RPG Maker Forums
StatusMenuCore - v1.1.1
by JahwsUF
(Change in version syntax: the old v 1.03 was meant as 1.0.3.)
Tired of the plain, vanilla Status menu that came with the game? Wish you could show more parameters to your game's players, or provide a little lore? Well, wish no longer, for a solution is here - the StatusMenuCore. Sit down and buckle up for a moment, 'cause we're in for a ride - this thing's got a lot of content and flexibility.
Want a quick and dirty intro / sales pitch? Start here!
As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words - this is only a part of the power of this plugin. A few other tastes:
Don't worry - that giant picture you saw on the side is optional. This plugin autodetects a lot of things and restructures its windows accordingly for near-optimal design.
Scared you'll need a high-resolution mod for this plugin? Don't worry; it auto-scales all the output data based on your resolution settings or lack thereof! However, it does check for limitations. Too much output on the parameter page causes it to drop the equipment listing.
You might have noticed a minor menu at the top with some other options. How about some character backstory?
Wait, is that a scroll indicator at the bottom?
There's even more flexibility than these four images might indicate - more details are mentioned in the other spoiler section. The nickname detail is one of those editable options.
If you want a detailed guide into the belly of the beast, this path may be the better option. Seriously though, buckle in and take a deep breath. There's a lot to explain.
OK. Let's start from the basics and focus on one feature at a time. The original motivation for this plugin came from the lack of customization on the Status page's parameters. We all know that there are a lot of parameters behind the scenes... why not show 'em?
You'll note that in this screenshot, I've kept the original 6 parameters, but also listed 8 that were never seen before! There's even a space in the left column! With this plugin, you have full control over which parameters are and are not shown to the player... and the power to arrange them in up to 3 columns. Obviously, 3 columns isn't the best on the game's original resolution. But before we go down that rabbit hole, how do we set this?
Above you can see a screenshot of me editing the parameter listings that correspond to the image above. Specify the parameter abbrevation, and the plugin can grab it. If someone makes additional parameters, this plugin can still grab them provided they are given such an abbreviation. Not all parameters have in-database text, so you'll need to provide some text, like you see there for "target rate." Last, the majority of hidden parameters are percent-based.
There are parameters later on that control how many parameters are in each of the three columns. If the third column has no stats, it never appears, leaving two columns. Blank entries (as seen above) provide spaces in the parameter page for visual organization. There's a lot of flexibility provided to customize this page; you just have to tinker with it.
OK. So back to that thing about "at this resolution." That was one of the other motivating factors for this plugin - a lot of the built-in menus... don't scale well if you boost the game resolution. This plugin makes sure that's never a worry on the Status screens. (Oh gosh, that's plural, and you've probably noticed the top of the previous images... don't worry, we'll get there.)
Even if you leave the old parameter settings exactly the same, note how the old status window is arranged - things are spaced out, rather than being all on the left. This is Good . And you already saw the earlier images - the much more informative screen looks pretty well balanced, right? With more screen real estate, we can do a lot more and show more.
OK, so a few tweaks that you've probably noticed compared to the "vanilla" status page. There's a menu now where the name, nickname, and class used to be. I had to reclaim that space for the menu, so they got moved down beside the profile image... which triggered some other reorganization. To save space, by default I've put the name and nickname together on one line and condensed all the EXP information into a single bar. The one thing you lose with this plugin (in its present form, at least) is access to your total, cumulative EXP totals. That EXP bar there shows you how much you've progressed to the next level, as well as how much EXP you'll need to do so, but nothing about your sum total EXP. However, dropping that makes everything else fit. And I mean everything. So, I think it's worth it.
Oh yeah! There's that menu thing up there! Let's hop to it!
OK, let's get you a different mug to look at. Got equipment items that raise or lower a character's defense against the elements? Let's make that data a little clearer with its own screen! This screen is auto-generated from your game's database, and you can easily tell it to ignore select elements. To keep things simple, I've left this page on full-automatic mode otherwise, though you can control how many elements appear per column. No spacing though. The elements are listed from top to bottom within the left-most column first, then each column thereafter. (So, top-to-bottom, then left-to-right.)
