Spring Cleaning and Renovation

After my previous post, Neglected But Not Forgotten, I started thinking. Since yesterday was officially the First Day of Spring, I figured it was time to spring-clean the site.

Careful Consideration

After carefully considering on the best course of action for this, I decided to drop support for 2K3 and XP. These two RPG Makers seem less predominant nowadays, and besides I no longer actively use them. While some game developers may still use them, according to general statistics, their usage is less frequent in favor of VX, VX Ace and MV. Hence, the decision.

Most of the current posts containing references to 2K3 and XP will remain intact. However, I am removing the XP plugins and archiving many of the 2K3 materials (such as resources and utilities).

Spring Cleaning

As part of the spring cleaning, a necessary evil is to go through each and every post (from the very first) and remove redundant links, images, etc.

This is a hideous process, a road I've traveled many times before. But it is necessary and will, of course, take some time.

Afterwards, the main focus of the site will be VX, VX Ace, MV and Smile Game Builder, especially the latter two, as these are the ones I use most frequently.

Original Blog

This is the original RPG Maker Times blog and it's in desperate need of updating.

This won't be in the form of retroactively updating posts; that'd take way too much time, as its last update was in August 2016. I won't change anything either, except for tweaks to the sidebars.

Instead, the blog will become a repository for posts from this site and its subsites, with links to the posts instead of the full articles. This includes SGB news, scripts and plugins and news related to RPG Maker as they're posted.

The official RPG Maker Times site is now housed on its own domain, including its subsites.

How Much RPG Maker Trivia Can You Answer?

RPG Maker Web presented this question on Twitter. And, of course, I tried it, curious to see just how much I know about RPG Maker because I have been involved with it since RM95, after all! (That makes me feel so old now!)

https://t.co/sckhIIQ5aE How much #RPGMaker Trivia can you answer? pic.twitter.com/PZFPoLhRIj

— RPG Maker Web (@RPGmakerweb) July 9, 2016

My Result: 90%

I overlooked just one fine detail. Hint: Forget about transparency!

RT @RPGmakerweb I'm an #RPGMaker Geek! 😊 I got 90%! What's your score?! I started with #RM95, been using it since! https://t.co/52ezkwUIKP

— RPG Maker Times (@CompanionWulf) July 10, 2016

And, so, why not try it? If you want to, post your scores here or retweet them with the hashtag #RPGMakerTrivia or @CompanionWulf. Either way, this was a cool idea!

RPG Maker 2003 Updated to v1.11

The official version of RM2K3 was updated (and released) yesterday. There are a number of bug fixes and some cool and, indeed, welcome additions to the Maker.

You can view some of its main updates (the ones that jump out at me) or the official RM2K3 English Changelog.

The "Complete Chests Tutorial" Is Being Updated

The Complete Chests Tutorial is finally being given a long overdue update!

Since my recent purchase of the officially translated version of RM2K3 from Steam, I decided to finally bring this tutorial up-to-date. I'm basically rewriting them but using the tutorials as templates and adding some additional features as well.

Included will be some new chapters, which again were planned but never fully implemented. A downloadable demo will be available for each RPG Maker. Maps will be unique to each but the basic principles will be the same throughout. The demos will be more puzzle-orientated as well.

Once complete, the Complete Chests Tutorial will also be uber-updated.

RPG Maker 2003 Official English Translation

Yes, it's official! RPG Maker 2003 has been officially translated into English and is now available on Steam.



I just bought it to add to my Steam collection. I now have them all in one convenient place.

Blog Entries Migration

A number of posts on this blog are being migrated to RPG Maker Times Companion. That way, they can be kept up-to-date and any missing links can also be updated.

All resources will also be transferred, including templates and windowskins.

All of the projects and projects news (past, present and future) now each have their own separate subdomains, so they'll be easier to update as and when necessary. This may eventually include the Q-Engine, depending on how it progresses.

By consolidating certain sections in this way, not only will it be convenient for all, but it'll also be much easier to update. And, of course, the updates will also appear here, on RPG Maker Times.

