Conditions, Triggers, and Event pages

[GrandmaDeb]

RPG Maker VX Ace Lite and VX Ace Tutorial:
Conditions, Triggers, and Event pages
Understanding the Ins and Outs of Event Execution​

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Honestly, a really great explanation of all of this can be found in the blog.
If I had known it was there, I wouldn't have made this post. (*embarrassed face*)
For a more thorough explanation of these triggers, please see:
Event Triggers Part 1, which covers Action Button, PLayer Touch and Event Touch and
Event Triggers Part 2, which covers Autorun and Parallel Processes.
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But, Oh well!! Here we GO!
Events are the heartbeat of your game, but what makes them tick?

That is a lot of information on one page! What do all of those sections mean?

Well, the event capabilities of your game are pretty sweet, so you won’t be surprised to hear that there are quite a few things to learn about events - way more than could ever be covered here!

But one of the important things you will want to understand is what makes events active and how they start executing. And this means understanding Conditions, Triggers, and Event pages.



So briefly, events are made up of event pages. Every event page contains a Condition section, a trigger, and a list of event commands (even if there are none.)

The first thing to understand is that every event must satisfy Conditions before it can even show up in the game. Your game can have fifty events on the map, but if they all have that first line in the Conditions section set to “switch 001 is ON” and you never turn switch 001 “ON” then your fifty events will never become active. Every condition listed in the Conditions sections must be true for the Event page to be active. So if there are two conditions, they must both be true for the event page to become active.

The next thing to understand is that an event page being “active” doesn’t mean anything will happen. Depending on the graphic and the movement, etc, there may be no image to even show up on the map. So events with graphics will be seen when they satisfy the conditions of their event page (the page will be active,) and they will move in whatever way they have been set up to in the Autonomous Movement and Options sections. But in order for the Event Commands to happen, they must be triggered.

Here is a summary of the triggers: Trigger Application Example

Action Button player uses enter or space bar
ex: for use when a player "talks" with an NPC
Player Touch player "bumps into" an event with priority "same as character", or walks over an event "beneath character"
ex: when a player reaches a location which initiates a cut-scene
Event Touch player must merely be next to an event, and not necessarily facing it
ex: an enemy encounter which begins if the enemy is on the tile next to the player
Autorun begins automatically and repeatedly until stopped, halting other event processing
ex: for events which begin when entering a map, or when a switch is on, or other conditions are satisfied, and must proceed until completion
Parallel Process begins automatically and repeatedly until stopped, allowing other events to continue
ex: for events which occur concurrent with the player's activities. 


Once the trigger is pulled, as it were, the event commands will execute.

Remember that events are made up of multiple event pages. The purpose of multiple event pages is to allow a set of closely related commands to be linked together in one event, but to have certain portions happen under different conditions. Each event page should have its own unique set of conditions. For example, the first page may have no conditions at all, and the second page may have the condition of Self-Switch A being “ON.” This is very common. In complex eventing systems, event pages will be dependent on many more factors, such as the value of a variable or the presence of an actor in a party, or both!

And the final condition of event execution is that the event page which gets first dibs on being able to be active is the one that has the highest number and looks like it is in the back. (It is a little counter-intuitive at first. Event Page #1 is LAST to be evaluated. If you have ten event pages, Event Page #10 will have its conditions checked first. If they are all good, then that page will run.)












 

See Granny’s Signature for a list of Ace Tutorials for the New Ace User​

 

[Andar]

Autorun begins automatically ex: for events which begin when entering a map, or when a switch is on, or other conditions are satisfied, and must proceed until completion

Parallel Process begins automatically and starts over again until halted ex: for events which occur concurrent with the player's activities. 

One very important additional difference is that the player cannot move while an autorun is being executed...

And you might want to add somewhere that the autonomous movement is also a parallel process for limited moveroute commands - that isn't part of the triggers, but without that hint the new developer might use the moveroute command on a conventional parallel process, and that creates too much lag on larger maps.

 

[GrandmaDeb]

Hi Andar. Pleased to meet you. I have been reading your post for new users, and keeping up with your edits there. Great stuff.


