Extra Stats Script VX v3.0

The Extra Stats script for RMVX (Version 3.0) is now available to download, ahead of schedule. The Manual is also available in DOC and PDF formats on the page.

The Version History, plus an instructional demo, will be updated at a later date.

RPG Maker XP Won't Open On Windows 7

It recently came to my attention when a friend asked me for some tech support regarding installing RMXP for the first time on his Windows 7 computer. When he installed the program and RTP, he encountered an "RPG Maker XP has stopped working" error.

RPG Maker XP has stopped working error

So, not one to shy away from a challenge, I came up with a solution for him. And, hopefully, if anyone else encounters this problem this'll help them as well.

Open Control Panel and click on System & Security, then click System. Click on Advanced System Settings in the left-hand panel. This will bring up the "System Properties".

Under Performance, click "Settings", thus:

System Properties

This will bring up the Performance Options. Click on the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) tab. Click Add to add RPG Maker XP to the list (making sure it's checked).

Data Execution Prevention (DEP)

When you click Ok, then Ok on the "System Properties" dialog, you should now be able to run RPG Maker XP. Also, make sure that your firewall and/or virus checker recognises it.

Scripts and Site Updates

Several scripts, tutorials and demos have been updated. They will also be updated on RPG Maker Times Companion shortly.

Scripts Updates

The following scripts have updates:

• Extra Stats Window v3.0 - Released very soon, pending a few tweaks and bug fixes.
• Q-Engine v2.0 Release Candidate - This has been undergoing a rewrite to make things easier and to address a number of additional conflicts.
• Q-Engine Message System (QeMS) v1.0 - This is a very basic but functional message system, with more added to it as time goes on. (Personal Note: This is more of a personal experiment to apply what I've learnt - am learning - about Regular Expressions; it probably won't be released for awhile in favour of the others.)
• Other Scripts - All other scripts I've written for RMXP and RMVX are being brought up-to-date and will eventually be migrated to RPG Maker Times Companion.

Tutorials/Demos Updates

A number of tutorials are being brought up-to-date as well, including the Complete Chests Tutorial (which has its own section on RPG Maker Times Companion). I'm hoping to concurrently release additional demos for all RPG Makers after the "original" is done. Most of the other demos attached to some of the tutorials will also be brought up-to-date.

Site Updates

All of the windowskins are being migrated to RPG Maker Times Companion. This includes all of the windowskin utilities and the windowskins on this blog, as well as its predecessor Wordpress website. You can find them at the Windowskins RMTC subdomain. They are neatly laid out for ease of use and convenience and on the index page you can preview them before deciding to download them.

RPG Maker Windowskins

Work on the RPG Maker Windowskins weblog has finally begun. The previous hosts have been taken down completely; instead, they redirect to this website.

All of the existing windowskins are slowly migrating to this site and, when finished, I'll be adding more as time goes on. In addition, the site will contain windowskin tutorials and how-to's, with several more planned at a later date.

These tutorials/how-to's are planned, but not implemented yet (these will be updated as soon as the windowskins database is up-to-date):

• How To Install Windowskins
• How To Tweak RMVXA Windowskins
• How To Use RGSS To Change Windowskins
• How to Install Multiple Windowskins

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EDIT: These are available on RPG Maker Times Companion.

Important Notice / Q-Engine Update / QeMS

RPG MAKER TIMES COMPANION - IMPORTANT NOTICE

The RPG Maker Times Companion site is migrating to another web host by the end of the month. The tech support for the current one is the worst I've ever encountered - 3 weeks to answer a "High Priority" problem regarding a potentially serious site security issue IS crap.

That aside, all of the projects (past and present) - The Gladiator Projects and Paranormality: Darkling - will also be migrating to here. Each will have their own projects subfolder.

Windowskins will also have their own subdomain under the Companion umbrella, directly ported from a previous Wordpress blog.

This means I can delete the previous blogs and place them all in one place for convenient editing and updating.

