Scenario RPGMaker Questions & Answers 171-180

( Shadow )

(C): Hey Topaz. Um, I sent you a comment a few days ago, I don't know whether you threw it away or read it or what, but I mentioned something about party members.
I said it would be great if you could hae different people in your group. I was just reading the concepts section, and I think
it was under "What do I get for winning?" the person after Millen's comment said something about "everyone in your team that you had make it".

Q171: Can you have other characters in your team or not?
I haven't seen it, I'm pretty sure you can't, but I have only ever played one other RPG of your site, and I didn't get very far.

( Topaz )

(C): Greets Shadow:

As I've mentioned in earlier Q & A in here, current

does not have provisions for either Boss Combat in Testplay or multiple characters in combat.

A171: It is still on the iffy stage on whether or not I am going to have multiple players.
My original idea (which I am still pushing for) is that special items the player carries (for which there will be a 2-line description and image for each of) can also be your companions which act in combat with you, but have no real attributes of their own except for what you are doing in the Sprite Messenger for them, I.E.:

For instance would decrease random 8 to 16 hits from one random critter in combat.
If the number was a

instead of a

then it would be 2 random critters one right the other.

of course would hit all 3 with this attack.

The advantage of this is you could literally have 20 or more companion characters operating independently in combat with no worry of them being hurt and (often) assisting the player.
They may carry special attributes I set later like fatigue, where if they have really helped the player a lot in a battle, either healing the player, attacking the critters, or powering up the player's weapon, anything like this since you get to write the Sprite Message for each item, then the player needs to go to an INN to re-energize not just themselves but it would also re-energize all NPC/Token-Items in the player's list.

I don't think it would be a good idea to make them true objects that the player controls but as random (and based upon LUCK and many many other factors in the game), they would assist that combat round by running their Sprite Message which could be ANYTHING at all.
This goes beyond the normal NPCs and it's an interesting concept that hasn't been explored very thoroughly in RPGs. The more I talk about it, the more I like it.

It might be interesting to see true 3 players like most RPGs have, each with independent experience points and attributes, but it will mean removing all of the fixed items in current

of Potions, Miracles, all Weapons and Armor, and adding 100% custom new ones that each carries/equips or may not be allowed to carry/equip, and can only carry a certain number of.
It may simplify or complexify (is that a word?) the character data too much, I just don't know at this point.

It's a good question though and I do thank you for clarifying in my mind a little better the concept of them being randomly operated token-items as I still haven't worked it all out on paper or programming yet.

Hope This Helps !

( Shadow )

Q172: Hey Topaz! It's that old annoying Shadow again that won't stop yacking!
Hey, I'm really greatful for all the "thank yous", "good questions" and mentionings of what I have said that you have put on your home page. I've never been this famous...*sniff sniff* .

I'm rrrreeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyyy confused with the repairs and things you have done with 0.094a. I asked you in Question 170 A about new programs and stuff, 0.094a is STILL not avaliable to download yet. It says from 11th of May (the date might be different here in NZ,
17th) but I'm not sure, I just want my save spots in v0.094a to work! I hope you understand what I'm saying!
Could you send me it through e-mail or something (but to matco@xtra.co.nz, different computer. Keep sending the letters to chayse_millar@hotmail.com, though).

Sorry Topaz, it was confusing, I know. (I just noticed that the first question on this page should be Q171 not Q180, Q180 is the limit of this page's questions).

The other thing is I can't wait to finish my world right now. It's called "The Power of the Shards". When I'm finish I want you to check it out, so can you tell me how to send it to you?

Thanks.

( Topaz )

(C): Greets Shadow:

You are yacking ?

(Hehehe..) That's fine.
You've got some pretty intelligent questions and I think some of them are benefiting others so yack away. I'm in good spirits too. F.I.A has pointed me to a good source of RPG music and I'm a hoovering them out with some tools I've written just for the occasion.. Sluurrrrrrp !!

A172: To answer your questions if you downloaded

prior to the date listed, then you should download it again, cause to fix errors and stuff I never leave a bad version behind so I always replace it.

