Which version should I get since both are on sale right now? MZ or MV?

[Uncle Jon]

MZ is the newest one as far as I know but it goes for 51.99. But MV is a lot cheaper and it goes for 15.99. How much different is MZ compared to MV? Is it worth paying 36 more dollars for the newest rpg maker game, or should I just get the previous game which is cheaper? What makes MZ better than MV? Also what are some changes?

[YouTube.com/StoneLegion]

In the long term it's worth it because at least I hope they'll continue to update MZ over the next two to three more years. I think the idea is every maybe four to five years will come up with a new big update.

That being said I haven't kept up and there was not a massive change between the two versions but I believe most scripts or should I say a lot of scripts work from one version to the other version. That being said most people will slowly start working on just the newer version in content and so it tends to be a bit better.

It's really hard to say if you don't have the money you probably would be better off with the older version if you do have the money I would say go for the newer one. Maybe somebody here can offer a better suggestion.

I actually have the first one and I'm really debating buying this one though it's quite expensive even on sale. The good news is just because I have the first one I can still buy it as a bundle and get a bigger discount.

I had a lot of fun playing with it even though I have never released anything I just wish there was a decent built-in net code to it. Just to make something simple with friends to play around with.

[JohnDoeNews]

MV for 15.- is a great deal! I own both MZ and MV, but I still use MV and not MZ.

MZ is a bit more filled up with, in my opinion, needless extra's. Like layered mapping and moveroute previews. Those are really handy features, but at the cost of performance on older/cheaper computers.

Another thing MZ had that MV has not, is 3D animations, in a 2D engine. In my eyes, this is just not nessecary. 2D animations are good enough in a 2D game engine.

As you can see, MZ requires a much better computer than MV. Not just for you as developer, but also for your players. That is all because of the extra features MV doesn't have.

Note that pretty much anything you can make with MZ, you can also make with MV. It might take (a little) more afford to learn, but in return it is cheaper and runs on much, much older computers.

[Moga CMDR]

If you are completely new, both are fine. I have both, and have a lot of hours in them. The main reason I use MZ now is plugins. Some of the plugins I used in MV stopped getting updates and don't work on the latest MV, and I need the latest MV for other plugins and stuff.

MZ still gets plugin updates. That said, MV had better free stuff, IMO. But none of this really matters too much if you are completely new. (and some of that free stuff no longer works...so there is that)

If money is a concern, save money. MV is still good. If money is less of a concern, I think MZ is a good place to start.

[Tea]

As an avid MZ user myself, I would say definitely MZ! It's just so much nicer to use and makes a better performing product, plus when the tileset change option gets added, it's going to be a game changer!!! :D MZ is also much more future proof, new Mac OS already left MV in the dust...

Also, you can still use 2D MV style sprite animations in MZ natively if you want to, you don't have to use the particle effects.

[JohnDoeNews]

Originally posted by Tea:

Also, you can still use 2D MV style sprite animations in MZ natively if you want to, you don't have to use the particle effects.

That might be true, but that does not make the requirements for the game back to MV standards. The fact that 3D animations is an option, makes the game require a lot more of the computer.

MV games run on really old, €60 tablets. MZ games are just too heavy for that. Of course this is something that happens in game development anyway, but I like that MV games can run on pretty much anything with a browser, without worrying about the requirements. Even if that means I have to be creative with my events.

This is a very personal preference, though. I do understand that most developers would want to use the newest prettiest functions, more than they want their game to be played on old, cheap systems.

[YouTube.com/StoneLegion]

Originally posted by JohnDoeNews:

Originally posted by Tea:

Also, you can still use 2D MV style sprite animations in MZ natively if you want to, you don't have to use the particle effects.

That might be true, but that does not make the requirements for the game back to MV standards. The fact that 3D animations is an option, makes the game require a lot more of the computer.

MV games run on really old, €60 tablets. MZ games are just too heavy for that. Of course this is something that happens in game development anyway, but I like that MV games can run on pretty much anything with a browser, without worrying about the requirements. Even if that means I have to be creative with my events.

This is a very personal preference, though. I do understand that most developers would want to use the newest prettiest functions, more than they want their game to be played on old, cheap systems.

LOL, I had to laugh your wording there in the end was dramatic both ways :)

[JohnDoeNews]

Originally posted by Stone Legion:

LOL, I had to laugh your wording there in the end was dramatic both ways :)

:p It wasn't meant to be dramatic though. Just for me it is important that old computers, tablets and phones can run my game. That isn't the case for every developer. :p In the gaming industry prettier and newer often stands for quality. That is why the development of game consoles go faster than any other device and that is also why game PC's are so much more expensive than any other personal computer.

