Notes on the Indie Retro RPG Portable Collection (Part 3):
Here is a collection of 47 retro console-style PC RPGs produced by independent game creators. They are all portable and playable under Windows XP or WinXP compatibility. Playability under other versions of Windows or other operating systems is not guaranteed, although all of these games were tested in a Virtualbox in Ubuntu. Simply unzip the game to the desired location, and run the executable, to play. Most of the games support a game pad type of controller as well as a keyboard.
Note that you must have the correct fonts installed in your system for the text in the game to display properly. If you do not have the fonts, instructions are given below on how to install them.
All of the games in Part 3 were created (by their authors) using RPG Maker, in one of its many versions, 2000, 2003, XP, VX, or VX Ace.
Most of the games in Part 3 are commercial games, and the full versions are presented here. You can find most of these games at sites such as aveyond.com or aldorlea.org, and in some cases on Steam, and they are available for a reasonable price. A few of the games are freeware, and can be downloaded from the author's site, or rpgmaker.net, or elsewhere for free.
As this collection was compiled some time ago, and no effort has been made to find updates for the games, undoubtedly some of the games here are old versions of games that have been updated.
The complete list of games follows these brief notes.
Notes about the fonts:
Many of the games, especially the RPG-Maker 2000 and 2003 (RM2k/RM2k3) games, use a certain font in the game that needs to be installed in the C:\Windows\Font directory. Those fonts are located in a directory named '[Fonts]' that should be included in the main directory containing these games. There are two zip files, RM2K3_FONTS.zip and UMEPLUS_FONTS.zip which contain all of the necessary fonts.
The reason for separating the fonts from the games is to save space; repeating the same fonts over and over in the same collection takes up unnecessary bytes of information, especially since three of the font files are bigger than some of the games themselves. Simply cutting and pasting the fonts into the directory may not work immediately (without a reboot); but Windows XP provides a convenient Font installer if you navigate to the Fonts directory.
The RMVX font (umeplus-gothic.ttf) is not apparently needed in most of the games that it comes with, although the games may default to an inferior font if it is not included - in that case, umeplus-gothic.ttf should be put in the Fonts subdirectory of the game itself, not in the Windows Fonts directory.
RMVXA games contain all of the fonts needed in the game directory, and no fonts have been removed from them to save space.
Games created in RMXP, on the other hand, don't usually require a special font. If they come with a font in the game directory, usually there are instructions to install it.
Some games (for example, A Home Far Away) have different fonts included with the game that are noted in the game's documentation.
For every game where the fonts were removed to save space, the game has a file named 'install these fonts' or 'install this font' in a '_Fonts' or 'Fonts' subfolder naming which fonts that they need.
Notes on the games:
Most of the games included in Part 3 belong to a series (or a pair) of games, such as Last Heroes, Vagrant Hearts, Sweet Lily Dreams, or Legionwood. Other games are also included that are produced by the same authors or designers, Warfare Studios, Dark Gaia Studios, Oliveair, and Rose Portal Games.
Those games are mostly commercial games and you are encouraged to look them up at their authors' web sites, which may also be portals to other retro-style RPGs. Independent game designers deserve your support!
Also included in Part 3 are several non-commercial freeware games. Most of these games can be found at rpgmaker.net and though some of them are older, they may still be supported by their authors and continue to be developed.
Some of the games in this collection are referenced in a list of "Top RM Games of All Time" on rpgmaker.net:
rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/14780/?p=1
For more games from that list, see previous and further parts of this collection.
All games have the RTP included. There were some games that did not have the RTP included in the state they were found on the net, and so the RTP had to be added to them. This was done by loading the game into the respective editor with which it was created, then re-saving the game, this time with the RTP. Wherever the RTP was added, the directory of the game says 'Plus RTP' and includes the name of the RTP that was used (in parentheses).
All of the games note which version of RPG Maker they were created with, in the name of their 7z file.
The directory containing each game notes the year of release of the game and the game designer or producer. Usually, the year is for the original version of the game, which is probably the version included here. Some games have an updated version, and the date of that version is used.
Some of the games have save files included. You can use the save files to skip the game intro, if you like, to test the game quickly. Usually the saves are not particularly far along in the game.
If you find an update for any of these games, feel free to mention them in the comments.
This is the full list of games in Part 3:
A Home Far Away (RM2k3) A Princess' Tale (RMVX) Ashes of Immortality (RMVX) Ashes of Immortality 2 - Bad Blood (RMVX) Dark Souls - Kara's Quest (RMXP) Dark Souls I v1.1 (RMXP) Dark Souls II (RMXP) Dead and Forgotten (RMVXA) Epic Quest of the 4 Crystals (RMXP) Eternal Sunrise v1.42 (RMXP) Eternal Twilight v2.3a (RMVX) Freedom Cry Gold Edition (RMXP) (DemoCrk) Hearts of Chaos (RMVX) Infernal Veil I v1.6 (RMVX) Infernal Veil II v1.52 (RMVX) Jade's Journey (RMXP) Jade's Journey 2 (RMXP) Last Heroes (RMVX) Last Heroes 2 (RMVX) Last Heroes 3 (RMVX) Last Heroes 4 (RMVX) Legend of the Philosopher's Stone Plus RTP (RM2k3) Legionwood 2 v1.2 (RMVXA) Legionwood - Tale of the Two Swords Deluxe v1.2 (RMVX) Lucid Awakening v1.2 (RMXP) Mythos - The Beginning v1.6 (RMVXA) One Night (RMVX) One Night 2 (RMVX) One Night Full Circle (RMVX) Opaline - 2 Fates 1 Love (RMVX) Sacred Soul v1.8 (RMXP) Shining Plume 1 (RMVX) Shining Plume 2 (RMVX) Subterra (RMVX) Sweet Lily Dreams Part I (RMXP) Sweet Lily Dreams Part II (RMXP) The Princess Heart (RMVXA) Unseen World - Magical Lense (RMVX) Vagrant Hearts (RMXP) Vagrant Hearts 2 (RMXP) Vagrant Hearts Zero (RMVX) Valiant - Resurrection (Test Build) (Crack) (RMXP) Vengeance Road (RMVX) Virtue - Espiritus v1.7 (RMVX) Whisper of a Rose - Gold (RMXP) Wind Child Black (RMXP) Wine & Roses Plus RTP (RMVXA)
