MAKING YOUR GAME WORK WITHOUT THE RTP

Lots of RM2k/3 games currently on RMN aren't playable without the RTP installed. Here's how you can avoid the problem.

Making Your Game Work Without the RTP
an RM2k/3 tutorial by Brickroad

Something a lot of RM2k/3 users might not realize is that people without the RM2k/3 editor and RTP might not be able to play their games. In this tutorial you will learn how to make sure anyone can download and play your RM2k/3 game, even if they don't have the actual software installed.


Step One: Make sure everything is imported.

Every resource your game uses should be in the proper directory. Ensure that all graphics and music your game uses are actually there, even unedited RTP files. The reasoning is simple: if you're using some RTP files and the player doesn't have the RTP installed, or has an RTP installed that is dissimilar to your own, the game will crash once it tries to access the missing files.

There's a handy program out there called RMTool which will scan your project folder and tell you not only which files you're using but haven't imported, but also which files you've imported but aren't using. Use this information to gather up all the resources your game calls for that are still in the RTP folders and import them, then prune away any files you've got hanging around not in use.

Get into the habit of importing every single resource you use right from the editor as you go. It's easy to miss a seldom-used sound effect or monster sprite, especially if you have a really huge RTP full to bursting with every file imaginable.

(Note: RMTool isn't available for download on RMN yet, but I'm told it will be soon. I'll make sure this tutorial is updated with the relevant download information once it becomes available. In the meantime you can Google it pretty easily.)

Copy Harmony.dll from the RTP folder into your game's folder.

Step TWo: Replace all the default stuff.

When you start a new RM2k/3 project, a lot of graphics in the database are automatically populated with stuff out of the RTP. Even if you don't use some of these "default" resources, they can still cause crashes if someone with a different RTP (or no RTP at all) tries to run the game. Most people replace stuff like heroes and monsters anyway, but keep in mind there's stuff tucked away back in the System tabs too. Make sure you change out the default vehicle graphics and all the system sound effects and BGM, even the ones you aren't using, to something in your game directory.

Here's a list of tabs you'll want to check to make sure you haven't overlooked anything: Hero, Class, Skill, Monster, M. Groups, Condition, Animations, Animations 2, System, System 2. "System" is the biggie, since any game you load checks for the vehicle graphics from that tab before almost anything else. Even if your game doesn't have an airship or a boat, if those boxes on the System tab are still showing the RTP defaults, your game will crash if there's no RTP to pull from. If you're using any of the RTP stuff, make sure the fields in the database point to the files in your game's directory, and not in your RTP.


Step Three: Trick the game.

Even if all your resources are imported to the proper places, and there's not a shred of RTP left in your database, your game STILL won't run without the RTP. That's because, for some reason, by default an RM2k/3 game won't run unless the player has the RTP installed. You can get around this by tricking the game into thinking it has.

Use Notepad, Wordpad or some other text editor to open the file "RPG_RT.ini" from your game's main directory. Drop down to the first empty line and add this:

FullPackageFlag=1


This will trick your game into thinking the system has the RTP installed, even if it doesn't.


It's not hard to see why people don't realize these problems exist: you can't really test for it. After all, you already have the RTP installed on your own system, which is presumably where the game was built. Even after following these steps, try testing your download on another computer without RM2k/3 installed (or get someone to try it for you). Then everyone will be able to enjoy your brilliant masterpiece, not just the guys with the same pirated software as you.

Posts

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sweet!!! thank you so much for this! I gave my brother a little game I made to play test but he couldn't open it. this helped out alot.

btw, for others if they want that program, it's here

http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/tkool/RPG_XP/eng/download.html

scroll down to get the RTP
Awesome, thanks for the tutorial~ =)
i still get some weird error: ???? 2B SYSTEM ?????
Isn't it also necessary to put the harmony.dll into the project folder?
comment=26094
Isn't it also necessary to put the harmony.dll into the project folder?
I am not sure if it is or not, but I do include harmony.dll in with my game download, just in case!
Thanks for this. I was wondering why it wouldn't work for my friend.
dragonheartman
Developer, Starless Umbra / Heroes of Umbra
2966
Another fun way to test your project for RTP dependencies without uninstalling the RTP is to simply rename the RTP folder in 2k3's install directory (e.g., "C:\Program Files\RPG Maker 2003\RTPBLAH")
Is this info applicable to RPG maker XP games?
I've been wondering for a while now as to whether I need to include the rgss rtp with my game but that would add a lot of megabytes to the download.
author=RedMask
Is this info applicable to RPG maker XP games?
I've been wondering for a while now as to whether I need to include the rgss rtp with my game but that would add a lot of megabytes to the download.
you go to game then rtp then select the first bar then click none
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
There needs to be a way to sticky articles like this.
rpgmaker.net needs a remaster
I wrote a similar article not too long ago. But it's probably too difficult to find. I guess the name is everything? i'll add this to the masterlist.
https://rpgmaker.net/tutorials/2610/

Or maybe it's too long winded? I dunno.
(TLDR/Summary of Steps):
1.Edit RPG_RT.ini with "FullPackageFlag=1" to run without RTP
-Go into your game project folder
-Find a file called “RPG_RT.ini”,
-Add “FullPackageFlag=1”, Save.

2. Download Harmony.dll and place it in your project folder with the RPG_RT.exe (not needed for steam RM2000/RM2003)
Harmony.dll for RM2000
Harmony.dll for RM2003

3. Download RMtools [
4.Download the corresponding rtp:
Don Miguel's RM2000 RTP
RPGAdvocate's RM2003 RTP
----------------------------------------
RMWEB/Steam RM2000 RTP
RMWEB/Steam RM2003 RTP

5. Use RMtools to scan/import missing RTP files for rpgmaker2000/2003 (or merge the corresponding RTP folder)

6. Test your rpgmaker game on a computer that does not have rpgmaker installed. (or temp rename the RTP folder for testing)
7. If no errors are found, you're done!

Notes: Differences between Enterbrain's, Don Miguel's and Official/Steam RTP - EASYRPG WIKIA
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