RPG creation software
An RPG maker is a game creation system (software program) intended to make it easy for non-programmers to create a role-playing game. The target audience for most of these products is artists and creative types who have the imaginative abilities to assemble the elements of a game (artwork, plotline, music, etc.) but lack the technical skill to program it themselves.
RPG Maker
The most famous RPG maker is the commercial Japanese RPG Maker series that has been released since 1988 for many systems ranging from the PC-8801, MSX, PC-9801, and Microsoft Windows, to the Super Famicom, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, PlayStation 2, and Cellphones.
Other RPG makers
| Name | Linux | Mac | Windows | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adventure Construction Set | A very early RPG maker for creating top-down view tile-based role-playing and adventure games. Published by Electronic Arts in 1984 for the Commodore 64 and later ported to other 8-bit and early 16-bit microcomputers. | |||
| Adventure Creator | An early RPG maker for the Apple ][ computer that allowed users to build very simple games. Mostly mazes, shooting at enemies, avoiding traps, and retrieving items. | |||
| Bard's Tale Construction Set | A (relatively) early RPG maker, based on the basic design (first-person view and tile set) of the Bard's Tale games. Released by EA and Interplay in 1991. | |||
| BYOND | Versatile enough for action or turn-based RPG's, it is free and comes with built-in multiplayer support. | |||
| EasyRPG | X | X | X | A cross-platform, open source RPG development tool and client, compatible with RPG Maker. |
| Engine001 | An Action/RPG maker with a high level of customization and an easy-to-use script editor. | |||
| Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures | A commercial RPG maker by Strategic Simulations, Inc. for MS-DOS and Mac OS. | |||
| Golden Realm RPG Engine | X | X | A commercial RPG Engine that is compatible on both Windows and Macintosh machines. | |
| RPG Creator | A game development toolkit able to make RPGs running in any modern Webbrowser supporting HTML5. | |||
| KAGE | A free software game development toolkit able to make RPGs utilizing KonsolScript. | |||
| NetGore | A free cross-platform MMORPG engine written in C#. | |||
| OHRRPGCE | X | X | X | An open source RPG maker for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Android. |
| OpenRPG Maker | X | X | An open source RPG maker for Windows and Linux (Mac OS X is currently untested). Intentionally made to be similar to RPG Maker. | |
| Playerworlds | An Online RPG Creation Engine developed in Visual Basic 6 currently being ported to Visual Basic.NET | |||
| RpgBoss | A cross-platform open source editor and engine based on javascript and scala. | |||
| RPG Toolkit | An open source program for the creation of your own RPG's. Uses a map editor, media support, and scripting language. | |||
| Scenario RPGMaker | X | A quirky and colorful system written in GFABasic for Windows that allowed players to build worlds similar to Final Fantasy 2 for the Super Nintendo. | ||
| Sphere RPG Engine | X | X | X | An open source RPG maker utilizing Javascript. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X (PPC and Intel) and Linux. |
| Verge | An open source 2D game engine, with the emphasis of the software on role playing games. | |||
| X-Realms | X | An online RPG maker for Windows. | ||
| Maker3D | X | X | An advanced 3D RPG creator in manga style for Windows and Linux. | |
| Eclipse Engine | An online RPG maker. | |||
| MMORpgmaker | An Advanced 2D Open Source MMORPG and RPG Engine |
While neither one is an RPG maker per se, the Worldforge and FIFE (Flexible Isometric Free Engine) open-source game engines are intended for creating role-playing games -- MMORPG and Fallout-style isometric games respectively.
External links
- rpgmaker.net (RPG-Making Community Forum)
- Salt World (RPG-Making Community Forum)
- European portal for console RPG Maker series and IndieGames
- Italian portal for Rpgmaker Series and IndieGames