Hanako Games

Game Development Resources

#1 by hanako - Nov 1 2007

If you want to get started making your own games, here are some places you can look:

Novice Level - These tools do NOT require you to know much about programming!

http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/tkool/RPG_XP/eng/ - RPG Maker, for making games like old NES RPGs. Comes with a bunch of free graphics. (Free demo, costs money)

http://www.renpy.org/wiki/renpy/Home_Page - RenPy, for making games similar to Fatal Hearts (without the puzzles) (Completely free)

http://www.clickteam.com/eng/mmf2.php - Multimedia Fusion, which can make lots of kinds of games in a weird graphical-timeline development system (I haven't used it. Free demo, costs money.)

http://www.yoyogames.com/make - Game Maker, can make all kinds of games with either a simple drag-and-drop interface or a programming language when you're ready for it (Free version with restricted features, pay for all features)

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/ - Adventure Game Studio, for making adventure games like the really old Sierra ones. (Completely free.)

Not-so-Novice Level - You need to know some programming for these

http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque/tgb/ - Torque Game Builder

http://www.phelios.com/ptk/ - PTK Game Engine



Not Yet Existing

http://metaplace.com/ - Metaplace, a cool project to let people build their own online... thingies. It's not done, though, and no idea when or if it will be.

THANK YOU!

#2 by Tenrai-chan - Jun 2 2008

thanks for making this availible! i have always been intrested in visual novels! I cant wait to try some of this out!

#3 by HanakoFoxxy - Jun 8 2008

http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/tkool/RPG_XP/eng/
Is the thing I would like to use, but I have know Idea how >.< Plz give me a walkthrough of what to click to get to where or *HOW* to even put my game on the website
This is harder than I thought
lol, I geuss I need to try harder

#4 by Jinroh - Jun 18 2008

(Dead link removed) RPG Toolkit - An Open Source RPG Maker heard about it from a GamePro article once.

I started making a BASIC Interpreter for making Atari 2600 styled games, but need to code a better interface. So that's another if I finish it anytime soon. The code executes perfectly though. So that's a plus.

#5 by aya_lyka - Jul 6 2008

i make game's with Rpg Maker Xp i can help you who wan't to know more about it... i want to know how the fatal hearts game maker goe's s0o0o if anyone can teach me.....

#6 by Jinroh - Jul 14 2008

On http://wiki.gamedev.net there are a few RPG Related Articles that are Programming Language Agnostic if you don't want to use an existing engine.

RPG Map Tutorial that I used when starting out computer graphics.
http://wiki.gamedev.net/index.php/RPG_Map
http://wiki.gamedev.net/index.php/RPG_MAP2
http://wiki.gamedev.net/index.php/RPG_CHAR

Smooth Scrolling RPG Tilemap
http://wiki.gamedev.net/index.php/VB:DX7_Smooth_Scrolling_Tiles

EDIT: More Stuff
Dark Basic - A Variant of the BASIC programming language which means Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code for those of you CS majors. ;) But is a very powerful variant of BASIC with native Direct3D integration and support for both 3D and 2D Primitives. Native .X file support and animation is a boon, but it doesn't look like HLSL is supported. So if you want Pixel Shaders you seem to be out of luck.
http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/ is where you can check out many versions.

FPS Creator - This will probably have less appeal on this board, but I thought I should mention it. It is a fully featured simple point and click First Person Shooter engine that makes making your own FPS games easy as well, point and click. There are DirectX 9.0c and DirectX 10 versions the latter taking advantage of shader effects in droves.

For the WindowsXP DirectX 9.0c equipped FPS Creator click here:
http://www.fpscreator.com/

For the Vista Only DirectX 10 equipped FPS X10 Creator Click Here:
http://www.fpscreatorx10.com/

#7 by cordy - Jul 24 2008

I'm close to completing a game in Rags that has 8 endings.

#9 by Jinroh - Aug 20 2008

Any number of the things we mentioned previously could make a game with features similar to Kishi Kawaii.

RPGMakerXP has a great Scripting System that presumably allows you to wrestle any number of not present features as well as giving you a top down walk around RPG view if you'd like.

Game Maker has a great interface and scripting language that would be able to make a powerful game.

DarkBasic or BlitzBasic would suite you fine as well as pretty much any of the others. Some wouldn't let you make a 1:1 clone, but they could be very similar features-wise.

#10 by ~Love~Games~ - Aug 22 2008

i want to make a game at renpy , but i can't understand hpw to,
can you please tell me?

#11 by Jinroh - Aug 22 2008

I've never used Ren'Py so I'm not really much of a goto guy on this sort of thing however, after quick inspection of the website.

