charcter VFX & Real time battle system

[germybedwetter777]

Hey, I'm not nesessarily a noob at RPGM2, however i am on these message boards :P
Im creating a Harry Potter game right now, I was wondering: how do attatch glasses and a scar to my character models head? also, i want all the spell casting and battles to be in real time, i figure a turn based battle system may be a little unesessary for my game. 2 more misc. questions: how would i set up an event that would require a certain button to be pressed in a spacific amount of time in order to progress (like the timed button press sequences in God of War)? Also, I want to add some platforming elements to my game, however i cannot get the platforms that make up a bridge to move back and forth (in a horizontal fashion) correctly, how would i do this? thank you so much for answering!

Oh and one more: how do i get my characters to stand still when they are not moving? its rather odd that they just keep trotting along...perfectly stagnant.

[Rodak]

Re: charcter VFX & Real time battle system

My VFX Editor guide can help a bit with some of the VFX Questions.

The Stopping while not moving is Very Complicated, and when you say "a turn based battle system may be a little unesessary for my game" you are asking for TONS of work to make and debug a Custom Battle System. It's possible, but the game was not intended for that. Nash, Doyleman, and others have done it, but not easily!

"i cannot get the platforms that make up a bridge to move back and forth (in a horizontal fashion) correctly, how would i do this? thank you so much for answering!" is a bit vague.

What are the bits doing that is incorrect?

Timed button presses are easy.

Search the Tips and Tricks thread. I posted the scripts that power thePuzzle Room in The Clean Underwear Quest. They are exactly what you seek.

I hope that helps.Good Luck with it.

Peace.

EDIT:

I found the post for timed button presses!

Here is the script that runs the heart of the puzzles in the "Puzzle Room" of my demo (another shameless plug!). Basically you are stopping a spinning block with a carefully timed button press. Each side of the block has a different texture. I used three variations; a single block with the candle texture lit on one face and unlit on the other three; a four block puzzle with four "corner textures" that line up only on one of the faces (2 combinations that do not form patterns and one that does, plus one side blank for the "null position"); and a sadistic 9 piece puzzle.

The nifty part is the timing part. You need only a little practice to get it down, so it seems a well constructed script. I found the hard part to be getting a "Deny" sound to play when the button press was mistimed.

There are messages based on conditions surrounding this script excerpt, but they would be different for everybody, so here is the hard part (this script is attached to a "lever" object, so the "single action" command simply "flips the switch"):


Data: Flag: [Puzzle X Solved]: Off
Sound: SFX [Door Squeak]
Event: Effects: Single Action {check the "Disable Motion After" box}
Event Control: Change Target to [Puzzle X Piece X]
Script Branch: Repeat: Variable [User Button] /= {not equal to} 4
Sound [Switch 2]
Script Control: Apply Together
Event Move: Rotate Clockwise 90 degrees: 2 frames
Input: Buttons: Wait 2 frames
Script Branch: Sort: Variable User Button
Script Branch: Apply If: Number is +4
Sound: SFX [Deny]
Script: Branch End
Input: Buttons: Wait 3 Frames
Script: Branch End
Event Control: Event Info Load
Data: Variable [Puzzle Attempts] = [Puzzle Attempts] + 1
Script Branch: Condition: Variable [Event Dir] = +2 {or whatever}
Sound: SFX [Bell]
Text: Message "THAT'S IT!"
Data: Flag: [Puzzle X Piece X] On
Data: Game Info: Save
Script: Condition End
Text Message: "Wasn't Dat Fun?" {uncheck "Close Window" box}
Script Branch: Sort: Variable [User Button]
Script Branch: Apply if: Number is +4
Input: Buttons: Constant Wait
Script Branch: To Top
Script Branch: End
Text: Close Window
Script: Condition End

At the end, after the messages, I call a script to check all the flags for all the pieces of that puzzle. If they are all on I trip another flag for the entire puzzle (which controls the very beginning of the script messages). Of course the One-Piece Puzzle does not need to call a script, but the 4 piece and especially the 9 piece, puzzles need it.

The "Number of tries" variable is there so I could do something nice if they keep trying, and failing. I figure I'd just give it to those who have difficulty with the timing, but keep trying anyhow. If the variable gets big enough, I can slow it down or give them it outright, just as a reward for trying so hard (and because you do not want the player to lose interest or get completely stuck with no way to continue).

Peace.

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EDIT:
+++++++

The "Wasn't Dat Fun?" question part is essential to the script, even though it seems irrelevant. You need to change the value of the user input or it will confuse the script when it runs the next puzzle piece. The way I have it set up any button other than Triangle will close the window and change the user input variable's value.

If anyone knows a better way to do this, please let me know.