I finally have RPG Maker XP...

[Deeth Irteen]

... And I have no idea where to get started. Is there a guide to the program somewhere?

[Wavelength]

Re: I finally have RPG Maker XP...

What I found most useful was to just play around with it (and then just Google something when I needed help). Create a test area with a couple battles and quests, or try to implement one of your tricks from RM3 and see how easy it is to create and manage with RMXP's powerful event commands.

Unlike RM2, even though XP is complex it can basically play right out of the box. All you really need on a new project is a map (manage those in the bottom-left corner) and a starting position (just right-click while "events" is selected from the layer menu and you can set this) and you can start playing or testing your game. You create maps using tiles from whatever tileset you've selected, and can layer up to three layers of tiles on top of each other (which is helpful when you want terrain, then a table, then an object on top of the table, for instance). There's also a separate layer for events which you can interact with.

Most of what you're going to do at first is located in the Database. That's where you create/modify skills, enemies, statuses, and common events (which are events that can be called from anywhere, or even run while the player is moving around), among other things. The Material Base and Script Editor are essential if you want to go beyond the default resources and algorithms that come with the game, but you won't need them when you're just starting out.

When I get home tonight I'll post a few helpful sites I've found along the way.

[Deeth Irteen]

Re: I finally have RPG Maker XP...

Nevermind. I happened to find this tutorial site: http://www.rmxp.tigerseye.uk.com/index.shtml

It seems that XP is incredibly similar to RGPM3, so it's not NEARLY as confusing at I first thought. Once I figure out cutscenes, I think I'll be all set to work on a game.