Rpg Maker 3 is the third installment of the hit rpg kit series Rpg Maker from Agetec. Since we are going over a review of an rpg kit as oppose to an actual rpg game, we are going to change the set up of how Rpg Dreamers normally do reviews as the criteria of our normal reviews won't work on Rpg Maker 3 because Rpg Maker 3 isn't an actual rpg game.
Rpg Maker was first introduce to the PC platform as an rpg development kit for fans to use so they can create their own rpg. Since that time, the series has grown in popularity to the point where the series was brought over to the Playstation console by Agetec. Rpg Maker 3 marks the third installment of the series but the second installment on the Playstation 2 as Rpg Maker 2 was the first installment for the Playstation 2.
As a whole, Rpg Maker 3 is bigger, better, and more easy to use than any of its previous incarnations. It's a combination of better 3-D graphics, a bigger creation editor, and more selection of characters and monsters with animation all rolled into one. This easy to use toolset was made ideally for kids to be able to experience on their own on what it's like to be able to create an rpg game. You could say making their fantasy of being a game developer come true.
Rpg Maker 3 is broken down into four main categories when it comes to providing the necessary tools for rpg fans to use to make their own rpg game. The four main categories are The World, Story and Rules, Characters & Items, and Data Management.
Let us break down each of these four categories and have a look at them individually.
The World
What a wonderful world.
To bring your rpg world to life, you'll need to have towns, fields, and dungeons. The World is where you will find Editors that will help bear such fruition. There are four Editors for you to work with. They are Town Editor, Field Editor, Dungeon Editor, and Layout Editor.
Field Editor: The interesting thing about the Field Editor is that it's very easy and simple to use. You can either use one of the many pre-created fields that the game already provides or you can just draw your own fields with the 2-D drawing tool that the game provides. However the interesting thing is that once you finish drawing and assigning terrains on the 2-D fields that you just created, the game actually converts the 2-D fields into 3-D fields for you, very nicely done. There are three settings for you to work with here. They are Basic, Environment, and Encounter. The basic setting is where you will be creating or loading a pre-made field. Once you have that done you go over to the environment setting where you can assign background music, climate, and weather of the field. And to finish it off, you have the encounter setting where you can select the terrain where monsters will be encounter, the rate of the encounter, and the number of monster parties that you will encounter.
Town Editor: Towns or cities can be created here. There are four stages that you can work with. They are Basic, Environment, Castle, and Open Land. The Basic setting is where you just have the overall look of what a town will look like from the outside. Environment setting is choosing the background music of the town and the atmosphere of the town such as its time of day, season, and weather conditions of a town. If you decide to have a castle in a town then you would use the Castle setting to assign where the entrance of the castle is. Open Land is when you decide to basically just have a large open area in a town so you can place a launch pad for various transports that the party can use.
Dungeon Editor: No rpg game is complete without dungeons for the players to explore and battle in. The Dungeon Editor will allow players to create dungeons from scratch or to load and edit pre-set dungeons that Rpg Maker 3 provides. Creating dungeons are done in three stages. They are basic settings, environment settings, and encounter settings. Basic settings are where you can create dungeons from scratch, give names and graphical images to them. Environment settings are assigning background music, the overall look of the dungeon from the inside, and any possible secret rooms. Encounter settings are areas in which you can assign the floors that will have random encounters, the rate of the random encounters and the type of monsters that you can encounter.
Layout Editor: Once you finish creating your fields, towns, and dungeons you can begin laying everything out and connecting everything together with the Layout Editor. The Layout Editor also allows you to create and add trees, rocks, buildings, and other things to help make your rpg world more realistic by accessing and using the Building Editor within the Layout Editor. You will be using the Layout Editor to finalize how a town looks from the inside by adding in buildings and other ornaments and to finalize how the world field will look with trees and rocks, ect. In essence the other Editors are to create the outside looks while the Layout Editor is to create the inside look to everything.
Characters & Items
Using the Monster Editor.
Creating battle skills.
Game
Information
Genre: Rpg Development
Kit
Publisher: Agetec
Disc:1 DVD Disc
Memory:2705 KB
Players: 1 Player
Mode
Analog Control:Yes
Rating: Everyone
Release: September 2005
This category is basically where you are creating
the backbones of all the characters and monsters in a game as well as the items
and weapons used. It's fun but very hard work as not only are you just creating
main characters, but you are also creating NPCs and monsters that you will be
fighting. And depending on how massive of an rpg you are creating, it can be a
lot of work. There are six editors here for you to work with. They are Class Editor,
Special Skill Editor, Character Editor, Monster Editor, Monster Party Editor,
and Item Editor.
Class Editor: Before you even start creating main characters, you'll need to create a database of job classes for your main characters. You start off with setting up the basic look and name of the job class to editing each job class parameters including the leveling rate of the job class. From there you work on each job class battle skills unique within that job class that you just created including setting up any attack or defense traits for the job class. The option to load up pre-created job classes is available for you to use as well so you can edit them to your liking.
