Which is the best to make a rpg?

Back in the days I didn't know much about game programming, I know a bit more now. Back then, I bought BlitzPlus thinking I could make cool 2D games, but I was wrong, it sucked. It is missing alot of things like alpha blending.. and what not. It's really not a tool for game developping, hell Game Maker beats it easily. It's more to make proggies.. I'm not sure if it has evolved since then.

I know BlitzMax can probably do all the alpha blending and rotating.. ect. All the things I needed back then to make a decent game.

But I'd like your inputs on this, what's the most important differences between blitzmax, blitz3D.. blitzplus to make a 2D game.

I'm a fan of RPGs I've always loved rpgs... Game Maker is a fine tool, but I think blitzbasic is faster and such. I went to try c++ it's easy but getting tutorials and getting devc++ setup to make a game is harsh thus why I hate c++.

Anyway im just ranting now, what are your thoughts on the subject. I mean can BMAX actually achieve Game Maker in the sense of features... GM even has a particle engine. ( www.gamemaker.nl )

Have you looked at Nuclear Fusion.
www.nuclearglory.com

Nuclear basic... hmmm!

nuclear fusion.. seems nice, but complicated and doesn't have a demo. It's probably not as easy as blitzbasic or gm.

It has proven easy by non C++ programs.

NF Lite download at http://www.nuclearglory.com/php-bin/forums/view_topic.php?id=739&forum_id=1

Possibly this is :

http://rtsoft.com/novashell/

NWN2 Toolset

Those are nice I guess but to be more precise on what I'm trying to do:

Using all my own graphics, coding my own real time rpg interface. I need to be able to add at a later time multiplayer. So the best 2D Game Engine out there is what I'm looking for.

PlayBasic from DarkBasic is very nice but has no multiplayer.

BlitzMax has alot of things.

I need real time alpha blending, rotation and scaling...

Why?
Why not get Gmax, make your own graphics with that, and use NWN2 Toolset. Sell it on the NWN sites. (And probably get more sales than most portals).

You dont even need to use the internal vrs3 rules. You can use your own.

I understand your desire to write it all your self, but... you know.

I don't have NWN2, I've never used the toolset or Gmax. I've already started working on my project and it's getting pretty interesting, but I wana use a better/faster engine. And what your saying has nothing to do with what I'm asking, no offence man ;)

How good is BlitzMax?

BlitzMax is really good. You'd totally have to code the game yourself though.

I think H&Ks answer is a valid one. If you are afraid of the lacking performance then you could use Dungeon Siege as well as NWN1.

How long do you think will it take you to write all the tools, routines which are already realised in there? Obviously you won't need and write all of them but if you would choose such a direction you could already start on what makes out the game: gamedesign, story, content. You would be limited to what the editor/engine is able to offer but they are pretty flexible for 3d rpgs in my opinion. Not everything is possible but a lot of things can be done with it.

From a selling point of view it also might not be the worst decision as you already have a focused audience and at least nwn1 is widely spread.

Now don't misunderstand me but the way you ask sounds after a project which will never see the light of day and so why not making your life easier and concentrate on that what makes out a rpg?

You guys don't have any faith in your own tool? BlitzMax, why are you here? lol It feels like you want me to give up and use some already made rpg. I have my story, my concept already made and they're not compatible with those 3D RPGs. Don't take this the wrong way though, I value your answers I looked into it, but those don't suite me.

I love using engines rather then real programming, it's more fun in my opinion and less time consuming. I've coded some basic movement with GML


I code in block to be honest, like I'd start with the most fun part, which is the mapping and the movements. I'll be using 32x32 or 16x16 tiles for terrain, as for the movements, you'll have multiple ways of moving.

Of course I know it's uber time consuming, but it's more of a hobbie then anything else, there's no release date, I'll be done whenever. I can't really say I'm an elite programmer.. I'm prolly averagish, I get by, I can read most languages as long as it's not asm or binary.

Basicly, I want a powerful tool, that's like not uber time consuming for simple stuff like drawing an image, moving a player.. ect. a tool.. I'll be able to take my time developing my rpg slowly :)

I guess I'm just ranting, but it just to say how serious I am. My game is in 2D not 3D and I already have some of my own graphics for it. I even wrote an algo for reading player files ect.. in gml though will have to convert all my code.

