[Question] Learning RPG Maker XP in a limited time

Hey there everyone! I'm new here, and have no experience making or hacking Pokemon games, although I do have some coding experience (not in any language used by RPG XP, of course). I was looking into possibly working on Pokemon games in my free time as a sort of side hobby, and see whether it's something I'd enjoy or hate. I've noticed there's a free one month trial of RPG XP. however as I've never done this sort of thing before I probably won't have any idea how to use it.

Thus my question is: Can I learn enough about making Pokemon games in RPG XP using Pokemon Essentials in one month so that I'll have a realistic feel for what Pokemon game-making entails? I don't want to buy the full version if I don't end up liking making them, however I'm worried that if I get the trial version at this point I won't actually be able to understand anything and thus will have an incorrect idea of what making Pokemon games is like.

And if I'm not able to get an accurate feel for making Pokemon games in one month, how similar is it to ROM hacking (which is free, and so I can take longer to learn how it works)? Could I test the waters there, then transfer over my skills to the trail version of RPG maker and actually know what I'm doing and whether I enjoy it?

Thanks for any feedback, guys! I'll probably end up as another one of those guys who want to make a game but never do, but I'd like to give it a try!

It is doable within one month provided you indeed have some coding experience (I did, I started somewhere in June this year, and I have a game of 5 towns etc. so far). Though I would highly recommend reading some tutorial on rpg maker xp first (easy to find using Google), and after that I would recommend reading several articles and tutorials of the wiki (look through the pieces of code, try to understand every detail).

When your done, you will have a feel of what can be done and how to do it. Then, start using essentials. For a lot of things, just copy past the event codes that are already in the demo that comes with the essentials package. You might even be able to make a (very small) game within that month (2 cities, 1 route, 1 cave, 1 gym?), provided you don't have to go to work/school.

Good luck!

dexter1o6

I would definitely look at tutorials on YouTube or the wiki before you download the trial. Oh, and welcome!

I do recommend that if you find the RPGXP trial enjoyable, purchase the full version and support the people who made the program.

Orrrr, when your trial runs out, uninstall it, then reinstall. Don't resort to illegal methods.

Hence why I recommended purchasing it.

Thanks for the replies so far guys! And yeah, if this is something I do like then I'll definitely buy the program, mainly so that I don't have to transfer files over and over again to each new install. And I don't torrent things, besides Pokemon ROMS (although I own the games in real life anyways, I just want to do Nuzlockes without deleting my real files and such) as I'm paranoid about viruses and trojans. Although I think that I might uninstall/reinstall a couple times if I need the extra time to actually try it out, as I'm moving back into my college dorm soon and may be busy.

I've watched a couple videos now and I think I'll like it, but then again it's a lot easier when the guy on the other side of the screen is putting in all the effort lol.

If you have some basic programming experience, read the wiki, and look at the example maps using Pokemon Essentials is like taking candy from a baby.

Using rpg maker xp is very easy. I would recommend you to first learn to use the program itself and then with Pokemon Essentials.
You can do a lot of things than just Pokémon games, and you can do it easily.

If you do not wish to waste the trial-time, then simply get the RPG maker 2k3 trial to learn the engine. It may be a little different from RPG XP, but it should give you enough to start making a Pokémon game almost immediately when you switch over.
What you should know though, is that making a game using Pokemon Essentials is different work than just an RPG XP game. It involves using the built-in editor and learning to use the script function of event properly and so on.

But even so, like I said, use RM2K3 to learn the way the system works, and switch over to RMXP when you feel comfortable.