I'm not sure which Email you want. Which did you want to have posted in your Guestbook profile where I can send the monthly newsletter ?

"The Power Of The Shards" sounds interesting, but note: there already is a quest called Shards posted in the Download Station so it might be confusing.

Can you think of a different name so it won't be so confusing to others ?

Hope This Helps !

( Wren Pheonix )

Q173: Hiya again Topaz!
I like the idea of the independantly working "party" members that just use attacks, items, spells and actions of their own, with no hp or other stats to worry
about. This would allow a world builder to do just about anything he or she wanted to do for party combat, without having to go through making each npc's attributes,
exp scale, skills, and all of that.

My two questions would be:
1) Would the world builder be able specify the frequency of the special items/party members actions?
In other words, could the world builder say that, for every turn in combat, the item has a ##% chance of starting?

2) Would the messages be able to simply start another, or possibly multiple other messages to run?
Such as Bob the General (that is an NPC "party member") has an ability where he commands Ted and Jack (two soldiers) to attack the critters. Would a message be able to start Ted's and Jack's attack messages?

Sorry for the crazy questions, but you know me. I have decided, under great reluctance and sadness, to scrap Monster Hunter Logan (because it was originally just a game for me to learn to use Scenario, it has some serious flaws, such as very poor character development,
the cliche save the world plot, and way too much >.>
<.< how should I say it... overtones? pertaining to the females inhabiting it.) and start a new game. I will fill you in with more details once I have written down
a bit more.

Still is a pleasure to work with your scenario program, and I await the day when you have
finally finished writing the engine and started on your own RPG. (then maybe some of us could write some without the monthly changes to Scenario :p (haha))

( Topaz )

(C): Hi Wren:

A173: You are definitely thinking along the right lines.
Now what you are suggesting is something other worldbuilders have already mentioned, and I don't have (where I want it) the system structure to handle it yet, where one Sprite can call another, especially if it is something like a global item such as a player's Token Item or by touching a tile where a Sprite is associated for that Sprite Anywhere (like lava taking HITS away from the player unless they have Cool Boots in their inventory !

To do this, I am going to want to set it so you can EDIT the components for that Tile, if that is what you want, and, that there can be separate for a Sprite that is run on top of it as well.

It gets complicated. So to answer your question, initially one Sprite will not be able to activate another. Your technique of a General tho to put two none-too-useful-on-their-own Player NPCs whipped into shape is a good idea.

Setting percentages is going to be tricky stuff cause I want the NPCs to be useful in combat but at the same time somehow become a little stronger and can activate more times during combat based upon the player's experience and stuff.

Now, this is possible.. If I am not interested in that, and I want to set FORCED values like Chandra can only cast her HEAL 2 x during a combat and does it 25% of the time if the player's hits are lower then 50% for instance. That would be a fixed number, a percentage of operation, and a conditional inquiry to check validity for running this Sprite Message to begin with.

Doing this would make the player more prone to get certain NPCs first, and should there be a limit to the number of independent NPCs a player can have ? And, can they dismiss them ?
These are all things I have not found out yet because aside from "Great Greed" for the Gameboy, this is the only RPG I know where you have true independent-operating NPCs that do not take damage at all in battle, and the game set it so when you gained another "NPC" the one you had would retire right there so you never had more then one.

Incidentally, if you will take a look at the following RPGs and systems, you will see where I am trying to put

and to hopefully succeed beyond that:

"RPG2E" for the Console Super Nintendo
"Dante RPGMaker" for the Console Super Nintendo
Shows a workable RPGMaker in limited space

"Great Greed" for the hand-held Black & White Gameboy
Introduces the concept of random-activated NPCs that take no damage in combat

"Pokemon Crystal" for the hand-held Color Gameboy
Shows a very simple way to achieve "wandering" movement among Sprites

"Dragon Warrior" for the Console 8-bit Nintendo
"Final Fantasy Mystic Quest" for the Console Super Nintendo
"Phantasy Star 2, 3, 4" for the Console Sega Genesis
Displays a very easy combat screen that is front-view with the player's backs to the camera.

