I've been messing around with RPG Makers since my brother bought the one on the Playstation when it came out. Then I messed around with 2K3, and now years later XP and VX. I've started little games and such, but never finished one or anything.
I am gearing up to start a project, though, that isn't just a "hey look RPG Maker I'll make a game" game, but a story I've had rumbling around in my head for years and I've finally decided I think that a Maker would be the best way to tell it.
Now, I have *some* graphical skills, some spriting, etc., but not a great deal. So I just wanted everyone's honest thoughts, no need to avoid offending me:
Is it hard for people to take RTP-based games seriously?
What about the DBS?
I've looked into paralax mapping, but it seems kinda weird on VX, and that's what I want to use. Why? I actually *love* some of the RTP sprites. A few of the hero sprites just brought to life the characters I had in my head.
Anyway, I've been lurking here a while and I just thought I'd get some opinions. Thanks for any input. :D
Well, in my opinion, it doesn't really matter whether you're using RTP or anything else, it's the other aspects of the game that really matter. Like Stormriderangel from Rmvx net said, prettier graphics does not equal to prettier maps. It's your skill that will make your game stand out.
Take a look at this post:
http://freebirdgames.com/forum/index.php?topic=2194.0
To me, the first thing I always look at is the style of the project thread followed by screenshots. If the presentation of the game is poor, I probably won't take the game as seriously unless it turns out to be a nice surprise. If a game is made completely RTP graphics, I tend to be skeptical of the actual quality of the game due to how many beginners overuse them. There's been cases where I've been surprised, but those are rare. I tend to be a lot more lenient for VX than XP due to graphical limitations; XP has a million and a half resources out there, while VX is a little more limited and more difficult to use for things like tilesets.
Regardless, everything mostly remains on your creation skill. If a game is well made, it won't matter much if you use RTP or not.
What matters is that you care about telling the story. If you care about it, other people will be interested.
The DBS is fine, if limited. I don't think that you need to go as far as to drastically change how battles work; scripts are available to enhance it. Unique systems can be evented or tacked on via script but if you don't want to do something complicated (i.e. tankentai), don't. It's not just effort but also compatability and focus that's the issue. You can't make a perfectly well rounded game.
Graphics wise? I'm a gameplay person so meh.
It doesn't matter what game it is, if you play it for a couple of hours your mind forgets about the graphics because it doesn't focus on them anymore. However, it is still very important because when the game is first displayed, it can show the 'quality' of the game. If the person cares about how their game looks, they'll most likely be the same person who cares about every other aspect of the game. I think it's great to attempt to make all aspects of the game fantastic because, most of the time, all it takes is effort, research, and a little more time.
While I don't mind the RTP graphics (some of the sprites and their associated faces look pretty nice, imo), I'm not a huge fan of the DBS. If you want my opinion, I would say that using a 3rd party battle system like Battle Engine Melody or even PRABS if you want a more Zelda-esque style of combat.
Just my two cents worth. Good luck with your game!