Diverse Graphics

[FranklinX 78]

The RPG Maker is an amazing program for beginners and experts. However, an unintended flaw is the lack of diverse graphics. Many games look the same because of this flaw. Thus, many games do not standout from other games from the RPG Maker. I would be think games were connected to each other if I was unaware of the RPG Maker. I am sure some buyers made this mistake and were confused. Despite a good story,  games cannot standout from one another due to look the same. 

 

The community has created thousands of graphics and you can also purchase additional graphics from the official store. Although many games just use the default graphics. I wonder why some developers do not use resources from the community or store. Most graphic packs are inexpensive and the store has sales. Also, developers can find free graphics in the community. Why aren't many developers taking advantage of this resources to elevate their games?

 

I'm currently developing a game with the default graphics from MV and additional graphics from the official store. I also plan on ordering custom graphics. My game needs to standout for casual players to notice it. Someone may assume it is a typical RPG game with little to no effort put into it. It's a common problem in the entire online community for the RPG Maker.

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

The bad rep that RPG Maker has is not deserved. I will say that outright, and no one can change my mind in this regard.
Blame the software? No, blame the desperate fools looking to make greedy money.

Anyway...
The RTP graphics are a lot more unique than one would think; it's the simple fact that everyone uses the same method of map tiling that makes all the games look the same, but whether I use any RTP or not, I know one of my best friends is Shift-Click.  Oh yeah, darling, that's the ticket...

Of course, I never just use RTP alone for anything I intend to actually publish for the public. Can't do that, knowing I've got external resources I can use, and do use.

You won't get a cookie-cutter game from me, not a chance, no way.
♫If you think I'll sit around, as the world goes by, you're thinking like a fool 'cause it's a case of do or die...♫
♫Out there, there's a fortune, waiting to be had; you think I'll let it go, you're mad, You've Got Another Thing Comin'...♫

[That One NPC 321]

RM seems to place a lot of faith in the creativity of the end user. Even back on RM 95 for the Playstation, there was a crude tool for customizing, or drafting character sprites. As the cyber era took over, later titles seemed to pace faith in the entire community to create resources in return for the credits.

 

From what I have seen and understand, MV has suffered from this the most, because things seem to have cooled off around the RM scene. There was a shift in the gaming scene and different tools capable of making different types of games became accessible to the dev who would have probably used RM 10 years ago. Granted, they probably aren't looking to make a JRPG or some form of RPG like we are.

 

I have been getting into sprite editing and light tile edits for this reason. You've got to have some artistic know-how or you will end up with an over-used, stock aesthetic.

 

One thing about mapping, is that you've pretty much got to parallax to break the grid-based Rm mold. You can dramatically change the aesthetic of a game world by breaking those constraints.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by That One NPC

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

3 hours ago, That One NPC said:

RM 95 for the Playstation

 

I remember actually finishing a couple games with that. I have a copy of it right next to me in a pile of PSX jewel cases.

Yeah, I actually agree with one person I spoke with about RM on that MV and VX Ace came out a bit too late. There's too many game making engines out there, and thus, support for RM has dropped quite a bit.

[Kayzee 4,032]

Personally I am kinda more worried about all the graphics fitting together in a consistent style then I am making them all extra unique. Unless that style is purposefully a mishmash, but at least that is consistently inconsistent. Though part of me kinda likes the idea of going ultra minimalist like in this screen shot I have shown off before of a RPG Maker game I found:
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

I would probobly not go to quite that level of abstraction if I did it,  maybe something more like Nethack's tiles:

 

Spoiler

 

For now though I am just using the VX Ace RTP and some similar style graphics I found online. Maybe a bit boring but it works.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Kayzee

[Animebryan 139]

On 11/2/2019 at 7:52 AM, That One NPC said:

Even back on RM 95 for the Playstation,

For the record, RPG Maker 95 was the first RM program to be released for the PC, not for the PS1.

RPG Maker (PS1)

RPG Maker 95

[That One NPC 321]

Yeah, I just got in the habit of calling it 95 somehow. It comes out as reflex all these years later. Probably because I never actually played the actual 95.

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by That One NPC

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

I've played with RM 95, and in comparison to RM 3/1 on the PSX (3 for Japan but the first international release), 95 has a similar feature set, but the PSX release has some different features, and some features a bit more advanced as well. A better comparison to RM 95 would be RPG Tsukuru 1 and 2 on the Super Famicom.

However, between all four of the aforementioned releases, they have pretty close to the same look graphically, though RM 3/1 on PSX actually has worse handling of graphics in general (duly noting walking animations), but that is not surprising given the limitations of the hardware.

I would not compare RM 3/1 to RM 2000; the latter of those two is superior in all regards, though some would argue that the graphics are akin to the SFC releases, but RM 2000 introduces user-set variables, something the previous iterations don't have. RM 3/1 only gives the dev 500 switches. That's it.