THE END OF RM2K/RM2K3?

There will probably be options to run 2k/2k3 in future platforms, but they will become more difficult and less accessible as time goes on. In 5 years, it may be very difficult to run those engines. This is a legitimate fear of anyone in the game industry - you'll notice very few new games come out near the end of a console's life-cycle. They plan around the estimated life-cycle of a system.

It may make more sense to try and finish up your project as soon as possible (I have no idea how close you are), and start on something new, in one of the newer RPG Maker engines. Alternatively, you could try and port your project over, but that sounds like an enormous hassle and I tend to recommend that people finish their projects and start new ones, rather than rewrite the same one over and over.

The end of 2k/2k3? Good riddance I say. All of us who have moved on and use VX Ace now know how limited we were in, well, every single way possible with the old engine. Stat points don't even function in any kind of coherent way. The whole engine is just an awful mess compared to the newer makers.

I won't miss 2k or 2k3 at all. The only reason I feel even remotely warm and fuzzy over them is nostalgia, and that is it. If I had my way, I would force everyone to convert to VX Ace. I probably sound like Craze now but, seriously, the 2k/2k3 engine is a shitty relic in which the only way to make it competitive with newer makers is to turn it into some kind of freak Franken-RPG Maker that is so convulated and not user-friendly that it's ridiculous. I'd rather learn how to script in Ruby than tear apart the old 2k/2k3 engine and make "plugins" for it that add features that the maker should have had in the first place.

I don't even want to update my 2k3 game anymore because the maker is just so god damn stupid compared to VX Ace. Yeah it used to be a lot of fun, but you can't even make a proper fucking reflect spell without pissing around with 2k3's primitive and artificial event scripting. It's a necessity because 2k3 by default can't tell the difference between magical and physical skills. SWORD =/= MAGIC, FUCK OFF 2k3 AND STOP REFLECTING SKILLS SET AS PHYSICAL WITH NO MAGIC STAT INFLUENCE! And don't get me started on the ATB system in 2k3. Just don't. Seriously. Don't.

Good riddance. I hope it dies soon. The moment we all start using VX Ace, we'll notice a HUUUUUGE increase in the overall quality of games on RMN.

What are the odds that 2k/2k3 become completely incompatible with future OS's?

I hope that the odds are pretty fucking high.


Sorry, I just can't stand 2k3 now after all of the issues it caused me over the years. Anyone hanging onto it and wanting it to continue for many years to come needs to be smacked upside the head with a 2x4 with "VX Ace" written on it in blood red paint. Things that take hours in 2k3 can be done within thirty minutes in VX Ace. I don't understand why people choose to torture themselves by staying with 2k3 and wanting it to stay alive. Finish your 2k3 games and then jump ship ASAP for VX Ace like I did.

If you're still working on a project for that long, that's your own damn problem. 2k/3 are not just doomed, they died in a fire years ago.

RMVX has been out since 2008. Ace has been out for months now. 2k/3 are simply terrible engines now, much like RM95 was terrible once 2k came out. There's so much more you can do with each generation (I would even say that XP is completely irrelevant at this point, what with Ace (if you're going to bitch about tile layers, just learn to do panoramic mapping. Ace has a wonderful tileset system anyway).

re: Limits provoking creativity... I mean, sure. Yeah. But there's a difference between limits and flat-out barriers.

Holy shit, I had completely forgotten RM95 was even a thing. I remember making my first games with that when I was 10.

Also, have I told everyone how great Unity is yet today?

author=Pneumatic
Looks like this was a waste of time since you're all completely missing the point.
I already said that 2k/2k3 are shit compared to ace, I'm not arguing that. If there were a way to port it, I would have done it ages ago.

All I was asking was if it would even be possible to run the executable in future OSs

I answered this, but in short: It will only get harder and harder to run 2k/2k3 and will almost certainly require third-party programs.

In shorter: No.

author=Pneumatic
All I was asking was if it would even be possible to run the executable in future OSs

I hope that it is not possible. Let aspiring game makers use the free version of VX Ace rather than pirating a twelve year old engine with restrictions coming out of every single crevice.

author=Pneumatic
Are you not getting that I started on this before XP or Ace even existed?
In no way shape or form am I saying that ANYBODY should use 2k3

Yes, and I started my 2k3 game in 2003. I said that people should finish their 2k3 projects and then move on from it immediately.

People not being able to play 2k3 games is the last thing on my mind because 2k3 won't be completely unplayable for several years yet. Even if Windows 8 makes it impossible to play, there will still be millions of people using XP, Vista, and Windows 7 for many years yet.

author=slashphoenix
@Pneumatic: I don't think he's talking to you specifically, just about the state of RM engines in general.

Exactamundo.

That's the only loss that I could see happening, but not being able to play 2k/2k3 games should still be several years away. It sounds like the games run on Windows 8, but the OS just needs a little more ironing out. If not, somebody out there with the time will probably invent some way for us to play 2k/2k3 games. Maybe through some kind of game loader/emulation thing.