WHICH VERSION OF RPG MAKER DO I NEED?

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There are a lot of versions of this, and some of them are a LOT more expensive than others.

The thing is, I'm not really planning to push the envelope very much with the game I'm planning, as it's going to be my first RPG. I'm not planning to sell it or anything.

So basically, I'm looking for a version that would allow you to make a game with roughly FF4/5/6 style features, and allows you to use custom sprites. I heard that some versions of RPG Maker only allow you to use the built-in graphics and didn't support side-view battles like Final Fantasy.

I noticed that on Steam, there's a couple of older versions of the software that you can get for around $10 or $25, and the newer ones cost nearly $80 or more. I'm just wondering if I actually need the newer versions when I'm not planning to push the envelope by developing commercial games with a large team and sell them.

I'd be willing to buy the newer/pricier version if that's what I need, but I'd rather not spend that much if I don't need to do so. Any advice on that?
RPG Maker 2003 could do the trick for you, the FF4/5/6/ is mostly a stylistic
choice. RPG Maker 2003 also supports side-view battles. You can get it on Steam if you wanna go commercial. Hope that helps. :)
You can use RPG Maker 2003 or Rpg Maker MV, they both come with the option to have side-vie battles, although it can be done with XP, Vx, and Vx Ace too! You just need to work with scripts

Personally, I recommend 2003, it was one of my first makers, it's pretty easy to use and you can learn the basics before going to a newer maker (although all the makers are pretty similar, with just a few but notable differences)
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
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I recommend you get more than one maker. In fact, get them all. Steam puts them on sale at least once every two months so you can get RM2k and RM2k3 for 3 bucks a piece, XP for 5, and VX Ace for 10. Humble Bundle does a yearly game make bundle so you can get all of them for 10 bucks for the lot. MV is still kind of expensive, and while yes, it does have side view battles, and has better graphics, I can't really say it's much of an improvement over VX Ace. Side view battles are really easy to do in VX Ace. Anyhoo, you get the best of all worlds just waiting for the sales and getting all the makers. RPG Maker 2000 and 2003 aren't as advanced as XP, VX Ace, and MV, but if you learn eventing and variables, you can do everything on them that you can do on the later makers, so when you finally do upgrade to VX Ace or MV, you have a little bit of a boost over the learning curve. Their command engines work virtually identically, so nearly anything you can do in one, you can do in all. The only significant difference is that with XP and VX Ace, you can use scripts. With MV you can use plug-ins (which are basically scripts, yeah). Oh, and there is the thing that XP, VX Ace, and MV don't have pointers. 2003 was the last system to use them. So if you want to be able to use pointers, you'll have to do a bit of finagling with variables.
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
I would recommend 2k or Ace as a starting point. 2k over 2k3 as it easier to move around if you're not addicted to side view. On the other hand 2k3 has lot more to offer. It certainly is the most suitable for a FFIV clone. Just be aware of extra sprites, you will need, if you choose this path. Finally, You can't go wrong with Ace. It's the most widely used one with tones of scripts and easy to understand basic functionality.

If you want to try it there used to be lite version of Ace. Its limitations led to a pretty successful event around here (try The Grumpy Knight). There are other easy to learn RM-likes, you can try for free. Most of them can be found in engines section of RMN. The problem with RPG Boss or Toolkit is that they are rather short-packed. Most of them is buggy. Others like Sphere require complex knowledge of coding. You can overcome some of this with community, RPG Toolkit used to have quite a good one.
Mirak
Stand back. Artist at work. I paint with enthusiasm if not with talent.
9300
To answer your question in brute, get rpgmaker 2003.
It sounds like RPG Maker 2003 would be a good starting point. To be honest, that's kind of a relief to hear that the newer versions aren't strictly necessary for just getting started.

Thanks, everyone.

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