Player Notepad (In-Game Text Editor for the Player)

[Aloe Guvner]

Player Notepad (In-Game Text Editor for the Player)
by Aloe Guvner
Download DEMO ( 18MB )
Download Plugin​

Note: This plugin is not under active maintenance.

Introduction
This plugin creates a new scene where players may type notes using their keyboard with a fully functional text editor.

Possible uses of this feature may include:

1. Crime/mystery game (the player “detective” can write notes about the crime)
2. Quests (player can keep notes about the characters, items, etc.)
3. Recipes (player can write down recipes they discover like alchemy, magic, inventions)
4. Educational games (notes for classes, etc.)

This is based on the use of a keyboard, so it is meant for desktop games.

Instructions
If you want a text editor for the player to write notes using the English QWERTY keyboard, this is plug-and-play. No parameters or plugin commands are required for the basic functionality.
Configuration for other keyboards and special characters can be easily added in the plugin parameters.

The parameter that controls the input contains:

1. The unique Key Code of the key (for example, 'a' is 65)
2. The character to type when the Key Code is pressed
3. The character to type when the Key Code is pressed and Shift is pressed.

For keyboards that do not follow the English QWERTY format (such as AZERTY or QWERTZ keyboards), the plugin parameter can be changed to match those keyboards.
A test mode is included to identify the proper Key Code for each key. Enable the test mode through the plugin parameter and open the console in a playtest by pressing F8. Each Key Code will be displayed there when the key is pressed.

Spoiler: Accessing the Notepad Scene

1. Main Menu
   • This plugin has integration with the main menu built-in; a new command is added to the main menu to access the Notepad. This can be disabled through the plugin parameters.
2. Plugin Command
   • The plugin command "notepad open" will open the Notepad Scene. This can be called from any event (on-map or common event).
3. Script call
   • The Notepad Scene may be called similar to other scenes with the script call "SceneManager.push(Scene_Notepad);"

There are 25+ plugin commands that can be used in this plugin. These are documented within the help section of the plugin, but to really see how these work, it is recommend to download the DEMO.

Screenshots

Spoiler: Add Note

Spoiler: Modify Note

Spoiler: Delete Note

Compatibility Issues

1. If the QInput plugin is installed, the keyboard input does not function for this plugin
   • Compatibility patch will not be developed, as this plugin uses the standard Input class and the QInput plugin creates its own Input class

Bugs

• Bug reports can be posted on this thread.

Terms of Use

• Free for use in both non-commercial and commercial projects.
• You are free to edit this plugin as you see fit for your project.
  • If the edits can benefit the community as a whole, I request that they are also posted on this thread or sent to me via PM so the edits can be incorporated into an official release.
• Credits are required to: Aloe Guvner

Change Log

Version 1.2.0:
- Add plugin command and function to append to notes rather than replacing their contents.
- Fix the help section so all of it shows in the Plugin Manager.

Version 1.1.0:
- Change version schema to Semantic Versioning
- Add ability to configure "alt" characters for additional flexibility for non-English keyboards.

Version 1.02:
- Characters to type are now configurable in the plugin parameters and are no longer hard-coded to an English QWERTY keyboard.

Version 1.01:
- Fixed a bug where the cursor was not in the correct position for certain
fonts.
- Added a parameter to offset the cursor, can be used to adjust the cursor
to look good with any font.
- Added proper scrolling to the left/right keys at the beginning/end of the
lines.
- Modulated/cleaned code in various methods.

Version 1.00:
-Initial release

Download Link

 

[beenbaba]

Very cool plugin

 

[Sleepy Kitten Games]

Downloaded the plugin, found a bug and an incompatibility.
It seems that this plugin is incompatible with QInput (https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/qplugins-latest-qabs.73023/). With QInput turned on, I can't type anything into the title window, and I'd assume also the note window.
Turned off QInput, and it worked, except with a slight bug that fixed itself and then reappeared again:

Spoiler

All I typed in was "New Note". No spaces after "Note".

 

[Rabosion]

Congratulations for releasing the plugin. I'll be sure to try it out later this week! Great job, @Aloe Guvner !

