devonm0

If you want to make an event disappear until the player leaves the map and returns, the simplest way is to use the Erase Event command.

Your mention about having to make an improvised grappling hook or something got me thinking. I'd always wondered as a kid why the Gerudo from Ocarina of Time and Moblins from Wind Waker didn't disarm Link on capturing him. Certainly it makes sense now, but since you said you're basing a lot of what you're doing off of your memories from Zelda games, I would like to think you have puzzle elements that rely on certain items on the field, like bombs. If so, then if the player is captured you can have the characters relieved of their bombs and other puzzle items. Of course I realize I'm assuming quite a lot, but whatever.

Does anyone know if it's possible (by default) to input a monster id into text in a way similar as how you input an actor id to get an actor name, and by the same token get the corresponding monster name out of that. It's not listed in the list of text commands, so probably not, but I wanted to ask.

That's all fine and dandy, but a help file wouldn't help for what I have in mind. At least not for the ones I'm currently making. For example, a server at a restaurant. For that, you would speak to guests and they would place their order, then you would return to the counter to put the order in before reporting to the customer on how long it would take. Then a timer would appear and the order would be ready at the end of the time IF the correct time was given to the customer, and regardless of whether or not the food is actually ready, you have 10 seconds to pick up the food or else the customer will leave dissatisfied. The information that would need to be recorded would be the item, the price, the preparation time, and the time until the food cools. Customers will always be unable to decide between three items, and they would always have very different cooling times. This is meant to take advantage of the difference in spacing of certain seats compared to others. If the food cools before it arrives, you won't get top marks from the customer. Luckily the information is all constant, but the choices that the customers can't decide between will be grouped into different sets that pop up randomly. That's why I think this design would require some actual note taking. There would also be a cooking job at the same restaurant where you would have a recipe that would be viewable at any time, but it isn't up constantly so some might prefer to take notes. The majority of tasks in both of these would be handled by the character, with the player having to make choices from a list that pops up to tell either the player or the customer what to do or how long.

I'm planning a set of activities that serve as paying jobs that will be the main source of income for players of my game. My question is, is it inherently bad to make an activity that prompts the player to have something to write down information on because the amount of information they would have to remember if not written down is likely beyond the scope of the average player's ability to recall on command? You see, while it is technically a distraction, or even a 'mini-game', it will become important to what I see as being most players because of these activities being the main source of in-game income, and I really don't want it to be too easy, but I also don't want to be asking something ridiculous of the player.

How about you have it check if the characters are in the party, and only display the message for each character if that character is dead but in the party. Since you're removing them permanently, that should theoretically work, plus it'll keep more switches open for other things.

Assuming you mean the player character, my first order of business would be to make sure that the transparency is turned off, either when the game starts or by way of events. Beyond that however, more information is required.

