Paranormality: Darkling Official Projects Site

Since I've now bought a copy of RPG Maker VX Ace, I've been focusing on familiarising myself with its features, functions and script.

The projects site for Paranormality: Darkling is now online and will be updated as and when updates to the project are finished.

Here is the final opening (animated) title screen:

I've been writing most of the scripts myself, porting over some of the RMVX scripts I've done, particularly the Extra Stats script, which is being updated for both and will be updated after my interview.

Scripts Updates and News

New Site Formula

RPG Maker Times Companion has been going through a metamorphosis. This is the front page for the entire blog, highlighting some of the major sections. It also acts as an index for some pages, leading directing to the blog.

Scripts Updates

I've developed a "Universal Configurations Module", which consolidates all of the settings for my scripts (past and present) and makes it easier to set them all up, rather than going into each one individually.

Other features include a "Required Modules Checker", where you can set modules to become required. If any are missing, the Required Modules Checker will throw a corresponding error message.

Also, the "Extra Stats VX" script has undergone a slight makeover, with a few additional stats added as well (including the shop count). The VXA version will be brought up-to-date as well.

These will all be updated next week (particularly after my interview).

No Updates For A While

There haven't been any updates on the blog for a while. This is because I've been focusing primarily on my other blog, Paranormal Footprints.

The Q-Engine v3.0 will be uploaded around the end of this month. It's been restructured, with additional features and functions installed. I'll put together a video showcasing the major features.

I've also been deliberating how exactly to proceed as far as writing articles. What I've started doing for Paranormal Footprints is scheduling articles and posts. It might be worth me doing that with this blog, although it does take time to write them. So, if I can employ better time management, this should work out much better.

RPG Maker DS Resource Pack - Promo Video

Although RPG Maker DS was only available in Japan, thanks to the folks at RPG Maker Web anyone can own the resources (graphics and music).

Invoking the feel of SNES-era RPGs, RPG Maker DS was a big hit in Japan. Unfortunately, it hasn't made it over to North America (yet). What has made it over however is a boatload of resources and graphical goodies.

We've taken the original resources and modified them (when necessary) to work perfectly with RPG Maker VX Ace. This resource pack is our biggest to date (even bigger than the original RPG Maker VX Ace RTP!!).

You can buy this awesome pack for only $29.99.
Get your copy of RPG Maker DS Resource Pack today!

Changes Are Afoot

There are going to be several changes to the way the RPG Maker Times collective sites function.

After careful consideration, I've come up with a solution I believe will benefit all of my visitors. While, for the most part, all of the pages on this blog will remain intact the majority have been duplicated to RPG Maker Times Companion as pages.

RPG Maker Times will remain as it is, but with more news articles on RPG Maker (XP, VX and VX Ace), as well as other RPG Makers. I don't have the time to actually review or test each one, but the news will be in the form of articles taken from their corresponding social media pages or websites, along with appropriate links. This way I can maintain the blog with more posts more easily to fit in with my current time schedule.

There will also be site announcements here whenever there are updates to the RPG Maker Times domain and subdomain websites. I'd also like to give this blog an overhaul - layout-wise - which has been deferred for too long. This might not be the actual template, but certainly some of the sidebar widgets and a much cleaner, more dynamic layout.

RPG Maker Times Companion will focus more on resources and tools/utilities, as well as my scripts and tutorials. I'm presently trying to bring all the tutorials up-to-date to include all of the present RPG Makers (RM2K3, XP, VX and VXA), including organising demos. This is an ongoing task, which will take some time to complete.

Also, the Windowskins page is being reformated to make it easier to view the windowskins. While still unfinished, its current setup has an index page indicating which windowskin is compatible with which RPG Maker, but it's not working. I'm looking for something much more dynamic, so the results will be easier to edit but at the same time slightly less cumbersome to view.

As far as the Projects is concerned, this entire section (as well as the projects themselves) have been put on hold while the changes and updates take place. This may take some time, but at some point I'm determined to rekindle them, particularly "The Gladiator Project", which I've worked hard on developing (despite the fact that it's been ongoing and deferred a number of times). As a side-note, the actual projects pages are not updated at all yet; they're just placeholders for now.