 

[Aloe Guvner]

@GameFire Thanks for the report!

I'll take some more time to look into QInput, I need to study how they modify the input to see if I can make a patch for it. Did you try it placing it both above and below my plugin?

For the bug, the issue is that cursor is too far out right? I think I know what's happening. I developed it using the normal GameFont, where all the letters are the same width. Actually, I need to fix the cursor to be smarter and to figure out the correct text width dynamically. Is the font you are using free/available to use? If not, I'll try some different ones after I make the fix.

 

[Sleepy Kitten Games]

Right now it's under QInput, I'll try putting it above QInput.
Yeah, the font is free to use. Just Google "kingthings petrock light".

 

[OldSnipe74]

This is exactly what I needed to allow my player to take notes! Great work!

 

[Aloe Guvner]

Version 1.01 has been finished. The original post is updated with the new version in the download link.

Version 1.01:
- Fixed a bug where the cursor was not in the correct position for certain
fonts.
- Added a parameter to offset the cursor, can be used to adjust the cursor
to look good with any font.
- Added proper scrolling to the left/right keys at the beginning/end of the
lines.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to come up with a compatibility patch for QInput. That plugin re-works the core of how input is processed by the engine and creates a custom class for Input processing, whereas my plugin responds to the default RMMV Input class.

 

[Summer夏]

Excuse me. Excuse me. Is there any way to input Japanese or Chinese?

 

[Aloe Guvner]

@Summer夏 It should be possible. If you can allow me a few days, I will post a new version which allows the developer to add more letters in the Plugin parameters.

I would require some help from you for testing it, as I only have an English (QWERTY) keyboard, however, I already have an idea of how it could work.

 

[Summer夏]

Thank you, I will wait for your news

 

[Aloe Guvner]

New version! Download links in the original post are updated.

Change Log
Version 1.02:
- Characters to type are now configurable in the plugin parameters and are no longer hard-coded to an English QWERTY keyboard.

This should allow those with other keyboards (such as AZERTY, QWERTZ) to use this plugin, however, I am not able to test that without owning one of those keyboards. Please post any bug reports on this thread.

@Summer夏 I read more information on the way that Chinese and Japanese characters are typed, and I don't think I can add that functionality. The reason being is how different the process is compared to typing for a language with a Latin alphabet (as far as I can tell, it's not 1 key for 1 letter on the keyboard). In addition to the complexity, I would not be able to test any changes.
Unfortunately, I cannot fulfill your request. I suggest to try the Japanese forums for any programmer there who can edit it, my terms of use allow edits.

 

[Summer夏]

OK, thank you for your help. This plugin is also very helpful to me.

 

[captainette777]

Great work on the plugin! This'll be very useful in the future!

 

[Joy]

Been having some trouble implementing this plugin, it's throwing some errors. Looks like there's an issue with it seeking an undefined property.

 

[Aloe Guvner]

Interesting, it doesn't look like it's reading the parameters. Can you add a screenshot of the plugin parameters?

 

[FeliPereira97]

I get this error, and the plugin doesn't even show up on the menu

Uncaught ReferenceError; $gameNotepad is not defined
ALOE_PlayerNotepad.js:661


Line 661 is: $gameNotepad = null;


The plugin is active

 

[Aloe Guvner]

@FeliPereira97
Can you try putting "var" in front of that line?
Like this:

var $gameNotepad = null;

Unfortunately I'm away from my computer for a few days and I can't test it. I haven't tested this plugin yet with MV v1.6.1.

 

[FeliPereira97]

@FeliPereira97
Can you try putting "var" in front of that line?
Like this:

var $gameNotepad = null;

Unfortunately I'm away from my computer for a few days and I can't test it. I haven't tested this plugin yet with MV v1.6.1.

It worked! Thank you very much.
But, well, is there a way of adding wordwrapping to the notepad?

 

[Aloe Guvner]

Ok glad it worked!

I will update the plugin as soon as I can to fix that bug for everyone else.
For word wrap, I thought about it but didn't implement yet. I'll let you know if I can add that feature.