Whenever someone asks for help designing a game, the first game that always comes to mind is the SNES JRPG Lufia 2: Rise of the SInistrals. Ever heard of it? No? Okay, well the story is actually pretty cliche as a whole, but in this case, the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts. There are so many localized aspects of the game, from story, to combat, even the fact that this game, in a way, did Pokemon before there was Pokemon. I'm going to list some of them, but they are merely for potential inspiration. So, first off there was the Ikari system, which actually combined strategic elements that could only be implemented outside of battle with the flow of battle itself. Most, but not all equipment in the game have special skills tied to them that could only be utilized in exchange for a percentage of a meter that appeared in battle, and filled as a character took damage. The percentage used varied from skill to skill, but it just added some depth to an otherwise standard battle system. Lufia 2 was also one of the first games to do the hopeless boss trope, and they actually did it differently, because you could beat the boss if you leveled enough and got the right gear (Kinda hard when he's boss #7, huh?) Beating him didn't do anything like a branched story, but the boss did drop his sword in that case, a powerful weapon with a killer Ikari. I don't know how many games had dungeons like Lufia 2's Ancient Cave, but that was an optional 99 basement behemoth of a randomly generated dungeon where upon entry you revert to level 1 and have to leave everything you own at the door. You start the ancient cave the way you start the game, except that you have a full party. Also there are special chests in the cave that contain equipment not found anywhere else. Said equipment is the strongest in the game by any standard, and the only equipment you can take out of the cave with you. However, if you die, then it's a drop everything and run scenario. The 'pokemon' system I mentioned were called capsule monsters. They start off wimpy and grow when you feed them. What do you feed them? Anything. Fruits, vegetables, weapons, armor...I kid you not. And the more they grow, the more refined their taste buds become. And the thing is, they have to like the taste of what you feed them for it to help them grow. Lufia 2 also had a spell shop where, instead of buying tomes that would be stored as items until you use them like what happens in Final Fantasy II for example; you buy them, select the character, and they use the tome right there on the shop screen. Not sure how important that would be to whoever, but I also don't know how to accomplish that one. Then there's also the difficult bosses mod for that game that someone made. You know, since we're talking about bosses too. There were a couple of interesting boss strategies in there, like a boss that used an attack that varied in strength depending on whether the boss was attacked while charging the attack, and a boss that increased its moves per turn in response to an increase in pc aggression (you had to attack that boss only once per round to survive), and there was also a boss that, if you dealt too much damage in one round (>666) the boss would wipe the floor with you because that's how it rolls. If you know what you're doing, there are some really inventive strategies you can make on the RPG Maker too.

Like many people have said already, there's really no set formula or rule governing what the first dungeon is. Also, if you want you can use lava or fire, but if it's going to be a hazard make sure to warn the player in the first area that is made hazardous by it. Also, not necessarily limited to the first dungeon, but the beginning of the game should allow for acclimation to special features of your game. I'm including this here because of how many games include the first dungeon in that 'tutorial period'. Mind you there shouldn't be a lot of hand-holding, but maybe signs or stone carvings describing warnings or game mechanics. Something where the player isn't forced to sit through drabble even during the 20th time playing the game (I'm looking at you Navi).

I have a general backstory thought out for each of my characters, but what I'm wondering is what would players think if they had to play through the backstory segments instead of just reading exposition and watching cut-scenes? What I have in mind is that, for example, when the current party boards a ship to reach the next area,the scene would change, leading to game play revolving around a different character to let the player get the character ready to join the party.

what happens if you tick one of the boxes when the window is glitched? I can't help, but that info might be important to someone who can.

