Indicators showing which door you just came through. Thoughts?

[Aerianr]

After replaying (classic) FFVII several months ago, I wanted to implement the little arrows over entrances and exits on my maps. Between FFVII and Tales of Xillia, I realized an indicator showing where you just came from can be really helpful.

I implemented it in my game just now and realized that in order to make this system, I'd need to assign a number that will be passed to a variable on every single door in my game. Initially I had a brain fart and was thinking it would be one number per map, which was very wrong lol.

While it wouldn't be impossible or a drain on resources to put this in (though it would require every map to have a parallel event), it would require careful notes saying what variable I'm up to and if I get mixed up it'll break this system pretty badly.

So now I'm wondering if this feature would even be worth it in a 2D RPG, and wanted your thoughts on it.

On one hand, I'm going out of my way to try to make my game seem as non-default as possible, even while using a lot of default assets from the tilesets. I hate the bad rep that RPGMaker games get (which is ridiculous) and I don't want it to count against me when I release my game. I thought that this would be a small, cool touch to make it stand out just a tad.

On the other hand, I feel like maybe this feature works so great in games like FFVII and Tales of Xillia because these are 3D games. In FFVII, the backgrounds were really dark and ambiguous at times, so it was definitely helpful. In Tales of Xillia, you have 3D control of the camera, making the indicator showing where you just came from REALLY helpful.
But in a 2D RPG, it's pretty obvious where you can and can't go for the most part. It's hard to get lost.

I could add just the arrow over entries and exits without including the variable to indicate where you just came from, as well.

So what do you think? Is this a feature you'd be interested in seeing in an RM game, or does it seem unimportant overall?

 

[Aerosys]

I think a good map Design with clear and structured paths is good enough and doesnt need any more indicators.

If you still want to have them, you should write a Plugin that automizes drawing errors everytime a Transfer is called.

 

[RCXDan]

I mean if you're designing a real complicated maze or dungeon with big maps I can see where this'd come in handy.

 

[Frostorm]

May I ask how large your maps are? Or better yet, what resolution are you running?

 

[Aerianr]

May I ask how large your maps are? Or better yet, what resolution are you running?

Biggest map is 80x65. It's a central hub/village that the player constantly comes back to. Other maps are much more reasonable, like 20x16 for a house and 16x16 for a room. Resolution is 1280x720.

It's not at all that my maps need indicators. I just thought it would be cool to have them. The fact that my maps really don't need the indicators is what makes me question adding them in at all.

 

[alice_gristle]

Imma second what @Aerosys said!

 

[Nenen]

It's a nice idea. But it almost begs for a reason to have it at all...

I suppose if you have semi-hidden (visually) enterences and exits then arrows would help. and a 'where you came from' could be useful for puzzles or minigames...

I generally don't think I would use indicators for most of my projects, but if I would include it. I'd think about how to take advantage of the design choice in the overall design for the game.

 

[GBJackson]

Use a above characters event that has two pages. First page shows the arrow at normal color. Second page shows the just came through this door color.

For page 2 to show, a variable needs to be a specific value for the door in question.

The variable needs to be set as part of the door event the player is transferring from.

When naming your door events, just give them a number. Keep a list in notepad or something.

Page 1 - Conditions none
Page 2 conditions- Variable origindoor = or > 123

Page 2 content needs a conditional branch that checks exact value of the variable. If exact value is met then change image to arrow with just came through here color. Any other value then the image remains the same. set it to parallel so it doesn't rely on interaction from the player.

 

[Shaz]

Are you wanting feedback on whether it's a good idea, feedback on different ways you could do this, or feedback on how to do it most easily?

Your original post and poll seem to indicate that you just want to know if it's a good idea to have such a mechanic, and what format would be nicest. But if you want ideas on how to implement without having heaps of variables, or setting variables every time you transfer, that's a different thing and not appropriate for this part of the forum. I can think of a way to do it using just two events per map and no variables and no changes to your existing transfer events, but it's conditional on how your maps are set up and where your exits are, and that's too deep to go into unless you're actually asking for implementation advice.

 

[Aerianr]

It's a nice idea. But it almost begs for a reason to have it at all...

I suppose if you have semi-hidden (visually) enterences and exits then arrows would help. and a 'where you came from' could be useful for puzzles or minigames...

I generally don't think I would use indicators for most of my projects, but if I would include it. I'd think about how to take advantage of the design choice in the overall design for the game.

Thank you for the input! I actually agree completely. In FFVII and 3D RPGs, they'd be really handy, but in a typical 2D RPG it just doesn't make sense. It's a bit of a shame, because despite the headache it would've been fun to implement, but you're right, there's not much reason to include it.

Are you wanting feedback on whether it's a good idea, feedback on different ways you could do this, or feedback on how to do it most easily?

Your original post and poll seem to indicate that you just want to know if it's a good idea to have such a mechanic, and what format would be nicest. But if you want ideas on how to implement without having heaps of variables, or setting variables every time you transfer, that's a different thing and not appropriate for this part of the forum. I can think of a way to do it using just two events per map and no variables and no changes to your existing transfer events, but it's conditional on how your maps are set up and where your exits are, and that's too deep to go into unless you're actually asking for implementation advice.

Sorry for the confusion. I was just wondering if it's a good idea or something people would like to see in a 2D RPG, considering that the idea I had for implementing it was going to require careful planning of the variable management/remembering which variable number for which door. It would be really easy to get the numbers mixed up, which sounds like a headache for a feature that won't even be all that useful.