SRPG Engine MV - Plugins for creating Tactical Battle System

[Shoukang]

oh i didnt saw that ealier sry,.. but thx for the info!
-----
well i tried to figure out if this can be edited without clearing the whole function
for example with "if (user === target) return true"

but i wanted to understand first why this function was added.It seems to be not needed, i am still a bit confused about this.

However i will edit the srpgCore1.34 after i figured it out and i will also put the older core (1.32) back on my github main page as alternative to 1.34.

It might be possible that i need to edit the mapBattle part of the srpgCore one more time ,because of agiAtt+ and my forceAction plugin..

-> i just need a small break from JS, and will let you all know as soon i updated my github..

About why the function is added, you can take a look at the issue I reported to the author. https://github.com/Echizen-ham/SRPGcore/issues/5
I think it's mainly used for skills that can go across the walls? In my game, skills always go through walls so I don't need this, and I haven't tested it.

So I'm very new to RPG Maker in general and my primary goal is to make an SRPG. I spent a good two weeks figuring out how to make a game with the basic tools and I grasp these very well, but I had tutorial videos to assist me. I've never used plugins before and I know how to add plugins and turn them on, but I don't understand how to get started making an SRPG with this plugin. All of RPG Maker's windows seem to look the same as before, so I have a feeling it has to do more with scripting languages? Maybe? I've been using the demo to try and reverse engineer how it works, but after about three nights of headaches, I've decided to ask for guidance here. Pointing out resources or giving a brief layout to understand the building blocks would be a BIG help!

Side note: One of the major aspects of the game I am making requires building a small army of randomized characters. That is, having the option of "recruiting" new, randomized units (appearance, class, name, etc.) at a town board and then being able to select them from a pool of units when heading into a battle map. Is there a way to do this?

Download Ryan's demo( at the first post in this thread) and see how it's constructed. Plugin order, plugin parameters, eventing, note tags, etc. There's a feature reference map in that project, which is easy to understand. After you get familiar I recommend you also try my demo. With the use of my summon plugin and unit events, I think it's not hard to make a building that allows you to recruit battlers. I will also try to make such a demo map in my demo.

Thanks a lot, now most problems are solved!!
Only issue now is that absRegiondDown works, but the enemy isn't using any skills whatsoever. So even if it is on the Region it wants to be, no attack if the player is nearby and no healing.
Regarding that enemies uses status effects on allys: I think it only happens in one battle, where there are support units that can heal the boss so to speak, so I have aimingEvent set to the boss. Maybe I should use ai flags instead?

That's true, enemies with "abs" move mode will never try to use any skills. You can use the ai move note tag.

<aiMove: $gameMap.regionId(this.posX(), this.posY()) == 1 ? 'normal' : 'absRegionDown'>

So that if ai is in region 1 it will use normal move mode, otherwise it will use absRegionDown.
The problem is that if ai will only attack or heal when it's in region 1 before moving. Which is not solvable for now. I'm trying to reconstruct the AIControl plugin though.
Another problem is that it may also go out of the region to perform an action, but I believe this issue can be solved by AI target formula, for example

<aiTarget: 1 + (region == 1 ? 0 : -1000)>

, so that the target score will be a large negative number when ai move to the other regions.
About the ... ? ... : ... operator in js: https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-ternary-operator/
I didn't try these note tags myself, so it might have typos or it might not work, please let me know if it happens.

 

[Juno016]

Download Ryan's demo( at the first post in this thread) and see how it's constructed. Plugin order, plugin parameters, eventing, note tags, etc. There's a feature reference map in that project, which is easy to understand. After you get familiar I recommend you also try my demo. With the use of my summon plugin and unit events, I think it's not hard to make a building that allows you to recruit battlers. I will also try to make such a demo map in my demo.

Ryan's demo is the one I've been wracking my head over for the last few nights. The problem is, I learned how to use RPG Maker MV's base format very easily, but I feel like I'm missing an entire skillset needed to even begin to understand how to understand these plugins. I'm completely lost on where to begin.