My project is currently at a stand still, but my brain continues to work on parts of the game that I haven't gotten to yet. As such, I thought it a good idea to seek opinions from other users of the program, as well as those who may end up playing the finished product, while I'm waiting for my brain to work on the part of the game that I'm currently trying to work on. First off, the name of the game is 'Chronicles of Camyre'. I'm thinking of adding the subtitle 'Palace of Distortion', but that depends on how important the final role of said 'palace' actually is. So for right now, just 'Chronicles of Camyre'. Next up, the main characters of the game. So far they are Arik, Una, Asido, Nodoo, Breena, Camyre, and Kira. Note that not all of these characters are protagonists. In fact, Nodoo and Kira are very close to the main antagonist spot. The true antagonist however, is a shapeshifter that doesn't really have a name. It's questionable whether it's a main character or not, but I'll include it. i'll go into each of the characters more in depth below. Arik was born in a world parallel to the one where the game actually takes place. During the opening scene of the game, he is seen in his world talking to someone who looks exactly like him. During the conversation, another person appears out of nowhere, and after a brief monologue opens a portal and thrusts Arik's twin through it. The twin grabs for something to prevent being taken through the portal, but what he grabs turns out to be Arik's arm, and so they end up making the unexpected journey together. Arik wakes up in a strange house, made even stranger by the fact that he doesn't remember what happened. When he is greeted by a strange young girl and a grumpy old man, he realizes that things are not how they should be. The old man wastes no time in booting Arik out of the house. Una is the granddaughter of the mayor of a town called Esidil. Their house is where Arik wakes up after his journey through the portal, and in fact Una is who took Arik in, without her grandfather's permission I might add. Shortly after Arik is kicked out, Una joins him on his travels to look after him, as up until then, and for some time after he proves to be quite brash. Asido is a young and surprisingly skilled shaman from the village of the High Elves. He is the only High Elf to be on good terms with the Dwarves, and in fact he serves as healer for both tribes. The job is quite taxing, though after Arik and Una come to be on good terms with the Dwarves, Asido takes some time to pass on to a handful each of High Elves and Dwarves his skills as a healer before parting with his brethren to combat the forces that drove the Dwarves and the High Elves apart in the first place. Asido is the primary healer in the game, and has a higher pharmacology rate than other characters as well due to his background. Nodoo is a character who is shrouded in mystery. in fact for most of the game, the people of the world don't realize they he is the one doing the things that are making everyone suffer. Nodoo was involved from the very beginning, even so much as to say that he is the one who plunged Arik and his twin into the world that the game takes place in. All this and yet he isn't aware of any of it. Well in a way he is, since as he is his will is that of a shifter who stole his body. He, the person who he originally was, felt his freedom restricted in a way few usually consider or even care about. He wanted to experience the lives of other races in a way that only someone of that race could. When he was promised that chance, he couldn't imagine the cost of accepting. Now his will, the shifter's will, is that of a purely malevolent being with no qualms of doing anything he wishes. Breena is a Dracomorph, a rare being that is the result of a love between a dragon and a human. Though they are rare, that wasn't always the case, in fact there was once a prosperous city entirely inhabited by the hybrids. Now, as far as Breena is concerned, she is the only one left. When she was young, she was attacked and nearly killed by an adult male dragon who had a thing for despising hybrids like her. However, in her dire situation, something happened, something that isn't supposed to happen until a spell placed on them at birth as released by another who sees fit to do so. Breena's desperate desire to survive breaks the spell 50 years before a Dracomorph is typically deemed ready, and in fact she is not ready. With the spell broken, Breena's dragon blood begins to course through her body, mingling with her human blood. However, lacking the ability to control her dragon blood, the spell is like a dam in the ferocity of the repercussions of it breaking. The flood of power instantly causes a transformation in Breena, one that makes her look like her father, though her mentality is more like a wyrm than a dragon. In a thrashing rage, the transformed Breena brings down her attacker in a swift, terrifying assault. However, she keeps going until she tires, after which she reverts and falls asleep. That happens 20 years before the events of the game. About a third of the way through the game, Breena joins the party to try to find meaning in her otherwise empty life. She grows fond of Arik's trademark brashness, but not long after, she forces herself to make the toughest decision of her life up to that point. To once again go solo. This decision comes as a result of what happens when Breena loses control of her dragon blood again. Arik tries to stop her rampage, and gets too close at the worst possible time. The sight of the young human's blood is the trigger of her reversion, and after helping to see to his wounds, Breena makes the decision to leave after everyone is asleep that night, following some reassuring, but empty-sounding words from Una. 'Nobody blames you for what happened.' After she leaves, she is not seen again until the post-ending story. She is found in a desperate struggle for control of her dragon blood. She loses the fight, and her dragon blood flows stronger than ever. After a fierce struggle with Breena's transformed state, her physical weakness allow her to revert, though without saying anything she continues on her way. Just before she is out of earshot, she turns back and shouts a promise to conquer her problem and come back after. Camyre is an utterly mysterious individual. All anyone knows about him is that he is the author of every historical text currently in existence. As such, many have stuck to calling him the 'God of Knowledge', and his many works the 'Chronicles of Camyre'. The truth? As he rarely shows himself, no one knows that he is a Dracomorph. However, where those like Breena mentioned above have no control over their dragon blood are referred to Dragonlings, Camyre, who has his dragon blood in complete control, refers to himself and others like him as Dragon Knights. He is only met in the post ending story, first by Breena at the end of her journey to find someone who can help her rein in her out of control blood, and later by the rest of the party after sending Breena back to them with a written invitation to meet him. Kira is Arik's twin that appears in the opening scene where he drags Arik into the game world with him. They are separated, and Kira goes on to work for Nodoo, unaware that Nodoo is the one who sent him to the game world in the first place. He becomes deeply mixed up in the 'bad guy' side of things, but after he finds out the truth, he tries to go help the player party before Nodoo stops him. As Nodoo is about to be vanquished, he starts acting very differently, though the player characters don't notice it. For the post ending story, Kira is taken over by Nodoo's former host, it having switched bodies just in time to avoid being slain. Kira's own personality is more mischievous than truly evil. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, so he really starts to get on Nodoo's bad side when he starts refusing to follow orders that involve killing. The Shapeshifter is just what it sounds like, though at the same time it's considerably more too. As is said by its only name, it is able to assume different forms. However, how it expands this ability is different from what people usually think. It feeds by assimilating whole beings into itself, which has the additional effect of absorbing the food's memories and gaining the ability to assume their form. The Shapeshifter is without a doubt, a monster of the worst kind. It appears to be instinct-driven in nature, but if that's the case, then its instinct is to destroy, and nothing good can come of that. When the Shapeshifter finds Nodoo, he is assimilated in the process of the Shapeshifter 'granting his wish'. However, when he is about to be slain while taking the form of Nodoo, he ejects the assimilated Nodoo under cover of the attack, leaving the real, innocent Nodoo to take the lethal punishment while the Shapeshifter assimilates Kira instead. Then, when the Shapeshifter is about to be killed again, this time in Kira's form, he once again ejects the subject of his current form, and then takes hold of Arik, trying to assimilate him instead. This drastic turn sets up the game's final boss, which starts as a one-on-one between the Shapeshifter and Arik, until Camyre infiltrates Arik's mind and lets Una, Asido, and Breena in to help. I haven't gotten very far in actually making the game, but I've done a lot of thinking regarding things I haven't gotten to the point of making yet. Also, I originally had other things I wanted to mention, but I spent more time on the characters than I thought I would so I'll leave it at that for now.

