Ars Magia Novella (Draft)

The first draft of the Ars Magia novella is complete. I'll be working on proofreading and editing it in preparation for the final draft. Publication (through self-publication) is on schedule - I was aiming for March 2011 initially - although I'm still hoping for mainstream publication.

If I do opt for self-publication, most likely the novella will be in a downloadable PDF format. The original price I quoted was $9.99, but this will be reduced to either $3.99 or $5.99, depending on the completed novella's length. This will be available for purchase directly from the RPG Maker Times blog or from the Ars Magia blog (most likely both of them).

There will eventually be four novellas in total, which will tie all of the RMVX games together. The first, Genesis, is the prequel to the eponymous RMVX game, detailing events immediately before where the game starts. The second novella will be the interim between the first and second games, with another novella set between the second and third games. And the epilogic novella will be set immediately after the third game in the series, tying up any loose ends and concluding the Ars Magia story.

Although the series title is still exploratory, even at this stage, it may end up being that the individual novellas are self-published and the mainstream publication is a consolidation of all four novellas (including the games stories, which will be elaborated upon). This would ultimately depend on a number of factors, especially time constraints, as I'm not entirely sure how long this rather ambitious, multi-faceted project will take.

Another consideration is a name change, most likely reverting to Ars Mechanica, which was the original name of the series upon which the first short-short stories were based and around which the games have been loosely based. This applies to both games and novellas.

List of Other RPG Makers

Almost everyone knows about Ascii/Enterbrain's RPG Maker by now - from RM95 to RMVX - but these are not the only programs capable of producing RPG games. RPG Maker Times has been going for quite some time now, including its predecessor blog RPG Maker 2K3 Master (now closed), and its primary focus has been on these three most well known RPG Makers.

As part of its growth, however, it's about time that RPG Maker Times expanded, encompassing some (or all) of the other RPG makers available today. Of course, this may take some time as I'll have to try them proper.

Below is a list of some noteworthy others (most I have tried at one point or another).

• BYOND - BYOND stands for "Build Your Own Net Dream". With it you can not only create RPGs but other types of games too. This is a quote directly from the website.
  
  

  BYOND is the premier community for making and playing online multiplayer games. Enjoy hundreds of games created by our community, by people just like you. BYOND supports board and card games, role-playing, action, strategy, and more!
  
  Making your own multiplayer games with BYOND is free. As a game creation system, BYOND is powerful and flexible, with an easy-to-learn language that stands apart from any other game maker, tools for developers, plus articles and tutorials. Building multiplayer games is easy with built-in online support. Find out how easy it is to create the game of your dreams. Your game could be the next big indie games sensation!

  
  I'm very intrigued by this program, especially by one of its games, called Nestalgia, an interesting-looking "unique MORPG inspired by the gameplay of classic console RPGs".

Read more »

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).

Scripts/Scriptlets Updates - Victory Count/Map Location

Several scripts have now been updated for both RMXP and RMVX, so in many cases there are two versions of each. ("Anonymous" pointed out I should alias, something I'm not in the habit of doing, so yeah, more aliased methods.)

As always, place them below Materials for them to work. They are mostly plug-and-play so should automatically function.

Read more »

What Happened To The Gladiator Project?

This is a question I'm asked frequently - especially lately - and it is one for which there are multiple answers. In order to respond then on why TGP was put on hold, I'd like first to delve somewhat into its history.

Origins and History

When TGP was first conceived, back when RM2K was all the rage, I started creating a simple game based around fighting in a gladiatorial arena. Back then it was simply called Arena. The project was quickly abandoned due to RM2K's limitations; there was just not enough scope - even with advanced eventing - to achieve precisely what I wanted to achieve.

With the advent, and subsequent (unendorsed) translation of RM2K3, my interest in TGP was rekindled. The project title was changed to Arena Gladiatorium, which was an expanded version of its original hack-and-slash concept. It had a sense of renewed purpose, fuelled primarily by RM2K3's rich features and versatility. I also had a clearer vision on its direction.

Arena Gladiatorium was halfway finished - replete with customised graphics, a unique Custom Menu System and a fertile storyline - when disaster struck. A virulent, insidious virus attacked my system that eventually destroyed my hard drive, and I lost it all! Or so I thought at the time. Suffice to say that the project died, along with my interest.

Read more »

Happy Christmas 2010

Wishing all my visitors a Happy Christmas, wherever you are in the world.

I won't be doing too much on the RPG Maker scene until the New Year now. I'll be continuing work on Ars Magia 1: Genesis, trying to get a playable demo. The tie-in novella should be finished by March, which will be purchasable from the weblog or this blog.

I'll be changing the layout to this blog as well, either using another template or (most likely) designing one from scratch. It's time for a new look, as this one's been up for close to a year now.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
~Companion Wulf

Zelda Forest Maze Tutorial - RMXP/VX

Zelda Maze Demo RMXPEDIT (9 Dec 2011): Demo now available. Checked for viruses using Comodo Antivirus.

Continuing with the Fun With Variables theme and as an expansion to the Simple Event-Based Random Teleport tutorial, here's something a little different. It's designed for RMXP but can also be adapted work on RMVX (though not the same way on RM2K3 without some tweaking).