Oh, and don't worry, this page scales too. It's generally the emptiest page of the new Status menu option unless you've got lots of elements to display. Also, you can set the plugin to drop this page outright if you don't like it, but I think it's a useful resource.
Onto tab #3!
What's this? A character with backstory? In a GAME!? What do you think this is, mister, an RPG... oh wait. So yeah! You may have noticed the removal of the profile text from the parameter screen and that you hadn't seen it until now. That's because it gets its very own page. You may also note that the database's profile textbox only gives you two lines to work with... but that's more than two lines up there!
Extended profiles! And not just that, switchable profiles! I'm a bit of a madman and went balls-to-the-walls on this thing. First off, the basic profile extension. This one's for a different character you'll see in a sec. Place this in a character's Note box within the database, and it'll link straight into this page.
<profile>Alec originally mistook her for a spy, having found herwandering in the woods behind his manor. No one knowsfrom where she hails, as her accent and garments areextremely unusual.Despite her history, she is clearly a sweet and compassionate individual. However, she is clueless when it comes to pop culture references and most idioms. She has been quickly improving at thiswith the party's help, however.</profile>In case that's not clear enough, here's a screenie:
Want this to be replaced at a later point? If some big plot point happens to be tied to a switch, you can use that to have the profile information changed!
<profile switch: 2>A whole new profile!</profile>When database control switch #2 is toggled on, this profile takes control! If multiple switches corresponding to profiles are "on", the highest-up profile switch in the Note box wins. That's the rule.
So, that's a lot of data, right? Could there possibly be any more?
Oh come on, who am I kidding. Of course there's more. The reason I hid the screenshot linked to that profile? The big reveal:
Want some baller design in your game, and got screenspace to burn? Why not add a character's portrait? Doesn't that look so pretty? I still squee over this screenie from time to time! Since there's no more reason to show the Actor's face - I mean, we've got a freaking full body shot in view already - let's reclaim some screenspace and get even more compact. Those old HP/MP bars are technically redundant anyway, though they did use space and provide color splash. Why not let our portrait be the "splash" instead?
Oh, may I direct your attention to the bottom of that screenie? Note the arrow... like it wants us to scroll?
Yeah, it does that. Automatically, and you don't have to lift a finger to enable it. Besides, you have to lift the finger in getting the text arranged right, and we all know how frustrating that is.
OK, so what all goes into this page? Before I show the tag data, let me point out that this character design is from the Cover Art Characters Pack - Actor 1_2, in particular. Bearing that in mind...
<portrait: Package1_2><portrait anti-buffer: 100><portrait scale: 1.2><portrait offset: 100, 0><profile>Alec originally mistook her for a spy, having found herwandering in the woods behind his manor. No one knowsfrom where she hails, as her accent and garments areextremely unusual.<hr>Despite her history, she is clearly a sweet and compassionate individual. However, she is clueless when it comes to pop culture references and most idioms. She has been quickly improving at thiswith the party's help, however.Despite her usual proclivity to drift, she seemssatisfied having joined the party long-term. Whather reason is, however, is known to her alone.</profile>The portrait is in img/pictures/, with a *.png suffix. The "anti-buffer" tag reclaims transparency from the image - it's important on other tabs for its effects on automatic layouts, without making you edit the image. Want a horizontal line in your profile text? That's the <hr> tag in there.
Lest you think that the character portraits are only used on the profile page, let me point out that such an interpretation is one valid option. You can leave it as such. Or, you could leave this default behavior in place:
(Stifling more squee, stifling more squee...) As you can clearly see here, the portrait can be enabled on all the Status pages! The alternate header is permanently attached to use of the portrait, so do keep that in mind if you use this option. (We don't want those pesky HP and MP bars getting in our pretty Actor's way, now do we?)