Special Skill Editor: If you decide that each job class should have a special skill that none of the other job class has then you will want to work with the Special Skill Editor. You'll work with the basic setting of the special skill such as the learning level, area effect of the skill if any, and the HP or MP cost of that special skill. Once you have the basic setting down to how you like it, you then can begin working on the visual effect of the special skill to determine how you want that skill to look in battle animation.
Character Editor: This is where you create main characters and NPC characters. You start out by setting a character parameter then graphic, and finally the item and equipment that character starts out with. Of course if you are creating a NPC character, you'll need to skip a few of those settings and work with the NPC event codes where you basically assign each NPC what to say or do base on how you want them to act in the game. You can speed things up by just loading pre-set samples of characters already done that Rpg Maker 3 has in the database.
Monster Editor: Here you'll be creating the various monsters in your game including any bosses you wish to have. You start out with the basic monster setting such as name, size, and look of the monster. Then work on their battle skills and parameters. You can skip all that by just loading the pre-set samples of monsters already created for you and just editing their parameters. Making things so easy for you.
Monster Party Editor: Once you created all the monsters that you need for the game, you'll need to start grouping your monsters into a monster party in the editor so they can be assigned for battles. Once you have a monster party ready, you need to assign the level of the monster party and even the items that are dropped from the monsters at the end of each battle. There are no pre-set monster parties for you to load up to use. You'll need to do all the work here yourself.
Item Editor: In this editor is where you will be creating equipment, accessories, consumable items, and treasure (key items). If you decide to create something new from scratch, you will have to give each item a name and description as well as choosing the graphic for the item and visual effect of it. Of course this all depends on what item you are creating. You will also need to assign each item their individual parameters. What parameters are needed to be assign will vary base on the item you are creating. Now creating every single item in an rpg game will be very time consuming especially if you need to assign name and parameters. To make things faster and easier, like all the other features in Rpg Maker 3, you can load pre-set samples of each type of items from the database of Rpg Maker 3 and use them instead. This way you don't need to create everything from scratch if you don't feel like spending the time needed for it. You can also edit any of the loaded samples as well to the parameters of your choice.
Story and Rules
Setting up key story events.
The backbone of any rpg game is the story that is being told. The Storyteller Editor is going to be your tools in creating an rpg story. There are basically three stages to work with, Basic Settings, Event Key Setting, and Preview.
The preview stage isn't too hard to understand since you are basically just previewing the story you have created so far. The basic setting is setting up the name of the story, the style in how you want the story to be told, and creating the storyteller. The storyteller is basically how you want to story to be told when the story start off. This can be told in a narration or none narration. The main stage that you will be working with is the Event Key stage where you basically need to assign key events in a certain order to certain stages of the story to have the story unfold. You've seen it in all rpg games where once you achieved a goal or event, a story cutscene will follow that event. This is what you are basically setting up in the Event mode. It's where you want the gameplay to stop and for the story to be told to the gamers. Understanding how to line up the story and creating key events is very important to your storytelling. Unfortunately the only drawback in Rpg Maker 3 is that the Storyteller Editor isn't as easy to understand and to use as the other Editors. They made it as simple as possible but personally it's still not as simple enough because chances are unlike the other editors, it will take you a bit to understand before you can figure out how to use the Storyteller Editor like it was intended to be use.
Data Management
Laying out the entire data.
This is where your entire game data that you created in Rpg Maker 3 is stored. You can access your entire game data pretty much anytime you want on whatever editor that you are using. Accessing your Data Management allows you to over look everything you have done so far when creating your rpg game. You can also edit certain stuff from your game inside your Data Management as well. You have the option of saving your database on a memory card or onto the Playstation 2 harddrive if you have one. The Data Management really is a simple tool for you to use and to oversee everything that you have done and put into your rpg creation.
Rpg Maker 3 provides fans exactly what it was created and intended for and that is an excellent development kit for rpg fans to be able to create their own basic rpg game with the Playstation 2 engine. Fans won't be able to create a professional rpg game like the pros since any such game would require massive resources and money, but they can create a massive beginner's rpg game using the simple tools that Rpg Maker 3 provides. This will give fans an instrumental tool to be able to play out their dreams of creating their own rpg game. It's also a great beginner's learning tool for any future rpg game developer to have an insight on just how much work and effort goes to making an rpg game. While the tools are there for players to use to make their own rpg game, it still takes a lot of imagination and effort from the players themselves to create a massive good beginner's rpg game with Rpg Maker 3. Make no mistake about it, Rpg Maker 3 is fun but it's also work as well. If you're looking for a chance to try your own hand out on creating your own fantasy rpg game, then you need not look further as Rpg Maker 3 is your one and only stop for all the resources and tools you will need to make that dream into a reality. It's a simple but very impressive tool that shouldn't be underestimated on what it can do. A few improvements need to be done such as providing more customizable changes and looks to your rpg characters in game, better storyteller
editor, and more enhanced graphic style. Having said all that, there's really no other alternative or better development rpg kit out there beside Rpg Maker 3 and that's the bottomline.
