I heard there is a demo of RPG Maker XP on some website. If this is true and it's legal can I get a link to it?

I just got it today from www.downloads.com. You get a 30-day trial.

Im a newbie to rpg maker xp and the rpg maker series. Is there a tutorial about all the mechanics of the game. And after you create your first scene/screen how do you make another, like if you go to the border of the screen you can go to the next one

There's a lot of guides out there. Just go to google.com and post what do you want to search. Tip: If you are searching for guides write "rpg maker xp guide"..........If searching for programs to help you create other things for rpg maker xp, write "rpg maker xp utilities" (or tools)...........If searching for sprites, and music, and that stuff, write "rpg maker xp resources".

Hope this help you. You can always go to www.Hellsoft.net. ......favorite site for all this.

"And after you create your first scene/screen how do you make another, like if you go to the border of the screen you can go to the next one"

make an event that will "teleport" you to the next screen when you walk on it. here's very good advice to someone that's never tried rpg maker:

The best thing to do is just tinker around with npc's talking to you with the "message" command, and just simply mess around with "teleport" which means that you can go to another "map" you created.
for example:
start by making 2 "maps" and have a door in each room that will "teleport" you back and forth when you check the door event. doing these little exercises will give you a sense of accomplishment and make you feel less overwhelmed with the engine. and just add to these 2 rooms as you experiment with what you can do with XP.
after you have mastered the simple step of "teleporting" back and forth between screens, spice it up. say to yourself "ok, now lets set a condition on the door, that will not teleport until i talk to this npc that will trigger a "switch".
on the door event, make a new "page" and set the "condition" to say that "ncp talk" switch has to be "on" for you to "teleport".

before you even look into newbie faqs, just make a tiny dirt simple game with 2 or 3 screens or "maps" that consists of nothing but "message", "teleport" and a few "switches". just have fun with a little demo of a character walking back and forth between maps, talking to npc's, and very slowly build off that. trust me, it will come together alot faster with baby steps.

yeah, there is a trial on download.com. be warned, there's alot of codes and serial numbers involved in getting this legal XP copy, and it'll take forever to set up.

Ok, on this XP demo - does it have the same "layout"/interface so that I could concievably use it to get use to the program?
I know that since it's a demo I probably won't be able to transfer my work to my PS2 version when I buy it. But is this demo a good way to get use to the menu commands and what all they entail?

Side note: on RPGMaker Pav, they said any mention of this was a thread locking offense because they deal only in the PS2 version. Understandable but the underlying tone was that it is considered an illegal program.
Any info on this?

Basically, the demo is the full version of RMXP with a lockout date. RMXP and RM3 are two different programs that can't be used interchangeably.

The note on the Pav is outdated, as RMXP has a full US release.

Ok, so I can learn the layout on this demo as I wait patiently for my next paycheck?

RPG Maker 3 and RPG Maker XP have two completely different layouts. Each game has different commands and functions, so you won't be able to learn RM3 using RMXP.

D'oh! Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Also worth mentioning, RM3 is in 3D, while XP is 2D.

The screenshots on the web thus far are nice, but small. Are there any clear screenshots of the dev screen?

Heck, scratch that - is the manual available on the web somewhere?

There's no manual for RMXP, but we have the RM3 manual here:

http://www.rpgmmag.com/resources.php

That's a sexy thing. Thanks so much. I'll be one of the few, the proud, the ones that actually read the manual....

K I'm off to read this thing, now.

Alrighty. Later then.

BTW, I'd like to mention that RPGM3 can't do nearly as much stuff as RMXP. RMXP isn't really that difficult, but RPGM3 is somewhat easier to figure out since there's a bunch of stuff you don't really need to worry so much about. Go ahead and get the RMXP trial first, and if you have trouble with it during the 30-day period, get some RPG-Making practice with RPGM3 first.