Toyed around with it for a bit some years ago. It was a pretty generic RPG which was actually doing alright before it got all Dragonball and everybody's stats ended up being blown out of proportion.... having a balanced level curve is non-trivial...

I had the old one on the PS1, back in the day. It was pretty intuitive and fun to use, but I always ended up getting stuck when I ran out of memory cards (I never had enough money to buy more than the one, which was already crowded with data from many other games)

later I got one of the PS2 ones, which was nowhere near as intuitive or flexible.

I know there are versions designed for computers as well, but I never tried them, are they any good? That was one of the mai nproblems I have had with the series, at least in the PS1 version, stats increases get pretty ridiculous rather fast, and If I recall correctly, you couldn't tie special attacks and magic to character stats (so that spells increase in damage as the character levels) meaning that spells, particulalry attacks spells, become obsolete very fast.

You can try it, it's free. ;)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/224280/

Thanks! I was a bit hesitant trying out the new version blind, with the price tag it has and all, but with a free 'lite' version? I think I am going to have a bit less free time....

Interesting to see there are other who have dabbled with it, any of you try the latest version?

I messed around with a version for PC a few years ago, it was awful; unless you wanted to make a copy&paste standard J-RPG the way the developers of RPG-Maker intended, it would have been easier to just get something like Unity3D engine (which has a free indy license) and just make the game yourself from scratch. These kits where you don't need to program are only neat if you really want to stick with the way their developers intended, but once you want to do things your way it's easier to just larn how to program. I don't know, maybe RPG Maker has improved in that regard in the meantime.

Got it on Steam during that 50% off flash deal via a friend in Brazil (saving myself about $70). Haven't done anything with it yet as I'm still reading guides and so forth.

I dislike jRPGs for always using the same style of graphics, always the same type of story, always the same archetypes, always the same type of combat, etc. etc. and RPG Maker pretty much shows how generic these games are.

BUT.

What makes jRPGs so generic, is because the setting is rarely interesting. Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger are a few exceptions and look how popular these games have become! If you're a bit artistic, you can create an original setting and actually make a more interesting jRPG. Heck, it could be fun to create a retro game/GOG themed RPG where you go about collecting lost games for example. It would beat the typical "guy fights evil" story.

I'm an avid fan. Ages ago, someone had a post very similar right around the time Ace came out. There's a heap of us who are at least occasional users.

If you make any games, feel free to post them and some folks will give them a play.

I'm currently transforming one of my books into a game via RPG Maker XP. And I occasionanly make short crappy games for my own amusement. :D

I remember playing around with RPG Maker 2000 about 10 years ago, not sure if this is the same software. As far as I remember, I wasn't very impressed.

My brothers and I have a RPGMaker project we've been working on for maybe 7 years or more. It's called "Adventures of a ________." Basically, you are a chicken, and you walk around a big, stupidly inane world and get to see a bunch of crazy stuff happen. Hopefully we'll finish it some day.

I think we're using... RPGMaker 2003? I've heard it's changed a lot since then.

IMO not worth the trouble, unless you want a Final Fantasy clone. There are other, better options available:

- Construct Classic (free, open source)
- Construct 2
- Stencyl
- Game Maker
- FlashPunk (if you want to make flash games)

And about a dozen other decent options if you want to learn to code (which you have to do to get any kind of variety out of RPGMaker anyway). For 3d games:

- Unity3D
- Torque (recently made open source, and doing much better than it has in the past)
- Unreal Development Kit

And plenty more. Unfortunately, you won't get far in the 3d world without knowing how to code. Welcome to reality.

fair bit of negativity towards the software here, wasn't expecting that

I've played around with RPG Maker 1-3 on PS1 and PS2. Fun enough programs to play around with, but I can't imagine making a real full game in them. I imagine the new PC versions are pretty different, though.