The entire PTEI series is actually about showing that a active and dynamic gameplay is possible to create in a RPG Maker. Instead of Turned Base Battles, the entire PTEI series has complete Real Time Battles against some tough enemies.
About 4 years ago, I first got in contact with RM2K. PTEI didn't exist, but I was already working on a system on how to make Shooting Gameplay possible in RM2K.
At the moment nothing like that was ever attempted before, so forget about tutorials. I was on my own with this system. It nearly took me half a year to finally come up with a working system, believe it or not WITHOUT the use of both Variables or Switches. It was pretty lame and had limited range but It worked! Eventually this evolved into the shooting system PTEI1 used. Before PTEI1, I made 2 other projects worth mentioning "Revenge of the Nerds" & "Metal Gear Solid 3".
Revenge of the Nerds, was my true first project... It was about an army of Nerds trying to take over the world. I got the idea when it suddenly accured to me that the amount of Nerds on my school became overwhelming. I don't mean to offend anyone with this, I was about 14 at that time. It did use the DBS but it was the first game with the Matrix effect included. It never got further then level 1 which ends in a spectacular scene.
Metal Gear Solid 3, First game I completed with a CBS. It didn't have the Gun System but it had a sneaking system, you could knock out guards and put them in lockers as well. I got the idea after playing the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo which blew me away. It was short but very funny.
Then I decided to start on a real project. I watched one or two Pokémon episodes to many and wham it hit me! Me versus the Pokémon. That's how PTEI1 was born, with the most functional version of my shooting system. I got to work, making sprites and planning ahead, and started thinking. One CBS will get boring quickly, why not make several variants of gameplay modes which switch during levels or in between levels? Soon the Sniper Shooting Mode was created. Later on the more advance "Action Battle Mode" which was based upon very old shooters where you can only move up and down and shoot in 1 direction, this System proved to be successful and fun and then was used through out the game in the Boss Fights. One and a half years of work from start to the release of "Pokémon, The Evil Inside". Which to my surprise was pretty successful.
The story wasn't over, not by a long shot. PTEI2 was unavoidable, after a break of RM2K for about 2 months. I wanted to get started on PTEI2. With the help of an other great RM2K Gamemaker "black_mage#1" an completely new and experimental shooting system was created which is upgraded and still used in PTEI2 to this day. Because it was a sequel, I know I have to make this one better then the first one. Luckily for me, that wasn’t so hard! Comparing the Demo of PTEI2 with PTEI1 complete will show enough to prove that fact. Even more and radical gameplay modes are introduced, GTA Mode (use of vehicles at anytime and anywhere), Crisis Battle Mode (Similar gameplay to the game Time Crisis), FPS Mode (First person Shooting Mode), etc....
The primary engine behind the PTEI series success is its gameplay, which changes every step during the game and is very dynamic and fun. Instead of having to think all the time about your next move, you got little time to react properly otherwise it could mean your end. This puts players more on the edge of their seats, trying to do their best in playing the game. That's what it’s all about, bringing joy and fun to the players.
