RPG MAKER TUTORIAL GAME BOOK

Level 1: Creating a Story Line

In this course we will introduce how to create a simple RPG using RPG Maker VX. The course is generally
based on the full version of RPG Maker. However, those with the trial version will be able to follow along
as well.

Step 1: Creating a Story Line

First, before firing up RPG Maker, we need to prepare a basic outline for the RPG we want to create. Like
the blueprints for a building, a story line is essential to beginning work on our project.

Creating a work of epic proportions is a bit out of our league as of yet, so we’ll begin with something a
bit simpler. Let’s take a familiar theme “The hero Defeats the Devil King”, and expand upon it.

Point: Write your Story Line Down on Paper

Let’s organize our story line. The key here is to organize your ideas and then get them down on paper.
Of course new ideas and improvements will pop up as you work, but first we want a general outline to
work from.

Example) The Hero Defeats the Devil King

VX Quest Story Line

Good King’s Castle: Receive instructions from the king to defeat the Devil King.
↓

Minato Port: Recruit members of your team, find a boat.
↓ (needed to get to the Cave of Demons)

Cave of Demons: Find an airship.
(needed to get to the Devil King’s lair)
↓
Devil King’s Lair: Battle with final boss, end scene.

This looks about right. We’ve got a clear idea of what will happen from beginning to end.

It can be tempting to think that, “Oh, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what to do in my head, so no
worries!” However, when it comes to actually creating the story, ideas get mixed up and even forgotten.
To keep things interesting, it’s best to record all your ideas on paper for future reference.

Now is also a good time to thinking about the name and personality of your main character. Additionally,
if you can come up with ideas for items, magic, names and traits of monsters, etc., it will be easier to
create a solid game. Finally, write down any other ideas you may have, even if they are not directly
related to the story. They can be a source of creativity and inspiration later on.

Congratulations on completing Level 1! In Level 2, we will get our hands dirty working with RPG Maker.

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Level 2: Drawing Maps

Welcome to Level 2 of the RPG Maker VX Introductory Course. In Level 1 we decided on a general story
line for our adventure:

VX Quest Story Line

Good King’s Castle: Receive instructions from the king to defeat the Devil King.

↓

Minato Port: Recruit members of your team, find a boat.
↓ (needed to get to the Cave of Demons)

Cave of Demons: Find an airship.
(needed to get to the Devil King’s lair)

↓

Devil King’s Lair: Battle with final boss, end scene.

In this Level, we will get some hands-on experience using RPG Maker.
*To complete this Level, you will need to have installed the trial version of RPG Maker VX in order to
access the necessary graphics, sounds and other components.

Step 2: Setting Up a New Project

Now that we have a general story line, lets get to it and begin using RPG Maker. Click on the “New
Project” button located in the top left corner.

*New Project Window

In this window, we need to enter some basic information about our game. In the “Folder Name” box, we
will name the folder where our game data will be saved. The “Title” box is for the name of the game we
are about to create. Let’s type VXQuest in the “Folder Name” box. The “Title” box should automatically
update.

Step 3: Preparing to Draw Maps

Next, let’s set the stage for our adventure by creating a field map within our world map. The default

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Find the line of text that reads “MAP001” on the left hand side of the screen and right-click on it. From
the menu that appears, select “Map Properties”.

*Map Properties Window

Hopefully you will see the same window as pictured above. Here, we can adjust several map settings,
including its size and background music (BGM).

Adjusting Width and Height

In the General Settings pane, you should see the Width and Height selection boxes. Change the
number from 100 to 30 in both of these boxes. Our map is currently named MAP001. This is a bit

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Selecting BGM

Check the Auto-Change BGM box by clicking on it. Next, click the ellipse (...) on the right. A list of all

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go with “Field1”. Of course, the BGM will change whenever

enemies appear, but we’ll adjust that setting later.

*Map Properties Window (after we made the adjustments).

Step 4: Drawing Maps

Now we’re ready to draw our map.

Step 3: Preparing to Draw Maps

Switch to Map mode.

Select the Grassland tile.

