Learning RPG Maker VX Ace

I spent the past couple entries setting up the backdrop of my life, sharing the details on how I transformed from a skeptic into a dedicated RPG player. Prior to my exposure I did play Avalon Hill wargames and read fantasy and science fiction including J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula LeGuin and Arthur C. Clarke - I can see it wasn't much of a leap once I sat down in front of an empty sheet of grid paper.

I think it's time to give my past a bit of a break (as well as you, oh gentle reader). Last week I decided to purchase RPG Maker VX Ace from Steam on account 1) it was on sale, 2) it received favorable reviews and 3) the idea of using an app to build 2D dungeons and fantasy worlds had an appealing retro quality. I also thought I could enhance this experience by creating a blog and sharing my impressions and experiences in working with this app.

Of course, I had already thought of resurrecting a dungeon I had developed when I was a junior in high school and injecting it with a postmodern flavoring of self-reflecting character identity and deconstructed quest paths. I have already written a page of ideas associated with this Tolkien-as-told-by-Pynchon plot, but as a software developer I realized I need to begin by focusing on learning the mechanics of the app itself. How can I incorporate artwork, what kind of if-then-else structures does it contain, does it start counting at 0 instead of 1, just how much can I do with the interface and can I get 'under the hood' in case I come across limitations? I know a handful of apps which have provided this type of flexibility, and as I've studied RPG Maker, read a half dozen tutorials and watched more than a few videos, I am cautiously optimistic that this tool may be one of those few exceptional programs that can do it all. For those of you out there who have appreciated the complexity hidden in the simple functions of the Filemaker Pro interface or those who have delved into open source CMSs such as Drupal, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Most software is poorly configured as it either tries to be too helpful and therefore limiting or it's just too damn arcane.

Placing my master plotline on the backburner, I took to reading a few tutorials and started to develop a scrappy little world in which to learn how such worlds are created in RPG Maker. I've added some screenshots below of maps I was able to create rather quickly. I found that the RPG Maker community is very active and willing to share their knowledge to help newbies get started as well as display their mastery of more advanced functions. I located a couple 'how to get started' tutorials (I included their links below) and bounced between both of them. I had a difficult time picturing the mechanics of creating a new event within an event interface, and the third link below helped me understand and 'see' the buttons in the interface which allow for this type of functionality. I should note here that the button to perform this function is present in the interface - it was the helpful language in the third link which was able to draw my attention to that button.

I have learned how to set up NPCs, place treasure chests, create a basic battle, automate the movement of NPCs, sell objects, and create animated graphics such as campfires; my little village map is starting to brim with activity! I plan to continue delving into these tutorials over the next couple weeks as I need to learn more about character development, the math behind battles, and working on extended conditional branching. Last evening I read about how to set up weather conditions and how to make sure it doesn't rain inside shops (!), and I plan to create my own little thunderstorm in the immediate future!

Recommended Getting Started in RPG Maker VX Ace Links:

• http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/support/products/tutorials - My first tutorial. Does a solid job explaining the basic mechanics of the application. My maps below were built using tutorial Part 2. There are a couple tutorials in which there's an inexplicable leap between beginning with the simple and suddenly finding yourself struggling to understand the more advanced concept.
• http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=268799588 - I gravitated towards this tutorial as it helped fill in some of the gaps I encountered in the above tutorial set. 
• http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/258251-rpg-maker/faqs/14175 - does a great job of explaining how one can create multiple events in one square.

My first map

The tilesets make it incredibly easy to develop countryside or the inside of a shop.

Here's the Event interface. This houses a vast series of functionality and flexibility in how your world operates.

This is where I got stuck as I couldn't figure out how to add additional events to my dungeon square!

Grooveshark Soundtrack played during the writing of this entry:

• Love Gun - Kiss
• How my Soul Cries out for You - Kansas
• Stationary Traveller - Camel
• Tomorrow Night - Atomic Rooster
• Sunrise - Uriah Heep
• At the End of the Day - Spock's Beard

The Dig Begins at the Deepest Layer...1979

Step aside, Billy Corgan, it's my turn to talk about the events of 1979. I was a sophomore attending a small, private Christian high school in Rockford, IL. Over the course of that year I remember one of my friends, Mark, who would talk about this silly game he played with his friends over the weekend exploring dungeons. His eyes would glaze over as he'd talk about sneaking into orc caves and finding treasure chests. We'd ask him questions as to how he went about playing this game as I couldn't imagine a gameboard for this type of play. He said there was no board, but grid paper and odd dice and books. This sounded a bit boring to us, and my friends and I would exchange a look over Mark's sharing of the latest venture. He'd always end with "We should play it in study hall sometime." We'd respond with "Sure, sure" and exchange another amused look between ourselves.

