Recently, I stumbled upon a piece of game development news that surprised me. It is something, based on a variety of factors, I thought would never happen… but at the same time, never really thought about much to begin with. The news? RPG Maker 2003 was officially translated into English.

“Who cares about a 12 year old piece of point and click software being sold for $20?” one might ask. I can understand that, because it totally makes sense. But I also purchased this 12 year old piece of point and click software without any hesitation. Interestingly, I have no intention whatsoever of using my copy of RPG Maker 2003 (rm2k3). This was a purely symbolic gesture, showing my appreciation towards a company who made the effort to bring an entire group of RPG Maker users’ experiences full circle. Okay, but what does this archaic development tool have to do with indie gaming goodness? Sit down, kids. Grandpa Josh is going to tell you all a story.

In the early 2000s, there was a thriving development scene based around these RPG Maker editors. Unlike more popular and well-known successors such as RPG Maker XP/VX/Ace, these older RPG Maker editors were never (prior to this 2k3 translation) officially translated or commercially available outside of Japan. Thus, they were controversially translated and available for a free download in these communities, which led to their immense popularity. Due to the questionable legality of this situation, many larger sites refused to provide these translated downloads. When RM2K3 was officially announced in late 2002, there was a large petition for Enterbrain to officially translate and release this unique piece of software to the western world. Their pleas were ignored. At the time at least.

But we at Something Classic were kids who didn’t know any better when it came down to it. When I discovered RPG Maker 2000 (the immediate predecessor to 2k3), it changed my life forever.  The RPG Maker series made game development friendly: all of the harsh realities of programming are hidden, and what remains is a very intuitive user interface. You could create scenes with ease, edit your heroes, and watch your imagination spring to life surprisingly fast. This low barrier of entry let me create playable games within a matter of months of learning the program. I was so enthralled by this program that I began joining communities, finding out new tips + tricks, game assets, and downloading other peoples’ creations. Many others were bit by the game creation bug in a similar way.

It was during this time period that several of the Something Classic team members bumped into each other frequently. We all came from different backgrounds, but began collaborating on projects. We learned the importance of teamwork, debating over ideas, and how to get things done effectively. Everything was amateurish by today’s standards, but incredibly fun. The simplicity of the RPG Maker series made it incredibly easy to get ideas off the ground.

And some of those ideas clicked. Luke achieved popularity with The Way, which maintains a rabid cult following to this day. Tyler created a then-popular minigame called Easy Mac. A good deal of material and scenarios for Shadows of Adam was recycled (and vastly improved) from an older RPG Maker demo called Last Legend. It was fun sharing our creations with the world, no matter the response. It helped us build experience.

In retrospect, however, most of the projects I worked on were most likely awful! There are only a handful of early RPG Maker games that would even hold up to an objective analysis today. Despite that, many found the editor to be a springboard for bigger and better things. Some were frustrated by its constraints and began to learn formal programming, beginning a lifelong journey. Others found out that music was more their thing and honed their composition skills. Some artistically inclined people were able to breathe life into their artwork and ideas by using RPG Maker’s simple interface; their RPG Maker demo was able to court actual programmers for their project. And some simply were content with the editor, pushed it to its limits, and produced admirable efforts that were enjoyed by many in the community.

So here we are, over a decade later. Even if I never plan on using an RPG Maker entry again, I’m happy that the community which fostered a game development passion for so many people is being formally treated with the respect it deserves. 12 years is a very long time on the internet. Many communities have come and gone. Many people moved on, grew out of game development, or simply become too busy. But to still be here in the thick of project development all this time later and read that announcement… it was a humbling reminder just how far I’ve come since those days. Hopefully my work on Shadows of Adam can reflect that growth.