Tag Archives: RPG Maker VX Ace

Event Triggers Part 2

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We are finally returning for Event Triggers Part 2! (It appears “Next Friday” is more fluid than I was thinking).

In Event Triggers Part 1, I covered the simpler Event Triggers: Action Button, Player Touch, and Event Touch. These three can be grouped together as Interaction Triggers. They trigger when the player character interacts with them in some way.

Today, we will look at the other two event triggers, which I will call the Automation Triggers. The reason I call them this is that these events activate independently of direct interaction with the player characters. These two triggers are Autorun and Parallel Process.

Autorun

Autorun

How it works: The Autorun trigger will start whenever the conditions are met. If the event page conditions are met, and you are on the same map as the event, it triggers. It will loop indefinitely until the conditions are no longer met.

What is this used for: Autorun triggers are used most often with cutscenes that start the moment you walk onto a map. You can also use it to reset a puzzle in a room, or set any conditions that need to be set when certain conditions are met.

Things to keep in mind: The biggest thing to keep in mind with autorun triggers is that as long as they are running, the player will not be able to do anything, and that until you end them, they will repeat forever. If something needs to happen every time you enter a map, you can use erase event after it runs through. If something needs to happen once and then never happen again, you will need to use some form of switch/self switch condition on a second page to stop it from occurring again.

Parallel Process

Parallel ProcessHow it works: Parallel Process triggers work similar to autorun triggers in that they start whenever the conditions are met, but instead of stopping player action, they run in the background allowing the player character to continue on while the process is working. They also, as with Autorun Triggered events, repeat indefinitely as long as conditions for them are met.

What is this used for: Parallel Process triggers can be used for anything where you need to constantly check for certain conditions. Examples of use include: Keeping track of the state of a timer, checking for a button press by the player, keeping track of the coordinates of the player or certain events, having a flash of lightning occur at certain intervals, etc. It can also be used in a lot of timed events, such as farming systems.

Things to keep in mind: As with autorun events, you will need to keep in mind that to stop it from repeating, you will need to end the process in some way. Another thing though to keep in mind with parallel process triggers is that you do not want to run too many at a time. The more of these events you have running, the more chance you will encounter a drop in your FPS.

And that covers all of the event triggers. A lot of systems can be made with only events without ever touching scripts, and mastering triggers is a huge part of eventing. Can you think of more uses for each trigger?

Mapping Tutorial: Inner Town Maps

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by Lunarea

Before you start

The first step to mapping is to come up with the function and the overall atmosphere you want to achieve. Is the home a place of business like a shop or an inn? Is it a basic NPC home where the player picks up a quest? Is the occupant rich or poor? Each setting has different considerations.

The next step is to gather your materials. Pick out what colors you will be working with, get your tileset ready and line up the NPCs that will be living and/or working there.

Shape and Layout

Inner mapping begins with a strong layout. Start by sketching out the same shape your building is on the outside. This small detail creates continuity and makes the transition between inner and outer maps feel natural. Note that you don’t have to work on a 1-to-1 scale. In fact, using the same scale for inner maps and outer buildings can lead to some funky-looking maps. You could end up with massive buildings that look awkward against trees and other outer decoration, while the inner maps will feel cozy or cramped. It is enough to keep the same general shape and proportions.

Rooms

The next step is to create sections or rooms. There’s two reasons why we want to do this. First, it is much more difficult to create a lot of detail in a wide, open space. The furniture ends up looking small and this makes the space look even more empty. Or the mapper might try to overcompensate and adds too much clutter. The second reason is that separate rooms are functional and they help us keep organized. Even people who live in studio apartments will sometimes divide their room with curtains, so to keep a sense of privacy or divide sleeping space from entertaining or cooking space.

Furniture

Now it’s time to fill the map with furniture. Start with the basic necessities: a bed, a sink, table or bookshelves. These are staples in every home and it’s believable that most homes will have them. You don’t have to use a lot of variety for the basic furniture, but keep in mind that too much repetition will be noticed by the player. Mix and match pieces and introduce variation in color to make even the basics look interesting.

One big important thing to remember at this point is the sides and the bottom of the screen. When all pieces are on the north wall, it creates an imbalance with the rest of the map, and it may also force you to want to add unnecessary furniture or detail to get the right effect.

Details

Lastly, add the details. This part can be a very fun process, because you can use details to express personality or history for your NPCs – something you may not be able to do otherwise. Surround your writer with books, your romantic with candles and roses or your cat lady with a dozen cats on various surfaces.

How do you achieve this level of detail? You can use some of the tilesets that our community members have provided (just check out Resource Showcase section). Or you can create your own by layering pieces in an art program.

Here is the set used in my screenshot. Use it as a launching point:

Creating Tiles Part 3

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Guide to Creating Tiles in RMVX-Ace Style
by Lunarea

Part 3: Shapes, Edges, and Palettes

Tutorials 1 and 2 covered the theory necessary to creating tiles. Part 3 will also be covering some of the basic theory, but will also begin to introduce practice.

Included in this tutorial:

Shapes

  • Understanding basic shapes.
  • Creating top-down perspective with basic shapes

Edges

  • Anti-aliasing edges and transparency
  • Straight edges and right-side RTP edge

Palettes

  • Understanding Contrast and Saturation
  • Creating a palette from RTP.

Read the full tutorial by downloading the PDF here!

Event Triggers Part 1

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One of the many things that may be a bit tricky for beginner’s is how to start events. Some triggers are easy, but some you may start wondering “what’s the difference here?” or “what do I use this for?”