"Legend Of The Ghost Lion" for the Console 8-bit Nintendo
Has NPC spirits of items that controlled by the player are still items nonetheless.

These are my inspirations and each have some interesting concepts that I would like to be able to do. Trying some of these out may give you some ideas on where and what I have planned for future

.

I'd like to set it so you can have multiple NPCs but what kind of design complications will this cause later ?

Now it gets even more complex then this. I could set it so the Sprite you talked to that has put a Token Item in your inventory now becomes one of those crazy little anime-characters that follows you like a snake all over the place and would it look silly if you had 16 of these guys ?

No, I am not going to go there but there are some complications that will arise when I start to program this that I haven't addressed yet.

Hope This Helps !

( Shadow )

(C): I want the monthly newsletter sended to chayse_millar@hotmail.com, Topaz. Just the same as before, sorry I confused you.

( Topaz )

(C): Greets Shadow:

I'd like to help ya, but my Yahoo EMail Daemon writes back:

"chayse_millar@hotmail.com is invalid, because the account is inactive."

so I changed your Guestbook profile to reflect your new Email address of:

"matco@xtra.co.nz"

because when I send out the newsletter next month and when I would have gotten that message, I would have removed your Guestbook entry.
Since your other Email is valid and active, I will send the newsletter there.

Hope This Helps !

( Shadow )

Q: When will you have 0.094a fixed with the saving and loading errors and ready to go? You probably already do but I can't find the download link
anywhere!
Thanks.

( Topaz )

A: Greets Shadow:

For the love of Asherah (apologies to Ophelia, Chibiness!)

) will you please just download v0.094a which was updated the 11th of this month. I just now downloaded it, ran it, everything is fine, save/load work well.
I don't normally do this but you can download that version by clicking HERE.
In the future, you need to go to the \GUEST\ webpage, the same as everyone else.
You can get there by clicking HERE.

I don't like to repeat myself, but one more time Shadow, the newest versions of

will always be found in the Guestbook Register. It encourages newbies to sign the Guestbook.

Here is a clypse from May 9th:

Late entry !
Updated Scenario v0.094a, fixed error of redraw map after selection switch.
Check time/date of your version in Guest/Download area by clicking HERE.

Replace your old v0.094a and realize that when I say I am doing an update and that there is no new version # but there is a date listed in small print that is after the time of when you downloaded it, download that same version again to replace the other one and please don't take 2 weeks to realize this after I long since posted the replacement.

I see your Email is in here so I'm adding it to my address book now.

Hi Shadow, I don't mean to be cross with you it's just Q & A like this drive me a little crazy when the main file to replace your own has been there for weeks. Good luck in your worldbuilding and feel free to call on me IF you are using the latest version, AND you have read all the Q & A. If you do that, your questions will most definitely be helpful and I will do my darndest to answer them all.

Hope This Helps !

( Spinner )

(C): I have Seneraio ver 'H' and my sister, the offical beta-tester in all my games noticed a bug in the program.
After I added some sprites, it shows the last sprite put in after she hits 'yes' to play the game. Even when Compressed. Just wanted to give you the heads up!
--Sayonaran "Spinner" Avon

( Topaz )

(C): Greets Spinner:

You may find some bugs in releases earlier then the current one of v0.094a.
You really should convert your .WRL file over to the normally used format of .WRX and all of your .MDZ to .MDX. You can either convert your world files yourself or I can do so for you. If you want me to do it, you will need to write me by clicking HERE and binary-attach it as a single PKZIP file.

Both the .MDZ and .WRZ formats require using DOS PKZip which not everyone has on their versions of Windows. You will also find v0.094a to be a much cleaner and efficient engine then v0.093h. I'm learning new coding every day and this v0.094b I am going to be posting pretty soon is going to be downright speedy and much more efficient compared to all other versions so far.

