Dev Log 8 - rpg maker

I've started work on getting the opening of the game working in RPG maker XP. I have vx ace at home, but XP was 5 dollars and I can use it at work and home, so much more ideal. 

So far I haven't gotten to any of the programming, but I'm using Pokemon Essentials to basically get the game off the ground for now, and will go back and redo anything that I need specifically. I just mostly wanted some not butt ugly tilesets to use--that's also part of why I went with XP over a different version, since that's what Essentials needs to work.

Most of what I've done has been building the first few maps. They're all rough, and I can tell I'm going to need to make my own tilesets, but for right now they work and they're letting me figure out more of how this dumb program works. The guide is horribly sparse. 

Here's some stuff I've learned:

• essentials name has to be "Pokemon Essentials" or RPG maker thinks there's a path error with the game file. 
• layers are neato
• i really want a sideways bed tile thing
• importing has to happen both in the database and the material base
• essentials external editor is actually in the debug menu now instead
• map lineups for outdoor areas happens in the debug map editor thing
• outdoor areas for now should be about 31x24
• indoors should use default 20 x 15 for now

It's nice to feel like I'm finally making progress again! The Twine outline I did has been invaluable with getting the maps set up for now; I just hope I'll be able to do the other stuff I want. At some point I'm going to need to look at the scripting for some of the game systems....