*Create a large island using the Grassland tile.
In this step, we are creating the general outline of our field map, so don’t worry about the details just
yet.

*地形にバリエーションをもたせる
According to our story line, our characters need a boat or an airship to reach different locations. So, let’s
divide the large landmass into a couple of islands. The map would be a bit boring if all it contained were
grasslands, so lets spice things up by adding topographical features like forests and mountains. Let’s
save the top-right island for the Devil King’s lair. Since he’s a nasty guy, filling it in with desolate
mountains seems appropriate.

*Develop the map by adding topographical features.
To keep your map as realistic as possible, try to draw your islands with non-regular shapes and add
some accents using the different tiles available. Try not to get too caught up in this stage, for you could

spend hours tweaking everything. Get to a point where things look good and move on. Remember, you
can always come back and make adjustments later.

*Placing towns, castles, etc. on the map.
Now that the topography is taken care of, let’s refer back to the story line and add map symbols like
towns, dungeons, castles, caves, etc. as necessary.

*The Completed Field Map!
The key to drawing good maps is knowing beforehand where you will need to put important map
symbols. Armed with this knowledge, you will be able to make much better decisions about the shape of
your map.

Step 5: Testing the Map

Now that we’ve created our field map, it’s time to give it a playtest. But, before we can do this, we must

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Switch to Event mode.

*Selecting the start position
Right-click on the tile you’ve selected as the starting position. From the menu that appears, select “Set
as Starting Position” and then “Player”.

*Check that the main character appears in the selected tile.
Once the starting position has been set, we can begin a playtest and walk around. This will give us a
much different impression of our map than from the map editor. As of yet, we will be unable to enter
any of our towns, castles or other areas.
Congratulations! You’ve completed Level 2! Next, we’ll discover how to create events.

*The “Open Project” feature is disabled in the trial version of RPG Maker VX. In order to use
this sample data, you will need to purchase the full version.

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Level 3: Creating a Castle

Welcome to Level 3 of the RPG Maker VX Introductory Course. In Level 2 we created a new project and
then drew a field map.

In this Level, we will create the places (villages, dungeons, etc) that we currently only have symbols for.
*To complete this Level, you will need to have installed the trial version of RPG Maker VX in order to
access the necessary graphics, sounds and other components.
Here too, we will adhere to the story line we created in Level 1. Let’s build everything in the order we
have it listed.

Setp 6: Creating the Good King’s Castle

First, let’s make the Good King’s Castle, as it is top on our list.

Making a New Map
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from the menu that appears.

A New Map dialogue box should appear like the one above. The contents are the same as the one we
encountered in Level 1 of this course.
Let’s put “Good King’s Castle” as the map name. Next, let’s leave the size at the default 17 by 13. This
size will give us a map that fits perfectly in the screen. Don’t forget to select an appropriate BGM.
*The BGM we’ve selected, Town2, is not available in the trial version.

Drawing the Castle Map
Step 3: Preparing to Draw Maps

We drew a map appropriate for a King’s residence.

The Good King’s Castle Map (Complete)

Using curtains and carpet as decoration, we’ve tried to create a sense of royalty. The king’s throne is set
in the middle. We’ve used mainly tiles from tile sets C and D to draw the map. To wrap things up, we’ve
drawn an entrance at the middle at the bottom.

Step 7: Using Quick Event Creation (Transfer)
Step 3: Preparing to Draw Maps

The two maps we’ve just created currently exist in completely separate worlds. There is nothing linking
them together. In order to move from one to the other, we need to make use of Events.
Let’s take a minute to learn about Event basics.

Point: What are Events?

When using RPG Maker VX, you will hear the word Event quite often. This is a general term to describe
occurrences in the game. For example, when a helpful villager gives you a hint, you find a treasure box
with an item in it, or, what we are about to explain, when you want to connect two different maps
(pretty much anything that involves interaction with the game) will be created with Events.

Connecting the Field map with the Good King’s Castle Map
RPSGteMpak3e:rPVrXecpomareisnpgrotgoraDmrmaewd wMitahpQsuick Event Creation. This is a very useful tool that helps

simplify the creation of events in RPG Maker. Let’s try using it to connect our Field map with the Good
King’s Castle map.

