RPG Maker

RPG Maker, known in Japan as RPG Tsukūru (RPGツクール, sometimes romanized as RPG Tkool), is a series of programs for the development of role-playing video games (RPGs) with genre-driven varieties as well as machinima, originally created by the Japanese group ASCII. The Japanese name, Tsukūru, is a pun mixing the Japanese word tsukuru (作る), which means "make" or "create", with tsūru (ツール), the Japanese transliteration of the English word "tool".
The RPG Maker series was originally released primarily in Japan, but it was translated by fans in Taiwan, South Korea, China, Russia, and North America with RPG Maker 2000 and RPG Maker 2003. Most of the later engines have been officially translated and created by successors, Enterbrain and Gotcha Gotcha Games.
RPG Maker is a program that allows users to create their own role-playing video games. Most versions include a tile set based map editor (tilesets are called chipsets in pre-XP versions), a simple scripting language for scripting events, and a battle editor. All versions include initial premade tilesets, characters, and events which can be used in creating new games. One feature of the PC versions of RPG Maker programs is that a user can create new tilesets and characters, and add any new graphics the user wants.
Despite being geared towards creating role-playing video games, the engine also has the capability to create games of other genres, such as adventure games (like Yume Nikki), story-driven games or visual novels with minimal tweaking.
According to Enterbrain, RPG Tsukūru Dante 98, released on December 17, 1992, was the first software of the RPG Maker series, although there were a few versions of RPG making software by ASCII preceding it, dating back to 1988. This, along with its follow-up RPG Tsukūru Dante 98 II, was made for NEC PC-9801, and games created with these programs can be played on a Windows computer with emulators called Dante for Windows and D2win, respectively. RPG Maker was a product that came from various programs that ASCII Corporation had included in ASCII along with other users' code submitted to it, which the company decided to expand and publish into the standalone game-making toolkit.
RPG Maker 95 was the first Microsoft Windows-based RPG Maker software. Despite being an early version, RPG Maker 95 has both a higher screen resolution, and higher sprite and tile resolution than the several following versions.
RPG Maker 2000, also referred to as RM2k, was the second release of RPG Maker for Microsoft Windows and is the most popular and used RPG Maker so far. While it is possible to do more with RM2k, it uses lower resolution sprites and tiles than RPG Maker 95, but it does not have a noticeable limit of 'sprites'. Unlike RM95, which can only use one 'set', RM2k can use an unlimited number of sprite sheets with specific sizes for each type. The tilesets also have a similar non-limitation, but because tiles must be entered into a database, there is a limit on tiles. This limit however is rarely a problem (normally 5000), and even when it is, an unofficial patch exists which can bump most limits much higher at the risk of potential game corruption. It does not support text output and can program only two buttons, Z and X. There is text in dialog boxes, by manner of overlaying sprites, or maps lain with text, but not plainly on the screen.
RPG Maker 2003, also referred to as RM2k3, is largely an improvement of RM2k. RM2k games can be ported to RM2k3 (but not back to RM2k, the conversion is permanent), and most resources are interchangeable. The main difference is the introduction of a side-view battle system similar to that found in the Final Fantasy games on the Super NES and the Sony PlayStation. This was the first version made by Enterbrain, which had previously been a part of ASCII. The popularity of this version among the Japanese RPGmaker community has led to it getting a notable unofficial patch known as the Maniacs Patch, which adds new features and functionality to the engine.
RPG Maker XP (also referred to as RMXP) was released on 16 September 2005. It is the first RPG Maker which can use Ruby, making it far more powerful than previous versions programming-wise. However, many normal, simplified features present in RM2k(3) have been removed. Most of these features have been programmed with Ruby, and distributed online. RMXP runs at 1024x768 resolution (though games made in it run at 640x480), while offering four times the playable area of its predecessors. By default, games ran at 40 frames per second, though the game's scripts can be modified to set the framerate to any value. Additionally, it allows greater user control over sprite size (there is no specific image size regulation for sprite sheets) and other aspects of game design. This more open-ended arrangement, coupled with the inclusion of the Ruby Game Scripting System (RGSS [ja]), makes RPG Maker XP more versatile than older versions in the series, at the cost of a steeper learning curve. This was named after Windows XP which was active from 2001 to 2014.
