EraYachi

Put regions everywhere and make the common event do different things depending on the item selected and the region you're standing on? (As well as maybe direction)

I thank you for the suggestion. As of now, I've decided to simply change how the mechanics work. I'll have a few item-based puzzles, but they'll be simple ones. The rest will be actual number/visual/math puzzle types, which are easier to event and are probably more interesting anyway.

I'll take this as an opportunity to break the stereotypical 'horror adventure game' mould and be more inventive.

Gah, I love its simplicity and how it manages to look so cool! My only nitpick is the spacing between the middle lines (triple lines) and the word "Legends". It's very, very narrow and glaringly thinner than the spacing between the word below the lines, "Adrigal". 

As for your first attempt...I...I mean, hey, that's uh...

*places hand on shoulder* I'm here for you.

Alrighty, slick, I'm gonna tell it to you straight. No bars held.

I'm a  huge fan of Markiplier. By that I mean I watch his videos daily, and have since like...800k subs? Been a while.Needless to say, I've had time to get to know what he's like and I've no doubt he'd appreciate any time of fan game whatsoever. And I think you should go for it!

...the blunt truth about your pitch, however, is that I'd recommend using a different plot. Bare bones truth here..that sounds basically like a self-insert story; creating an OC (original character). The plot centers around this OC. While I know that's a tempting notion, it's not going to swing well with potential customers...and by customers, I mean just about anyone willing to play they game (I'm assuming it'll be a free game). If it's a fan game, it shouldn't be about the fan--it should be a tribute to Mark and and his shenanigans. That's how I see it.

Hands down, I wouldn't play a Markiplier fan game that wasn't about him. This sounds like it's about 'Gabby'. And if you  truly want to make a story about her and Mark and his buddies going on a camping trip, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just more than likely going to be a game for your own personal enjoyment, and not so much something that other fans will pick up. If you're concerned about making this a game enjoyable to *all* fans of Mark and not a personal pleasure, I'd recommend centering the plot around something all fans relate to already. Like for instance, in a previous fan game, the plot was about Tim turning evil and plotting to kill Mark. It didn't take itself seriously, but it was a blast from beginning to end.

I'm making a point-and-click game.

I know...I'm crazy. Believe it or not, it's going rather well! I've got most everything settled and it's well underway. But now, I'm seriously at an impasse. I chose MV over Ace for this project, because it has so much more support for changing resolution, click/pathfinding, etc...but I really. REALLY stuck when it comes to using items whilst standing next to certain events.

Galv had a script for RPG Maker VX Ace, "Use Item On Event" that was perfect, and it worked extremely well for me in my horror game for Ace. But a plugin like this doesn't exist for MV; I've searched, for hours.

The "Select Item" command would be perfect here...except for the fact I need to give the player the option to open a menu (which I can do, I used a common event on parallel process and set up the 'Select Item' screen for the Tab key) and use items at whim. I can't just have every single interactive object call a Select Item command window. It has to be the *player's* prerogative to open a menu and select the item they want to use with a certain event, to see if it works or not. The way Galv's script did in Ace.

Without this, the only way to setup and solve puzzles is through conditional branches that detect if the player has the correct item or not, and then calling a Select Item command. Which would be lame, because that basically gives away the solution.

In a nut shell:

•  I need the player to be able to open their item menu, select an item, and have it interact with the event directly in front of them.

•  Example: I have a rock, a pillow and a frog all in my inventory. I go up to a chair, and open my item menu. I can then choose to try and use any one of those items with the chair event. And that event will respond based on what I chose.

So you can understand why "Select Item" would not work in this instance. I don't know if this will need a plugin, or if there's a way supported in MV to accomplish this. To be honest, I've been away from RPG Maker for so long, my memory has faded into blues and greys.

1) Don't use the tables on Tab B, C or D. Use the auto-tile tables on tab A when putting them down; they're close to the top of the tileset. Then you can put any object on tab B, C and above on top of it, since those objects don't overwrite stuff on the A layer.

2) I have tons of resources for horror, but I've used Google and the Resource Showcase thread to hunt it all down and make a detailed list and folder of fully credited resources. Google is your friend; it's so, so very useful and it won't take long at all to pick up tilesets and objects for horror. There are also DLC packs you can buy from the main RPG Maker website, or on Steam if that's where you bought RPG Maker.