I am already putting together the engine to do compilations to single .EXEs and instead of writing something sloppy that compiles everything, I will be doing a BYTE-PER-BYTE check inside every single Sprite Message, configuration file for that world, and every single map cel. If the player, for instance, does not have any Add-Ons and creates a world that only uses half of the available tiles and there is no instance in a Sprite Message or Switch where it will change to use it, then it will be BLACKED out from the final .EXE construction.

This is going to be a very good thing (and difficult to write too!). But the advantage is that the single .EXE that is written will contain only the music, images, and Add-Ons that it makes use of. The .EXE will be about as small as possible and PKZIPing them will REALLY make them small. No image or audio will be included in the single .EXE unless their game actually calls upon it. I can't think of any RPGMaker that does this and I'd like to be the first !

What I'd like you to do please, and I DO appreciate you seeking out bugs cause I certainly can't find them all,

is to download the latest version and try to find errors in it.
This will be most beneficial to me and ultimately to all the other Worldbuilders as then with your help, you can ensure it is bug-free and quite usable for good Worldbuilding projects.

Thanks !

Briefly to others, if I or someone else finds an error or bug in current

, then chances are very good it won't be around long and the engine will get re-posted without changing the version # quite possibly in the same day the error was found.
I don't want there to be any versions of

that have serious errors in them.
I will always post on the Frontpage when I update

as well, and if it is just for correcting a bug, the version # will not change.

Hope This Helps !

( Shadow )

(C): Hi Topaz. Sorry I made you angry.
Now that I've made you angry I feel like I have to make a great RPG game and give it to you to cheer you up. Won't be for a while though... I'm making sure everything is
perfect, and that I do the best I can do using all the stuff that I know how to.

Q174: Can you change the sprite of your character during a game?
Like at half-way if I want the main character to die, and a new sprite take over him/her, is that possible?

Oh, and if I do accidently ask you questions that have all ready been answered (which I probably won't because I'm going to look all the way through the Q&A from now on), can you just send me a link to that page if that is not too hard. It will make it easier for you.
See you in five minutes when I will get stuck on Scenario again and ask you a question or two.
Thanks.

See!!? Told you it wouldn't be long.
I hope I haven't picked up another error, but I'm pretty sure that someone else would have already mentioned it if it was. Two things went wrong.

Q175:
(A) 1. This was my own stupid mistake, I tinted the screen green but I can't change it back to normal.
(B) 2. This is where I am fustrated. When I have a location warp (or absolutism or something) and I don't make a return warp to the same location, when I play it in testplay, it warps me to the proper location, but for some reason I automaticly take a step foward and it stuffs up my game.

Please help me on this, thanks Topaz.

( Topaz )

A174: Greets Shadow:

That's fine. Sometimes I'm super-critical when I don't need to be, and other times I'm very mellow. Someone saying there is an error that needs fixing today when it was fixed 2 weeks ago perturbs me somewhat.

To answer your question, I have not set it to make permanent changes for a new Sprite for the Player. I do want this because I know Final Fantasy II has it when you change from a Dark Knight to a Paladin. I will need to look over my game-variables and determine what adjustments and commands can be made with the existing set if Icon Commands for the Sprite Messenger.

However, for temporary changes (that is, they stay until you re-load a game or start over), you can use:

This will change the player's image to that of the new Temple Girl.

now has 28 default Sprites so you can get a little crazy with them if you like.

If you want to ensure the player always looks like the new person, you can for now make sure that when they reload a game from a Saved Spot that they run the script above before taking one step to continue their quest. You can do it this way to change the player's image until I find a permanent solution.

A175:
(A) To tint the screen back to normal, where there is normal lighting and no tinting, to do it instantly, just hit

to return back to the editor, but to change it to normal inside Testplay, use this in the Sprite Messenger:

You will have to do a little exploring yourself to see some of the newest additions for it.
While there are no ready instructions for every little thing I add to

every update Shadow, I always post information about the new features inside my daily/weekly bulletins sometimes weeks before the feature is out yet.

