- Joined
- Mar 24, 2017
- Posts
- 204
so, RPG Maker 2000's twentieth birthday is on the horizon - that would be 5 April 2020 - and i've been kicking around the idea for a while of making a game or set of games in it to "celebrate." People here seem to be interested in making games so i figured i'd ask around, although I don't really know what this should even be classified as, but "freelance" was recommended so i guess i'll go with that.
as you can infer, rpg maker 2000 is rather old software and doesn't do a lot of things you might expect a modern game engine to do. a brief overview of what rm2k can/can't do can be found on wikipedia, but since most people here are probably familiar with rmxp this list might be more helpful:
- NO SCRIPTING. among other things, this means no pokémon essentials, and no extending the battle system.
- as such, pretty much all of the game data is restricted to what you can enter into the Database menu (actors, skills, items, enemies, etc) which, all things considered, is pretty expansive for hobbyist game dev software from twenty years ago
- tile sizes are restricted to 16x16, although they still work mostly the same as they do in xp
- midi files are preferred for background music. most of you probably know midi as "super ancient music notation format that nobody uses anymore" and while rm2k value added support for mp3, midi feels more authentic for this purpose. (wav is still available for use for sound effects.)
- maps only have two tile layers (plus events), instead of three plus events that you're probably used to from rmxp
- battles are front-on (it's technically first person but it's really weird to use that term to describe an rpg maker game) and turn-based, because for some reason they chose to imitate Dragon Quest instead of Fantasy. (other battle systems were implemented in rm2k3.) for the most part they should play the same but be aware of it.
- for the most part, all of the event commands that you're used to are available, including things like game variables and switches, although anything to do with scripts and ruby are not; common events also exist if the need for a global event arises; some properties like "through" and "direction fix" and some other things do not exist
- most importantly, when this was originally made Windows 2000 was the hottest new thing and while games made in rm2k should (amazingly) be *mostly* compatible with modern operating systems there can and will still be issues that arise - the goal here is to pay tribute to rm2k, not make a game that ten million people are going to be playing.
if you're having a hard time summoning to mind what these kinds of games look like, some screenshots might help.
now for the formalities.
faq
q: why?
a: yes
q: rm95 is celebrating its quarter-centennial this same year, why aren't you celebrating that?
a: because it's not on steam and in any event i don't feel like tangling with something that was made in the days before Windows NT took over
as you can infer, rpg maker 2000 is rather old software and doesn't do a lot of things you might expect a modern game engine to do. a brief overview of what rm2k can/can't do can be found on wikipedia, but since most people here are probably familiar with rmxp this list might be more helpful:
- NO SCRIPTING. among other things, this means no pokémon essentials, and no extending the battle system.
- as such, pretty much all of the game data is restricted to what you can enter into the Database menu (actors, skills, items, enemies, etc) which, all things considered, is pretty expansive for hobbyist game dev software from twenty years ago
- tile sizes are restricted to 16x16, although they still work mostly the same as they do in xp
- midi files are preferred for background music. most of you probably know midi as "super ancient music notation format that nobody uses anymore" and while rm2k value added support for mp3, midi feels more authentic for this purpose. (wav is still available for use for sound effects.)
- maps only have two tile layers (plus events), instead of three plus events that you're probably used to from rmxp
- battles are front-on (it's technically first person but it's really weird to use that term to describe an rpg maker game) and turn-based, because for some reason they chose to imitate Dragon Quest instead of Fantasy. (other battle systems were implemented in rm2k3.) for the most part they should play the same but be aware of it.
- for the most part, all of the event commands that you're used to are available, including things like game variables and switches, although anything to do with scripts and ruby are not; common events also exist if the need for a global event arises; some properties like "through" and "direction fix" and some other things do not exist
- most importantly, when this was originally made Windows 2000 was the hottest new thing and while games made in rm2k should (amazingly) be *mostly* compatible with modern operating systems there can and will still be issues that arise - the goal here is to pay tribute to rm2k, not make a game that ten million people are going to be playing.
if you're having a hard time summoning to mind what these kinds of games look like, some screenshots might help.
now for the formalities.
- Expertise: i really like code but that's like the least applicable skill possible here so. also i know how the non-pokémon parts of rpg maker work.
- Examples of Work: this and this
- Method of Contact: send me a message here
- Timezone: new york
- Additional Information: what i have in mind is if someone who has a short-ish, or series of short-ish, stories for a game that don't rely on complicated mechanics in order to put into action - almost as if you wanted to make a narrative prototype. the default RTP art assets, frankly, aren't terrible but if anyone likes to make 16x16 pixel art with a constrained color palette that's a plus too. i also plan on continuing to do other important things on the side at the same time as this, so this shouldn't be something that requires a 40-hour work week to get finished before next april.
faq
q: why?
a: yes
q: rm95 is celebrating its quarter-centennial this same year, why aren't you celebrating that?
a: because it's not on steam and in any event i don't feel like tangling with something that was made in the days before Windows NT took over
