Chapter 7: Monster-In-A-Box - The Complete Chests Tutorial

Those who have played Final Fantasy (and several other RPGs) will recognize the Monster-In-A-Box scenario, where a monster pops out and attacks as soon as the chest is opened. It's easy to emulate this in RM2K3.

Set up the chest, "Chest 7" as normal (from Part 1), including the switch on Page 2 set to "Chest 7 Opened".

Immediately under the third Wait command in the Event Commands, we will need to call an enemy encounter (predefined in Monster Groups in the Database). For the purposes of the demo I've created one called "Cave Monster", which is a single Orc.

So, the Event Command we need is "Enemy Encounter" (the very first one on Tab 2). Set the "Specific Monster Group" to "Cave Monster" or whatever predefined monster you want. Set the "Defeat Handler" to "Execute Custom Handler", which gives additional control over winning or losing the battle. And finally, "Disallow Escape" in the "Escape Handler" unless you want to have a specific set of commands for attempting to flee.

The completed routine should look like this (not including the basic chest opening commands from Part 1):

<>Enemy Encounter: Normal, Cave Monster
: Victory Handler
  <>Message: Congratulations!
  :               You beat the Monster-In-A-Box!
  <>Call Event: Random Contents
  <>Switch Operation: [0008:Chest 7 Opened] ON
  <>
: Defeat Handler
  <>Game Over
: End

And it's as simple as that.

Chapter 6: Picking Locks - The Complete Chests Tutorial

Continuing with the Chest Tutorials, we will now create a locked chest that can be opened with a lockpick. Of course, factored into the equation is that there is the possibility the lockpick will break, but if the lock is successfully "picked" then the chest will open.

The first thing we need to do is create the lockpick. In the Items tab of the Database, make the lockpick a Common Item. This will be the "key" for the chest.

Next we need to create the chest itself, "Chest 6", using the basic chest template (from Part 1). However, we have to check whether the Hero has a lockpick first, otherwise the chest will remain locked.

This is created with a Branch Condition, thus:

<>Branch if lockpick Possessed
  <>
: Else Handler
  <>Message: The chest is locked!
  :         You don't have a lockpick!
  <>
: End

This will check to see if the Hero possesses a lockpick. If not, a message will pop up stating that fact.

Next, we'll set up the "Randomizer" variable to determine success or failure. In this case, set it to a random number between 1 and 3, creating additional Branch Conditions based on the random result.

If Randomizer is 1, this is where the chest opens and the event commands are placed here, calling the Random Contents Common Event and turning the "Chest 6" switch on. If Randomizer is 2, you fail to pick the lock. And if Randomizer is 3, the lockpick breaks, not forgetting to remove the lockpick from the inventory.

The completed routine is:

<>Branch if lockpick Possessed
  <>Variable Oper: [0001:Randomizer] Set, Rnd [1-3]
  <>Branch if Var [0001:Randomizer] is 1
    <>Play Sound: open1
    <>Message: You pick the lock and 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
    <>Call Event: Random Contents
    <>Switch Operation: [0007:Chest 6 Opened] ON
    <>
  : End
  <>Branch if Var [0001:Randomizer] is 2
    <>Message: You fail to pick the lock!
    <>
  : End
  <>Branch if Var [0001:Randomizer] is 3
    <>Message: The lockpick breaks!
    <>Change Items: lockpick 1 Remove
    <>
  : End
: Else Handler
  <>Message: The chest is locked!
  :               You don't have a lockpick!
  <>
: End

Don't forget to set the Preconditions switch to "Chest 6 ON" on Page 2.

Next, of course, we need to create an NPC that will give you the lockpick. You can either place it in a shop or have the NPC gift it to you. For the purposes of this demo, we'll choose the latter, so set up the NPC event and in the Event Commands, check if a lockpick is already possessed. If so, he won't give another; if not, he'll give you another one.

<>Branch if lockpick Possessed
  <>Message: You already have a lockpick!
  <>
: Else Handler
  <>Message: Have a lockpick!
  <>
: End

Move Event

Direct Download It can be very time-consuming trying to figure out specific character movements, often meaning that you have to playtest and tweak until you have it just right. I've had many frustrating moments where the characters have moved slightly too far, putting the rest of the "scene" out of sync. Or where the cut scene has frozen because characters are trying to move but are walking into walls.

