Ready To Go Medieval? New RPG Maker Packs!

RPG Maker Web has released some new DLCs, this time with a medieval theme!

https://t.co/OosfggUsZo Three new packs ready to help you go positively Medieval on your game! pic.twitter.com/oCceMSevkr

— RPG Maker Web (@RPGmakerweb) July 16, 2016

How about some medieval Knights Templar character sets? Pioneer Valley Games has released one, expanding their medieval theme, including interior tilesets.

Or how about some medieval music to match? Joel Steudler has done a very good job on composing 20 medieval pieces (5 Battle, 4 Dungeon, 3 Field, 3 Theme, and 5 Town) using period musical instruments, such as the lute, recorder, and harpsichord. And I do really like this collection.

The final DLC is Sherman3D's Town of Seasons pack, which contains tiles town tilesets for Winter, Summer, Spring or Fall.

They're available for purchase and download directly from RPG Maker Web's site.

Or, if you prefer to buy them on Steam, you'll have to wait. DLCs usually appear there about a month after their release on RPG Maker Web.

New Resources for RMMV

A few RMMV resources have been added today.

• Game Over Graphics - These have been created with Daz 3D Studio and GIMP, with titles from Cool Text.
  
  Here's an example:
  
  
  
  A "dead cart" piled with bodies and pulled by a plague bearer (who in this case resembles a plague doctor).
• Titles2 Graphics - Most of these are simple conversions of the RMVXA versions.

These are all free for use in non-commercial projects only, but please credit "Companion Wulf" or "RPG Maker Times" if you use any (or all) of them.

I will be creating and uploading more RPG Maker MV resources as inspiration and time allows.

Design A Logo Contest - Win RPG Maker VX Ace!

Here's your chance to win some FREE Steam keys for RPG Maker VX Ace and some resources!

The RPG Maker Times logo is in need of a redesign; it's been the same for years. So, I thought it would be a cool idea to run a contest to design a new logo appropriate for the site.

Prizes Up For Grabs

First Place	RPG Maker VX Ace RPG Maker: Luna Engine
Second Place	Game Character Hub
Third Place	RPG Maker: Rural Farm Tileset

Rules

There are very few rules for this contest, but please make sure you read them carefully to ensure your submission counts!

Judges

The judges will be my wife (artistic design), my son (gaming profiling), my good friend and creation partner from Psyche Gamelab (artist/collaborator), and me (designer/blog owner).

Closing Date and Submission

The closing date is October 31, 2015 at midnight UTC. Submissions after this date won't be counted.

Logos can be submitted via the competition's submission form.

Steam Keys Giveaway #1 - Coming Soon

I recently bought Bundle Stars' Game Makers Mega Bundle, so that means I have some extra RPG Maker VX Ace and Game Guru Steam keys (programs and resources) to give away.

Bought the Game Makers Mega Bundle so have some #Steam keys to give out! RPG Maker and Game Guru programs and resources worth $450!

I'm not sure how this'll work yet because there's one key per program or resource. Maybe it'll be in the form of competitions, or it might be in the form of a "first come, first served" basis. More news on this soon.

Windowskins & The Gladiator Project Demo

Windowskins

The windowskins are almost completely ported over. All that's left is the finishing touches and making sure all the links work properly. And then I'll be able to create some more.

Coliseum Header Image - From the MMORPG I play, Aion - © NCSOFT

The Gladiator Project Demo

A small demo will be available for The Gladiator Project (TGP) game soon (I'm hoping for the weekend), so you can play at least up to the Training Arena. And then, as progress continues, I'll continue to release further demos or playable areas. Further updates on TGP are on the official site or you can subscribe to its Facebook page.

Granny's Resources Lists

I was browsing through Steam's RPG Maker VX Ace Discussions when I happened across something everyone needs and will benefit from. Note that most of these will also work for RMVX.

Grandma Deb has compiled some COMPREHENSIVE resource lists for all your RMVXA needs, including tilesets, portraits and emosets on a wide range of themes.

Among my favourites are the the Star Wars Resources.

Yoda | Star Wars Resources

And also the Animal Sprite Compilation, which includes dragons!

Dragon Charset | Animal Sprite Compilation

The above resource images link to the "original" websites and copyrights belong to the respective artists. If you use any of them - and I'm quite confident you will at some point - give the appropriate credit.

Windowskins Updates

The Windowskins section has been updated. More will be added over time, available for both RMXP and RMVX/VXA. I'm planning on converting the ones currently unavailable on the site as well.

