xRpgMaker Project

[xywhsoft]

xRpgMaker

Realize an RPG game development tool similar to RPG Maker series software.
I will use FreeBasic as the main development language and Lua or TypeScript2020 as the script-assisted development language.
And provide a complete development tool to configure the game database and edit the map.



Project status: overall planning stage.



Component progress:

Game engine: 80%
Using xywhGameEngine, the current engine still needs some small-scale improvements to support the development of this project.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=29057

Map editor: 40%
I have developed a version based on Win32SDK, but I think that to enhance expressiveness, XUI components of XGE should be used for development, and the current XUI is not perfect.

Database system: 5%
I need a key-value database system similar to Redis. I think it is more suitable for developing games than a data table database system. It performs well in terms of freedom. In the end, I decided to develop this part by myself instead of using a third-party system. , For the data object inheritance function, this function has not been implemented by other databases.

Animation editor: 5%
I have tried to build an animation system in XGE, use the animation format I created, and provide an animation editor similar to FLASH. This is a big project, and I have to reduce its scale as a last resort, and it is still planning.

Game system: 0%
According to my understanding of the RPG Maker series, its game system is relatively simple. This part should be completed soon. The focus is on enhancing its game system, such as supporting GUI instead of keyboard.

Event system: 0%
The event editor that interacts with the map editor allows developers to edit the game plot without having to go through the source code. I don't have a clue about this work, or I haven't started researching it yet.



Generally speaking, this is a large-scale project. Maybe I need some assistance, such as translating the script of RPG Maker XP into FreeBasic version, or providing some Lua and JavaScript packages, developing some small tools, etc.

This project will be launched soon and will exist as the second phase of xywhGameEngine. I will update the progress of major updates in the post or publish the source code when needed.

Currently this project has a GitHub, but there is no source code:
https://github.com/CN-xLeaves/xRpgMaker

I will post the development log in the Game Dev section.



Update Log.

2020/12/30 (first version uploaded).
I finished the basic layout of the database editor in a few hours.
Developed two controls Label, Frame.
And finished the layout of the TileSet editor.
Development log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=29063

[xywhsoft]

Question: When will the project start and how long will it take to develop?

Answer: I will start working tonight, and I will update the development progress here every day. It is estimated that the first RPG game DEMO that can run will take about 10-15 days, and it will take 30 days for everything including all tools to be developed to a usable standard. I need to avoid the Chinese New Year. During this time, I Need to accompany the family.



Question: How to join the project team? What skills do you need to master?

Answer: First of all, you must be able to use Git version management tools, because the source code is hosted on Github. In addition, you can act according to the released development plan, or act freely, and merge your results into the xRpgMaker master branch, and any work will play its due value.



Question: Which kind of license is used for this project

Answer: Maybe use zlib, maybe public domain. In short, I have a very wide scope of authorization for this project. The resources belonging to me or other developers will be completely free. This is also one of the conditions for joining the development team. Open spirit and sharing spirit.



Question: Are the materials free?

Answer: Unfortunately, I do not have my own materials, so I will have to use the materials of RPG Maker XP in the early stage of development. I have not obtained authorization for these materials, so they are for research use only and cannot be used for development and commercial purposes. Maybe I will look for some in the future Artist, develop our own material package.

[xywhsoft]

[Imortis]

You can get some free to use assets from all over the internet. Here is a page my that was one of the first results from a quick internet search.
https://itch.io/game-assets/free/genre-rpg

[angros47]

I don't want to be a downer, but if you need to "borrow" materials from RPGMaker, you won't go far.
Because I have the feeling that in FreeBasic, currently, the main difficulty if someone wants to create a videogame is not the coding itself (sprites and tilemaps are not too difficult to make, with GET and PUT, and arrays of images), but the lack of free to use resources

True, there are thousands of free resources (sprites, tiles and so on), but to build a nice game you would need consistent resources (if the sprites are in manga style, and the tiles are in photorealistic style the result will be unpleasant. Same if sprites have different size and resolution)

In my opinion what makes RPGMaker a great product is not the code (basically, it is a generic RPG engine with a simple scripting engine included, there already are several open source RPG engines that can do much more), it's the artwork included with it (that is generic enough to allow to build almost any kind of scenario): when you are planning a character, you can easily find, in the sprites included, one that looks "close enough" to what you have in mind, and you can use it, without bothering to make a specific artwork (or making an artwork only for cutscenes)

I'd say half of the value of RPGMaker is given by the consistent and complete resource set included (that likely required some work to be made, and was thus pretty expensive). A RPGMaker made without anything similar would be much less interesting, I fear

[angros47]

A possible source of graphics for a generic roleplay is here: http://pousse.rapiere.free.fr/tome/

I saw it was used for the game Clickpocalypse 2, and personally I like the look. It is under Creative Commons license, so it could be included in your work.

