Ultimate Guide to Import/Upload Characters - [Intermediate]RPG Maker MZ MV

A short but in-depth guide on how to import characters for those who are just learning RPG Maker!
Rule of thumb:
Each type is 48x48 pixels, 3 tiles across & 4 tiles down.
Use '$' for single character sheets
Use '!' for objects
0:00 Intro and important to note
2:00 Asset standards and prefix rules
4:34 Easiest way to create character sheets
6:20 Import custom characters into RPG Maker
8:08 Prefix and size differences
12:05 Outro
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[@Estellars]

I have a hard time understanding stuff like this, and I'd like to say that this was actually extremely helpful! Thank you so much!

[@TheOdie]

[@NicoleHam]

This is actually the tutorial I've been looking for. A lot of tutorials/explanations of the Galv character graphics plugins / similar dont mention the actual way that RPG MV/MZ uses character sheets. Its been extremely difficult to find an explanation this thorough that goes into the tile size, how to get around that, and more. Thank you so so so so much.

[@suhakairi]

thank you so much for made a video by my request, it helps me a lot. hope you have a nice day and stay healthy

[@TheOdie]

You as well ^.^

[@thuongle-kz4fv]

Thank you, your tutorials saved me

[@matthewmatthew8780]

informative and helpful, thank you!

[@kisaragi6307]

Thanks for the awesome Tutorial.

[@RedcodeSg]

This is very useful thank you!!!

[@nyx8642]

THANK YOU FOR THISSSSSSSS

[@PollisonCartoons]

Video helped alot thx!

[@lorismrg]

Thank you so much

[@c.n.7769]

This is such a useful update on this old application tysm!

[@vynovels6425]

Thanks

[@manananaka]

Hello! Thank you for your tutorials, they are very helpful. I have a question - whenever I try to change sprites of the basic main character at the start of the new project to my custom sprites, everything is going ok till I try to test the game. Then it tells me "Cannot read property 'expParams' of null". Even when I change everything back as it was, it still says the same. What might be the issue?

[@TheOdie]

Expparams gives us a hint that it deals with the experience points. Did you install a plugin or make any changes that somehow involves a character's exp? The easiest but longest way to test is to turn off all of your plugins and test play. If that works then turn each plugin on one at a time until it crashes. Then you'll know which is causing it

[@manananaka]

@@TheOdie thank you for answering! but it's all so strange tbh, I've literally just installed RPG maker MZ, I had no plugins, all I did is replacing a default chara's sprite to my custom one, I didn't touch any settings, it was all for the sake of testing my sprite. and it gives me this expparams mistake. then I left only two charas in a team, cleared both charas (like name and all default sprites), used my custom sprite and then moved my sprite on a map on a different tile, and after that it worked. like, literally only after moving the sprite to a different place. I have no idea what had happened...

[@TheOdie]

@@manananaka hmm what a weird thing lol. Well it sounds like everything is all good now. We'll just brush that up to an odd bug 🤔 Happy developing!

[@manananaka]

@@TheOdie thank you very much! I'm binging your tutorials rn, I like them the most, thank you for your hard work!♥

[@Notsuba]

Hi ! Super video thanks a lot for sharing tis guide !! But I still have a question ^^ I would like to create a village of giant (think it's a pretty cool idea and a bit original for an rpg maker game lol) so with your last technique, if you recreated the stickguy's size by 2, would it work ? My English isn't perfect so sorry in advance if the answer is clear that you can or not agfter watching your video ^^' maybe I didn't get everything perfectly :,D Anyway, thanks again for your answer and keep up the great content !

[@TheOdie]

Hey! Technically yes. I find it easier to work in multiples of 48x48 grids just because it's native to the engine's tile sizes, but you can of course work in 50x50 or however you like

[@Notsuba]

@@TheOdie thanks for your quick answer ! I tried it and it works :3

[@anthonym840]

I'm having issues. I have used Gimp to try to test out some basic templates. I use PVGames assets. And it still dosen't seem to visually read the images properly. This is my first time making an RPG. Do I have to use specific plugins? As of right now I don't have any of the basic plugins on the list. Is that possibly why? Or is it something else?