Several windowskins tutorials are also available, which will also be expanded in the near future.

Work on the migration/conversion is continuing, slowly but very steadily, and much of it has already been completed. All the dead links are now working (those on this blog haven't been updated).

RPG Maker Deal of the Week - Unmissable Opportunity!

This offer has now expired!

HURRY! ONLY 7 DAYS LEFT!

Buy the Sinister Hollows music pack and get the Mythos Horror pack FREE! It's only $19.99. Awesome deal!

I've been after the "Mythos Horror" pack for a while, so I'm happy that I finally managed to get it. I just couldn't resist the purchase!

However, the website ONLY allows credit cards (for me at least) and, while I can use my card, I prefer to use PayPal (for which an option is purportedly available). Having to use my card is a major inconvenience for me; I prefer to use cash if I can help it. EDIT: Their PayPal link is also now working again.

A Few Days Off For Updates

I have the rest of the week off (starting tomorrow), since I'm now mostly working three nights per week, so I've determined to update this blog and RPG Maker Times Companion, finally uploading some of the scripts.

What I'll start doing is transfer the main downloads to RMT Companion and then change the articles in the blog to redirect to the appropriate articles, essentially using the blog as an announcement platform for new scripts or resources, etc. rather than having it as the main site.

This will then unclutter the blog and give room for other RPG Maker news (from various sources) to be placed there.

RPG Maker (the Facebook page, website and blog) are migrating to Google+. The FB page will eventually be deleted, but for now it'll stay up. A decision proper will be made after Christmas, when all of the various projects (RPG Maker and non-RPG Maker related) come together and we know just what we're doing. Most likely this will go ahead for the new year, but I may still keep the page active with links to the Google+ and RPG Maker Times articles/posts.

Since I bought RMVXA, I'd also like to share some of the awesome scripts that are available for it. I've been experimenting with it for some time and, while I'm no expert in scripting, preferring RMVX for now, am making plans to convert the Q-Engine to RGSS3/RMVXA.

I noticed that some of the resources and links on this site no longer work, so I'll be going through the posts and correcting or deleting them. Where appropriate, I'll also be redirecting certain links to their correct websites.

The RPG Maker Windowskins site is in dire need of updating, so that will be revamped as well, with the windowskins being properly updated and categorized.

All Work, No Play

Sadly, there have been no updates since I started my new job. I work nights, from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. so spend 6-7 daylight hours sleeping. I'm hoping that things should settle down again after Christmas, when my work days go back to Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, leaving the rest of the week free to make updates.

This means that for now all RPG Maker projects and scripts, and the RPG Maker Times Companion and its blogsite haven't been updated for a while.

The online store has also been put on temporary hold, despite its deadline looming. It has enough contents already that it can still open, but I'm hoping to put RPG Maker products and resource packages, as well as some commercial RMVX/RMVXA projects online as well.

Bear with me, things will get back to normal soon, when I can start writing articles, posts and resources for RPG Maker.

Visual Equip Script (RMVXA)

The Visual Equip script allows you to change the graphic of the character according to equipment and other conditions. It's also possible to set custom graphics to actors, classes, weapons, armours and events.

You can also head over to Candy Coded Response for some additional graphics sets, including armour, hairstyles and accessories.

Note: This requires the Victor Engine - Basic Module to run.

Monster Graphics

Are you looking for good quality monsters? The Japanese site, Cradle of Cyan, has some awesome ones, including dragons!

These are a few of them. There are plenty more under "Materials". The site is in Japanese, but it's the graphics you're after, right? Unless, of course, you speak Japanese!

Quality Free Resources

If you're after some quality - and I mean QUALITY - free resources, then paying a visit to Pioneer Valley Games is a must!

Here are two of my favourites to demonstrate just how cool they are!

RPG Maker DS Resource Pack - Promo Video

Although RPG Maker DS was only available in Japan, thanks to the folks at RPG Maker Web anyone can own the resources (graphics and music).

Invoking the feel of SNES-era RPGs, RPG Maker DS was a big hit in Japan. Unfortunately, it hasn't made it over to North America (yet). What has made it over however is a boatload of resources and graphical goodies.

We've taken the original resources and modified them (when necessary) to work perfectly with RPG Maker VX Ace. This resource pack is our biggest to date (even bigger than the original RPG Maker VX Ace RTP!!).

You can buy this awesome pack for only $29.99.
Get your copy of RPG Maker DS Resource Pack today!

