Navane's RPGM 2 related questions

[Zeroth]

Note: This is where I'll ask all my game-related RPGM 2 questions so I don't clutter up the boards. :)

Okay, first off, how do I get rid of the SFX when I'm warping to a different location? I'm guessing that it's in a preset script somewhere. Problem is I don't know where this preset script is at, there are like 300+! So, if any of you could help me it would be much apperciated.

[Dungeon Warden]

The Footsteps sound is in Script 004: Exit Map

Personally, I would change the sound rather then remove it. It's good to have a transition sound but those foot falls don't always work so I can understand why you want to change them.

If you were really ambitious, you could keep track of the type of map you were leaving and alter the footsteps accordingly. Note that the SFX is skipped then the party is dead. You can use this as an example of how to select when it's on or off.

If you download my FAQ, you will see most of the scripts written out (thanks to RPGamer), so it's easier to search for what you're looking for.

[Zeroth]

Thanks a lot! Ambition isn't my thing right now, I what to get my begining finished first before I try anything too complex. Although there is one thing pretty crazy that I definitly want to do, so you can expect to hear from me concerning that.

[Zeroth]

Sorry for double posting, but I have another question.

I know this is a basic question, but when you leave a text box open to insert a wait command, (such as inserting a wait command after a comma) is there a way to properly space the words without having to look at the in-game sentence to see if everything is spaced okay? I don't have an instruction manuel in case you're woundering, and I'm also using a keyboard, thankfully. Thans. :)

[Dungeon Warden]

I know this is a basic question, but when you leave a text box open to insert a wait command, (such as inserting a wait command after a comma) is there a way to properly space the words without having to look at the in-game sentence to see if everything is spaced okay? I don't have an instruction manual in case you're wondering, and I'm also using a keyboard, thankfully. Thanks. :)

Considering the many hours I spend going back and forth checking my text in game every time I wanted to fix something, I really hope that there isn't an easier solution.

One thing you could do is measure the space the text takes up (it's different depending on the size of the font and the style you use). The Font spacing doesn't always line up with the screen spacing but you can get pretty close. Even after careful measuring you can still be off by a square or two.

I was working more with text and inputing choices then with using wait. I'm not really sure what you're trying to do but the principles should be the same.

Sorry for double posting, but I have another question.

It's technically not double posting if the new post is a week after the last one. Double posting usually involves posting a correction or addition to your last post when you could have just edited your last post. More annoying is posting "please respond" or something similar before anyone has had a chance to respond.

Since this is your topic to ask questions, double posting is inevitable as you need to double post to ask a new question.

[Zeroth]

It's been a long time since I've lasted posted in here. Anyway, I'm trying to make two characters (I'm going to be making more than just two characters move simultanously later) perform different actions at the same time, but when I try to make two different scripts and use the "Call Script" command and put "Apply Together", it doesn't work. I haven't tried this yet, but is the correct way to do this is to call a script in each called command?

Another thing, is there a way to stop a character animation in mid-motion and "freeze it"? I'm guessing that if there is a way, it might be somewhat complex and might not be worth the trouble.

[Dungeon Warden]

It's been a long time since I've lasted posted in here. Anyway, I'm trying to make two characters (I'm going to be making more than just two characters move simultanously later) perform different actions at the same time, but when I try to make two different scripts and use the "Call Script" command and put "Apply Together", it doesn't work. I haven't tried this yet, but is the correct way to do this is to call a script in each called command?

Yes, this is the basic idea. Have a main script that is part of the event that starts the actions. Create two separate scrips that control each event character. You need to use Event : Control : Change to switch to other events so you can control them. Use the Wait For Script End command to make sure both scripts end before continuing (if both scripts take the same amount of time to execute you won't need this). Use apply together before the two Call script Commands so that they run at the same time.

Note that you can only have 10 scripts running at the same time. Each script uses up processor time so you can have major slowdown if the scripts have any processor-heavy commands (noted by the number after the command name).

Another thing, is there a way to stop a character animation in mid-motion and "freeze it"? I'm guessing that if there is a way, it might be somewhat complex and might not be worth the trouble.

The Single Action command (found under Members and Events Effects) will allow you to stop the animation at the end of a loop but there is no way to control where the animation "freezes." I know there are times when you'd want to freeze on certain actions but the game doesn't have the ability to do this.

[Zeroth]

Thanks a lot. One more think I have to ask: is there a way to combine two animations together? For example, say if I want to make a character model rise up in the air and turn around at the same time, is there a way to do this?

[Dungeon Warden]

No, commands that affect a character's position can't be applied together. This is mainly to prevent people from applying two commands together that have opposite effects; like trying to move the character up and down at the same time. There may be other processing reasons not to allow this as well.

I find that if you set one motion to 1F and set the other to 4F, the figure will appear to be doing both together. You may need to play with the numbers somewhat, but you should be able to suggest that both are happening together even though they actually aren't.

For example, In my game I have a polymorphic effect that causes the character to change size as well. The change model command is an instant effect (you can't change this) but when you add the size change command it actually seems like the character is transforming into the new form. When the character changed into a form the same size as the previous form it actually looked wrong (the character just became the new form). By adding a command to grow and shrink the character (one after the other 2F each) the character seemed to transform properly.

[Zeroth]

Thanks a lot, man. I really appreciate you helping me out.

Btw, how do you know when someone posts a question about RPG Maker 2? Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen you logged in, but then here you are answering RPG Maker 2 questions like you do it for a living.

[Dungeon Warden]

I have a list of sites in my bookmarks that I check every day, the Pavilion RPG Maker 2 workshop being one of them. I spent a long time learning to use RPGM2 and want to pass that knowledge on to anyone struggling with the system.

[Zeroth]

I really appreciate the effort, Dungeon Warden.

[Zeroth]

I made two large buildings using the Building Editor to be placed on a map. I placed them on the map, copied them to place again, and they wouldn't appear. Can you only have 512 blocks on a map? Is that the reason why they won't appear? Is there a way around this?

[Dungeon Warden]

Nope, 512 is the absolute limit of blocks per map or dungeon. However, dungeons have there own block set so you can technically have 1024 blocks in a dungeon (512 dungeon blocks + 512 building blocks - sorry you can't reduce one limit to increase the other). The reason for this is that it takes a lot pf processing power to render a block, especially if the block has multiple textures. You can run out of memory and cause a lot of slow down if you put a lot on a map and thus there are limits to everything.

There are ways around this.

1. Build the building into a hillside so you can use fewer blocks

2. Use the resize command to make a few blocks take up more space. You'll need to put a trench or steep hill around the edges to prevent people walking through them.

3. Put the building near the edge of the map or place fences, bushes, etc. around so the party can't walk around it. Also limit the camera movement so the player can't see the back of the building. Don't place any blocks where the player can't see them.

4. HARD - Build the building using the dungeon editor and change the background so it looks the same as the map. Create a smaller version of the building for the map. Then have the party move to the dungeon when they get close to the building and switch back to the map then they move away.

5. ADVANCED - write a script that makes buildings appear and disappear depending on where the party is and which direction the camera is facing. This works because the building you place aren't actually gone, the program just can't render more then 512 blocks at the time. By turning some blocks off (using Event control) you can control which blocks the program will render. I haven't tried this but I know some people have done it successfully.

You may be able to think of other tricks you can use as well.

[Zeroth]

Thanks an lot DW. I really didn't expect this problem when I ran into it. It put a really big dent into my plans, but I definitly use some of the tricks you mentioned. Thanks again!

[madcopper]

5. ADVANCED - write a script that makes buildings appear and disappear depending on where the party is and which direction the camera is facing. This works because the building you place aren't actually gone, the program just can't render more then 512 blocks at the time. By turning some blocks off (using Event control) you can control which blocks the program will render. I haven't tried this but I know some people have done it successfully.

Although this idea does work, you have to be careful about it because you can only have a limited amount of these types of scripts running. I posted how to do something like this the other week and I was only able to get about 10 of these scripts running without lag. However, if you keep it under this then your good to go. Also if you did something like this I would recommend doing it for areas of buildings rather then individual buildings which might mean you have to build multiple buildings in the same BE file. But on that note you could create rather large cities. I'll play around with it and tell you what I find.

[Zeroth]

Is there a way to make the camera stationary when your character moves? I wanted to make the camera stand still like you see in some old Playstation. Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil are a two examples.

[Dungeon Warden]

Is there a way to make the camera stationary when your character moves? I wanted to make the camera stand still like you see in some old Playstation. Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil are a two examples.

Yes, use the Camera Custom Rotate command to limit to motion of the camera. If the max and min are the same direction, the camera can't change direction.

Note that the camera will always follow the party leader. There are ways to get around this (by using a fake party and turning the real party 100% transparent) but it only works in a cut scene.

[madcopper]

You can trick the camera, sort of.

What you would do is place the main character at the center of the place where you want the scene to take place. Then you would have to create an event and create a script that would allow you to control the movement of that event. It would be possible to have the event interact with events but it would kind of choppy and not very fluid.

Sorry if that didnt really help.

[Zeroth]

You can trick the camera, sort of.

What you would do is place the main character at the center of the place where you want the scene to take place. Then you would have to create an event and create a script that would allow you to control the movement of that event. It would be possible to have the event interact with events but it would kind of choppy and not very fluid.

Sorry if that didnt really help.

Thanks a lot for all your help, guys. And it helped a little.

[Zeroth]

I made a building with multiple building pieces with the rendering trick (5. Advance), but I'm having a major problem with it. The hit detection is way off. I set the direction of one of the parts of the building to South, but the hit detection acts like that building part is facing East. The same problem applies to the other parts of the building as well (except with different directions). I tried a lot of things, even turning the party and building bypass to off, but that did nothing. I really need help.

