Poll Results - Enterbrain Take Note!

The results are in! The populace has spoken! So, Enterbrain take note!

Their next RPG Maker should be a fully functional MMORPG creator, as it's the next, best thing. MMORPGs have been around for some time now and they are big business and a rapidly growing industry. Now that would be cool! In fact, 61% of voters also think the same thing.

A close second would be a "true" 3D RPG Maker, i.e. one capable of 3D graphics a la Phantasy Star and Wolfenstein 3D (or some other FPS). In total, 21% voted for this option. The MMORPG RPG Maker would have this integrated anyway.

Finally, if that proved to be impractical for whatever reason, 16% of voters would settle for a new RPG Maker but with all the elements of previous versions - RM2K3, RMXP and RMVX - combined. Nothing from the previous versions omitted either, i.e. multiple chipsets, missing functions, etc.

I know that I would definitely purchase an MMORPG RPG Maker, even for $80, as it's been a dream of mine for quite a while to be able to create an MMORPG of my own. And using what I've learned (am learning) about RPG Maker it could be put to good (better) use.

Announcement: Evolutionary Progress

More Resources Coming

Three months of keyword analysis (via Statcounter and other sources) and a previous poll indicates a high demand for resources. So be it, but if I'm brutally honest, I've been avoiding it because I'm definitely NOT an artist - at least when it comes to creating resources from scratch.

But, the statistics are that around 65% are looking for resources, of which around 55% want RMXP windowskins and 30% are after RM2K3 resources. So I will try because I've recently rediscovered the wonders of GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), which makes things a helluva lot easier. Notwithstanding, using a combination of GIMP and Paint Shop Pro, I will be resource creation crazy, I guess, trying my hand at some "from scratch" resources, particularly RMXP windowskins.

In addition, I'll be utilising the various online generators and creation programs to produce non-windowskin resources as well. They will then be converted to other formats as applicable. Included in this resources expansion will be more resource tutorials and how-to's - in particular resource specifications, which is another high-demand area.

Closures and Farewells

RPG Maker 2K3 Master was the first (and original) blog I crreated to demonstrate my own personal passion for RPG Maker. This was way back when Blogger was in its infancy. I have some very fond memories attached to it and to RM2K3 itself. But, all good things must eventually come to an end.

So, as of 30 September, 2010, RPG Maker 2K3 Master will officially close in favour of this blog. Most of its content has been collated and integrated into RPG Maker Times and its Companion blog anyway.

My other blogs, Wulf's Parazone and Paranormality Reincarnated, will no longer be updated and will also eventually close. Neither has really been updated for a while. I've kinda lost interest in them and want to steer in a different direction, although the former will probably be renamed and used for something else.

I'm also closing RPG Maker Times Companion, although it may remain "as is" purely for archival purposes. Much of its content as become absorbed in this blog as a means of collating everything RPG Maker for easier updates and easier access.

Joining The Dots

Too many of my resources are dotted all over the place, so I'd like to place them in one convenient place. To clarify then, and to avoid confusion, RPG Maker Times is the primary blog for RPG Maker, including project updates, and RPG Maker Times Companion is the repository mostly for tools and utilities, as well as resources (Edit: Integrating with RPG Maker Times).

In time, the latter will be used for all resources - windowskins, charsets, etc. - as well as my scripts and scriptlets. These will all be placed in their own separate posts, updated as necessary, and conveniently labelled to make them much easier to find.

Being Industrious Ain't Easy

With all that said, it is going to take time to implement. That's something I have little of these days, but will make a start on it asap.

Lots to look forward to and to keep me busy!

Customizing Menus - Part 3: Nuts and Bolts

In Part 1, we dealt with the basic menu structure and how the the commands are displayed and called. Part 2 detailed how to execute the routines when the menu item is selected. And Part 3 will continue with some of the other elements in the menu.

Immediately below the menu index (line 28 in RMXP and line 62 in RMVX) is the part to check if the party members (actors in RMXP or members in RMVX) are alive which sections can be displayed and if save is enabled display it in the menu options.

