Beginner's Guide to RPG Maker VX

Beginner’s Guide to RPG Maker VX

The next thing we want to happen is for the event to Play Background Sound of the storm.
This is found on the second event page under Music And Sounds and once again its options are
displayed here:

Since we want the Storm background sound and the volume should be relatively loud – let’s say
70% Volume and that should do us.
The next thing we want to insert is a Loop. It is on the first page under Flow Control and its
use is to repeat a thing for an indefinite time or until a Break Loop event occurs. For our
weather effects, we want thunder to strike indefinitely every 10 seconds and play a thunder
sound. After you have set the Loop, the first thing you want to put in it is a Wait event for 600
frames – this is 10 seconds since 60 frames is one second. Next we want a Flash Screen event,
found under Screen Effects on the second event page.

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This is a simple enough event, just set everything to 255 and make sure the time is 60 frames, so
that the flash lasts for one second. Next in the Loop is the Play SE event. It’s found under Music
and Sounds.

Our desired sound effect would be Thunder9 and the Volume should be 80%. That is our event
finished – now we just have to put a “kill weather” event on the map so that we can bring this
section to a close.

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Start by creating a Parallel Process event on the World Map:

The first command that should be called is the Set Weather Effects command. Just set
weather effects to “none” and have the time be instant. (0 frames)
The next command is Fadeout Background Sound and you want to simply set it to 1 second.
You’ll find it under the Sounds And Music section on the second event commands page.

With these two events created, you now know how to set weather effects up when you enter an
area. Try messing around with various effects such as snow and tinting the screen if you want to
be creative.

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BALANCING

One of the most difficult parts of game development is the balancing of a game. It is a very
design heavy process and not easy to accomplish. If you want people to be impressed by your
game, you should make sure the game is challenge, instead of being a cakewalk on one hand, or
nightmarishly difficult on the other. Sadly, there is not a real formula for how you should balance
your game.

There is a guide in particular that I recommend checking out if you are having trouble – it is
called “Making a Balanced Level Progression” originally written by mithos and continued by
ZeroManArmy, it is a really good read, so I will link the tutorial here:

http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=38049

Note: you will have to sign up to the RPG Maker VX.net boards to view this tutorial. This is not
necessarily a bad thing. You probably will have already signed up there if you are reading this,
however.

While it is up to you to decide how difficult you want standard enemies to be, remember that
while you are the developer, will the standard player have enough knowledge to get through the
areas without repeatedly dying and getting frustrated? Take this into consideration.

Bosses are a special case, as they should have the ability to overpower the standard party by the
time they reach it. Designing bosses so that a specific strategy or tactic is necessary to beat them
is not a bad idea, but make sure it does not consist of something asinine like defending for
twenty minutes before being able to get one hit in or a boss with 100 million HP.

Also you have to take into consideration the mechanics of your game. Does it make sense that
you expect a player to clear an entire area out without having to run back to get healed halfway
through it or chugging down multitudes of potions? I will show you how to make a save system
that replenishes your health next, but if you decide that you don’t want to use it, then that is
fine.

SAVE POINTS

Save points are traditionally used in games to save your game. It may not be possible to save
freely in the game so you can only save at these specific points. Many of them they will replenish
all your health and mana so that you can continue to fight. They are scattered through areas so
that it is guaranteed that the player can return to this area if they die or to simply heal their
parties.

We are going to use one of the crystals from the !Crystal set to signify our save points and make
them instantly recognizable.

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Make sure the Stepping Animation box is checked and the Priority is the Same as
Characters. The first thing we want the save point to do is heal the entire party. Use the
Recover All event which is found under the Actor section on the first event command page.
Play an appropriate sound effect, for example “Recovery” afterwards and then display some
dialogue saying that your party has been fully healed and if you would like to save your progress.
Then Show Choices so that when Yes it will Open Save Screen and when no it will Exit
Event Processing. That is our save point finished, if you want copies then you can simply copy
and paste the event as you see fit. There is one problem though, you can still save whenever you
want. We’ll fix this by adding a Disable Save Access event to the World Maps weather event.
(Okay, technically not a weather effect, but it saves creating another Parallel Process event.)

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So when you first start out at the World Map, your save access will be disabled and it will never
be enabled again, the only way you can save is through the save points. It might also be a good
idea to ensure that you can save at inns – otherwise what is the point of having them in towns?
Whether or not you decide to disable save access and just have these as “heal points” or just
omit them completely is entirely up to you. Here is the proof that saves are being disabled in the
menu:

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ADVANCED SKILLS

We are going to make an advanced skill that does something outside the norm using common
events. When might this be useful? In this example we are going to make a “steal” skill that will
allow Zach to randomly have a chance to steal an item or currency. So let’s get started. Go into
the Database Manager (F9) then in the Skills section make another space for this new skill.

