RPG Maker MV

An excellent tool for creating your own role-playing game! Lots of fun to use, especially if you have your own dream RPG in mind!

RPG Maker MV is for you if:

• You love single-player 2D role-playing games!
• You are new to game development.
• You want to create an RPG for fun or as a hobby.
• You want to sell your game.
• You have little or no programming experience (or, if you do and enjoy making plugins/scripting!).
• You want your game to be single-player (no multi-player capabilities).
• You want your game to run on many systems, including Windows, Mac, and mobile devices!
• You want your game to include controller support, touchscreen support, mouse support, and of course keyboard support.

Choosing Your Game Engine:

RPG Maker MV is a clear excellent choice if you want to create a single-player 2D role-playing game. That is what RPG Maker does best, and it is wonderful to work with such a powerful, easy-to-use tool when developing an RPG!

However, if you want to build a 2D game that is not an RPG, such as a platformer/jumping game or an action/shooter game, or if your dream is to make a game like Zelda III, you may prefer other game engines (although impressive things have been done with the RPG Maker "Zelda Engine"; but if you embark on such a project with RPG Maker, you need to be a plugin programmer/scripter). But if you'd like a few jumping puzzles, adventure components, or other features like those in Final Fantasy IV or VI, Dragon Quest IV, or Chrono Trigger, or even a free-movement battle system like Secret of Mana, RPG Maker's base features along with community plugins together allow for a variety of possible game types using RPG Maker!

Other engines to consider:

• Smile Game Builder looks fun for making simple 3D RPGs.
• Game Maker may be your choice if you want an action or Zelda style game. Pricey to release your game, though!
• Construct 2 also has a large following for action game making.
• Visual Novel Maker for stories.
• BYOND is a fun community for making multiplayer online games, and a personal favorite of mine.
• Godot is a new alternative to Unity, and preferred by many hobbyists.
• Unity is great for both 2D and 3D games, and multiplayer. Choose this if you are planning a career in professional game development. Much, much longer to learn!

Which is Better, RPG Maker MV, VX Ace, or XP?

If you have never used an RPG Maker product before, and price is not an issue, I recommend RPG Maker MV!

If you are looking for an awesome bargain, get VX Ace on sale! My first RPG Maker experience was with VX Ace, and I loved it! VX Ace only edits and plays on Windows, but is excellent, with many established scripts available!

Other RPG designers also recommend RPG Maker XP as a great place to start if the MV price is an issue. See Echo's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlkTg5kPk30

Selling Your Game:

RPG Maker MV games can be sold, no strings attached, no additional payment to the RPG Maker publisher. So, you can sell your game! However, if you use art, music, or plugins not included with the base product, the artist's terms of use might require payment. Keep track of what you add to your project if you intend to sell it.

Note: You might not make any money with your game. So, do it for the love of your game. Don't quit your day job! If you make money, congrats! Your game is among amazing titles like "Skyborn" and "To the Moon", among many other games made using RPG Maker that are available in the Steam Store: http://store.steampowered.com/tag/en/RPGMaker/

Original Art:

The DLC available for MV is excellent! Also, there are many talented artists who sell their art specifically for RPG Maker MV designers, so you can purchase art that allows you to use it in a commercial product. Or, you can create your own original art or music and add it to your project!

Learning Curve:

RPG Maker MV requires about 5 hours to learn the basics. You can save yourself some trouble by looking up the wealth of RPG Maker YouTube videos. Here is an intro video that may help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDaYpqdk6s4 To become familiar with all the advanced options (event commands, parallax mapping, etc) that come standard with the software, it may require 20 to 30 hours, but your game may only require a handfull of these advanced features, depending on the game you make. Finally, RPG Maker MV has a built-in plugins feature, and it may require 5 to 10 hours to find online and test some free (or purchased) plugins from talented scripters.

For more help, check out the Forums. They are friendly and very helpful: https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php

Free Plugins:

Plugins can add an awesome unique flavor to your game. For example, many developers add plugins to customize the default battle system. Other plugins add lighting effects, while others add adventure-style jumping, weapons, or puzzles. There are many plugins already created and available, and many of those plugins are free to use in commercial projects.

Using freely available plugins is recommended, such as the popular plugins by Yanfly http://yanfly.moe/ , among many others. Plugins by different developers may or may not be compatible with each other's plugins, so test each plugin after you add it, to ensure compatibility.

If you have a solid programming background already, you can also script your own plugins to do basically anything you want within a 2D environment. The scripting language is JavaScript.

How Multiple Developers can work on One Project:

If you have multiple developers, you could take turns working on the same project on one computer. Or, you could split up the project into components, and have each person work on only one component, such as one on plugins and one on maps, and then bring the files together to see them in action. However, I recommend using a subversion system, such as TortoiseSVN, used in conjunction with a file sharing system, such as Assembla, so multiple developers can work on a single project simultaneously or from different computers/locations.

An Example Development Team:

Our developing group has used RPG Maker MV to develop an indie game. We are three developers with various roles in the development process, and only rarely able to meet in person. We share our work easily by using TortoiseSVN linked by Assembla, so that each developer always has the latest update. Rarely, when using DropBox (which does not host), our team member who is our TortoiseSVN expert had to fix the files. Now we use an Assembla Repository, which hosts and so works smoothly, with very few hiccups.

Completing Your Game:

If you are imagining yourself creating an epic RPG like Dragon Quest IV, Final Fantasy VI, or Chrono Trigger, you have found one of the best tools for accomplishing your dream! However, expect it to take about 10000+ hours, at least, to accomplish your goal; if you have multiple developers in your team, this obviously can cut the workload down to size! But if you are imagining a game like Dragon Quest I or II, or the original Final Fantasy, you could be done in more like 1000+ hours. Search "RPG Maker" in the Steam Store, and you will find amazing titles to use as examples.

So, for your first game(s), think small! See this video for tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMNeNapL1E

Conclusion:

RPG Maker MV is for anyone who loves RPGs and wants to make their own! I've loved using this software and interacting with my development team in creating our original role-playing game! If you consider that you'll be using 100s of hours to make you own game, the pricetag becomes very worth it for the great features MV provides!

If you'd enjoy being a hobbyist RPG developer, get RPG Maker MV for cheap when it goes on sale! Or, get it now and you'll be on your way to making your own exciting new adventure!