[c-sanchez]

I like the idea, however RPG Maker by default is "Limited" to RPG games, ie, to make different things as Platforming games you need code more, and the parts that it already includes by default (resource, code, scripts, etc) they become useless, I know, its a "RPG Maker", but I think in this aspect the focus from other Engines/Makers is better, like GameMaker Studio or Godot.

Megaman Engine in Godot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zu1H8K4XkM

Remaking Triple Triad in Godot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9E2yjvLo9k

Sailorvania : Symphony of the Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5UeyBr8mow
Any similarity with Symphony of the Night is purely coincidental

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0dF9hevrnU

[BasicCoder2]

Question: Are the materials free?

Answer: Unfortunately, I do not have my own materials, so I will have to use the materials of RPG Maker XP in the early stage of development. I have not obtained authorization for these materials, so they are for research use only and cannot be used for development and commercial purposes. Maybe I will look for some in the future Artist, develop our own material package.

Don't know how serious PublioMaro_Virgilivs was about participating in the graphics side of any game project.

viewtopic.php?f=15&p=278222#p278222

Also not sure why a clone of RPG Maker would be actually used by anyone instead of just using the actual RPG Maker with its support base.

[xywhsoft]

My friends, don't worry, RPG Maker is just a starting point, not an end point. Of course, my goal is not just such a thing. Everything from 0 to 1 is the hardest. When this is done, everything else will be taken for granted, such as other game types, so I regard it as a starting point. I don't want to set a very high starting point that can't be realized. At present, it is the simplest and achievable. Moreover, the theme that is not so boring when customized, I think the accumulated experience of making 1,000 tanks and airplanes is difficult to compare with an RPG Maker, so I chose this theme.

When all this is achieved, the next mountain to climb will naturally appear in front of us.

At least to conquer these smaller goals and accumulate experience, I have a perfect game plan in my hand, but I will keep sharpening my sword until I am not sure whether my ability is enough to finish it.

Now that the starting point is clear, besides accumulating experience, it is not a wonderful thing to drive the community to make progress in game development.

As an oop programming language, FreeBasic should shine its own light in this respect.

[TeeEmCee]

Ignore the naysayers! There's plenty of reason to write your own RPG engine, which is why there are so many of them :). RPG Maker isn't free, so any open source engine has at least one huge advantage over it. It's an advantage to provide resources with the engine, but that's not necessary to either; it turns out that many people are happy to create their own. This means you are targeting a different audience than the people who want to create a game with minimal work.

However, I think you are also very optimistic about how quickly you will finish a working engine.

You're really trying to clone RPG Maker XP, instead of creating a new engine? I believe there already is a compatible clone of it.

I like the idea, however RPG Maker by default is "Limited" to RPG games, ie, to make different things as Platforming games you need code more, and the parts that it already includes by default (resource, code, scripts, etc) they become useless

I don't know about RPG Maker specifically, but it turns out that an RPG engine is quite suitable for creating platformers; there is actually less difference between a top-down game and a side-on one than you might think, and most of the engine is still useful. For example there are dozens of sidescrollers made with the OHRRPGCE despite its primitive scripting engine.

[xywhsoft]

Ignore the naysayers! There's plenty of reason to write your own RPG engine, which is why there are so many of them :). RPG Maker isn't free, so any open source engine has at least one huge advantage over it. It's an advantage to provide resources with the engine, but that's not necessary to either; it turns out that many people are happy to create their own. This means you are targeting a different audience than the people who want to create a game with minimal work.

However, I think you are also very optimistic about how quickly you will finish a working engine.

You're really trying to clone RPG Maker XP, instead of creating a new engine? I believe there already is a compatible clone of it.