If, for some reason, you let any of the pages (Parameters or Resistances, even) grow too long, scrolling will be activated on those pages. As you can see, the portrait stays in the same position, even as you scroll. Can't mess up that art, now can we?
Odds + ends:
Don't worry - if you get hit by the classic "tl;dr" effect from the above spoiler sections, I've given text documentation for all the parameters within the plugin, as well as a small help section. It's probably not perfect, but hopefully it's at least a big help.
If you want to view all the screenshots as an album, here's a link to the Imgur album. I've already annotated the images in a manner that should line up with the in-depth "spoiler" section above. It's probably a better way to sift through the images than the restrictions of a forum posting allow, as well.
Downloads and Use:
Sold on it yet, or interested in giving it a spin in your project? I've attachedv1.0 v1.1.1 to this posting, but in case of future changes, check out my Bitbucket repository. I've put the code there for safekeeping. On that site, for some reason they like labeling the download button as "Raw." Probably some weird developer thing.
Commercial use? Personal use? Check and check. I made this because I wanted to and I know it'd be a huge help. Credit would be highly appreciated, but it's totally free for use. I'm not a very legal person, so let's just go with that MIT free-use license thing if you want to get super-formal and have lawyers pushing you to get everything checked out. If you've read this whole thing, I'm sure my casual tone's been oozing through all the text, so you can probably see that I'm nice and laid back. All this being said, don't claim credit for the plugin itself. I made this, and even if it gets edited, acknowledgement of the original authoring and base for whatever comes is only proper.
Uh, and to go with that license mentioned... © 2015 JahwsUF. Assume the standard text of the license's term applies for any legal matters. (Note that the copyright + author name is a part of said license.)
Credit and Thanks:
Coming soon to a plugin near you:
I've been putting in some work since 1.1.1, as I realized a few things that are going to necessitate a v 2.0.0. To make it worth this change, I've figured out a few new features that'll be coming soon. Rather than speak straight off about it, check out the images in the spoiler.
Leave it to me to find a way to make things even fancier. With resistances merging into the parameter page, it was bothering me that there was no way to provide a text header for sets of parameters. Well, I thought through things and found a reasonable enough solution... and not just that. When a row has a blank in one of its columns, the page can be set to reclaim that space and recenter entries in that row, leading to the two-column appearance of the bottom parameter set. (Those are columns 1 + 2 recentered, as column 3 is empty on those rows.)
An example with the bonus page:
Same kind of visual impact + effect here. Worth note; I've made integrating the Bonus Pages into the core plugin a lot easier than in 1.1. It should be possible to import a single version of the plugin multiple times to create multiple pages now! (I'm going to test this next.) Just be sure that the first bonus page has ID 1, the second ID 2, etc.
I'm reserving the next two posts - one to add a standard FAQ, 'cause goodness knows that this post has gone on long enough, and one to add a developer guide/FAQ. You'll note the name is StatusMenuCore, and I've written and designed this with the intent to facilitate others in developing their own extensions and modifications if they so desire.
A minor note about the files below:
"JAH_StatusMenuCore.zip" is version 1.0.3. I'm leaving it there partly because I like the current download count, but also just in case there are any unforeseen compatibility issues. I know 1.0.3 is very stable, and there's little harm leaving it here for now.
The newest version is listed below as JAH_StatusMenuCore v 1.1.1.zip.JAH_StatusMenuCore.zip
JAH_StatusMenu_BonusPage v 1.0.0.zip
JAH_StatusMenuCore v 1.1.1.zip
by JahwsUF
(Change in version syntax: the old v 1.03 was meant as 1.0.3.)
Tired of the plain, vanilla Status menu that came with the game? Wish you could show more parameters to your game's players, or provide a little lore? Well, wish no longer, for a solution is here - the StatusMenuCore. Sit down and buckle up for a moment, 'cause we're in for a ride - this thing's got a lot of content and flexibility.
Want a quick and dirty intro / sales pitch? Start here!
As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words - this is only a part of the power of this plugin. A few other tastes:
Don't worry - that giant picture you saw on the side is optional. This plugin autodetects a lot of things and restructures its windows accordingly for near-optimal design.