Switch to Event mode.

*Calling the Quick Event Creation function.
Set the mouse pointer over the entrance to the King’s Castle that we created earlier (coordinates
008,012) and right click. From the pop up menu, select “Quick Event Creation” and then “Transfer”.

*Transfer Event creation dialogue.
A transfer event creation dialogue box will appear.

*Setting the destination map and coordinates.
Now, we’ll set the Field map as our destination map. Click on the ellipse in the "Destination" box to bring
up the above window. Next, double-click on the proper coordinates (009,009). "Direction" refers to the
direction the player will face once the Event is completed. It’s fine to leave this as the default “Retain”.
Click on “OK” and we are now ready to move from the Good King’s Castle out to the Field map.
However, we must still create a Transfer Event to let us get into the castle from the Field map. We can
follow the same procedure as above to do this.

*Calling the Quick Event Creation function.

Place the mouse pointer over the castle symbol (009,009) and right click. From the pop up menu, select
“Quick Event Creation” and then “Transfer”.

*Setting the destination map and coordinates.
Just as before, we will set the destination map and coordinates. Only this time, we will set the Good
King’s Castle entrance (008,012) as our destination point. If you’ve followed the instructions correctly,
your character should now be able to move between the two maps.
Even the most experienced users of RPG Maker can sometimes forget to create both Transfer Events. Be
careful that yours don’t become one-way streets! Once you’re done, don’t forget to playtest your game
and ensure that the new Events work as expected.
Congratulations! You’ve completed Level 3.

*The “Open Project” feature is disabled in the trial version of RPG Maker VX. In order to use
this sample data, you will need to purchase the full version.

Return to Table of Contents

Level 4: Talking with the King

Welcome to Level 4 of the RPG Maker VX Introductory Course. In Level 3, we used the Quick Event
Creation function to connect the Good King’s Castle map with the Field map.

In this Level, we going to create the conversation with the Good King in his castle. In addition to the
basic explanation, we’ll also talk about Switches - an essential part of RPG Maker.

Step 8: Talking with the King

Let’s create the King who will command our Hero to go forth and defeat the Devil King.

Calling the Event Editor

Switch to Event mode.
The King’s throne should be located at coordinates 008,004 in the Good King’s Castle map. Put the
mouse pointer over this spot.

*Select “New Event”
Right click on the throne to bring up the pop-up menu. Select “New Event” from the top of the list.

*The event editor window.

Point: New Event

This event editor is called when you create new events. In this window you can select not only event
graphics, but adjust detailed settings regarding the conditions of the event as well as the contents of the
event. With all of the options it can look a bit daunting. However, for some events the default settings
are perfectly acceptable. For instance, when you want to create an event for a person who doesn’t
move, the walking setting (Autonomous Movement) doesn’t need to be set.

Choosing the Graphic

Let’s select the graphic to be displayed in the game.

*Event editor -> Graphic
Double-click in the Graphic box.

*Choosing a graphic from the list.

Now you’ll see a list of all the available graphics to choose from. Since we’re creating an Event involving
the King, let’s select “People4”.
*The graphic we’ve selected, People4, is not available in the trial version.

Inputting a Message

Next, we’ll input the King’s lines. In the event editor, under the line “List of Event Commands” you’ll see
an “@” mark. Double-click on it. The Event Commands window should appear.

Point: Event Commands

Just as its name suggests, the Event Commands window displays a list of event commands. Used
properly, these event commands will allow you to program all the events in your RPG. Each command is
described in the manual, however, you can display a simple explanation by clicking on the “?” in the
upper-right hand corner of the window. Event commands listed in the List of Event Commands are run in
order from top to bottom.

*List of Event Commands (page 1).

When you want to input lines for a character or display a message during the game, you can select the
“Show Text...” command.

*Event Command “Show Text”.
By clicking inside the “Text” box you will be able to begin inputting text. Let’s type out what the King will
say. The maximum for one message window is four lines.

*After inputting the King’s lines.

