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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Basic Map Location Script

This basic script allows the map location to be displayed on the Status Menu. In other words, whatever the name of the map is will be shown there.

The map information is stored in "DataInfos" (located in the Data folder). The script is the same, but the extensions are different for RMXP (rxdata) and RMVX (rvdata).

So, to insert the location in a new window, the following is used:

RMXP

map_name = load_data("Data/MapInfos.rxdata")
self.contents.draw_text (0, 0, self.contents.width, 32, data[$game_map.map_id].name, 2)

RMVX

map_name = load_data("Data/MapInfos.rvdata")[$game_map.map_id].name
contents.draw_text(x, y, self.contents.width, WLH, map_name, 2)

TGP - Guilty As Charged

I'm guilty of neglecting this blog again! The trouble is I tend to focus on too many projects at once, unable to limit to one or two. It must be something to do with having a fertile imagination or an attention deficiency!

One of the major distractions lately has been Perfect World, a deadly cocktail of MMORPG obsession, timewasting and craving for inspiration. That was until the inevitable, mandatory "party quests" I so hate, where quests become available at a certain level but they are "elite" monsters and you will not be able to defeat them either without leveling up first or without a party. I don't mind party-questing, just not so early in the game. It kinda spoiled it for me and I uninstalled the game - for now at least.

That doesn't mean I've been away from RPG Maker. I've been continuing work on TGP (The Gladiator Project) lately, tweaking the Status Menu, taking out features and reimplementing them, modifying events and gameplay. Most importantly, however, I've been rewriting the entire underlying plot, strengthening it and deciding its final direction. I'm not going to give anything away.

What totally renewed my interest and inspiration in continuing TGP is actually two things:

The first is a movie I watched - forgotten the title already! - which gave me some solid ideas, so instead of stagnating and going in circles it's full steam ahead once more.

The second is a visit from SojaBird, one of my "coding heroes" (alongside ModernAlgebra and Yanfly) from whose scripts I've learned so much about structure, format and how RGSS works in general.

Because I've meticulously reworked the entire project, essentially starting from scratch, including a lot of the scripts I previously omitted or removed (temporarily or otherwise).

I will post an update on TGP hopefully this month or next month, although I'm in the process of relocating so might not be able to. But I am hoping for a demo (at least of the first "chapter") by the end of the year.

Image Nightmares

Image Shack, where most of the images on this blog are stored, is proving to be unreliable. Half of the images don't load half of the time and even in my Image Shack folders it says "Thumbnail Not Available". Image Shack has been quite reliable in the past, but lately it's become progressively worse. I can understand downtime, but this is ridiculous! So now I have the onerous task of using another image host, transferring all of the images to another host, then changing locations in each entry. And there are over 200 images! Ugh!

I had also created a plethora of RMXP windowskins the other day, some of which were converted from a few of the RMVX ones I did. But due to an error in transferring them onto DVD, I lost them. Good job there's a backup somewhere; experience can be a hardnut teacher! So I'll be attempting that again soon.

If "bad" things come in threes, the third hasn't happened yet. Fingers crossed! But I also believe in "third time lucky", regardless if it's bad or not, so whatever the outcome it's going to work out in the end.

Frequently Asked Questions #1

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.

Are there any online versions of RPG Maker XP or VX?

There aren't any online versions of Enterbrain's RPG Makers, although there are two websites that I know of that boast emulated RPG Makers, thus:

• My Game Builder - A fabulous website where you can create games, including RPG Maker type games. In addition to being able to create maps and events, you can also use the built-in editor to create or edit graphics. They have regular competitions in different categories, not just RPGs. Highly recommended if you have a few hours to kill. (You do need to sign up - it's free - to create the games, but not to play them.)
• Flash RPG Maker - You would expect that something on the Newgrounds site would be good, and this one shows great promise. However, it fails miserably for one reason: it's buggy as hell! Not recommended!

How do I change the default font?

To change the default font, which will apply to all windows, in the Window_Base class, directly beneath Super(), place the following:

Font.default_name = "Times New Roman"

The font for all windows will now be Times New Roman. Bear in mind, though, that just because you might have a fancy font for your game, that doesn't mean that everyone else will have it and it will invariably generate an error message or the text won't show up in any of the windows.

To rectify this, we will need to set up an array variable to list the available fonts, including alternatives if a particular font isn't available. To do this, place the following outside the Window_Class, i.e. just above the class Window_Base < Window or in a separate module:

FONT_NAME = ["Arial", "Verdana", "Times New Roman"]

Then under Super(), place:

Font.default_name = FONT_NAME

This will then go through the list until it finds the installed font, starting with the first name.

How do I change the default windowskin?

Windowskins are imported into the Graphics/Windowskins folder and then placed into a "Cache". The default windowskin is then set in the Database (under "System").

If, however, you want to change the windowskin during the game without affecting the default one, you can use the following:

self.windowskin = RPG::Cache.windowskin("Windowskin_Name")

where "Windowskin_Name" is the name of the windowskin to be used. This is placed under the def initialize, right under the Bitmap setup. You can use this simple method with each instance of a Window, with each one having a different Windowskin.

What is RMVX "batch entry"?

By default message boxes allow only four lines of text. If you check "Batch Entry", you'll be able to exceed the four lines and RMVX will automatically create separate text boxes for you, each containing four lines, which saves you from manually clicking on "Show Text" each time.

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.

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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.