The latest RPG Maker MV has both a familiar focus and a new feel. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, it is more akin to improved accessibility and streamlining processes. While a less dramatic change than moving from RPG Maker XP to Ace, there are enough changes here to merit an upgrade for those who enjoy spending their time creating RPGs. As with any new release in the series, there are multiple things that users are excited about.
One of the most notable changes or additions to this version of RPG Maker is the attempt to make it more widely available - both to those building the games as well as those who would play them. For one, the creation tool has expanded to the Mac operating system, branching out from being PC-only. Additionally, the different ways you can produce your game is truly impressive, offering you the usual .exe files for windows, but also outpus for Mac, Android, iOS and even HTML for use in we browsers. The production process is the same as before, a mattering of packing your game up and choosing platform, making it an easy task.
While I personally enjoy those kinds of features, for me it is more about the systems employed in actually making the games. As the longest running user of the RPG Maker software on our team (dating back to the untranslated RPG Maker 95 by ASCII Corporation), I have seen the series change a great deal over the years. The basic structure remains largely the same. You use tilesets to create maps and fill them with characters and events to help build a playable environment that includes common RPG functionality such as character conversations, turn-based combat and exploration.
Sometimes the series makes incremental improvements, such as the jump from RPG Maker 2000 to 2003 which had a change in how the combat system was viewed while largely relying on the mechanics of the 2000 version. Other leaps such as to RPG Maker XP included completely reworked visuals and the introduction of the Ruby scripting system that allows potential RPG creators increased flexibility. Where does RPG Maker MV fall on those two scales? Somewhere in between. While certainly different from
RPG Maker VX Ace, the number of changes are not as substantial as the leap from 2003 to XP. The end result is a familiar-feeling piece of software with a good number of improvements that do not completely change how you make your RPG games, but should by and large streamline how you go about it. The trend of having things conveniently located in the panels or as a right-click context menu continues for making speedy additions to your map. [...]
