RPG Tsukuru AKA RPG Maker XP Reviewed
Guide to EnterBrain RPG Game Creation Software RPG TKool
Dec 18, 2008
RPG Maker XP, known in Japan as RPG Tsukuru or RPG TKool, is a video game creation engine that allows the user to make top-down scrolling roleplaying games with a turn-based combat system similar to the Final Fantasy game series.
Retailing at $60 per license, this game engine seems overpriced at first glance, but RPG Maker XP excels in roleplaying game creation through the refined simplicity of its user interface.
RPG Maker XP Game Editor
By using RPG Maker XPs intuitive series of built-in editors, a game can be developed in clear stages that allows the game designer to concentrate on story and content rather than the underlying engine mechanics. The RPG Game Maker XP game design process works as follows:
- Make a game map using tileable terrain graphics from supplied or custom RPG TKool chipsets. Game maps are layered, allowing terrain features to overlay one another.
- Add the player character, non-player characters and monsters to the map using animated resource sprites. As with terrain chipsets, RPG Maker XP provides ready-made character and monster chipsets, along with other game media such as sound effects, music and graphic background panoramas for battle scenes.
- Add events to the game map. Events drive the action of a game made in RPG Game Maker XP, providing the trigger for battles, looting and in-game dialogue, and with the addition of the Ruby Game Scripting System, complex sequences of events can now be created.
- Share the game. Once a game in RPG Maker XP has been made, it can be distributed by burning it to CD, or uploaded to the internet. The RPG Maker XP license allows games made with the engine to be marketed without royalties.
All of the above would not be possible without the addition of several key features, including the inclusion of a powerful scripting interface through Ruby Script.
Ruby Script
The most fundamental feature enhancement to the RPG Maker software series is the addition of the Ruby Game Scripting System, also known as Ruby Script. Ruby Script enhances the RPG Maker XP experience by allowing internal engine functions to be modified by writing programming scripts in the Ruby Script coding language.
This feature allows for more freedom in the game design process over earlier editions of RPG TKool, which were effectively point-and-click game engines which limited design choices to a set number of event commands.
RPG Maker XP Chipsets, Sprites and Resources
Perhaps the most important factor in creating a game in RPG Maker XP is the graphical content. While EnterBrain kindly supply RPG Maker XP with a large library of character chipsets and terrain tiles, it is the creation of custom graphic resources that will give an RPG Maker game its own unique style.
Fortunately, tutorials are provided for making custom graphics, and for those who lack the time or the skills to make RPG Maker XP sprites, the internet has many sites devoted to the creation and sharing of RPG Maker resources, such as the sprites and terrain tiles made by Reiner Prokein, available for free at Reiner's website.
RPG Tsukuru AKA RPG Maker XP Review Summary
While RPG Maker XP may be limited in the type of game it can make, like FPS Creator, what it does, it does exceptionally well. The learning curve is gentle, and the support, supplied in clear documentation and tutorials and in the wealth of additional user generated advice available on the internet, makes game-making in RPG Maker XP a pleasure rather than a chore.
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