Scared you'll need a high-resolution mod for this plugin? Don't worry; it auto-scales all the output data based on your resolution settings or lack thereof! However, it does check for limitations. Too much output on the parameter page causes it to drop the equipment listing.
You might have noticed a minor menu at the top with some other options. How about some character backstory?
Wait, is that a scroll indicator at the bottom?
There's even more flexibility than these four images might indicate - more details are mentioned in the other spoiler section. The nickname detail is one of those editable options.
If you want a detailed guide into the belly of the beast, this path may be the better option. Seriously though, buckle in and take a deep breath. There's a lot to explain.
OK. Let's start from the basics and focus on one feature at a time. The original motivation for this plugin came from the lack of customization on the Status page's parameters. We all know that there are a lot of parameters behind the scenes... why not show 'em?
You'll note that in this screenshot, I've kept the original 6 parameters, but also listed 8 that were never seen before! There's even a space in the left column! With this plugin, you have full control over which parameters are and are not shown to the player... and the power to arrange them in up to 3 columns. Obviously, 3 columns isn't the best on the game's original resolution. But before we go down that rabbit hole, how do we set this?
Above you can see a screenshot of me editing the parameter listings that correspond to the image above. Specify the parameter abbrevation, and the plugin can grab it. If someone makes additional parameters, this plugin can still grab them provided they are given such an abbreviation. Not all parameters have in-database text, so you'll need to provide some text, like you see there for "target rate." Last, the majority of hidden parameters are percent-based.
There are parameters later on that control how many parameters are in each of the three columns. If the third column has no stats, it never appears, leaving two columns. Blank entries (as seen above) provide spaces in the parameter page for visual organization. There's a lot of flexibility provided to customize this page; you just have to tinker with it.
OK. So back to that thing about "at this resolution." That was one of the other motivating factors for this plugin - a lot of the built-in menus... don't scale well if you boost the game resolution. This plugin makes sure that's never a worry on the Status screens. (Oh gosh, that's plural, and you've probably noticed the top of the previous images... don't worry, we'll get there.)
Even if you leave the old parameter settings exactly the same, note how the old status window is arranged - things are spaced out, rather than being all on the left. This is Good . And you already saw the earlier images - the much more informative screen looks pretty well balanced, right? With more screen real estate, we can do a lot more and show more.
OK, so a few tweaks that you've probably noticed compared to the "vanilla" status page. There's a menu now where the name, nickname, and class used to be. I had to reclaim that space for the menu, so they got moved down beside the profile image... which triggered some other reorganization. To save space, by default I've put the name and nickname together on one line and condensed all the EXP information into a single bar. The one thing you lose with this plugin (in its present form, at least) is access to your total, cumulative EXP totals. That EXP bar there shows you how much you've progressed to the next level, as well as how much EXP you'll need to do so, but nothing about your sum total EXP. However, dropping that makes everything else fit. And I mean everything. So, I think it's worth it.
Oh yeah! There's that menu thing up there! Let's hop to it!
OK, let's get you a different mug to look at. Got equipment items that raise or lower a character's defense against the elements? Let's make that data a little clearer with its own screen! This screen is auto-generated from your game's database, and you can easily tell it to ignore select elements. To keep things simple, I've left this page on full-automatic mode otherwise, though you can control how many elements appear per column. No spacing though. The elements are listed from top to bottom within the left-most column first, then each column thereafter. (So, top-to-bottom, then left-to-right.)
Oh, and don't worry, this page scales too. It's generally the emptiest page of the new Status menu option unless you've got lots of elements to display. Also, you can set the plugin to drop this page outright if you don't like it, but I think it's a useful resource.
Onto tab #3!
What's this? A character with backstory? In a GAME!? What do you think this is, mister, an RPG... oh wait. So yeah! You may have noticed the removal of the profile text from the parameter screen and that you hadn't seen it until now. That's because it gets its very own page. You may also note that the database's profile textbox only gives you two lines to work with... but that's more than two lines up there!