Q-ENGINE UPDATE / Q-ENGINE MESSAGE SYSTEM

The Q-Engine has been updated to fix several bugs and tweak existing sections for improved performance and layout.

I've started working on a simple message system plugin for the Q-Engine, QeMS, which will provide basic message commands to use in message windows. (For a highly evolved, advanced message system I'd recommend Modern Algebra's ATS.)

The main purpose for this is to avoid conflicts and compatibility issues with other messaging or similar scripts.

Paranormality RMVX / Q-Engine Features

Paranormality RMVX Project

I've started working on a new RMVX project, entitled Paranormality: Darkling, which are loosely based on my Jack Urban Chronicles novels (in progress) and will showcase what the Q-Engine is capable of. The project has just entered its embryonic stages, but regular updates will appear on its official website.

Q-Engine Features List

Now that the Q-Engine is at version 1.17.26.3 (cited as Release Candidate 2.0), it's time to showcase some of its major features. All of these are customisable from the Configurations Settings.

• Animated Title Screen - Animated title and author/subtitle graphics, as well as moving layers.
• Menu Information Windows - Provides additional information about each menu command (main menus).
• Game Over Menu - A menu on the Game Over screen to provide options to restart, continue or terminate.
• Actor Ranks/Titles - A feature where a title is given depending on the actors' levels.
• Alternative Layout - An alternative Status Screen layout, replete with titles. This feature has recently undergone a rewrite for improvements and compatibility issues.
• Extra Character Info - A feature to provide extra bio information on the Status Screen, such as gender and age.
• Pretitles/Last Names - Gives options to include a pretitle and last name (surname).
• Actor Options - Displays additional bonuses derived from objects and actor options (set in the Database.)
• Battle Start/End Images - Displays an announcer image at the beginning and end of battles.
• Critical Flash - The screen flashes a certain colour when a critical hit has been struck (actors and monsters).
• Turn Counter - A window is displayed during battle counting the number of combat rounds.
• Extra Stats Window - Shows a window displaying additional stats, such as the number of combats won/lost, the amount of gold collected, etc. This can also be summoned from the map by pressing a (predefined) key.

Q-Engine Release Candidate Version 2.0

Work on the Q-Engine has renewed after a brief pause.

The Release Candidate for Version 2.0 is being reworked, with much of the code being tidied up and reconstructed to iron out several incongruities and compatibility issues. The manual is being rewritten from scratch to make it easier to read and will eventually be available as a downloadable file, which will be in DOC and PDF formats. There may also be a simple HTML-ised version online in time.

Planned additions to the Q-Engine (prior to the release of Version 2.0) include:

• A new Animated Game Over screen
• Greater flexibility for alternative Status Screen layouts, including character profile information.
• Additional stats for the Extra Stats window, including XY coordinates.
• Additional Bitmap methods, including drawing vertical lines and boxes (this is a working idea only at this point).
• A new 3D MMORPG stylised Equipment Screen, also reflected on the Status Screen.

When Version 2.0 is completed, it will be integrated into The Gladiator Project, which will be rewritten from scratch, drawing on the original ideas but the entire plot infrastructure will be re-done as well. Interest was renewed in the project when I found some archived materials for previous projects, including some very old RM2K3 archives.

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.

Updates Pending New Graphics Card

The RPG Maker Times main blog will eventually become fully integrated into RPG Maker Times Companion. The main blog will then be used for major updates (including Tutorials and Projects).

Work on RPG Maker Times Companion is going slowly, only because I'm waiting for a new graphics card to arrive. Most of the pages and posts now need some form of uploading (files and images) and the coil on my current graphics card has burnt out, so it's unstable to say the least. Each time the Explorer dialog box opens - whether to save or load files - it will crash and reboot itself.

So, that means that once the new graphics card arrives and is installed, I'll be sure to continue with the updates proper. This will also include the Flash menu at the top (finally!).

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.