 

[dopan]

@Shoukang
- ok i read the report, and if this is just about skills going across walls, while this function makes a lot of problems, then i gonna just leave it blank, like you recommended it, for now.
If the srpgCore plugin author makes a better fix in the future i might implement that "better fix", but aslong this function does more problems than it helps, than its useless.
i dont care about the "going across walls Issue" ^^

Sidenote:
Such situations kill every motivation to support future updates of the srpg core.
-------
@Juno016
i am sorry that srpg plugins aswell as the demo is not dokumented very well..
shoukang made a demo aswell.. and i am gonna make a new showcase/tutorial demo for my plugins aswell.
But for now there is not much we can do to make it easier for new srpg users.
It would not help to explain anything step by step, here in this thread,because these questions will be asked over and over again.
And this thread is already so big that nobody wants to read everything from the beginning^^

First steps:
the main thing about srpg is the battlemap. That begins with the plugin command "battlestart".

Every battlemap needs these 6 events:
(screenshot from the "forest map")

these are
"start of battle"
"actor phase"
"enemy phase"
"end of turn"
"pre-action phase"
"after-action phase"

Without these 6 events , you wont be able to do anything.
# however i just recommened using them

So perhaps for starters try to build a new battlemap in ryans demo.

 

[Shoukang]

Ryan's demo is the one I've been wracking my head over for the last few nights. The problem is, I learned how to use RPG Maker MV's base format very easily, but I feel like I'm missing an entire skillset needed to even begin to understand how to understand these plugins. I'm completely lost on where to begin.

If you can describe more specifically that could help. Like you don't know how to start an SRPG battle? Game encounter an error, etc? Here are some general tips:
1. First of all, read the plugin descriptions. For now, just focus on SRPG_Core. Most of the commands and note tags are described there.
2. Try to make a decent battle map directly on the Demo, feel free to copy & paste events. Don't play the plugins or build your project from scratch before this. SRPG is a large system. Just be patient and make small progress each time.
3. There's no way to truly understand the plugins unless you understand the code, just learn to use them and report bugs if they don't work as you expected. I recommend you check my SRPG Tip signature - SRPG FAQ to learn how to report bugs efficiently.

Every battlemap needs these 6 events:

Actually, you don't have to have any of them, but an event that can check and trigger battle end is needed so it's always a good idea to have the after-action phase.

 

[dopan]

Actually, you don't have to have any of them, but an event that can check and trigger battle end is needed so it's always a good idea to have the after-action phase.

i admit that i never tried building a battlemap without these 6 events, and i dont think its a good idea for new users to try it without them, but i am not gonna argue^^
The "pre action phase" can also be pretty helpfull, to add stuff like zoom in and other things.

sidenote:

Spoiler

And i think there are even a few core functions that need these events.. i once searched in the core for stuff that is related to "actor"-turn and "enemy"-turn.. because of the request about "speed related turn usage"..
Also some "update-functions" will ask if a gamemap event is running for the right timing ..
Some of my Plugins also use both "pre action scene" and "after action scene"..
I am also pretty sure a lot of plugins which are not made by me, use the "after action scene".
But these scenes will also happen if these events are not on map i guess?
-because the scenes trigger the events and not the other way around..

---
@ All
However even if not needed(and i am not sure about -if they are needed or not),..
these 6 events can be used to add stuff to specific parts of the gametiming

Edit
updated Github
- edited core version 1.34 to fully disable the "istargetInRange" function, which caused problems on targeting "friends"
.. shoukang explained that here#1,921
- added edited core 1.32 as alternative for the version 1.34

i got still a few things to finish on my todo list, i just wanted to make these core updates as soon as possible^^

 

[Magenta-Fantasies]

I tested several times for that glitch I mentioned on the last page and it never happened again. I noticed that when it happened, the ghost summoned more slimes than he did this time. This time he stopped summoning slimes after the second turn each time I played. The first time he kept summoning more each turn for the first 3-4 turns.


