Taking Advantage of the Community

Today, I want to talk about something that really changed how I view RPG Maker.

First of all, RPG Maker is a great program. I don’t just say that because I’m paid to either. I have a long history of using the program long before it even made its way out of Japan. I’ve been using the program since i was a young teen, but it wasn’t until the last five years that I’ve found how much you can enhance your experience with it by taking part in the greater RPG Maker community.

We have several components to our official community. From Facebook, Twitter, and to a lesser extent our blog here. But the place to really, really get involved with the community is our forums, and I’m going to tell you why I think you should join.

1. Tons of Tutorials on Everything

If you’ve never visited our forums tutorial sections, you are really missing out. ALMOST no matter what you want to learn, you can find someone who has written something about it.

From basic beginner tutorials on the maker itself, to advice on how to organize cutscenes or write NPCs, our tutorial section is busting at the seams with knowledge.

2. Tons of Knowledgeable Fans

One of the really cool things about the forums is that there are so many people who know so much about the program. I’ll even admit a good many know way more than I do about it. If you are having trouble, all it takes is a quick trip over to the appropriate support section and ask for help.

3. Tons of Games to Play, and a Place to Get Feedback on your Games

Ever wonder what’s possible with RPG Maker? Look no further than our projects section. Here users put up their in progress and finished games for your perusal. Its also a good place to get advice on your own games. Who knows? Maybe you will become the next star maker in the RM Community!

4. Tons of Resources and Scripts

Another thing our fans are good at is producing content. Tons and tons of content. You can find scripts to do almost anything, and an abundance of facesets, battlers, and tiles to help you make your game exactly what you want. And the best part? If you don’t see what you like, you can even try and find someone to make what you need.

5. Tons of Inspiration and Comradarie.

Ever just need to bounce an idea off someone? Or check out discussions on what people think of different gameplay features? Our forums are the place to do it. And along the way, you can make friends with like minded creators, maybe even finding people who can help you make your dream game a reality.

There are dozens of other reasons to join our forums, and I really hope to see you there. I’ve always felt the community turned RPG Maker from good to excellent. And I want you to be there to contribute to that excellence!

IGM Tutorial: Tips And Tricks – Part 3

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

Today we’re going to take a quick look at some of the switches and memories built-in to IGM. You can load up any game file really, then head to “Materials”, and we’ll start with the “Memories” sub-tab. A lot of the things in here are pretty self-explanatory, but some can work in really interesting ways. The purpose of this tutorial is to open your mind to the possibilities presented by some of these presets. Continue reading

Free-for-All Blog Post Winners

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Free-For-All blog contest!

We received a lot of blog posts. Honestly, a lot more than I expected, and judging took longer than I thought because so many were so good! I kept finding it hard to cut down to just 5 Super Prizes.

But first, lets announce the Grand Prize Winner!

Chicken Soup for the RPG Fan’s Soul

We loved this blog post because it told a story from beginning to end and really felt it addressed so many things about RPG Maker that is wonderful. Congratulations! Continue reading

Resource Staff October 2012

Welcome everyone to Restaff’s Seventh Release!

For this month of October, we have some spooky treats that could help spice up your horror (or not) games!

DOWNLOAD IT OVER HERE!

Please remember to credit the makers of the resources if you use them!

We also don’t allow the resources to be redistributed anywhere else.

If you want to share it, please direct them here instead!

Thank you for your patronage.

First up is from the newest member of the ReStaff, EvilEagles!

For his first contribution, he made 37 icons that will be extremely useful for survival horror games!

Check them out! They’re nicely done too~

The next one is from our art machine, Thalzon!

He created some battlers of Trick-O’-Treaters that to bring some life into your halloween games!

Our fantastic artist, Scinaya, contributes this month with two bust shots based on Thalzon‘s Trick-O’-Treaters.

Our hard working pixel artist, Shiro gives us an adorable sprite of Thalzon’s battler!

Check out the banana

Timmah closes this release with six new animations!

Think of all the possibilities!

We hope that you will enjoy this release~

We look forward to your games that will use them!

IGM Tutorial: Tips And Tricks – Part 2

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

Last time we uncovered some of the more unusual secrets of IG Maker. Today we’re going to cover a couple more of those and one rather obvious secret – Auto Tiling! Load up your Action RPG or grab this GPD and we’ll get started! Head to the “Action RPG” tab and the “Tiles” sub-tab. Continue reading

RPG Maker Lite!

With the second day of the RPG Maker Free-For-All, we give you… an RPG Maker that is free for all!

