'RPG Maker With' Demo Now Available On Switch eShop

Well, as someone who wants to get into game design as a career (I'd especially love to work with Nintendo, as I feel like we have similar creative ideas), this might be a good idea for me to buy, so I can learn how to make games.

At one time I would love to have made my own RPG, but I just don't have the time. I barely had time to dabble in Mario Maker 2.

RPG Maker With New Funky Mode

I keep buying these hoping i will find free time to make my own game. Sigh. Maybe this time.

Does it have to be a turn-based game, or can you make an "Action-RPG?"

...You're still better off just playing this on PC where you have more freedom and are not limited to the in-game stuff. Wished they would allow you to import your own graphics and audio and stuff...

With what? Chips?

It's a great tool for people who wants to tell a story in games, you can make slices of a game and get a feel for the flow of your story mixed with gameplay.

It can help hopeful future gamedevs to use rudimental animations and basic environmental storytelling and not to rely on walls of text.

And if your story is amazing you might even make an awesome game. 🥳

Though really cool, I don't really have the time (or the ability to tell a half decent story) for an RPG maker these days.

Maybe something like a platforming game maker would work for me. Of course there's Mario Maker 2, but I want to dive into making my own sprites. If a game gives me a blank grid, I'll spend hours working with it.

I don't get why people would use this on Switch. All you can do is use pre-made assets unless you download someone else's via the marketplace- or buy more pre-made packs. Kinda defeats the purpose unless the intent is just to make the story itself.

My youngest loves RPG Maker "MV".

@JohnnyMind Nice! That sounds cool. I'll definitely check out the PC version, then. Thanks!

RGP Maker With. What a dumb name! You need another word with with. You can't use with alone.

Let's go with with! Awesome name!

RGP Maker Huh?

I'm sure a 2D Zelda maker would have a lot more success, at least on Switch. But that will never happen since Nintendo wouldn't want Zelda to be mistreated (the CD-i never existed, neither did Triforce hero)

@AstroTheGamosian Don't know your background, obviously, but if you are serious about wabting to make games, this is not the product for you.

Unreal Engine is free, and a pretty much literal million times more powerful.

RPG Maker is really only good for one thing, and that is create 16 bit style JRPGs with a very limited palette of graphics and gameplay styles. Clever and creative folks can create clever and creative games with it, but they will probably be using the PC version, which allows for a bit more than this one.

@VoidofLight the series was even on Game Boy way before the advent of asset packs and online stores. It frequents consoles because they have a naturally broader audience reach and have only become more accommodating since Nintendo DS mainstreamed touch controls in gaming. Just as with SMM and other examples, you never know how many younger ones may find the roots of their future careers and/or the appreciation for certain wonders and challenges of the domain they owe their hobby to. It also fits the creative minds who don't have time to sit behind a PC but wouldn't mind tinkering with the provided stuff and even provides the console's userbase with access to some free sampling of the creativity in question (courtesy of recurrent separate and free "RPG Maker [entry] Player" releases that mirror the respective games' built-in hubs).

I love the concept of this franchise, but I grew up just beyond the NES/SNES era of simpler sprite work. So I kind of need a future installment to upgrade to GBA-level pixel art to be more interested in it. Just my personal opinion though.

Would also love the RPG Maker series to try out a Bravely Default kind of art style, with ambient lighting and retro DS polygons.

Furthermore, this is the kind of franchise that could implement AI pretty well. You could select the auto-generate game mode, and instantly try out a campaign that's different every time, or input key words and cycle through generated samples until you find the right mix of dungeons, villages, overworld, characters, etc.!

@AstroTheGamosian @Daniel36 I have to disagree, Daniel. There isn’t a ‘wrong’ way to start learning game design. The best way to get started is with tools that interest you and spark your imagination. It doesn’t matter if that’s RPG Maker, Scratch, GB Studio, Pico-8, or Unreal Engine. Every tool teaches you something different, and what’s most important is that you start.

what a strange name!

@Daniel36 If you are getting started with game design, there’s no need to start with Unreal. In fact it’s probably overkill because it’s got a steep learning curve and there’s so much you have to worry about besides game design.

With advances in AI, there's no excuse to not learn to actually code and create a game instead of making a copy paste sprite RPG if you actually want to learn.

My brother was able to code a basic Binding if Isaac like game from scratch with 0 knowledge beforehand in a couple of months with AI assistance. Now he actually knows what he's doing without much GPT assistance at all.

@roboshort @cedarhyped Fair enough. RPG Maker is just very, very basic.

But yeah, it might be a good gateway for some. I wouldn't discount Unreal for starters though, there are more than enough tutorials out there.

@Joeynator3000 yeah, the only reason I buy the consoles ones is because I enjoy collecting them. It's just neat to stare at them on my shelf lol.

@Daniel36 @cedarhyped I'll take any programs and tools that I can get, free or otherwise. So keep sending suggestions for programs my way!

@AstroTheGamosian Well, as I said, Unreal is free and also one of the two biggest engines, that professionals use. I'd wager about half the games you play are made with it.

It is a huge program but many tutorials exist.

Start small. Learn the basics through online tutorials. Don't start with your dream game, you will get discouraged if you bite off more than you can chew right off the bat.

Good luck!

@AstroTheGamosian You might like to check out Game Builder Garage and FUZE4.
Game Builder Garage I found is quite limiting and is like Scratch (eg you drag things around and connect them in order to describe how you want your game to work). FUZE4 is like a traditional programming language, you can hook a keyboard up to your Switch and type your code in.

I’d like to see them move on to 3D games. They could still base it on a grid system. It worked fine for the 3D environments in Trials of Mana.
With a choice between turn based, strategic, or action RPG’s. There’s many conventions in those games that are already copy/paste.
The combat of Ys: VIII, Hyrule Warriors, and the Mana games isn’t all that different, with a few tweaks. It should be possible to make a user friendly framework around that as well.

@TheBitBandit I actually have Game Builder Garage. Haven't done much with it, though. I did mean to get FUZE4, but never got around to it.

@Daniel36 Thanks for the info! I'll have to check out those tutorials! And of course, I don't mean to create my dream game just yet.

Nah, I think I will keep using Fuze4 for making games on my Switch! It's awesome!