For those of you familiar with the "infamous" Forest Maze in The Legend of Zelda (for the NES) will know all about it. For those unfamiliar with it - shame on you for not playing this classic! - the aim is to find your way through the forest using specific directions. If you don't, you'll just be wandering aimlessly and won't find your way out. That's the foundation of this tutorial.

This is a rather long, but not overly complex, tutorial, so take the time to read it and go through step by step as necessary.

Pre-Setup

To begin, we'll need the following:

• 4 Variables: 0001: Randomize, 0002: Map ID, 0003: Coord-X and 0004: Coord-Y.
• 1 Common Event: Teleport
• 2 Maps: Maze Map and Congratulations!
• At least 5 events for the map, although I've used 9 in total (some just for effects).

Read more »

AMG Video In-Game Features Demo

This is a video demo of some of the in-game features, including the intro through to the Status Menu. The intro will be changed later, however. Don't forget to read the footnotes below too.

Revision Edit:
5 December, 2010

The video has been truncated from its original. I also added some annotations to better explain the features.

Most of the scripts have been tweaked to integrate properly into the AMG system. The characters' profile information is incomplete yet, as is the "Extra Stats" page. A complete list of scripts is available here, updated as other in-game scripts are updated.

A playable demo will be released soon - though no sooner than next year - and I'll upload it then. Watch this space, I guess!

Simple Event-Based Random Teleport Tutorial - RMXP/VX

As a continuation of the Fun With Variables tutorial, I thought I'd try something a little different.

What if you wanted to create a simple but effective event-based map teleporter? Of course, a more complex teleport system is possible using scripts, but for the purposes of keeping things simple, events are better.

This will work in RMXP and RMVX, although not the same way in RM2K3.

Variables Setup

To achieve this, we'll need to create 4 variables:

• 0001: Randomize
• 0002: Coord-X
• 0003: Coord-Y
• 0004: Map ID

Map Setup

Next, we'll need our maps to teleport between. For this tutorial, we'll be using two maps and teleporting (randomly) between the two. Let's create the first one, setting the dimensions to their minimums - 20x15 (RMXP) and 17x13 (RMVX). Make a note of these numbers (the maximum x-value and y-value), as we'll need them later.

In the centre of the map, create an event (called Teleporter or something similar) with an appropriate graphic for the Teleporter event. This can be a path tile or animated event graphic, or it can be blank for the element of surprise. Set the "Trigger" to "Player Touch". In RMVX, you might want to set the "Priority" to "Below Characters" as well. Leave the Event Commands blank for now; we'll come back to that shortly.

You might also want to place a flower tile or event or other feature to distinguish this map from the second one. Simply copy and paste this first map, then change the flower tile, event or feature to something else. That way when teleporting between the maps you'll know which one you're on.

Teleport Setup

In the Database, create a Common Event, called something like Teleport. In the Events Commands, we'll need the following:

• Set the variable Randomize to a number between 0 and the maximum x-value (from earlier), subtracting 1 because the coordinates actually start at 0, of the map. (If in doubt, in the Events Mode click on any of the right-most squares and note the first number.)
• Set the variable Coords-X to Randomize.
• Set Randomize to a number between 0 and the maximum y-value from earlier, again subtracting 1, of the map. (If in doubt, in Events Mode click on any of the bottom-most tiles to note the second number.)
• Set Coords-Y to Randomize.
• Finally, "Transfer Player" to their corresponding map and x/y coordinates. Select "Appoint With Variables" (RMXP) or "Designation With Variables" (RMVX). "Map ID", "Map X" and "Map Y" is set to their corresponding variables (i.e. 0004: Map ID, 0002: Coords-X and 0003: Coords-Y respectively.

Finalization

Before we can do anything, we'll need to go back to the Teleport Events on both maps and in the Event Commands, add a "Call Event" set to our "Teleporter" event from the Database.

When the game is run, every time the player steps on the "teleporter" it will transfer him to a random location on either map. If you added a distinguishing tile or feature to the map, you'll be able to tell which map you've been transported to.

One possible application for this could be for a maze-like series of maps, adding switches to the Event Commands according to which map you're on to trigger other events. In the next Fun With Variables tutorial - whenever that will be - I think I'll expand on this idea and create a map maze similar to the ones used in several Zelda games.

AMG Demo Release Date

I was asked recently on the Ars Magia: Genesis blog when a demo will be available.

The answer is: Soon! Edit: 1^st December, 2010 - Video Demo.

With Version 0.9 Private Release, the current version, I'm putting the finishing touches to the menu system, working industriously on script integration and overall aesthetics. Once that's done - and I'm satisfied with it - I'll upload a movie clip demonstrating this part of it, along with some additional screenshots. Version 0.9 also does not have any content yet because I've been working on that as another, separate project prior to putting the whole thing together in Version 1.0 Public Release.

Version 1.0 is nearing completion, with some of the maps already in place. I'm in the process of customising some of the graphics and fine-tuning the map scripts, as well as two minigames. Events take place immediately after the eponymous novella (almost finished) ends. When this version is released, which I'm estimating will be around Christmas or New Year (time permitting), it will be a playable demo.