The Pokémon Essentials pack, one of the main methods of making Pokémon fan games, was exclusive to RPG Maker XP and never ported to any later engine, causing XP to be widely used for such games more than a decade later, such as in making Pokémon Uranium. It was taken down in 2018 due to a cease and desist order by Nintendo, though it continues to circulate on the internet.
RPG Maker VX (RPGツクールVX, RPG Tsukūru VX) was released in Japan on December 27, 2007, and in the West on February 29, 2008. The frame rate was increased to 60 frames per second, providing smoother animation. The engine still used the Ruby programming language, but the game's default programming was overhauled to allow more freedom for scripting in new features. A new editor and RTP were included, this time in a much simpler "blocky" style. The default battle system is comparable to that of the Dragon Quest series or its predecessor RM2k, with a head-on view of the battlefield and detailed text descriptions of each action taken.
However, the lack of support for multiple tilesets when mapping represented a notable downgrade from the engine's predecessor, leaving the player with only a finite number of unique tiles with which to depict all the game's environments. Multiple player-made workarounds were created.
RPG Maker VX Ace was released in Japan on December 15, 2011, and the West on March 15, 2012. It was later made available through Steam, and is also available physically. VX Ace, an upgraded version of VX, addressed the tileset issue. Battle backgrounds were re-introduced, and are separated into top and bottom halves. Spells, skills, and items can all now have their own damage and recovery formulas, although a quick calculation method reminiscent of the older RPG Makers is available. The VX RTP was redesigned for VX Ace, and a new soundtrack featuring higher quality techno-pop tracks was included. With VX Ace came a large quantity of DLC Resource Packages offered by Enterbrain, also available through Steam.
Released by Degica on October 23, 2015, RPG Maker MV includes a large number of changes over previous versions, with multiplatform support, side-view battles, and high-resolution features. It is the first engine in the series to use JavaScript instead of Ruby, with the addition of plugins. Completed games can be played on PC and mobile devices. RPG Maker MV also goes back to layered tilesets, a feature that was removed in RPG Maker VX and VX Ace. Unlike RPG Maker XP, which allowed users to manually choose which layers to build on, MV automatically stacks tiles on top of other tiles. It also came out on consoles under the name RPG Tsukūru MV Trinity. It was originally announced to only be on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch but was later announced to also be on Xbox One. This release was later cancelled. It was released on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan on November 15, 2018, and was released in North America and Europe in September 2020.
RPG Maker MZ, a minor upgrade to the engine of MV, was released worldwide on August 20, 2020. MZ's new features include the Effekseer particle system, an autosave function, and often-requested XP-style autolayer mechanics. Like MV, it allows users to develop plugins using JavaScript. RPG Maker MZ received mostly positive feedback from users, who praised its additional features and the return of the XP layer mechanics, though its similarity to RPG Maker MV drew a mixed response.
RPG Maker Unite is an asset for the Unity game engine based on RPG Maker. It was released on the Unity store in May 2023 and on Epic Games Store in February 2024.
The first console RPG Maker, RPG Tsukūru Super Dante, debuted in 1995 for the Super Famicom, as a port of RPG Tsukūru Dante 98. RPG Tsukūru Super Dante was later broadcast via the Super Famicom's Satellaview accessory.
RPG Maker GB is the first console portable version of RPG Maker.
In 2000, RPG Maker was released for the Sony PlayStation, but only a limited number of copies were made for releases outside of Japan. The software allowed user-made characters, and monsters through Anime Maker which was separate from the RPG Maker, which required saving to an external memory card, but there was a limit to how many user-made sprites and monsters could be used in RPG Maker. Also, in Anime Maker, the user could create larger sprites for a theater-type visual novel in which the player could animate and control characters, but these sprites were much larger and unusable in RPG Maker.
