RPG Maker 2003 Changelog

[Archeia]

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http://steamcommunity.com/app/362870/announcements

Added

• First official English translation.
  
• Colored event command highlighting.
  
• Event commands now have different colors, based on the colors used in RPG Maker VX Ace.
  
• The event script list is using a striped background.
  
• If the Windows color scheme is very dark, the colors will be inverted.
  
• The resource manager now shows additional descriptive names for folders.
  
• The event commands “Show Picture”, “Move Picture”, “Show Animation”, “Flash Event”, “Set Move Route”, “Play BGM”, “Play SE”, “Key Input Processing” and “Conditional Branch” now show additional information in the event script list.
  
• When event script lines are copied to the clipboard, they are now additionally stored in text format. This will allow event scripts to be copied to text editors, web forums, etc.
  Please note that this does not work the other way round!
  
• Event script lists can now be scrolled horizontally using the new scrollbar or the left/right directional keys.
  
• New “Step Frame Fix” animation type for events: Disables walking animation (using a fixed step frame) but still allows changing direction.
  
• Support for opening multiple instances simultaneously (but every project only once).
  
• Improved project handling.
  Projects now have a project file (*.r3proj) which can be opened from Windows Explorer or from jumplists.
  
• The current project’s title is now displayed in the title bar.
  
• The current project’s path is now displayed in the status bar if the map tree’s root item is selected.
  
• For more efficient use of Common Events in battle, event commands can now be copied between Map/Common Events and Battle Events, even though they would normally not be compatible (e.g. “Abort Battle” in a Common Event). A warning is shown in this case. Currently, it’s not possible to edit such “foreign” commands at their new location, they can only be deleted (or copied back).

Changed

• New fonts.
  MS Gothic/MS Mincho as bitmap fonts (“RPG2000”/”RPG2000G”).
  The fonts are now packaged with the software (both editor and runtime) itself and can be used while the software is running, without permanent installation to the Windows “Fonts” folder. This means that players also don’t have to install any additional fonts anymore.
  
• The maximum number of items, skills, variables, switches, etc. has been increased from 5000 to 9999.
  
• The maximum number of pictures concurrently on the screen has been increased from 50 to 1000.
  
• The maximum number of labels in an event has been increased from 100 to 1000.
  
• The default ATB mode when starting a new game is now “Wait”.
  
• Picture operations (Show, Move, Erase) are not blocked by messages anymore.
  
• The maximum size restriction (640x480) for importing pictures has been removed.
  
• The “Enter Hero Name” feature now allows entering 12 characters.
  
• The game now opens in windowed mode by default.
  
  
• Refactoring of the fullscreen mode.
  The fullscreen mode doesn’t use the deprecated DirectDraw technology anymore. It does not change the physical screen resolution either.
  The fullscreen mode should now work faster, always show with correct aspect ratio and work with all computers, regardless of the graphics card or drivers used.
  
• Pressing F5 in fullscreen mode will now enable/disable interpolation.
  There is a known bug: When fullscreen is triggered while a movie is running, the map in the background (if any) won’t be rendered until the movie finished playing.
  
• The order of the texts for the level up message in the vocabulary was changed.
  
• The battles are now faster.
  
• The ATB bars will now decelerate while getting filled.

Fixed

• On Windows Vista and newer, program compatibility alerts appeared, and creation of new projects could fail.
  
• RPG Maker 2003 is now compatible with Windows Vista and newer.
  Installation works without admin rights, and the default project folder is now in “My Documents”.
  
• Viewing the help file on Windows Vista and newer was not possible.
  The help file is now using the CHM (HTML Help) format instead of the outdated HLP (WinHelp) format.
  
• On Windows XP and newer, dialog boxes could become trapped behind their parent windows, causing the RPG Maker to appear hung or blocked. There was no way to get the dialogs back to the foreground other than using Alt+Tab.
  
