RMXP Compatibility with Vista

One of the commonest questions I'm asked is whether RMXP is compatible with Windows Vista. The simple answer is "Yes and No". Rather than attempting to use RMXP on Vista (better in my opinion though it is), it's better to use RMVX for Vista machines.

One of the problems with Vista is that it is extremely buggy and is known for its incompatibility issues. Running RMXP on Vista machines is possible, but not without endless hours tweaking certain system settings so that it can at least work half the time.

A common problem is that RMXP seems to work, but then suddenly freezes at any point (usually when playtesting games) or it will produce some obscure error message. Usually when this happens, it's due to compatibility issues (either with the system itself or hardware conflicts).

One workaround is to make sure you have full Admin rights and change its permission to "Run compatibility mode for XP SP2". To set these options, this link will help. If there are any messages for updates, it's probably prudent to download and install them.

To determine whether RMXP will be compatible with your Vista system, you can check at the Microsoft Compatibility Check. Hopefully this should help run RMXP on Vista machines.

Create Your Own Characters

If you've ever wanted to create your own charsets for RM2K/3, but (like me) are not an artist, there are several resources available for doing just that. These are the best ones I've found:

• Chara.EX - This is probably the best known site in the RM2K/3 community. Not only can you design characters online and save them onto your hard drive, you can also download an offline version too. Creating charsets with either method is quick, easy and fun.
• Character Maker 1999 - With this neat program, you can edit any resource for RM2K/3, including adding status effects (if you know about transparencies). This program can also be used for producing resources for RMXP and RMVX.

Other programs that are useful for creating resources are:

• Irfanview - This program is useful for cropping images and correcting transparency issues. In some games, it is possible to take snapshots, pasting and cropping them in Irfanview, then copying the cropped image and pasting the result in Character Maker 1999 to be further modified.
• Paint Shop Pro - Now owned by Corel, Paint Shop Pro is the editor to use for more complex designs, but I'd recommend using version 7.04 (if you can find it) rather than the latest version, as it is cumbersome and unnecessarily complex. I usually use this program to design the Title and Game Over screens, then use Irfanview for final size modification.