I now have a bit of a teaser written out, though to be honest it might be pretty generic. If it is I'd like someone to let me know. There's no point in a teaser if it's full of stuff everyone expects from an RPG like this. Something is terribly wrong, something that all the knowledge in the world can't prepare you for. A village girl is taken as divine tribute for a god that doesn't even exist. Two ancient tribes, long on good terms, are driven apart by someone not of either. A survivor of a near-extinct species is thrust into a conflict with herself she isn't ready to face. As the monstrous Legion of Blackheart continues to send more and more of its forces through the Gate of Distortions, something even more vile threatens to leave its mark on the world. With so many already involved in their own dilemmas, will the people be ready when the time arrives? Something is coming...but what? When? Why...? As Arik journeys in search of these answers and how he fits into it all, he will discover strength within himself that he would never believe. Meeting a number of good friends and a wide variety of vicious foes, will he succeed? Or will the world die trying? You as the player will discover secrets about the world that very few know about as you help your group grow. Fight legions of enemies. Gather ingredients, be they everyday trifles or exotic treasures. Forge deadly weapons, craft useful equipment, brew powerful potions, and cook delicious food. Hunt for treasures and rare monsters. And if you've nothing better to do, help someone with a favor or two; it promotes community growth.

1. Voice clips can be stored as SE audio, and inserted into the game as such. As for platforming, it really depends on what extent you're looking to go with the platforming aspect. 2. There should be at least one script floating around that skips the default intro. If you use that, then you can use the play movie event command to put your animation into the game. You can then use pictures and 'Show Choices' commands, as well as a script call for each choice, to make your own start screen. 3. This sounds like a broad question. I think I know what you mean, but I'd rather you be more specific first. 4. This sounds like it would be best done with pictures. Use the set of picture related events to spawn the full body images as such, and to manipulate them so they're just right in terms of screen position. When you want to have the image change expression, just put another picture in and remove the one you last used. Also, if you dig you might be able to find a script that you can plug a set of pictures into to make an animated image. I don't know if anyone's made it, but if they have, this would probably be the place to find it. Good luck with your project.

