Charas-Project
Game Creation => Requests => Tutorials => Topic started by: GhostClown on January 04, 2005, 04:40:42 AM
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Well, in your RPGmaker games anyway. In this tutorial, I will be bringing you all of the basics, tips, and tricks to making a playable game in the program RPGmaker, hosting your project and getting it well-known. Hopefully, after you've read this tutorial, you'll have learned something, and use your knowledge to make a successful game. Here's hoping!
What we cover in this tutorial:
- Where to download RPGmaker
- Where to start with your freshly installed RPGM program
- What to avoid
- Basic story guide
- Basic plot guide
- Basic graphical guide
- What to do with a finished project
- How to promote your finished project
- Game site
1. Starting your game
Now, starting your game, one of the most important times of the game
making process. Most people start when they get some sort of inspiration of the sort. And at the time they think it can work out perfectly, but when it comes down to it, and you start to make it, your realize how hard it is. Actually that's wrong, Game making itself isn't hard at all, The hard part is covered in the next couple steps. The whole point of RPGmaker is of course to make your own RPG styled games, but it isn't always easy to find an idea on what to build you adventure on.. Hopefully, you'll have one by the time that you've finished reading this tutorial.
Of course, you'll need the program, RPGmaker. Legal free downloads of RPGmaker 2003, and 2000 are illegal, however, you're smart, and I'm sure that you'll figure out a way to get them. The newest program RPGmaker XP, can be bought easily through Enterbrain, also, a free trial can be found at download.com.
Once you've downloaded/bought a copy of RPGmaker, simply install it, and it we can get on with the next step!
2. Making storyline
Now, as explained in the first step, Game making isn't all that hard, it's the other three steps that are the 'time-takers'. Ok, now back to the story making subject. Story making can be very difficult because story line has to be very dramatic and exciting to keep the player.. well playing. To do so, you want something original, with plot twists and good characters. So basically follow the next few steps and you should do great with the story line part. Also, story is not something to rush into, take your time, proof read, pass it onto friends and ask if they like it. After reading it a few times, and getting others opinions, maybe you'll change it around a little, or maybe it will be just perfect, all depending how much time you spent writing it in the first place, but definitely get others opinions.
Storyline originality is extremely important, if the player is playing through a storyline that he/she couldn't even imagine, it will draw the player in, and almost force the player to go further to complete your will written storyline.. Remember this when writing your storyline.
3. A plot
A plot is very important for the sake of your story line. A plot is the basic layout of a story, it's a plan of the characters and what they do. So you can see why it's important, huh? You want something exciting like mentioned before, Something with twists and the un-expected. But.. If you would rather have it clichéd for the sake of your old favorite games, try not to make it obvious, but low-key. If you need help with plot, take a look at some great RPG titles, they may help you out. Without copying them exactly, look at how they play out, and all of the twists and tangles.
4. Characters
The characters.. Involved with the plot, and you basically can't make a game without them. Characters are very important so you must spend much time on this portion. When making your Characters make your audience get involved, and to do this you must make their background stories very detailed and planned out. Make each character just as important as the main, in a certain sense. In some cases, games depend on the characters personality and the relation with the player, this can work some times, but it's best not depend on this. I'm sure that you've played certain RPG games that have a ton of playable characters, and I'm sure that you've played some that have 2-3. Either can work perfectly, but you'll find that more characters can mean more work, example: If you have a very large number of playable characters, you need more sprites, character profiles/biographies, and each needs to be worked into the story, which is where the 2-3 characters can become the choice you may want to take, example: having only 2-3 playable characters, will obviously mean less sprites, less profiles, etc.. Also, with less characters, the more work you can put into each, and the value will be spread much less thin.
5. Graphics
This is of course the last thing to worry about, even though very important. Graphics can be 100% custom for your game and that is very honored and respected by people playing your game. This is a very hard task to conquer and may take you a lot longer to finish your game - But remember, always worth it. The player can also respect your game if you use already existing resources also, as long as used right and with proper credit given of course. Beware, a problem that I see in a lot of games is.. "UN-matched graphics" Some times, it can work out, but most of the time, it looks awful, remember, most of all sprites are shaded differently and have a different style of coloring, and either the chip and/or the character set will pop-out awkwardly and look bad.