Currently I'm trying to use SRPG Engine with Fossil, and I can't get it to work. When it comes to plugins and JavaScript, I’m quite new. Did I download them correctly? I wasn’t sure how to download them from Github, so I copied the text for each JavaScript into two Notepad documents (one for Fossil, one for SRPG Engine), then saved each one as its own .js file. They appeared to save successfully as .js files, and I put them into RPG Maker MZ in the proper order (with Fossil at the very top) and turned both plugins on. They display properly under Plugin Manager and look like they should work. However, I get the error message “SyntaxError Unexpected identifier” against a black screen and the game will not load. Does anyone know what I did wrong?

 

[dopan]

I get the error message “SyntaxError Unexpected identifier” against a black screen and the game will not load. Does anyone know what I did wrong?

if you dont show the error screenshot , we cant see where the “SyntaxError Unexpected identifier” is located.

also i got no idea if the fossil plugin works with srpg, but i assume that GREEN-TEA tested it.

to download a file from github use "Raw" button, and copy paste all text
(perhaps your error is related to how you downloaded the plugins.. i dont know)

just to make it easier for you ill attach the newest version of my edited core 1.34
to this posting..

edit.
if you dont know how to use the right text format for plugins, you can always use any other plugin copy, empty all text in it ,replace it with the "raw" text and change the plugin name

i think the correct text format for plugins is "utf-8" ,but i am not sure because i always overwrite one of my empty "blank" plugins^^

 

[Magenta-Fantasies]

if you dont show the error screenshot , we cant see where the “SyntaxError Unexpected identifier” is located.

also i got no idea if the fossil plugin works with srpg, but i assume that GREEN-TEA tested it.

to download a file from github use "Raw" button, and copy paste all text
(perhaps your error is related to how you downloaded the plugins.. i dont know)
View attachment 212923
just to make it easier for you ill attach the newest version of my edited core 1.34
to this posting..

edit.
if you dont know how to use the right text format for plugins, you can always use any other plugin copy, empty all text in it ,replace it with the "raw" text and change the plugin name

i think the correct text format for plugins is "utf-8" ,but i am not sure because i always overwrite one of my empty "blank" plugins^^
View attachment 212926

Thanks for providing that JavaScript file! I saved the text I copied using utf-8 format as well, but the JavaScript file wouldn't work.

For some reason (probably because of all the extensions in it) this version is working...sort of. This is how I have the map transfer, and I have no idea if this is correct.

I don't get any error messages, but one bizarre thing keeps happening no matter what I do.

I don't know why this dialogue starts playing endlessly, because there are no events on either map (the map where I begin and step on a "transfer" tile to the SRPG battle or the map with the SRPG battle itself) with that dialogue.

 

[dopan]

my guess would be there is any event on "parallel" that triggers that, or it is related to the fossil plugin..

-if its the fossil plugin, i got no idea or exp with that plugin
-if its about an event ,than you might not found it yet... i dont know

do you know that dialogue? did you made it anywhere else ? do you use that actor?
- try to track down any hint that could help to find the dialogue trigger
(perhaps a common event??)

 

[PostApocDude]

Hi, I haven't used rpgmakerMV in awhile, but this plugin has me wanting to get back into it.

Is there a guide to setting this up somewhere?

I tried downloading the demo and opening it with RPGmakerMV, but it tells me "Unexpected file format.". I searched online and the only guide I found was for plugin commands and notetags. I also found a github page with some plugins.

 

[Magenta-Fantasies]

my guess would be there is any event on "parallel" that triggers that, or it is related to the fossil plugin..

-if its the fossil plugin, i got no idea or exp with that plugin
-if its about an event ,than you might not found it yet... i dont know

do you know that dialogue? did you made it anywhere else ? do you use that actor?
- try to track down any hint that could help to find the dialogue trigger
(perhaps a common event??)

Weirdly enough it was a common event that neither map referenced. I deleted it and the problem went away.

I've been tinkering with the SRPG plugin for most of the day and this plugin seems very promising so far! I’m using it in a test game so far, but I ultimately plan to implement it into a major project. Thank you for your patience and answering my questions.

There are a couple issues I haven't been able to find a solution for.

