Newbie questions

[Firsfron]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought RPG Maker 3. I really like it. I wish there were a few more options (such as the ability to create your own pattern than could be used on objects or people or whatever: I've seen games that had this).

Despite the obvious limitations, and occasional disapointments, I think the graphics are quite good, and I'm slowly building my RPG. It's based on Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series. I've been building for about a month; I'm currently at 58.1%.

A question: is it a good idea to fill up the percentage completely, or leave some room free? The world I am building is very large, and I worry that I shouldn't fill up Slot A completely: if I fill it up completely, will people be able to save their games on it? And it is really wise to fill up the slot completely?

Because my world is pretty large, I am considering using the trick to bypass the 100 character limit. But it seems a little dangerous. I've read the thread that describes what happens. Is it really just as simple as creating two games and then saving B onto A? When I go into B, I'll have 100 more blank characters? Or will I have to have a playable character in there first? The thread didn't mention that.

Having 200 characters is a vast improvement over just 100 characters, and I will gladly use that advantage, if it's not going to mess things up. I will certainly back A up onto another memory card, and I realize I won't be able to modify any of the info on A after I add B. Is that really all? Will the characters from A be able to use weapons from B, etc?

Has anyone found a way to bypass color restrictions? Probably not, but I want to ask here.

I guess that's it. So far, this forum has answered a lot of my questions. It's quite good: much better than the EZ Board the site on the box links to. Thanks for all the tips.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: Newbie questions

A question: is it a good idea to fill up the percentage completely, or leave some room free? The world I am building is very large, and I worry that I shouldn't fill up Slot A completely: if I fill it up completely, will people be able to save their games on it? And it is really wise to fill up the slot completely?

There's nothing wrong with hitting 100% (aside from if you still wanted to add stuff). The percentage does not affect how much space is taken up on the memory card, and the player's save file is kept in a separate file from the game itself.

Because my world is pretty large, I am considering using the trick to bypass the 100 character limit. But it seems a little dangerous. I've read the thread that describes what happens. Is it really just as simple as creating two games and then saving B onto A? When I go into B, I'll have 100 more blank characters? Or will I have to have a playable character in there first? The thread didn't mention that.

It's not that simple. Saving B over A will get rid of the old A, so make sure you back A up before doing so. Also, make sure that at the end of A, you make sure to tell the player to save B over A, while allowing them to save their game at that point. When you release the game, put B back into save B, and release A and B together.

[Misty]

Re: Newbie questions

Hi everyone,

I recently bought RPG Maker 3. I really like it. I wish there were a few more options (such as the ability to create your own pattern than could be used on objects or people or whatever: I've seen games that had this).

The imagination never fails you. I believe you can make any game you want. Although I wish there weren't a lot of limits, I found I can make good RPGs. And you can, too! So don't let limitations stop you. Go with your heart.

[Firsfron]

Re: Newbie questions

There's nothing wrong with hitting 100% (aside from if you still wanted to add stuff). The percentage does not affect how much space is taken up on the memory card, and the player's save file is kept in a separate file from the game itself.

Thanks for the answer, Draygone. That answers that part of my question completely.

It's not that simple. Saving B over A will get rid of the old A, so make sure you back A up before doing so. Also, make sure that at the end of A, you make sure to tell the player to save B over A, while allowing them to save their game at that point. When you release the game, put B back into save B, and release A and B together.

A question: If I don't want people to play A, can I just have them play the combined B-A (B saved onto A)? The reason I ask is because the way things look now, on Game A, my towns are going to be really sparse. I'll have no more than 5 or 10 people per town, at maximum. I have even named every one of my sales clerks in every town, as a way of trying to make the towns look "fuller" than they really are.

What I would like to do is just have the players start on game B, with a decent amount of characters (200) in the game. Can't I just tell the players not to touch Game A, and just play Game B? Will game B really have 200 characters? Sorry if I seem dense; I'm trying to learn about this technique.

So: are the characters, events, items, fields, towns, and PCs from both games really present on B? And if so, do I have to create playing characters and events on B before I save B onto A? In other words, can I just forget about A once B is saved onto it, as long as I don't modify anything that was on A?

[Firsfron]

Re: Newbie questions

The imagination never fails you. I believe you can make any game you want. Although I wish there weren't a lot of limits, I found I can make good RPGs. And you can, too! So don't let limitations stop you. Go with your heart.

I mostly agree. I think there are a few glaring flaws that could have easily been corrected. But for the most part, I'm amazed at how easy they've made it. And the results are usually pretty decent.

I don't like the ground that appears in most towns. You know the one: the green grass and yellow path thing that really doesn't match where the road should go. It looks like it's not aligned correctly: it's not in front of the entrance, and part of it goes right through the city wall. They should have fixed that before they released it that way.

However, I've found that simply disguising the ugly parts with buildings, flowers, or tall grass works really well. I'm pretty happy with the results I've gotten. In northern towns, I simply cover the ugliness with a blanket of snow. Problem solved!

I wish that it was possible to place single houses and/or characters in the field. But since it's not, using the village icon with a single house isn't a bad solution.

I wish there were different objects. Why, for example, have four different sets of tables and chairs, but no individual chairs? Why have a nice bed in the mansion template, but nowhere else? These are flaws that can't really be fixed. I'm considering using the white coffins as beds, but I may scrap this idea.