The RPG Maker interface was somewhat user-friendly, and battles were front-view style only. Item, Monster, Skill/Magic, and Dungeons had a small limit cap, as did the effects of any given Item, Magic or Skill (9,999). Items were all inclusive; Weapons and Armors were created in the Items interface. The types of items were as follows: None (mainly used for Key Items), Weapon, Armor, Key (up to eight sub types), Magic (for binding Magic created in the Magic interface to an item), Healing, and Food (which raises stats and EXP, or experience points in which this particular software is the only one of the series to do so natively).
Events were a separate save file from the System file, and are referred to as Scenario files. This is how the user could make multiple parts to one game, provided the user had enough memory cards and card space to create the files.
A version for the Nintendo 3DS was released by NIS America on June 27, 2017. While it remains portable on a small screen, users can create games on-the-go and also download games to play as well. The game received some criticism, with NintendoWorldReport saying that the title would be more suitable to hardcore RPG fans, who want to create their own game, rather than for every type of player. Games completed can be uploaded to the RPG Maker Fes Player app for those to download and play on their own systems. It is the second RPG Maker to receive a limited edition (the previous one being RPG Tsukūru DS) which includes a CD soundtrack in a jewel case containing all the soundtracks in the game, and a full-color paperback artbook. It is the first RPG Maker on consoles/handhelds to receive a digital release.
Historically, few early RPG Maker versions had official English releases. Each Windows version has, however, been subject to unlicensed distribution through the internet in some form or other. RPG Maker 95, as well as translation patches for the Super Famicom titles RPG Maker Super Dante and RPG Maker 2, were translated and distributed by a group called KanjiHack. In 1999, KanjiHack closed upon receiving a cease-and-desist e-mail from ASCII's lawyers. RPG Maker 95 was re-released with a more complete translation under the name RPG Maker 95+ by a Russian programmer, under the alias of Don Miguel, who later translated and released RPG Maker 2000. Later versions, RPG Maker 2003, and RPG Maker XP, were similarly translated and distributed by a programmer under the alias of RPG Advocate.
The first official English release of the PC series was of RPG Maker XP on September 16, 2005. The next two versions of the software, RPG Maker VX and RPG Maker VX Ace both received official English releases. Since 2010 English versions of RPG Maker have been published by Degica, who have also officially released English versions of the older titles RPG Maker 2000 and RPG Maker 2003.
The first official English language of a console version was the PlayStation version in 2000, simply called RPG Maker, by Agetec. Agetec also localized RPG Maker 2 and 3.
RPG Maker variants are re-implemented by the open-source Open RPG Maker, MKXP and EasyRPG editors and interpreters.
By August 2005, the series had sold more than two million copies worldwide. Later Steam releases are estimated to have sold nearly 1 million units by April 2018, according to Steam Spy. Since its first release, the series has been used to create numerous titles, both free and commercial. According to PC Gamer, it has become "the go-to tool for aspiring developers who want to make a game and sell it", due to being "the most accessible game engine around". In addition to games, the series has been used for other purposes, such as studies involving students learning mathematics through the creation of role-playing games, and programming.
One of the early RPG Maker games in the 21st century was Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, generated controversy by audiences and Columbine victims, later attributed the importance of independent video game as an art game.
With the release of 2012 video game Ib, it has been credited with helping popularize its engine's use in developing more story-driven and horror games than role-playing games.
Some RPG Maker video games received critical acclaim, and later adapted into multimedia franchises only produced in Japan including Angels of Death, Ao Oni and Corpse Party.
The RPG Maker engine is sometimes used for machinima as a part of the animation and video game medium. Prominent works made in RPG Maker engine include the web-series Slimey (2011), and Studio Moonchalk's Distortion (2023) and Love and Friendship (2024), all released exclusively on YouTube.
A number of developers who have created notable games via RPG Maker include:
Films and web-series made in RPG Maker engine can be found on the list below:
A former RPG Maker developer Danny Ledonne directed a documentary Playing Columbine, about the controversy surrounding his 2005 video game Super Columbine Massacre RPG!.