Event Commands Tutorial Started

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Event Commands Tutorial

Now that I have my new graphics card, the Event Commands Tutorial has begun. This is a complete tutorial for the Event Commands for all RPG Makers, including screenshots. Most Event Commands are based on those in RM2K3, but additional notes have been given corresponding to each RPG Maker. Personal notes and examples have also been given where appropriate.

The section is under heavy construction, with a lot of work yet to do on it. I'm starting with the RM2K3 Event Commands and working through RMXP, then RMVX and finally RMVXA (in that order). It'll take a while but progress is steady.

Q-Engine v1.28.23.8

Work on the Q-Engine. The Alternative Status Screen is undergoing a rewrite to clean up some code and fix layout positioning issues.

Once this has been dealt with, then a second demo video and download will be uploaded.

Resources Migration

The final update is that starting the middle of this month, all of the resources (including windowskins) will be uploaded to RPG Maker Times Companion.

Bank Tutorial Using Events (RM2K3/XP/VX/VXA)

Bank Tutorial

The Bank Tutorial (all versions) is finally online!

According to October 2012's poll, the majority voted for a simple event-based bank system as the next tutorial. So, here it is. Note that this is not a complete step-by-step tutorial, but a rough guide for creating our banking system. Instead, each RPG Maker tutorial can be downloaded and, once installed, can be scrutinised.

Custom Menu System [Radial] for RM2K3

This tutorial demonstrates how to create your own Custom Menu System (CMS) and "radial" menu for RM2K3. This is the first RM2K3 entry I've done in quite some time, but someone I know requested it so this is for you, my friend.

This is the Part 1. The second part can be found here.

Note: This should also work with RM2K with some tweaking.

Updates For The Weekend

RPG Maker Times Companion - Saturday

Sadly, the RPG Maker Times Companion has been neglected lately, but I'm aiming for some more content on Saturday. There are a plethora of utilities still out there for RPG Maker, so it's time to dig some of them out.

Zelda Maze Tutorial Demo - Sunday

There will be a downloadable demo for the Zelda Maze Tutorial, as requested by Decanos78 for both RMXP and RMVX. I'll have this uploaded by Sunday.

RPG Maker 2K3 Resurface

I've had a number of requests for RM2K3 tutorials, even though it's unarguably the best RPG Maker of them all and even though I've retired it in favour of the next-gen RPG Makers. I'm not sure I'll be doing anything with it, except for the Complete Chest Tutorial. Talking of which also for the weekend (and well into next week) I'm aiming to have a demo for the RMXP version.

Heard About RPG Maker 20XX?

Neither have I, but discovered it by accident. This is what it says on its website:

To address the old-age and technology of RPG Maker 2003′s RPG Runtime engine, a replacement will be written that implements more modern features. This is intended to work both as a 1-1 replacement for the RPG_RT.exe executable and as an extender to allow features which would be cumbersome to implement conventionally as event scripts.

There are also a long string of bugs and feature requests that will be addressed with this engine, especially the more commonly known battle bugs and speed/agility problems.

Sounds like it would be useful, except I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I'd have to dig my RM2K3 - it can be used with RM2K and RM2K3 - and its projects out of limbo, as it seems to be semi-reliant on the Maker's base materials, the RPG_RT, to work. When I have more time I may check into it further. (I wonder what the implied legalities are with this.)

EDIT: It appears that this project has been cancelled. You can most likely still download it if you search for it.

RPG Makers Update

I will no longer be supporting RM2K3 as actively as before, as the main focus will now be for RMXP and RMVX. Although I may still produce tutorial demos and mini-games for RM2K3, there won't be as many RM2K3-based tutorials; these will be primarily for the other RPG Makers.

I'm in the process of compiling the windowskins on RPG Maker Times and placing them on a separate blog. This will allow for easier access, including specific search keywords. Then, in the future, most of the windowskins will most likely be developed for both RMXP and RMVX. To view the windowskins at a glance, you can visit the RPG Maker Windowskins blog.

