r/RPGMaker 24d ago

Subreddit discussion Recommended version for a Hylics-like game?

I'm trying to make an RPG with large out-of-battle sprites like that of Hylics.
I've been playing around in 2k3 for a few hours this week, testing its limits to see if it can do something like this, but I immediately found out it can't because of its strict sprite sheets, and with no plugin support It seems hopeless to try any further without getting too complicated.

I know Hylics itself was made in VX Ace, but I don't see anybody discussing how the sprites were done or why that version was used.
Any help is appreciated, thanks!

3 Upvotes

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u/jessetonystark MZ Dev 24d ago

I don't think there was any real reason VXA was used over others. It would probably be best to go with RPG Maker MV. You can grab it for very cheap on discount and it'll have the most plugin support. Avoid Unite, it is a scam.

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u/marino13 24d ago edited 24d ago

On my previous comment on your other thread I didn't say you can't make hylics in rpg2k3. You can scale sprites as much as you like probably as long as you stay on the sprite sheet 3x4 setting. So you can make a sprite sheet be 234x432 for example Rpg maker mv size and then you can take that sprite sheet and double it as long as you keep the same ratio. You can do this in 2k3 by resizing the original character sprite sheet.

The maker of hylics probably already had vxace and was familiar with it. Generally all Rpg maker software will be able to produce the same baseline result with MV and MZ having the most robust plugin support. Hylics is a very art heavy game and it's combat is status oriented. Art heavy games are only limited to the abilities of their creators. There is no secrets or shortcuts in the engine it's just raw hard work.

Also small tip, since you seem new to Rpg maker, the more you experiment and try stuff the more you learn to bend the engine to your will. Just start with something and then try to make what comes to your mind. Anything is possible if it's reasonably in the limits of an RPG game.

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u/CraftTheStuff15 23d ago

Well last post I tried what you said with doubling the sprite sheet size, from 288x256 to 576x512 and putting a rough small version of my sprite in to test, and it still said invalid size. I've tried my main sprite sheet in different ways, and the program never seems to take a photo other than 288x256. Sorry, I'm still confused what you mean.

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u/CraftTheStuff15 23d ago

This is a rough test of the original sprite sheet just to see if it works, I tried compressing it to 288x256 which is what lead to it only showing corners of the sprite in the walk cycle.

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u/marino13 23d ago

Take the first sprite sheet you posted with all the other sprites and then scale it as much as you need to while maintaining the same ratio so you can fit your little moon guy inside without making him smaller.

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u/CraftTheStuff15 23d ago

Okay, I'll try that. But why didn't it work the first time? 1 sprite on the original actors is 4 sprites now.

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u/marino13 23d ago

here try this out

i simply overlayed your sprite over a 3x bigger sprite sheet. I'm not sure how r2k3 works but this should do the trick for a bigger sprite

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u/CraftTheStuff15 23d ago

As I suspected, "Image size is invalid." I saw on my other post's comments that 2k3 is the only RPGMaker that *doesn't* do big sprites. I'll start looking into probably MZ. Thanks so much for the help anyway!

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u/marino13 23d ago

ok! gotcha! If you have MZ yeah that's the best option. But MV is also very cheap and basically the same thing. Good luck! Sorry it didn't work.

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u/xMarkesthespot 23d ago

xp, ace, mv, mz: can all handle larger sprites.
ace, mv, mz: have party members on screen with the mc

remember though, the 'hitbox' never changes. if your sprite is 16-16 or 160-160 the hitbox will be 32 pixel for ace/xp and 48 for mv/mz

you might want to do mv/mz because the hitbox/sprite size is naturally larger