Heya,

There are few a links on this site you should definately check out and one, (man I feel like I'm always shamelessly plugging myself :P) off-site that's worth a look.

On the left are some 'Vital Links'. You should definately check out all of them.

Also visit my Beginner's Guide to V3 tutorial which you can view online at http://rysen.actionsketch.com/VergeTutorial Or you can view it offline by downloading the 'Current Sully' (again the link is on the left).

Go to the files section and download games/demo's to see some examples made using verge3. And feel free to ask away as we're always happy to help, though we do suggest you read through the FAQ to see if your question has all ready been answered.

I hope this helps and good luck! :)

Well if you wanted to import spells, you probably could make a spell file of some sort, that has all the things about your spells in it. In order to have it work though, you got to figure out how to do file reading in VERGE, which I admit, isn't an easy task for a beginner.

Maybe I (or someone else who's willing?) can write up a tutorial on how to use file functions for those new to programming.

RPG Maker is designed specifically to just do a few types of RPG. VERGE is a lot more flexible but this conversely means it's a lot harder to learn: you'll mostly be writing code to make things work, there's no unified interface to do everything from and you'll need to learn a little of the scripting language to get going.

On the up side, games made with VERGE tend to be much smaller to distribute than RPG Maker ones, you're not just restricted to RPGs, you get one heck of a lot more power to do what you want (code your own textboxes, special effects, battle systems, menus etc) and the community is (generally) warm, friendly and helpful.

start with V1, print out the docs and have at it. Verge1 is easier to use then V2 or V3, the code is simple to get used to, maped it very basic.

V2 and especially V3 and much much more powerful, but lost some of the simplicity V1 had for noobs.

Here's a synopses of a basic game creation process with V1:

idea(duh)
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tilework(grass, clouds, etc...)
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creation of your chr(sprite) file in ACE(chr editor, very easy to use)
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creation of your map in maped
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creation of your plain text .vc file(you can use notepad or edit or whatever)
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associate your event zones in maped(this binds your vc code to certain tiles or events on the map)
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compile using VCC
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create your chr stats
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enjoy your game:)



it's more steps and a bit more elaborate then RPG Maker, however the flexibility it awards you is golden, and it's also a very education experience in basic game design and creation(it's like a very toned down process of the real thing).

I didn't have any programming or graphics experience at all when I first tried VERGE and within a week I made a little basic maze game with fancy music(stolen, I can't compose worth crap^^) and chars and stuff(my friend also created a few sprites for the occasion). And I was just doing it here and there.

basic point is, VERGE is fun:) Then you can burn your game to a CD and give it to all your friends and woman will love you.....well actually no, they won't...actually, they'll probably make fun and belittle you while they date the star of the school's athletic alumni.....leave nasty letters on your desk.........attempt to sacrifice you to her wiccan gods....well you get the point anyways:P