Displaying a Face Graphic with the Message

To select the face graphic that will appear along with the message, double-click on the box under “Face
Graphic”. It is not necessary to select a face graphic, but since we’ve come this far let’s put a face to our
Good King.

*Face graphic list.
A list of available face graphics will appear. We’ve selected the King’s face from “People4”.
*The graphic we’ve selected is not available in the trial version.

*Select a face graphic of King

*Finally, click “OK” and double-check the Event contents.

Step 9: Organize Events with Switches
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map and start talking with the Good King.

*Try talking with the Good King.

With the current settings, the Good King can only repeat the one set of lines we have given him. Let’s
program him to change what he says the second time we speak with him.

Now we can get to know Switches.

Point: Switch

Switches are special points inside the game that record if an action or event has occurred or not.
Switches can be set to either ON or OFF. Their default is setting is OFF. For example, when we want the
game to remember that we’ve spoken once with the King, we can set that Switch to turn ON after we
speak with the King. In other words “Switch A is on” = “The hero has spoken with the King”. RPG Maker
VX allows for 5000 switches in one game.

Now, lets use switches to get the King to say something different each time we try to talk with him.

Double click on the King Event we just created and the Event editor will appear.

*Opening the Event editor for the King event.
Double-click on the @ symbol located under the King’s lines in the List of Event Commands box. This will
open the Event Commands window. Select “Control Switches”.

*Control Switches dialogue.
Leave “Single” checked in the Switch pane. Click on the ellipse to the right of “0001:”

*Switch dialogue
Now we can choose which Switch to use. Lets select Switch number 0001.

Here, you can name all your Switches. It’s a good idea to name your Switches in a way that’s easy to
remember when you refer to them later. We named Switch 0001 “Spoke with the King”. Let’s make sure
the Switch is ON by looking at the Operation pane. If ON is checked, click “OK”.

*Completed Switch setting

Step 10: Enhancing Events with Event Pages

We’ve completed setting up the Switch for talking with the King. Now, let’s use this Switch and prepare
the King’s next set of lines. While doing this, we’ll learn how to use Event Pages.
Click the “New Event Page” button located at the top of the King’s Event display.

*Creating an Event Page
That should have opened a new tab titled “2” and brought it to the forefront. Just like a good notebook,
Events can hold a great deal of pages. This allows us to attach several actions to one Event. The “New

Event Page” function allows us to add additional pages to an Event. The new page in front of you is the
second page in the King Event we have created. On page 1 is the first set of lines the Good King will
speak. You can edit and review all the pages in the Event at anytime.

*A new Event Page.
Let’s prepare the King’s second set of lines on the second page.
First, check the Switch box in the Operations pane and select “0001:Spoke with the King”. By doing that,
we’ve instructed the game to use page 2 of the Event when the Switch is set to on.

*Setting the Switch Operation
Set the graphic for the King’s face and select the “Show Text” Event Command. This is the same as the
previous command, but don’t forget the second set of lines!

*Setting the King’s second set of lines.

Let’s run a playtest. The Event is completed successfully if the King’s lines change the second time you
speak with him.

*Speaking with the King (1st)

*Speaking with the King (2nd)
Now, we’ve completed the King Event.
Congratulations! You’ve completed Level 4.

*The “Open Project” feature is disabled in the trial version of RPG Maker VX. In order to use
this sample data, you will need to purchase the full version.

Return to Table of Contents

Level 5: Creating a Main Character

Welcome to Level 5 of the RPG Maker VX Introductory Course. In Level 4, we created an Event for the
conversation with the Good King and looked at the fundamentals of Switches.

In this level, we’ll move away from Events and focus on creating our Hero.

Step 11: Creating an Original Main Character

In RPG Maker VX, you’ll find sample data for main characters, items, monsters and everything else you’ll
need. You can access all this data in one place: the database.

To bring up the database, click on this button.

*The Database window.

Preparing to Create the Main Character

The components of the database are separated in tabs. There are so many options here that it is
impossible to set everything at once. Instead, we call up the database on an as-needed basis and edit
only what is necessary. In this step, we’ll create the main character.
To adjust the settings for the main character, select the “Actor” tab in the far left. The King’s throne
should be located at coordinates 008,004 in the Good King’s Castle map. Put the mouse pointer over this
spot.

