RPG Maker XP

RPG Maker XP is a game making tool produced by Enterbrain Inc. It features a highly user-friendly editor interface combined with easy-to-use scripting functions which allow anybody who is willing to try and create a world of their own.

In this installment the RPG Maker also features a brand new scripting engine called Ruby Game Scripting System (RGSS) which allows eager developers to use Ruby, a popular programming language from Japan, in their games.

The RPG Maker was created with the philosophy of "effortless creation" in mind, meaning that Enterbrain has tried to make it as easy as possible to create a full flagged roleplaying game while still allowing those who want to, to use powerful tools in order to create something truly unique. You can create maps and events using point and click interfaces in a matter of minutes, script complex events and edit your heroes, the villains and all other facets of the game without ever writing a single line of code, however, the RGSS library also allows you to utilize Ruby to manipulate any and all parts of the game and even include external DLL files to expand the already massive possibilities of the fully turing-complete language and the program.

While the RPG Maker ships with a fairly large database of standard materials which include everything one needs to create a basic RPG, it is also very easy to create your own resources from scratch because the RPG Maker XP supports not only most of the popular image formats, BMP, PNG (including alpha channels), JPG and GIF, but also all the major audio formats, including OGG Vorbis, Windows Media, Windows Audio and MP3.