RPG Maker Forums

[VXA] Sideview Presentation of Map Events

Hi, I've been tinkering with an idea for the past months, mostly on the conceptual level, but also trying to bridge the gap between learning by tutorials and code and what I can actually do. While I haven't made much progress in the former (my work schedule provides little in the way of free time), I did manage so far to test run some of the ideas I'll expose.

Basically, this is a script request for a game that aims to simulate bite-sized gaming, RPGs and roguelikes but primarily, for any scripter kind enough to help or at least to kickstart me in the right direction, it's mostly a visual script. There are no in-depth class, racial or trait databases nor endless item, spell or equipment variations to handle. What it aims to do is offer players a randomly generated set of levels for players to explore, finding combat and treasure, but visualized through a compact set of identifiers: a minimap, minimal HUD and a sideways representation of what's happening in the game (in a way, it almost feels like playing in a Nintendo DS, minus the stylus). In essence, "translating" what's happening in the map into various windows.

Here's a mockup of what I'm trying to achieve, with a quick description:



1 - Life and Experience point gauges (I have already done these).
2 - Item slots (most similar to older Zelda games in function; but in this case there is no menu so all items are one time use only, each actived with different buttons).
3 - Minimap (already done this as well, coupled with a step by step script where all enemies only move after the player does).
4 - A window showcasing a level name upon level start, and then only providing text whenever players can perform an action (such as touching an item and being told to get it with X button).
5 - My main roadblock. In short, here's how it would (hopefully) work:

Wherever the player is at any given moment, and whatever enemy the player is touching at any given moment, the game will redraw the tile, sprite and enemy on the new window, with the end result suggesting a side-scrolling adventure:


  

(Left: a traditional view of a RMK map. Right: the game's redrawing of items on the map into the side-scrolling window).


Whatever tile players are standing on, the game would redraw it as seen above. Whatever direction the player is going, the game would redraw the sprite (to suggest a small continuous adventure, PC sprites will only have left to right walking animation regardless of player input in terms of direction). If players touch an enemy  (necessary for combat to start), the enemy is framed to the right of the player (opposite to PC's, enemy frames are done with right to left animations). Attack animations *should* also play in this window, though to keep things easy these anims are very simple, and are mostly shared between characters and enemies (exceptions are the use of items, though these are reserved for the player). This also applies to events such as items or chests.

Note: character frames were decided to be this way to minimize work load, to fit into the small narrative on the side-scrolling window, and it gets rid of a potential issue wherein players pressing different directions on the map would see the sprite copy in the window doing the same. Since the player will theoretically never see what happens on the map, there's no need to have, say, a traditional charset for the map and a specific side-view one for the window: it's using the same.

Note 2: If one looks at point 5 in the image, they'll see a background. I might have a problem as not only is the background supposed to move (but the image is always the same), I'm not sure how I'd include it in the window.

By the way: the use of several windows also means that the "action" (ie., players exploring and fighting in dungeons) is happening in realtime below the windows. I wonder if this might provide lag? So far, with just the HP/XP gauges and minimap, it doesn't seem to.

Scripts used at the moment (so far, none seem to be incompatible):

*Kal's "Turn Movement";
*KMS_MiniMap;
*Soulpour's Limited Screen. (so later I can reduce the playing view, retaining only the required elements).
*Small custom HUD.

Short of finding a turn-based combat system that simulates a roguelike (I've seen some of them, though I still need to playtest them), this is really my main issue. There are enough random map scripts to study already, so that's not much of a concern now. Regarding combat, I think it makes for an interesting take on things: players can "see" foes but will never know what they're dealing with until they're face to face with danger. I find that interesting since, coupled with the level and item randomness, and the limited item use, it's something else players need to plan ahead.


Thank you for your time, really (really!) looking forward to any help