With this utility, which can be downloaded here, it takes some of the pain away. What it does is allow you to record the keystrokes from the directional keys, then either preview it as a graphical representation or as a "live" demonstration (playing back the recorded keystrokes) in RMXP itself.

As you can see from the snapshot above, you can also save the current movement commands and load them later for additional tweaking and testing.

Since using this utility, the amount of time taken for cutscenes where a lot of character and NPC movement is required has been slashed in half. It's very useful to be able to test that out before actually implementing it in the Command Events and then having to go back in to edit them manually.

If you're like me and have a lot of movement in your games, then this utility will assuredly help. It's one of those rare gems you stumble across that certainly help you out and you don't want to get rid of - even after there are no further updates.

Character Maker XP

Direct Download When it comes to designing character sets from scratch, I am stuck so rely on these kinds of utilities to help me out. Character Maker XP makes life much easier, as it will create character sets and sprites for you.

Although it is limited as far as the number of resources, you can still create some reasonably good custom character sets for RMXP, even with a small set of graphics available.

As you can see from the snapshot above, characters are highly customizable, with a virtual mannequin to model the clothes and extras to work with. You can then export your finished product to RMXP character sets and import them into your games. It also has a feature to edit the resources, but use with caution since it directly modifies the program's default graphics, with no way to undo the changes, except to reinstall it.

Its ease of use makes it a worthy addition to your games creation software, but there are slightly better ones out there, including online web editors.

Edit (18-Feb-2012): Previously downloadable from Megaupload and we all know what happened to them. Thanks to "Anonymous" for pointing this out. Anyway, download should be working now.

Face Maker

RMXP Unlimited What's a character set without a matching face? Well, with Face Maker, currently at version 3.1, you can design facesets for message boxes. It doesn't seem to have been updated in over a year, but it does its job and suffices quite well. It also does not come with a Help file - not that you need it though - it's fairly self-explanatory.

To download it, you'll have to become a member of the RMXP Unlimited forums, but it's definitely worth it in the end.

One of the things I really like about this program is that every aspect of the face is customizable, from the face to the additional accessories:

• Face and neck
• Eyes (including the pupils and eyebrows)
• Mouth
• Mustache (including beard)
• Ears
• Hair (including bangs)
• Neck and head wear
• And two sets of accessories (including helmet)

There are literally hundreds of possible combinations and quite a large range of resources to choose from.

Once you're done creating your masterpiece, you can save it for use in your games, with three sizes to choose from, depending on the RPG Maker used and the purpose of the faceset.

Overall, this is a very neat program, one which I've used on occasion too, primarily just for the fun of it.

Chapter 5: Trapped Chests - The Complete Chest Tutorial

Continuing the Chest Tutorials, we're now going to create a trapped chest, i.e. when you open it, it will trigger a random trap, which will cause damage or affect the player's status.

To begin, create a basic chest (as detailed in Part 1), we'll need to set up the randomized traps, then 4 additional Conditional Branches with the different traps triggered, including one where you avoid the trap.

The following routine is placed after the third Wait Command and before the rewards (called with the "Random Contents" Call Event we defined in Part 3).

<>Variable Oper: [0001:Randomizer] Set, Rnd [1-4]
<>Branch if Var [0001:Randomizer] is 1
  <>Show Battle Animation: Fire Breath, Hero (Wait)
  <>Message: You triggered a fire trap.
<>Change HP: Entire Party's HP 10 Remove
  <>
: End
<>Branch if Var [0001:Randomizer] is 2
  <>Show Battle Animation: Ice Breath, Hero (Wait)
  <>Message: You triggered an ice trap.
  <>Change HP: Entire Party's HP 10 Remove
  <>
: End
<>Branch if Var [0001:Randomizer] is 3
  <>Show Battle Animation: Poison Breath, Hero (Wait)
  <>Message: You triggered a poison trap.
  :         You've been poisoned!
  <>Change Cond: Entire Party Poison Inflict
  <>
: End
<>Branch if Var [0001:Randomizer] is 4
  <>Message: You avoided the trap.
  <>
: End

With that in place, the chest will open normally and you'll receive the goodies from within the chest after the trap has been triggered.