Supported Engines
Aurora plays games from five generations of RPG Maker using two engines: a heavily extended mkxp-z for the native RGSS engines, and a built-in web engine for MV and MZ.
Engine Matrix
Section titled “Engine Matrix”| RPG Maker Version | Scripting | Engine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| XP (RGSS1) | Ruby | Native (mkxp-z) | Includes deep Pokémon Essentials support |
| VX (RGSS2) | Ruby | Native (mkxp-z) | |
| VX Ace (RGSS3) | Ruby | Native (mkxp-z) | Runs on Ruby 1.9.2 by default — the runtime VX Ace shipped with |
| MV | JavaScript | Built-in web engine | |
| MZ | JavaScript | Built-in web engine |
Ruby Runtimes
Section titled “Ruby Runtimes”Native (RGSS) games run their scripts on one of Aurora’s bundled Ruby runtimes, selectable per game:
| Runtime | Best For |
|---|---|
| Ruby 3.1 | Modern runtime — current Pokémon Essentials (v19+) and other games written for modern Ruby |
| Ruby 1.8.7 | Legacy runtime for old Pokémon Essentials-era games written against Ruby 1.8 |
| Ruby 1.9.2 | The automatic default for VX Ace — the authentic runtime VX Ace shipped with (Ruby 3.1 is also selectable) |
Automatic Detection
Section titled “Automatic Detection”Aurora inspects the game’s scripts on import and first launch, and picks the runtime most likely to work. One caveat: games that ship their scripts only inside an encrypted archive can’t be inspected, so they may need a manual switch (game settings → Ruby Runtime). You can override the choice at any time — if a game won’t boot, switching runtimes is the first thing to try.
Pokémon Essentials
Section titled “Pokémon Essentials”Aurora has first-class support for Pokémon Essentials fan games — verified from v17 through v21 (tested with v17, v18, and v21 titles), and even older pre-v16-era titles run on the legacy runtime. Essentials games are detected automatically, which enables:
- The right Ruby runtime for the Essentials generation (legacy 1.8.7 for older titles, modern 3.1 for newer ones — including older forks that use modern Ruby syntax, which are auto-detected onto 3.1)
- Essentials-specific cheat options
- Aurora Link multiplayer — overworld players, chat, trades, and battles
Engine extras for classic games
Section titled “Engine extras for classic games”- Native tilemap — classic Essentials games normally draw maps with a scripted tilemap; Aurora renders them with the engine’s own tilemap for a large speed boost (on by default; per-game toggle in Game Settings → Compatibility).
- Mode 7 maps — games built on MGC’s H-Mode7 (pseudo-3D perspective maps) render natively; the Windows DLL isn’t needed.
- audio.dll music — games that route music through FL’s looping-audio DLL play through Aurora’s native audio channels, including position-exact resume and volume control.
RTP & Game Assets
Section titled “RTP & Game Assets”Classic XP / VX / VX Ace games that declare an RTP (Run Time Package) need it installed — Aurora prompts you when a game requires one and can download or import it for you. See the RTP guide for details.
Games must also ship with their complete assets: fan games downloaded as bare source repositories may be missing graphics or audio, and MV / MZ games must be the full deployed game folder.
MV / MZ Web Engine
Section titled “MV / MZ Web Engine”RPG Maker MV and MZ games are JavaScript-based and run in Aurora’s built-in web engine, which emulates the desktop (nw.js) environment the games expect — including video playback and reliable save storage on iOS.