RPG Developer Bakin News

Hello everyone!

Thank you for your patience!
We have decided to launch Early Access for RPG Developer Bakin on October 3, 2022 (PDT)!

Along with the announcement of the release date, we will also be releasing the following two pieces of information!

Early purchase discounts and discounts for "SMILE GAME BUILDER" users
A 10% discount will be offered as an early purchase benefit to those who purchase within 7 days of the Early Access launch. During this period, owners of "SMILE GAME BUILDER," the previous title in the "RPG Developer Bakin", will also receive a 10% discount off from the early purchase price (equivalent to 19% off the original price). This discount for "SMILE GAME BUILDER" users will continue after the early purchase discount ends.

You can export the assets included in SMILE GAME BUILDER and its DLC and import them into RPG Developer Bakin for your use.

Three assets DLCs that expand the possibilities of game creation are available for sale at the same time as the Early Access launch
The following three DLCs and a bundle of these three DLCs with "RPG Developer Bakin" will be available at the same time as the Early Access launch.

-- Western Pack --
This is a pack of building parts and interior decorations that can create the world of the Western world. A set of six gun models and a locomotive will also be included.
There are 283 models and parts for exterior, interior, plants, etc., and variations for some models (171 variations total). It comes with 16 prefabs that combine parts and eight sample maps that place them together.



-- Ancient Pack --
This pack includes building parts, interior decorations, and plants that can create mysterious spaces with ancient-style architecture, such as a masonry temple or a mysterious altar. There are 118 models and parts for exterior, interior, plants, etc., and variations for some models (18 variations total). Six sample maps using these data are also included.



-- Modern City Pack --
This pack contains a total of 117 models, including structures such as buildings and stores that can reproduce modern cityscapes and lifestyles, parts to reproduce district scenery such as cars and vending machines, and interior models such as home appliances and sofas. Seven sample maps are included.
(The Modern City Pack is a set of models and sample maps created to improve the roughness and quality of surfaces by adding normal and mask maps to the [Modern City Pack] sold as DLC in SMILE GAME BUILDER.)



That's all for today's news.

We could not have reached this announcement without your enthusiastic support!

Although it is nearing release, Bakin is still a tool with room for improvement.

We look forward to continuing to work with you to evolve the tool.
Thank you for your continued support until and after its release!

Hello everyone!

Summer is nearing its end in Japan, but the days are still hot. How is it in your area?

Now, we would like to introduce RPG Developer Bakin's features [Layout Tool] and [Subgraphics].

[h3][Layout Tool] feature that allows you to change the assets and layout of the screens that appear in the game.[/h3]

This feature lets you change the graphic assets and layout of "screens that appear throughout the game," including the title screen and game over screen, as well as the main menu and screens during battles. By using the [Layout Tool], you can, for example, completely change the result screen of battles to match the style and atmosphere of the game you are creating.








You can also create multiple layouts and switch between them for use in the event panel. For instance, several conversation window layouts can be registered, and a special window can be displayed only when talking to a particular character.


[Layout tool] is a tool that can change the style of your game if you know how to use it. However, it is a feature that is closely intertwined with the game system and is frankly complex to use at this point. For example, to set a single HP gauge, there is a wide range of settings to be made, such as the size and position, as well as the minimum, maximum, and initial values, which cast's HP is referenced, the color of the gauge and when the HP changes the color according to the reduction of HP...and so on. The challenge is to make these things as easy to understand as possible with better visual expressions and UI. We will continue our efforts.

We also believe that there is a lot of room for further development in terms of functionality. We'd appreciate your input to help us make it even better, so please do let us know what you think!

[h3][Subgraphics] feature to create new stamps by combining parts[/h3]

This feature can combine models, models and particles into a single "stamp" (an object can be placed on maps).

For example, you can create several patterns of castles by combining parts of the castle walls, spires, flags..., or you can make a small house or a large mansion by combining house foundations, roofs, windows, doors, balconies, etc.　　You can make a simmering pot by combining a pot with a smoke particle.