Now we need to create the common event required for this attack to do anything, as it does no
damage as you can see. Go to the Common Events tab and we will begin to create this skill.

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This common event uses variables, which are essentially like switches that can hold numbers.
They are extremely useful for things like this where a number is specifically needed. While we
have not used variables a lot, they can be extremely powerful for things like multiple-step quest
progression or in-game variables like how much gold the party currently has; but I digress.
Now this looks like a complicated logic system, but this is basically how it works. A variable,
called Steal in this case, is set to 0 to begin. Then it will roll a random number between 1 and
100. In this case a Conditional Branch will check if it rolls above or equal to 70, which triggers
a “failure to steal” dialogue. This means that the steal skill has a 30% chance of missing. Feel free
to change this by changing the branches equal to or above value.
If it succeeds, it goes onto another Conditional Branch that checks if the variable that was
first rolled was fewer than 25. If it is, it will take another variable, StealItem and roll a random
number between one and ten in this case. Another Conditional Branch checks whether or not
StealItem was under or equal to 5, which in that case will steal a potion, and in the else section
will steal a magic water.
With that branch ended, another variable is rolled if the first variable, Steal, was above 25 but
equal to/fewer than 70, StealGold between 5 and 25. This is the range of the possible amount of
gold that can be stolen from a foe. It will then display that \n[2] (which is Zach) stole \v[3] (the
amount of gold, i.e variable number 3’s value (StealGold))
It will then add the variable of StealGold to the total party gold. That will conclude the skills
logic. A rather primitive system and not that advanced, but it is functional for what it is.Changing
it so that it checks the enemy level to give better rewards or more gold is definitely something
you would want to look into if you plan to have this type of skill in your game.

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The last thing to do is to apply the common event to the skill and give the skill to Zach at level
one. Done simply enough. Just drag the common event bar down and find your common event
in the Skills tab.

And then added to Zach’s skill list:

Now Zach will start off with this move and be able to use it straight away. Success!

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BATTLE BACKGROUNDS

Unfortunately, the battle background that comes with RPG Maker VX isn’t terribly interesting,
but there is a way to counter this by using a battle background script. The one that I will be
using, Battle Backgrounds Based on Area by diakonas, will allow for greater customization of
the backgrounds so you can set them to specific areas of the same map using Areas.
You can find the script here:
http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=4491&st=0&p=48517&#entry48517
First of all, go into your Script Manager (F11). Copy and paste the script into a new script
section under Materials.

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Next, we have to import the actual battle backgrounds. I have supplied a number of them in the
Battle Backgrounds folder.
Or here: http://www.multiupload.com/UX7BSQB2GV
Import them using the Resource Manager (F10) into the Graphics/Pictures section.

Now we need to configure the script so that it will recognize our area names – go back to the
Script Manager (F11) and after selecting the Battle Backgrounds script, scroll down to view
this part of the script:

Essentially this part of the script is taking the name of the area, and linking it to a battle
background file name. For the first line (61), when the name of the area is Grassland, it will use
the battle background called Grassland from the Graphics/Pictures folder.

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To add our own one, add a line that follows the same syntax as the above example.

Here I added the “Mine” line (62), so now Mine is a recognized area name that will change the
battle background. Do remember that the last line must not have a comma on the end of it. So
what will happen if we have no designated areas?

These lines a little further up show that the default battle background is now Grassland. Good
enough. Now let’s go create some areas, for example, It’s strange that a grassland background
would be displayed in the tower, isn’t it? Go to the Ogre’s Tower. Then right click on the Map
and click New Area.

Call this area Tower as this corresponds to the Tower02 background, and then click on the area
position.

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Since we want it to cover the whole area, do so, make sure you highlight everything. Then click
Ok, and then Ok again to create the area.

And then the area will be created. It is worth noting that areas can have special “encounters”
that can be configured in their properties and these encounters will only occur if you are in their
vicinity. It’s handy if you want scorpions to appear on the desert section of the world map etc.
Now let’s test the default background and the Tower02 background.

