RPG Inventor - A New RPG Maker in development

[jneul]

I'm just curious, but how much functionality is presently in your eventing model for RPG Inventor?

I ask, because it appears as though you have... a map editor, and a party system.

Depending on the level of complexity involved, a map editor can take around 24 hours to code (I was dared once...).

What else is done (please refrain from mentioning basic I/O persistence operations, and behaviors related to program centric project management)?

Edit:
Your website goes to mention that it intends to be used for the PC or the XBox 360. I'm assuming this is why you've opted to construct your own interface controls for use on either platform. Have you done the proper research to determine whether such a program would be allowable on the 360 given it would be a development program versus an actual game, in and of itself? Just food for thought.

Yes the basic mapping system did originally take me 24 hours it was quite quick, but then I added auto tile functionality, tile fading, tile z-order drawing, a very basic collision functionality(same as xp, which is per tile on the map), and an basic events.
Once I added all those features it took me quite a bit of time and this project has been around well for a couple of months now.

I was using a GUI built by Tom Shane, who designed and built his GUI from the ground up in XNA, the problem being that it consumes way to much resources cpu and memory and the program can slow right down to around 20fps once you have everything on screen (including a map), this as I am sure you are aware is just not very good.
Within the past few days I chose to make my own interface to resolve the above issues, plus I think that also his GUI is what is causing my program to crash, I just finished putting together al the basic controls I need just to get back to where I left off.

About the Xbox 360 version, it will be capable of running on the XBOX 360, whether it get's verified or not is another problem, as you say it is really more of a program than a Game, I am sure that I will come across a couple of problems there, however let me make it clear that at the moment I am still in Alpha stage, and I will continue to keep on focusing on the PC version, the Xbox 360 version will be dealt with after the PC Version has been developed. Thanks for your idea and I will put some time into this as soon as I have a working Alpha version, which is really I important, as people will be able to see it is a product rather than just a couple of screens.

 

[jneul]

I found out why RPG Inventor is not working, Microsoft's documentation of what is actually required as a minimum to run xna games is somewhat misleading, I have now updated the requirements:

* Windows XP Service Pack 3
* A graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0c and Shader Model 1.1 is required
* .NET Framework 3.5 or higher is required.
* 3.1 xna Framework
* amd athlon 64 2800 or P4 Intel 2.8Ghz
* RAM 512MB (1GB Recommended)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en (.net framework)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en (3.1 xna framework)

this should finally get the program to run, if it still does not work, you will also need to download xna game studio 3.1 (but that's only if).

Edit: the link for RPG Inventor 0.0.41 is now back up again http://hosting.dkt-solutions.com/jennyn ... ventor.rar

User Guide: http://hosting.dkt-solutions.com/jennyn ... rGuide.rar

 

[jneul]

Update:
I have been working really hard on the new interface for RPG Inventor, and finally I have some new things to show you all.
In the next few days expect a flood of new screens, as I am making real progress now.

Spoiler

 

[jneul]

Update: good news I fixed the speed at which tiles are added for my new interface last night here is a quick video to show you the new fix in action

Spoiler: add tile fix in action

and a final picture of it when i was finished messing around with it after the recording session

in case you are wondering what the green numbers mean that is the amount of fps i am getting during edit mode, which is good considering i also have recording software running as well.

 

[jneul]

Here are more screenshots, I have used the Inquistor Tile Set just to show how flexible the program is

Spoiler

 

[LastEnd]

What is the max amount of tiles allowed on the gameboard?

 

[jneul]

At the moment it is pre-set to a maximum of 50x50 grid, with up to three layers of editing, so that means 7500 tiles per map, and the program is not even struggling, so I will be able to allow even more tiles, when taking into consideration of how many tiles you be allowing to have on your map, you need to take into consideration the user, because obviously they don't all have high-end PC's.
I am currently looking into the possible maximum amount of tiles to allow for this game, but first I need to optimize my interface I have made for RPG Inventor, there are still many things I can do code wise, to improve the performance of this program.
Just to make you aware that this is in its very early stages, and there will be numerous improvements made to this program as I go along.
By the way good luck with your project as well, hope for the best :smile:

Edit: oh i noticed you are dynamically loading in the tiles as they are needed, good startegy, that illiminates the need for a maximum amount of tiles, i may be using this idea, hope you don't mind.

 

[jneul]

Ok another update, here are the screenshots of the Character Setup Dialog

Spoiler: Character Setup Dialog

 

[LastEnd]

Nice! My in-game Messagebox would look great with that dialog with a split color caption like that. Really just art. The GUI editor in it would allready handle it. Are you going to have a gui editor?

 

[jneul]

Eventually, yes as you know coding components can take longer as you have to experiment around with the positions and run it every time you change something just to see the result, if you have a visual designer it speeds up the process of making new dialogs like the one i created above.

 

[jneul]

Update: I hope you are not too disappointed in this short clip but it shows the RPG Player working with my new interface (at an average of 48-50fps!!), it looks like I have some boundary issues with larger sprites, so I will be fixing this in the future.
I will post up a longer version when I implement the map change event back into RPG Inventor, which should not take too long :biggrin:

 

[jneul]

Update: Here you go as promised of movie of the map change event in action (plus music is back working again)

Spoiler: New Movie

Edit: updated the link, as I posted the wrong one, sorry

 

[jneul]

Update: Here are some new screenshots of Event Handing (not scripting)

Spoiler: Event Setup Pictures

As you can see We need to improve the select map position dialog, We will render the whole map at half the scale in the future for this dialog.

 

[jneul]

Another Update :smile:, we now have given the ability to adjust the scale that the map is drawn, here are the screenshots

Spoiler: More screenshots

 

[computerwizoo7]

what are the resolutions?

 

[jneul]

what are the resolutions?

resolutions - for what specifically??

e.g Custom Tile Size is 32x32 (future versions will allow you to control what tile size you wish to use on maps)

 

[Kiriashi]

Well it is looking good so far but please make sure it is better than RMXP, or there is no point. Also, you will need to be able to appoint a position on the map via variables.

 

[jneul]

Well it is looking good so far but please make sure it is better than RMXP, or there is no point. Also, you will need to be able to appoint a position on the map via variables.

That is the whole point of this project, to make a better product than RMXP, really, We already have added in unlimited Tile Set usage on maps.
Map events are set by clicking and dragging the area you wish to use as an event, then you need to select Map Events> Add Event from the menu and choose the evnt type to start setting it up, I think this is far easier to the user.
If you have any more ideas on how to improve our product please feel free to share as it will only help improve the program.
Also eventually we will include a scripting system for more advanced users, so that if you really want to define your own events using code, then you will be able to (in the future)

 

[Jason]

Hmm, what sort of battlesystem would be used in this, would it be the traditional turn based, or something different, such as an ABS ?

 

[jneul]

originally we was going for a side-view turn based system, but we are keeping open minded at this stage, it all depends on what you all prefer, so start voting now as we have not fully developed the battle system yet.
don't worry, we already have done a test side-view system i c#, in case you are wondering, so it should not be too hard to develop it further into a fully working battle system.