Extended profiles! And not just that, switchable profiles! I'm a bit of a madman and went balls-to-the-walls on this thing. First off, the basic profile extension. This one's for a different character you'll see in a sec. Place this in a character's Note box within the database, and it'll link straight into this page.
<profile>Alec originally mistook her for a spy, having found herwandering in the woods behind his manor. No one knowsfrom where she hails, as her accent and garments areextremely unusual.Despite her history, she is clearly a sweet and compassionate individual. However, she is clueless when it comes to pop culture references and most idioms. She has been quickly improving at thiswith the party's help, however.</profile>In case that's not clear enough, here's a screenie:
Want this to be replaced at a later point? If some big plot point happens to be tied to a switch, you can use that to have the profile information changed!
<profile switch: 2>A whole new profile!</profile>When database control switch #2 is toggled on, this profile takes control! If multiple switches corresponding to profiles are "on", the highest-up profile switch in the Note box wins. That's the rule.
So, that's a lot of data, right? Could there possibly be any more?
Oh come on, who am I kidding. Of course there's more. The reason I hid the screenshot linked to that profile? The big reveal:
Want some baller design in your game, and got screenspace to burn? Why not add a character's portrait? Doesn't that look so pretty? I still squee over this screenie from time to time! Since there's no more reason to show the Actor's face - I mean, we've got a freaking full body shot in view already - let's reclaim some screenspace and get even more compact. Those old HP/MP bars are technically redundant anyway, though they did use space and provide color splash. Why not let our portrait be the "splash" instead?
Oh, may I direct your attention to the bottom of that screenie? Note the arrow... like it wants us to scroll?
Yeah, it does that. Automatically, and you don't have to lift a finger to enable it. Besides, you have to lift the finger in getting the text arranged right, and we all know how frustrating that is.
OK, so what all goes into this page? Before I show the tag data, let me point out that this character design is from the Cover Art Characters Pack - Actor 1_2, in particular. Bearing that in mind...
<portrait: Package1_2><portrait anti-buffer: 100><portrait scale: 1.2><portrait offset: 100, 0><profile>Alec originally mistook her for a spy, having found herwandering in the woods behind his manor. No one knowsfrom where she hails, as her accent and garments areextremely unusual.<hr>Despite her history, she is clearly a sweet and compassionate individual. However, she is clueless when it comes to pop culture references and most idioms. She has been quickly improving at thiswith the party's help, however.Despite her usual proclivity to drift, she seemssatisfied having joined the party long-term. Whather reason is, however, is known to her alone.</profile>The portrait is in img/pictures/, with a *.png suffix. The "anti-buffer" tag reclaims transparency from the image - it's important on other tabs for its effects on automatic layouts, without making you edit the image. Want a horizontal line in your profile text? That's the <hr> tag in there.
Lest you think that the character portraits are only used on the profile page, let me point out that such an interpretation is one valid option. You can leave it as such. Or, you could leave this default behavior in place:
(Stifling more squee, stifling more squee...) As you can clearly see here, the portrait can be enabled on all the Status pages! The alternate header is permanently attached to use of the portrait, so do keep that in mind if you use this option. (We don't want those pesky HP and MP bars getting in our pretty Actor's way, now do we?)
If, for some reason, you let any of the pages (Parameters or Resistances, even) grow too long, scrolling will be activated on those pages. As you can see, the portrait stays in the same position, even as you scroll. Can't mess up that art, now can we?
Odds + ends:
- There's a lot of tag data you can use for powerful artistic expression, and a lot of fine-tuned control available to you within the plugin's options.
- You don't have to put the nickname with the Actor's name everywhere - that's an option.
If you drop the nickname, it will appear on the Profile page instead as the first line of the profile - that'll be its only appearance in the Status then.
You can also change how the nickname is added to the Actor's name in the options.
- Want to scroll faster? It's an option. Want to prevent the header information from scrolling with the rest of each page? That's an option too.