3) Again, Google is great. There's also a Tutorial forum section in these forums here with an organized sticky that gives you a list of all basic tutorials. What you're requesting is the very, very, very basics--you just need to learn eventing, for which this community provides many guides. An NPC or other character on your screen is typically an event with a character sprite for its graphic. 

4) If you're just starting out, brand new, simply use the built-in generator in RPG Maker VX Ace. Once you get the hang of things--well, there's another list of off-site resources stickied in these forums too. Explore a bit; I know you're excited to just hunker down and make a game, but you'll probably have to spend a lot of time outside the program researching and resource gathering on your own, as we all must.

 

 

Pros:

 

• It doesn't need professional recording software. It also doesn't take fantastic voice acting skills. All it takes is some average person reading one or two-word phrases and sounds into their mics with Audacity. Then someone can just take the recordings and edit them. Someone.

 

I don't mean to be "that guy" but as someone who has a degree in sound engineering and works in a recording studio, this isn't entirely how it works. You could do it on audacity yes, but you would need a good quality mic and you can only do so much with editing tools for voice overs done at home in front of a pc. That said, I would be willing to edit anything you have in my free time.

 

I'm not saying it's that simple. I'm saying that, for a free resource pack with no paid professionals with reason to own good quality mics and equipment, organized by a bunch of regular people on regular-to-low budgets making free video games, it's perfectly fine to have a headset mic and Audacity. Literally, we're going with 'low-to-medium quality is better than nothing at all', seeing how a free voice sample pack like this doesn't exist yet. If people don't mind having lower-quality audio recordings, they're welcome to use these free resources created by volunteer voice actors. If they want crisp, clear-sounding voices that sound amazing, people are going to have to commission them elsewhere to purchase them from resource site A, B, or C, the kind that do this kind of thing for a living. I don't think anyone playing a free indie RPG game with voices are going to discriminate against it if the recording quality sounds like it did in 1997.

Thank you for the offer on the editing. When I get the official thread going, we'll probably need people to both edit and provide voice samples. Myself, I'm not a very good voice actor, but I'll try to do a bit of both, personally.

On another note (this is to everyone); regrettably, I am incredibly busy in my very last week of a 2 year diploma college program, so I'm delayed on getting this project started. But once I'm home next weekend, I'll have a trillion times more lax hours to pull it together.

So here's what I recorded and edited in a jiffy:

For the record, I don't actually sound like this. Trust me. Audacity is great, but it's left the voice slightly electronic in some places. It still sounds good. Recording with a headset mic might not yield professional results, but then...we're looking at generating free resources for free games.

I'll be working on a resource thread today; I've already begun to write one up so there's a place to officially contribute. But BigBlueCar's example, and mine are similar to what we'll need for the pack, just in different styles. I'll be trying to emulate other voices in the future; just not today.

Oooh my, this looks positively amazing. Your artwork is superb! I'm going to give this a try once I'm through with tomorrow (today's) hullabaloo. Looking forward to it!

Right, firstly EraYachi is completely right; it is extremely awkward sitting there grunting at your computer, but also pretty fun. I had a crack at a kind of old knight character just to get the ball rolling.

 

Oldknight.wav

 

I think for it to work we need to come up with a kind of script, a list of what clips each character should have. I'm thinking stuff like;

 

-Hello line

-Goodbye line

-Grunt 1

-Grunt 2

-Victory line

-Injured line

-Agreeing line

-Disagreeing line 

-Special attack line

 

etc.

 

Thoughts? I think that if a few people get involved this could be a really fun resource.

This is amazing! You've inspired me to add my own...shortly. I'll record something tonight or tomorrow after work. These were really well done. In fact, if we get two people with the ball rollin' (you and I), then who knows who'll join? I'll type up some instructions and make an official thread for the collection of voice talents. Two voices aren't much, but there's always the hope more people will come out of the woodworks and give it a shot.

Seriously though, well done. =P

Now, I'm putting this in Theory in Development, because I'd like to discuss this, gauge people's interest in it, to see if it would work. I'd like to know how much it would benefit this community. I'm not actively recruiting anyone, just testing the waters and opening a dialogue. I'd like to hear other peoples' thoughts and ideas.

Anyway. We share resources every day, and use each other's stuff all the time. But one of those things we can't easily share/distribute are voices. I mean, it is possible to have royalty-free audio clips for voice acting usage. Not easy, but possible.

