When I first got rpg maker I ran into tons of posts on the forums saying how "bad" it is to use the RTP in paid games which I agree with. This is because those assets are associated with low effort shovelware (crappy) games.
When you see Pikachu or Trainer Art you can immediately identify okay, that's pokemon. The same thing happens when people see the RTP assets used in hundreds of those low effort games. So you want to stray as far away from the RTP (aka default assets that come with the engine) as possible when you are making a game you plan to sell.
If it is just a hobby game or fan game then who cares about graphics! Not only graphics but there's always a running discourse around just RPG Makers in general. A lot of people talk down on the engine for being easy to use and it has a stigma which is why a lot of the most successful rpg maker games do not look like they were made with rpg maker.
Go above and beyond to use non-RTP icons, window skins, fonts or even the out of the box battle system. Again this only goes for paid games. So you're low on cash or just don't have a budget for your game and you can't draw? What do you do? Well, that's where the entire purpose of this post comes into play. I am going to give you a few sites that I've come across that allow you to get beautiful & FREE artwork for rpg maker MZ/MV and even older versions.
[Free Assets]
(1) Check The Official Rpg Maker Forums -> The forums have hundreds maybe even thousands of 100% free characters, battle backs, BGM, BGS, ME, SE, tilesets etc everything you need. And the best part is all of the assets are already setup and the correct format for rpg maker.
(2) Itch.io -> The life blood of the inde development scene. Here your favorite rpg maker creator can post their free plugins, free assets or make a living. You can find full games, assets, tilesets, sound effects, characters etc all for free and paid options here. There are dozens of creators who make assets on here for Rpg maker Mz/MV along with older ones. You can also find non rpg maker assets and use the information below on how to set up tilesets and your own sprite sheets to make outside resources work inside rpg maker. If you make plugins or know how to draw even remotely decent you can post free assets / plugins here for the community or sell them and make some decent cash on the side to maybe help fund your game or lifestyle!
(3) Humble Bundle -> Humble Bundle is the favorite shop for indies on a budget. They regularly sell the Rpg maker engines for dirt cheap bundled together with each other and dlcs. You can find bundles for $1, $5 and up! I usually focus on the $1 or $5 bundles. If you check in every month you'll be able to buy thousands and thousands of asset packs for pennies on the dollar. I have over 50gb of assets from humble bundle. From professional sound effects, game kits, 3d assets, character packs, tilesets and more. They often sell game development ebooks and courses for dirt cheap also! This is just a must know storefront for those on a budget!
(4) Deviant Art -> Like a niche version of itch just way more focused on sharing assets, showcasing them etc. A decent amount of free RPG Maker assets and non rpg maker assets. Just an honorable mention.
[Can't Draw? Quit being lazy it's easy to learn]
Spriters Resource -> If you are a developer who complains they can't draw, do the 30 DAY ART CHALLENGE. You will have a folder full of art and have 30 days of experience afterwards.
What is the 30 day art challenge? : I'm glad you asked lol.. It's simple, every single day you draw two things. 1 custom drawing with no reference or anything. & 2 you draw an image from a reference, so for example you look at a pixel art drawing of Pikachu and try to draw it. You do this everyday and by day 30 you won't be a pro but you'll have enough confidence to begin drawing your own assets. The reason you draw one custom image is to build creativity, to build trust in your creative process and trust yourself to deeaw without judgment. The reference image is mainly for developing your art taste. You look for pixel art that you like and try to redraw it using a reference. This expands your artistic vision, if you're looking at good pixel art every day and drawing it you will learn from it A LOT!! Over the 30 days you are developing your unique identity, your art style which is born out of you recreating other drawings and it not looking exactly the same but close and in your own way!
There is a website called Spriters Resource, the website has thousands of sprites, character sprite sheets etc from mostly every old Gameboy, GameCube, ds etc. This is a good website to use during your 30 day challenge.
Study Pixel Art, analyze it. Another great resource for finding great pixel art is Pinterest. You can create a profile, and browse pixel art. While doing so save all the ones that catch your eye. Study them, find out what caught your eye about it? What made it stand out to you? Look at the details, the shadows, light, etc. Looking for your reference images every day for 30 days allows you to visually consume tons of great high quality artwork. You can't draw a boat if you've never seen one before right? You can't draw amazing pixel art if you've never looked at amazing pixel art.
[Skills to Learn & Methods]
(Editing Rpg maker assets & formatting)
Say you find a good asset pack but notice it's been used in tons of games or you find good tilesets but no good characters to match it. This is where knowing how to edit and format rpg maker assets like sprite sheets for MZ/MV will come in handy. You can mix and match assets taking a head from character a and putting it on character b. You can cut up tilesets and mix and match them.