[@TheOdie]

as long as you're using ! and/or $ and placing them in their 3x4 grids, it should work out fine. You'd need a plugin to support any diagonal movement though

[@TheRayan_]

Hi, thanks for your tuto but at 5:55 How did you put a tranparent background ?

[@TheOdie]

Make sure you're adding a new layer. Then right click and see if the add alpha channel is available. If so, select that option. If it's grayed out, then that means it's already on for that layer. Click the eye icon for background so that it becomes invisible. You should be all set then

[@TheRayan_]

@@TheOdie It working ! thanks. Can I ask you another question ? What I am suppose to change for make a sprite with a bigger size ? Cause there are a lot of sprites who don't have 48x48 for exemple the "$Bigmonster" sprite

[@TheOdie]

The important thing is that it remains in a 3x4 grid. I explain the larger characters at 8:08

[@TheRayan_]

@@TheOdie K'ay, thanks a lot ! 🙏

[@adrienvv]

How do i make characters lower than 48x48, or even have the entire tile size lower, I would like everything to be in 32x32 or 16x16, how do I change that?

[@TheOdie]

Unfortunately, 48x48 is baked into rmmz. As far as I know, this isn't possible. Alternatively, you can use plugins, or manually, to scale to 48x48

[@SLEEPERER]

Hi do you have video the guide for tileset A B C D E?

[@TheOdie]

Not directly, but have mentioned them a bit in my mz horror tutorial basics 01, not counting autotiles

[@WASDCVBN]

this didn't work, the game is asking for half of my sprite instead of the full one (I'm using MV)

[@caccacUC4457gghxcjxn]

Hi, how can i change sprite of the main character?

[@TheOdie]

That one will be in your database under actors

[@caccacUC4457gghxcjxn]

@@TheOdie Thanks

[@LORDSofCHAOS333]

Hey hey 👋

[@TheOdie]

👋👋

[@LandersWorkshop]

Can you import your own game maps etc?

[@TheOdie]

Yup! There are two ways to create custom maps, import tilesets or parallax mapping. Both of which require steps more than can be explained in text, but there are plenty of great videos that exist for those

[@LandersWorkshop]

@@TheOdie Hey Odie dude. Thanks for the speedy reply! :D I want to make an RPG Mad Max type game using this software. Is that feasible?

[@TheOdie]

@@LandersWorkshop Generally speaking: no, but professionally speaking: somewhat. Open world map, would require map/chunks rendering via code). Otherwise, moving from one map setting to the next would be the engine's preferred system. Action battle system would require a plugin (many commercially available and simple to learn). Any types of crafting/ability levelling would require coding a menu system (or common event commands if you're really good). As a beginning, I would strongly suggest creating simple and short games. Then begin challenging yourself to different mechanics one step at a time

[@LandersWorkshop]

@@TheOdie The reason I say that is if I have to rely on the maps and graphics shown in RPG maker the stuff looks too much like a cartoon or childrens story. I need more grit and grown-up graphics alas.

[@TheOdie]

Ah okay! So the current and past versions of RPG Maker are designed using pixel art and is best used with that in mind. RPG Maker Unite (coming soon), on the other hand, is a collab with Unity and can use rendered graphics. You might want to wait for that or switch to Unity/ Unreal/etc. if that's what you're looking for graphically

[@Asherons]

Why can I not do this right D:

[@konosombrada7861]

How do I go about making a character from scratch too import?

[@TheOdie]

In the latter half of this video, I create a stick figure in GIMP and export him into RPG Maker. You can use that to help you. If you're learning to create pixel art as a newbie, I'd suggest following pixel artists on KZbin that can give you tips, tricks, and more. I enjoy a lot of MortMort and PixelPete to name the few

[@FiggsNeughton]

Looking through the game files, why do some spritesheets have the exclamation point, but others do not? What's the difference? What does it actually do?

[@McFartussyMan]

watch the video, it is explained several times