Laughing Fool's questions

[thelaughingfool]

I'm new to the world of RPG Maker 2. I understand the basic mechanics behind it, but the subtle machinations have me baffled. I will probably have a number of questions and to keep them better organized, I will post them here. Please bear in mind that I have little experience in programing so if you would be so kind as to answer my questions, please be through.

That said, here's my first question. I am trying to start out with making my own abilities. But, when I've gone through all the bells and whistles and use it in battle, it will say "You use _____" and then it does no damage. I have looked at other types of abilities, but as far as I can tell, the basic and customs tab are no different.

My second question: When I make a new enemy and program it to use attack maybe 60% of the time, it will just sit there and do nothing. If I have it set to use magic or skills, it will use them according to the percentage, but no attacking.

That's all for now, but there will be more.

[KiteDXX]

Ah, I bet I can answer those. I've experienced those, myself. :/

First of all, make sure you have the game set to Hard mode.

If you're just starting out, I would definitely reccomend that you copy and paste an already-created enemy or ability, and then simply replace the statistics (and direct effects) with the ones you want them to be.

For the enemies, they must have a certain script programmed to each of their actions, or they simply won't do a thing. In the "Adv" tab, there are many slots for each and every action the enemy can do. If there is nothing in a certain slot, and the enemy tries to execute that certain action, it will simply skip it as if it never existed (which, in this case, is actually true).

For the abilities, make sure the damage calculaton scripts are in the correct locations, and make sure they exist, period.

...in a nutshell, utilize copy and paste, unless you're trying to perform something the preset data hasn't already accomplished (for example, a status effect that was not originally programmed).

I hope I've answered your question. If not, tell us what happens next.

[thelaughingfool]

Great... What's a damage calculation script?

[KiteDXX]

Okay, the damage calculation works like this:

On an enemy's Adv tab, in the "Combat" tab, there is a slot for Attack and Defend, with Direct and Indirect effect slots. Make sure the enemy has a direct effect for the Attack and Defend slots, or else the attack simply won't work.

If you want to try this using preset data, assign direct effect #0156 Hit (Enemy 0) to the Direct effect slot of Attack, and assign direct effect #0158 Defend (Enemy) to the direct effect slot of Defend. With these scripts in place, whenever the enemy attacks, it performs damage based on its original attack (since Hit (Enemy 0) doesn't give the attack any extra boost), and when it defends (if you assign it to do so, of course), it takes 1/2 damage.

If your enemy doesn't even attempt to attack, then the scripts under the "Directing" tab to the Adv tab are not there. Using the preset data works fine with this. Simply assign the following scripts to the correct slot:

[Encounter Flow]
Battle Start: 0026: Enemy Appear
Battle End: 0027 Enemy Death

[Battle Flow]
Normal Offense: 0028: Normal Damage
Critical Offense: 0029 Critical
Defense: 0030 Recovery
Other: 0031 Custom
Dodge: 0032 Dodge

Unless you want your enemy to do something outside of what the fu-ma battle system does, then you should have a problem dealing with the preset data.

I bet I went a bit too far, but that's what a normal enemy should have assigned to all of it's slots. The other things can remain blank.

[thelaughingfool]

Okay, new question. I have started a new game on Hard mode, and I need some help setting up a merchant list. Can anyone help me with the script?

[KuroShinnen]

Don't start on hard... Start on easy, change it to hard.

[Doan the Nado]

Yes, until you are an expert and are willing to do a lot of research/experimentation to figure out things on your own, you are probably not ready to start out on hard. At the very least start out on Normal.

[realitybites]

Heck I still have trouble sometimes starting on hard, yeah, try easy or normal first. Hard is like the name suggests HARD.

[thelaughingfool]

This may have been asked and/or answered already, but I have no idea on how to ask this in a search.
Anyway, is there anyway to get the effect of Squall's Gunblade, namely that you select an attack and then press a button with timing to get extra damage. If there is anyway to program that, please let me know how.

[doyleman]

for the DBS?

um... not sure, but somewhere, you'd have to do:

Input: Wait (10 frames, perhaps...)
If Button Input = 5 (which is X i think, if not, it's 7)
Total Damage = Total Damage + Inst. Str (get's a slight boost based off of whoever's attacking's strength)
Conditionn End


yup.

[thelaughingfool]

I'm not sure how to type that. If it's not too much troble, could you put it in RPG Maker langauge?

[Neo Samurai]

But, it is in RPGM2 language.

Anyway, the method that doyleman typed above should work. I've thought of the same thing myself one time or another (I'm still debating upon whether or not I want to do it). Just do some experimenting and you should come up with a solution. Doyleman's example is a good starting ground.