I really wish there was a pattern-maker, even if it took considerable memory. Being able to design my own patterns would've been really cool. I want more than plain white tents! And one of my towns is specifically supposed to have wooden floorboards. But there's no town template with wooden floorboards, so I have to use stone.

All in all, though, the good overwelmingly outweighs the bad.

Is it possible to build a doorway in the castle that connects to another building? I'd like to build the king some bechambers, but the only viable beds are in the mansion. Can I connect the two, and if so, how do I do so?

[Rodak]

Re: Newbie questions

To connect the two buildings just place warp events.

Or a guard who asks something then warps you to the mansion bedroom.

At the door in the mansion bedroom place warps back to the castle.

You may need 2 of the same warp event to be sure the player cant sneak past them into the mansion!

Good luck with it.

Peace.

[Firsfron]

Re: Newbie questions

To connect the two buildings just place warp events.

Or a guard who asks something then warps you to the mansion bedroom.

At the door in the mansion bedroom place warps back to the castle.

You may need 2 of the same warp event to be sure the player cant sneak past them into the mansion!

Good luck with it.

Peace.

Very good suggestions, Rodak.

Here is what I ended up doing: I placed the mansion directly in front of the castle, and renamed the mansion the name of my castle. When player walk into my mansion, they will think it's part of the castle.

I placed those stone pillar-like things in front of the wall at the back of the mansion (below the staircase), so that they blocked out the view of three of the arches. The fourth arch now resembles a door.

I added two invisible events in front of the arch, which warp a person into the castle itself, just at the entrance. I also added door sounds to each one.
Then I added warp events in front of the door inside the castle, so people would go out the same way they came in. To my delight, when you place events at doorways, it automatically overrides the game's programming, so you're not taken outside, but are just taken to the mansion! That's awesome!

Once I changed the music in the mansion and the castle so that they matched each other, the entire effect is flawless. It came out perfect! Now the castle is given a very stately entrance, with upstairs rooms as an added bonus. Considering the basement level in the castle itself, the castle now has three floors, and is a realistic size. I'm really happy with the results.

Thank you so much for your help, Rodak!

[Rodak]

Re: Newbie questions

No Problem.

Glad you got it working!

[Libby]

Re: Newbie questions

Just because I have to say it...Welcome to the wonderful world of RPGM, and I want to have your internet grammer babies. You are one of the first newbies to speak in excellent grammer. I love you..

Anyways, I hope your game goes well!

Welcome to the Pavilion.

[KennyKen]

Re: Newbie questions

?
internet grammer babies?
wow, who needs eharmony when we've got the pavilion?

[Firsfron]

Re: Newbie questions

Just because I have to say it...Welcome to the wonderful world of RPGM, and I want to have your internet grammer babies. You are one of the first newbies to speak in excellent grammer. I love you..

Anyways, I hope your game goes well!

Welcome to the Pavilion.

Ha! That's hilarious, Libra! And somewhat ironic because I've been called a "grammarian" before, by other people. I think maybe my age has something to do with it: I assume I'm a little older than most video game enthusiasts here.

Thanks for the good vibes on my game, Libra. It's going well, although I primarily worry about running out of free memory before running out of ideas. I'm at 63% now, and I've got a lot left to build... My game's based on Tad Williams' excellent "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" fantasy book series, and they're not exactly thin volumes.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: Newbie questions

I assume I'm a little older than most video game enthusiasts here.

You'd be surprised. This place is represented by a very wide range of ages.

So: are the characters, events, items, fields, towns, and PCs from both games really present on B? And if so, do I have to create playing characters and events on B before I save B onto A? In other words, can I just forget about A once B is saved onto it, as long as I don't modify anything that was on A?

Nope. Each file would have their separate people, their separate towns, etc., aside from anything you feel must be kept. Certain things do have to be kept between files or else the trick won't work, but I don't know what that stuff is (aside from party members).

[Firsfron]

Re: Newbie questions

You'd be surprised. This place is represented by a very wide range of ages.Nope. Each file would have their separate people, their separate towns, etc., aside from anything you feel must be kept. Certain things do have to be kept between files or else the trick won't work, but I don't know what that stuff is (aside from party members).

I guess I don't get it, then. What's the point of having multiple files if the two games are separate?

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: Newbie questions

The point is to have a long game. Anybody who wants to be able to backtrack to earlier areas are simply out of luck.

[Perversion]

Re: Newbie questions

The point is to have a long game. Anybody who wants to be able to backtrack to earlier areas are simply out of luck.

Which is exactly why I can only use 1 file. My game requires backtracking, and as such, I'm looking at 97.6% memory usage. I just used 1.4% yesterday, knowing full well how much memory I didn't have left, to make a little side quest that involves taking something from one character to another, then taking an item back to the original character. Nothing big, but not needed in my game. I just want to throw more and more stuff in my game, but unfortunately am out of memory to do so. Also, one of the characters was at 7th mode, and going from 7 to 8, the computer wouldn't let me save it, as it was taking up too much memory. This is BEFORE I even added anything to the mode. It was just the mode itself. So I turned display for that character off, created a clone of him, and turned the display on, and started at mode 1. I was able to create modes 1-3, filled with information, in less memory than it took to add mode 8 in the other character, with NO information. Apparently, the memory usage for creating modes increases exponentially.