Problem compiling (the game won't work...)

[Marianojoey]

Hi, I'm having a problem compiling the project, and what I found in the forums that was closely related, was a dead thread in which the last (and fouth) post was by one of you helping guys (or gals) and never answered by the OP. I'll try to be as specific as I can, and

[LONG Version (and I mean it... there is a TLDR bellow)] I'm close to finishing this first project I've been working on. I'm happy with the way it's going, but the music that comes with the trial (can't buy the license yet) is... laking... for my project's needs, at least. So, I called a friend of mine that is a musician and worked already in the gaming industry (in Argentina, that's a little industry, but hey! he's got the XP ), explained to him I'm doing this project for free (I'm using the trial, so it'd be wrong in so many ways to charge people for something I'm doing without paying myself... yeah, I'm that kind of person), but I'd be giving him a special place in the (already long) credits, and perhaps, someone likes the music he puts in the game and calls him to work on another paid project.

He said yes without thinking it for a sec. Loved the idea. So I told him I'd compile the incomplete project and send it to him so he could check it out and start working with the different scenes that are already there. It's a 15-20 min game right now... don't think it'd be 30 minutes long by the end, but I'm happy with the way I'm doing it, even if I bump into any rocks every couple of steps. Guess everyone had those at some point, and the reason you guys keep coming around and helping us noobs to grow, it's because you still feel that tingling inside when you sit down to code a little (or huge) project by yourselves.

Anyway, I started the PC and run the program to compile the project. Since my friend uses Windows, I select that option. Go and select "don't compile unused files", checked both "compress" options, and ran the compiler. A couple seconds later, the green bar was changed by a green check mark and the message "Compilation succesfull" or something like that.

I go to the folder it's created in, see it as a folder too, so I zip it and put it on my dropbox, since it was about 160 MB and couldn't send it by email. Told him to check it and went on with other stuff. 10 minutes later, I got a message from him saying he couldn't open the game because it crashed with an error. So, I went into the folder, double cliked the "game.exe" file, and... crashed with an error (black screen with white letters saying "Can't find ... image.png"), right before the menu screen. I told him I had the same misterious error, and said I'd check it out and send him the correct version later...

After that I tried different options, but the thing goes like this (code style):
If check "don't compile unused files"
______game crashes before the menu.
else
______If check either or both "compress" options
___________game crashes as the screen fades black to start the first battle.
___________game weighs (with both checked) ~160 MB, 100 MB zipped.
______else
___________game "works" (it had a couple events out of place and things didn't look like in the test runs...)
___________folder weighs as much as 1 GB.
______endif
endif

The crash is always the same message: "Can't find (this or that) image.png"

[TLDR] If I compile using the option for "don't add unused files", the game crashes before the menu with a "can't find this image.png" message. If I compile using (either or both) the options for compressing music and images, but NOT the "don't add...", then the game crashes as soon as you get the first combat (right at the begining, since it's part of a scene of sorts I made), with a similar "can't find this image.png" message. If I use all the three options, the game weighs around 160 MB (but crashes before the menu).
And the only way I can compile the project for the game to "work"... is by not choosing ANY option, but then, it ends weighing something like 1 GB.

[PLUGINS USED]
Basically, Yanfly's. No, seriously, I think I'm using almost all his/her plugins. I might be activating more than I really "need", but in my head I had a really cool idea for my first project, and my GF talked me down to Earth (thank her for all the times she does), since I was getting way over my head (and the project wouldn't be near completion). The ones I KNOW I need (because I'm using them along the whole project) are the Battle Engine Core, and the Animated Sideview Enemies. I've been trying to add effects with Action Sequences (1 and 2 at least). Have installed Battle A.I. Core too, but I'm not sure it's doing anything (my enemies are kind of dumb anyway, since I'm not savy at programming). Armor Scaling is in use, but I don't know how to check it's working (sorry)... sigh. If a full list is needed, I'll provide it (it's like 30 plugins long, but I can assure you all that at least it's in the correct order of dependencies).

Anyway, thanks in advance, and sorry for any mistakes I might had, but English isn't my main language.

 

[bgillisp]

The problem is the check unused files, as what happens are files used in plug-ins are not recognized as in use, so they get removed when you check that option. Yanfly has a long explanation somewhere as to why this happens and why it cannot be fixed easily, but the short version is you will have to not check that box and just go and manually remove the files you don't need.

 

[Poryg]

There are several plugins out there that can delete all unnecessary files, but will leave the files referenced in plugins be though

Spoiler: A small off topic side note though

explained to him I'm doing this project for free (I'm using the trial, so it'd be wrong in so many ways to charge people for something I'm doing without paying myself... yeah, I'm that kind of person),

It is actually in the EULA that you cannot publish any projects commercially unless you purchase the full license anyway.

 

[Marianojoey]

@bgillisp Ok, thanks, I'll get to it then.

@Poryg Ok... Can you point me in the right direction (as to which one you'd reccomend)?
Also, I know what the EULA says (I'm the kind of guy that reads those), but in Argentina, that means squat, sadly. But, I don't want to go off-topic, so let's leave it at that (or we can keep discussing it in the appropiate thread, if there's some subforum for that kind of thing).

 

[Poryg]

I cannot point you in the right direction, since I don't have experience with other rms than MV and 2k3.
However, it all depends on what you expect from the RM to be able to do.
RMMV is very user friendly and actually the strongest of all RMs so far due to the fact that it's made from Javascript. However, it's also pretty expensive, which I understand can be a turnoff (however, if you wait for steam sale, it's 60% cheaper or so on Steam ).
VXAce is a cheaper and pretty reasonable alternative, since the community support is very great and there are plenty of resources. VX is weaker, so I would rather go for VXAce instead of VX.
Also, VXAce has a lite version on Steam, which is something like unlimited demo for VXAce. The only disadvantage is that it doesn't support scripts and your events are very limited, but it's good enough to learn how to do stuff with events.
I don't know RMXP at all, although from what I heard it is pretty much the most user friendly engine... However, it's weaker than VXAce, since it uses RGSS while VXAce uses RGSS3.
My favorite one is RM2k3, because it's simple However, this one doesn't have any scripts and you have to event out everything. On the other hand, it handles multitasking and multiple events very well.
The only drawback is, hardly anyone uses it nowadays and most resources available are actually rips.

 

[Isaac The Red]

A big thing about MV and 'remove unused files' is it removes everything the database itself doesn't reference. So like earlier stated, if your using plugins that reference files, then those plugins will lose their targets. It is best to manually keep track of files that are being used. So that you can make sure all files are there before releasing/sharing, your games. I can't attest to the accuracy of the available tools as I havn't used them, but always, always, always, test your game before uploading and releasing. You might miss some bugs here and there in your own testing, but since you know the game, because you created it, you can move through it quickly enough that testing is a matter of going through the motions and making sure there aren't any problems. Do this frequently while making the game, and give it a good thorough test when you make a release. Takes a little more time, but the results will always be better for it.