[thelaughingfool]

Okay, I was just have a hard time figuring out were the input wait command was (whether it was in the Input Creation menu or the Other menu).

Anyway, maybe you can answer another question. I'm tring to build a town, but if I put down so many building objects, they start to turn invisible or soemthing. Is this a glitch or am I missing something?

[doyleman]

512 (i think) block limit. meaning: only 512 (+/- some, maybe) blocks
on a map, at once.

there are things to bypass it, but i'd rather not suggest it to you, yet.
(for the sake of completely confusing you).

[thelaughingfool]

That's intresting. As an early counter meassure against this, I broke my towns into 20 by 20 sections (or somethig like that) and made the town entirely in the building editor. I'm pretty sure I made more than just 512 blocks. Anyway, I take it the best way to get around this is to make the buildings hollow, right?

[Doan the Nado]

Input: Wait means "User Input: Buttons"

Yes, you should definitely conserve blocks by removing any that are not viewable.

Note that on Dungeon maps, the block limit (I think) is 1024. I'm not sure if there is a max of 512 editor blocks and 512 object/event blocks, or if it's simply 1024 total, but that might be what you're experiencing if you have a working area with over 512.

As far as the way to bypass it, it involves somehow keeping track of what the player can see, and constantly updating block events to make certain blocks visible and others invisible. In this way, you can ensure that at any one time, there are only 512 visible blocks on the map, but it may involve a lot of complicated scripting to pull it off.

[thelaughingfool]

Okay, I just got an idea, but it may very well be too complicated for me. The idea is to have events that randomly move above the ground, like making birds fly in the sky. The idea I have is to make the event move around diagnoly in a box. When it hits a wall, it turns around and moves in a 90 degree angle to where it was going. Does anyone know how to make this?

[Doan the Nado]

Just to give you an idea, you would need to do something like what I talked about in this post:

doansdomain.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=Help&action=display&thread=1169182096&page=1#1171254592

[Deleted]

The best way would be to use a Map + Buildings, no?

The Map Editor is only intimidating at first, but it actually isn't at all hard to get good with - especially with The Final Rune's "Map Editor Guide" written guide + RPGM2 file, which wasn't available for us when we were newbies (you lucky fool, hehe).

And, in the end the maps can look way better than the dungeons. (although I have seen some very good dungeons such as Doan's waterfall/river at his castle, but usually, you guys must agree with me here, no? per say, compare the best looking thing you've seen with a dungeon to the best looking thing you've seen with a map)

Eh, either way all I can add is that the block limit for a Map + Buildings (all I ever do for both looks and memory reasons) is 512.

I actually did this in my first game: I separated the cities into sections (I should let you know that one minor criticism of it was that it was hard to figure which way went to where - putting signs in would be a solution, also, I had a message of "do you want to exit [town]?" [yes] or [no] (If [no] bumps them back a space) when they were about to exit to help too). Also, TRUST ME HERE, don't make your cities/towns/etc. too big. Two to one screen is the right size. When you have townspeople saying "I like food.", you have a problem.

gl

[thelaughingfool]

Something I just realized is that I don't know how to work with variables. Does anyone knowof some kinda training exercise so I can familarize myself with them.

[doyleman]

um....

think of a jar? lol.

Variables are numbers.

In real life, we can think of numbers on a whim.

In computers, they have to use MEMORY to store numbers.

This means that variables are basically numbers for your use. You can use mathematical equations on them to help with conditional workings n such

[thelaughingfool]

Okay, give me an example on how to use them.

[Doan the Nado]

Um... I think you might want to start at doanthenado.com/guides.html. Read. Learn. Prosper.

A good place to start might be my World Creation Guide. It has a few example scripts which use variables, and I think it does a pretty good job of introducing you to some of the key elements of RPGM2. My Custom Camera System uses a lot of variables, so you should be able to get examples there as well. The DBS Guide by Will undoubtedly uses a lot of variables, but it may turn out to be a bit complicated for you at the moment. DW's Advanced FAQ has a huge listing of the built-in variables and their uses.

So basically, all this information is out there, and you would benefit a lot from figuring some of it out on your own. Also, there's a really nice feature on the message board called search. Simply doing a search for posts with "variable" in the subject turned up over 50 results.

[The Final Rune]

[white]Definately check out Doan's CCS (Custom Camera System) for some good examples on using variables in your scripts. Doan uses several variables within it to keep track of where the player has posistioned the camera. It might be hard to follow at first, but just try repeating his steps and the 'how' of it might sink in. Rememer to use start to check the in game help system (although it's really non-descript most times).

Give it a go, and if you get stuck we'll be here. Try something yourself. Often, learnign to do something specific will broaden your view of the scripting achitecture immensely.[/white]