Since both of my projects are being developed simultaneously, updates are available on their separate sites and they will be revamped over the next few weeks. To keep up-to-date with the projects, click on the links below (and update any bookmarks accordingly):

• The Gladiator Project (Arena Gladiatorium - Projecta Gladiatore).
• Ars Mechanicum 1: Genesis (formerly Ars Magia)

Yes, Ars Magia has been officially renamed. This is to better reflect the nature of the game. It's actually gone back to its "grass roots", based on the previously named series of short-short stories I wrote, but integrated into the novella and game.

As always, to keep abreast of developments with the projects and blog updates, don't forget to subscribe to the newsfeeds or newsletter.

Fun With Events #1 - NPC Interaction

This was a question on Yahoo! Answers a while ago, which I answered and thought I'd share. Although initially tailored for RM2K3, it will also work the same way in RMXP and RMVX.

The basic idea is that while the Hero is walking around, someone shouts hello, the Hero turns and that person walks (or runs) up to him and they start conversing.

The simplest method (and easiest to adapt) is with an "autoevent". For this example, the NPC event is 5 squares to the right of the Hero position.

Create a blank event and set the "Trigger Condition" to "Auto-Start". In the "Event Commands", place the following:

<>Move Event: Hero, Move Left, Move Left
<>Wait: 0.8 Sec
<>Message: Hey!\|\^
<>Wait: 0.8 Sec
<>Move Event: Hero, Face Right
<>Move Event: NPC, Move Towards Hero
<>Wait: 1.8 Sec
<>Message: It's good to see you,\n[1]!

The Hero will move left two squares, the NPC will shout (and will automatically enter - no keypress), the Hero will turn around, the NPC will run up to the Hero, then will say "It's good to see you..." (with the \n[1] switch being the name of the Hero you set up in the Database).

Fun With Variables #1 - RM2K3

I was bored! What can I say? So I started playing around and decided to have some fun with Variables! And why not? Better than advanced algebraic equations, which I was never any good at anyway!

Random Colours In Messages

What if, for whatever reason, you'd like the character's name to be a different colour each time you speak to an NPC?

You'll only need one variable (let's call it Randomize) and one NPC event with two Command Events in it, thus:

<>Variable Oper:[0001:Randomize] Set, Rnd[1-19]
<>Message: Heya, \c[\v[1]]\n[1]\c[0], how's it going?

The first line sets up the random number for the colour. Under "Variable Operations", set the "Single Variable" to Randomize, which is then "Set Equal To" a "Random Number Between" 1 and 19. (The colours are based on the 20 colours in the current System Set. Zero is the "default" colour, but we won't use it in this example.)

The second displays a message with some "control characters" inserted. Control characters are letters or punctuation marks preceded by a backslash - there are 12 in total, which I may expand upon in a later entry. The ones we need are for inserting the colour (\C), the name (\N) and the variable containing the random number (\V). The basic format, for example, would be \N[1], which would display the name of the first Hero in the Database.

We'll be using "nested control characters" (control characters contained within control characters) to display the name of the first Hero in the list (in the Database) in the randomly selected colour.

The emboldened part is how the nested control characters fit together, split into four parts:

\C[ \V[1] ] \N[1] \C[0]

There are no spaces in between; it's just easier to read. The variable control character is contained in the colour control character, generating the random colour each time the Hero talks to the NPC. The name of the Hero is then displayed in that colour. Finally, the text colour is set to its default colour so the rest of the text isn't the same as the name.

Of course, this can be done with other things too, as long as the same format is adhered to. This will also work in RMXP and RMVX, but the default colours will need to be added to in RMXP via script (in Window_Base under the text_color method).

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.

Frequently Asked Questions #2

These are answers to some of the simpler questions about RPG Maker I'm asked on a regular basis. Some of these have been taken from Yahoo! Answers. Many of them have been taken from IM'd questions or targeted keywords at Statcounter. You can find a full list of FAQs here.

Is it possible to add scripts to RM2K3?

No, it isn't. RM2K3 has no support for scripts, unlike RMXP and RMVX because they utilise the Ruby Gaming Script System (RGSS) engine already built into its structure. RM2K3 can only use "scripts" from events - normal events or common events - using the event commands.