I like the idea, however RPG Maker by default is "Limited" to RPG games, ie, to make different things as Platforming games you need code more, and the parts that it already includes by default (resource, code, scripts, etc) they become useless

I don't know about RPG Maker specifically, but it turns out that an RPG engine is quite suitable for creating platformers; there is actually less difference between a top-down game and a side-on one than you might think, and most of the engine is still useful. For example there are dozens of sidescrollers made with the OHRRPGCE despite its primitive scripting engine.

Of course, my goal is not exactly to create a copy of RPG Maker XP, you know that many systems of RPG Maker XP are outdated and need to be upgraded.

My goal is mainly to be able to use RPG Maker material. There is a huge amount of third party RPG Maker material, a large portion of which is available for free, and if I were to make a different RPG game that couldn't make use of that material, there would be little chance of actually making a game.

Therefore, as long as it is compatible with RPG Maker material, other systems are just borrowed and improved.

Regarding the time consuming aspect, my estimation is perhaps too optimistic. The last two days of development made me realize that I need more basic content building, but as long as this aspect is finished, the next progress can be very fast, and I think it should not be much different from the month I expected. I have a lot of experience in developing game subsystems, and these experiences can ensure that I will not take many detours.

Such a simple game development tool can solve a very serious problem in the game development process.

The main difficulty in developing a game is not how to render, play sounds, create UI and write game systems. Rather, it is how to organize and manage the huge amount of data in the game, and I think that RPG Maker is very successful at this, which is why I created a copy of RPG Maker.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[PublioMaro_Virgilivs]

Don't know how serious PublioMaro_Virgilivs was about participating in the graphics side of any game project.

viewtopic.php?f=15&p=278222#p278222

I was completely serious!

[xywhsoft]

Don't know how serious PublioMaro_Virgilivs was about participating in the graphics side of any game project.

viewtopic.php?f=15&p=278222#p278222

I was completely serious!

Hi, my friend, nice to meet you.

When I learned that you are an illustrator, I felt that my dream could be realized, and I was very eager to cooperate with you. When this project was completed, I decided to develop a new game. Of course, this day will not be too long.

We have many opportunities for cooperation. For example, in XGE project, I need a set of UI appearance, because I can't realize it, and I can only rely on shallow color knowledge to match an interface that is not as ugly as possible. In the xRpgMaker project, I need some maps, characters, user interfaces and other materials.

As you said, people are always very good at their own fields, but they know nothing about other fields. I am good at coding, but I don't know anything about art, because I can't find suitable materials, so I can't start my ideas, and suffer for a long time.

I'm interested in simulated combat topics, especially sandbox classes with high degree of freedom, such as riding and slashing, Rimworld, StarBound, Total War, ProjectZomboid.

I have an idea to make a game that simulates the war in the cold weapon era. Players need to manage their own territory to get resources, including food, trees, minerals, livestock, manpower and so on.

By training soldiers and producing equipment, we can form our own army and gain more territory. However, resources are not infinitely increasing, and the game has a cruel recycling mechanism. Most of the people and equipment that died in a battle will turn into dust, and only a few will be recycled by the victorious party in broken form. This means that when fighting NPC, players can always benefit by adjusting parameters, but when there is a war between players, they will always lose a lot of resources. For example, the experience summed up by the ancients: the soldiers are ominous devices, and the gentlemen have no choice but to do it.

Generally speaking, he is like a 2d game combining EVE Online and horse riding and slashing. I have been thinking about it for a long time, hoping to realize it one day.

For this purpose, I have been sharpening my skills. If you are interested in what I am doing and what I will do in the future, I am looking forward to working with you.

Love from China

[PublioMaro_Virgilivs]

Sure xywhsoft! I'll be glad to cooperate with you in your game. You already said what stuff you need, so I think we can get in touch on social media or email. You can reach me by looking into my profile.

Cheers from México.

[xywhsoft]

Sure xywhsoft! I'll be glad to cooperate with you in your game. You already said what stuff you need, so I think we can get in touch on social media or email. You can reach me by looking into my profile.

Cheers from México.

Thank you for your response, my email is: xywhsoft@qq.com
It was recently New Year's Day holiday and I need to spend time with my family and continue my work from tomorrow.