RPG MAKER ENGINE PROGRAMMING CAPABILITIES

Hi JacobPerry,

The 640 x 480 RPG Makers like RPG Maker XP are more versatile than RPG Maker 2003. However, they require more experience with the programming language in order to fully exercise their capabilities.

For example, although RPG Maker XP is missing the vaunted and easily-used pointer function in its Variable Operations menu command, it can be replicated by typing the following in the Script command box:



While RPG Maker 2003 can do anything with enough time and event commands (and, perhaps, some of Cherry's patches), RPG Maker XP and on feature the most convenient techniques for doing anything.

The latest ones have scripting and eventing. The three of the newest ones (XP, VX and VX Ace) are all really good, and stronger in some areas than in others.

XP is pretty good - it is versatile and has a great mapping system but it runs at a lower FPS and can be pretty laggy. It has a good range of scripts, but is also missing some well-liked functions like default facesets in messages, four lines of text and variable options.

VX is probably best not to be used. While it adds back some of the functions that were taken out of XP, it also is a simplified version of Ace. (That is, it is middling to both XP and Ace and often seen as lesser quality than both, though it is still a good system.) It also supports only one tileset per game (though that can be circumnavigated with scripts).

Ace is pretty good - it is versatile and while the mapping system from XP isn't there, it is a step up from VX's in that it's more like 2k3's tilesets (except more flexible). It runs at a higher FPS than XP, thus reducing lag, but does have a few bugs here and there that have since been fixed - so you'll need to get the newest copy or the scripts that deal with those issues. (They're not game killers, just annoying.) It has a great range of scripts and being the newest maker, has a lot of support in forums. It also has a large range of official and unofficial resources, including ports from other RM engines (DS/DS+) and a ton of packs. It's also available on Steam (the community is pretty nice). Another thing to enjoy are the features. The versatility of the Database allows for more customisation of characters and damage formulae without actually messing with scripting (though you definitely can if you want.) The scripting itself is apparently quite easy (even a noob like I can edit scripts) using RGSS3.


Frankly, if you want my opinion, I'd say go with Ace. XP is okay but it's missing a lot of the functions of the older makers that made them charming and runs a bit too laggy for my liking. Even with the great mapping system, I much prefer using Ace. While it doesn't have as great a mapping system, it's still really good and there's a lot of really nice scripts out there. Also, it's fun as fuck to play with and there's a lot of awesome free and commercial resources out there for it.

I think that VX Ace has the greatest amount of available resources. There are tons of scripts available for VX Ace, I believe more than any other engine. That's just my opinion though.

I know that VX Ace runs at 544x416 but even that is alterable.

Do the three later engines run at the same resolutions?
Ace runs as 544x416 but as CC said, that can be altered with a script quite easily.

More specifically, are there resources that can be shared?
There are, yes, but if they're official resources (made by Dejica) then you need to own the maker they're made for as well as the maker you're importing them to to legally use them.

Also, which engine do you thing has the greatest amount of available resources?
Currently, of the three script-able engines, Ace has the most resources. Probably because the official site not only allows artists to sell their graphical packs on the site, but also because there's a lot of people who enjoy the engine and have created a lot of free edits for use. It also helps that the RTP is easy to edit (hence so many edits available) and that each month (or so) the staff of the official site release a bunch of additions and extras for people to use.

XP has had a while to make up resources, but because most people didn't jump to it and decided to stick with 2k3 (for whatever reason - one of them being the huge amount of graphical resources available for it as well as its ease of use) this means that it doesn't have as much. Which is sad since it does have a great mapping engine.

That said, there are some neat graphics available for XP - but some people have imported them to Ace so... you get XP resources with Ace as well. XD

Okay, I realise I'm coming on a bit Ace-strong, but frankly I do enjoy using it more than XP. It's a lot friendlier, for one, and more fun to mess around with. If you want to actually see the difference, there's a version that is free to use called VX Ace Lite. It has all the functions (bar scripting) so you can just mess around with it - just with limitations as to how many maps and events per map. You can also grab a trial version of XP to mess with too. Again, I don't think the scripts are usable in the trials but at least you can check out the engine. Both can be found on the official site (rpgmakerweb.com) where you can also find scripts (if you wanted to look into the kinds of language/ease of scripting) and resources available not only on the site but in the shop as well.

(You could also check out RMN's script area here to see the different kinds of scripting used.)
Also, checking out a few game pages might help too - just to see what the engines are capable of.

Here's a list of 4+ star Ace games.
Here's a list of 4+ star XP games.

Ruby is kinda similar to JS, but in reality it has more in common (syntax-wise) with Pascal and python. IMO it gets best of both - doesn't have this godawful "put one space too much/too less and you're screwed" of Python and takes burden of thinking if your variable is better of as Integer, Bool, Floating Point type, etc. Also takes few good cues from Java and gives really easy object-oriented environment.

Though you'll need learn as well library used by maker, RGSS, but that should be breeze after you'll learn Ruby's syntax.

Also you'll need to write Ruby code by hand, though it has event/map editors like 2k3 and you can make game using events alone, esp. with VX Ace which event processing speed is comparable with one of 2k3, if it was what you asked about.

I can attest to Ruby's ease. I'm currently playing around, making a game with it, even after deleting every single default script except "Main". It isn't hard to make your own environment, especially if you have prior experience coding, as you say.

It might also be worth noting that, although RPG Maker XP runs at 40 frames per second like Liberty says, it has a function which can increase the framerate. The smoothness past 40 frames per second will depend on how much you choose to have going on at any given time. Playing around so far, I haven't had any problems in my own little default script-less environment at 60 frames per second.