First, you will be taught the function of all of the tools you see on your tool bar at the top of the screen. A diagram will be used to also help illustrate what is being said.

  1. This is the New Game button. It can be recognized as a piece of folded paper. By clicking this (while a current game is closed), you can start creating a new game. When you click it, a new window will pop up, asking you for the title you want for your game folder, the title you want for your game, and where you would like to place it.
  2. This is the Open an Existing Game button. It shows a small box, and a piece of paper pointed at by an arrow. When you click this, you will be able to open any existing game you have saved on your hard drive.
  3. This is the Close Game button. It's designated with a piece of paper, and an arrow pointing to a small sun-like graphic. This will allow you to close your current project.
  4. This is the Create a Game Disk button. This will allow you to save your game on a CD-ROM, a Floppy Disk, or any other disk you would like to save it on. When you open it, you will be able to play it immediately.
  5. This is the Save Game button. It's designated with a folder, and an arrow pointing to a small box. This will allow you to save your current project.
  6. This is the Revert Map button. It will allow you to revert your map back to the state it was in since you saved it last. It is useful when you make large changes that you end up not liking.
  7. This is the Lower Tile Layer button. By clicking it, you will be able to edit the lower tile layer on whatever map you are currently on.
  8. This is the Upper Tile Layer button. By clicking it, you will be able to edit the upper tile layer on whatever map you are currently on.
  9. This is the Event Layer button. By clicking it, you will be able to edit the event layer on whatever map you are currently on.
  10. This is the One-to-One scale button. This will allow you to see your map at a 1/1 scale.
  11. This is the One-to-Two scale button. This will allow you to see your map at a 1/2 scale.
  12. This is the One-to-Four scale button. This will allow you to see your map at a 1/4 scale.
  13. This is the One-to-Eight scale button. This will allow you to see your map at a 1/8 scale.
  14. This is the Database button. This will allow you to view the database, which will be discussed in a later page.
  15. This is the Resources button. This will allow you to import and export various resources for your game, such as sprite sheets and tile sets.
  16. This is the Music button. This will allow you to listen to any music you have imported to your game. It will also allow you to listen to the music as you work on your game, even while it is closed. To stop the music, simple click on the button again, and press "stop".
  17. This is the Event Search button. This will allow you to search for any events you have saved onto your map or on any map in the game. You can search for it by any variables it uses, by any switches it activates, or by its name.
  18. This is the Test Play button. This will allow you to test your game, starting from the main menu.
  19. This is the Full Screen button. This will give you the ability to change your test play screen from full screen mode to small screen mode.
  20. This is the Title button. This will turn on and off the title screen on your test play. When it is pressed in, the title screen will turn off, and when it is out, the title screen will turn on.
  21. This is the Help button. This will give you basic instructions for some of the functions of RPG Maker 2003.
  22. This is the Undo button. This will undo up to three tiles or sets of tiles you place on your map. Pressing Ctrl+Z is also functional to undo.
  23. This is the Selection tool. You will be able to highlight any element of the current map and move it, copy it, or delete it as you please.
  24. This is the Zoom tool. It serves the same function as the Scale buttons, but you can change the scale as you please using the left and right mouse buttons. The left zooms in and the right zooms out.
  25. This is the Freehand tool. This will allow you to place map elements freehanded.
  26. This is the Square tool. This will allow you to place map elements in varying square sizes.
  27. This is the Circle tool. This will allow you to place map elements in varying circular sizes.
  28. This is the Paint Bucket tool. This will allow you to fill in any area that is marked by same-tiles. It will not work inside differently marked tiles!!
  29. This is the Map Tile Selection area. Choosing a tile inside this area allows you to place that tile on different areas on the map. This is a crucial area.
  30. This is the Map Folder area. This area will allow you to choose and organize your maps. You will be able to rename your maps, edit your maps size and use, and organize them into folders.
  31. This is the Map Editor area. This is the main area where you will be working. It will display the map you are editing, as well as any events you have placed on it.