The code structure is as follows:

RMXP

# If number of party members is 0
if $game_party.actors.size == 0
   # Disable items, skills, equipment, and status
   @command_window.disable_item(0)
   @command_window.disable_item(1)
   @command_window.disable_item(2)
   @command_window.disable_item(3)
end
# If save is forbidden
if $game_system.save_disabled
   # Disable save
   @command_window.disable_item(4)
end

RMVX

if $game_party.members.size == 0 # If number of party members is 0
   @command_window.draw_item(0, false) # Disable item
   @command_window.draw_item(1, false) # Disable skill
   @command_window.draw_item(2, false) # Disable equipment
   @command_window.draw_item(3, false) # Disable status
end
if $game_system.save_disabled # If save is forbidden
   @command_window.draw_item(4, false) # Disable save
end

This queries whether any or all of the party members are incapacitated or dead, and disables the corresponding sections for them so that they are inaccessible through the menu. And if the save option is disabled (by setting @save_disabled to "true" in Game_System) then it will be grayed out in the menu.

Read more »

Customizing Menus - Part 2: Inside The Menu

In Part 1, we dealt with the basic menu structure and how the the commands are displayed and called. Part 2 expands on that and details how to execute the routines when the menu item is selected.

Scroll down to case @command_window.index (line 123 in RMXP and line 88 in RMVX). This is where the execution methods are defined, telling RPG Maker that when a menu item (the menu index if you recall) is selected, call the appropriate command.

This is processed in the definition update_command in RMXP and update_command_selection in RMVX. And this is where we need to change the code so that it does what it's supposed to do when the menu item is selected. The default structure is as follows:

Read more »

Customizing Menus: Part 1 - Menu Structure

In this multi-part tutorial, I'll demonstrate how to customize the default menu (Scene_Menu) in both RMXP and RMVX. Scripting the menu is more frustrating than difficult because it doesn’t allow you to simply append new commands to the existing menu and only the menu items manually added into the menu script will appear. So we have to manually add them to form our basic menu. (That said, for the non-scripters, SojaBird's excellent New Menu Items script makes it easier to collate existing menu items and add new ones.)

For the purpose of this tutorial, however, we'll be modifying the existing Scene_Menu to add an Extra Stats window. First thing's first, let's explore how the menu structure is set up.

The basic structure for the menu in each RPG Maker is the same, but RMVX also has the additional option of multi-columns in the menu, which we'll cover later.

Initialize The Menu Index

The first section sets the command cursor's initial position.

def initialize(menu_index = 0)
   @menu_index = menu_index
end

By default, it's set to 0, the first item on the menu list. The number increases by one for every menu item below the first command, which means that every time the cursor is moved down to the next command it increases by one. Conversely, if the cursor is moved up one command the index decreases by one. So, if you were to set the menu_index to 4, when you open the status menu the cursor would default to "Save" every time you open it.

Read more »

The Mysterious Disappearing Images

Bear with me, folks! Image Shack has a nasty habit of "losing" images, sometimes they will disappear, and sometimes they will reappear. So I'm in the process of transferring them elsewhere. I started this hideous process before, but there were way too many and I was overwhelmed at how time-consuming it was. I'm not going to put up with it any longer. It's time it was done properly and once and for all.

Also, I'm in the process of transferring everything on the RPG Maker 2K3 Master blog here, since I'll be officially closing it at the end of the month. The reason for this is that, having everything RPG Maker combined, will make things much easier. My initial consideration for having a separate blog for RM2K3 and another for RMXP/RMVX was to house the various RM2K3 tutorials I’d written, and besides, RPG Maker 2K3 Master was the "original" blog, the first I’d created. There comes a time, however, when change is necessary. There are some big changes coming to RPG Maker Times - nothing scary, just more content.

Eventually my focus on RM2K3 will fizzle out in favour of RMXP and RMVX, although probably not altogether. What I’m hoping for is more content, scripts, resources, resource templates and tutorials, and games/project reviews.