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The first one is displayed when the character is not in an area, the second if the character is in
the Tower area, which covers the entire Ogre’s Tower map. Now you should do the same with at
least the Forbidden Forest map. You should call this area Forest, and the script will take care of
the work for you. Here’s what it looks like:

This script is very useful as it gets you accustomed to using areas, and it gives you much nicer
backgrounds to use. You can experiment with it to give different battle backgrounds in different
areas of the map.

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FINISHING UP

FINAL CUTSCENE

Let’s say we want to finish up with a final cutscene to wrap our story up. Our cutscene is going to
be very short but is going to cover one of the biggest problems new users of RPG Maker VX have
– a cutscene that changes area. First of all we change the Ogre’s second event page instead of
the placeholder we had before. (wait 180 frames, fadeout, title screen)

So there has been a new Control Switch added – I called this OgreDead. Then a Fadeout
Screen occurs, and then the Wait 180 frames we had before, then a Transfer event, and finally
a Fadein Screen. Check that this event page’s trigger is Autorun.

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The Transfer event destination is here, where the cursor is.

Now we create another Autorun event in the Village.
Create an event with Lime’s graphic here on the map.

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The most important part of the event is that you make sure there is a switch condition for
OgreDead so this will not appear until the final cutscene. The rest is simple eventing we’ve
already done – remember to call your event name something appropriate like LimeFinal and the
trigger should be Autorun. The Change Speed modifier in the Set Move Route event may be
new, but it isn’t anything complicated.

And with that, your cutscene is complete. After the fight with the ogre, the screen will fade out,
transfer the player to the village, and fade in. A small conversation will ensue and finish with
Salazar moving to the exit of the village where the screen will fade out again and will finally
return to the title screen.
The only step left is to test to make sure it works.
I have included a few extra sections at the end here for things that I have not went into detail on
because they were not necessary in our small campaign like vehicles and parallax backgrounds.
In essence, however, your Mini RPG is finished unless you want to add anything you see fit. If
you want to compress the game data down into an extracting file that you can publically
release/privately send, then scroll down a few sections to Distributing.

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KILL “X” MONSTERS QUEST 111177

This is one that is often comes up – and it is actually harder to do then it seems! The problem is

that you have to use variables to track the amount of monsters killed. We’ve already talked

about variables briefly in the Common Events section for the Steal skill, but here we are going to

use them more efficiently instead of just in one skill. However, first I want to talk to you about

the Game_Interpreter fix.

There is a problem with a part of a script that comes with RPG Maker VX that can cause variables
to sometimes not work, or so I’ve heard. I’ve never had a problem with the variables I use, but I
would follow these steps and fix your Game_Interpreter file just in case. Here’s the tutorial to go
and do it:

http://www.rpgmakervx.com/variables-fix

After you’ve done that, we need to see to this actual quest. Will it be of epic proportions? Will it
involve the slaying of six dragons, spread across the vast world map of the island?

Not quite. For now, let us stick with a glorious quest to kill three slimes. Let’s think about what
we will need to do here:

1. Place NPC that gives quest.
2. Give NPC Conditional Branch that when no reminds player of quest and when yes

gives player reward if variable is above or equal to 3.
3. Change it so when a slime is killed, one is added to the variable that tracks slime kill

counts.

The one problem with this is that you could kill three slimes before talking to the NPC and
completely defeat the purpose of having to go kill three slimes. Which means we should set the
variable to 0 after receiving the quest. Let’s get started. We should place an NPC in town. I’ve
put him over by the rock on the right side of the village.

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First of all we should put down his dialogue that gives the quest:

Pretty simple stuff here – some text from the NPC, a choice to accept or decline the quest, and if
the quest is accepted it will set the SlimeCount variable to 0, and put Self Switch A on.
Control Variables works in the same way as Control Switch but for variables there is
obviously a lot more options like Set to a desired number, add a number, divide by a number
and so on. I created the variable called SlimeCount already here.

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Obviously I have left the Conditional Branch rather empty. A good idea would be to give the
players a reward on the completion of the quest and then put another Self Switch so it would
be impossible to keep getting that reward. (Since the SlimeCount would still be over 3 every
time you talk to him again after the completion of the quest)
Here the Conditional Branch is when variable SlimeCount is greater than or equal to (thus
the >= symbol) 3. It’s fairly easy to set up in the Conditional Branch settings.

So with that figured out, we need to now increase the variable by one every time a slime dies.
How do we do this? Go into the Database Manager (F9) and navigate to Troops, and find the
Slime * 2 troop.