Below are examples of houses.



You can also combine other models with moving objects, such as attaching a sword to a character or making smoke come out of a locomotive...
[Subgraphics] is a useful feature that allows you to create various patterns by combining assets such as 2D/3D/particles.
However, making a grand building with a single brick has the adverse effect of increasing the number of polygons used for the "parts that cannot be seen from the surroundings" where the bricks are connected together. In this case, it may be better to create a single building model. As for how much to separate the parts by, it depends on what you are making, so try it out.

This is the end of this information.

See you then!

Hello!

We recently introduced you to RPG Developer Bakin's 3D asset specification, and now we'd like to talk about 2D assets. Textures applied to 3D models and images used to create terrain stamps are also 2D assets, but this time we will introduce 2D data specification used for characters to be moved around on maps and for standing pictures of characters used in conversational events.

[h3]-- Images --[/h3]
The following are the specifications of the original images from which all 2D data is created.

• - File Format: PNG, BMP, JPG (will be converted to PNG)
  
• - Image Size Limit: None (GPU dependent)
  

[Images] can specify how to slice the image. It is possible to create a single picture without slicing for use in the title screen, etc., or to combine multiple icon pictures into a single image, which can then be sliced into pieces of a specified size for use.

[h3]-- Slice Animation --[/h3]
Bakin calls it "slice animation," in which images of the same size are switched at the same time, like the pixelated characters in Bakin's promotional video. (You can imagine it as a flip book.) If you have used game creation tools like Bakin, you may be able to imagine this format to some extent.

• - There is no limit on image size per pattern.
  
• - There is no limit to the number of slices per motion.
  
• - Direction is 1/4/8 direction.
  
• - “Slice Animation" is a set of rules that allows the appropriate animation to be played back at the appropriate moment in the game, such as "walk" for pictures used when walking, "run" for pictures used when running, and so on. Please refer to the manual after the release of Bakin for more information on motion types.
  
• - Multiple motions can be specified for attacks and skill launches. For example, each weapon can have a different motion.
  

Characters in the promotional video are drawn in four directions, and a walk in one direction is represented by six pictures.

[h3]-- Sprites --[/h3]
In Bakin, combining images of indefinite size and adding movement to these images in chronological order is called "sprites". Sprites can be used in a variety of creative ways, such as standing pictures of characters in conversation events, screen switching effects, and animated cursors in menus. If you create according to the appropriate guidelines, you can even make them do lip-synching and blinking.


The standing picture of the character, the yellow background color, etc., are created using [sprites], and are rendered by calling the [sprite] from the event.

Sprites can be created with the simple "Sprite Tool" included with Bakin. We would like to explain [Sprite Tool] at another time.

This is the end of the explanation of 2D asset specification.

Just as 2D characters are displayed on the map, Bakin also allows 2D assets to be placed on the map as billboards (2D assets attached to board-like polygons). With Bakin, you can also specify how the billboards face the camera, allowing for effects such as moving flat characters and using flat backgrounds.



As shown in the promotional video, one of the features of "Bakin" is its ability to easily achieve a combined 2D and 3D rendering and add screen effects to it. We hope you will use it as a reference for creating your own assets!

(We forgot to mention last time that the motion naming mechanism described in the Slice Animation section is the same specification for 3D characters.)

Hello!

It has been very hot in Japan.
How is it in your area?

We have received many inquiries from you about the 3D asset specifications of RPG Developer Bakin (hereafter referred to as "Bakin").

The objects on maps, including houses and other buildings, furniture, outdoor plants and flowers, and even characters, are represented by three files: models, textures, and motion.

[h3]1. Model (required)[/h3]

• File Format: FBX7.4.0 (FBX2014) format model data (*.fbx) created with Blender 2.83 or later
  
• The version is FBX7.4.0 (FBX2014) only. Other versions are not supported at this time.
  
• There is no limit to the number of polygons.
  