This Web Tutorial looks like it should assist you.
http://www.renpy.org/wiki/renpy/doc/tutorials/Ren%27Py_Web_Tutorial

As well as the Download Link for Ren'Py just in case you don't have it yet.
http://www.renpy.org/dl/6.6.3/renpy-6.6.3-full.zip

After that just play around with the tool and do little things to get your confidence and experience with the tool up to par and in no time you'll have a game. ^_^

Just in case you need more assistance there is:

Tutorials:
http://www.renpy.org/wiki/renpy/doc/tutorials/Tutorials

Cookbook with various snippets of code:
http://www.renpy.org/wiki/renpy/doc/cookbook/Cookbook

Reference Manual - for those obscure questions.
http://www.renpy.org/wiki/renpy/doc/reference/Reference_Manual

Lastly Background and Character graphics. Really for use with the Blade Engine, but they should probably work with Ren'Py.
http://www.bladeengine.com/addons/BG_Char.php

Sorry I can't be of more help, but it'll give you a good starting point.

^_^ Good luck!

#12 by ~Love~Games~ - Aug 23 2008

i tried the tutorial but i am having problems with opening renpy ,
when i click on the renpy icon on my desktop, it leads to a renpy file.
when i click the file many files come, and none of those files open a game maker.
what should i do?
does anyone know?

#13 by aya_lyka - Aug 23 2008

ren'py really doesn't open game maker thing like RMXP if that's what your saying. you need to do the whole game via script, or text. and ren'py will just generate it and it becomes a visual novel.

Cost?

#14 by faery_vampire43 - Oct 16 2008

How much is RPG Maker XP? VX is like 60 bucks, and I really don't want to pay that much...

#15 by Calixte9 - Oct 16 2008

I'm not really sure but I think a similar price. I would personally recommend XP rather than VX however, if you plan on buying one.

game making

#16 by marion_mustang - Sep 11 2009

I want to make a simulation game (kinda like cute knight) but I don't know what type of game maker to get.

Can anyone tell me which one would be perfect for that?
I've used Rpg maker before (for other games just rpgs though)
if you know a good game maker please send me a link!

#17 by hanako - Sep 11 2009

Because Cute Knight (and Princess Maker) are sort of genre-crossover games, none of the simple tools are going to make it as easy and comfortable for a non-programmer to make a game like them as RPG Maker would for standard JRPGs.

You could make a game like that in Game Maker, or RenPy, or RPG Maker, or a lot of other things, but you'd have to do a good bit of programming to add the features that weren't naturally part of the system.

If you wanted to focus mostly on taking classes to raise skills and end up with a game more like Summer Session, you would do well with RenPy. There are a few tutorials around already for that kind of game (usually described as a "dating sim engine") and people who would help you with your programming if you had a good design idea. But putting full RPG elements into RenPy, while definitely possible, is a lot more work and less commonly done.

#18 by xkillshock - Oct 8 2009

I'm really interested in making a love simulation game. Gonna start working on it I'm just wondering, where would you find suitable music/audio? Sort of hard to explain, any help?

#19 by hanako - Oct 8 2009

If you want to make a commercial game, you generally need to look for "royalty free" music sites. There are a lot of them out there, and songs will generally cost anywhere from $5 to $100 apiece. soundrangers.com or shockwave-sound.com are a couple of starting places.

If you want to make a free game, there are a lot of musicians who are happy to let their work be used for free as long as you give them credit. Try searching for "creative commons" music. Also, if you find an independent musician's website (that is, not someone big and famous) and you ask, they may give you permission.

#20 by xkillshock - Oct 8 2009

Is newgrounds also an option? Thanks for the reply ^^

#21 by hanako - Oct 8 2009

I don't know much about newgrounds.

In general, make sure you know who really made the music, and make sure you have their permission.

#22 by xkillshock - Oct 8 2009

Thankies, yeah I was just stuck on that. I'll post the game on here if I ever finish

#23 by Yuki - Oct 11 2009

Artists tend to be more difficult to get hold of than musicians. At least in my experience.

#24 by marion_mustang - Oct 11 2009

which maker would be best for making a game similar to cute knight?
I have ideas all up in my head for a game but I don't know which maker would be best.

renpy?

#25 by marion_mustang - Oct 11 2009

thanks for the help! is renpy hard to use? I've only used rpg maker and rpg maker xp. Is the script writing hard or do you have to do it a special way? I could use all the help I can get trying to use a new version.


the idea is odd I kind of thought it up on the blue (by the way I love cute knight deluxe!! I bought it at best buy and haven't been able to stop playing!!)

also I was wondering, when can one expect a deluxe version of spirted heart? I like this game as well, its different and a lot of fun.

#26 by xkillshock - Oct 12 2009

@marion In my opinon, RpgMaker VX is so much more easier to use than XP. I tried XP for myself, and it was a bit confusing for me.

