Is RMVX right for me?

[bearses]

I'm making an rpg, and until today I thought my only option was Sphere, as standard cookie cutter rpg gameplay simply won't cut it for me.

I'm a writer at heart, but I'm certainly no stranger to coding, being an actionscript veteran.

Some things I want to include in my game are a side (or top) view turn based battle system, character creation (adding pieces of scraps to create creatures, and upgrade them over time), a junction system (like materia, but can be equipped to boost stats), and the occasional semi-animated cutscene (nothing grand or complex, just a simple image moving or something).

I thought all these things were impossible, but after trolling a bit, it seems that the system is at least somewhat extensible through custom coding, and I was wondering:

Which would be more of a challenge, doing this in sphere, or in RPG Maker VX?
or more importantly,
How hard would this be in VX?

If anyone is interested in joining my project, I'll be launching my site soon. (You probably aren't yet, but just wait till you see it.)

A big deciding factor for me is having the rpg creation process streamlined a little, which is what drove me away from flash in the first place. As confident as I am in actionscript, the thought of creating an RPG completely from scratch is a little overwhelming.

 

[rpgfanatic]

RMXP and RMVX both would be pretty good for what you said you wanted to do. You can make some pretty neat cutscenes, and the scripts are greatly customizable. That's just my input on the RPG Makers as I really don't know what sphere is :/. And as long as you can do well in pixel art (or know someone who is good) you can get some pretty neat character graphics as well.

 

[Anaxim]

The scripting materials available for RMXP are more diverse and the scripters are many more.
If the consideration is between VX and Sphere, and not knowing Sphere myself, based on your goals, I would say VX would work greatly for you.
Disregard the gripe people might show towards the program's certain features, as 90% of the "downgrades" from XP have been effectively abolished.
Turn based systems are already more than 2, so that one solved.
Char creation, in the vein of what seems Geneforge, can be attained though not script has been made yet.
Materia system has been made for XP and the code can surely be transferred to VX with some dedication. Editing it for further exploits is also simple.
Cutscenes are not even a scripting issue.

However, you do need to take something else into consideration - RM programs are idiots. The source code, which is hard to meddle with, is often what stops a great game from being truly fantastic. I'm assuming you're out for a low cost or freeware program, so have your hand at Construct for a flexible freeware platform. As far whether the choice is clearly the aforementioned 2 - Well, I would go for RM.