That's weird, but at least it got resolved. And it always makes me happy when someone says that like one of my ideas.

I have a method in mind, and while I don't now the specifics of what you're looking for, it might not matter with this method. What I'm thinking is that instead of using three separate enemies, use the same enemy three times and apply a state to each of the clones. This way, when you want to change the order of the enemies all you have to do is have variables memorize the current HP and current MP of each copy, use another variable, one with a random value to decide where the real one will be relocated to, and then use the variables mentioned above to adjust the HP and MP of each version of the enemy so as to continue with the illusion that they've swapped places. Don't forget to adjust the state bearers based on the number that comes up in the RNG. This SHOULD work, but I haven't tried it so let me know if something happens that you find unfavorable.

funny, Vectra, but I read what Solitary Cheese...I mean Lonequeso was saying and thought the exact same thing you posted. Speaking not just of bosses, but of reqular enemies too, in my game I have a state corresponding to each element in the game, with the idea that each skill is assigned one of those states to inflict 100% of the time. It may sound like a big fat waste of time to some, but it's the only way I could think of to make enemies react to certain elements. Is this a good idea?

Well if you're feeling really creative, you can do like I'm doing and give each troop its own unique intro message. If you make text come up on turn 0, the generic intro message won't show up, and I just tested to see if bringing the name input processing menu up would make the generic message pop up after making a custom message, and lo and behold, no generic message. If you have the time and patience, it might be worth looking into, not only for this purpose, but also for some additional flair.

The way I would suggest that you do this is to make a state for increased strength, and one for decreased strength. Make the first thing on this event be the removal of these states (both of them since it wouldn't be worth it to check which one is applied). Then if you want random questions you'll have to make a variable set to a random number between 1 and say, 3 if you have three different questions. Regardless of whether you use a random number or not, this is where you put the questions in, though if you use the random number you'll need a number of conditional branches, 3 for this example, set them up so that each branch uses a different number in the range as its condition, and have each of these conditions correspond to a different question. Again,whether or not you choose to use this step is up to you, I'm just putting it there in case. So, what you want to do is to use the Show Choices command to set up the answers, and use a second variable to tell the game whether the answer given was correct or not. As in select a variable to use, and apply -1 to the variable value if the correct answer is selected, but apply +1 if the given answer is wrong. Now below the system of questions you want to set up some more branches; two this time. Set them up so that if the second variable <0 then the weakening state is applied, and if the variable >0 then the strengthening variable is applied. In both cases make sure the variable responsible for this change is set back to 0 afterward. This system is set up based on the battle with HAG 1 on Banjo Tooie, where Gruntilda would quiz you before you could attack her, and your answer determined the speed of her attacks. Anyway, I hope this helps.

My greatest achievement is and probably always will be completing a run of the fan-made Uber Challenge for Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Between the gate jump, crossing the desert, seam walking into the Shadow Temple, and completing the Shadow Temple with the restrictions, it was torture, but oh so worth it!

Speaking of antagonists, the one I have planned for my game really has me thinking all of a sudden. If a beast feeds off of the misfortune, sorrow, and pain of others, can it be called instinct if the beast induces those things in others to feed? Or is it more likely to be seen as a lame excuse? Is it possible for something to be chaotic evil through nothing but raw instinct?

