RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

[Manji]

in terms of custom options, are these games at all similar? like with menu scripting, variables, switches and the rest?

how much more open ended is xp?

[Crimson Knight]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

RPG Maker 2 and XP are kind of similar in their options, RPG Maker 2 handles some types of things much better than XP, but overall XP is much more powerful. You can basically do near ANYTHING with that game.

[Manji]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

okay, because i'm still debating whether or not to get XP. my hearts says yes, but my head says no... so, i'm on the fence right now.

is it easier to create customized battle systems with XP? i mean, i know it would be difficult regardless, but, in comparison to rpgm2(since that's the game i'm familiar with when it comes to complicated scripting).

[marcus]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

rpgmxp was specifically designed for you to completely redesign the basic engine from scratch. With rpgm2, you can do the same but there are still basic things you're limited by such as resources and cpu power. With rmxp, you just need to know rgss and the skies the limit. Plus there are already several custom battle systems available ripe for picking (and customizing).

It all boils down to your preference; I enjoy sitting on my bed playing rpgmxp on my laptop but some people enjoy sitting in front of their tv on their couches with rpgm2. Whichever you use more; pc or console.

Also, rpgm2 is 3D which seems to attract people (although it's so damn blurry). You can fake 3d with rpgmxp and it does support directx but it's sloooooow and not recommended.

[OrinMaxden]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

Does anyone have an example of 3D for XP. Is there any camera control with XP?

[marcus]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

You can pan the camera in any direction and zoom in but you can't rotate the camera outside of using a picture. You can create TRUE 3D, but it would be terribly slow so the only thing you can do is have semi-3d or isometric pictures stacked on top of each other. You could also simulate vector graphics by drawing pictures and overlaying them creating a sort of 2 1/2 dimensional image.

Personally, I think 3D is one of the worst things to happen to games in terms of quality (it seems developers these days focus on graphics more than actual gameplay although a few developers like Hideo Kojima actually know how to properly mix the two) so I don't look into 3D rmxp that much.

[Halocleptic]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

RPG maker XP is like RPGM1 on steroids. If you have Adobe photoshop or the equivalent you can basically make anything you want. Like Marcus said, there are custom battle scripts out there as well as an abundance of other resources. It all comes down to whether you have to have 2D or 3D. If you like old school I would highly highly recommend XP. I also like the user interface a lot better than RPGM2. You should be able to dl a demo of xp and try it out, I don't remember exactly where I read that though. Try www.download.com.

[The Toecutter]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

RPGMXP saves a lot of work over 2 since you don't have to mess around with a VFX editor to get custom graphics, and you don't have to worry about those custom graphics crashing your game or refusing to display.

[Dragonsbrethren]

Re: RPG Maker 2 & RPG Maker XP

Everything RPGM2 failed at XP gets right.