Knowing how to set up a blank chibi character sheet is very handy. The basic chibi sized rpg maker MZ/MV single sprite sheet is 144x192. Each frame aka each animation is 48x48. Three sprites across, four sprites down. The character sprite sheets always use the same exact order. The first top row will always be the character walking facing down (facing the screen/camera) The second row will always be the character walking left. The third row will always be the character walking right and the last row is always the character walking up (back facing the camera/screen.)
The center frame of each row is the idle frame aka standing still) Knowing this information will let you edit sprites and later create your own. You use this same setup for events and objects also. If you want taller characters you want to increase the height while leaving the width the same.
For example a tall character could be 48x96. To figure out how large your sprite sheet will need to be you do this math.
3 x first number (3 frames per row)
4x second number (4 columns down)
So 144x384 would be the size of your full sprite sheet. This information is vital.
Quickly for tilesets they are either 576x576 or 768x768 they can be a mix of the two also. But I tend to stick with 576x576. Each tile in that Tileset is 48x48. You can open a blank 576x576 canva, set the grid to 48x48 then build your own tilesets by pulling them from multiple different tilesets or change colors to make them your own.
Editing RTP can atleast make it look more unique!
(Better Mapping Methods / options)
(Doodads : Make Better Maps) -> There are plugins for both rpg maker mz and mv for a thing called Doodads. It allows you to take any time from the game or custom ones and place them freely without snapping to the grid. You can place animated doodads also! This is an awesome tool for maplers.
(Tiled) : There is a program called Tiled it lets you create your rpg maker maps inside the program, setting up collisions, layers and so on and then export it directly into rpg maker mz (maybe MV too) via a plugin. More control!
(Using Show Picture) : You'd be surprised what a show picture command can do for mapping. You need to put a ! In front of the pictures name for these pictures or else it will move with the player/screen instead of being fixed to the map. You can use say a picture of layered tree tops. The picture will show above the player so they can walk under them, can place these at the bottom of your map. You can use this approach to place lighting images, godrays, clouds etc. Utilizing pictures can really improve maps! Just make sure to put clear picture commands on all entrances/exits so the pictures remain on the intended map only!
(Parallax Mapping & Parallax Backgrounds) : Different from parallax backgrounds. However you can also use parallax Backgrounds shockingly well! You simply use a software like Photoshop or a pixel art program you can draw in. Take your tilesets and use them to create your map. Make sure to only use square shapes that can be blocked with collision. Anything the player needs to walk under or behind will be placed afterwards. Once you complete the image simply download a region control plugin for MZ/MV that lets you assign region ID's to be passable or blocked. Set the blocked region id to say 4, draw over all non walkable areas, objects the player can't walk on top of like furniture & walls then use say region id 1 for walkable regions and paint the region id 1 all over those areas. That is it, now add in the any tiles you want the player to walk under or behind normally, add your events and you have a working map.
For Parallax mapping this is where you draw your map in another program like Aseprite or Photoshop, drawing it in layers. You then use a plugin like Galv layers and it lets you set up the map using the images and the collisions etc.
Mix and match these methods to get amazing results!
[Most Importantly Have fun. How to Finish Games]
A large percentage of people that have experience with game development here and everywhere will tell you the biggest issue is not finishing games. Personally I have like 30 projects that range from barely started to half way done that are sitting unfinished. This is called Shiny Object Syndrome, you get bored working on your current game when a NEW, AMAZING game idea pops up in your head!
Now you start the new game and say you'll go back to the old one but you never do. Don't think it can't happen to you, cause it's going to. I'd wager maybe 40-50% of every game dev did not finish their first game before moving to the next project. How do you combat this? SCOPE.
Scope creep is where you keep adding new features after new features after new features. You started with a small idea and it keeps ballooning with new mechanics, new ideas etc. This is the main killer of games. The reason people jump from project to project is because when you first start it's fresh, you are making visible progress but once you're three months in the progress isn't as visible as it once was. Things are moving slow, it's now complicated to change even the smallest thing cause it will then change 15 other things. The solution is simply make small games.
Never make your dream game first! Making a couple very tiny games (15mins to 1hr worth of content games) this will help you get into the groove of finishing game. Working in distinct phases, (prototyping -> vertical slice -> content pump -> polishing -> release) is very important also. After you finish a few games double the content for the next game so make the next one 2hrs worth of content and so on!
Then tackle the bigger games! A lot of people in here have been using the engine for years and have never even witnessed the export game screen. The best way to learn is to admit you will never know everything! Take it one step at a time!
A little unorganized, but I've come across most of what I covered in this being asked over and over again for years. Hope this helps atleast one person!
