RPG Elements?

[zfan121]

So I know we'll be able to use variables to do the non-battle rpg stuff, but...will it be possible to add Final Fantasy ish RPG battles to a game made with this?
I'm talking, all the bells and whistles. Animated battler sprites, screen transition to the battle phase, victory/level up screen etc.

[Dirak2012]

In that case, i think you are better off buying and using RPG Maker MV, and add VN elements to the game, that's easy enough.

[Archeia]

Yes it's possible.

[zfan121]

Originally posted by Archeia:

Yes it's possible.

Thank You for a solid answer, knowing it's possible will make me a little braver to experiment.

As for why I'm not using RPG Maker MV for this project, it's far more visual novel than RPG.
It's not a full on hybrid game but there's just enough RPG stuff to break up the 'gameplay' of a visual novel. (which...always bugs me when people ask for more gameplay in a VN...)
If it was equal parts both genres, RPG maker would be better, but seeing as it's mostly VN I'd like to see what I can do with a dedicated Visual Novel engine first.

[Kentou]

Hello zfan121,

adding RPG elements to a VN such as battles is an interesting and not uncommon thing. If you look at games such as Fire Emblem, which is one of my favorites, those are actually like VNs, at least from the story-telling perspective plus tactical battles.

Since you are allowed to use all Assets from all RPG Maker versions published by DEGICA, adding a battle system to VN Maker is indeed a very interesting idea since you can access all monster graphics, battler animations, backgrounds, etc. from RPG Maker too.

VN Maker has a powerful plugin system which allows you to modify the Editor too. That allows plugin developers to make plugins which can be used by regular users without any „hacking/scripting“ knowledge. So it would be possible to add a battle system to VN Maker with a plugin and make it as easy to use as with RPG Maker or even better.

Instead of waiting for a plugin you can also try to do it by yourself of course. Depending on the complexity, a battle system can be done without scripting just by using VN Maker’s built-in commands or using scripting or a combination of both. The command/event-system in VN Maker is a lot more advanced than RPG Maker.

Animated battler sprites, screen transition to the battle phase, victory/level up screen etc.

VN Maker supports custom spritesheet animations & Live2D by default as well as customizable screen transitions. Live2D technology is not only useful for character portraits but can also be used for battlers or monsters. With plugins, it would also be possible to add other third-party skeletal-animation technologies such as Spine or Dragon Bones to VN Maker.

I hope that answer gives you a better overview about how things are.

[zfan121]

That is a very therough and much apriciated answer.
I will say, the native live 2D support is one of the reasons I tried Tyranobuilder, but it was kind of a mess in the UI department and had no free assets to use as placeholder content. I did give it a fair try, but it was far too limited without heavy scripting.

Visual Novel Maker might be even better for all three of my projects (one full blood RPG and two visual novels ) and especially with it's simpler interface and being able to do most things through simple eventing and drop down lists.

I look forward to learning Java through using this game maker engine as I can (eventually) use that skill elsewhere. But I also look forward to a well prepared documentation, it seems like that's the only thing that the Maker series suffers from. It is true you can go to the forums for help, but having those answers at the ready within the program is so much nicer.

[Vorpal Da Wondercat]

I'm wondering where I mgiht be able to find programmers interested in being paid to develop these plugins, to be honest.

[triptych]

I'm going to be working on a game that has primarily visual novel aspects but a lot of RPG elements. It's the reason I chose this engine over RPG maker that you can do "both" here :) Can't wait to crack open the engine and really dig into what is possible. Can we use WebGL and other advanced features like WebRTC?

[wizard1200]

Originally posted by Kentou:

Instead of waiting for a plugin you can also try to do it by yourself of course. Depending on the complexity, a battle system can be done without scripting just by using VN Maker’s built-in commands or using scripting or a combination of both. The command/event-system in VN Maker is a lot more advanced than RPG Maker.

It would be great if you could develop and publish a DLC that adds a battle system to the VN Maker.

[Rebecca Kalista]

Originally posted by Vorpal Hasselfrau:

I'm wondering where I mgiht be able to find programmers interested in being paid to develop these plugins, to be honest.

Clearly I'm not there yet, but down the road, might be willing to try dipping a toe or two in that kind of work. Will depend on how comfortable I get with the engine (I have yet to give that a try), but I do intend to use scripting when I'll start making games of my own so might as well grind experience while helping other projects out.