Material Specifications

RPGXP comes complete with all kinds of graphic and audio files for your use.

From the main menu, select [Tools], then [Materialbase] to bring up a dialog box for importing and exporting each kind of material. While you can copy files directly to the game folder, the Materialbase has features (such as tranparency color settings) that make it a better option until you're more familiar with the program.

Graphics

Both PNG and JPG (JPEG) graphic formats are available for use. The PNG format fully supports 32-bit color (with alpha channels).

Characters (Graphics/Characters)

These files contain character graphics for the map screen.

Each character is contained in a single file. This file can be any size, and is laid out with the character facing all four directions (down, left, right, and up) and going through four frames of movement, for a total of 16 frames. The size of the actual character will be 1/4 the height and 1/4 the width of the entire bitmap.

Battlers (Graphics/Battlers)

These files contain graphics for the characters that appear in battle screens.

They can be any size, but remember that they need to fit on a 640 x 320 battle screen. Also, if the graphic's height is 40 pixels or below, it will be difficult to see damage displays and the like.

Animations (Graphics/Animations)

These files contain animation graphics used mainly as visual effects in battle screens.

Each cell contains at least one block of five 192 x 192 pixel frames lined up horizontally, but can go on to contain as many blocks as necessary. There's no limit on the file's size, but to improve loading times, overly large files are best avoided.

Tilesets (Graphics/Tilesets)

These files contain tiles for mapmaking.

Each tile contains at least one block of eight 32 x 32 pixel frames lined up horizontally, but can go on to contain as many blocks as necessary. There's no limit on the file's size, but to improve loading times, overly large files are best avoided.

Autotiles (Graphics/Autotiles)

These files contain special tiles used for seamless tiling.

See Autotiles for details.

Panoramas (Graphics/Panoramas)

These files contain graphics (distant landscapes) used in maps.

There's no real limit to their size, but they must tile on all four edges--like a Website background.

Fog (Graphics/Fogs)

These files contain graphics that are overlaid in the map's foreground.

There's no real limit to their size, but they must tile on all four edges--like a Website background.

Battle Backgrounds (Graphics/Battlebacks)

These files contain graphics used as backgrounds in battle screens.

They measure 640 × 320 pixels.

Icons (Graphics/Icons)

These files contain icon graphics that are displayed next to skill and item names.

They measure 24 × 24 pixels.

Titles (Graphics/Titles)

These files contain graphics that are displayed on the title screen.

They measure 640 × 480 pixels.

Game Over Graphics (Graphics/Gameovers)

These files contain graphics that are displayed on the Game Over screen.

They measure 640 × 480 pixels.

Windowskins (Graphics/Windowskins)

These files contain graphics used to build windows.

See Windowskins for details.

Pictures (Graphics/Pictures)

These files contain graphics that are displayed during in-game events.

They can be any size.

Transitions (Graphics/Transitions)

These files specify the effects displayed during screen transitions, such as when you encounter an enemy.

They measure 640 x 480 pixels and must be in 256-color grayscale PNG format. The screen is redrawn from the lower palette number on up.

Autotiles

Autotiles

As a general rule, autotiles form the basis for the 12 tile patterns seen here.

A

The representative pattern, displayed in the tile palette and used to show how the other autotiles interact with each other.

B

The parent pattern. If the pattern shown here and an autotile from the same group (i.e., with the same representative pattern) are placed next to one another, they will tile seamlessly.

C

The parent pattern is featured in the four corners of this tile.

D

Tiles with the parent pattern on all four sides, plus a central pattern with no borders at all.

Animated Autotiles

If you need to animate these autotiles, such as for water graphics, simply place the basic blocks as multiple cells in a horizontal row. You can use as many patterns as you like.

If you only need to animate a single tile, you can just line up single 32 x 32 pixel tiles instead of the larger autotile blocks.

Windowskins

Windowskins

These are graphics measuring 192 x 128 pixels, as seen here. They're usually in 32-bit PNG format.

A

The window background. A 128 x 128 pixel pattern is drawn here, filling the window whatever its size. Technically, the window's edges are each two pixels smaller than that, a feature that allows for natural-looking rounded corners. Plus, the translucent backgrounds of some windows means you don't need to make the images themselves translucent.

B

The window frame and scroll arrows. The four corners are drawn at a set size of 16 x 16 pixels, and the remaining frame tiles at a width of 16 pixels to match the window's size. The arrows are used to indicate that scrolling is possible in a given window.

C

The command cursor indicates which item is selected in a given window. The outer two pixels resize both horizontally and vertically, and the rest adjusts horizontally to match the size of the cursor.

D

The pause graphic, used in a message window to show that the player's input is required, is a four-frame animation measuring 16 x 16 pixels.

E

The arrow cursor, used in battles to select actors and enemies, is a two-frame animation measuring 32 x 32 pixels. While it's not actually part of the window, it's included in this file for convenience.

Audio

You have five different file formats at your disposal: MID (in BGM and ME only), OGG, WMA, MP3, and WAV.

BGM (Audio/BGM)

Background music--usually in MID format.

BGS (Audio/BGS)

Background sounds--usually in OGG format.

ME (Audio/ME)

Music effects--usually in MID format.

SE (Audio/SE)

Sound effects--usually in OGG format.

Here are the special features of each file format:

MID MIDI files played via the DirectMusic Synthesizer. If a BGM MIDI file contains the control change value 111, that value is recognized as where the song will start repeating after it reaches the end.
OGG Files containing compressed Ogg Vorbis data, known for its sound quality and compression rate. However, since RPG Maker XP doesn't support OGG streaming, the entire file must be loaded before it can be played, making it unsuitable for longer pieces.
WMA Compressed Windows Media Player sound files, played via DirectShow. Unlike the OGG format, streaming (loading data while playing it in real time) is supported, so it's good for longer-playing songs.
MP3 An extremely popular compressed sound format, played via DirectShow. It has the same special traits as the WMA format.
WAV The standard Windows sound format. RPG Maker XP can process both standard uncompressed WAVs and Microsoft ADPCM files.
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