- Want to remove any of the sub-menu options? You can do that via the options. Heck, you can add options as well - though explaining that is better left to another time. (I've done a ton of design work to make the process as simple as possible.)
- This plugin does not require Yanfly's Core Engine plugin. That being stated, it will search for it and utilize any relevant selected options from that plugin if you do have it. Yanfly's Engine is an inspiration, and I wanted to ensure compatibility.
Don't worry - if you get hit by the classic "tl;dr" effect from the above spoiler sections, I've given text documentation for all the parameters within the plugin, as well as a small help section. It's probably not perfect, but hopefully it's at least a big help.
If you want to view all the screenshots as an album, here's a link to the Imgur album. I've already annotated the images in a manner that should line up with the in-depth "spoiler" section above. It's probably a better way to sift through the images than the restrictions of a forum posting allow, as well.
Downloads and Use:
Sold on it yet, or interested in giving it a spin in your project? I've attached
Commercial use? Personal use? Check and check. I made this because I wanted to and I know it'd be a huge help. Credit would be highly appreciated, but it's totally free for use. I'm not a very legal person, so let's just go with that MIT free-use license thing if you want to get super-formal and have lawyers pushing you to get everything checked out. If you've read this whole thing, I'm sure my casual tone's been oozing through all the text, so you can probably see that I'm nice and laid back. All this being said, don't claim credit for the plugin itself. I made this, and even if it gets edited, acknowledgement of the original authoring and base for whatever comes is only proper.
Uh, and to go with that license mentioned... © 2015 JahwsUF. Assume the standard text of the license's term applies for any legal matters. (Note that the copyright + author name is a part of said license.)
Credit and Thanks:
- A big thanks to Yanfly for their Core Engine and other plugins. Studying that and its interactions with the main game scripts really helped me to learn everything necessary to write this plugin, as well as attain a proper understanding of Javascript. (I'm much more accustomed to Java and C++ - I'm a programmer / programming instructor IRL.) There's also the "minor" matter of working in high-resolution for many of the images above, and the ability to switch back and forth. Totally enabled by that Core Engine of his. This plugin wouldn't have been nearly as versatile or stable without the testing abilities provided by that thing.
- I'd also like to thank ksart for her original question about using actor portraits. I knew I needed to do something with the profile page, and while it wasn't immediate, that gave me the inspiration to incorporate this beautiful feature into this plugin. It really sells it and makes it shine, and I doubt it'd have come across as well without the interest. Remembering the question also gave me the motivation to allow the portrait to be used on all pages at the end, rather than just the profile page where I'd have originally left it. And the results look amazing.
- Thanks also to RetroNutcase for their inquiries into updating profiles and scrolling profiles. While I did have interest in the updating profile problem, this helped increase my motivation into solving the problem. However, I had originally been completely against the idea of scrolling. That question changed my mind, and it turns out to have been a lot less crazy than I thought. Thank you for the suggestion, dude(tte?).
- Thanks to wrigty12 for pointing out a compatibility issue with DMV's Param Distribution plugin. I hadn't thought about other plugins wanting to directly refresh the parameter page, and it turned out to be a simple fix + hotwiring on my end to enable this. It may affect efficiency/optimization a bit, but I can confirm that there is no longer any conflict with that plugin as of v1.01. Additional thanks for the "Resistance Classification" idea that was added in v1.02; it definitely adds more substance to what I felt was the weakest page.
- Thanks to laaghisce for the hours and conversations that led to tracking down a huge bug with the tiniest of sources. Developers, always initialize your variables. I missed one.
- Thanks to Yami-chan for working with me and/or putting up with me in determining a fix for one of the critical components necessary for word-wrap compatibility. I'm not sure if it's updated in her plugins as of yet, but I've managed to attain word-wrapping compatibility with both her plugin and Yanfly's Message Core word wrapping when a hotfix is applied for each. I've notified each of the relevant code, though it may not be incorporated into their plugins at this time. Check the User FAQ for hotfix details in the meantime.
