have. Doesn't help that I've haven't used 2k3 for a while now, and having been used to the faster atb of the steam version, this feels like a step back. I'd recommend the new rm2k3 to fix that slow atb. I'll play more later though.


Sellsword
Show
I really like the dialog on this one, and the unique style of battle instead of constantly pushing enter to kill enemies is a nice treat as well. I did notice a lot of Earthbound references, specifically in the battles and the naming of the places in general. Though the one thing that bothers me so far is your use of transitions when going from one place to another, I'd recommend the simple fade ins, so some people don't get dizzy from all the screen moving that occurs.


El_WaKa
3568
05/11/2015 10:21 PM
author=Ratty524
Cave Adventure R
Show
- So I guess I wasn't the only one with a goofy game idea!

- The dialogue is hilarious, and the battle system seems pretty well-handled; I like how you have freedom to assign any character skill books/equipment. The slowness of the gauges makes everything kind of boring, though, and the difficulty progresses from being nearly too easy to being near-impossible when you get to the colored slime boss.

- The slime bosses are where I gave up. You didn't provide many options to prepare against it, and the with how RNG-ridden the battle system is, it just wasn't worth it for me. Sad, because that's the ONLY thing that's dragging your game from awesome to crap.


I'll play some more maybe tomorrow.


Thanks, I will upload a better balanced version when the event ends (More powerful spells, Faster battles, easier slime battle)

And remember that you can go to the cave next to the entrance, you can farm with those slimes as much as you want
eplipswich
2728
05/12/2015 01:54 AM
Player of 2k3: Everybody who plays a game created for this event and reviews it (either through an official review or Let's Play video) is dubbed a Player of 2k3.

Will I be dubbed a Player of 2k3 if I just submit a video of the gameplay but without talking? Just, you know, a walkthrough of sort?
Turbo852
276
05/12/2015 02:02 AM
Ok, thanks to thesacredlobo for pointing out that my game's fixed version was still broken!

I fixed it for real this time. Last time I was rushing so I could go to bed. This time I had time to test it to make sure it was fixed.

Edit: I fixed a few extra things Ratty pointed out too:
2 Player Block Puzzle 1.2
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
05/12/2015 02:31 AM
2p Block Puzzle
Show
- The intro went by way too fast.

- You might want to set the battle BGs to better represent the fact that this game takes place in a cave.

- I kind of felt agitated throughout the game. Neither of the two 2p controls felt comfortable, and the use of Shift controls kept turning on that stupid Win7 prompt to turn on sticky keys. Also Zack seems to move down along with the girl when you press the "2" key.

- The game crashed on the third puzzle with the crystals: "Invalid Event Specified."


On that note, dear lord the amount of broken games among these submissions is astronomical! Welp, I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the short amount of time to develop these games.

EDIT: this was with v1.0 of 2p block puzzle btw.
Liberty
RTP Princess
24266
05/12/2015 03:11 AM
Just an fyi - Her Dreams of Fire isn't broken though certain sections may make it seem that way~
Turbo852
276
05/12/2015 03:11 AM
Edit: I fixed a few things like the backgrounds that Ratty mentioned.

Ah, yeah, version 1.0 is broken. Sorry about that. Version 1.2 will let you get past that level and to the end.

Yeah, if 2k3 had better key input choices I would be happier. I was going to use "0" instead of shift, but it apparently opens the menu if you use the numpad. I could just turn the menu off and make a custom menu, but I didn't have time. Yes, "2" moves player 1 down as well (because the numpad has arrows on it apparently), which is why I also set "." to function as down. I think you can turn sticky keys off in your Windows settings, but that would be pretty annoying. I guess you basically just have to do everything slower with the second player to avoid these issues.

However, if you use the number row above the keys instead of the numpad, you won't run into these issues. It's slightly awkward using 1, 2, 3, and then 5 on the number row, but you don't move player 1 when you press that 2.

You're right, I totally forgot about the battle backgrounds. The intro is fast, but it sort of is supposed to be. I'll probably slow it down a bit though.

Thanks for the feedback! I think I might make a better version with the full set of levels I had planned eventually. We'll see.

But for now, if anyone downloaded versions 1.0 or earlier, it will fail. Use Version 1.2 instead if you want to see the ending!
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