RPG Maker Fes

Started by KK20, June 25, 2017, 02:47:12 am

Previous topic - Next topic

KK20

So the latest RPG Maker installment is upon us now, at least on a world-wide basis. RPG Maker Fes(tival) runs on the Nintendo 3DS; finally, a game console version in years (was the last one, in English, for the Playstation? I know one was released for the Nintendo DS only in Japan). I took it upon myself to look thoroughly through the engine and what it could offer. I needed to know what is actually possible. Despite the game being out in Japan since late last year, there really hasn't been much information.

This thread is for any discussion, news, updates, and tricks relating to anything about RMF.


Limitations
I'm sure we all knew there would be a lot of features pulled out to compensate for the handheld system. But the amount of things pulled is a bit staggering than I thought. For starters, here are the hard number limits:
  • 99 Maps, strictly of sizes 32x32, 64x64, and 128x128; 3 drawing layers
  • 16 actors; 16 professions (classes); 64 items, weapons, and armor each; 128 skills/abilities
  • 99 monsters and troops (enemies are in sizes small, medium, and large; there are unique troop formations that restrict how many of each type you can have--at most, you can only have 6 small enemies, 3 medium enemies, and 1 large enemy; you can randomize the number that appear)
  • 64 teleport locations, which also handles vehicle starting locations
  • 99 event commands; 10 event pages; 2 conditional checks per event page (except for the first one); not sure if there's an event limit per map as it's not indicated anywhere
  • 500 switches and variables each
  • Each game takes 9 blocks of memory, just over 1MB; almost every new object created takes memory (e.g. a new event takes roughly 100 bytes)
    Now for events
  • Move commands are very limited--to move characters, you have to draw them a path to follow, no "move forward x spaces" or the like; only other commands are jumping and turning
  • You can show two variables on screen in a window positioned in the corners (pretty neat)
  • Variables are neutered--you can't make them interact with other variables and the only operations you can do are set, add, and subtract (values range from 0 ~ 999999); there's also no way to do anything like "heal HP based on a variable"; their sole purpose now is for page conditions and setting some database attributes to equal their value (e.g. you can make a sword's attack be equal to a variable ala an upgrade system)
  • Conditional branches only exist for user-input commands, like yes/no or entering a password; you have to rely on page events' conditions to get the job done
    It will take quite a bit of ingenuity to make some staple features present in previous installments of RM.



    Impressions
    Graphically, the assets are pretty great. It would be really nice if they could export these to the computer-versions. The tileset style is somewhat reminiscent of VXA, but the charsets are closer to MV. Currently, there is only a Fantasy theme which has a decent amount of icons and characters to choose from. The tileset is chock-full of buildings, terrain, and objects. Music selection is somewhat samey. Thankfully there are going to be more themes released, two confirmed are Sci-Fi and Modern. I believe Modern is going to be free while the Sci-Fi will not. Shame really.

    You can upload one game to their online service for others to play for free (RMF Player is a free download) with each subsequent slot requiring about $1 USD. Again, a shame, but at least this kinda entices users to make a GOOD game and not flood the servers with buggy test-demos.

    Interfaces are streamlined well, though it sometimes gets confusing with all the different button inputs to change tabs. You really should utilize the 3DS's touch screen for almost all menu navigation. The only irksome thing to me is the load times between scenes. For example, if I want to edit an event's command, I have to
    Event Editor > Choose Map > Move cursor to event > Open event page > Open event commands > Choose command > Edit the properties
    where each > is a pause ranging from half a second to almost two. And that really adds up in the long run. This might be mitigated with the New 3DS, but I can't confirm.

    As the above limitations mentioned, making creative systems in your game will require a LOT of thinking. Just making a simple push event (like using Strength in Pokemon) takes 5 events, 1 switch and variable. Want to make it so that you have to push it onto a button? Now it's 7 events, 2 switches, and 3 variables. It really does complicate simple features that could be made in mere seconds in RM2k. The latter took me about an hour to create. Just the fact that variables have very few uses makes it frustrating for me.

    The game does receive updates. Currently I'm using version 1.1.2; a small update was released launch day for EU/AUS in the form of 1.1.3 (probably typo fixes). I'm hoping these updates bring along new creative features. I'm assuming it does as I have seen some videos on Japanese games that had things like zooming in on a character sprite, which is not possible currently.