*The “Actor” tab.

On the left, you will see a list of all the available characters. There are 8 in the full version and 4 in the
trial version. We’re going to leave these characters alone and add two of our own.

Click the “Change Maximum” button on the bottom left.
*The Change Maximum dialogue.
Since we’re adding 2 characters, increase the number in the box by 2 and click “OK”.

*2 additional spots for characters appear in the list.
We’ve now added 2 new spots to create our original characters.

Entering the Main Characters' Names

*Inputting the name.
Let’s change 009:’s name to “Kenta” and 010:’s to “Bray”. Do this by selecting each character
individually and entering the new names in the “Name” box on the right. The “Class” drop menu located
underneath the “Name” box and the “Classes” tab located next to the current “Actor” tab are connected.
The ”Initial Level” indicates the characters ability at the beginning of the game. For members of your
party who join later, it indicates their level when they join your party. For most purposes, we can start
with Level 1.

Choosing a Character Graphic

“Character Graphic” and “Face Graphic” are the options we can adjust for how our character looks in the
game. By double-clicking in each box we open up a window where we can choose each graphic.

*Selecting the graphic for Kenta
For Kenta, we chose the young man with the green hair located in the top row, 3rd box from the left in
the Actor1 selection.

*Selecting the graphic for Bray
For Bray, we chose the young girl wearing a hat located in the top row, 4th box from the left in the
Actor1 selection.

Choosing the Class

Here, we can define our character as a warrior, a sorcerer, or choose from a wide selection. We can
further refine the details of each class in the “Classes” tab. For this tutorial we will keep the default
settings.

*Setting Kenta as a warrior.
Kenta looks like he’ll make a good warrior, so that’s what we selected. As a warrior, he’ll be unable to
use magic, but he’ll be able to utilize nearly all items.

*Setting Bray as a priest.
Bray looks like she’ll make a good priestess, so that’s what we’ve selected for her. The kinds of items she
can carry will be limited, but she’ll be very good with magic.

Choosing the Class

*”EXP Curve” Dialogue
By clicking on the ellipse next to “Initial Level”, we can call up the “EXP Curve”. By adjusting these
numbers, we can set the number of experience points needed by our characters to level up. However,
this is a pretty advanced setting and requires a good deal of game experience. Perhaps it’s best if we
leave these at the default settings.

Viewing a Character’s Skills as a “Parameter Curve”

*”Parameter Curve” Dialogue (MaxHP)
In the “Parameter Curve” dialouge, you can set your character’s MaxHP, MaxMP, attack, defense, spirit
and agility parameters. Each parameter has its own tab and can be adjusted independently. In RPG
Maker, characters are defined by their differences in rates of increasing their ability scores. For example,
a warrior will find it easy to increase his HP and attach strength, but will increase in MP and trust much
more slowly. Each ability can be visualised as a graph that begins at level 1 and continues to level 99.
You can enter values directly, but that is for advanced users. Until we’ve gained more experience, we’ve
decided to go with the default settings. A represents a skilled character and E represents an unskilled
one. Each curve, A through E, comes with 5 pre-programmed settings.

Point: Type of Parameters

Parameters are a way of expressing the main character’s strength in numbers. These numbers are used
to assess the damage caused by a character during battle.

MaxHP A character’s maximum hit points. If set to zero, a character is unusable.

MaxMP A character’s maximum magic points. These are consumed when spells are cast.

Attack Influences the amount of damage a character can inflict on enemies.

Defense Influences the amount of damaged received in attacks.

Spirit Influences a character’s offensive and defensive strength with skills/magic.

Agility Influences the order of attack in battle.

*Kenta’s parameters.

We’ve decided to make Kenta a very physical warrior. Accordingly, we’ve set his MaxHP to curve A, his
MaxMP to curve E, his Attack to curve A, his Defense to curve C, his Spirit to curve E and his Agility to
curve C. Kenta is very skilled with weapons, but has no ability with magic whatsoever.