I see a minor inconvenience.

takes a fair amount of your computer time until you minimize it. You must minimize it by clicking on the your window button that looks like a little underline "_"

If you can't see it, then hold down

and tap

to change to the next screen size until you can click on the Minimize button with your mouse. This is happening since I shifted from GetEvent() to PeekEvent(). It's fairly simple to repair. Next update I will fix it so it removes itself from system time used if it's window is not in focus like it used to be.

(B) Shadow, I have created an absolute warp and am checking things out. There are no problems.
There is a minor error that got saved in prior SaveGame files that did not record the LastTile data properly which would trap the player on a SaveSpot

until the player hit

to return back to the editor. This has been corrected two versions ago, but you should delete or overwrite your prior Save Game Files if after loading, the player seems trapped on the SaveSpot.

... I'm checking it both ways. If you create a return warp, the absolute warp still works correctly..
Make sure you are using

v0.094b, Shadow the same as I am.

Hope This Helps !

( Shadow )

Q176: I was reading through the Q and A section to find the answer to getting an item when you kill a critter (don't bother answering that)

Q177: and I saw a comment from you that said "I will be finishing up on scenarion soon and starting a new program called "venture"" or something.
Will you be giving away Scenario soon?

( Topaz )

A176: Greets Shadow:

No, that's a fine question and it should be good information for everyone else to know that the answer to this plus several others including:

How do I get a reward for finding a lost Shovel ?
How do I make a Title Screen or Startup Image ?
Is there a way to have the ceiling over a house go transparent ?
Can I fight a Sprite, Cyborg, Rival Hero, etc. ?
How do I "possess" a Critter and have him jump around Critter-like ?
How do I Warp to a new Map inside a Sprite where it does it correctly ?
How do I have a Sprite from off-screen join in a conversation ?
How do I unlock a village talking to Mayor ? (Like a Guard stops you)
How do I make a Critter drop something when it is killed ?
(I have created Two New Rooms to detail Advanced Inverted Tiles & Sprites)
(Using one of F.I.A's excellent dragon pictures, I introduce a scrolling storyboard)

You will find all of these in playable rooms via Testplay by downloading the Answers world I created. You can do so by jumping to the bottom of the Download Station webpage or you can download that world direct by clicking HERE.

Shadow, if you ask me a really good question like these, and there is no easy explanation in the Q & A, then I will answer your question by adding a room the Answers with your name and a detailed explanation on how to do something complex or interesting.

A177: How can I give something away that is already

, Shadow ?

represents a lot of work for me and perhaps I was getting tired of it or was worried I was going to run out of programming core space for it since that one time I added
Boss Combat to Testplay and it crashed out with a horrible out-of-memory error.

I now know by talking to some people in Germany that GFA is capable of going to at least 43,000 lines of source code and how to insert/delete code that doesn't extend over the 64k boundary which is only for each Procedure/Function that I write, and the reason my program crashed when it did.

is currently at 12,000 lines of source code so I have a long way to go before I ever get to 43,000 ! In this, my project Venture is on hold, or the ideas I have for it will be implemented directly into current

so everyone can enjoy them plus the current environment of a finished and good RPGMaker.

Venture was going to use fixed camera rooms, that is, very much like Legend of Zelda where you scroll from one screen to the next and the player (if traveling up) once they reach the top edge, the screen scrolls down revealing the new screen above dragging the player with them so they appear on the bottom once the scrolling is complete.

I would still like this so in time I will have an option called Fixed Camera which allows you to lock a camera in the middle of the room so the player can travel all around it without scrolling the camera, or for a storyboard for instance, where you want the player to focus on a still room for a good storytelling or importance.

In the future I also want text scrolling from the bottom of the screen to the top, multiple choices (whereas ALL questions will appear in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen in a separate window instead of the little Yes / No below as it is now), plus Image Items, where Token Flags that the player finds not only have a good 2-line description for each of them, but have an associated 32x32 pixel image seen in your Item Box, and, like Final Fantasy, you can mix, match, and sort them all around where you want them. Huum, I'm just now thinking I can use the

for them.
(Incidentally, this is a very good self-portrait of myself !)