• Sometimes key input started to behave erratically (i.e. keys not responding when pressed or responding even though not being pressed) until rebooting Windows.
  
• The items “Increase/Decrease Priority” in the context menu of animation sprites in the database’s “Animations” tab were using incorrect icons.
  
• The “Flash Screen” and “Shake Screen” event commands didn’t display their settings in the event script list when the operation “Start” was used.
  
• After changing the game over teleportation location in the “Battle Screen” tab of the database, the change wasn’t displayed until the window was repainted.
  
• Map data could be lost if various “PC cleaner” tools were active while the RPG Maker was running. No error would appear, but when the map was opened the next time, it was empty (20x15, all water).
  
• When a new event was created, its name would not immediately appear in the status bar.
  
• Opening events with a long script would take very long.
  
• Copying “Change Gold” or “Change Level” event commands into a battle event didn’t work.
  
• The “Small/Large Window” and “Transparent” options in “Battle Screen” were sometimes disabled even though they had an effect.

Removed

• Different transparency values for top and bottom half of an image.

[Firgof]

When event script lines are copied to the clipboard, they are now additionally stored in text format. This will allow event scripts to be copied to text editors, web forums, etc.
Please note that this does not work the other way round!

Any hope of that (pasting into RM creating events) becoming a feature in the future? Would be pretty killer.

[gadesx]

There is any possibility of seeing a Spanish translation? I can make the translation, I've used this Rpg maker since 2003.

[Sturmlilie]

Is this codebase still in Delphi?

[CherryDT]

@Firgof Umbra: I thought about that as well, but it would require adding all parameters, and IDs of things (heroes, items, etc.) into the text so it could be unambigously parsed. Plus, parsing it is a hell of an effort on its own. You can, however, use a tool like RMEventFactory (http://cherrytree.at/cms/download/?did=11) to export an event from the clipboard to a file, sent it to somebody, and they can import it back to the clipboard and copy it into RM.

@Ancu: Yes. However, this release was a bit more complex because the original source code was not available, which means that binary modifications were required.

@-=|GTTL|=-Tron: It is possible, of course, but it's not planned at the moment. It would require changes at many different places in the system, and I'm not sure there is enough demand for it. The current limit is arbitrary, it's not because of any byte boundaries.

[「Carlous Rex」]

Quick questions:
1.Will there be cyrillic support (not translation, just support, because right now there is just wrong symbols.)
2.And will there be any updates so, it will be possible for characters to be at least a little bigger in overworld sprites? (probably not, i understand)
3.And will be possible to change standard glyphs with desired custom ones?

[CherryDT]

1) I think this should be solely a font issue. We could technically actually add support for this in the future, but I don't have any information about plans in this direction from official end yet. So no promises.
2) Characters bigger: Probably not, but other updates should be following soon.
3) It will be added most likely in an update.

[D6]

Can we get D-Pad support for XInput controllers in a future update?

For such a 2d engine having to use the analog feels pretty bad.

[LeftyGuitar]

If we make a game with RPG Maker 2003, can we sell it? I know you can sell games made in RPG Maker XP and VX Ace, but I want to double check with this one, as now we have an official release of RMk2003.

[CherryDT]

You can, as long as you tell Enterbrain about it by registering yourself. This is also explained in the EULA.

[Cele Teddy]

This version has Ruby Script?

[Hatsukuro]

Nope, no Ruby in 2k3. Just pure event commands.

[Cele Teddy]

Oh, i don't read that. Ty

[MikeyMooMoo]

Any news about audio files?
Originally i think you could use midis and i THINK MP3s, but there was no way to use a loop command for MP3s. I would love to see that added if at all possible.
I also can't stand the color limit for images. It drives me loco.

[LeftyGuitar]

Originally posted by CherryDT:

You can, as long as you tell Enterbrain about it by registering yourself. This is also explained in the EULA.

Thanks for the info.

[berserkgonnahate]

Why is there no support for Russian fonts?