The One That Got Away

Computer had some malware. I don't know how it penetrated the defenses, but it infiltrated somehow, causing a major meltdown. I can no longer run RMXP or RMVX on this computer, at least not without a major registry overhaul!

This means that the planned "Menu Tutorial" will have to be put on hold until the relocation. And of course, TGP has been put on hold once again too. I just don't have the time for that at the moment. I can still use RM2K3, so will be focusing on that over the next few months. Perhaps this will give me a chance to design some Windowskins for both RMXP and RMVX, and some more FAQs.

All things happen for a reason, so whatever the reason is, this isn't really a great loss (since everything has been backed up), just a little setback.

Extra Chapter 1: Front Opening - The Complete Chests Tutorial

Continuing the Chest Tutorial, the next set of tutorials either enhance existing tutorials or adds some extra features to chests.

To add some realism, you won't nessecarily be able to open a chest from behind, only from the front. This is how it can be achieved in RM2K3.

In Conditional Branch (third tab, second column), there is an option to determine which direction the Hero is facing.

<>Branch if Hero Up Facing
  <>Play Sound: open1
  <>Message: The chest opens!
  <>Move Event: This Event, Face Right
  <>Wait: 0.2 Sec
  <>Move Event: This Event, Face Up
  <>Wait: 0.2 Sec
  <>Move Event: This Event, Face Left
  <>Wait: 0.2 Sec
  <>Change Items: Potion 1 Add
  <>Message: Potion received.
  <>Switch Operation: [0011:Chest E1 Opened] ON
  <>
: Else Handler
  <>Message: Try opening it from the front!
: End
<>

So, if you try opening the chest from the sides or back, a message will tell you to open it from the front.

Character Creator Studio VX

RMXP Unlimited Just like the Character Maker for RMXP, Character Creator Studio VX allows the creation of RMVX character sets. It does have a lot of resources available to create some decent characters, with the ability to add multiple items.

What I like most about this program though is its simplicity and ease of use, and its features:

• Large Preview - A separate window for a much larger preview of characters, updated "live".
• Undo - Unlimited undo's if something doesn't look right.
• Reset - Resets the character set to its default "naked" state.
• Save - Save your creations as individual charsets. (These can be imported directly into RMVX and used if they are saved with a $ at the beginning of the filename.)
• Import/Export Allows you to import and export additional resources either premade or from existing character sets.

All images are saved as PNG format, including the character building resources, which means that, if you know what you're doing, you can create your own hairstyles, clothes, etc. and use them directly.

Not only that, Character Creator Stuido also comes bundled with another program, called Sprite Stitcher. This allows you to "stitch" individual character sets together (created with the Studio or somewhere else) into a single character set, up to the maximum of eight.

In short, this program is the best one I've come across so far. I know that for myself I'm so glad I stumbled across this program simply because spriting is NOT something I'm good at. And I know that others will find it as much of a boon as I do. Highly Recommended.

RMXP Project Organiser

RMXP Unlimited This nifty little utility (from Evil Cabbage), just as the title suggests, gives you the chance to easily manage all your RMXP projects.

First off, you can launch or edit projects directly from the program, making it much easier than loading them individually in RMXP first.

Note: You can launch RMVX projects as well, although you can't edit them without receiving an error message.

This application is packed with other very useful features. You can change the game's title, restore the database and scripts in a project to default, delete unwanted save files rather than manually in the project folder itself, and if any RGSS dlls are required it can copy these as well.

There is, however, one very important caveat to be aware of: If you don't highlight a project first, the program will crash! Aside from that, this program is definitely useful, especially as a launchpad for editing and playing projects.

Extra Stats Window Script

Download Script

I wrote this script while studying the Battle_Scene class with the intentions of creating a Custom Battle Scene for TGP.



The Extra Stats window can be accessed from the menu to display the following stats:

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TGP Update Relocation

This is just a quick multi-purpose note.

The first thing is that this blog will no longer contain any major updates news for The Gladiator Project. They'll be placed here instead. This is primarily because, with work continuing on TGP, there will be a lot more progress updates than before, so it's better not to overwhelm this blog with too many TGP updates, thereby deviating from other content. You can also see when TGP is updated under the "Sister Blogs" section (on the right-hand side) or on my Twitter account.

The second thing is that I only have about a month before relocating, so I'm excited as hell about that. I'm having to deal with the boring last minute preparations - sorting, packing, etc. - so updates may be few and far between until I'm settled again.

The Gladiator Project - Update #4

TGP had been put on hold for a while, but I've started working on it again. What rekindled my interest was a movie I saw that inspired me and a visit from SojaBird (whose Achievements script I was using on and off). So, in light of my renewed inspiration and drive, I rewrote the plot and started the entire project from scratch.

The following have been implemented in the game and are final.

Title Menu

In a previous update, I implemented a demo video of the title screen. As you can see the menu itself has changed significantly. I'm still using Moghunter's Animated Title and Dr.?'s Credits scripts.

The game does contain several in-game movies, extensively utilizing Berka's nonpareil Game Film II Reloaded script. In fact, this is the ONLY movie script I've found that works efficaciously. Unfortunately, this does mean an increase in size but it will be worth it, unless I have two versions (one with the movies, one without).

At the moment, the movies have been extracted from commercial movies, since I don't have a mega budget to create my own, so as it stands for now these will only appear in the "personal" version but may not appear in the demo or final versions. As a side-note, the movies I've modeled the in-game clips on are Gladiator, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Extinction and Flatliners, also with clips from the mini series Space: Above and Beyond, as the segments I've used encapsulate what TGP is all about and progresses the plot. I could put the "Intro" movie on here if I can get past the copyrighted material dilemma, alongside a "Don't Sue Me" disclaimer!!

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