This happened all the way up until March of that year where we ended up having an entire afternoon free of classes. Mark rounded us up (I think there were 3 of us at that time, me, Tim & Roger) and said he had brought his Dungeons & Dragons game and that we should play. I know to any outsider this is going to sound stupid and quite frankly, somewhat juvenile, but as we sat down at the table, rolled up our characters, and discovered what this role playing world was about, it was odd how our 2D map sketched on the grid paper in front of us transformed itself into a world that was definitely not a small, private Christian high school. It's like when you're reading a great book and you are no longer conscious of the fact you are reading words but experiencing the book in the holodeck of your mind.

Mark was a great dungeon master who drew upon the numbers that identified the major traits of our characters, and we soon had a hobbit thief with a paralyzed leg, warriors that could cobble weapons together from rocks and a spare chamber pot, and a powerful mage who used powers that would have been considered heresy by the administrators of our parochial education environment. The four of us interacted in a way that was new and unique, and it helped us bond in a new way, an experience shared by those who have succeeded in completing a major project or have spent time fighting in the trenches.

The following week was Spring Break, and I was able to convince my mom to drive me to Royal Hobby. I think she was willing to do this as she knew I was going to start working as a dishwasher at Big Boy by the end of the week; I would soon have fewer hours to dedicate to flippant activities. Royal Hobby was one of those niche, grognard shops that sold obscure WWII model sets, remote controlled cars of the protozoan stage, Avalon Hill games and miniature war figures and terrain. It was owned and managed by someone whom I believe was part of the composite of the Comic Book Guy, part Kevin Smith, and a sliver of Guy Fieri. When I walked in (my mom decided to stay out in the car and wait) he was talking to another guy behind the counter, and they were playing a cassette on a portable tape recorder (yes, that's what we called them at that time). The tape was a stand-up comic routine performed by Robin Williams, I definitely remember this! The reason I know it was Robin Williams was because the words flying out of that little speaker were graphic and rather shocking, very different than the guy we know as Mork from Ork. I was able to locate the white Dungeons and Dragons box that was published by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) and I walked to the front counter. The manager was friendly and helpful as he told me the dice were separate, and I might want to start with an inexpensive set. The D&D starter set was $10, so I thought it best to follow his recommendation and purchase the hard plastic 4, 8 and 20-sided dice. After making this purchase, my mom took me over to Union Hall where I went to the office supply section and purchased a ringed binder containing grid paper. Not only would this make it easier to track our team's progress thru the dungeons, but I had aspirations for becoming a dungeon master. I had plots and drop spin twists and epic material I wanted create from the growing string of words in my head.

Working at Big Boy didn't curtail my ability to find time and engage in flippant activities such as D&D. Having a job allowed me to invest in my new hobby as I soon bought Greyhawk and an upgraded set of die. I brought my D&D manuals and dice to school each day, and our group expanded to 6-10 guys who played whenever we had an available study period available. Ironically, Mark stopped playing later that Spring once we completed his dungeon. He never engaged in these adventures again as we were clearly identified by the school as geeks, and I think he felt the need to separate himself and grow in new directions.

A Thesis Statement - How Dragons Shaped my Adulthood

This has been one of those serendipitous weeks as I've encountered numerous references to the playing of Dungeons and Dragons. References to playing D&D were made on Colbert and @ Midnight, and on Steam I contemplated and took advantage of a heavy discount on the software app, RPGMaker VX Ace. Yes, I bought an app which will allow me to build 2D dungeons using a pretty comprehensive set of tools. I know it's a little retro, but when I tried out the demo I was very impressed with the ease of use that's engineered into this system. It reminded me of a couple different programs I've used in my career, Filemaker Pro and Drupal, database systems that are user-friendly on the surface that do not sacrifice the ability to create sophisticated solutions. I've spent countless hours learning each of these systems, mastering the interfaces and digging underneath to gain full mastery and the ability to shape these systems to produce my vision. I've had limited opportunities to do this kind of thing for fun; the last thing that even comes close is the football leagues and stats I tracked years ago when I played Sierra's Front Page Sports Football. Viewing the demo for RPGMaker and seeing the underlying database structure, I recognized that I had been presented a gift, a new quest in which I could learn a new system and create worlds like the ones that I had once drawn on grid paper.

This blog is an attempt to hold me accountable to learning RPGMaker as well as provide an opportunity to reflect on how fighting virtual dragons while sitting at a card table in the basement of my best friend's home helped prepare me for adulthood.

[Note on the photo: I still have my D&D dice, both the original which I purchased from Royal Hobby in Rockford, IL, in April, '79, along with the finer quality dice which I purchased a year later as I found myself immersed in the D&D world. My dice are stored in a unique box donated by one of my fellow D&Ders, Denvis Lasley. There were many tales spun about the Dude, but I think its origins are derived from a tie clasp Denvis had received from one of his relatives. I should note our Dude existed long before Lebowski.]