Tutorial 1: Getting Familiar with the RPG Maker XP Interface
Originally published at How I Roll. Please leave any comments there.
In this simple tutorial, you will gain familiarity with the RPG Maker XP interface. I will cover all of the standard buttons and show you how to open, close, save, and load project files. I will also show you the basics of editing a map and how to navigate the character, item, magic, and monster screens. I will also point out a number of helpful areas in the RPG Maker XP help documentation.
Tutorial Time: 5 minutes.
Experience Level: Beginner
Scripting Experience: Not applicable
Source files: Included with RPG Maker XP
When you first load RPG Maker XP, you are given a blank slate to begin your grand design with. Initially it will seem exciting, then a bit scary, and finally exciting again as you begin drafting your dream.
Click on the New Project Icon.
The Project Dialog will appear. Type “godsend_tutorial” in the Folder Name box.
Now that you have the project created, let’s take a look at some of the features available to you.
From left to right on the toolbar, we have the New Project icon, the Open Project icon, and the Save Project icon. The Save icon should be one of your most-used features.
Next, we have the standard Cut, Copy, and Paste icons with a Delete icon (the X) as well. These will allow you to copy/paste map items and events much the same way that word processors allow you to copy and paste words and sentences.
Next there is an Undo icon to work backwards through any changes that you make. Undo, like in word processing is an extremely valuable feature to have.
Next we have the Layer icons for map building. They are Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. The Box icon next to them is the Event icon.
The next series of icons are what we use to paint tiles onto our maps. They are the Pencil (for drawing single tiles), the Rectangle (for filling a rectangular region), the Ellipse (for filling elliptical regions), and the Paint Bucket (for filling regions with the same tile as the one you “paint”). The icon next to it is the Select icon so that you can select various parts of the map to paint and constrain your wild tile painting frenzy.
In the next group of icons, we have the zoom ratio for the map. They are “1:1?, “1:2?, and “1:4? to gain perspective on different sized maps. It can also be helpful in taking screenshots and piecing them together to create overland maps of areas. Just a thought.
The next area of the toolbar contains the meat of your adventure in RPG Maker XP. The icons are: Database, Materials, Script Editor, and Sound Test. The database contains all of the elements of your RPG, including characters, stats, items, spells, etc. The Materials are the graphical assets for your game. These are the tiles and the sprites and sound effect/music files. The Script Editor will allow you to edit various game-related Ruby scripts. The Sound Test button will let you choose and listen to a number of different sounds loaded as Materials.
Finally, the last icon on the toolbar is the Playtest icon. it allows you to run the map and test it to figure out whether or not it is doing what you want it to, looking how you need it, and if you munged something up in script.
Now let’s take a look at the sidebar on the left-hand side of the screen. This contains your tiles and your project folders.
In the top part of the sidebar, you have the various tiles that you can paint your map with. These tiles are part of the map properties for the map indicated in the lower portion of the sidebar (MAP001). Let’s change the tiles to get a feel for how we can change the look and feel of our maps.
Notice that the map area on the right has changed as well. This is because you have changed the default tiles from the “001: Gralssland” (sic) to “010: Castle Town In”. Let’s delete all of that annoying repeating hardwood floor and replace it with a black area that we can work with. We do this by selecting the first “tile” in the upper-left hand corner of the tile area.
When you select the tile, a square will appear around it so that you know which tile you have selected. Next, select the Paint Bucket and then click on the map. This will paint everything with that tile, clearing the map.
Save your changes (save icon) and Run your game using the Playtest icon on the toolbar.
Select New Game and note that you are in a black background with nothing exciting going on. This is because you cleared the map.
In the next tutorial we will make a basic map for you to move around on. For the time being, press ESC and select END GAME.
Then select SHUTDOWN.
You’ve successfully tested RPG Maker XP for the first time!