Now im just ranting but DOWN WITH NWN TOOLS!!! ;D

I was planning on coding my own from the ground up in Blitzmax - I still might. However, Novashell, which can be found at the link Gabriel provided looks quite interesting. I mean, look at this feature list!

Multi-platform support using the Clanlib library
A*Star pathfinding
Hierarchal goal based AI system enables entities to think and act on events and changing situations in a flexible manner
Advanced 2D Physics
Lua scripting (used in games like Baldur's Gate, FarCry, and Warcraft 3)
Free form pixel accurate sprite patch editing as well as emulated conventional tile editing
Unlimited zooming in and out, can show entire worlds on the screen in real time
Support for irregularly shaped maps, dead space never wastes memory
Map dimensions can flexibly change during play, new areas can be added anywhere at any time
Robust automatic save/load allows a fully persistent world
Built in world editor with unlimited brush sizes, multiple undo, cut and paste of any size, even the entire map
Virtual palette map concept, create a map or maps with the tiles you use most to act as a palette to work from
Mini-map system
"Fast forward" game speed feature, hold down a key to speed things up
Visual Profile system makes it easy to apply new looks and animations to entities without modifying the underlying game logic
Parallax scrolling
Supports any resolution in windowed or fullscreen, scaling, rotation, tinting, and mirroring of entities.
Advanced audio system supporting music crossfading, positional sounds, and effect filtering such as echo
Real-time "Smart Shadow" generation based on collision information
Create stand-alone games
Comprehensive game modding and modding of a mod support

Yeah I looked at this, it has a pretty good potential and alot of cool features, but it's missing one which is a possibility of adding multiplayer to your game. I plan on adding at least a 2-8 multiplayer support at a very later time.

Because let's face it rpgs are fun but a lot more fun when your playing with a friend.

I think the best thing for me is a fast and flexible game engine. BMAX might be it, and so instead of discussing it, I'll take it for a test drive.

edited
so far it's pretty fun. I think I could achieve my game with practice and some help to some degree. Like for file encryption, I've got no clue how to do that but I don't need it right now. But I'll prolly will have to ask later.

Kaisuo, dont listen to these people

I'm here in your position, coding my own RPG, and using Max to do it

Sure, you can make a good game with these other tools, but unless you program all of it yourself it wont be the game you initialy wanted to make

I've been going at mine for a long time now (years), still writing the engine in my free time

Once the framework is down, I'm hoping that writing the actual game will be a lot quicker (framework is certaintly aimed towards that)

For RPGs

http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/tkool/RPG_XP/eng/

Personal Opinions:
- nearly bugless
- scriptable using RGSS(Ruby)
- good 2D capability
- contain basic material
- easy to use
- support unicode
- big code database(Jap/Eng)
- can call DLLs
- VERY SLOW

If you want to make your own 2D game, BlitzMax or PureBasicis much better.

An RPG in BMax is also on my wishlist. It's just that such a game needs so many tools, and the game itself needs to have a blimin' decent structure or you'll soon find yourself trashing the lot to start over again.

The problem is usually that you want to play your own game (just as one would like to use his own tool), and therefor there's the risc of saying 'ok, now it is done' far too early. Every year I have one or two attemps to start an RPG.. and this was since ~1996 already when I was using QBasic, and later on Blitz around 2000. Suffice to say: none of these attempts ever resulted in anything.

Just something simple as a text dialog popup which can display texts, gfx (some item you got) and wait for keypresses is quite a program on its own already. And just when you're done .. *oops* you want to support multiple languages.. so unless you like hackjobs, you'll need to make sure your textbox can display multiple languages.. like Spanish with its accents, or Japanese with its weird stuff.

So, just this relativily small part can cause serious headaches already.

Sure, a mapbrowser/scroller is a cookie, it's just browsing through a 2d array. It's not so much this mapbrowser that causes great pains, it's all these other things.

I'll give it a try, see how far I get, I just wish BlitzMax didn't have a trial time limit.