Subtank System

[Yoshifull]

Hello,

I've looked everywhere for a script that was akin to the Subtank system in the Megaman X series, to no success, so I came here to ask...

In Megaman X, when you health was full and you pick up an energy restoring item, it goes to waste, unless you have a subtank. In such case, the healing item will fill the subtank (unless it is full) and when in a need of HP, you use that subtank to recover HP.

I am looking for a script that follows that concept. The subtank can be used regardless of the quantity of HP it has, as long as it is not empty. It would have a screen to allow the player to see how much health there is in the tank, and also to display other subtanks, if any.

When a subtank is full, another one wili be filled, if there is another subtank that is not full. The same thing could be done with MP, too.

About how to fill the subtank... First with a script call. That way, an event can fill the subtank. But also, if it is possible, to add the item's healing amount to the Subtank. Like, a potion heals 250 HP, I put it in the subtank and the HP held in the subtank increases by 250.

Can anyone help me?

 

[MeowFace]

What you need doesn't require a script and can be done using eventing only.

You can do that with a variable(Control Variables) to store the value for your "sub tank"

and for items or skill, you can do that with a condition in the damage formula to check if the hp/mp is full or not and from there, heal the actor or add to the tank.

http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/2340-how-to-make-the-most-of-custom-formulae-part-1/

Then use a parallel common event to "restore" the hp/mp when they aren't full and subtract the amount from the stored variable.

 

[Yoshifull]

I tried that out. I quickly came over a problem using variables. Using a common event doesn't seem  to work, as the event requires a specific actor to be defined, and not necessarly the one who used the subtank.

Besides, using that method wouldn't show anywhere the value a Subtank is currently holding, and since it's part of the gameplay (Subtanks are unique entities, one Subtank doesn't hold the same value of another Subtank), it would be good to let the player see in the Menu how much a Subtank is currently holding for strategic purposes (you may want to not use a Subtank that would fully restore your life if you know you can get healing afterwards).

 

[MeowFace]

you can show those in a window of your choice using eventing.

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/38406-eventing-tutorial-for-creating-custom-text-windows/

but if you want that to be shown in the menu, you will need to be very specific on how you want it to be shown and where. best supported with a picture to explain exactly how you want the layout to be. you will also need to provide a bunch of infos like, what other custom scripts you are using that might effect menus and such, give a link to those script will help speed things up for the script maker.

 

[Yoshifull]

I do seem to be lacking details as to why I would need it as a script.

First, I would like to not refer the subtanks as items, since that in a part of the game, your valuables will be taken away after a small trip in the water. That includes subtanks. Using a switch to tell if I had one or several will have it's importance here.

Second, Subtanks will have a limit value of the HP/MP it holds. A Subtank that can hold only 1500 HP max at endgame where you're at 6000+ HP makes them somewhat useless. To that effect, I must be able to change the MaxHP a Subtank can hold easily.

Third, as said previousely, there are two types of Subtanks, HP and MP. Within my game, there are 12 Subtanks, 8 for HP and 4 for MP. But maybe someone else who wants to use this scripts would want it to be 6/6.

Let me sum up how the subtanks works :

1. When at full health and when using a HP restoring item, it fills the Subtank instead for the value of said item.
2. When Subtank 1 is full, Subtank 2 fills up. When Subtank 2 is full, Subtank 3 fills up, and so on...
3. You can use Subtanks as long as they are not empty.

I do use Yanfly's Menu Engine (https://yanflychannel.wordpress.com/rmvxa/menu-scripts/ace-menu-engine/), which allows the choice to hide/forbid access to a Menu command by the help of a switch. 

I did a quick doddle as to how Subtanks should work. 



Upon selecting the "Subtanks" Command in the Menu,  the player is lead to this scene, displaying any subtank he got by the presence of a Subtank Icon. Upon having one, the gauges will display (HP color for HP Subtanks and MP color for MP Subtanks)

The player then selects a Subtank, and a window will display chosen Subtank and ask the player on which actor does he wish to use the Subtank on.



Optionally, there should be a scene that would allow the player to pay for filling Subtanks...

 

[Yoshifull]

Bump.

 

[MeowFace]

Why not use auto-potion instead? It's easier to use and understand. Widely used in the newer rpg/mmorpg nowadays.

Spoiler

eg. Final Fantasy

Plus, there should already be a few auto-potion/item scripts out there.

If you can't find one, post back here and let us know, i am sure a bunch of script writers will be interested to make that.

 

[Sixth]

Auto-potion is way different than what Yoshifull wants.


Auto-potion, like the name suggests, will automatically use your potions, without any player input, whether the player wants it or not, and only in battle.