Graphics >RTP
Yes, I have devoted this small branch off section to RTP (Run Time Package) Because it's a very debatable and argued over issue. On one defense, RTP is over-used. And people cannot stand to see it anymore. On the other-- RTP is fine as long as used right. That is very important, if you don't want to make your player sick because they are looking at some horribly put together RTP town. You want to make it with style and some unique theme.
Graphics >RIPS
Ah, yes another part of the graphics sector. This one about RIP's a
RIP is an image 'ripped' from a video game from an emulator on the computer, people use it in their game if compatible with RPGmaker.
RIP's can be very usefully, if once again: used right.
Graphics >UFX
Yes, I branch about the great program, UFX (Ultimate FX). It's very useful if you use RPGmaker. It will convert any 24 color file into 256-PNG without any color loss. Which is the only format that RPGmaker supports. You can find a free downlaod of UFX at http://www.ultimatepaint.com/ .
6. Events and coding
Even though not much actual coding involved, it can get tricky at times. I'm not talking about moving characters or when to make them speak, I'm talking about cutscenes, ABS', CMS', CBS', and ABS'. These are also very important. I will start to explain each now just in case you don't know the information. An ABS-- or 'Action battle system' Make your character with a 'live action type system' making the player being able to walk around and attack or operate the main character freely'.
CMS-- Custom menu system, basically using a different menu system than the default. Making it with your own graphics and coding. CBS-- Custom battle system This is a very widely used script people use in their games, It can be simple or very complex. Mostly used for RM2000 due to the from-style battle system. The event window can be found by right clicking your map, and then viwing the "New event" option.
7. Fan-Games
The wonderful world of Fan-games, A game based off of another game, book, TV show, Or anything, It's a spin-off or a continue of a previous already made storyline. This also can be argued over and over, Because people Tell the author to "get your own story" This is true, partly. But on the Fan-game's defense It's just a tribute. But how ever most of the fan games I have seen have not been worth the Download. Fan Games, usually constructed by the younger RPGmakers, turn out bad because it's usually a worn down story, like FinalFantasy7 (Probably the most fan games are based off of this game). If you're planning on making a fan games, it's probably because you're watching a show, or playing a game, and you're extremely into it. I do have a bit of advice, STOP. Hehe.. Stop and think of your very own story as discussed earlier, trust me, it will pay off when you're done and finished. I am not saying that all fan games are bad... I'm sure someone has made a good fan-game... The search continues.
8. Finding a host for you project
Okay. You've now finished your game, you have it zipped up, and now you want it on the internet. What to do? First right click and look at the size of your game/demo usually they're around 15-50MB. It's pretty easy finding a host for a file that size, even up to 100MB. Below I will provide a list of hosts that you can host your project on:
http://www.freehosting123.com/ - 150MB's of space.
http://www.roxr.com/ - 200 MB's of space.
http://megaupload.com/ - 500MB's only single file uploads, gateway page.
*Please remember to read the TOS for each site BEFORE uploading anything
Game Promotion and Presentation
Okay, you're now hosted, but how do you get the word out? Well, you can start by creating a thread here on Charas-forums. Post a variation of your favorite screen shots, post a nice chunk of your storyline/plot and you can even post the cast of characters. Hopefully, after the users browse your posted content, they'll be interested enough to download your project. This way of promotion can also be done on other large gaming forums. While on the subject of forums, other ways include, links/images in your signature linking to your game, asking other users to put the link in there signature, etc.. You can also ask to promote your game on web sites that offer game downloads.
Game Web Site
Promotion not spreading your game fast enough? Well, here is another method - a game web site. A web site devoted to your project can be very useful, you can place the download on it, screen shots, characters, character bio's, and other useful information about your project. A simple layout for your web site is probably best, that way loading times are fast and the reader can navigate, and read your content without heavy load times which can irritate people and chase them away. If you aren't good at HTML, or web site programming languages, you can always search for a host that has a built in building tool.
