I've decided to start a blog about my experiences modifying the RPG Starter Kit in the hopes that some beginners will understand it a little better. I'm not doing heavy code modification (yet), but I'm replacing all of the content. I'm sure that some people would love to have a basics guide instead of having to read through all that code. Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

1. Introduction - Just explaining my idea
2. Getting Started - Setting up XNA
3. Basic Editing - Some interface and menu graphic locations that most people will want to change
4. Adding Maps - Probably the first really useful entry; what you need to know about making and importing maps
5. Portals - How to get from one map to another, and back again; explaining the overly confusing syntax of portals
6. RPG Maker Sprites - How to convert a sprite sheet from RPG Maker format to the Starter Kit, change the animation code, and get it in-game
7. The Game Itself - I discuss the game that I'm working on (my reason for all this)
8. Easier Worldmap - I discover a way to automate the basic mapping process using a two-color image. It's still a lot of work, but this gives you a jump start.

As I progress with my game, I'll be writing more entries. This kit could definitely benefit from more documentation and examples, so I hope that I can help a bit.

Right now, my priority is to get the Toolkit usable to the point where you can save a map and use it immediately. More blogs soon...

Latest release of the Toolkit - Now it saves maps that you can just drag into the project without any editing outside the Toolkit. Just be sure to set your tileset filename in the Map Properties, and read the readme.

I'm not sure if it's intentional or not (I'm guessing not), but the "Designing a Ruined World" title wraps and covers the first paragraph of your blog when using IE7.  It looks something like:

[logo] Designing
Introduction    a
Ruined World

With content behind the "Ruined World" and the "Introduciton" header beside the "a".  You can read it if you highlight the paragraph, but it looks a bit odd.

Well, the name is a reference to the game's story, but thanks for pointing that out. I switched the theme and it seems fine. My host's ads tend to move things...

When i try to build the xml file i get error in line 1, error in expression (/)

Which XML file, there's a ton of them. Sounds like a syntax error, so check against the original file and make sure that your changes didn't mess up the syntax.

Nvm, i figured it out.

Very awesome post! :)

I am getting the hang of tilestudio.

Any updates on getting the Sprites to work from RPG Maker? The sprites that come with kit are gigantic (nice... but gigantic)!

Thanks for sharing your experiences Sean, your blog posts have proven extremely useful in getting started. Looking forward on posts on other aspects - keep it up!

EEKER:

Very awesome post! :)

I am getting the hang of tilestudio.

Any updates on getting the Sprites to work from RPG Maker? The sprites that come with kit are gigantic (nice... but gigantic)!

Yes, expect a tutorial, but there's some image editing required to get the animations right. The size of the default sprite sheet is my biggest concern as well.

I'm working on the Toolkit project at the moment, and pretty soon I'll release the "Compatible Build" which will read and write map files that can be dropped in without any hand-editing. After that's finished, I'll get back to work on characters.

Sean McCafferty:

EEKER:

Very awesome post! :)

I am getting the hang of tilestudio.

Any updates on getting the Sprites to work from RPG Maker? The sprites that come with kit are gigantic (nice... but gigantic)!

Yes, expect a tutorial, but there's some image editing required to get the animations right. The size of the default sprite sheet is my biggest concern as well.

I'm working on the Toolkit project at the moment, and pretty soon I'll release the "Compatible Build" which will read and write map files that can be dropped in without any hand-editing. After that's finished, I'll get back to work on characters.

Awesome! A Toolkit! :)

The Tilestudio works really well for me so far with creating maps.

Ya pretty much the only way for me to get characters working is to use the exact same dimensions used by the default RPG Kit character sheets.  I can't seem to find the code (without breaking everything) that will make it so I can easily edit the FrameDimensions and Offset etc...

I don't have a huge problem with using the default dimensions... I'm just lazy and don't really want to draw 48 different views of the character, lol.

Character tutorial is up. Have fun.

Sean McCafferty:

Character tutorial is up. Have fun.

Wow. I can't thank you enough.

Gimp is crazy. The whole grid thing and the fact it tells you how big your select box is in pixels as you drag it.... priceless.

Sean McCafferty:

I'm working on the Toolkit project at the moment, and pretty soon I'll release the "Compatible Build" which will read and write map files that can be dropped in without any hand-editing. After that's finished, I'll get back to work on characters.

That sounds fantastic and would save a lot of people a lot of time! Looking forward to it.

EEKER:

Sean McCafferty:

Character tutorial is up. Have fun.

Wow. I can't thank you enough.

Gimp is crazy. The whole grid thing and the fact it tells you how big your select box is in pixels as you drag it.... priceless.

That's even MORE helpful when building tilesets. Now you can go crazy with the resources over at Charas (linked on the blog) and combine whatever tiles you want. Since RPG Maker splits tiles into four segments and combines them to do edges, you'll have to combine the tiles yourself by setting the grid to half the tile size. Hopefully, we can integrate some kind of workaround into the Toolkit or release a simple mod to do that sort of thing.

I took some liberties...

To update the sprite on the inventory menu replace the following, in the StatisticsScreen(Player player) constructor:

screenAnimation.AddAnimation(new Animation("Idle", 43, 48, 150, true));

with...

screenAnimation.AddAnimation(new Animation("IdleSouth", 10, 10, 150, true));

EEKER:

I took some liberties...

To update the sprite on the inventory menu replace the following, in the StatisticsScreen(Player player) constructor:

screenAnimation.AddAnimation(new Animation("Idle", 43, 48, 150, true));

with...

screenAnimation.AddAnimation(new Animation("IdleSouth", 10, 10, 150, true));

Oddly, this works when the menu is brought up initially, but the same problem comes back when you shift to view a different character, even when that character is using the same spritesheet. Stranger still, when you come back to the initial character, the sprite is still black.

I've put up a new blog discussing my current project. I'm going to start making this a development blog, rather than just tutorials, since I've finally reached that point with my game.

I've been busy compiling tilesets and working with my concept artist, but I've started doing maps. I've put together some neat tips to make the worldmap generation process a bit easier, linked in the first post.

Oh my God thank you.  I love you.

I am so happy this thread exists and the work you put into it.  I promise to share my thoughts and developments on the RPG SK as well.

Hi, I'm trying to use this starter kit as a basis for a pokemon-type game that I want to make and I'm not sure how to view your blog.  When I click on the topics links it takes me to this wordpress website and I cannot find where to go to read these blogs.  Is there something I'm doing wrong?

JLamoureux:

Hi, I'm trying to use this starter kit as a basis for a pokemon-type game that I want to make and I'm not sure how to view your blog.  When I click on the topics links it takes me to this wordpress website and I cannot find where to go to read these blogs.  Is there something I'm doing wrong?

I accidentally installed another Wordpress on my host with the same db prefix, which overwrote the old one. If anyone has the tutorials saved, let me know and I'd be glad to rehost them. I'm sorry for any problems this has caused, it hurts me too since I can't remember half of the stuff that I wrote >_<.