I've got a few questions on how to make certain things work in my game.

[JustAnotherMaker]

Hello everyone! I have a few questions on how to make a few things work in my game, and I would appreciate any help!

1st Question: I want there to be an onscreen player avatar which is different from the actual party. The main character in my game is more of a commander or tactician, so they don't actually do the fighting, so I don't want them to actually be in battles, and I want the overworld sprite to always display only that leader character. In theory, I could just make every single party member have the same overworld sprite, buuuut the problem is that I let the player choose the protagonist's gender at the start, meaning that the sprite would be different. So how can I achieve this? To have an overworld character always be the same, but be different from the party?

2nd Question: For narrative purposes, I want the game to look like a mobile game in portrait mode, so I want the screen to be tall rather than wide. I also want the game to be able to scroll vertically, but not horizontally. Here's an example pic of what I want:


But see, there's scroll arrows on the sides... What resolution and horizontal map size should I be using in order to achieve this effect and get rid of the scroll arrows?

3rd Question: Is there any way to add common events to the menu?

4th Question: Is there any way to have multiple currencies, or at least display variables on the menu under the regular Gold currency?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ATT_Turan]

1st Question: I want there to be an onscreen player avatar which is different from the actual party. The main character in my game is more of a commander or tactician, so they don't actually do the fighting, so I don't want them to actually be in battles, and I want the overworld sprite to always display only that leader character. In theory, I could just make every single party member have the same overworld sprite, buuuut the problem is that I let the player choose the protagonist's gender at the start, meaning that the sprite would be different. So how can I achieve this? To have an overworld character always be the same, but be different from the party?

The easiest way to do this is to change the Character sprite of whoever the first actor is in your party to be the sprite you designed for the protagonist. I would then turn off followers so you don't have the rest of the party minus one person trailing behind.

If you specifically want to see on the map the protagonist plus all of the other party members, I can't think of a way to do this except by programming events before and after every battle to remove that actor then put it back in.

2nd Question: For narrative purposes, I want the game to look like a mobile game in portrait mode, so I want the screen to be tall rather than wide. I also want the game to be able to scroll vertically, but not horizontally.
But see, there's scroll arrows on the sides... What resolution and horizontal map size should I be using in order to achieve this effect and get rid of the scroll arrows?

I have no idea, I've never seen an RPG Maker game with scroll arrows on the window. Are you sure you're not using a plugin that could be having that effect? What resolution do you have the window at now?

3rd Question: Is there any way to add common events to the menu?

Depending on what you mean, yes. Check this out.

4th Question: Is there any way to have multiple currencies, or at least display variables on the menu under the regular Gold currency?

Yes. If you Google it, you will find many threads and YouTube videos about it, both using plugins and just eventing.

 

[JustAnotherMaker]

The easiest way to do this is to change the Character sprite of whoever the first actor is in your party to be the sprite you designed for the protagonist. I would then turn off followers so you don't have the rest of the party minus one person trailing behind.

If you specifically want to see on the map the protagonist plus all of the other party members, I can't think of a way to do this except by programming events before and after every battle to remove that actor then put it back in.

I have no idea, I've never seen an RPG Maker game with scroll arrows on the window. Are you sure you're not using a plugin that could be having that effect? What resolution do you have the window at now?

Depending on what you mean, yes. Check this out.

Yes. If you Google it, you will find many threads and YouTube videos about it, both using plugins and just eventing.

1. I planned on turning of followers, yeah. But how do I do that if the sprite could be different depending on the player's chosen gender?

2. No plugins at all. The resolution I currently have is 608 x 1104, and that map there is 13 x 81.

No, no, I don't mean the title screen menu. I meant like this:



And hmmm... I'm not seeing them? I see ones for MV, but not MZ...

 

[Nolonar]

1. I planned on turning of followers, yeah. But how do I do that if the sprite could be different depending on the player's chosen gender?

Use the System Settings > Change Actor Images... event command (on page 3) to change any actor's overworld sprite to whatever you sprite you want.

If you allow your player to change formation, then the player can choose which actor is first. This will also change which character is visible on your map. In this case, you should change the overworld sprite of all playable actors to your tactician's, to make it look like you're always only controlling the tactician (even though you're actually controlling a bunch of people who just happen to all look like the tactician).

