KINGARTHUR'S PROFILE

There was a recent issue with MSE about a week or so ago where definition updates weren't being pushed out to Windows Update for some reason (MSE updates via Windows Update on an automatic or on-demand basis independently from Windows). No explanation was given from MS as far as I know, but the issue was resolved and I've been getting updates normally again so it's nothing to be that concerned with unless this becomes a common occurrence.

Go with Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast is bloated and AVG is crap.

but I read that Ace needs directx compatible hardware

Any video card made within the last decade has appropriate hardware acceleration capabilities that RM would plausibly need. RMXP/VX actually got a lot of flak for their decision to only support software rendering because of this.

Isn't the value! edition japanese only?

Indeed, which is why I said it's "only being sold over in Japan". There's an English translation patch floating around if you know where to look and already have RM2K Value! though.

rm2k still remains an outdated software (its 13 years old now...)

Outdated by what standard though? RM2K still functions perfectly in Windows XP and 7 and it's not subject to any serious bugs (at least that we know of). I can't comment on Windows 8 compatibility as I refuse to buy that piece of garbage, but I don't see why RM2K wouldn't run in W8's desktop. Simply because a piece of software is old doesn't necessarily mean it's outdated.

Whether something is still being sold also has a lot to do with whether something is outdated or not. To sell and distribute a product means the developer and publisher are incurring costs that they look forward to recouping from the product's sales profits. If RM2K is outdated (and would consequently have poor sales) then Enterbrain would've pulled RM2K off the shelves by now.

And what are the benefits of using 2k instead of VXAce?

Among other things that RM2K has over RMVXA:
* 320x240 resolution, friendlier to SNES-era graphics which RM games try to emulate or use most of the time. Doubles to 640x480 in play via a built-in 2x pixel resize filter, larger than RMVXA's default 512x416 (VXA, along with VX, can go up to 640x480 with minor RGSS code modifications).
* A much more refined, diverse event system.
* Better performance, though this is largely due to RMVX/XP/VXA being unjustifiably inefficient at rendering 2D graphics because of no hardware acceleration (with the exception of VXA) and RGSS scaling horribly with the number of events on a map unlike RM2K's map/event system.
* Does not use DirectSound for MIDI playback, which is either a pro or con depending on who you ask. I personally view this as a win for RM2K.

Of course, RM2K also lacks some things that RMVXA has; chief among them are RGSS and OGG support along with a higher resolution (in theory).

People looking at deciding which RM engine to use should carefully consider what each of the engines have to bring to the table. Deciding to disregard a particular engine simply because of its age is frivolous.

author=Scalytank
* Yes, VXAce has software rendering also, but in toolkit it's so poorly implemented, that you will lag, as soon as you add content to your game. I think the only way to fix that, is turning off sprite transparency, and turning down hardware acceleration in the control panel... Now you don't want every user to turn off hardware acceleration on their pc, just to be able to play your game.

I believe VXA has hardware acceleration to address the performance issues associated with RMXP/VX due to them having only software rendering. VXA most definitely performs much more smoothly than XP/VX does on CPUs like the good ol' Pentium IV.

author=Scalytank
I would also suggest, to stay away from rpg maker 2k and 2k3, and even XP and VX. (VX is pointless, Ace has better support, and is more powerful, and XP is outdated, as well as the old rpgmakers)

RPG Maker 2000 is still being sold by Enterbrain under the RPG Maker 2000 VALUE! label, granted it's only being sold over in Japan; RM2K also still functions perfectly under Windows 7. RM2K is therefore still a legitimate and possible choice. I personally plan on buying RM2K Value! when I go to Japan later this year to visit relatives over there.

Liberty
Firstly, it's 72x128 for a one-character sheet. Secondly, make sure you put ! in front of the name of the character.

This only applies to RMXP, VX, and VXA, the OP is talking about RM2K3.

The following are the image specs from the RM2K3 help file for charasets:

RM2K3 Help File
(4) Character Sets

Folder: Charset

Image size: 288x256

· Each walking pose is 24x32 pixels. (1)
· 4 directions (Up, down, left right) x 3 frame walking pattern (Left, middle, right
· Total of 12 frames per character. (2)
· Each file has two rows of four characters, for a total of eight characters. (3)

Accepted image formats for RM2K3 are either BMP or PNG files with 256 colors or less.