RPG Maker 2003

RPG Maker 2003 (or RM2k3) is the third in the series of programs for the development of Role-Playing Games, developed by the Japanese group ASCII. It features a database of pre-made backgrounds, music, animations, weapons and characters.

Graphics
All graphics within RPG Maker 2003 are in 2D like its predecessor, RPG Maker 2000, and makes use of the same graphical resources with a few minor changes in resolution. In addition, Battle Character and System2 sets are used to go with RPG Maker 2003's new battle system.

Sprites

The majority of all graphics within the game are achieved with sprites, or single images that has a composition of frames in a specific orientation so that the graphics rendering software of RM2k3 can give the impression of movement.

Music
RPG Maker 2003 allows the use of MIDI and WAV much like RPG Maker 2000, its predecessor, for background music, but in addition now also allows the use of MP3 files which was a strongly desired feature in RPG Maker 2000. RM2k3 does not support any audio editing software so a third party program is needed in order to compose desired sounds.

Runtime Package
RPG Maker 2003, much like its predecessor RPG Maker 2000 and its successor RPG Maker XP, comes with its own set of Runtime Package files, also known as the RTP. The RTP is a whole set of default graphics, music, and sound effects that are used in RPG Maker 2003 and, in most cases, the RTP must be downloaded to the computer to play the games made with RPG Maker 2003. Thanks to the RTP, created games can lessen their file size if a lot of material from the RTP was used.

New Battle System
The new battle system is in third-person side view rather than the first person view that was used in the previous RPG Maker programs. In addition, unlike its predecessors, RPG Maker 2003 makes use of a real-time "ATB" system, like in the Final Fantasy games, instead of the classical "turn-based" system. At what point a character or enemy can take actions depends on their agility levels instead of being rigidly defined as a turn.

RPG Maker 2003 is also the only program in the RPG Maker series which allows weapons and armor to cast spells when used as items.

Official sites

 * Enterbrain.com - Japanese Company that produces the RPG Maker Series.
 * Enterbrain RPG-Maker XP Page - Official English Page
 * Agetec - US Publisher for the console RPG Maker series
 * Agetec RPG Maker - Official portal for console RPG Maker series