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Here we can see that the condition for this Battle Event is the Enemy Slime (the first one,
indicated by the 1. Slime) HP is 0% or below. Essentially, dead. It will add one to SlimeCount and
then it will change the slimes state to Incapacitated so it will actually die. This will just do it for
the first enemy slime, so remember to create a New Event Page and do the same for 2. Slime.

There is still one problem, however. The slimes will die before they can add one to the
SlimeCount variable. How to get around this? Well, this is a slightly hack-y solution, but we can
employ the Immortal state to these slime. You can do this by right clicking the enemy on the
troop and clicking Immortal. Do this for both slimes. Now it will work correctly, and that’s why
we needed the change enemy state to incapacitated, as they wouldn’t die otherwise.

Now you can test it and it should work! There are other ways you could have done this, such as
scripts that will help you do this easily, but I wanted to show you this way of doing it.

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VEHICLES

Vehicles are a way to get around and progress your game. If you have an area only reachable by
airship or boat, you can make it an obstacle that allows your game to flow. There are three
vehicles – the boat, the ship and the airship.
You can find the Vehicle Graphics section in the Database (F9) under the System tab.

You can change these by double clicking the graphic. It will bring up a normal graphic choice
page.

You can set the starting position of the vehicles by right clicking and picking Set as Starting
Position and then either Boat, Ship, or Airship.

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The three vehicles have different properties:

The boat cannot travel over deep water and is restricted to shallow water tiles.

The ship, however, can travel on deep water tiles.

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The airship can fly over both land and water. Keep in mind that unlike the other two, this one
cannot be accessed when it’s landed on water (you have to actually be able to walk into the tile
it is on)

You can also change the music that plays while you are in a vehicle (under System in Database):

And lastly, the event that allows you to Set Vehicle Location, can be found in the second
event page under Movement.

There is also a Change Vehicle Graphic event on the third event page.

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Now let’s say that you want to move the vehicle’s location after a certain event. If you want to
have a quest or event that moves the boat to the world map, you will want to set up the event
like so:

It is really as simple as that. You do not even have to set down the boat’s starting placement.
Another thing that could be done on vehicles is that could be useful is the ability to have battles
on vehicles. To set it up, it’s a simple script by BulletXt, Enable Battles on Vehicles.
http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?s=&showtopic=12384&view=findpost&p=109648
It is a simple plug and play script, so just paste it into your Script Manager (F11), and that is all
you need to do. Really. Note that if you haven’t set up the water as an area, it will keep the
default battle background and will look very out of place.

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PARALLAX BACKGROUNDS

Parallax backgrounds are a way to replace the blank with an image that will cover the
background and make it more interesting. For example, in this area I would like to put outer
space as the background, instead of just having black (since this is in the editor, blank spaces are
represented by blue and dark blue checkers.)

Go into the Map Properties and look at the Parallax Background settings.

You should tick Show in the Editor so we can see it without play testing. The two of the
options to Loop Horizontally or Loop Vertically means that the parallax background will
loop. The Auto Scroll option means that the image will move constantly horizontally,
vertically, or both. This can be handy to create affects, and you can set the Auto Scroll speed
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There are some default parallax images, but you can import your custom ones by using the
Resource Manager (F10) and importing to the Graphics/Parallaxes folder.
And ta-da! Your desired effect will be created (note that if you have used an Auto Scroll
effect, you will need to playtest to see it.)

You can use parallaxes to map as well, but this is rather more difficult. I suggest you read C-7’s 127
guide here: http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=7498

Beginner’s Guide to RPG Maker VX

DISTRIBUTION

Once you’ve got to a point where you feel like you want to share your project or make it
available, you have to go through some steps to make your project download file. How do we do
this? First of all, go the File menu and select Compress Game Data.

This will show a menu with options:

The output folder is where the file will be stored. Now, the Create Encrypted Archive and
Include RTP Data are both important.

Create Encrypted Archive will ‘lock’ your project file so that others cannot open your project
in RPG Maker VX to see how your events are working or change anything, etc. If you want to give
this to someone so they can look over it on the technical side, you do not want to click this
option, but if you are publically releasing your project, then it would be a wise idea to tick the
box.

Include RTP Data means that the extractor file that you will create will also include the
standard RTP data such as characters, battlers, etc. This means that someone that already has
the RTP installed does not have to download extra files they already have. However, if a person
does not have the RTP installed, they will not be able to run the game. It may be worth the extra
size the RTP takes up. This will add around 35MB or more to your file size.

After you are finished, click okay. It will compress. Afterwards, find your output file.

This is your project extractor file. This is the file you want to upload and give to people so they
can play your project.