But as someone who never was very rich, I always hated that I couldn't play the newest games or that I had to play WoW on low quality graphics. When I could finally play pokemon go, everyone else had already stopped playing... for years.

I don't care about that stuff anymore. I bought a PS4 as soon as it came out and I was king of the hill for years. This time, my friends bought the console way after me instead of the other way around. And Hoghwards Lagecy will come out on PS4 too, so I don't feel the need to buy a PS5 just yet.

But I never forgot how it felt: Seeing a game, wanting to play it, but not having a system that could run it. And that is why I want my games, as much as I can help it, being able to run on all computers, even the ones in poor peoples households.

(Now, that is dramatic. Hahaha.)

[Hajami]

Definitely MZ.
And MZ offers better improoved Game performance in comparison to MV thanks to
a very huge core code update/rewrite.
And it is the first RPG Maker that is geting features added after it's release.
MV updates were mostly fixing Bugs. Similiar Engine but MZ is the future for the next Years to come.

[Moga CMDR]

Originally posted by Hajami:

Definitely MZ.
And MZ offers better improoved Game performance in comparison to MV thanks to
a very huge core code update/rewrite.

That was my experience too. But I guess it depends on what people are doing/using.

[Zalzany]

MZ is better with plugins more optimized for mobile use as well. Just over all MV was good, but it had a lot of flaws only people holding out got things that won't convert over easy, every one else who complains says "everthing converts but I don't get any new assets with the purchase!" Its like no you don't you get a more stable game engine lol.

I got MZ not because it offered something better then MV because it did everything MV did better. The changes to the base code don't show up well for many, but I played a lot of plugin heavy MVs and especially ealry on the mouse click support was garbage. Like I can tell if its MV or MZ when I play games based on how well the game handles me clicking to move lol. Its bearly noticable to people who don't spend a ton of time but some RPG games I play I put like 50 hours in and that lag on pathing you feel it on a longer game when you just played an MZ game with out it lol.

Overall its just more stable and better performance people going "depends on what you are doing" are really saying how badly programed are you MZ plugins they are bad coded, yes its worse if they did a good job its always better lol. There is no depends, you find similiar plugin for MV if it exits 9/10 it runs slightly worse you may not catch it in short runs but long games you feel it.

And it drives me nuts there is hold outs for MV I get if you got it and you got bare bones basic game sure it run good enough and you got spend money for the new engine but you brand new to M series get MZ. Its like grabbing VX instead of VX ace. Why would you do it?

Only thing more annoying when people who got 6 hours in total in RPGM go "Unite will charge roylatees!" Unity don't charge you a cent unless you break 10k a year, if you making 10k a year on RPG Maker games you are freaking legend man lol. And main reason to not get that is it will take a while for support for stuff, but once its got support from coders oh my god if you got some capital Unite should offer you plenty of ways to spend it on commercial licensed stuff lol. Like I got comercial plugins for Visutellamz, but unity plugin support that will be a whole new level for "god I wish I could afford to invest more!"

But otherwise if you got this stick with it. I am using this for now good support good amount of plugins if you know where to look including comercial and free use ones. No engine will be easy though, like one guy complained and said used godot in his reivew that is 12 times the work then googling plugins for this game lol. But native this is less buggy, very stable, and if you get around to plugin shopping or collecting free use ones it will run better the MV will unless like I said the free use ones are badly coded, or you got ripped off on comercially sold one lol

[ZombieKidzRule!]

I asked myself this same question back in December, during the Winter sale. I researched, asked questions, watched comparison videos, and ultimately decided to buy MZ, which is the version I am learning now.

I definitely don't regret that.

And I ended up buying all the other versions shortly thereafter, also on sale. Mostly so I can legitimately use any resource for any of the versions and I can look at using resources from older versions and converting them MZ, if any conversion is needed.

Personally, for someone who doesn't have any prior experience with an RPG Maker, I would recommend starting with MZ.

[AnInfiniteArc]

Originally posted by JohnDoeNews:

:p It wasn't meant to be dramatic though. Just for me it is important that old computers, tablets and phones can run my game.

As far as I can tell, MZ's performance is much better than MV's. It seems like they did a lot of back-end optimization and it helped a lot. MZ seems to run even better than VXAce.

I started to have issues with MV where my layer mapped + dynamic lighting game would get choppy if the maps got much bigger than 20x20, but after porting over to MZ I haven't had any issues whatsoever, using much larger maps. It could be the plugins being more efficient, but still.