RPG Maker Projects
RPG Maker?
RPG Maker is a program that allows almost anyone to easily make an RPG on the computer. With a few simple commands such as text display and movement of events, you can make a decent game, and with a grasp of more advanced concepts you can make an excelent game, though almost any game can be made excellent with basic commands as long as the plot is good. RPG Maker was my first real step in to programming after attempting to learn HTML a while before I started, and then getting distracted by something shiny.
There are a few versions out, each with a few unique factors that make them worth using. 98 I know nothing about at all, and I don't know anyone who uses it, so as far as I know it might not actually have anything going for it to make it worth using. 2k uses graphics that aren't very great, though aren't hard on the eyes or anything, has a typical turn based battle system where you can't see the enemies, and has plenty of resources already made for it. This is probably because the graphics aren't very high quality, so they're easy to make. There's also some things made to let you mix and match things to make custom-ish graphics easily. 2k3 is similar to 2k in a lot of ways, though it uses a side view active battle system, which also makes it a little harder to supply graphics for. XP has scripting in Ruby which makes it much more flexible, as well as having much better graphics. The better graphics are double edged sword though, because it's near impossible to get custom graphics for it. Also, when scripting was added, the makers thought it'd be a good idea to remove some of the basic features like vehicles because they'd be scriptable. And soon VX will be out, which has all of 2k's good features that XP lost, scripting, better graphics, and more.
Unfortunately, there's no... Erm... Legal english version of 98, 2k, or 2k3. If you ask me how to get them, I won't respond. XP you can get legally, though.
I have two projects going in 2k and one going in XP, at the moment. S&V and Quickblade are in 2k and Stickman Bob is in XP. You can see about them with the links at the right. Well, you will be as soon as I get each of their pages done.