-I’m not sure why the “Wait” command isn’t appearing, even though I have the switch ID set to 0. I also have textSrpgWait set as Wait. Ideally I would get rid of “Wait” and replace the Wait command with a skill I have called “Catch Breath”, which is like Wait except units heal a little HP and MP instead of nothing happening. I have the “Catch Breath” skill under a section called Personal, which also contains a Critical Hit-like skill that deals extra damage once the TP gauge is fully charged.

I also can't get rid of the attack window for skills that target the user, even though it appears I have the setting correct.

And yet this still happens...

The next issue is more minor, but it still is a little visually annoying. It happens too quickly for me to capture a screenshot. At the beginning of the battle, the white selection cursor scrolls from what I presume is the middle of the screen to wherever the main character is. If it’s possible, I’d like for it to start on the main character without scrolling.

 

[dopan]

@ Magenta-Fantasies

1. the waitCommand issue:
thats weird, if the switch is set to false (switch name is not important) or if there is no switch added, there should be a "wait" command.
( i call that switch the "disable wait command"-switch, perhaps that makes better sense^^)
Else if that switch is set to "true" ,..there should be no waitCommand.But there should also be no empty space ..
- to make "wait" skills you can make a regular physical/personal skill, or add a skilltype(like you did with "personal" ) that has wait skills added..
in a previous tutorial demo i use 2 different wait skills, one that adds mp and one that adds hp+def ("guard" =hp+def ,"prepare"=mp)
.. and i called the skilltype "*wait*" instead of "personal"
-to change the "default wait command" into doing something else, that would require editing the SRPGcore plugin ..
(with using shoukangs "window"-plugin, you could also change "waitCommand" into "statusCommand")

2.

I also can't get rid of the attack window for skills that target the user, even though it appears I have the setting correct.

no this doesnt change the "battle prediction window",.. it just doesnt require to set the cursor on the unit, it "autotargets" the user

3. about scrolling cursor:
i am not sure what you mean if you use all plugins from ryans demo that could be related to "MouseOperation"-plugin which i doesnt use, because i dislike what it does,.. and if thats the case (if you use it) i cant give any hint on how to edit that plugin or change its behavior
- if you dont use the"MouseOperation"-plugin ,but still have the problem, than i probably missunderstand the Issue
(in my test project the cursor is always on char on the beginning of battlemap)


sideNote:
it would be good to use 2 projects with the same plugins:
one with MZ, and one with MV, that makes it easier to figure out if MZ or the fossil plugin makes any weird issues..by comparing both projects.
( the "wait command" not beeing there but leaving an empty room for example, is weird and idk if that could be MZ/fossil related )
- if you only use one MZ/fossil project, than you allways have to guess if any issue is related to MZ/fossil or not, that can get kind of annoying^^
( i like the fact that we have Users that test MZ/fossil with srpg^^, but i am not gonna test it myself )

 

[MetalKing11417]

Hey, Boomy, I have discovered an error with your zone customization plug-in. For some reason, when looking for enemy weaknesses/resistances, it also counts dead units as viable targets to search for units fulfilling said condition.

To be honest I saw this error several times before, I only just now realized the cause.

 

[Magenta-Fantasies]

@ Magenta-Fantasies

1. the waitCommand issue:
thats weird, if the switch is set to false (switch name is not important) or if there is no switch added, there should be a "wait" command.
( i call that switch the "disable wait command"-switch, perhaps that makes better sense^^)
Else if that switch is set to "true" ,..there should be no waitCommand.But there should also be no empty space ..
- to make "wait" skills you can make a regular physical/personal skill, or add a skilltype(like you did with "personal" ) that has wait skills added..
in a previous tutorial demo i use 2 different wait skills, one that adds mp and one that adds hp+def ("guard" =hp+def ,"prepare"=mp)
.. and i called the skilltype "*wait*" instead of "personal"
-to change the "default wait command" into doing something else, that would require editing the SRPGcore plugin ..
(with using shoukangs "window"-plugin, you could also change "waitCommand" into "statusCommand")

I like your idea of having two different wait skills. What is this plugin you speak of?

