Is rpg-maker good for making visual novel but with gameplay?

[lycheechan]

I was having this idea for a story that involves going into people's head to rescue them (lol Persona reference). Is it recommended or is there a certain code that might allow me to add RPG elements to it? Sorry I'm not very good with programing.

[Darkmoonfire]

I'm afraid that I don't have any experience with rpg maker, so I can't tell how easy it would be to make a visual novel using it. I believe that it has been used to make games like visual novels, but I can't think of any actual visual novels made with it.

I imagine that RPG maker can handle dialogue boxes since it's pretty much the same for both VNs and RPGs. However, I'm not sure if how easy it is to do the character art like a VN or dialogue choices in RPG, but those seem like they'd be the only major obstacles.
If you're okay with using ren'py, you could always try to use Jake's battle engine to add rpg elements to your visual novel.

Good luck with your game.

[dramspringfeald]

Down in WIP there is a RenPy engine but search seems to be on the fritz best of luck.

Also Link for one that has been tested but my be too old for the current version of RenPy

Link

[lycheechan]

Whould it get complicated if I'm planning to release it commercially?

[gekiganwing]

I have used RPG Maker XP here and there. It takes patience, tutorials, and practice in order to use the program well. Just like Ren'py, it's best to figure out the basics first, and start by working on a simple project.

If you're wondering what other people have done with recent RPG Maker products, then there's a number of freeware examples in the downloads section of rpgmaker.net. For instance, Komarimono Scapegrace is a straightforward VN, Adventure Academy is a raising sim hybrid, and Heartache 101 is a callback to the untranslated dating simulations from the late '90s.

I was having this idea for a story that involves going into people's head to rescue them (lol Persona reference)...

That's specific to P4.

[Minnfae]

Wasn't 'To the Moon' an almost VN adventure game made in RPG Maker?
There's also Castle Chase, but that one's even further from being a VN.
Still, both were quite well received.

[SundownKid]

I made a VN adventure game using RPG Maker, you can find it here.

It's certainly possible to make something like that, but I would recommend one of the newer RPG Makers (VX Ace?) due to compatibility issues, and also finding a sprite artist because custom sprites suck. And you will have to face the issue of having it only run on Windows (RPG Maker is not cross platform) and a rather limited resolution of 640x480 or thereabouts.

I was having this idea for a story that involves going into people's head to rescue them (lol Persona reference)...

That's specific to P4.

No, that's Psychonauts. In Persona, you go into a separate universe that just happens to be created by their mind.

Whould it get complicated if I'm planning to release it commercially?

You can sell RPG Maker games, but since they're not cross platform or have that great of an engine, don't expect to rake in much money. Especially if you use default sprites and don't customize it much.

[lycheechan]

Thanks everyone for the tip. And to SundownKid, sorry, I keep mixing up going into people's head with Person 4 instead of Psychonauts, another user was suggesting that too. I'll try the game sometime .

I was aware that the RPG Maker not being cross platform, but I just want to be able to sell the games like how the WinterWolves sell theirs. It's probably too early for me to do that since I started out with nothing, so like gekiganwing said, I'll have to start out small first.

The reason I asked this is because, for the story that I'm making(RPG/Otome game), I thought that it was appropriate to add the combat element to it.

To prevent this post from getting any longer, thank you everyone who have commented on this post, this means a lot to me.

[Ryue]

For engine, you will have to consider carefully what you plan on doing and where the emphasis of the project lies.
If you want to do a VN with combat elements, then you should use a VN engine like renpy as that will make things easier for you there.
If you plan on putting the emphasis on the combat while the VN stuff is only "background" then you should consider using an engine that is good at doing combat stuff.
(if I remember rpg maker correctly, making a combat script is almost as much work as with ren'py [could be mistaken there though has been a few years since I last used it].)

Another thing you have to consider is how you want to move around in the world.
If you want a topdown view and move like in for example diablo3 or most old rpgs you will probably have to do the least in RPG maker (although I think there is even a cookbook for that for renpy but not sure there).

If you want to move in cities,... with the use of menus then also a VN engine like ren'py would do the job just as fine.

-------------------------------------------
So all in all the engine you want/should use really depends on what you want to do there and how much work you want to have (most engines have different examplecodes and cookbooks).

[lycheechan]

For engine, you will have to consider carefully what you plan on doing and where the emphasis of the project lies.
If you want to do a VN with combat elements, then you should use a VN engine like renpy as that will make things easier for you there.
If you plan on putting the emphasis on the combat while the VN stuff is only "background" then you should consider using an engine that is good at doing combat stuff.
(if I remember rpg maker correctly, making a combat script is almost as much work as with ren'py [could be mistaken there though has been a few years since I last used it].)

Another thing you have to consider is how you want to move around in the world.
If you want a topdown view and move like in for example diablo3 or most old rpgs you will probably have to do the least in RPG maker (although I think there is even a cookbook for that for renpy but not sure there).

If you want to move in cities,... with the use of menus then also a VN engine like ren'py would do the job just as fine.

-------------------------------------------
So all in all the engine you want/should use really depends on what you want to do there and how much work you want to have (most engines have different examplecodes and cookbooks).

To be specific I wanted the combat system to resemble like that from an otome game called Real Rode or a more familiar game called Science Girls from WinterWolves.

[SundownKid]

If you want to customize the battle system a lot, perhaps you might want to hire a python coder for Ren'py (since you'll have to learn scripting to change it drastically in RPG Maker).

[lycheechan]

If you want to customize the battle system a lot, perhaps you might want to hire a python coder for Ren'py (since you'll have to learn scripting to change it drastically in RPG Maker).

And that's what I'm planning to do when I initiate that project. I'm type who draws and writes out ideas, but just can't do the specific stuff, like programming.