    Is it worth $40 USD? Being half the cost of RMMV, not really. Adding the fact that they're "nickle-and-dime-ing" you for future content is enough as is. I'd probably spend $20 at most for this in its current state. Until they update it enough to warrant a purchase, I'll continue messing with this pirated-copy. Maybe information will start picking up once NA gets it on Tuesday.

Other Projects
RPG Maker XP Ace  Upgrade RMXP to RMVXA performance!
XPA Tilemap  Tilemap rewrite with many features, including custom resolution!

Nintendo Switch Friend Code: 8310-1917-5318
Discord: KK20 Tyler#8901

Join the CP Discord Server!

Spoofus

I actually got this the other day, a friend gave me a eshop card for my birthday, and it reminds me of the old ps1 rpgmaker.

I been enjoying it so far, it is fun to mess around with I think, I am thinking of doing a small game and putting it up for the heck of it.


My Blog site I am working on: http://spoofus.weebly.com/

KK20

I spent a lot of time figuring out the mechanics and algorithms the game used, a lot of which does not make sense (e.g. enemy battlers have no INT stat to boost Magic skills). A lot of common RPG Maker features are stripped too which makes implementing some basic things tedious or impossible.

Basically I lost all interest as the amount of time spent to make a simple, generic game was too much of an investment. That and the stupidly high cost for the DLC.

Other Projects
RPG Maker XP Ace  Upgrade RMXP to RMVXA performance!
XPA Tilemap  Tilemap rewrite with many features, including custom resolution!

Nintendo Switch Friend Code: 8310-1917-5318
Discord: KK20 Tyler#8901

Join the CP Discord Server!

Spoofus

I did just look at the dlc after reading your reply, and I never realized how pricey it was.

I think that if your new to the rpgmaker stuff, this may be awesome, but if your coming from the pc versions, then yeah this is primitive stuff.

I learned though that this is great to make a very simple rpg that kids can enjoy  :haha:, I messed around and made a 1-Day dungeon crawler on it for my brothers kids they are like 5 and 6 years old, and the only rpgs they have known tend to be a bit complicated for them.They asked me why rpgs are way to hard,and I thought aww hell give me a day and I'll have a rpg for you to play, and if you like it, i'll introduce you to some that I grew up playing.
So I made the simple dungeon crawler for them to play, and to help them get used to rpgs and prepare them for some nes and snes ones that I will introduce them to. I was surprised that they both spent the entire day playing it on both of their 3ds, and they was comparing stuff that they found.
  :D


My Blog site I am working on: http://spoofus.weebly.com/

mobiusclimber

It is definitely a streamlined Maker, but that can be a good thing for n00bs. It has pre-built towns, houses, interiors, etc, that can then be customized, taking the guesswork out of what this tile or that tile is supposed to be used for. You'd have to go out of your way to make something truly ugly. It's also nice that right out of the box you can use any and all tiles on any and every map, except world maps which have their own tileset. I'll be honest, I think the map editor in FES blows away any computer RPG Maker map editor, with just one fatal flaw: the inability to import your own graphics. If Enterbrain would just include a decent map editor on their computer Makers this wouldn't be an issue, but frankly, they all suck.

The other nice feature is the move event command. Not only does it display on the map the the route the player or event will take, but it can also be set to either follow the route exactly with a start and end point of your choosing, or set to start at where the player or event is at and end at where you designate it to end. Can you do that in XP or VX or MV? I'm... sure you can with scripting but probably not out of the box (unless I'm missing something).

But it does have some serious problems, beyond the limitations. For one thing, the program will randomly crash for no apparent reason. I also encountered a huge problem which I'm almost positive NISA is well aware of (the US publisher) if not Enterbrain (but probably them to). From what I can gather, if you make something on one 3DS and then move the save file over to another 3DS, the game will think it's someone else's work. That's fine until you try to upload it and you can't. And then the game thinks you downloaded it and locks you out of editing your own damn game. Yeah, this happened to me.

So basically, if you're a scripter or really well-versed in the computer RPG Makers, then FES will seem rudimentary and unnecessary. But if you can put up with the random crashes and know about the bug I mentioned and don't do the things to encounter the bug, and if you want something that's easy to use, FES is a nice little program. I've made in hours things that would take weeks or months to do in XP. Hell, it's easy to get far along in game that in XP you'd still be looking around for plugins to make the game not so ugly and stupid.

Stanmor

As a beginner, I actually don't mind it's streamlined. Very nice!