Another Custom Battle Ending Issue

[Rodak]

It's Over! Mother's Day has been survived... I love my mother, but she is out of her tiny little mind.

Which brings me to the topic of Running Away.

As many people here know (especially Dungeon Warden, who knows better than most) I am modifying the default battle system for my game.

This goes back to the custom battle endings thread, but since I have the battles ending, this justifies a new thread.

I can not just ask this one without some background, so here it goes again:

I made a custom enemy action for when the enemy flees. If you want to try it for test purposes just go to enemy actions and make a new action in which the enemy simply turns around 180 degrees and runs off into the distance, shrinking to nothing in the process. Mine's a little more complex, but that can be made in under two minutes and works for test purposes.

After the enemy flees, and thanks to modifying the "Damage Enemy", "Critical", "Attact Success", and "Attack Critical" scripts with flag conditions and force script end commands so they behave themselves, the battle ends after the enemy runs. If you need to know these modifications I shall gladly detail them here.

My problem is this: After the enemy flees and just before the "Victory" message shows (yes, I give experience for this) the enemy reappears in their default "wait" position and motion for just a few frames, then disappears. It is really ruining the effect and visual appeal of the flee. And I made a custom flee for darn near every enemy in my game!

The short version of the question is this: What is the last thing the battle system does before leaving combat (or removing an incapacitated enemy's model from the screen in a multi-enemy fight), and does it have anything to do with this situation?

Am I doomed? Is the effort wasted? I doubt it... but I can not find the script that removes the defeated enemy graphic. It may not be scripted. It might just be "hard wired" into the system. That might make the idea impossible. But I hope not.

[BloodKnight]

Did you black out the screen as soon as the enemy fled, and victory was yours/make the enemy transparent after they fled?

[Rodak]

I have not tried that... yet.

I guess it did not occur to me to try that as I am modifying the default system and not making a full CBS. I think this would result in messages displayed over a black screen, but it is a solution nonetheless!

Thanks. I'll try it tonight after work.

Peace.

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It's nice being the entire lab staff for a small chemical manufacturing company. When something really urinates me off (OOH, a profanity free euphemism!) I can just leave and they'd be hard pressed to do much about it. I know statements like that are tempting fate, but I never got along well with fate anyhow, so intercourse fate (OOH another)! Of course now that I said that my boss is likely to start playing with RPGM2 and find this board and get mad at me. Tough. I'll tell him not to get me mad with orders I think are dangerous!

But enough about me. Blacking out the screen worked great. The screen goes black and the messages are delivered. The screen flashes to the battle screen for a few frames after the messages are done, but the enemy is gone, so it is OK with me.

Making the enemy transparent is a great (I'd go so far as to say preferable) idea except the flash of enemy I was trying to erradicate was using the "wait" enemy action. I know beacuse I modified many "Wait" actions and recognized my work in those few frames. Unless there is a scripting command that will make the enemy model change in any way. I have only been able to do that in the enemy action editor. I would need to have them transparent at the beginning of wait for that to work.

If anyone knows what may help avoid the enemy image at the end of such a batle scene, please post it here. Just be aware that it is not a pressing issue as BloodKnight provided a perfectly workable soultion and anything else would be simply polish. Polish is always nice, and very welcome, but not essential for finishing my game. As it stands now it is a little awkward, but absolutely acceptable.

I did feel that getting rid of that flash of enemy at the end was essential to finishing the game, so Three Cheers and a Tiger for BloodKnight and his great suggestion.

Peace,

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Oh No, another glitch.

The black screen works great for single enemy battles, but when there are multiple enemies the screen blacking really falls short of the mark. First it stays black until the battle is over. That could easily be taken care of by putting a "wait a few frames" command after the balckening and then clearing the screen, except for the fact that a black screen anywhere but the very end of battle is just too distracting.

Oh well, it was a noble effort, but the quest continues.

There are a few simple commands that do not exist, but would have made this system far better, and one to remove the enemy from battle would really come in handy about now.

Oh well. Few things worth doing are easy!!

Peace.

[Deleted]

It might be that the script controlling their flee action is this:

Battle: Enemy: Action 'Flee'
Battle: Enemy: Default

in which the default is making him return to the Wait action for a few frames, and then he disappears after the system finishes applying the 'Flee' indirect effect to him.

This script would be attached to the event found in the flee command's direct effect's 'Result' slot (if that doesn't make sense ask). I think this will fix the problem. I'll have to try this out for my game too, as I just thought of it now (but I don't have custom flee animations, at least not yet). The commands 'Battle: Enemy: Action 'Flee'' and 'Battle: Enemy: Default' are from memory and may not be the exact names.

edit: It might be the 'Success' slot instead of the 'Result'.

[Rodak]

Wow.

I just solved this and came to post that I was going to transcribe the scripts and post them in the CSD by tomorrow {HA I can play with acronyms too! That's Common Script Database}.

It involves several modifications and a direct effect (and, of course an enemy action).

WilliamKirk, you were on to something but it was a little more than that. I already had a force script end in there within the script branch in the "damage enemy" and "Critical" scripts, so that flash was coming from somewhere else. It involved the Attack Success and Critical Success scripts as well.

Watch the Database tomorrow afternoon to evening for a transcription pile!

Thanks to all for giving Dungeon Warden a break on this one. We don't want to wear him out.

Peace.


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The full technique is posted in the Common Script Database.

I gotta learn how to make a link that does not look like :

doansdomain.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=Help&action=display&thread=1113874068

Maybe someday. Meanwhile click there for the answer.

Peace.

[Doan the Nado]

I can solve that last one:
[link=http://www.doanthenado.com]Here's a link to my site![/link]

Here's a link to my site!

[Rodak]

Wow. That's easy. Thanks

[The Final Rune]

This is how
          you indent your text.

Just use the tag [pre] text here [/pre] and it'll appear with how ever amny spaces you want to use.  Also, include the tag [size=3] text here [/size] around the [pre] tags so the text will appear normal size.

Unfortunately you can't just preformat spaces, because the system automatically creates a line break after the closing pre tag.

I hope this helps.

[Rodak]

Yes, that does help.

I'll go back and "Fancy up" the scripts I listed when I am not at work.

Bulletin Board Code has changed since the 1980's! But once ya know what code to use the rest is easy.

Thanks for the thought.

So how do you show the code without having it executed? It must be on that block of pictographic "tags" with no "Mouse-Over" explanations of what they are. But most of them are obvious. Ahh, I'll get the hang of these things soon enough.

Peace.