Talking to people across a table

[KeroTani]

This maybe an easy question to answer but how do you set up a shop so you can talk to them over the counter? I set up the NPC to have what I need them to sell but they are behind a counter.

 

[izyees]

Go to database > tilesets > counter

click on the tile if you want make it counter. Counter tile tag with diamond symbol.

 

[NarikoStudios]

I'm not sure but on VX Ace I made a store like this I put a event infront of the counter to when I walked up to it it worked and played what I wanted and I also put a event to be the action button and that worked
I'm not sure about MV though hope this helps

 

[Crimson Dragon Inc.]

set the actual event with out an image on the counter top, and only have the image of the shop keeper as a filler space

 

[NarikoStudios]

I don't know if that will work wouldn't it be better to have it on the floor infront of the counter so the actor can touch it

 

[KockaAdmiralac]

Nope, you can set it to Same As Characters and it'll be touchable.

If it's in front on the counter you would need a conditional branch is the actor actually turned to the counter.

 

[Andar]

Don't use additional events - that will force you to keep the NPC/shop-event on a fixed position.


As said above, use a real counter tile (as in "marked as counter on tileset") for the counter table, and you can have the shopkeeper on autonomous movement behind the counter and the event will still react to your action button if you're on the other side of the counter.


The counter needs to be only one tile wide however, the counter flag doesn't work if there is more than one counter tile between the player and the event.

 

[Crimson Dragon Inc.]

i have to ask what is wrong with a fixed position of a shop keeper?  

 

[Shaz]

There is nothing "wrong" with it. But some people like to have their characters act more natural. You would not see a shopkeeper IRL standing in the one place all the time.

 

[Crimson Dragon Inc.]

well i guess it depends on the type of store, if you a stall operator then you have to stand in the same spot the whole day until time for rest then you can go to sleep after putting everything in a safe place

for a shop like walmart and such, cashiers would be standing in once place but you would have several other associates wondering around..

if you doing an inside type store i guess the counter thing would be better if you have a counter

but would that work if i say have a blacksmith shop behind an anvil?

 

[Shaz]

The thing is, using an event on the counter was okay in old engines that didn't have mouse support, because everything was done with the keyboard. You interacted with things based on where you stood, not where they stood. Though setting a tile to a counter and putting the event on the shopkeeper still worked, so the event on the counter was never really necessary anyway (unless you wanted to put something on the counter by using an event rather than mapping - that was the only time, at least from XP onwards, that you NEEDED to put the shop processing on an event on the counter).


After the introduction of mouse control, and now with touch control, people want to interact with the shopkeeper, not with the counter. If you use an event on the counter, they would have to click or tap on the counter, not on the shopkeeper. And that just doesn't make sense - it isn't intuitive.


Having the store on the shopkeeper event itself means they can walk up and down the counter and you can interact with them anywhere (eg - bartender).


A stall operator might walk around their stall rearranging items so they present well after some are removed/purchased.


Fantasy RPGs set in a medieval era would not likely have stores the likes of Walmart where a cashier stands in one place the whole time.


If you want to have a blacksmith working behind an anvil, you can still put the shop processing on the blacksmith himself, and allow the player to walk around to him (an anvil would only stop approach from one side, not the other three), and yes, you can mark the anvil as a counter in the database, and you would be able to talk to him while you are separated by it.

 

[Andar]

i have to ask what is wrong with a fixed position of a shop keeper?

There is nothing wrong with a fixed shopkeeper itself - but why limit yourself this way?
Using a real counter tile allows you to do both - fixed and moving shopkeepers, not only fixed shopkeepers like your solution.


Additionally, using a counter event will force you to use two events instead of handling everything in one event.


On larger maps, this will increase lag due to the larger amount of events on the map.


And you'll always have to remember that the shop processing is in the invisible event on the counter instead of on the shopkeeper (which would be easier for a lot of people)

 

[KeroTani]

Can some link what this "counter tile" looks like. I thought that's what I used but it would seem that I didn't. I got the vx trial a mouth before MV came out and I think I didn't need to do anything extra I just put the guy behind the counter and it worked. I guess I need to play around a bit more. When I get to my computer I'll post shots if I can't make it work.

 

[Andar]

There is no special "look", and the counter tiles depend on the used tileset.

Go to database, tilesets.

Select the tileset for the map you're using.

Click on the "counter" button on the right side

Now check the tileset - any tile that has a diamond symbol instead of a small dot is a countertile

For example on the inside tileset tab A, four tiles on the right end (third to sixth row) are set as counter. - the tiles that look like tables if used on the map.

If you're using a non.-default tileset, then you need to declare which tiles are counters here.

(and the way to define a counter is the same for VXA and MV...)

 

[KeroTani]

There is no special "look", and the counter tiles depend on the used tileset.

Go to database, tilesets.

Select the tileset for the map you're using.

Click on the "counter" button on the right side

Now check the tileset - any tile that has a diamond symbol instead of a small dot is a countertile

For example on the inside tileset tab A, four tiles on the right end (third to sixth row) are set as counter. - the tiles that look like tables if used on the map.

If you're using a non.-default tileset, then you need to declare which tiles are counters here.

(and the way to define a counter is the same for VXA and MV...)

Thanks, problem solved.