I remember a while back, whilst paraoosing an old website dedicated to game making (non-RPGMaker), that a group of people had put together a voicebox--basically, a package of pre-recorded voice acting snippets for free and general purposes. Now when I say 'voice acting', I don't mean fully versed lines. I'm talking about amateur voice actors recording sounds, like, "Yes." "No way!", "Hmmm." "Oh, no!" Laughing. Growling. Scoffing. Sounds that characters make during conversation. Think Fire Emblem: Awakening. It's not fully voiced, but a package of like 20-30 sounds (or more), or short phrases per character can go a long way to spruce up your dialogue.

Pros:

• It doesn't need professional recording software. It also doesn't take fantastic voice acting skills. All it takes is some average person reading one or two-word phrases and sounds into their mics with Audacity. Then someone can just take the recordings and edit them. Someone.
• Voice samples can be easily edited in pitch/treble to sound like new voices.
• Makes games feel more 'modern'. Hearing a voice helps put more character into the words being spoken, especially in long dialogue cutscenes.

Cons:

• This needs multiple volunteers. Having say, 12 people or more. Both male and female. That way, you can have multiple voice options for various characters (old man, old woman, young man/woman, children, etc.). If there are only a few people recording, everyone and their sister will be using the same voices for their project--and that gets old.
• Obviously, even in ogg format, having audio clips for voices will increase game size. But not as much as a fully voice-acted game.
• Time. This kind of thing would take time, and patience.

I'm chock full of ideas to spearhead a project like this. This might come as a surprise to many, but with the use of Audacity, I make a pretty decent voice actor for a young girl (age 9-12ish). Probably not so much for an older female. I've already recorded some stuff for usage in various games, and I wouldn't care if it were used in other games as well. Here are some things I recorded:

• Sounds: (grunts, sighs, laughs) Sounds of disgust. Taunting. Angry growling. Whooping (joy), snoring, yelping.
• Phrases: "Yep!" "Nuh-uh." "Sure." "Nope." "Fine, whatever." "Huh..." "Eww." 

Believe me, I know what it feels like to sit at your computer, sounding and feeling really weird just making random sounds and saying random things into a headset microphone. 

Anyway. What are your thoughts on putting together a free resource  'Voicebox', a la Fire Emblem style? Imagine if we could get dozens of people involved over time;  having a greater diversity of voices would be fantastic. And it's also incredibly easy compared to other resources--custom art, logos, sprites and scripting--this is something even brand new beginners to RPG Maker can do if they want to contribute.

Sounds like you'll fit right in here. Welcome! Ask questions, make jokes, share your ideas. Get coffee. Make sandwiches. Talk to leprechauns. Ponder existence. Listen to voices...yes....

Making dialogue is a delectable, delicate process of cramming as much exposition, character development, and relationship building into the fewest message boxes you can manage without leaving your players befuddled.

Some people make the mistake of typing out things in long droves, basically repeating points they've already made in conversation and adding in very unnecessary details. Others tend to add way too much 'filler' dialogue, deviating from the purpose of the scene in an attempt to add more humour or force character development into an inappropriate moment. Even still, others have a tendency to explain EVERYTHING, even if the concept is very basic. Others try to explain everything about their characters, kingdom/location, magic powers, abilities, profession, and HISTORY--oh lord, is a character's background ever commonly guilty of causing unwanted, long speels of dialogue. The key is to remember that exposition works best if incorporated slowly. It's easier to go in blind and introduce different concepts/ideas/background information over the course of the entire game.

Others write their dialogue as though they're trying to speak directly to the player, forgetting that these characters' knowledge, time and energy is limited, and only certain personality types have a tendency to ramble.

So many reasons that dialogue can go on 'too long'. Go into a scene with a handful of objectives. God knows I've rewritten the dialogue in my game 5 times to reduce its wordiness and stick to the point.

So, let's put a fresh idea on the table. Or at least, an old idea, but fresh for those who are new/just wanna discuss stuff.

I've got a game with multiple endings. Best/Good/Normal/Bad/Worst. It might happen I knock out the 'Worst' one, but really, it's just a variation of the Bad ending but has a slightly different outcome.

What I wanna discuss is the lengths we can, and will go, to integrate 'player choice' into our games. How many of the player's choices actually affect the ending? And not just choices, but actions and decisions play a part in altering the final outcome. A system like this doesn't even need a script, though there are ones that exist. All you need are a few variables and the willingness to create extra content that covers the different possibilities that occur after each decision. 

Use my game for example (without direct story spoilers, and changing some facts/details of the ending, of course):

• Best
• - Three main characters all survive, in one form or another. Protagonist escapes. Character C, D, and E, who were involved in subplots, all live and the 'great evil' is defeated.

• Good
• - Protagonist survives, but one main character perishes forever. Protagonist escapes. One or more of Characters C, D, and E die/turn traitor, and the 'great evil' lives to plague others.

• Bad
• - Protagonist is trapped forever. One main character dies. C, D, and E are all trapped forever (were never helped, aren't there to help in the end), and the 'great evil' lives on.

• Worst
• - Literally everything dies, protagonist goes insane. Trapped forever. Everyone is forgotten. Misery everywhere.

This is actually a pretty basic form of the multiple ending scenario. You have 1 or 2 variables that increase or decrease whenever an event occurs, and you have a conditional branch deciding on the outcome of future events based on how high/low those variable are.

But it can get so very complicated. Some games have up to 12 or more endings, and then there are separate 'endings' for different subquests and plots that aren't related to the main storyline. We're talking Mass Effect level decision-making and story impact (but don't get me started on the ending of ME3...). This could be the very backbone of games that are basically visual novels, and despite it being story-driven, it is in fact a form of gameplay. It's a mechanic.

Also, whether you have one or multiple endings depends on your type of game. Is it important to have choices that affect the game's outcome? It adds an element of replayability, that's absolute. Or is it important to have just one ending, like in the Uncharted series? Both examples are great forms of storytelling.

Oh, you absolutely need a script to do that. By default, the text system is basic and doesn't allow for any kind of HUD support, even if you run it as a parallel process event (the kind of event that run simultaneously as other events). I'd recommend checking out the Master List of completed scripts here: http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/11708-master-script-list-on-site/

If someone hasn't made something similar to (or exactly) what you want, you'll have to submit a request, or learn scripting yourself. I can't do scripting either, I'm just fantastic at borrowing others and implementing them. xD

I can't believe no one caught the 'run' instead of 'ran' xD

Hi!

 

My weakness in English forces me to ask for your help again guys...

I have 6 lines of text for two different characters, sort of a very quick resume. Could somebody please check the lines for grammar errors? (I'm sure there are some, if not a lot..)

 

Thank you very much!

 

Text 1:

(Name) was 4 years old when he was sent to the Fushima-Yakari orphanage after his parents tragic car accident.
He was forced to live for 10 long years under the cold hearted headmistresses dictatorship before he ran away
once and for all from that horrible place, to pursuit a better life, ...or death.

 

Text 2:

(Name) had a difficult life. Her mother died in childbirth and her father left her mother long before that. She
was raised with much love by her granmother, although it was not an easy task for her due to financial difficulties.
(Name) is a very smart person. She studies quantum physics at the Yakaro-University and her IQ is off the charts.

 

The last part of Text 2, you need to have 2 different sentences. Two independent clauses...but...don't worry about that part. Just be careful when using commas in sentences--if the sentence can be complete without the comma, then always use a period and start a new sentence.

To be honest you have better English skills than many people I know, and they're native English speakers. I bolded parts that are in need of correction since they read a bit funny. 'Before he run away', 'run' is the present tense version of that verb. "I am going to run." "Will you run with me?". 'Ran' is the past tense. "I ran today." "I'm glad you ran with me."

Good job!

Sigh...I really need to start asking if people are using scripts from the get go....I don't use any pixel movement scripts, so I can't help with that, but if those tiles are the ones that are impassible, it's extemely likely a script is using them for something else (usually tells you in the instructions of the script which tile #s on which tileset are assigned to the basic sccript functions). I used to have so many picture overlay issues with parallaxing before I realized it was because of a weather script I'd picked up and not thoroughly read.

That still doesn't work... =(]

I'm actually using the Exterior tileset's tiles that aren't autotiles.

Okay, I'm going to assume you mean you're using this:

and not this:

to make those cliffs. Question is, are you placing them down when they're on tab A? As well, we will assume that your 4 direction passibility looks something like this?:

(with the Passage all set to O and not X of course) I set up some cliffs using this exact setup in my game and tested it, all on tab A, the default RTP Exterior tileset and have not experienced an issue. Have you tried replacing all of the cliffs with the autotile version? I used the autotile as well and it worked flawlessly for passibility.