*Bray’s parameters
We’ve decided to make Bray a priest with strong recovery skills. Her MaxHP is set to curve C, her
MaxMP to curve A, her Attack to curve D, her Defense to curve D, her Spirit to curve A and her Agility to
curve C. She is very good with magic, but won’t be much help in a battle with weapons.

Add Some Uniqueness to by Customizing Starting Equipment

*Starting Equipment and Options
In the “Starting Equipment” pane, you can decide what weapons and defensive gear your characters
will start the game off with. Click on the drop-down arrow “▼” to see a list of all available items. The
available items in the list will depend on what class your character is.

In the “Options” pane, you can customize how your character handles the items he or she is equipped
with. If your character doesn’t carry a shield, then it might be fun to have him carry an extra sword. Do
this by clicking the box next to “Two Swords Style”. Feel free to adjust these options as you see fit.

* Kenta

* Bray
Now the main character called “Kenta” and “Bray” are created.

Step 12: Bringing your Initial Party Together

Next, let’s bring our new characters into the game.

Click on the “System” tab in the database.

*Initial Party pane
In the “Initial Party” pane you’ll see a list of the four characters (Ralph, Ulrika, Bennett, and Ylva) who
make up the default Initial Party. You can choose up to 4 members.
Let’s change this so only Kenta and Bray are in the Initial Party.
First, delete the four names from the default Initial Pary.

*Deleting members.

Right click on each member and select “Delete” from the pop-up menu. Repeat for the remaining
members.

*Adding members with “Edit”
In the now empty box, right-click on the very top row and select “Edit...” from the pop-up menu.

*Initial Party dialogue.
You should now see the Initial Party dialogue. From the pull-down menu select Kenta, and then Bray.
Finally, click “OK” in the bottom right of the database to set all of our changes.

*Kenta and Bray are now the Initial Party
Let’s check everything with a testplay. Once the game has started, press the Escape key to bring up the
menu. Kenta and Bray should now make up the Initial Party.
Congratulations! You’ve completed Level 5.

*The “Open Project” feature is disabled in the trial version of RPG Maker VX. In order to use
this sample data, you will need to purchase the full version.

Return to Table of Contents

Level 6: Creating a Village

Welcome to Level 6 of the RPG Maker VX Introductory Course. In Level 5 we called up the database and
created our main characters.

In this level we will return to the main editor and create a village.

Step 13: Creating Minato Port

Looking back our storyline, we see that after visiting the Good King’s Castle, our Hero heads to Minato
Port. Let’s begin by drawing the map of the village.

Planning your map

When drawing maps, it’s hard to avoid the temptation to add one of these, one of those, and maybe
three of them! Next thing you know, your map is big and horrible to navigate. While a big map may
seem a good idea, if it’s just big for bug’s sake, the players will find it difficult to have any fun and may
end up disliking it.

First, we need a plan. For example, with a castle we know that it should be a place fit for a king and have
a nice spot for our Hero to speak with him. What about Minato Port?
Let’s make a list:

1. need to gather information
2. need shops where we can purchase items
3. must have a port with boats
These are the 3 major reasons for our village’s existence. Of them, there are 2 we really need to
consider when drawing the map: shops and a port. So if can cover these two, then we’ll have drawn a
useful map.

Minato Port Map Settings

On the left, you will see a list of all the available characters. There are 8 in the full version and 4 in the
trial version. We’re going to leave these characters alone and add two of our own.

*New Map settings

Let’s create a new map and call it Minato Port. Leave the size at the default 17 by 13. You might thing
this is a little small, but considering all we need are a shop or two and a port, this will be more than big
enough. Next, set the BGM. We’ve chosen “Town1”. Next, let’s adjust a new setting. Check the “BGS”
box and select the track “Sea”. BGS stands for Background Sounds and changes automatically with the
BGM. We’ve chosen sea to give us some wave sounds since we’re at a port. Other selections let you play
different sounds fitting to different environments.
*To complete this Level, you will need to have installed the full version of RPG Maker VX in order to
access the necessary graphics, sounds and other components.

Drawing a Map

Switch to Map mode.

*Drawing Minato Port’s outline