RPG creation tools already include most of the programming, artwork, sound and music for you. So the main thing you do is design the levels and gameplay. For a game designer without much technical or artistic skills, it’s definitely possible to create a nice game. Most tools also allow you to script some custom functionality, and let you import custom artwork. So clever programmers and amazing pixel artists can still add their own expertise into their game.
RPG designer tools might seem like toys, but don’t be fooled. There are some professional game developers who earn a full-time living by creating their RPG’s using RPG Maker. Amaranth Games and Aldorlea Games are both great examples.
In my previous article I talked about how to create an RPG all by yourself. In case I wasn’t clear enough: the conclusion is that you shouldn’t attempt to do everything by yourself, unless you seriously know what you’re doing.
It’s possible to speed things up by taking advantage of what other people already created. RPG’s seem to be very popular for game development projects, and a lot of people have made their own frameworks or even art available. So why not see if one of them fits your needs?
Our RPG Editor features a tilemap editor with a cool innovative feature. I call it “Tilemap Auto Layering”, and it makes tilemap creation faster and easier. You can see it in action in the video below. I hope you don’t mind my Flemish accent .
It’s been a while since I released any news on Koonsolo. That’s because the last few months I was completely focussed on developing our Koonsolo RPG Editor. It’s still far from finished, but currently I can play with some functionality and get some cool results. I will create a video showing off some of that stuff in the near future, so stay tuned!
Last weekend I created a ‘Koonsolo RPG Editor’ web page. That page should give you an idea of what the final program will be able to do. I’m not promoting this page just yet, but I wanted to show it to you anyway . So go and take a look at http://www.koonsolo.com/rpgeditor! If you have questions or remarks, don’t hesitate to mail me at koen@koonsolo.com.
Next time you’ll see some functionality in action ,
First of all I want to thank everyone who emailed me and wished me luck with my new project. I received some very nice emails and appreciate it very much!
I didn’t provide much details last time, so I hope to clarify some things in this post. The game editor is going to be aimed at creating old school 2D RPG Games like Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. This RPG Editor will run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It will be very user friendly, so that anyone is able to create games. You won’t have to know how to program or how to create graphics. But if you’re an artist, you can of course import your own graphics and use them.
Some people asked if the game editor is going to be Open Source, but it won’t. It will be a proprietary product.
The editor will create Flash games, and they will run in any web browser. As a normal user you just click “Play” and the game will be completely generated for you. But if you’re a programmer, you can go into the source code of that game and implement or change anything you want. The game source code will use our Koonsolo Game Library, and that library will be Open Source. I will use the liberal ISC License, which allows you to adapt anything you want and release your games as both commercial or free products.
I’m working together on this with fellow indie game developer Amaranth Games, known for their successful game series Aveyond. Since Amaranth Games creates old school RPG games, they are the ideal partner.
All technical aspects will be handled by Koonsolo, so the game editor and game engine will be programmed by me .
I wanted to share all this info so you know what Koonsolo is up to. Since there hasn’t been any official announcement yet, you are the first to know about the collaboration of Koonsolo with Amaranth Games, and about the details of our upcoming RPG game editor .
Recently I came across this great opportunity, but it forced me to make a tough decision. I hope you will understand, and will keep supporting Koonsolo as you did before.
As you might know I started Koonsolo because I love creating games. Mystic Mine was the first game that I created entirely by myself, and I planned the same for the next one. But doing the programming, graphics and marketing all by myself is very hard and time consuming.
As I was working on my upcoming game, I got a request from another indie game company to work on a project together. This project isn’t a game, but a tool to create games. It will allow anyone without programming or artistic skills to create cool video games. And it’s powerful enough that when you do know how to program, you can write your own code. Or if you are an artist, you can include your own graphics.
I’ve been programming games since I was a kid, so this is the ideal opportunity to share my technical knowledge, and make it available to anyone. Doing this together with another company allows me to focus on the development and the things I’m really good at.
Because this game creation tool is going to be released first, it also means that my next game won’t be released in the near future. I hope you can understand my decision, and I certainly hope that you’re interested in creating your own games using my tool .
If you have any questions or remarks, just leave a comment below.
As you might already know I’m using Blender 3D for creating the artwork of my games. It’s a free 3D modeling tool with a lot of features and possibilities. A few weeks ago I received a request from Packt Publishing to review a new book that teaches you how to work with Blender 3D. It’s called ‘Blender 3D 2.49 Incredible Machines‘, written by author Allan Brito. Since I’m going to model some machines myself, I thought it might be interesting to see what this book has to offer. Read more…
Mystic Mine now has an online version, which also includes online highscores! So you think you’re one of the best Mystic Miners out there? Prove it in the highscore tables! Click here to play it.
It’s official, Mystic Mine has entered the Indepenent Games Festival competition. In the past some weird artistic games have won, so let’s hope this time the jury loves M.C.Escher, and has a soft spot for fun, innovative gameplay (with an old-school feel).
Recently I added Koonsolo to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Vimeo. This way you can get our latest news straight from your favorite social media site.
Becoming a fan or following Koonsolo means a lot to us, so for those who support us that way, I’m going to offer something extra. Next month I’ll give away free copies of Mystic Mine. (Or if you already bought it from our website, a $19.95 Gift Card). A few winners will be picked out from those who are a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, YouTube or Vimeo. So make sure you subscribe before the deadline to secure your spot.
So don’t wait and subscribe now! Just click on the following links:
P.S.: I also got something special lined up for those who don’t win, but more on that later. Important thing now is to subscribe as soon as possible so you don’t miss out on this great opportunity!
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As you might already know I’m using 
