Category Archives: Tutorials

VX Ace: Make Your Own Game Tutorial I: Overview of Program Structure

Posted on by
4

This week, we are starting our new series of tutorials to walk you through making a simple game using RPG Maker VX Ace. For a very nicely formatted pdf version of this tutorial, check out the VX Ace Tutorial Page on our main website.

What is RPG Maker VX Ace?

RPG Maker VX Ace is a game engine designed to make 2D Roleplaying Games. RPG Maker VX Ace was created to be simple enough for anyone to use: You don’t need any specialized programming knowledge to run it.

All the aspects of creating an RPG can be controlled in RPG Maker VX Ace through a simple point and click graphical user interface.

RPG Maker VX Ace Editor View

 But if it is simple enough for anyone to use, why do we need these tutorials?

The purpose of this series of tutorials is to give the people who read them a head start in making their own game with RPG Maker. While you can learn on your own, and many people have, there are plenty of pitfalls that can be easily avoided with a bit of information. Continue reading →

IGM Tutorial: Refining Your Game

Posted on by
Reply

Want to check out a PDF of this tutorial? Right click save as HERE.

Last time we went over the basics of creating a game that works for each export option that IG Maker offers which included creating a character, creating an enemy, and creating a map that all function as basic as possible. This time we’re going to work on refining the game by adding in functions that will cosmetically change, or functionally improve our game including using moving wallpapers (note: this will not work in flash exports but you can use stationary wallpapers), refining our character’s ability to jump and fall properly, and creating a moving platform. Continue reading →

IGM Tutorial: Basic Platformer

Posted on by
25

Want to check out a PDF of this tutorial? Right click save as HERE.

In this tutorial, we’re going to cover the very basics of creating a jumping/platformer style game which will include creating a hero gadget, creating tiles with and without walls, and creating an enemy gadget for our hero to defeat. At the bottom of this guide you’ll find a link that will lead you to a flash example of what the finished project should look like. You can also click an of the Screenshots to see a full-sized version for clarity. You will also need the resources in the following archive to do this tutorial (right click => save as to save them to your computer)

ResourcesOpen up IG Maker and on the left menu under the “Top Page” tab select New Game. This opens up a guide to creating new projects. Read it if you like, then hit next. For this game’s genre we’re going to select Jumping Action (New Game). Hit next again and we get to pick the starting screen resolution (this can be changed later by selecting the “Flow” tab and then the “Overall Settings” sub-tab). Select 640×480 under the VGA 4:3 option. This option seems to be the best for flash, and it works fine for PC games as well (though I find that Wide 16:9 1280×720 works best for the Xbox 360). Hitting next again allows you to name your game. This can be changed later so just use the default for now and hit finish. Continue reading →

Intro to Scripting 3 with Tim

Posted on by
2

Let’s revisit for a moment a topic that we discussed in our first tutorial, adjusting encounters so that they also happen while riding in the boat (or ship, or airship, for that matter). We saw how it was fairly easy to get this change in place, by only adjusting a few lines of code. But, we might notice there’s a slight problem… unless we craft dozens of different areas to perfectly match the contours of our water and land, we will end up with land dwellers attacking us while on the high seas, and sharks attacking us on land. Needless to say, this is kind of inadequate. Unfortunately, out of the box, there is no way to specify that troops only appear on certain types of tiles. So, we need to write a bit of script in order to make this work.

Before diving into how to do this, it’s worth digressing for just a brief moment to point out that a new feature in VX Ace, known as Regions, averts this issue. Though still impossible to define encounters based on tiles, rectangular areas have been replaced by regions, which can have any arbitrary shape by essentially painting them onto the map. So, the obvious solution would be to simply draw out separate land and water regions as needed, and assign appropriate troops to each. But until the English release, let’s continue looking at VX… Continue reading →

IGM Tutorial: Exporting to XNA

Posted on by
14

Want to check out a PDF of this tutorial? Right click save as HERE.

The first thing you should know is that when you export to XNA and test your games on the Xbox 360 some things will work and behave differently than they do when testing in IG Maker. I highly recommend testing your game often to make sure everything translates correctly from your PC to the console.

Also, while the programs below are completely free, testing games on an Xbox 360 or selling games on the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace currently requires an App Hub membership, which will cost $99 per year. You can read more about that on their faq. Before attempting to make a game for the Xbox 360, make sure you’ve updated IG Maker to work with XNA 4.0. The update and instructions are available here. Continue reading →

IGM Tutorial: Exporting to Flash

Posted on by
3

Want to check out a PDF of this tutorial? Right click save as HERE.