Just remember to only change the sprite labelled "Character", not the one labelled "[SV] Battler".

2nd Question: For narrative purposes, I want the game to look like a mobile game in portrait mode, so I want the screen to be tall rather than wide. I also want the game to be able to scroll vertically, but not horizontally. Here's an example pic of what I want:

View attachment 204711
But see, there's scroll arrows on the sides... What resolution and horizontal map size should I be using in order to achieve this effect and get rid of the scroll arrows?

I would need to do more in-depth research to understand what and why, but I found that using a resolution of 624x1104 (13x23 tiles) eliminated the vertical scrollbar (but not the horizontal one), while a resolution of 672x1104 (14x23 tiles) eliminated both.

Like I said, I would need to do more in-depth research to understand why that is.

 

[JustAnotherMaker]

Use the System Settings > Change Actor Images... event command (on page 3) to change any actor's overworld sprite to whatever you sprite you want.

If you allow your player to change formation, then the player can choose which actor is first. This will also change which character is visible on your map. In this case, you should change the overworld sprite of all playable actors to your tactician's, to make it look like you're always only controlling the tactician (even though you're actually controlling a bunch of people who just happen to all look like the tactician).

Just remember to only change the sprite labelled "Character", not the one labelled "[SV] Battler".


I would need to do more in-depth research to understand what and why, but I found that using a resolution of 624x1104 (13x23 tiles) eliminated the vertical scrollbar (but not the horizontal one), while a resolution of 672x1104 (14x23 tiles) eliminated both.

Like I said, I would need to do more in-depth research to understand why that is.

Okay so, that resolution definitely works, though it made me realize another issue. In the menu, the HP and MP bars are cut off at these weird resolutions. Any idea how to fix that?

 

[ATT_Turan]

Okay so, that resolution definitely works, though it made me realize another issue. In the menu, the HP and MP bars are cut off at these weird resolutions. Any idea how to fix that?

With funky resolutions like this, you're going to have to modify the UI's automatic spacing to fit the things you want in the places you want.

The different places in your game where windows are displayed are called scenes, and you can find the code in rpg_scenes.js

 

[JustAnotherMaker]

With funky resolutions like this, you're going to have to modify the UI's automatic spacing to fit the things you want in the places you want.

The different places in your game where windows are displayed are called scenes, and you can find the code in rpg_scenes.js

How do I do that? I don't know anything about modifying js code.

 

[ATT_Turan]

How do I do that? I don't know anything about modifying js code.

Either:
1) You learn. I suggest w3schools forJavaScript tutorials, you work on it until you can make enough sense of the code to modify it to your specific needs.

2) You get enough posts (I think it's 30) to be able to post in the commissions forum and get a custom plugin to make everything work with your unique screen format.

 

[Shaz]

Hi, please create separate threads in future for unrelated questions. Thanks.

 

[JustAnotherMaker]

Either:
1) You learn. I suggest w3schools forJavaScript tutorials, you work on it until you can make enough sense of the code to modify it to your specific needs.

2) You get enough posts (I think it's 30) to be able to post in the commissions forum and get a custom plugin to make everything work with your unique screen format.

Er... I mean, I would think it'd be easier for someone who is already experienced in this sort of thing to explain what values I need to change in order to move the HP/MP/TP fields so that they're visible...

Hi, please create separate threads in future for unrelated questions. Thanks.

Sorry. Will do so in the future.

 

[ATT_Turan]

Er... I mean, I would think it'd be easier for someone who is already experienced in this sort of thing to explain what values I need to change in order to move the HP/MP/TP fields so that they're visible...

Every window has its own function in the code file I referred you to that tells the RPG Maker engine how to draw and place the various components on the screen. Then you have a number of windows to make up what's called a scene, such as the main menu you're looking at. All of these are designed to fit together, you can't just change one thing and expect it all to still fit correctly.

One must first find the correct function, read the functions to figure out what is being placed where, and then figure out how to adjust them to create the desired effect. For example, in your case, you can't just change some values to make your gauges visible because the space to the left is reserved for the class information of each actor. You're going to have to actually reconfigure the layout of each actor's information window.

If learning how to do that sounds daunting, you can try a tool like SRD's HUDMaker, see if it will allow you to do what you'd like to fit your desired resolution.