RM2K Boot Camp: Parts 1 and 2

Reading Article
Author: Umbaglo
Posted on 08/02/2004
print :: back to list

R

M2K Boot Camp: Parts 1 and 2

By: Umbaglo

So, you think you're ready to be a game maker, huh? Well think again. You arn't ready until
I say you are. Unitl then you're mine.You'd better learn fast, 'cause I don't repeat
myself. If I happen to not explain something to your satification, then go get Gemineye's
help file. It should be included with RM2K.

Listen up! Here's the first lesson: Starting your project.

Before starting, make sure that you have at least RM2K and the regular RTP installed. You
can also install the RTP 1.32 addon, Drakul's Font Patch (recommended), the 1.07b patch ( not recommended for XP users), or any special RPG_RT.EXE files you may have 'acquired', but only AFTER installing the first 2.

Now, start RM2K using either the Start Menu or the RPG2000.exe file in the directory you installed RM2K to. You'll get a blank window. Click on the button in the top left side of the window that looks like a blue page. A messagebox will pop up asking for the name of the game and the folder name you desire. Fill these in now. Click OK. You'll then notice that the main window is now filled with water-looking tiles, and there's stuff in the other
ones. We'll get to that later.

Notice that the New Project button is now greyed out, and another is shown instead? Click
on that button. All the windows will clear. That's the Close Project button. You'll need to Close the current project before you can open another. The Open Project button is next to the New Porject one. Click on it and select your project from the list.

Now you know the basics of opening and closing projects. Don't you feel special. If this
was school, you'd get a break. But you're not. So back to work, slacker.

Lesson 2: Maps.

Making a map in RM2K is just like drawing in Paint. The large window in the middle is your
drawing area, while the smaller one to the side is your palette. The buttons above the palette choose different drawing styles, from a normal Pencil tool to a bandbox selection.

Take this oportunity to draw a bit in the field.

Now, you may have noticed that your palette is mostly terrain features. Well, RM2K has 3 levels of map drawing: Lower (the on you're on now), upper, and Event. We'll cover Event later. For now notice the 3 coloured squares in the top Icon Bar? These allow you to switch between layers. Click on teh middle one. You are now in Upper layer mode. Notice that your palette changed? It's now filled with Upper chips. Draw a bit using these.

Are you finished drawing like children? Time to get to the important parts. Click on the map in the bottom left window. Right click it and select "Map Properties". In this window you can set some basic settings for the map. Things like the music, the specific Chipset (palette), Panorama graphic, of if you can Teleport, Escape or Save.

Note: Teleport and Escape are special skill types and you can only see Panoramas
if you paint transparent Lower Chip areas (typically pink, but sometimes green or blueish).

You can also name the map for easier recognization.

Note: If you change the Chipset, the map will change to it's respective new palette. In other words, so you can understand, he map messes up. Make sure that you choose the chip you want before setting it.

Next hit OK to leave the Map Properties. Right click on the map again and choose Make New Map. Another Map Properties window will open. Hit OK and look at the map selection window.

You'll notice that the new map is under the first, and tabbed a bit. That means the that new map is a 'child' of the firs. This can be useful for organizing maps. If you right click on the Folder and choose New Map you'll make a new Parent map.

Note: A map's minimum size is 20*15, and the max is 500*500. This number is the number of 16*26 pixel squares the map makes. When the player moves, he moves 16 pixels each step. From this, we can also determine that the resolution of RM2K is 320*240 (20 * 16, 15 * 16)

Last thing: Right click on a map again and select Make Area. This will open another small window. Only 2 things here. The ... button allows you todefine the square or rectanglar size of the area and the small field is for you to define the random enemies to be found in the area. Areas are one of 2 different default ways to assign monster encounters. The other is back in Map Properties, but tht goes by number of steps while Areas are mostly random.

Thus ends lesson 2.

Active Users (1)[ cima55 ]