Is there an Enter/Exit Vehicle glitch?

Yes and no. RM2K3 only supports three vehicles at once, predefined in the Database (under System), which are then used on the map either through eventing or "Place Vehicle Starting Position". It is not possible to simply use an event with a vehicle graphic and use the "Enter or Exit Vehicle" event command. (Vehicle Tutorial Coming Soon!)

Why won't the text display in RPG Maker XP/VX?

This happens when a font is used that is not installed on the computer. It can also happen due to script conflicts, changing the default windowskin, or when the text coordinates are out of the window's range. If graphics transparencies are not set correctly, this can also cause problems with text not showing up.

Monsters As Variables

I noticed several entries in Statcounter for something on setting monsters as variables, so not one to refuse a challenge, this is what I came up with. Hopefully this will help some.

While I don't think it's possible to store individual monsters in variables, at least without using Fork Options, it is possible to store Monster Groups. The number stored in the variable corresponds exactly as they appear in the Database.

First create a Common Event in the Database (F8), named "Monster Var" (or something similar). Set the "Trigger" to "Call". In the Events Commands, simply place the following commands:

<>Variable Oper: [0001:Monster Var] Set, Rnd [1-10]

This will store the Monster Group as a random number between 1 and 10, which means that if the random number is 8, the Monster Group appearing for the fight would be (by default) 3 Gorgon and 2 Basilisk.

<>Enemy Encounter: Normal, V[0001]

This calls the enemy encounter sequence, but the monsters encountered will be based on whatever is stored in the variable, Monster Var.

The call routine doesn't just have to be a Common Event. It can be an Autorun map event as well, so instead of setting fixed encounters via the "Map Properties", encounters can be completely randomized from map to map, using different random numbers or variables.

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.

Charset - Resources Templates (RM2K3)

Charsets represent the animated characters, including NPCs and some events.

Image Size: 288x256, containing up to 8 characters.

Each charset comprises 12 squares, divided into 4 rows of 3 columns, representing the 3 animation frames for each direction.

The top row is where the character is moving upwards (north), the second row is moving right (east), the third is moving down (south), and the bottom row is moving left (west).

System2 Set - Tutorial (RM2K3)

System 2 graphics, located in the System2 folder, are the "Battle Menu Set", used in battles to determine the cursor for targeting enemies and allies. It also displays the ATB bar and the numbers for HP and MP display in gauge type battles (set in the "Battle Layout" options of the Database).

Image Size: 80x96.

This is a "default" template for creating your own System2 designs.

So now, breaking it down into its component elements, we can gain a better insight into how it all fits together.

1: The three-frame animation sequence for the left arrow.

2: The three-frame animation sequence for the down arrow.

3: The numbers for displaying damage values in battles.

A, B and C are the frames for the HP, SP and ATB bars respectively.

D: This is usually kept blank. Although I don't know precisely what this is used for, most likely this is used for transparencies.

E: These four blocks are for the gauge colors, displayed when the "Battle Layout" is set to "Gauge".

F: This is the gauge for the ATB, which is used for determining times between turns.

---

Now that we know what each section does, we can add the components. Again, I've used Character Maker 1999 to recreate the System2 set.

Let's do the arrow animations (1 & 2) first. The first row is for the left arrow and the second is for the down arrow. These arrows can be anything, provided each frame is 16x16 pixels an in sequence.



Next task is "fleshing out" the stat containers - HP (A), MP (B) and ATB (C). Each one needs to be 8x48 pixels and usually comprises a frame and blank or empty container for the gauge graphics. These can be left completely blank but for aesthetics I always prefer putting something here.


Each gauge - two for HP and MP gauges (E) and one for the ATB gauge (F) - is also 8x48 pixels, but must be positioned centrally against the stat containers so they fit into the blank or empty containers.

The penultimate addition are the numbers (3), 0 through 9, which are used for damage in combat. They can be any color, font or design provided that each number fits into a 16x16 block.



The final part of the System2 template is the 16x16 block (D). This is usually kept blank for, I suspect, transparency values.