Which system is right for me?

Hi all.    I'm looking at the RPG Maker series to see if one of them can accomodate the features I am planning for a game. The game will actually be more like a SIM rather than a traditional RPG; there will be no monsters and no battles. But it will share many features common to RPGs. The basic gameplay, which will revolve around having the PC walk around a 2-D map and interact with other characters, is well-suited for an RPG Maker engine. I have player around before with RPG Maker 2000, so I have some idea of what is possible, but I don't know much about the newer systems. What I need to know is which system if any can allow me to implement the following features:


1. Fully customized status screens
     Rather than the traditional screens that display the attributes of heroes in the player's party, their skills, equipment, etc, I want to display status screens with attributes for upwards of a dozen or so characters. And I will need more than one status screen for various occasions (not just when the player "pauses" the game).

2. Custom character attributes
     Rather than attributes like strength, dexterity, etc, characters will have a set of attributes such as trust, confidence, popularity, and such.

3. Continual and random character movement
     I want to create a city with a life of its own. Most of the time I am going to want a significant number of characters on the map, all going about their own paths. Most of the characters need not be interactive, but some of them the PC will be able to stop and talk to. It is important that the game be always adding and removing characters from the map, and that it chooses which new character will enter the map *randomly*. 

4. Giving items to characters
     When the PC stops to talk to a character, he will be offered a few options: TALK, ASK, GIVE. When he chooses GIVE he will be able to select from a list of items in his inventory to give to that character.  I need a system with good support for the above kind of player decision-making.

5. Fluid game clock
     I will need control over the game's clock so that, for instance, when the PC does some action I can manually advance the time, and at specified times I can call various events. 


Which RPG Maker can handle these things?
Any help would be appreciated.

I would suggest XP, but all versions can carry out these tasks in the hands of an intelligent user.

But XP would be easiest for this particular job. You'll need plenty of scripts though, although 3, 4, and 5 are all easily done with events (well, not sure exactly what you mean by 5), and could be done on any of the makers with proper eventing.

OK, so you won't need that many scripts for this, just a CMS

Best way is to get them, try them from oldest version made, to newest, and then see which one you like. I stick with xp, because I like the way it looks, but it lacks alot.

Okay, I'm looking at XP now and it has the script editor which lets me get at the low level code. This is good. I didn't remember seeing anything like that when I tried 2003. However, XP won't seem to run unless I set my screen resolution to 1024 x 768.  A little annoying since I always prefer 800 x 600.

HaloOftheSun, what is a CMS?

THE the the the the greatest thing about XP is the unlimited size of tileset files.  They can be thousands of pixels tall.  This is incredibly useful.

CMS = Custom Menu System

CBS = Custom Battle System

Thanks.

Okay, I've got a couple more questions. Because of the higher screen resolution in XP the hero appears not to walk around the map as swiftly as in 2003. There must be an easy way to speed up his movement. Can anyone tell me how it's done?

Also, how easy is it to port games from 2003 to XP?

I don't think it is possible.

Was that a no to the first question or the second?

Also, how easy is it to port games from 2003 to XP?

To speed up character's movement just have an event at the start of the game that sets his movement speed to whatever you want, there are like 6 options.  I think 4 is default for player, 3 is default for events.

Got it, thanks

Thanks.

Okay, I've got a couple more questions. Because of the higher screen resolution in XP the hero appears not to walk around the map as swiftly as in 2003. There must be an easy way to speed up his movement. Can anyone tell me how it's done?

Also, how easy is it to port games from 2003 to XP?

Just press F1 during a test play and turn on the first two options. Press OK and that's it.

And for the 5. question just use the search button. Search for the term DDNS, posted by me, that script is what you need I think.

XP is way better in some ways.. but falls short in other...

have you decided which one oyu are going to use?

Just press F1 during a test play and turn on the first two options. Press OK and that's it.

Can you or anyone tell me what those two options say? I can read Japanese actually, but I only see question marks next to those checkboxes.

And for the 5. question just use the search button. Search for the term DDNS, posted by me, that script is what you need I think.

Yes, that does look like what I need.    Thanks!
Just one question after first glance. Why are there switches for both day and night? Doesn't it suffice to have one switch to toggle between them?

have you decided which one oyu are going to use?

XP seems to be the way to go. I already have a status screen made for my game using scripting. God knows how long that would have taken using only events.

The first options says:

Smooth Mode (Pentium 4 1.5GHz or higher)

The second says:

Reduce screen flickering

As for the DDNS:
Having 2 switches allows an "off state" of the DDNS, where neither day nor night is active and the maker can control the enviroment himself. This is needed for example for cutscenes, where you change the map and need to tint the screen yourself, so the DDNS won't interfere. It's an important feature Near Fantastica once forgot in his DNS: The option to turn it off if needed.

That makes sense.
Well then, I'll certainly plan to use this in my game