RPG MAKER XP - WORTH $60?

Hey, guess what? The older versions cost too, but everyone pirated it!

It depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to mess around with RGSS and really customize your game, then yes, the $60 is worth it.

Otherwise it's not worth it, as it actually removes several standard features from RM2K3. I guess they wanted you to script it again on your own or something.

Yes it is definately worth it. With the new Ruby addition you can do so much more with xp. Not to mention the colour quantity and the additional layer make it well worth the $60.

Also if you did not pay for rm2k3 then your using the illegal version just like there is an illegal version of xp. However the rip off is glitchy and you would be better of paying the $60 for the legal version.

Some standard functions have been removed from xp yes but this was so that people would be inticed to enter the world of RGSS. (Ruby)

Also xp also allows for tileset combination to the extent far beyond the limitations of rm2k or rm2k3.

RMXP is a great program but there are a couple of reasons why a lot of people don't like it.

It's an epic resource hog and has a hardlocked framerate that is actually pretty low. RMXP games will lag on a lot of computers that they very well should not be lagging on, and that's pretty lame. When a computer CAN run RMXP, the framerate is locked at some pretty low number, so it will appear to be lagging anyway. There's a "faster framerate" option that the players can turn on by accessing a configuration menu, but even then it's a little choppy. This is all because RMXP is pretty badly coded as an engine, but on top of that, it uses ZERO hardware accelleration - but that's actually a good thing in many ways.

It has a higher resolution than RM2k3. Because of this, you can't rip graphics from Square-Enix RPGs like everyone used to love doing. It's also a little harder to make convincing edits, because spriting at a higher resolution demands a little artistic ability. I think this is the single reason people tend not to use RMXP -- for some reason, nobody realizes that there are a lot of games (such as Suikoden) with larger sprites and tiles that are prime for ripping off. What is interesting is that, in my opinion, a second-rate but competent pixel artist will have more luck at a higher resolution than a lower one, and that awesome low-res spriting requires true viruosity.

But, you know, as far as making games go, RMXP is a way better program. I bought it for $60, and I would gladly buy it again if I had to! Besides -- you owe Enterbrain your money for pirating their excellent homebrew game-making studios in the past.

author=brandonabley link=topic=240.msg3092#msg3092 date=1188932352
It has a higher resolution than RM2k3. Because of this, you can't rip graphics from Square-Enix RPGs like everyone used to love doing. It's also a little harder to make convincing edits, because spriting at a higher resolution demands a little artistic ability. I think this is the single reason people tend not to use RMXP -- for some reason, nobody realizes that there are a lot of games (such as Suikoden) with larger sprites and tiles that are prime for ripping off. What is interesting is that, in my opinion, a second-rate but competent pixel artist will have more luck at a higher resolution than a lower one, and that awesome low-res spriting requires true viruosity.

I'd agree with that, because I consider myself merely competent with pixel art, and some of my sprites and backgrounds actually come out looking pretty great in higher resolutions....whereas my smaller sprites are, at best, completely unremarkable. Part of that is probably more because my experience is more with higher resolution drawing rather than pixel art, and at high enough resolutions they become awfully close to the same skillset requirements, though.

But yeah, like how you said your first point was actually a good thing in many ways, I consider #2 to be an advantage rather than a disadvantage. I've said many times how much I hate rips, and I stand by that and consider the lack of compatibility with most of them to be a feature. Forces people to not be lazy. Of course, it also means fewer finished games, or maybe just slower creation of games, but I think it's a fair enough trade off.

I agree that RPG Maker XP is worth it. I find it to be superior to the previous versions in every way. It is a shame that there's a smaller community for it, and less good games released....but on the other hand, that also means that the "big thing" that makes the community explode hasn't come out yet....there's still time for one of us to be the maker of that game. Plus it increases the chances that future titles will get translated and released over here.

I'm waiting for RMVista.

And avoiding rips is all well and good if you have any artistic talent whatsoever, but for the rest of us, rips are the only way to avoid using RTP and charasX (not that RTP is a bad thing - except for the big fat bouncy battlechars. God I hate those.).

I can do recolors (but who can't?) and the odd icon for a menu.

I absolutly hate the charset style in RMXP (RTP). The chibi-chinless wonders really grate on me.

author=Mewd link=topic=240.msg3128#msg3128 date=1189102330
XP really hasn't had a ludicrously good title yet, but there are an awful lot of 'epic' projects made with it. That put mountains of work into a game, give it a laundry list of features and typically turn out to be rather tedious to actually play.

That's because I haven't made a game in it yet.

*kentona stuggles to keep his hat from popping off his swelling head*

To respond to brandon: I prefer doing 32x24 sprites, myself. But that may be because I have not tried many rmxp size sprites.

I'd probably prefer them, actually... now that I think about it.

Low res spriting to me feels like trial and error, haha. Y'know?

RMXP sprites are simple. Especially if you have PSP in which you can just change the oppacity of the brush and go over a simple template.

True merging away from people canstart to get more difficult however I tend to custom make a vast majority of my tilesets and charactersets. RGSS is what barricades me.

Plus with higher res you can add so much more detail. Especially when working with Kaizer sprites. ;D