RPG games take years of practice to make typically. Buy a copy of flash ($699) and then work through tutorials to understand a bit of coding. Then maybe make a game or two. It'll take a while for RPGs.
Start small and grow bigger. Don't start with a huge RPG game.
You can use Game Maker if you want to make a RPG game, however if you use flash it will take a while to learn how. I recommend Flash if you have the money and time, and GM if you don't.
How 'easi' a game is to make takes two things into consideration:
1) How hard it is to code 2) How big the game is
Two types of games you should not start out with are platformers and RPGs. Hit detection for platformers is one of the hardest things to code, and expansive hit detection requires a vast knowledge of math. Physics based arcade or puzzle games also have this problem. RPGs are hard just because a good battle system is suprisingly complex. If you don't plan your code ahead or don't add enough comments, you're going to get lost quickly. Also, many people expect RPGs to be very large scale, which requires a ton of work, especially in art. Beleive me, you are going to get bored of making a game if it's too big and never finish it. That's happened to me.
To start off, I would recommend making a simple arcade game. Think of games for the Atari 2600 that you couldn't really beat since the games went in cycles. Games that cycle don't usually have large amounts of coding or art. If you're good at math, attempt a physics based puzzle game. It's one of the most popular flash game genres.
If you're really just starting, stake these two steps: Buy Flash CS4 professional THE STUDENT VERSION (like $350 cheaper and the only catch is that it can't legally be used to earn money), buy a book on flash programming (Internet tutorials are nice, but a book is much handier), and learn to spell correctly. People won't take you seriously if you spell like an 8 year old.
Why do you want to make a rpg game? That is not exactly the first kind of game i started to create, i started to make a shooting game where you had to hit pictures with your mouse and get 5 points for one target and maybe 10 points for a little smaller target.
Do not aim to big at the first game dev1994, it will only make you confused but do not give up! When you will start to know the "ActionScript" better you will also be able to create better quality games.
TehQED
Beleive me, you are going to get bored of making a game if it's too big and never finish it.
tehQED, it is when you feel that you are going to give up you have to work hard! It is actually then you make progress and can complete the work of game you are creating, believe me i have been through many of these "hard times" where i just wanted to go away from the computer and quit.
tehQED, it is when you feel that you are going to give up you have to work hard! It is actually then you make progress and can complete the work of game you are creating, believe me i have been through many of these "hard times" where i just wanted to go away from the computer and quit.
Slimygames, I can actually relate to that. In the first good game I created (should hopefully be on AG soon; submitting a game is suprisingly complicated) working harder was the key to overcoming some hurdles in programming. But inexperienced programmers won't have the "stamina" for conquering these problems. Since most design blocks occur due to poor planning and messy code, and large games would obviously have more instances of these, I doubt an inexperienced programmer would even have a chance of making a large game.
On a side note, here's some advice: If somehow you're writing a function that involves messy and complicated code but you're positive you won't have to edit it once it's completed, work nonstop on it until it's done. If you take even a small break, you will forget your way around the messy code and it will be much harder to understand your own work, and even harder to finish it
The fact is you must take the first step and actually learn to program. Before you can actually even think about making something as complicated as rpg. If you want to make flash games go learn java. It's free and their are plenty of tutorials. When you learn it you will have a pretty decent grasp of programming and actionscript.
I'm not sure about how ActionScript is, but I know Java can be a bit unwieldy when it comes to gamemaking. When it comes to getting a good grounding in programming, however, there's little better.
I jumped from Visual Basic to Flash AS3... they're kind of similar in what you can do, but the syntax is a lot different. But if I didn't know how to do Visual Basic I am positive it would be a lot harder for me to learn.