- v 1.1.1 (Nov 21st, 2015)
After starting work on the advanced portrait options, it turns out I accidentally left a major bug or two in Actor portrait support. The "anti-buffer" settings were completely bugged; that's now remedied. Also, actor portraits' offset settings now change internal page boundaries as they always should have; this should make the "anti-buffer" a lot less necessary than before when working with Portraits.
Secondly, it turns out that advanced portrait support wasn't necessarily going to be as crazy complicated as I once thought; I figured out a way to reuse certain parameters as defaults for portraits that remain adjustable. This functionality is included in this version of the plugin now, rather than as an extension. The tag structure?
<portrait "filename" switch: s scale: z offset: x, y antibuffer: b> Note that the quotes around the filename are required for this version of the portrait tag, and that the filename must come immediately after portrait as well. Past that, switch is required and the others are optional. switch = 0 will redefine the default portrait, should you want its settings to not follow the global default settings.
Examples:
Please note that to accommodate the new functionality, I've restructured how portraits are stored and retrieved internally within the plugin's code. There's a custom object that stores all portrait data together in one clump now, rather than four or so separate methods for the different components; this should be more convenient for use in the long run. Apologies if this breaks any custom modifications you may have made; if it's an issue, shoot me a message and I should be able to point you in the right direction very quickly.The above tag would specify the portrait as seen in the image below, without using any default global scale, offset or anti-buffer settings.Code:<portrait "Package1_2" switch: 0 scale: 1.2 offset: 100, 0 antibuffer: 0>
Alternatively...
In this case, the anti-buffer, scale, and offset are set by the individual tags since they weren't set directly on the portrait-switch tag itself.Code:<portrait "Package1_2" switch:0><portrait anti-buffer: 0><portrait scale: 1.2><portrait offset: 100, 0>
- v 1.1.0 (Nov 21st, 2015)
(version syntax change implemented here)
I've finally caught up on some of my to-do lists for this plugin, which means some nice goodies for everyone!
Special news!
I've made the first plugin extension for the StatusMenuCore. You can use this "Bonus Page" plugin as a second Parameters page - it has the same level of customization as the new version of the original. (More on that below.) You can use this to have full control of all resistances on a unified page, or to split up parameters and resistances into whatever haphazard patterns your heart may desire. Combine them any way you want; up to 48 parameters or resistances can be set within the options.
Please note that the extension's bonus page goes by the name of "JAH_Window_Status_ParamsBonus" - you'll need that for the "Page # Window" option to insert it within the StatusMenuCore's options so that it actually appears.
I've tried to write the StatusMenu_BonusPage plugin in a way that will require as little editing as possible should you want to make extra copies in order to have three or four fully customizable pages of this sort. Please read the plugin's help and documentation for details - there are a few key edits that will unfortunately be required.
The changelog:
Biggest change first: resistances can now be fully integrated in the Parameters page! See the spoiler below for more details.
The second-biggest change - there's a brand new "State Resistances" page available for you to use!If you insert "elementRate(1)" as a "parameter symbol" within the plugin, the Parameter page can show that element's resistance data! (Here, element 1, usually "Fire".) The new thing - if you leave "Parameter # as %" blank, it will fully default to the standard elemental settings, allowing use of categorization and color on the Parameter page for resistances!
You can also do this with "stateRate(4)", which would then display your fourth state's resistance data. (Here, element 4 - usually "Poison".) States now have settings just like elements for resistances.
To see how I implement the settings, check out this screenshot:
Given that, now for the parameter page!
Yep! The resistance categorization features are now fully integrated with the Parameter page if you want that sort of thing!
This one is automatically managed in the same manner as the old Elemental Resistances page to which many of you may be accustomed. It has its own version of the same settings, too; they can be customized independently, aside from one detail - the resistance categorization definitions are shared for both, to promote consistency and cut down on plugin options.
Other changes?
A new tag - this is a simple version of portrait switching that functions identically to the "profile switch" feature, but for portraits. Note that the other settings of the portrait cannot be customized at this time, so you'll want to use pretty similar images for now.(A much improved and less problematic version was implemented in 1.1.1, so use that instead.)