Closing Statement
Alright, this brings us to the end of this tutorial. You may be a little confused - Well don't be. Just remember that originality is key. And if you don't have the time and/or patience for originality, then effort is of course the next best thing. Read through each step, and gather your own opinion. I hope that this cover of the basics will do you good. Good luck on your project!
For resources, use the Charas search feature, found in the complete resources!
- GhostClown
EDIT: Updated and re-stickied, I've added a lot more content than last time, I hope that you find it more useful.
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Amen! I think this will help a lot of pepole starting out. This might even be sticky-worthy.
I would add a few things, but it's too late and I'm too tired. Perhaps in the morning.
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Bravo! GhostClown is right about all these items, maybe you should make it a sticky and more people will learn from it! I know I did!
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Hey, this pretty good stuff.
A guide for newbies, and good idea about making this a sticky, Shaman.
However, this some g00d stuff, you have my thumbs! :bend:
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very good. sticky it.
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This is probably one of the best guides i've read
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This is a nice guide. Very useful for me (because I'm just now starting a game)
Oh yeah, and I agree that it should be stickyfied. :D
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Great Guide! :)
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Updated section on UFX. This should also help many.
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Plain, too short. Not the best guide I've seen.
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I'm sorry to hear that. Which is why I didn't write it for people like you.
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Dont mind her sticky it but is it possible to still post on stickys cause id love to see your updates.
:yell:STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!STICKY IT!
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I've updated a small section under the graphics portion. It's a tad more into depth about custom spriting for your game.
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dumb question, supporting a big kick, oh well. is there something for rpgm2003 so i can type a whole line without the last half cutting off?
ex: type a whole line of text into message on event data, then test play, for me it is half gone, i need to hit enter in the middle of the box, and it annoys me, help!
in my defense: this should have been stickied a loooooooooong time ago, do it!
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Nice, I'm sure a lot of people will find great use in this, and unless all the above people were lying, it has already been proven usefull.
May I suggest though that you add some examples or get more detailed with the plot and characters part. I'm guessing most people already know to make their stories complex with twists and such, but just knowing is not good enough. You must present the complexity and twists in the story right or it won't turn out. Plus I find in most report type writtings, examples give a great visual that the reader can picture and understand if they didn't get the information you preseneted earlier.
Its good enough the way it is though ;)
x: type a whole line of text into message on event data, then test play, for me it is half gone, i need to hit enter in the middle of the box, and it annoys me, help!
I've seen patches that put a line in the text box as your writing, and that line was the cut-off line. Any text after it would be cut off when played in a game. It makes writing text a lot easier.
I don't know the name of the patch or where to get it though :(
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Originally posted by Omegadestroyer7
dumb question, supporting a big kick, oh well. is there something for rpgm2003 so i can type a whole line without the last half cutting off?
ex: type a whole line of text into message on event data, then test play, for me it is half gone, i need to hit enter in the middle of the box, and it annoys me, help!
in my defense: this should have been stickied a loooooooooong time ago, do it!
The program was just set like that, maybe you could use a hacking device to get into the coding. Just make sure to space more often. And Thanks, Dragon Blaze, as soon as I feel like updating.. I will. :D
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I have that patch, somewhere. I'd have to check my files though. I can't really use it because it needs a .dll file that my computer doesn't agree with.
I can't link to it anyway, just remembered. Oh well.
BTW, great guide GC. :D
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Well, as said before, I think it is very plain and... well kinda "short". I have seen better guides around, but still its useful. Just telling the basics may be better actually... I don't know.
Anyways, sorry to say, I miss more details, examples etc.
- Arc
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Yeah, Yeah. I'm still adding "detail" I'm too lazy to write whole big blocks at once.
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uhuh. great stuff ^^,
well, i dont like writing big blocks either....XD
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Sticky it please GC or Saikar or anyone!!!
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To be honest I think it is too vague and general, but if people are finding it useful I am not going to complain.
Stickied.
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helpful for first timers
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awesome.i am crating my own rpg with the help of a friend.
sadly,i will need more mod and admin to help me out on it.
then i can start