To make things easy, I’m going to go over all the event triggers. This week we will go over the simpler triggers: Action Button, Player Touch, and Event Touch. Next Friday, we will explore Parallel Process and Autorun events.

Action Button

How it works: When the player presses the action button while in the proper position (when on the same tile for events that are above or below the characters, when adjacent and facing the event for events that are at the same level as the characters) the event starts.

What is this used for: This is probably the most common type of event trigger. Any time you want the player to activate the event, you should probably use Action Button triggers. Examples of use include talking to NPCs, flipping a lever, opening a treasure chest, or any other situation where the player should be in control of whether to start the event or not.

Things to keep in mind: There generally isn’t any special considerations with Action Button events. The only thing that occurs to me to keep in mind is that facing doesn’t matter on above or below level events, so if your scene will need the character facing a certain way, make sure to use a Set Move Route command so they are facing the direction you want them to.

Player Touch

How it works: This is also a relatively simple trigger. The moment the character moves into contact with the event (either bumps into it for events that are set to the same level as characters, or moves into the same square as the event for those set below or above the characters) the event starts.

What is this used for: Player Touch events are also incredibly common. Any time that you want something to happen when the player is in a specific location, regardless of whether they start it themselves, you use Player touch. Examples of use include depression switches on floors, all types of transfer events (stairs, edge of town, etc.), and starting cutscenes.

Things to keep in mind: The biggest thing to keep in mind when dealing with Player Touch events is that it comes into effect only when the player moves INTO the event. If the player is standing still and the event bumps into him, it will not activate.

Event Touch

How it works: This works a lot like Player Touch, except it activates whether you touch the event, or the event touches you.

What is this used for: The main use for this is anything that MOVES that should affect the player. Examples of use include wandering monsters, flames, and moving blades.

Things to keep in mind: Remember that unlike Player Touch, this activates whether the player touches the event or the event touches the player. Also, if the event does not move, this operates identically to Player Touch.

Tune in next week when we cover the two more complicated event triggers: Autorun and Parallel Process.

Creating Tiles Part 2

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Guide to Creating Tiles in RMVX-Ace Style
by Lunarea

Part 2: Perspective

In part 2 of Lunarea’s Creating Tiles tutorial, she is going to tell us all about the perspective used in RPG Maker VX Ace’s tilesets, a common perspective used in video games know as the Top Down Perspective.

Included in this tutorial is:

  • Discussion of what top down perspective is and how it is a combination of two real life perspectives used to create the illusion of depth in a 2D game.
  • How to draw some real life shapes in that perspective.
  • What steps that are needed to “rotate” a tile.

Read the full tutorial by downloading the PDF here!

Golden Week-End Sale!

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Golden Week is just kicking off in Japan which means a lot of people travelling, spending time with their families, and generally having a good time. Our Tokyo team will be enjoying Golden Week but we couldn’t let them have all the fun. We decided to set up a special Golden Week-End sale for you guys. From now until Monday at noon (PST) you can save 40% on any of our products. RPG Makers, Resource Packs, Games, you name it!

Creating Tiles Part 1

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Guide to Creating Tiles in RMVX-Ace Style
by Lunarea

Part 1: Tools

RMVX-Ace tiles are created through a process of digital painting. This process is different from traditional pixel art, both in terms of technique and in tool requirements.

We will go over the tools you will need to create tiles in this tutorial:

  • Art program with transparent background, brushes and ability to save in .png format (examples: Photoshop, GIMP)
  • A hard round brush and a soft round brush
  • A 32×32 pixel grid, created through art program settings or made manually
  • A mouse or a tablet

Take the time to get used to making fluid and uninterrupted lines with the mouse or tablet. Practice drawing curves as well as straight lines (see PDF for examples of shapes).

Read the full tutorial by downloading the PDF here!

Part 2 will cover RMVX-Ace’s perspective, object depth and object edges/outlines.

Creating a Bank

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Howdy! Your friend Despain here, with another RPG Maker VX Ace tutorial. Today, we’re going to be using variables and conditional branches to create a simple bank event. The player will be able to check his current balance, or deposit or withdraw money. A banking system like this can add depth to your game, especially if you want to encourage your player to manage his finances.

This is what the event will look like when we are done with it:

(click the image for a full view)

This event is going to use three variables. You can create them with the Control Variables event command, under the Game Progression category on the first page of event commands. Continue reading →

Thinking Outside the Box: Challenge 2

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So, last time we cheated the autotile system to give us tile and a half high walls. Are you ready for the second challenge?

Challenge 2 FIGHT!

For this challenge I’m going to give you an enemy, two skills, and a modified state to use.

The enemy!

The skills!

This skill targets 3 random enemies and induces deep sleep 75% of the time on each enemy.

This skill drains hp from all enemies equal to the casters magic attack * 4 – the targets magic defense * 2, but ONLY works if the target is affected by the state Deep Sleep (make sure the number in bstate?(*) is the same as Deep Sleep’s state number in the database). Otherwise it does 0 damage. This uses a custom damage formula based on Fomar’s excellent custom damage formula tutorial to accomplish this.

And this is the State:

Deep Sleep is identical to sleep with the exception that it is only removed by damage 50% of the time.

Ok, now that we have all the materials… what is the challenge?!

Description: You have these skills, but you will notice I didn’t show you the Action Patterns of the Shades. Your job is this: Create a troop containing 2 shades. Now make it so that when all the player characters are awake, the shades will ONLY use Sleep Breath, BUT if at least one of the player characters is under the influence of Deep Sleep, the shades will use Sleep Breath and Dream Feed equally.

Restrictions: No scripting.

You can use the comments here, or comment on the link from our Facebook page to offer up solutions. GOOD LUCK!