It is hard to know what to say and what not to say. The audience I am aiming for is the folks who picked up Ace Lite this week and are trying to hit the ground running with no previous exposure.


And when I was looking through my old VX help stuff that I wrote (or helped write) I found that the description for the parallel process included this: "Be warned, if calling a Common Event from within a Parallel Common Event, the Common Event that you call will be read as another Parallel Common Event, and as a result certain functions will not work properly, rendering some uses such as shortcut buttons useless." I mean, that might have been true for VX but it kind of makes your eyes roll back in your head!


But I think both of your points are important - maybe I can toss in the bit about parallel process move routes in a discussion of parallel processes.


And How about if I clarify the autorun not allowing player movement by changing "must proceed until completion" to "must proceed, freezing the player, until completion."


Thanks so much for your input! I try hard to be clear and thorough, but I am sure I make mistakes all of the time.

 

[Andar]

Hi GeandmaDeb, I've also read your recent tutorials - especially the one about tileset will be usefull when I get to that part of making my own game.

When deciding what to include in a tutorial, I prefer to stay one or two steps ahead of the reader and prevent those mistakes that might cause real problems.

In the case above - it's easy to create a bugged event that doesn't work or loops (for example a blocked move route with "wait for completion" checked).

But when that happens with an autorun event, it will appear to the player/developer as if the game has crashed - that's why the developer needs to be warned about that possibility before he starts with experimenting on triggers.

The autonomous movement part was just an afterthought due to parallel processes - that wouldn't be as vital as a warning about autorun blocking the players moves.

By the way: will you make a list of your tutorials after you've finished them? I would like to link such a list in my topic you mentioned above...

 

[Tsukihime]

Since parallel process points out that it starts over after reaching the end of the command list, might be useful to indicate that auto-run events also do the same (though it is already implied I suppose)

 

[GrandmaDeb]

Hi GeandmaDeb, I've also read your recent tutorials - especially the one about tileset will be usefull when I get to that part of making my own game.

When deciding what to include in a tutorial, I prefer to stay one or two steps ahead of the reader and prevent those mistakes that might cause real problems.

In the case above - it's easy to create a bugged event that doesn't work or loops (for example a blocked move route with "wait for completion" checked).

But when that happens with an autorun event, it will appear to the player/developer as if the game has crashed - that's why the developer needs to be warned about that possibility before he starts with experimenting on triggers.

The autonomous movement part was just an afterthought due to parallel processes - that wouldn't be as vital as a warning about autorun blocking the players moves.

By the way: will you make a list of your tutorials after you've finished them? I would like to link such a list in my topic you mentioned above...

Since parallel process points out that it starts over after reaching the end of the command list, might be useful to indicate that auto-run events also do the same (though it is already implied I suppose)

@both of you - thanks so much for the feedback! Very much appreciated! It sounds like this one will benefit from a meaty follow-up!

@Tsukihime - you are probably right - that should be more clearly stated.

@Andar, I made, a list here:

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/9622-lite-summer-camp-what-is-an-rpg-what-is-the-appeal-of-rpg-making/?p=150373

Although it is a compilation of many tuts which I thought would be useful for the beginning game maker, not just my stuff.

 

[voymasa]

GrandmaDeb,

Respect! (Fist to chest).

You have expanded my understanding of the event triggers in a most useful way. Now I not only know what each will do (and not do) at each "Priority", but more confidence in how to use them for my games.

Thank you.

 

[MUD_]

Hey grandma. Thanks for the info on even triggers! I got one question though! I just installed the RPG Maker Vx Ace Lite and I am trying to have an even trigger that would make a NPC come into the map. How would go about doing so?

 

[Shaz]

Please do not use a tutorial thread to ask for help on your specific game problem. Please post your question in a new thread in the VX Ace Support forum instead (or the VX Support forum, if you're using the maker listed on your profile) - that's what it's there for. Thank you.

 

[GrandmaDeb]

One very important additional difference is that the player cannot move while an autorun is being executed...


And you might want to add somewhere that the autonomous movement is also a parallel process for limited moveroute commands - that isn't part of the triggers, but without that hint the new developer might use the moveroute command on a conventional parallel process, and that creates too much lag on larger maps.

Would this be a fair way to express the hint you were expressing, Andar?


"***hint from Andar: Don't use an autonomous move route command in a parallel process - it creates lag on large maps."

 

[Shaz]

I think the point is that if you use Autonomous Movement, you DON'T need to set your event to parallel process.


Adding an Autonomous Move Route (in the section above the triggers) to a non-parallel process, is the equivalent to setting an event to parallel process and adding a Set Move Route event command.

 

[Ultimacj]

Autorun from my expereince is similar to Parallel procees it just in some instances for parallel a character can't move until the event is completed.

Processes are great for an auto run type event if you plan to have the player resume control on the same map.

Edit:  I forgot to add make sure you got a self switch active for that event otherwise the game goes into a loop.  Unless you plan to make a loop event on a map like weather or animation.  The game will play as normal if you make those.

 

[Shaz]

Almost.


Autorun events (if they have no trigger) will start a short time AFTER the map has been loaded, so the player will see the map and the nearby events before the autorun event begins. Parallel process events (if they have no trigger), will start BEFORE the map is visible. For this reason, any changes you want to make to events or the map that you don't want the player to actually see happen, should be in a parallel process event (things like Set Event Location, or changing the screen tint - otherwise the player will see it the original way first, then it will suddenly change).


In addition, an autorun event will stop the player from moving for the entire duration of the event. So it's used for cutscenes, where you want the player to just sit back and watch, and not be able to move the character around. Only one should run at a time. Parallel process events, as the name suggests, run in parallel with other things, so they do not stop player movement.

 

[Cosmic Architect]

Autorun events (if they have no trigger) will start a short time AFTER the map has been loaded, so the player will see the map and the nearby events before the autorun event begins. Parallel process events (if they have no trigger), will start BEFORE the map is visible. For this reason, any changes you want to make to events or the map that you don't want the player to actually see happen, should be in a parallel process event (things like Set Event Location, or changing the screen tint - otherwise the player will see it the original way first, then it will suddenly change).

Oh my... I've been using this software for months and I never realized that! Thank you sir, I've been tinkering with fade-ins and whatnot to cover it! Didn't even realize it was working for this very reason xD That was a great help!

In addition to that, I would like to add in my own little piece if it will be of any help. A common mistake, that admittingly I still occasionally found I've made, is that the event needs to be set to "same as characters" if you wish for the player to activate it through touch or the action button. It also need's to have "through" checked if you wish for other events(or players if on the same layer) to pass through it. Just trying to help... Despite this having been posted over a year ago xD

 

[SkyGuardian2015]

I was just curious if there is a different way to accomplish what I've accomplished.  Here's the code:


This code works but if I don't put the transfer or the walking of my character and block the way to the object I have to click to move the bolder then it messes up in the sense it freezes because there's no place for the bolder to go.  I want to have the switch reset if I leave the floor.  This way the player don't miss the object they need to receive from the next floor.  So what is a better way of doing this without too much work to get it to work.

 

[SkyGuardian2015]

Nevermind I figured it out

 

[Shaz]

Please do not use someone's tutorial thread to ask your own questions.  Start a new thread in the appropriate Support forum.

 

[SkyGuardian2015]

Hmm and yet people were stating things on this thread as well.  Asking things.  It's about the same thing. But hey I won't ask anything around here.  Sorry for bugging people.  I mean it's about the same subject.  But whatever.

 

[Shaz]

And as you can see, other people were also told to not request help specific to their game/event here.  This is a tutorial, to help you understand how things work.  Imagine what this thread would turn into if everyone asked all their questions here?  We have a whole support forum set up specifically to allow people to get help for their individual problems, without getting one question confused with another.


Questions about the logic of conditions/triggers/event pages and how they interract are fine.  Questions about "what's going wrong with MY event that is currently set up like this..." should have their own threads away from tutorials.