[madcopper]

Um I don't really understand the problem. So you made a single building of multiple parts from building editor and they are not appearing/disappearing due to direction? If you are doing the trick that both DW and I talked about, I would not recommend basing the display status of building on direction of the character, rather its distance away from the object. Use the script I made here (http://www.pavilionboards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19236) and put it in the action script of the event that is the building.

By using this it detects the characters distance away from the object and changes the status of said event. (make sure you change the location where this information is being loaded from because it loads from the location where the event was placed)

So try this and tell me how it goes.

[Zeroth]

Sorry for not being very clear. I'll try again.

I made a building made up of multiple parts ( A, B, C, and D), but when I turn Building part A on and have it facing South, Building part A acts like it's facing West. Think of it as a straight wall. When I turn on Wall part A and have it so it's facing East to West, it appears East to West, but when I walk into the wall I pass right through it and the hit detection acts like the wall is facing North to South. What is the problem and how do I fix it?

[Zeroth]

Sorry for double posting, but I'm using a mobile device that only lets me type so much in a single post.

@madcopper

Thanks for posting that script, but I'll use that as a last resort. I'm not very tech savy with RPG Maker 2 and there are a lot of things I don't understand about it yet. I don't really even understand that script, which shows just how much I still have to learn.

[Dungeon Warden]

How are you turning the building? There are several ways to change a buildings direction though most of them have to do with events. If you use the Object placement editor, I don't see how you could be having this problem. If you are using an event, you can run into problems depending on what method you use.

Have you tried modeling the building facing the proper direction? That seems like the best solution unless you need the same building to face different directions throughout the game. You don't need to rebuild it, just copy the building and turn it when you paste it back. Delete the old building or use the A <- B option to copy the building to a new file. You might need to do a bit of searching to figure out the A <- B interface. The documentation isn't very clear on how it works. It basically lets you open two files at once so you can copy for one to the other - from B (the original file) to A (the one you're currently working on).

[Zeroth]

I did just that before I read your post and it worked. I was turning the building using the Event Editor. In the Event Editor I made the building face North (since the hit detection faced that way) and just changed the direction the building in the Building Editor. That fixed the problem and it was pretty easy to do. Thanks a lot for the help so far, guys.

[Zeroth]

Today I was going to have my party warp up and down a flight of stairs. These stairs are four spaces wide. I thought about creating four separate warp events for those four spaces (i.e. when your party walks downstairs to the furthest left, the party would appear on the furthest left hand side or to the furthest right hand side, etc), but I want to try to do it with one event. How would I do this? I tried to figure some of it out, but I honestly have no idea how do it.

[madcopper]

Today I was going to have my party warp up and down a flight of stairs. These stairs are four spaces wide. I thought about creating four separate warp events for those four spaces (i.e. when your party walks downstairs to the furthest left, the party would appear on the furthest left hand side or to the furthest right hand side, etc), but I want to try to do it with one event. How would I do this? I tried to figure some of it out, but I honestly have no idea how do it.

Ok what you need to do it create one script, then place the event either on the map 4 times, or use duplicate events. Here is the script to warp.

Game Data Load

Sort Party X (or Y depending on which way your stair case is facing)

Apply if (farthest left X(or Y) coordinate or right)
Warp to Bottom of Staircase same side
end

Apply if (next space over)
Warp to next space over at the bottom
end

Repeat for the other spaces. You don't need to do both X and Y coordinate because unless your stair case has some weird rotation to it one of those coordinates will remain constant.

Set the event to equal and like I said place either place the same event how ever many spaces it covers or you could place it once and in an action script do the following.

Action Script

Temp Variable 0 = 3
Repeat Temp Variable 0 ≠ 0
Duplicate Event (Your warp event) +- 1 (for either x or y)
Temp Variable 0 = Temp Variable 0 -1
End

If your not comfortable with duplicate events, which is understandable they are quite tricky, then just paste the event in the desired spaces.

If any of this is unclear, let me know.

[Dungeon Warden]

Why warp when you can use Location Move to go from one step to the next. I'm not sure what you're trying to do, but you can use the above script with Location Move to get a more realistic look if you want the party to move up and down a large set of stairs.

[madcopper]

Why warp when you can use Location Move to go from one step to the next. I'm not sure what you're trying to do, but you can use the above script with Location Move to get a more realistic look if you want the party to move up and down a large set of stairs.

I see what your saying, but I think what he was going for is more along the lines of going from the top floor of a dungeon to the bottom floor of a dungeon and having it so it appears that as you change from one dungeon to the next, it looks realistic.

[Dungeon Warden]

Well, he wasn't very clear about what he was trying to do, so I thought I'd throw in the option in case it might help.