RMVX Ace Windowskins - Tutorial

There has been a flurry of questions about RMVXA windowskins. Essentially they are the same as RMVX, so any windowskin designed for RMVX will also work with RMVXA. As with RMVX, use the Resource Manager (F10) in RMVXA to import the chosen windowskin into the Graphics/System folder.

When used in a game, they will look almost the same (see the comparisons below). However, RMVXA has additional colour settings that override the background graphic normally displayed in RMVX, resulting in only the border and cursor from the windowskin showing and the background becomes the default window colors.

RMVX Windowskin

RMVXA Windowskin

As you can see, the windowskins are the same, but with the background overridden by the default colors in RMVXA.

There is a script "cheat" to overcome this problem. Insert this snippet between Material and Main:

class Window_Base < Window
  # "true" to enable override, "false" to use default
  USE_WINDOWSKIN = true

  # Update Tone
  def update_tone
    self.tone.set($game_system.window_tone) unless USE_WINDOWSKIN
  end
end

The end result is this:

This is the Status Screen using the RMVXA windowskin, which is the same as the original RMVX one, without needing any conversion.

Resources & Updates

I'll get the updates out of the way first before showcasing some of the resource links I've found. There are only a few of them anyway.

Site Updates

In a previous post I mentioned about migrating a few posts over to RPG Maker Times Companion. These are primarily resources (including scripts and utilities), which will also give me a chance to go through and resolve any missing links. And then, once all of the sections are in place there, I can finally concentrate on the annoyingly redundant top menu. Many of the links will cross-reference RPG Maker Times Companion.

Resources

Here are a few very good resources sites (each opens in a new window/tab for convenience):

• The Magnum of Noches - This is a very good, resource-rich site. Sadly, however, it was announced that updates to the site have ceased. Many of the resources are still online and ready for use, but make sure you credit the original creators accordingly.
• Tieris Illia - This site does have quite a number of quality resources and materials, from iconsets to sideview battlers. It's well worth checking out.
  
  
  
• Blogshin - There are some awesome tiles add-ons on this site, primarily for RMVX/VXA. It's in Portugese, but it's easy to navigate and figure out. Well worth a visit if not to download anything, then just to browse.

RPG Maker Windowskins

Work on the RPG Maker Windowskins weblog has finally begun. The previous hosts have been taken down completely; instead, they redirect to this website.

All of the existing windowskins are slowly migrating to this site and, when finished, I'll be adding more as time goes on. In addition, the site will contain windowskin tutorials and how-to's, with several more planned at a later date.

These tutorials/how-to's are planned, but not implemented yet (these will be updated as soon as the windowskins database is up-to-date):

• How To Install Windowskins
• How To Tweak RMVXA Windowskins
• How To Use RGSS To Change Windowskins
• How to Install Multiple Windowskins

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EDIT: These are available on RPG Maker Times Companion.

Event Commands Tutorial Started

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Event Commands Tutorial

Now that I have my new graphics card, the Event Commands Tutorial has begun. This is a complete tutorial for the Event Commands for all RPG Makers, including screenshots. Most Event Commands are based on those in RM2K3, but additional notes have been given corresponding to each RPG Maker. Personal notes and examples have also been given where appropriate.

The section is under heavy construction, with a lot of work yet to do on it. I'm starting with the RM2K3 Event Commands and working through RMXP, then RMVX and finally RMVXA (in that order). It'll take a while but progress is steady.

Q-Engine v1.28.23.8

Work on the Q-Engine. The Alternative Status Screen is undergoing a rewrite to clean up some code and fix layout positioning issues.

Once this has been dealt with, then a second demo video and download will be uploaded.

Resources Migration

The final update is that starting the middle of this month, all of the resources (including windowskins) will be uploaded to RPG Maker Times Companion.

Standing Picture Maker (RMVX/VXA)

Here is a site where you can create a full set of resources for your RMVX/VXA project. It's in Japanese but it's easy to figure out without translation. The site can be found here.

This is an angelic character I created using the online maker.

There are very few actual parts to create a wide range of resources, but you can still create some decent ones. The site also has a lot of different facesets. It's well-worth a visit.

RMVXA Titles2 Graphics

Here are some Titles2 graphics for RMVXA, along with examples of what they look like. These were created in GIMP as I was experimenting with transparent layers and brushes. They are free to download and use, but please give credit to me, Companion Wulf, somewhere.

Smeared Blood

Gold Celtic Frame

Cage Bars

How To Use

Import the graphics into the Graphics/Titles2 folder from within RMVXA.

In the System tab of the Database, pick and choose the titles combination graphics in the Titles Screen section.