It is also here you will see your companion players (or I may make a separate "box" to see your companions in. You'll just have to wait till I get around to writing these.

Hope This Helps !

( Sayanoran Avon )

Q178: I think you have a bug in Version "4B" concerning switches.
I've tested my game after downloading that particular version and found that my switches does not work. They turn on, but the outcome-effect does not play.
This game was made in Version "H", if you need to know.

Did you write another way of using switches?
if you did, please let me know!!!

(C): The 'version for all windows' Scenario (I forgot the letter/number) did not work for Win 3.1. My sister REALLYwants to use Scenario and is a die-hard user of Windows 3x.
Do you have a Dos-version perhaps?
(She knows you used BASIC in programming this RPG maker!)

( Topaz )

A178: Greets Sayanoran Avon:

has had a few changes regarding the inversion of complex switches.
You may need to press

to invert that map cel to where it is correct.
If you still have problems, you are welcome to send me a copy of your .WRX as a PKZIP file and, if you highlight the exact map and/or location(s), I will repair them for you.

I don't know of any errors (to my knowledge!) in current

. Always try out Suzi's Quest which changes with each new release to see some of the more complex switches and inverted Sprites/Tiles in action.

(C): While GFABasic (the language I wrote

in is indeed a Win3.1 programming language, at this state in development, I think it is the diirect Win95/98 way of accessing both sound effects and music that may not be found in Windows 3.1.

GFABasic itself is not a true BASIC programming language. In many ways it is more primitive that requiried me to write my own graphic font and sprite generators and plotters.
It does not create true DOS programs especially since I did away completely with internalized use of UNZIPPING files via the UNZIP.DLL module or just PKUNZIP.

Can you please send me a screenshot of

not running in Windows 3.1 or detail me the error message(s) and/or display that occurs showing it did not work ?

Hope This Helps !

( Squall76 )

Q179: (A) I really dont wanna be rude cos i cld neva make anything as good as scenario but do any versions support bosses?
i have 94b, 92k and 92h and none support them, well one doesent seem to be able to change
the sprite to an enemy, anouther tells me i cant do it and 94 just doesent start the battle.
(B) its the same with storyboards, have i downloaded the wrong versions or am i doing something wrong?

(C): oh and i agree with everbody about the whole multiple people in combat, cos itd b good to see certain charecters interact, it would add a whole new horizon to charecter development for the player! corse i understand you dont have all the time in the world and it must be hard to do...

oh and one last thing! last time i added an entry (part from being a dumbass, i asked totaly stupid qs) i had a quitsis pic, i meant to put a squall one on, so IM NOT A GIRL!

( Topaz )

A179: Greets Squall76:

(A) You will have to be patient until June 15 when

will then be able to have Bosses in Testplay and to act on them based upon the player's merit and mettle against this special combat.

To change a Sprite into a Critter for Combat, look to the example in the Answers world at location: 01:44/08 . That's a bit of a hard battle but you get the idea. You can download the Answers world by clicking HERE.

(B) Storyboards shouldn't give you any problem, they are just image panels.
Use them like so in the Sprite Messenger:

Always leave a trailing space after a filename, in this case "Fortune"
The ",2" is optional and just says where to make that panel appear on the screen.
If you want to have it on that Sprite Messenger page plus the one following it, you will need to have that line above on the next page as well. When it is not listed, or you have reached the end of that Sprite Message, that image will vanish.

(C): Multi-NPCs in combat will be under consideration after June 15th. This + images for items. There is still so much that needs to be done and I am just one person so it may take a-while.

I'm not sure I know what you mean by not wanting being a girl.
Always pick the persona that best represents yourself for Q & A.
Those in steps of 3 like 3, 6, 9, 12 .. I have categorized as not necesarily Boy or Girl, just whatever you want them to be.

Hope This Helps !

( Shadow )

Q180: (Note, Shadow is asking a lot of questions so I have put them here before starting a new Q & A page)

(A) Hey Topaz, been a while. (9 hours but go ahead!)