This subtank system on the other hand requires player input to be used. Aside from the filling of tanks, nothing is automated. It also does not use any items, and it can only be used from the main menu (I think, not sure about this last one). Also, the way I understand it, you can use any amount of HP/MP a subtank holds, so if you want to use only 154 HP from a subtank which holds 2322 HP, it can be done, I guess (but I am not 100% sure on this either).


An interesting system for sure. I would do it if I would have some free time, but that I won't have for a while.

 

[MeowFace]

Depends on how the auto-potion is scripted. Doesn't have to be battle restricted. Can easily make one that recover hp whenever actor's hp is below X%. A menu to "equip" the potions when the condition met, it will automatically use the equipped potion for both HP/MP. I've seen games that do 50% and 30% both, so 50% and 30% each has an equip slot for potions to use. So each actor will have 4 slots to equip (2xhp 2xmp). These are quite common in mmorpg nowadays, a known system to online gamers. Not a hard script to make either. Just need a scene for auto potion equip and have the game use the equipped potion type(id) whenever the actor is below X% hp/mp automatically as long as the quantity of that item isn't 0.

 

[Yoshifull]

You're fully right, Sixth. Except that the Subtanks may be useable in battle, since I'm looking forward to make healing items rare on the field or droppable by monsters, which would force the player to be careful on the skills consumption (especially for healing spells), and to look for said Subtanks.

It is something I find interesting in the way that it changes the way a player have to think...

And No, MeowFace, that's not the point. I don't want it to trigger automatically. I want the player to choose whether they want to use a Subtank or not.

 

[Yoshifull]

Bump

 

[Yoshifull]

Bump

 

[MeowFace]

Thought someone promised to make it for you? 
Have you tried the classified board? Might have a better chance there.
http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/forum/55-classifieds/
 
Or you can PM the guy that promised to make you the script to remind him to make it for you.
 
I can't persuade myself enough to make this script because i really don't see the point of refilling a tank using potions and use the tank to heal after that when the player can use the potions directly. When designing a game, even a high difficulty/hard game, we should still make the UI itself user friendly. The game play can be hard but not the UI. An unfriendly UI will kill the game before the player actually gets to know the game. Players like lazy UI, UI that makes their life easy, not the other way round.

What you are trying to do here is, asking your player to refill a big bottle of heal potion using small heal potions and later heal the actor using the big heal potion.. You will end up finding most of your players ignoring the tank and heal directly from the potions, which require less steps and UI process.
 

Refilling a tank:
[1] Find and collect Potions in game
[2] Press button to open menu
[3] Press button to open tank scene
[4] Press buttons to select tank
[5] Press button to refill tank
[6] Press buttons to select potions used for refill
[7] Press button to confirm refill
 
Heal by tank:
[1] Press button to open menu
[2] Press button to open tank scene
[3] Press buttons to select tank
[4] Press button to heal
[5] Press buttons to select player
[6] Press button to confirm heal
 
13 steps total

Collecting potions:
[1] Find and collect potions in game
 
Heal by potion:
[1] Press button to open menu
[2] Press button to open item scene
[3] Press buttons to select item
[4] Press button to heal
[5] Press buttons to select player
[6] Press button to confirm heal
 
7 steps total

 
 
No matter how pretty you describe it, as you can see from the process above, it's still a big bottle of potion. So why not try those scripts that let you use heal from the potions without consuming it if your actor's hp doesn't require a full heal from the potion. There will be left overs in the potion and the icons will change from full bottle to half bottle or less. Some of the old western rpgames do this, but haven't seen this system for awhile in any recent games, so i doubt its popularity. I believe i've seen a script that does just that for rgss3 somewhere. And if you have been poking around looking for a healing tank/potion script you might have came across it before.

Probably this script: https://infinitytears.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/rgss3-gradual-item-consume-v1-0/


 
The other similar(and more popular) usage i can think of is the Vampire Blood Bank/Tank that can refill itself when the vampire kill its victim.
The player can later use the blood to cast powerful skills or healing. In some games, Blood in Blood Bank will decrease automatically over time forcing the player to kill again or they will lose control (berserk mode). This actually add a lot of fun and excitement in the killing rampages.
But i am not sure if there's one for rgss3, as i don't think i've seen much vampire themed games in RM series where the player gets to play a vampire. The biggest vampire community i've seen is probably the bloodline in SL, where they can actually earn real life money playing, pvp and trading as a vampire. There's a similar system to the blood bank for the magic/fantasy type action games, where collecting light/crystal drops from kill will heal the mp bar (no mp potions at all in the game).