The first thing you should know is that there are some things that you aren’t able to do when you export to flash. Here’s the list:

  • You cannot use a controller or the right-click of a mouse for inputting commands.
  • If you use True Type Fonts (TTF) for your game and the person playing doesn’t have the same font installed on their computer it will use a default font instead.
  • Sound effects don’t work.
  • Wallpapers can only be displayed in actual size, oriented to the upper left of the screen. If they aren’t it seems to default to a tiled view.
  • Tiles cannot change.
  • Slave gadgets can not match the master gadget’s angle, scale, or luminance.
  • Large maps or a large number of gadgets may cause lag.
  • If you set a gadget to move too fast hit detection does not work.

In the screenshots below look for blue highlights, numbers, or messages for points of interest.

Let’s get started with the installs! The first thing you will need to do is install the Java Development Kit (JDK). It is a pretty straight forward install, so I won’t go into too much detail. Download link! – Basically head there, scroll down a bit, and click the orange download button under the first JDK option you see. Here’s a screenshot! Continue reading →

Story Design by Layer II

Posted on by
4

In the last tutorial in this series we explored story theme, style, and laying down the initial framework of characters, plot, and setting. Today, we will talk about using causality to add details, and more importantly connections, to all the aspects of our game.

The Third Layer: Causality

Let’s take a moment to look at what we have accomplished so far. If you have followed the steps in the previous tutorial we know the following things:

  • A Story Theme
  • A Story Style
  • Basic Setting Information
  • Vague descriptions of major characters
  • A few major plot points

In this step, we are going to add details to the setting, characters, and plot, but what we aren’t going to do is add them willy nilly. I know I’ve stressed this a lot, but I think its time to stress it again (hopefully if I say this enough people will really catch on): The most important part of a story is how all the parts connect and move together. So, in this layer we will add details by looking at causality. Continue reading →

Anatomy of an Autotile (VX/Ace)

Posted on by
4

Today, I’m going to cover one of the most baffling parts of creating tiles for RPG Maker VX/Ace, creating autotiles. If you listen to most people, the autotiles are some kind of bizarre mystical force, not to be trifled with if you value your sanity. But in reality, they are very easy to break down, as long as you know the way they are constructed.

I am not much of an artist, so I will be using an existing autotile, a ground autotile from VX Ace, to show you how they work. I will be using a TileA2 ground autotile, as all other autotiles are just variations on this build.

The first step in the construction is to start building from a base tile. A base tile is a standard 32×32 pixel tile. This base tile is copied to cover the entire 2×3 tile autotile. Continue reading →

Story Design by Layer I

Posted on by
13

Ask a dozen RPG fans what the most important part of an RPG is and eleven of them will probably respond with the same thing: Story. That’s not to say that you can skimp on the other portions of the game, but it does mean story should be a major concern.

What is a Story?

When discussing the story of an RPG, I think the first thing to do is define what we mean by story. The definition I play to use for this tutorial is this: Story is the combination of the setting, characters, and plot, and how they interact with each other. While the individual parts are important, the most important portion is the interaction. How does the setting affect the plot? How does the plot affect the characters? How do the characters affect the setting? Continue reading →

Blog Feature: Final Boss Blues (I can art and you can too)

Posted on by
1

If there is one thing that will really make a RPG Maker Game stand out, its nice custom art. It can be hard and/or expensive to get custom art for your game so the other option is making it yourself.

Unlike what people think, being able to make something like the image above isn’t about talent. Its about skill. Skill that you get from practice and proper instruction. I can’t make you practice, but I can bring the instruction. That’s where today’s blog feature comes in.

In his blog Jason “Despain” Perry, posts some of the best pixel art tutorials I’ve seen, and really gears them towards custom art styles for games. When I’ve read other spriting tutorials, I always feel like steps are getting skipped. They just tell you things like “Now shade the sprite” and don’t tell you how. FinalBossBlues does none of that. It covers every important step, even ones that are generally overlooked, like how to pick colors and create a palette.

New tutorials go up regularly, so keep an eye out for more great instruction, and don’t forget to leave comments for him if you have questions. He is very willing to help up and coming pixel artists by giving great critiques and explaining where things went wrong with their work.

FinalBossBlues gives you the knowledge to make great pixel art, all you need to supply is the practice.