Using the same character in multiple areas

[Danyo]

I'm wondering if anyone has found a way to place a character in more than one area. For example, I want my party members to appear in different areas through out the story. They need to say different things each time they appear (different events attached to them each time). Is there an event that can make this happen? I know it would work if I created multiple character models for the same character, but with a 100 character limit that wouldn't be possible.

Also, has a way been found to recycle townspeople in different towns?

[Dyne]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

There have been many topics about this already. Unfortuantly, there is no way as of yet to recycle characters.

[Haitoku No Honoo]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

This is indeed the most crushing limitation of RPG Maker 3... I've just finished my first town, the smallest one I will have... and I've already used 15 characters...

Thats after reducing my initial number ( I had a bunch before explaining varies RPG stuff, I turned them all into signs and books though...)

Guess i'll be making my game in multiple episodes. =X

[Danyo]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

I find this extremely frustrating because there's basically no easy way to see any of your main characters outside of battle.

[Haitoku No Honoo]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

I find this extremely frustrating because there's basically no easy way to see any of your main characters outside of battle.

Yes, and even the storyteller events are limited. ~_~

[Omnislash024]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

Yeah I agree with that. 100 characters in the game? Ugh. You can easily fill out towns with over 10 characters each. It's just way too damn restrictive.

[hitogoroshi]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

Just live with RPGM3's limits. Instead of making towns with 35 characters like a standard RPG and having three of them, be creative. Heres a hint: Shopkeepers don't count, but you can have other NPC's gossip and such about them. Also, just try to avoid making normal "flavor characters", have them all be worth talking to, whether they give you items, battle you, or give you great hints about what to do next.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

Well shoot. This is the first time I tried placing characters. No wonder you guys are having so much trouble reusing them. Place one in one area, and it doesn't show up on the list anywhere else. I guess this means attempting 3D scenes is a definate no-go, since I'd have to create 5 versions of the same character if I wanted them to appear in 5 places.

[Danyo]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

There has to be a way to get past this - we just haven't found it yet. I thought I was coming close today. I made an event that would remove each character that I wanted to re use on another map from the current map (by adding and then removing them from the party all in one event), but the problem is having them appear somewhere else. I thought that there might be a way to change each character to the active character, warp them to the new event location, then change the active character back to the original, but when I try to change back to the original it is always in the spot where the last character warped to. I kinda feel like I'm onto something, but at the moment I'm stuck. This is frusterating. There's gotta be a way to get around this limitation. This is by far the most frustrating aspect of the game.

[Little Mo]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

I think it just takes a little more work. If you need more than 100 characters to tell your story, then you may also need an editor. I like the fact that the limitations force me to become more creative about the interactions that happen around town.
A small handful of NPCs with a web of modes and shared variables is more work, it is true, but you can use fewer NPCs, freeing up character event space.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

I like the fact that the limitations force me to become more creative about the interactions that happen around town.

Yeah, but it also means you won't be able to make a big game without being forced to make each town sparsely populated.

[Dyne]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

For me, NPCs aren't the biggest reason why I dislike the 100 character limit. My gripe is that I have many story characters that need to be in different places at different times.

For NPCs in town, I usually add many buildings (doorless ones mainly). It creates an illusion that their are many people in the town, just hiding in their inacessible houses.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

For me, any time I've played professional RPGs that had lots of people around the towns just for effect I dont' like it. I like to talk to everyone and explore and experience the whole game but that gets boring when there's two dozen people in every town that just say the same pointless line (or switch between 2 or 3) over and over. I'd rather have a few meaningful people than a bunch of extras so I actually dont' mind the limit in RPGM3. It has forced me to drop some ideas that have come to mind though so it is a frustrating limit nonetheless.

[Dyne]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

For me, any time I've played professional RPGs that had lots of people around the towns just for effect I dont' like it. I like to talk to everyone and explore and experience the whole game but that gets boring when there's two dozen people in every town that just say the same pointless line (or switch between 2 or 3) over and over. I'd rather have a few meaningful people than a bunch of extras so I actually dont' mind the limit in RPGM3. It has forced me to drop some ideas that have come to mind though so it is a frustrating limit nonetheless.

I agree. Usually when I play RPGs, I avoid NPCs completly. Mainly because they are just too boring to talk to. Other games, such as Legend of Legaia 2 and Atelier Iris, had meaningful NPCs that had their own lives which interact with your character, and grow as the story progresses. That is what I will try to accomplish in my RPG.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: Using the same character in multiple areas

Heh, I always talk to NPCs. Heck, I'm almost a perfectionist in that area. I'll talk to every NPC, multiple times if I feel that they might say something different. I'll read every sign I come across. I don't like speed-scrolling through text at all, unless I've lost a battle a few times and am getting tired of reading the same scene over and over again. Otherwise, I'll try to read everything I can in a game, even if I was on my second or third playthrough. Heck, you never know if some random NPC will wind up giving you something. RPGs don't seem big enough to me if I only went to the important stuff. Super Mario RPG might take me 5 hours to beat instead of 10.