RPG Maker Lite is based on our incredibly popular game making software: RPG Maker VX Ace. While not as fully featured, RPG Maker Lite does give you everything you need to make your own game, and best of all its absolutely FREE for as long as you want to use it.

Create your world…

… your Heroes…

… and the obstacles they have to overcome.

RPG Maker Lite provides you with everything you need to make a basic RPG. It features many of the new innovations of RPG Maker VX Ace, from shadow control to RegionIDs, with only a few database, map, and script restrictions.

RPG Maker Lite is the perfect place for beginners so share it with your family and friends, or use it yourself for as long as you like. Check out more about RPG Maker Lite and view our mind blowingly awesome new promo video HERE.

RPG Maker Free-For-All Weekend!

Welcome to the first day of the RPG Maker FREE-FOR-ALL WEEKEND!

We will be announcing cool new free stuff for everyone to use all weekend, but today we are going to focus on a way that EVERYONE can win a free prize from us!

I know that you are now asking yourself, how can I get in on that free prize. Well, I’m here to tell you. All you have to do is make a blog post on your personal blog(one not hosted by our forums) with the following:

  • A short story telling what RPG Maker means to you. Is it helping you fulfill your dreams of making a game, or is it something else that keeps you coming back to us?
  • At least one image related to your game making. A game logo, a sprite you’ve made, a screenshot of a map, as long as its related to your RPG Maker experience its a go.
  • A link to http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/ with the text “Make Your Own Game”

Don’t have a blog? You can make one easily with any of the following blog sites:

WordPress
tumblr
Blogger

Once you’ve made your post, you can email a link to it to community@rpgmakerweb.com with the email title of “RPG Maker Free for All Weekend Blog Post” and we will get your prize to you once the contest is over. Once you’ve done that, you can also share links in the comments below to let us hear your stories.

In two weeks, ending on October 26th, we will be awarding the prizes. We will be picking out our favorite post to receive our GRAND PRIZE, and 5 posts will receive our SUPER PRIZE, but everyone who participates will get a prize!

  • GRAND PRIZE: A copy of one of our makers for the blogger or one of their friends, $20 in store credit, and a limited edition RPG Maker Poster!
  • SUPER PRIZE: $15 in store credit.
  • PARTICIPATION PRIZE: $5 in store credit.

Our store credit can be spent on a plethora of resource packs, from Modern Day tiles, to Arabian tiles, to awesome rock music to use in your games. It can also be used to purchase one of our featured commercial RPG Maker games!

Continue reading

Resource Staff September 2012

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DOWNLOAD IT OVER HERE!

Welcome everyone to Restaff’s Sixth Release!
For the month of September, some of the restaff feel like contributing even during their vacation!
We made resources for your game making needs!

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Please remember to credit the makers of the resources if you use them!
We also don’t allow the resources to be redistributed anywhere else.
If you want to share it, please direct them here instead!
Thank you for your patronage.

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First up is Fomar0153′s fantastic Faces to Bust script!
You can see it in action below!

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Next one is from Kain!
He created two themes for the Archer and Knight from the ReStaff’s previous release!
They’re both compatible in RMVX/VXAce and IGM!

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Thalzon is never lax!
He just gave us SIX battlers this month!
Way to go Thalzon!

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Archeia finishes up this release by giving two portraits based on the RPG Maker XP heroes!
She also made some icons based on Thalzon’s Battlers.
There’s also an enemy sprite that might be of use for your game!

We hope that you will enjoy this release~
We look forward to your games that will use them!

IGM Tutorial: Tips And Tricks – Part 1

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

So by now you’ve noticed a lot of things in IG Maker that we haven’t went over or that you’ve discovered and played around with on your own. Today we’ll go over a few of the lesser-known aspects of the program that can be a great help or shortcut to doing certain things in your game. Go ahead and grab this GPD or load up your Action RPG thus far and we’ll get started!

So head to the “Action RPG” tab, and the “Canvases” sub-tab. Check out the mini-image of your canvas and you’ll see that it’s really plain. All you have is grass on there. For now go ahead and use the tiles we’ve got set up to create a small brick building, or a fence. Add a little style to your canvas and keep checking out that mini-image up there.

When you’re done and you have a nifty mini-image, I want you to hit the button right above that image labeled “Adding A Reduced Image As A Material”. Continue reading

Mapping: Engage your brain

by: Lunarea

There are two equally important parts to mapping: the “art” that gives visual appeal and the “science” that makes the map work. As a result, it’s difficult to give a specific list of things to do or avoid. What’s a good rule of thumb for one game can be completely wrong for another. So, how does one get better at mapping?

My advice: Start thinking! Continue reading