Got the game on the 28th, spent over 20 hours on this thing, and I just want to say that this, for the time being, is the closest a casual gamer will get to a PS2 development kit.
RPG Maker fans(all 5 of us!) will be very pleased with the complexity this game holds. An example would be me messing with my game preferences for a half hour my first time playing! I'll break the game down into sections.
User and Game Options:You can set the difficulty level for your creation tool, either Beginner, Normal, or Hard. Beginner loads pre-made data into your game, and allows you to only edit that data. Normal also gives you pre-made data and allows you to edit some things, but you can't edit scripts, and some options are only allowed in hard mode(like the adv. tab in most menus). Hard allows you to edit everything, including scripts. You can change modes anytime without losing data or having data changed.
You also have your user preferences, like the BGM during creation, what your cancel and confirm sounds sound like, and stuff like that, and your game preferences(for the game you create) have stuff like window frame style, colors, member status colors(you can designate what color your HP turns to when critical, etc.), weapon and magic elements, and more. The best part is, you can use a USB compatible keyboard!
Graphics:You have over 100 character models to work with, 100+ monster models, 30+ 3D and 2D visual objects to use in effects(more on that later), and a lot of things to do in the respective graphics editors. Characters are of course, super deformed, and they'll stay that way, even when you increase specific sizes using scripts, but they'll at least be somewhat less deformed if you do that. You can do the following things to a character:
-Color individual sections of the character (like changing their hair, clothes and skin colors, there are 12 different color change areas, and depending on the model, some may be inaccessable).
-X, Y and Z size of the character (yes you can have a flat character).
-You can change their face (14 different faces).
-Characters also have 5 different facial expressions per face.
-Transparency of the character.
-You can add visual effects to the character.
All these options aren't in the same menu though.
Monsters are pretty cool, and you can assign different actions to them, using pre-made ones. You can also color 'em and whatnot, and change their size.
Visual effects, now there's a kick ass addition to the game. You can use a ton of different images and such to use for these effects, and they can be used anywhere in your game. They can also be pretty long, about 10 seconds(you think that's not long, but it really is for a magic effect). You can also change the color and size for these effects, and depending on the image used, different options are available for that specific image. You can also import digital camera images using Picture Paradise(need a Sony digital camera, compatibility is on the unpredictable side though).
World maps are now 3D, and you have almost complete control of what they look like. You can place mountains, trees, and other textures, like flat green land. I'm not gonna go into how many options you have over making mountains, but gosh, there are so many, I doubt anyone will get bored with just that. You can also create circlish or square land masses, change sea level, the colors of the water during certain times of day(day, noon, night, etc.), and other details. The dungen editor is pretty good too. You place blocks, and then you select which textures go on the block, like bricks, ice, etc. You can also have deformed blocks, so you could make somewhat of a destroyed building if you want.
You also have over 100 objects to use in your game, like flowers, coins, waterfalls, gears(the mechanical disks, not giant robots), whole buildings, and other things, like barrels.
Misc.:Scripting is in this game as well, and you can do almost anything with scripts. This is what most people will be confused about, since they can't just stay in beginner, and want to edit these.
There is also in-game help and a better manual, just in case you're confused. It helped me a lot when making scripts.
Fu-ma, the sample game, is a longer game, and it shows what you can do with RPG Maker 2. Look in the manual if you want to know the password to edit it(you can get it by beating the game, but Agetec added it in the manual for many reasons).
All the things I listed here aren't the only things you can do with the game. It'd take me a while to list everything.^_^
Cons:I bet everyone's been waiting for this. There are a few things that keep this game from being great. They include a few translation errors(found some japanese, but there isn't much to worry about)(Fu-ma is also abundant with errors, like this quote:"I will fight you, for it is my density"), and one thing I found that was talked about in the in-game help, but isn't actually there.
Another problem is the blur that occurs in the game during gameplay. It's not really bad, but if I had a choice to turn it off, I definitely would. It's livable though, and I've gotten used to it. It doesn't hurt my eyes, but it annoyed me for a bit, as I thought to myself:"Why the hell is this here?", but whatever. Aside from those little pests, there really isn't anything that'll keep you from making your game.
This isn't a con really, but more of a complaint. Making your game takes a lot longer, because of all the things you have to do, and I mean have to, like registering all the objects you want to put into your game, how you can't delete something because it's used by something else, the complex controls in some editors, stuff like that. Also, the battle system in the game is the same as RPG Maker, but looks much better, and you can do more with it.
Although, the amount of customization really outweighs the cons for me at least.
Overall, if you liked the first RPG Maker, you should pick this up, and I recommend you start on beginner mode, period. You'll be hella confused if you think you're good enough to start on hard you're first time through. And if it took a while for you to understand RPG Maker, expect to take three times as much time with RPG Maker 2. It's really a good game to suck time and realize your creativity.:)
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Originally Posted by Zelda64Gld
I love trying to make games even though I suck at it.