2.

no this doesnt change the "battle prediction window",.. it just doesnt require to set the cursor on the unit, it "autotargets" the user

Oh.

3. about scrolling cursor:
i am not sure what you mean if you use all plugins from ryans demo that could be related to "MouseOperation"-plugin which i doesnt use, because i dislike what it does,.. and if thats the case (if you use it) i cant give any hint on how to edit that plugin or change its behavior
- if you dont use the"MouseOperation"-plugin ,but still have the problem, than i probably missunderstand the Issue
(in my test project the cursor is always on char on the beginning of battlemap)
View attachment 213045

I don't use this particular plugin. At the moment, in this test file, I don't have any plugins except Fossil and SRPG Core. I tried adding Visustella Core, and the screen turned blurry and this error appeared: TypeError this[_0x10bb0b(...)] is not a function I also tested the Visustella Battle Core, and that caused the error message TypeError SceneManager[_0x1b3707(...)][_0x1b3707(...)] is not a function
So far it appears that, probably because of having to use Fossil, the Visustella plugins for MZ are not compatible.

That's interesting that in your project the cursor starts on the character. I'll have to look into that issue more, though it really isn't that significant to me.

sideNote:
it would be good to use 2 projects with the same plugins:
one with MZ, and one with MV, that makes it easier to figure out if MZ or the fossil plugin makes any weird issues..by comparing both projects.
( the "wait command" not beeing there but leaving an empty room for example, is weird and idk if that could be MZ/fossil related )
- if you only use one MZ/fossil project, than you allways have to guess if any issue is related to MZ/fossil or not, that can get kind of annoying^^
( i like the fact that we have Users that test MZ/fossil with srpg^^, but i am not gonna test it myself )

That would be a fantastic way to bug test the plugin. I don't have MV, and don't intend to buy it since I have MZ.

Ideally I would love to someday see this SRPG Core plugin upgraded/remade/ported for MZ so it would be compatible with more plugins.

 

[dopan]

a - I like your idea of having two different wait skills. What is this plugin you speak of?

b - That would be a fantastic way to bug test the plugin. I don't have MV, and don't intend to buy it since I have MZ.

c - Ideally I would love to someday see this SRPG Core plugin upgraded/remade/ported for MZ so it would be compatible with more plugins.

a - No plugin i was speaking about an older srpg project , which i used as bugtest and tutorial demo, but i cant share it anymore because of terms.. there is no specific plugin needed for the solution which i explained..

b - Thats bad, because you cant properly bugtest without a MV project to compare..
(sometimes older rpgMaker get sold very cheap on special sellout days)

c - i am pretty sure that wont happen for most srpg plugins, perhaps the author of the srpgCore plugin, will do such "MZ SRPGcore" ,but as far i know nobody else plans to port the other srpg plugins into MZ.

sidenote:
bug infos are useless without a screenshot of the Bug, because there is also shown , where that bug is located, which is really important.But most srpg user(including myself) cant tell much about MZ related bugs anyway,,

 

[Magenta-Fantasies]

a - No plugin i was speaking about an older srpg project , which i used as bugtest and tutorial demo, but i cant share it anymore because of terms.. there is no specific plugin needed for the solution which i explained..

b - Thats bad, because you cant properly bugtest without a MV project to compare..
(sometimes older rpgMaker get sold very cheap on special sellout days)

c - i am pretty sure that wont happen for most srpg plugins, perhaps the author of the srpgCore plugin, will do such "MZ SRPGcore" ,but as far i know nobody else plans to port the other srpg plugins into MZ.

From going back and reading posts on earlier pages, it seems like many, many people are interested in having this plugin ported to MZ. As you said, I don't think other people would port their plugins over to MZ, but I think most people would be satisfied even if just the SRPG Core was ported.

I imagine it would be a lot of work, but in the long run it definitely seems worth it for the sake of compatibility with new plugins. Earlier I was experimenting with something I discovered how to do using a different VisuStella plugin than the ones I mention below. It took me months to figure out how to create this particular game mechanic. I was devastated to find out that the VisuStella Core plugin won't work with SRPG Core, meaning the other VisuStella plugins won't either, since the other VisuStella plugins rely on the VisuStella Core.

