- Joined
- Jul 16, 2013
- Messages
- 114
- Reaction score
- 32
- First Language
- English
- Primarily Uses
In my short time here, I've seen quite a few threads asking about cutscenes and how to make opening cinematics. This guide was created to help new users become more familiar with creating cutscenes on a very basic level (Can't stress this enough!). It's a guide by a beginner, for beginners. I plan to break this down as easily as possible, so without any more jabber-jawing, let's get into it!
Note for more advanced users: Yes, there are some things I'm leaving out that I don't feel are useful (yet) to brand new makers. The main example I can think of is the game reading pages from right to left for Events. Remember, this is supposed to be bare bones basic.
Step 1
On your opening map, you'll have a Starting Position for your hero. This just tells the game where you want your hero to first appear. You can also see an Event here, but we'll talk about that in a minute.
If you're wanting to do a cutscene that opens on a blank screen, you can set the hero's Transparency to On in the System tab in the Database Manager menu (F9) and just leave the map itself blank!
For the purpose of this guide, we're going to use one of my cutscenes as an example.
In this one, the hero is invisible to begin with.
Step 2
Let's talk about that Event I mentioned earlier. An Event is an object on the map that can be just about anything you want. An NPC, a sign, a shop, a cutscene, the list goes on and on.
The one in particular that you can see in the screen shot is our Cutscene Event. Let's take a look at some of what makes it tick, then I'll explain how it works.
Here's the first page of the Event.
This is the second page.
Let's talk about the first page and what all that means.
First Event Page
Most cutscenes will be Events set to Autorun. You can see Autorun as the Trigger on the left side of the box. Autorun means that the Event will begin when the player enters the map.
So, what happens here is the Event begins right away as the player starts on the map. The Tint Screen isn't really that important because when you leave the map blank, it gives you a black background anyway.
As you can see, the first page is full of dialogue and a few other things, one of the main ones being the Self Switch.
Self Switches
The best description of Switches that I've ever heard is that they're exactly like light switches. They are. The one in the example triggers after the player is Transferred to another map.
Self Switches, like normal Switches are Off by default, they turn On when that part of an Event is achieved.This leads us to the second page.
Second Event Page
There really isn't much to see here, is there? That's ok, because this page is very important, regardless. If you look on the left side of the page under Conditions, you'll find that Self Switch is checked and A is selected to be On.
This is a source of confusion and frustration for many, many new folks. (It sure got under my skin at first!) What this does is tell the game to switch to this page once Self Switch A is set to On.
You might be wondering how the Self Switch from the first page matters to the one on second page. Well, when the dialogue ends and the player is moved to the next map, the game reaches the line
that activated the Self Switch. After this, the Event, having been told that its main page is now Event Page 2 due to the Self Switch being active, will look at page 2, read it, and see what changes are made to itself.
The changes can be anything from making the Event invisible, to changing its graphic, to giving it a new text response when interacted with, to anything you want!
One of the important changes to make for Events is the Priority. This can be set Below the player in the second page, so that it's out of the way and your heroes can pass.
Still confused? Alright, let's look at another example!
The most important thing to keep in mind is that using the Self Switch will make sure your Autorun cutscenes don't run more than once.
For example - If you enter a map for the first time, you get a cutscene. After you exit the map, you don't need the scene again, so the Event that houses
the scene will now be on its second page permanently after being directed there from the Self Switch being turned On at the end of the first page.
Well, there you have it. That's probably the most basic way to make a cutscene for your game. There are certainly more extravagant and in-depth ways of doing it, but I think this is
a great place for beginners to start. Good luck, have fun, and ask questions if you need to!
Note for more advanced users: Yes, there are some things I'm leaving out that I don't feel are useful (yet) to brand new makers. The main example I can think of is the game reading pages from right to left for Events. Remember, this is supposed to be bare bones basic.
Step 1
On your opening map, you'll have a Starting Position for your hero. This just tells the game where you want your hero to first appear. You can also see an Event here, but we'll talk about that in a minute.
If you're wanting to do a cutscene that opens on a blank screen, you can set the hero's Transparency to On in the System tab in the Database Manager menu (F9) and just leave the map itself blank!
For the purpose of this guide, we're going to use one of my cutscenes as an example.
In this one, the hero is invisible to begin with.
Step 2
Let's talk about that Event I mentioned earlier. An Event is an object on the map that can be just about anything you want. An NPC, a sign, a shop, a cutscene, the list goes on and on.
The one in particular that you can see in the screen shot is our Cutscene Event. Let's take a look at some of what makes it tick, then I'll explain how it works.
Here's the first page of the Event.
Spoiler
This is the second page.
Spoiler
Got all that? No? It's ok, it's not easy at first.
Got all that? No? It's ok, it's not easy at first.
Let's talk about the first page and what all that means.
First Event Page
Most cutscenes will be Events set to Autorun. You can see Autorun as the Trigger on the left side of the box. Autorun means that the Event will begin when the player enters the map.
So, what happens here is the Event begins right away as the player starts on the map. The Tint Screen isn't really that important because when you leave the map blank, it gives you a black background anyway.
As you can see, the first page is full of dialogue and a few other things, one of the main ones being the Self Switch.
Self Switches
The best description of Switches that I've ever heard is that they're exactly like light switches. They are. The one in the example triggers after the player is Transferred to another map.
Self Switches, like normal Switches are Off by default, they turn On when that part of an Event is achieved.This leads us to the second page.
Second Event Page
There really isn't much to see here, is there? That's ok, because this page is very important, regardless. If you look on the left side of the page under Conditions, you'll find that Self Switch is checked and A is selected to be On.
This is a source of confusion and frustration for many, many new folks. (It sure got under my skin at first!) What this does is tell the game to switch to this page once Self Switch A is set to On.
You might be wondering how the Self Switch from the first page matters to the one on second page. Well, when the dialogue ends and the player is moved to the next map, the game reaches the line
that activated the Self Switch. After this, the Event, having been told that its main page is now Event Page 2 due to the Self Switch being active, will look at page 2, read it, and see what changes are made to itself.
The changes can be anything from making the Event invisible, to changing its graphic, to giving it a new text response when interacted with, to anything you want!
One of the important changes to make for Events is the Priority. This can be set Below the player in the second page, so that it's out of the way and your heroes can pass.
Still confused? Alright, let's look at another example!
Spoiler
Here we have the infamous Treasure Chest!
As you can see, you interact with the chest, gain 500G, and Self Switch A is turned On due to your interaction.
If you try to interact with the chest again...
Well, it's empty and always will be now. You can see that the Self Switch is checked under Conditions. This lets the game know that the chest has already been looted, much like a cutscene NPC having run its course already.
Ok, let's get back on track here.
Here we have the infamous Treasure Chest!
As you can see, you interact with the chest, gain 500G, and Self Switch A is turned On due to your interaction.
If you try to interact with the chest again...
Well, it's empty and always will be now. You can see that the Self Switch is checked under Conditions. This lets the game know that the chest has already been looted, much like a cutscene NPC having run its course already.
Ok, let's get back on track here.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that using the Self Switch will make sure your Autorun cutscenes don't run more than once.
For example - If you enter a map for the first time, you get a cutscene. After you exit the map, you don't need the scene again, so the Event that houses
the scene will now be on its second page permanently after being directed there from the Self Switch being turned On at the end of the first page.
Well, there you have it. That's probably the most basic way to make a cutscene for your game. There are certainly more extravagant and in-depth ways of doing it, but I think this is
a great place for beginners to start. Good luck, have fun, and ask questions if you need to!
Last edited by a moderator:
