JRGSS

JRGSS is an open source, alternative implementation of RGSS, the game engine that underlies all games developed with RPG Maker VX Ace.

The majority of RGSS is implemented in Ruby, a high level programming language that can run on virtually any operating system. However, in order to provide low-level graphics and audio functionality, parts of RGSS are implemented in C code tailored to interact with the Win32 API. Because this portion of the codebase is written specifically for Windows, it causes the entire game engine to be limited to a single platform.

JRGSS replaces this underlying layer of C with a Java foundation, allowing games to be run on any platform which supports version 8 or higher of the Java Virtual Machine. At the time of this writing, this includes:


 * Windows Vista and newer
 * Mac OS X 10.8.3+, 10.9+
 * Flavors of Linux running a modern kernel version

This substitute foundation is a drop-in replacement for RGSS. JRGSS executes all of the Ruby scripts that comprise the rest of the game engine via JRuby, a Java implementation of the Ruby runtime. JRGSS also exposes the same APIs as the C implementation; while all of these functions use the original, win32-flavored names, each is implemented in a cross-platform manner. This allows the existing ecosystem of RGSS scripts written by volunteers and enthusiasts to run without modification on Mac OS X and Linux.

Additionally, JRGSS also takes advantage of 3D acceleration where possible, outsourcing intensive graphics work to the computer's GPU. This results in more complex game scenes (such as Vidar's bustling town center) being rendered at a smooth 60 frames per second -- a dramatic improvement over the choppy rendering of standard RGSS.

The complete source code is available for review and modification on its Github page. Contributions are welcome.