I'll share my screenshots, but I'm not sure how much you can do, since I think some of it is caused by Fossil. Also, I'm not sure that any MZ plugins can be run if Fossil is on.

sidenote:
bug infos are useless without a screenshot of the Bug, because there is also shown , where that bug is located, which is really important.But most srpg user(including myself) cant tell much about MZ related bugs anyway,,

I attached several screenshots with both errors. I didn't want to post too many earlier, but it's easy for me to make this particular issue appear again.

Here is the error with VisuStella Core turned on. This error only appears when I enter a SRPG map battle, just after the "Turn 1" text disappears and the player can begin moving.




And here is the error with both VisuStella Core and VisuStella Battle Core turned on. This error appears as soon as I hit "New Game" from the game menu.




EDIT: I've been experimenting with how different MZ plugins work with Fossil. I've only tried about a half dozen, and so far everything works except VisuStella Core (and by extension, the hundreds of other VisuStella plugins that rely on Core.)

When I turned off the SRPG Core, the VisuStella plugins seem to work fine...so far. I think there may be a compatibility issue with VisuStella and SRPG Core rather than Fossil.

 

[boomy]

everything works except VisuStella Core

Unfortunately many mz plugins are behind paywalls and visustella is one of them (this is definitely a hot topic amongst rpg maker users) but it's very difficult to create compatability with obfuscated code such as visustella. This.[_0x blah] could be a function or variable but because the code is obfuscated there's no easy way to tell what the conflict is

 

[Magenta-Fantasies]

Unfortunately many mz plugins are behind paywalls and visustella is one of them (this is definitely a hot topic amongst rpg maker users) but it's very difficult to create compatability with obfuscated code such as visustella. This.[_0x blah] could be a function or variable but because the code is obfuscated there's no easy way to tell what the conflict is

Some VisuStella plugins are paid plugins, but the three VisuStella plugins I've been testing with my SRPG Core test file--VisuStella Core, Battle Core and Skills and States--are all free. In fact, they're VERY commonly used, and arguably the most commonly used plugins in MZ. I can't be the only person running SRPG Core in MZ who is running into compatibility issues with these plugins.

I'm still experimenting with running SRPG Core in MZ while also running the aforementioned plugins. I've confirmed that Fossil is not the issue, and the compatibility issue is definitely between SRPG Core and VisuStella Core. I've been able to run Fossil while using VisuStella Core (I haven't tested any others) and I had no issues.

While looking more in-depth at the SRPG Core plugin, I was confused by something. What is the difference between the SRPG battle switch and the map battle switch? I created separate switches for both of them, using the same names and switch IDs as the (most recent?) Version 1.32 demo, but I'm not sure how these two switches differ in purpose.

 

[boomy]

SRPG battle switch and the map battle switch

Start srpg battle (via plugin call) = srpg battle switch on

Map battle switch = Battles are shown on Scene_map (instead of Scene_battle). Map battle would be like tactics ogre/final fantasy tactics whereas non-map battle would be like traditional fire emblem games

As stated previously, even if visustella is very commonly used, because the code is obfuscated, no one can help debug and restore compatability without the non-obfuscated code (and then you get into technical issues supplying a compatability fix that contains "paid" plugin code).

 

[GREEN-TEA]

visuStella is incompatible with system extensions and rewrites.

If you want to use MV plugins in MZ, it is very difficult to implement compatibility.

And, on a different note, as others have said.
The paid MV plugins of visuStella are restricted to be ported to MZ by the terms of service.
(Input combo MV, chain skill MV, etc.)

If you want to use the SRPG engine, I think the most solid solution is to give up the free visuStella plugins and use other plugins.

This is because the developers of the Japanese SRPG engine (Japanese name: SRPG Converter MV) have decided not to support MZ and have stopped updating their plug-ins.

Even if you are an SRPG engine developer, it would be extremely difficult to port SRPGcore to MZ base and make it compatible with visuStella, which is difficult to read.