Due to unexpected demand, I've added an option to remove the EXP bar from the Status windows entirely. Independently, you can also remove the "Level #" information. Should you remove both, the plugin will reclaim that space (a single line) from each page's header.
- v 1.03 (retroactively labeled 1.0.3)
Restructured the internal workings of the Profile page; word-wrapping operations will no longer be broken by this plugin while still preserving a well-defined boundary that doesn't overlap portraits. Note that any such plugin not supporting a proper custom Window_Base.prototype.calcTextHeight will not be compatible with scrolling, however.
That being stated, I've identified hotfixes for two known popular word-wrapping plugins, which will be listed for now in the User FAQ as they belong with their respective plugins, not within this plugin.
- v 1.02:
Fixed a few problem bugs that escaped my Q&A - thanks again to laaghisce for helping me find the root of the issue.
The TP bar is back as an option for the non-portrait header for those who want it. (I've set it to detect Yanfly's setting by default, if available, though it can be manually set.) You can also choose to add a line break after it (or not) for aesthetics, which will stretch the header if you do so.
New feature: Resistance classifications! See below for more info!
New options have been added for the Resistances tab - you can have the resistance levels classified via color and/or text category to get the point across to your players more quickly! Both can be disabled by a single plugin option a piece.
Hmm, I seem to have slipped up on the text there. (That purple-ish "Weak" should be a "Resist.")
Or, for those who like percents:
In selecting your custom colors for Resistance classification, you can use a system color ID - one of the 32 colors defined in the bottom-right of /img/system/Window.png - or you can directly specify a color in hexadecimal notation. Both #000000 and 0x000000 formats are supported.
Hmm... I'm starting to wonder if I should center up the Resistance names when using text categories.
Also, the implementation of this feature is rather quick-n-dirty at the moment. Things are done reasonably well, but I didn't provide much of any avenue to facilitate plugin extensions for this feature. I'm aware that elemental reflection and absorption plugins exist, but they usually seem to operate in manners this plugin cannot detect by default; I'd like to allow avenues to more easily integrate those behaviors into this page for their developers if desired. (At the very least, it'd take less hotwiring on anyone's part after I restructure the design a bit.) I'll work on this in the meantime and get it up with the next update, most likely.
Anyway, happy customizing! - v 1.01: Fixed known compatibility issue with plugins that need to directly refresh the parameters of the Status screen.
Coming soon to a plugin near you:
I've been putting in some work since 1.1.1, as I realized a few things that are going to necessitate a v 2.0.0. To make it worth this change, I've figured out a few new features that'll be coming soon. Rather than speak straight off about it, check out the images in the spoiler.
Leave it to me to find a way to make things even fancier. With resistances merging into the parameter page, it was bothering me that there was no way to provide a text header for sets of parameters. Well, I thought through things and found a reasonable enough solution... and not just that. When a row has a blank in one of its columns, the page can be set to reclaim that space and recenter entries in that row, leading to the two-column appearance of the bottom parameter set. (Those are columns 1 + 2 recentered, as column 3 is empty on those rows.)
An example with the bonus page:
Same kind of visual impact + effect here. Worth note; I've made integrating the Bonus Pages into the core plugin a lot easier than in 1.1. It should be possible to import a single version of the plugin multiple times to create multiple pages now! (I'm going to test this next.) Just be sure that the first bonus page has ID 1, the second ID 2, etc.
A minor note about the files below:
"JAH_StatusMenuCore.zip" is version 1.0.3. I'm leaving it there partly because I like the current download count, but also just in case there are any unforeseen compatibility issues. I know 1.0.3 is very stable, and there's little harm leaving it here for now.
The newest version is listed below as JAH_StatusMenuCore v 1.1.1.zip.JAH_StatusMenuCore.zip
JAH_StatusMenu_BonusPage v 1.0.0.zip
JAH_StatusMenuCore v 1.1.1.zip
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