The other day on v0.94b a glitch or something similar occurred.
My friend was playing on the game I designed ( he thought it was EXELLENT, by the way ), and when he stepped into a warp that took him to a town on a different map that he had never used before, he just appeared in a big blank black space. I decided to start editing to see what was wrong. I pushed tab after he had saved his game, and then I saw it.
The town was there, but a whole square-like part of it had been deleted. Then guess what?
I moved the main square cursor thingy around, and as I did it, it deleted hunks of my town!
I was worried that my hard work had made one big stuff up, but then I deleted a save file, exited scenario without saving, went back into it and whalla!
It's all there, like nothing had happened, and the cursor didn't delete any parts of anything. Can you tell me more about this, and how to avoid it?

(B) Another question, in the past, you've told me to explore the "type" option in a sprite messenger menu, but I'm lost! I don't want a boss, I just want to fight an NPC.
Could you please tell me how to do this?

Thanks Topaz...

(C) PS: How old are you, and do you find that age effects your interest in anime, like, as you get older?
See ya.

(D) I know, I know, it's only been like an hour but I've come up with another question,
sorry Topaz. Maybe I'm stupid, I dont know. Is there a way to make NPCs follow you?
Like, if I want an NPC "party member" can he just follow the main character around a dungeon or something?
Thanks Topaz, expect another question within a day. Later.

(E) Hi yah Topaz.
What's this, fifth, sixth question?
(That's fine but please send me a copy of your current work, I can answer questions more easily by following your code, and if you'd like to have it listed in the Download Station)

I'm REALLY sorry, you must be REALLY mad at me. I plan for my RPG to be a fairly big one... the trouble is, the player gets stronger too quickly and I run out of critters that are a challenge to the player.
Is there anyway to get more Critters or give them their own stats?
The add-ons aren't much help, because they are only images, aren't they?
Thanks for your time.

( Topaz )

A180: Greets Shadow:

I will be answering all of your valid questions in this last item before moving on to the next page.

(A) Make sure you are using the latest version of

in all cases.

And I do know sometimes with Alpha Objects especially that tiles may appear to vanish when you change to a new page. The solution is simple, hit the "[" (that is the square bracket key with the "mouth" open to the right), and then "]" (that is the square bracket key just to the right of the other one) to return back to this map. If that fails to refresh the map correctly, you can change the size of the view to smaller then 32x32.

Know that the editor will never maliciously lose your map, and you can always save without shutting down by hitting

.

(B) I refer you to the answer in #176.
You can get there by clicking HERE.
You will see one of the room examples shows how to get into a battle with a "Sprite."
Know now that to actually battle a Sprite with the image of a Sprite, you would do well to learn the Boss Definition Type in the Sprite Messenger. It is not just for a Boss but any custom combat that the Worldbuilder wants to closely monitor and make adjustments to.
Most of the definitions are not difficult to understand and and it is pretty self-explainatory.

(C) Having never been introduced to Anime except in the past 5 years, I am very fond of it.
To find out more about me you can read the personal profile I have listed on the EZ-Boards, account "dw817"

(D) No, you cannot do this, but you have helped me see that it can be done with current

so time allowing, I'll have this ready for the 15th as well, where you use the Chain Icon (not yet drawn) to select a ghost-image of where the player last was, and this is all it is.

You can change the image for it, but all it does is make the last move prior to where the player is now. The effect, it appears as if you're being followed.

.

(E) (This is a good bit of information for ALL Worldbuilders!)

You shouldn't be having your player gain too quickly. Critters, if done well only show the first and second images the initial first hour of playing the game from the beginning with a BOSS being a 3rd or 4th one. You would only show the last one #24, when the player is pretty near to finishing playing the entire game and at least 1 week or month (depending on the size of your game) of game playing time has been accumulated.

Don't make it so easy for the player to upgrade their weapon or armor, use less treasure forcing the player to conserve their resources throughout the game. If the game is too easy, then it is because you have put too many things out in the open.

