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RPG Maker XP Gets Advanced With 2D RPG Creation
Thanks to Insert Credit for its brief news that Enterbrain's "RPG Maker XP has been released [for Japanese PC users]. Lots of features added, lots taken away. You can download the [Japanese-language] demo, or check what's new on Zepy's page, since he went into a bit of detail about it." An in-game screenshot and several example pages show a complex 2D RPG creation utilty, and Zepy elaborates: "This time you can finally have high resolution/full colour graphics! And Ogg sound! No limit to character and map chip sizes! You can directly program your own scripts... with the triple map layers, you can have cloud or fog overlays!" Although the console RPG Maker series has been released in the West by Agetec, the PC version has yet to be officially translated and released.
I can't wait to see (and help make) some of the games that come out of this. It means good things for the homebrew/hobbyist programmers and artists.
I remember RPG Maker 2000... Was translated from japanese to english by some russian fellow. All hell broke loose with the original developer, because everyone was downloading the ripped english version of the game and not the japanese version. They immediately went on a berserk and condemned that they would not release any upcoming version of the game to the US or to Europe and that they wont translate it at all because of what happened with RPGM2k. Brilliant.
Great product meets small but active niche, gets translated ( rather badly but hey, who cares... ) and the original developer fails to see how potentially lucrative an english release may be, instead claiming they'll never release to the US or Europe again. Seems like they mixed up their bitterness at being outdone by random people with their business sense...
Hate me!
One of new feature of this version is Ruby-like script langage "RGSS". This feature gives developers a programing interface.
A description(Japanese) and screenshot.
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Slashdot Japan
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snowy
http://slashdot.jp/~snowy/
NWN and RPG Maker aren't meant to let you make games for money. The point is to take your ideas and put them into a game for those who can't create their own (RPG Maker) or to translate D&D campaigns from a table-top setting to a computer game so you can play them online with friends (NWN).
Well I would love to see this system come out in North America / Europe, but in the mean time and if the developer never does release it, at least we have a couple alternatives that I know about at least.
You have first, Neverwinter Nights. Which everyone pretty much knows about. Some love it, others hate it. It's also DnD which makes some happy and others groan. Over all it's at least one alternative.
The other, That I know of, is Blades of Avernum (http://www.avernum.com/blades/index.html), which is by Spiderweb Games developer, Jeff Vogal. For those in the know of small press, independant developer, old school Western Style RPG's, Jeff is often looked at as the current king of such games. Low quality graphics but high quality game play.
Now, I used to know of a few smaller old DOS apps that where RPG maker-ish applications. And this is beyond Bard's Tale Construction Set and the others like it but, those where far and few between. One of them, if I recall correctly (Verge), had you scripting everything, I mean nearly everything. Combat system and all. But lord knows where those games are like today.
Sentack
First of all, it seems that most everyone who's posted here thus-far have forgotten that Don Miguel (that russian guy who translated RPG Maker 2000 for us years ago) along with other "distributors" of the English version of RPG Maker 2000 had done what Enterbrain asked them to do; take down the files and put up a form where people can email Enterbrain and tell them what they think about the game, if they would be interested in any new versions, and how much they were willing to pay. (I, for one, said I'd pay as much as $100...)
This form was then emailed to one of their people in the company. What was done since then, I do not know. But I damn well know that many people did in fact fill that form out.
Do a search for Don Miguel's page and you might find that link to the form. If you really want Enterbrain to do something about releasing their awesome RPG Maker games (as in the PC version) over here in the US or anywhere else outside of Japan, tell 'em. They don't read minds, you know.
A little bird told me that an English version of RPG Maker XP (or only the trial version at first) is in the works at Enterbrain and should be made public (official website) in a few days/weeks.
A little bird told me...
Care to cite a source? Anonymous animals generally aren't experts on software release schedules.