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Lastly, here is the difference between encrypted and unencrypted project files:
This is an unencrypted file. Anyone can click into this and open your project in RPG Maker VX.
This is an encrypted file. This will not allow access to anyone who wants to open your project in
RPG Maker VX. As such the file size is a lot bigger (though not substantially.)

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EPILOGUE

SUMMARY

I’m going to leave you to your own devices to either choose to finish this simple RPG, or dive
straight into your own adventures with RPG Maker VX. Either way, this guide has given you a
basic overview about how to create maps, events, and custom resources in order to create your
very own project. I hope it has been informative. I may add additional sections in the future.
But this is just for beginner stuff. There is a lot more customization and possibilities available in
RPG Maker VX. With scripting, especially, the only limit is your imagination. So where should I
direct you to next? Well, that depends. If you want to find specific tutorials for mapping,
graphics, events etc, then a good source of information would be the rpgmakervx.net tutorial
forum, found here:
http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showforum=30
If you would like to learn the Ruby scripting language, then try this forum, it has a lot of
information about the usage of scripts, but be aware that it will take time and effort to be able
to master scripting. I never said it was going to be easy:
http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showforum=39
Lastly, if you would like to check out other users completed projects in order to get some ideas
on what exactly can be achieved in RPG Maker VX, check this forum out:
http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showforum=25
And as a last word, I would like to say thank you for reading this on behalf of BenKo and myself.
If you would like to contact me to suggest changes or if you have a problem, then you can
contact me at [email protected]
Good luck!

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GLOSSARY

Agility – The stat that affects battle order.

ATB – Stands for Active Timed Battle. It is a different take on traditional turn-based systems
where instead it plays with slightly more action-orientated gameplay. Generally, a bar will fill up
showing you when a character or enemy can attack. When the bar is full, you can use an action.
There are generally two modes of Active Timed Battle systems – Active, and Wait. In Active
mode, time flows regardless of what is going on in game. In Wait mode, time stops when the
player is navigating menus.

Attack – The stat that determines the amount of damage that is done to an enemy.

BGM – Stands for Background Music. This is where the longer music files will go and any custom
battle, boss, scene or town music that you want should go in this category.

BGS – Stands for Background Sound. This is generally for weather effects such as rain or storm
sounds.

Defense – The stat that reduces the amount of damage taken from enemies.

HP – Hit points. The maximum amount of damage a character is able to withstand before they
are “incapacitated.”

ME – Stands for Music Effect. For small music files like the victory fanfare or the inn sleep sound.

MP – Mana points. The maximum amount of spells a character can cast (depending on spell
cost) before they will have to recharge their mana supply in some way.

Plug & Play – A script that can be copy pasted and requires little or no customization for it to
run.

RGSS2 – Stands for Ruby Game Scripting System, the method used in RPG Maker VX for scripting
purposes.

SBS – Stands for Sideview Battle System. This is a special type of battle system as the characters
are positioned to be viewed from the side instead of a “straight-on” battle style. This is one of
the more popular systems, but it does require some knowledge of how the battle system script
is set up. A very popular one is Tankentai Sideview Battle System.

SE – Stands for Sound Effect. This is for things such as attack sounds or novelty sounds.

Spirit – The stat that affects the magical strength of a character or enemy. It also functions as
the stat for magical defense, reducing the damage taken from enemy spells.

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CREDITS

First of all I have got to give a huge thanks to BenKo for starting this guide and writing the first 66
pages for purely altruistically reasons. Otherwise I would have in no way had any motivation to
write a guide like this. Please, send an email of appreciation to [email protected] if you can.
I cannot emphasize enough the amount of work that must have gone into designing this.
Credit to diakonas for his script of Battle Backgrounds Based on Area. This was very helpful in
the creation of this guide as I had no clue on how to do battle backgrounds before his script. Also
thanks to Synthesize for his original battle backgrounds script which inspired diakonas.
Making a Balanced Level Progression originally written by mithos and continued by
ZeroManArmy, is also a very impressive method used to balancing games that I had to give
credit and a link to in this guide.
Parallax Guide Mapping 1 & 2 by C-7 is very good for people who want to use parallaxes
effectively.
Thanks to all the users at rpgmakervx.net for having a really great community with a huge
amount of help available in the form of support forums or tutorials. I love using the site and it
was where I first went to get help for RPG Maker VX, and there are many things that helped me
with events, such as Gordelox’s steal system.
And thanks to you all for reading this. ☺

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