RPG Maker Forums

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I'm new to Parallaxing and although I've messed around with VX and XP before, I never knew about Parallaxing. Therefore, I'm relatively skilled with tilesets...but clueless on Parallaxing. I've been watching tutorials for days on end, but some aspects of it are still very confusing to me even after several days of messing with it. I really enjoy it, but I'm just having a few issues working out the kinks of it.

For reference, I'm using Gimp.

For example, Parallax Tilesets are not on a grid system. I know this. However I'm having trouble with certain aspects of actually using them; such as with houses. The tileset I am using has a three-panel wall (exterior house) but I'm looking to make it a bigger house than simply three-panels. Honestly, I can't seem to overlap the panels to make it look right. Are there any hints or tricks to doing this?

Using magic wand to try and select objects to copy/paste is not only not working great (almost never can get a whole object or background selected), and keeps crashing Gimp. Any way around this? Or an alternative method to selecting individual pieces from tilesets (such as clutter and very small items)?

I'm also confused about using a grid or not using a grid. This seems to be at the preference and discretion at whoever was doing the tutorial, but neither method was every really fleshed out on how that aspect works. If Parallax tiles aren't meant to be used on a grid, how do you get them to work that way (especially when all of the ones I've found are not aligned 32x32)? If you do not use a grid in the photo editing software, how can you be certain you're lining everything up very well without problems or mistakes?

When applying shadows in Gimp (using airbrush seems to be the most suggested method, with an opacity of 30%), how do you not get the very obvious, annoying, dark "overlap" when you shade part of an area twice? Instead of just darkening the area, it's got that awful "too much overlap" look to it which is so artificial.

Another major question I had (that I probably should have asked first, but only just remembered) is whether or not to place walls, floors, etc. first in RPGVXA, and export to a photo editor or do it from scratch? No one seemed to be super clear on why or when either is appropriate. What is the difference or benefit to placing the walls, floors, etc. first vs. in the editor?


I know these are probably silly questions if you're familiar with Parallaxing, but I've scoured the forums and tutorials trying to find solutions and understand more about what I am/am not doing that could be helped.

Here is a small screenshot of something I worked on as just a starting point that may shed some light on the issues I'm having or not understanding. If you have any tips, notice any issues, etc. that I may not have mentioned I'd appreciate any feedback on it as well so I can better understand Parallaxing. Credits to Celianna for her tiles.