The Maniac Patch is a classic Japanese mod/patch for RPG Maker 2k3 created by BingShan1024 that adds a lot of functionalities to the engine.

This patch adds:

• Mouse support.
  
• Custom fonts.
  
• Animated images.
  
• Increased event limits.
  
• Optimization of events.
  
• Backups of your project's data.
  
• Compatibility with OGG files.

I have an entire guide on how to do this, you can read it here:

• How to install the Maniac Patch.

In your game's main files you'll see a .ini called "RPG_RT.ini", open it with a text editor.

It most likely contains the following text:


Add "WinW=X" and "WinH=X" below [RPG_RT]. Change the X in "WinW=" to 416 and "WinH=" to 240 in order to get a 16:9 aspect ratio.


Just like in this picture:

If your game has black stripes around the screen during Fullscreen Mode, you'll need to press F5 in-game and check the "Allow uneven pixel sizes" box.




I suggest you to create the entire game from scratch with widescreen already implemented. If you change the aspect ratio of an already developing or completely developed game, you'll most likely find a lot of issues related to animations, events, map layouts, combats, etc.

I have another guide here about a lot of different resources you might find useful for your 2k3 development. Here's a link to it:

• A collection of useful resources for RPG Maker 2k3

Oh, and recently I made a game in 2k3. Here's its itchio link[valinypse.itch.io], if you want to try it ;)