The Pro's & Cons of XP:
Pros
-A lot of people prefer the sprites (y'know the character that walks around) as opposed to the ones in VX.
-More scripts, since it's older than VX.
-Some of the tilesets and what not they have are better than VX.
-Also, a lot of people prefer the program itself.

Cons
-Confusing to begin with, if you're just starting. (imo)
-Importing custom tile sets is a pain.
-Some of the scripts are confusing.

Then the Pro's & Cons of VX: (i'm using it myself )
Pros
-Easier to use than XP.
-Importing & scripting isn't hard at all.
-And I find it easier to use because there are tutorials everywhere and I really like the character sprites. They're so small and chibi like, haha.
-Everything is organized.

Cons
-The tile sets are a bit blocky and cartoonish.
-Scripting is hard for both programs unless you're really good with it ._.;

Also. If you want scripts, just look on rpgrevolution or hbgames. They have good scripts for VX and XP

I hope that helped. xD

#27 by marion_mustang - Oct 23 2009

thanks xkillshock. I'll definately try out Vx.

hanako, could you give me a set of instructions to use renpy? I tried it out but its very confusing. I also don't know how to put in images. or word anything. On the site wasn't too helpful.

#28 by hanako - Oct 23 2009

nope, 'cause I don't actually use it!

you'll need to ask people on the renpy forum for tips.

#29 by Loreless - Jan 13 2010

oki so this is months old but ....... you own i been looking for renpy for a while ................

i used it once before then it got lost with a ton of other stuff could never remember the name of it

thanks

#30 by undomiel1980 - Jun 7 2010

I'm wondering if there's a beginner's tutorial on how to do stats in Renpy like how they did the stats in Spirited Hearts and Flower Shop.

#31 by k24601 - Jul 24 2010

If anybody here besides me enjoys interactive fiction, it's also possible to make games with programs like Adrift.

If you can understand such things better than me though, you might want to look into coding for Frotz or TADS since TADS can work with html and stuff (but even TADS seems to have a steep learning curve/difficult to understand for me)

There's been one kinda ren'ai thing made - The PK Girl
(well there's been other romance games in interactive fiction...not many but a few... but this has anime style art with it so it counts right?)

http://www.adrift.org.uk/cgi/new/adrift.cgi

http://www.tads.org/

http://wurb.com/if/

http://www.ifarchive.org/

http://frotz.sourceforge.net/

http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/
Gargoyle for really picky people who don't want to download a bunch of interpreters.

And here's some links for The PK Girl

http://www.wurb.com/if/game/1897

http://home.comcast.net/~zabel00/pkgirl/

And something kinda unrelated but I think everybody needs to see.

http://www.rpgm.org/message.php

#32 by undomiel1980 - Sep 14 2010

Hi! I asked earlier, but, I didn't get an answer yet.

I looked at the Renpy tutorial and it seems that it's possible to incorporate simple stats with Renpy... but, the tutorial wasn't too clear on how to do it. I'm talking about how Cute Knight and Spirited Heart had those stats that you had to take classes for in the game. Please let me know and point me in the right directon!

Thanks! :)

#33 by hanako - Sep 14 2010

Specific RenPy questions are probably better asked at the RenPy forums! There are a few people here who use the tool but far more there.

latest links to game-making tools

#34 by hanako - Sep 21 2010

IG Maker - for making action/arcade games, like platformers, shooters, and some kinds of RPGs. Makes Windows games but you can also export games into Xbox or Flash format. Free demo (HUGE FILE) but you have to buy the program afterwards, and it's a bit pricey. ($60)

RPG Maker XP The program used in a lot of the popular console RPGs lately! Free demo, full costs $30.

RPG Maker VX The latest version of RPG Maker with new tools to make it even easier to get started with your game and not having to muck around as much with script. Free demo, full costs $60.

GM4Mac - One of the few game-creation tools that will work on Mac computers. Highly flexible, from really simple games with no coding required to... well, anything you can think of, once you learn the programming language. Free 10-hour trial, full costs $25

#35 by wonderlander544 - Sep 27 2010

I made a game with RPGXP.

#36 by r3naki - Oct 9 2010

I cant w8 to try one of these programs and create one game like date warp hah

#37 by r3naki - Oct 9 2010

I cant understant how i can put music pics and dialog

#38 by Makiko - Jul 15 2012

I'm really sorry if this has been asked before. I tried looking around a little and I don't think I saw an answer. But what program did you use to make your games, Hanako? I'd assumed you used RenPy.

#39 by hanako - Jul 15 2012

Depends on the game - some are RenPy, some are Game Maker, some are a weird custom engine hybrid that Spiky built.

