So as of recently, I've decided to take on a project to use RPG maker XP to remake Romancing Saga 2, an older SNES era RPG, mostly for my own edification.

After going around scouring the web for resources and data sheets on the game, I've managed to find a metric ton of material on the subject (most of which are in Japanese), and I think I at this point have a basic understanding on how the game functions.

Onward I forged to look for a suitable toolset that will allow me to do the job with the least amount of fuss. I found RPG Maker XP.

I started looking through the various parts of the engine, and to my horror, I realized that I might have bitten off more than I can chew. The reason why? let's start with the high level stuff.

1. generational system, global levels, experience/skill system and so on.
The game features a "generations" system where after certain amount of time or events, you pick a new regent and form a new party. Things like skill progression are done using global levels, where your previous generations advances are carried over into the new generation.

The game in question has over 256 character choices for your party, not counting the specific plot unique characters that are in the game. The thing is, you can only have 5 in any given time. The good news is, you won't be thrown 256 choices all at the same time. In fact, in game, any time you're constructing a party, you really might effectively have a choice of maybe 12 or so at the same time.

To further complicate matters, the game doesn't use standard experience level gain, but rather have experience levels for EACH skill sets you have. That means tracking over 12 different experience lines for EACH character.

And then there's the fact that some characters have affinities for certain types of skills over others.

And then you add in the fact that base attributes like STR, DEX and such are static and never increase. (They differ over characters though)

And now I'm looking at trying to find a creative solution to handle all of this without going into creating extra layers and classes just to handle this game.

2. battle system
The battle system uses a modified FF style combat system, but far more sophisticated, or at least more complex. There are no standard attack, but there are standard attacks tied to your weapon type. All weapons have offshoot techs (in addition to spells) that can be taught to everyone. The way techs work in this game, you don't learn them from just leveling up, you learn them by "sparking" which is randomly determined based on your level, enemy strength, etc.

Each tech/spell has it's own animation that is compositely made via using an algorithm that grabs the proper character sprites and constructs it. i.e. imagine if Locke from FF6 can learn Sabin's Aura Cannon tech. You can probably imagine the frames you would have to grab. Now imagine a function that grabs the frames for ALL FF6 characters.

And then we have to add in formations, and blablabla, you get the idea.

So... all of this can be done, I can theoretically figure out how they are done. But man, what have I gotten myself into?

RMXP is by fare very VERY flexable. Everything can be changed and customized. Yes what it uses by default can appear rather stagnate when you get down to how easy it can be to change -everything- about how it handles, from simple things like players and how their stats are handled to changing the very battle system it uses.

There are a ton of scrips already made that change every element you can imagine, just have a look around, find systems that would work closest to what you are after and go from there.

Also, those stats you say that don't change? Yes they actually do, and you can set them to change as you level. There is very little that can't be done in RMXP.

It's do-able. It's not easy, but you can definitely do it.

There was once a guy that made a doom-style FPS with XP... yeah, you heard me, a doom-style FPS.

thanks for the reply taiine.

what I meant by the stats don't change is that in RS2, the character stats are not supposed to change, not that the RMXP engine doesn't support this. I mean, a cursory glance at the actor database shows this. I'm just a tad annoyed that I might ahve to just go through all 260 some characters and set their attributes to not change one by one is all.

I will admit, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. But still, just the process of researching and learning the engine is actually a lot of fun for me.

I've also been going through the scripts that have already been created and I've already grabbed a couple for me to study later. The exploration process is actually incredibly fun too. I mean, every time I read a script description, I immediately start thinking to myself, "now how can I use this in my game?" and it's just such a thrill when I finally figure out how I can solve a problem I'm facing. Sure, it might not work, but that's okay. The journey is what counts for me right now.

I've always hated coding when I used to be a web developer because it's always for things I just don't really care about beyond my own professionalism. But for once, it's for something that I honestly interested in, so here's hoping I just don't burn out.

edit: doom style FPS? seriously? how does that even... wow.

Raycasting script, etc.

It was an experimental endeavour, but it looks just like doom with different characters.



I'm glad you're having fun exploring the engine. How long have you been using XP?

I'I'd recommend making a test game first to try out all the different things and get use to the system before diving into making a game. Get a good understanding of stuff :3

about *lookst at watch* 3 weeks.

Yeah, Taiine, I've been just experimenting with different little scripts and modifications first just to make sure I can get things to work. First order fo business for me is to get the new stats I'm adding to show up in the menus. we'll see where I go from there.