By Artbane At the time of writing this article, the 2014 Indie Game Maker contest is still underway. There is a $10K grand prize for the best game of any genre. Ratchet o rezuljtatah upravlencheskoj deyateljnosti rukovoditelya dou dlya attes. Then prizes are broken down into 1st, 2nd and 3rd between two categories: RPG and Non-RPG. Before the contest I never thought of games broken down like that, but when you’re in a RPG Maker community most of the games you get are going to be RPGs.

When I first started following RM that was all there was. But over the years, there’s been a rise in the amount of Non-RPG RPG Maker games coming out.

Horror, adventure, interactive fiction, even shooters! With the addition of the RGSS, almost any genre is possible. Amazingly enough, a lot of the top Non-RPG games were developed before the RM code was even editable!

It really demonstrates the versatility of the engine. Many of these games are not very technically advanced. They utilize the map editor and some of the event functions but little else. What usually sets them apart is their excellent narrative and aesthetics.

But still Why are these developers using RPG Maker? This probably warrants a deeper analysis than I can give. But if I had to guess, it would be that RPG Maker is a very popular and accessible engine compared to say Unity or even Game Maker. It requires little to no programming experience and most games can be coded entirely through event functions without ever having to break up the script editor.

Buy RPG Maker VX Ace - Horror. There is no denying that horror and survival are two themes deeply ingrained in modern games. Frontier Works: Horror Interior Tiles.

This allows designers, artists, writers and musicians the chance to make a compelling game experience without a huge barrier of entry. The RGSS allows savvy programmers even more freedom to make the game they want. It didn’t take long for developers to realize that RPG Maker could be used to make more than just RPGs. While the database is setup for RPG style gameplay, it is not necessary to create RM games.

You can focus most of development in the map editor. Maps can be crafted using custom tilesets or even parallaxes and pictures created in image editing software like Photoshop or Gimp. Dialogue and cutscenes can be coded via events which give you most of the functionality you need to create a compelling narrative experience. I’ll discuss why RPG Maker is such a great tool for crafting these types of games in a future post.

For now, let’s move on to some actual examples of Non-RPG RPG Maker games! HORROR RPG MAKER GAMES Horror is the most popular Non-RPG RPG Maker genre. It’s also the most common search related to RPG Maker games. It might be surprising to an observer who hasn’t played these games.

One would think it would difficult to create an effective horror game experience in a 2D game engine. But some of these titles illicit more horror than even their high-budget counterparts.

We start with. Dreaming Mary A more recent horror game is Dreaming Mary.

It was developed by accha in RPG Maker VX Ace Lite which has very limited features. The developer says the game was inspired by Ib and Yume Nikki but is not exactly a horror game. Sony vaio y series 11.6.

It also has multiple paths that the player can take and it’s possible to circumvent almost all of the horror elements. There is some unsettling subtext for those who are more sensitive. Those are just three examples. There are many more amazing horror games out there. Some others I’ve played and enjoyed are,,. THE POPULARITY OF RM HORROR GAMES Horror RM games are very popular not just within the community but on YouTube as well.

Unlike their RPG counterparts, they’re shorter and more entertaining to watch. The entertainment value might have something to do though with the player often being a total wuss. Pewdiepie and Markiplier are two of the biggest YouTubers and much of their success is due to their very vocal reactions during horror playthroughs; including RM horror games. Last I checked, Pewds was playing Corpse Party which is a horror series originally created in RPG Maker.

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE RM HORROR GAME? Most of the RM horror games I listed above are very subtle in their creep factor. They play up the dark atmosphere and ambience.

Much of the horror comes from the unknown or the uncanny. In some of these titles there is also a sense of hopelessness or inevitably. Once the mystery is known, the games tend to be less effective. But some titles are so surreal and abstract you are never quite sure of what you’re seeing. And that can be very unsettling.