RPG Making for Dummies

December 27, 2010 6:29 PM

I'd sort of like to noodle around with making a JRPG. I know that RPG Maker would do more or less what I want, but I haven't looked around at free alternatives recently.

It would probably be a conceptual game like Space Funeral.

A few questions:

-- Is it worth paying for it? Last time I used it was the grey-ware 2003 version... the software seemed pretty good, but the graphics engine was sort of ugly and choppy. Let me clarify that this doesn't mean I would pirate it, and I'm not being coy about that, I would probably just shrug and give up.

-- Are there better free engines? I explicitly want to make an RPG, and have no desire to roll my own with Klik and Play, Game Maker or my own programming.

-- Any known compatibility issues... probably be using a Win 7 machine for development.

posted by codacorolla to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Best answer: It sounds like RPG Maker is what you want. I've messed around with a lot of different online game engines, and I actually moved away from RPG Maker *because* it's focused so strongly on traditional JRPGs. However, if that's what you're after, it's the most robust piece of software out there at the moment (at least, in my experience).

Whether it's worth paying for is basically up to you, but the latest version has fairly decent graphics from what I've seen.

Rather than asking if it's worth paying for, I would attempt to put a price on your personal JRPG project. How much time are you willing to spend, and what would your budget be? If you could have your finished JRPG in your hands within your timeframe, what would that be worth to you? If the dollar amount you come up with is less than the price of the full version of the software, go for it.

I don't know if the latest version has a demo, but if so, a good way to test the worthiness of the software would be to try and create a vertical slice of your RPG (say, one fight and one dialogue encounter) within the demo's timed limit (if it has one). That'll also help you get an idea for your project's scope.
posted by ®@ at 9:18 PM on December 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you dont mind paying there is also multimedia fusion. With this product you can make more then just jrpgs. You can make regular programs also and SELL THEM.

Multimedia fusion is decently advanced BUT you can download rpg engines for it.

Multimedia fusion even can convert its projects and exes made with it to flash so you can make it playable through a web browser.
posted by majortom1981 at 4:57 AM on December 28, 2010