#40 by ciera800o - Dec 9 2012

what is a good program for making games like magical diary ((stats, weekly planners ect. i think renpy might work but is there anything more effective than that?

Re: Game Development Resources

#41 by FeistyGreenSnake - Sep 13 2013

I've gotten the hang of using the scripting on RenPy, I think; I've been trying it out for a few days now. But I was wondering, if it's okay to ask, how do you normally make your characters? Do you use a program or draw them from scratch and upload using a scanner? I'm fairly all right at drawing, but I don't own a scanner and thought there might be some other way...

Re: Game Development Resources

#42 by Ariel Schnee - Oct 27 2013

I prefer using VX Ace instead now.

Re: Game Development Resources

#43 by Phaseus - Jul 13 2014

Multimedia Fusion 2
I've used the latest version of Multimedia Fusion in my game design course at Connections Academy. It's a pretty decent engine, though limited in the use of programming. Instead of writing everything from scratch, there's an "Events" tab that allows the user to take predefined tags and use them to make the game do something. You'll end up with something like "When object 'Player' touches object 'Finish_Line', go to next screen."

MMF:
+ Completely Custom Art
+ Easy to Understand Event Mechanics
= Not Limited to sprites
- Limited Events
- Limited Engine

RPG Maker (VX Ace)
I'd have to say my experiences with RPG Maker are much of the same, but the code given to the player is much more broad, and most combinations will handle better than with MMF. If you're looking to provide an arguably better 2D art style (meaning you make all the objects yourself), MMF will allow you to make completely custom models with proper collisions. RPG Maker is limited to sprites, which requires experience with handling them to get them to work well.

RPG Maker (VX Ace Variant)
+ Wide Event Selection
+ Moderately Large Engine
+ Less File Size Limit
= Limited Mostly to Sprite-work
= Requires Learning

BYOND (Build Your Own Net Dream)
BYOND is a horrible game engine.
Despite this, one of my favorite games is built upon it, using its own custom code variant of Lua. BYOND is an engine that features sprite art and an almost entirely custom engine. Its limits can be surpassed if you can understand code, but messing up can cause heavy lag and possible server crashes. Even though I don't recommend it for anyone here wanting to make a game, I CAN recommend a game called Space Station 13. It uses a quirky language called NTSL, or NanoTrasen Scripting Language

BYOND:
+ Heavily Open-Source
- Limited Graphic Design
- Games Fall Apart if You Fail at Code

Inform 7
Inform is a text-based engine that features a very interesting way to code. Instead of learning a new language, the developer types everything in English, using specific phrasing to cause things to happen. One can theoretically include pictures with your text RPG, but large games require a LOT of work.

Inform 7:
+ No coding knowledge required
+ Helps users understand how code works
+ Uses simple phrasing
= Limited to Text RPG's
- Graphics Limited to Images
- Sounds are Not Present (Unless one were to modify the engine)

For those that would like a picture of Inform's coding process:
http://i990.photobucket.com/albums/af27/Phaseus/Discuss.png

Re: Game Development Resources

#44 by KitCat - Mar 3 2017

Rpg toolkit (3) is good if you´re wanna make CT likes games, it tiles at more opened that rpgmaker´s. If someone needs hint(s), there can.
There was cam even 4... but .

And at Renpy them talking at them begin at do 7 ... and let 6 only bug fix...
Edit: Are someone opinion rpg maker mv? other that it was little less i waiting... big rtp =O?
Edit2: After all: don´t let out plans of these thinks... youre need least red line think what you are do...

Re: Game Development Resources

#45 by cectort - Sep 9 2017

Don't know if this is the right thread to ask but are there limitations to being a one-person developer? I mean like being able to bounce ideas off someone. Or should I start one man with the aim of growing in the future to maybe a modest 20 people?

Re: Game Development Resources

#46 by hanako - Sep 9 2017

Really too big a question for here I think. I'd suggest visiting a larger indie games community and talking with different people about their work styles.

Re: Game Development Resources

#47 by Yuki - Sep 13 2017

cectort:

Don't know if this is the right thread to ask but are there limitations to being a one-person developer? I mean like being able to bounce ideas off someone. Or should I start one man with the aim of growing in the future to maybe a modest 20 people?

20 seems like far too many. If you just want to bounce ideas around, you could of course just ask people their opinions. Your ability to be a one person developer will depend on your skills in art, sound and programming, the latter skill being by far the most important. The other two can be contracted out to people on places like tigsource and deviantart.

Don't expect it to get it done in five minutes.

Re: Game Development Resources

#48 by Bloody Vikings - Nov 7 2017

Has anyone ever used TyranoBuilder? I got it as part of a Humble Bindle, but never actually cracked it open to test it.