So, as you can see, I will be busy for a while. In between work, RPG Making and my other major baby, Paranormal Footprints, I've a LOT of work to do, so please bear with me. I will focus on them as and when time permits.

Just A Quick Update

I've gone through the posts on this blog and rectified the ones that were missing or no longer working. No doubt I've missed a few, so let me know and I'll fix them. This includes links no longer working to software, utilities and online resource sites.

RPG Maker Times Companion has had a number of updates, including tutorials and utilities. I'm putting the updates on the home page for now, but as the rest of the (original) pages are completed, the updates will become more informative again.

The next project after this will be the windowskins.

RMT Companion (Re)Developing Nicely

RPG Maker Times Companion has had a facelift. Essentially it's the same and there's still a lot of work needing to be done, but progress is slow but it IS being made. The blog isn't abandoned. (I've been busy with my other sites and projects.)

Updates will now always appear on the front page, as additional pages are added. That way you can determine which updates have been implemented.

Over the course of the next few days, I will continue updating (scripts, tools and utilities, etc.) and will then be focusing on the windowskins and graphic resources.

Check it often for the updates. For other updates you might like to check RPG Maker Times on Facebook or Google+.

Windowskin Changer Scriptlet RMVX v1.0

Download Script

This simple scriptlet allows you to change the windowskin in the middle of a game using the script call event command.

Change Windowskin

To change the windowskin, use the following:

   change_skin(windowskin)

where "windowskin" corresponds to the number in the WINDOWSKINS hash - NOT the windowskin filename.

Reset Windowskin

To reset the windowskin to the system default, use the following:

   reset_windowskin

NOTE: ALL windowskins must be imported into the "Graphics/System" folder.

Installation

Copy and paste the scriptlet between Materials and Main Processes.

Settings can be changed and windowskins can be added under the CWWSC_SETTINGS Module.

RMVX Ace Windowskins - Tutorial

There has been a flurry of questions about RMVXA windowskins. Essentially they are the same as RMVX, so any windowskin designed for RMVX will also work with RMVXA. As with RMVX, use the Resource Manager (F10) in RMVXA to import the chosen windowskin into the Graphics/System folder.

When used in a game, they will look almost the same (see the comparisons below). However, RMVXA has additional colour settings that override the background graphic normally displayed in RMVX, resulting in only the border and cursor from the windowskin showing and the background becomes the default window colors.

RMVX Windowskin

RMVXA Windowskin

As you can see, the windowskins are the same, but with the background overridden by the default colors in RMVXA.

There is a script "cheat" to overcome this problem. Insert this snippet between Material and Main:

class Window_Base < Window
  # "true" to enable override, "false" to use default
  USE_WINDOWSKIN = true

  # Update Tone
  def update_tone
    self.tone.set($game_system.window_tone) unless USE_WINDOWSKIN
  end
end

The end result is this:

This is the Status Screen using the RMVXA windowskin, which is the same as the original RMVX one, without needing any conversion.

Resources & Updates

I'll get the updates out of the way first before showcasing some of the resource links I've found. There are only a few of them anyway.

Site Updates

In a previous post I mentioned about migrating a few posts over to RPG Maker Times Companion. These are primarily resources (including scripts and utilities), which will also give me a chance to go through and resolve any missing links. And then, once all of the sections are in place there, I can finally concentrate on the annoyingly redundant top menu. Many of the links will cross-reference RPG Maker Times Companion.

Resources

Here are a few very good resources sites (each opens in a new window/tab for convenience):

• The Magnum of Noches - This is a very good, resource-rich site. Sadly, however, it was announced that updates to the site have ceased. Many of the resources are still online and ready for use, but make sure you credit the original creators accordingly.
• Tieris Illia - This site does have quite a number of quality resources and materials, from iconsets to sideview battlers. It's well worth checking out.
  
  
  
• Blogshin - There are some awesome tiles add-ons on this site, primarily for RMVX/VXA. It's in Portugese, but it's easy to navigate and figure out. Well worth a visit if not to download anything, then just to browse.