• The polygonal mesh must be triangulated. The display will not be correct if they are not triangular polygons. Perform triangulating polygons in advance or specify the optimization option when adding models to Bakin. (If the optimization option is enabled, automatic triangular polygonization is performed.)
  
• For the scale, the size of one grid on Bakin = 1/100 of Blender's standard grid size due to specifications, so please export models with a scale of "0.01".
  
• Multiple material settings are possible for a single model.
  

[h3]2. Texture (required)[/h3]

• File Format: BMP or PNG
  
• The recommended pixel size for textures is a value called a power of 2, such as 64 x 64, 128 x 128, 256 x 256, or 512 x 512. 256 x 128, etc. can also be used. Specifying a texture with a size other than a power of 2 may cause problems with the display.
  
• The file name of the texture should be the same as the one specified in the model's FBX. If the names are the same, the textures are automatically specified when the model is imported, but if they are different, you must specify the textures yourself.
  
• The file names should be specified in half-width alphanumeric characters.
  
• Alpha channel can be specified in BMP to create transparency. PNGs can also be rendered transparently by specifying transparent areas.
  
• Bakin uses PBR (Physical Based Rendering) to achieve more realistic textures. When using PBR rendering, it is recommended that three textures be specified for each model, depending on the application.
  

Albedo Map Texture: Texture that specifies the color of the model
Normal Map Texture: Texture that specifies the surface roughness of the model
Mask Map Texture: Texture that specifies R (luminance), G (roughness), B (metal), and A (specular intensity) for each RGBA channel, respectively

Although an albedo map alone is sufficient for a texture, it can be specified by setting a normal map and a mask map to create a more realistic texture rendering.



Even without a mask map, the specifications controlled by the mask map can be adjusted to some extent by manipulating [Material Properties] in Bakin.

We'll have more on how to create textures in another post!

[h3]3. Motion Files (.fbx)[/h3]
If there are motions, prepare the motion data. There are two ways of handling motion data: one is to specify the motion data as it is in the model file, and the other is to use separate files for the model and the motions. (If separate, the supported version of the motion files FBX are the same specifications as the model files.)

[If a Model and Motions are in the Same File]

• File Format: FBX format.
  
• The working unit of motion is 60 fps.
  
• The number of bones that can be used is the minimum of 341 and the maximum of 1365 for a single model, according to OpenGL specifications. （The number of bones is dependent on the performance of the driver.)
  
• If each motion is a separate action in Blender, they will be imported as separate motions.
  
• Specify the start and end frames and export the FBX file with the baking process specified.
  
• The default setting for motion is no loop regeneration. If you wish to loop the animation, turn on the "Loop" specification for the motion in the motion properties.
  

[If a Model and Motions are Separate Files]

• File Format: FBX format.
  
• The working unit of motion is 60 fps.
  
• The number of bones that can be used is the minimum of 341 and the maximum of 1365 for a single model, according to OpenGL specifications. （The number of bones is dependent on the performance of the driver.)
  
• If there are multiple motions (actions) in one motion file, they are loaded as separate motions.
  
• Delete the polygon mesh in the motion files.
  
• If there is a skeleton, the structure and name should be the same as the skeleton in the model file.
  
• The default setting for motion is no loop regeneration. If you want to loop the animation, turn on the "Loop" specification on Bakin.
  

That is all we can share with you at this time.

The specifications are still under development and may be subject to change, but please assume that the Early Access will start with most of these specifications. (It is possible that something will be added as additional features in the future.)

We’re very grateful and we have also received comments from creators that they would like to get to work on assets right away for the release of Bakin. We hope you find this article useful!

Hello everyone!

We've made a video of how a room is mapped out with RPG Developer Bakin and published it on our official Youtube channel! Terrains can be raised to create walls, and furniture can be placed at any scale or angle. Tweak the screen effects to change the mood of the room, specify the light source, and so on. The video is about 10 minutes long.

We also briefly introduce how to make [Terrain Stamps] that form the terrain.

Please take a look!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]