That sure is a strong word coming from one person. And all caps too. You sir, appear to suffer from a case of success-borne arrogance. Looking at this, especially. But anyway you're stuck in a box. Time to come out of there and see what you're missing. What about the retro-lovers, people who prefer the games that came before 'Ooh! Pretty! Want!'? What about Zelda: Twilight Princess, with its world of browns and greens AND subpar story, yet it had a massive fanbase regardless? And these are commercial games, with the retro ones being from around the time RPG Maker's graphics represent. You know, a cast of pixel people. You're also missing the point of diamonds in the rough, and no I am not talking about Aladdin. There's this one game that keeps pulling me back, just as an example. Retro? Yes. Commercial? Yes. Bear with me though. Graphically the game was beautiful for its time, but I do not believe the graphics have aged well. It's also not very hard, and as a whole the story is a cliche. What brings be back to it, I believe, is the way the story is told. The structure is sound, the pace is just right, and the words used to tell the story just make it so much better then 'I'm off to beat the bad guy because old what's his face said I had to!' Seriously, in what game I'm not thinking of is an old man/woman not closely related to the start of your quest? ...Sorry, useless blurb tacked onto the end there.

So, when someone talks about permadeathing a player's party, does that mean erasing their save file so you're forced to start over?

I'm sorry, but no...just no. There is a difference between a difficult game and a broken game. No matter how high the difficulty, playability is a priority, in fact the priority. Unless you're making a game that has something you can do to reduce the instant death status to, for example, leaving the target with 1 HP (Though that is in itself at the border between annoying and broken if the enemy in question is going to be spamming Instant Death skills. Here are two examples of instant death inflicting enemies. i came up with them on the fly, but they pretty well represent what i believe to be the difference between a strategy-heavy battle and a broken enemy The strategy-heavy enemy is what I call the Color Reaper. It's kind of the opposite of the Phantom from the Neverland level of Kingdom Hearts. Where the Phantom changes color to alter its elemental weakness, the Color Reaper changes color to alter the element it embodies. Using the colors of the aforementioned Phantom boss, if the Color Reaper turns red, it embodies fire. If light blue, ice is the current element, and lightning corresponds to yellow. The current element of the enemy is matched up with the corresponding elemental efficiency of the target, with the enemy's identical element attack having a chance of inflicting death equal to half of the target's corresponding elemental percentage. To combat this enemy, the player would have to prepare by lowering the percentile of at least some of the elemental efficiencies, and make up for whatever they couldn't do outside of battle, in the battle itself. At least one element per character having a fair resistance value is essential, though a bare minimum of two is recommended. You see, this enemy's ai is actually quite predictable, and heavily subject to influence. If hit with an elemental attack, the Color Reaper will switch its element in order to reduce the damage from additional attacks of that element. It's really quite childlike in the simplicity of its ai, but considering its capacity to inflict the death status, It almost seems necessary. I could be missing something, though. As for the example of a broken enemy, in this case, an enemy kind of similar to, yet oh so different from the Color Reaper. In this case, just blandly called 'Death'. I'm sure you can see where this is going. Thefirst two of every three turns it uses a skill called Deathscythe that has an 85% chance of inflicting instant death. On the third turn of the cycle it casts Breath of Death, which has a lower 60% chance, but effects the party. If anyone is 0% effected by, but not completely immune to death, it switches to doom skills, Countdown and Blood Curse, single and multi-target respectively. If anyone is completely immune to the death state, it instead switches to skills that force the target to another dimension; Rift Hole and Lightless Void, again single and multi-target. Similar to the effect of Telega from FFXII, those skills behave like death, but wear off after battle. There is no way to resist being forced into another dimension, so you see, one thing has the potential to lead to something worse, and it's just impossible to establish a winning strategy because all of its moves inflict a state that is essentially equivalent to death with deadly accuracy. This latter example I would definitely call broken, just because of what I mentioned before.

The difference between (most) Zelda and Star Tropics is that in Zelda, if you misstep you're sent back to the room with less health, but in Star Tropics if you idle on a timed platform or make a wrong jump, you die. I remember there was a dungeon in Star Tropics that had three boulder chase rooms. It's in Chapter 5 and I hate it so much. Anyway, there was a blue boulder, a green, and a red, in that order. The blue one rolled back and forth along a set path, as did the green (I think). The blue one had hiding spots, and the room with the green one had to be enter and exited twice from different locations. The red one had hiding spots too, but it didn't go back and forth along its track, instead opting to track you as best it could.