I go the 'Tales of' route and make funny descriptions for gear and items. I'll put in the stats too, if there's room, but it's been so long since I've made an RPG (been working on a horror/adventure for so long) I forget how I fit it all in. But even in the horror game, my item descriptions are meant to be funny--it injects some lightheartedness into the creepy, frightening atmosphere.

All of the tiles I used are set to O, and the four-directional passability is correct, and still nothing happens. =(

The bottom A layer of the tiles might be marked O, but it's entirely possible there's invisible tiles from the B, C or D layers that are overwriting the tile's passibility.

Go to your C to D layers and find a blank tile in them (any of the layers is fine), and mark it as O, then go over those spots with that particular tile. That could be what's causing those spots to be impassible. If that's not it...well, I'm thinking...

Dude looks like a celibate knight being hit on by a promiscuous young woman. "Uh...uh....excuse me....I have to go...now..."

Also, it's fantastic. I think the colours are  teeny bit washed though--if you adjust the contrast to make it stand out a bit more, he'll match his sprite's colours more accurately. Again, amazing!

8 Euros!? 8 EUROS!?

*calms down*

Dang, that's some introduction. I'm just an intermediate at music composition; I haven't touched Finale in like 4 years, so maybe even less. This community loves musicians. And don't be afraid to ask around if you have questions about what to do; most of us are here to procrastinate from working on our games and love answering questions. True story.

See ya around!

My parallax map sense are tingling: I think that's an amazing final product. Nitpicks: the shadows seem awfully dark, and a tad bit too fuzzy. Light dilution is far greater when the object is far away from the light source (and the light source isn't that bright). That's why our shadows are fuzzier in the morning/evening when the sun is low in the sky. With a lamp that bright, the objects closest to it would have much more solid looking shadows.

But that's the definition of nitpicking if I ever heard it. You've created a great environment with your map.

Text popup...or the default message system anyway, has built-in functions to make message windows disappear after waiting a few frames. If you hover over a blank message window, a tooltip will pop up that explains the basic functions of how to control a message window. If you type \^ at the end of your message for example, it will close the message window without any player input. So:

\|\|\^ -- this would make the game wait 2 seconds after displaying the text, and then automatically close the window after the wait is done.

At that point, it's simply just setting the variable to the appropriate # whenever you want the message to change.

As for it constantly looping, (Edit: I need coffee, I can't seem to read...xD) you can make the event stop looping by simply entering a command after the message input that resets the variable to 0. That means the common event's conditional branch is no longer true, and it won't play your messages in a constant loop.

In detail: set the common event to parallel process. When you call for it, have the variable set to 2 (or whatever you want), and have a message appear (and vanish after a couple seconds). Immediately after the message command, make a command that will set the same variable to 0 again. That should turn it off. I'm rusty, and I haven't put this into practice.

@Nyapurgisnacht

Ah....er...uh. Oh. Okay. I'mma need a drink of water before I address all this...

First off, you are officially the first person to break the game that badly...lol...I don't think I've ever seen the screen turn that colour, ever. I've test played it 400 times, and it's a first...

1) There is no 'save anywhere' feature; the save function should be completely deactivated for the duration of the game. You only get a load icon in the menu (I have to manually add menu functions via a script call), so the player has to save at the yellow/green rifts on the wall. So if you can save anywhere, there is something really, really wrong about the game, and I'm so utterly confused how it could be possible with the custom menu script...did you just go into the menu and find a save icon? How are you managing this!?

2) Yeah. The monster. This is the second 'chase' monster that's gotten stuck via bad timing, and I fixed the first one...I'll have to make it so he disappears or is deactivated if someone gets there in the 'nick of time'. Funny, I tried several times to get that exact thing to happen to me, to see if it was possible for the monster to glitch like that. You've accomplished that, and that's great. xD

3) Seriously. That mad screen with the yellow tint....one of the ground events that alters the tint from dark-->light must be broken. I thank you for discovering this, and apologize that you had to reload your game because of it. >_>

4) Yeah, that vending machine has to stand out more. I might have a picture of the tongs pop up when you receive them, to indicated they're perfect for grabbing things at a distance. Or I'll be lazy and make Vincent point it out.

5) And finally, Vincent...

And yes. I did do the voice acting for the girl, with a bit of Audacity's help. Might be able to voice Vincent at some point, too, for a similar sequence It's a work in progress.

Thank you infinitely for taking an hour out of your day to test this. Into the credits you go! =)