It is said a true adventurer prefers his wounds well salted. Now while I'm not saying to kill off the player in the first 5 minutes of the game

, you should allow an idiot player to die off if they don't follow the rules you set in your game or they deliberately avoid talking to other NPCs. A RPG is not just about playing a good game, but rewards good positive behavior as well such as curiousity, honesty, compassion, and humor.

At some point in your quest you should allow the game player to get puzzled in the game with a locked door or gate that can only be passed after you have done something special that might take a novice game player an hour to figure out or a veteran 15 minutes, but don't make it impossible or stupid ! Give a good valid reason WHY the player had to do what they did to get past this obstacle, and if it's a clever or amusing solution, so much the better.

The careful player talks to all the NPCs he can count on the screen and it is perhaps only by talking to all of them can the clues be revealed as where the player should go next. In some parts of the quest, you can only get more information out of one NPC only if you have talked with a different one. Link the game so these two NPCs are friends or related.

Dialogue from a NPC should not be the same over and over again and especially it shouldn't lock out the last line with

or run once only. It's no fun walking up to someone you spoke with earlier and not one further line of dialogue comes out of them. This is fine if they are a merchant and you have talked to them more then once, but not for a one-line speaking NPC. And the dialogue of them should vary based upon how far the player has gotten into the game.

"Welcome to our fair city stranger !"
(Give details of where to find what since they are new here)

"Ah ! It is good to see you again !"
(Brief and to the point)

"I would welcome you, but we have a serious problem.."
(Something bad has happened here and you must fix it, you have visited this city for about a real week of game playing time now)

"Welcome back, *PNAM the HERO of our city!"
(The player has solved this city's problem and is now a hero, if they haven't been rewarded yet, either give information as to where to get their reward or hand it to them direct here)

"Hi *PNAM, what, you're leaving our island of Mochpourri ?"
(The player has visited this city now 20-30 times in over 3-4 weeks of real game playing time, and the quest now leads them to leave this island to go to an even bigger adventure.
It is possible the player can return later but only much MUCH later in the game like near the end when the player has an Airship, and perhaps they have to, to either get one bit of vital information needed for where they are now from the city they first started out in or visited, and/or a token item required to pass a certain difficulty or obstacle)

"*PNAM, much has changed since you've been gone. Our cities were blasted by fireballs from the evil wizard Baraghos, yet later was slain in our courtyard about a week ago from a dark knight known only in our pubs as the Shadow Sword. Do you know of this Shadow Sword ?"

"Also when Baraghos died, a strange twisted tree started growing from where he fell, perhaps you should check it out."
(Real gameplaying time has now extended past a month and it is time for either the final climactic ending (with lots of Storyboards) is about to be seen, and new victorious music will be playing, or if your game is bigger then this, one very major accomplishment and you should still reward the player before continuing on to the next quest or mission in the game.

If it is indeed, the last chapter of this game, is important to have an ending that covers wide terrain reaching as far as the first found friendships known and earned in the beginning of the game down to the most important and recognized people who see the player as the saviour of their kingdoms and quite possibly (as most RPGs are) in saving the entire world.

A good ending briefly touches on all of the elements learned and earned in the lengthy 2 months of playing tracking NPCs who have died, fallen in love, been imprisoned, been rewarded, dimensionally traveled, reached their summit, or matured in more ways then just age, but in compassion, humor, and long-lasting and bonding friendships not with just the player, but perhaps other NPCs that initially started out not liking each other until the player shows them differently by solving riddles of the heart.

So 240+ real game playing hours, the most important, amusing, and heroic elements are all played out in a 15 minute long ending.

From these examples, you can see how a single NPC in a game can make all the difference in a world between a boring and/or easy quest to an exciting, challenging, and real interest to see where the game is going and play it to the end.

It takes a very creative and often clever mind to develop games such as these, but all of you Worldbuilders have the potential and ability to be excellent in this.

Hope This Helps !

( If you would like to link me, please use this picture, it's just under 10k )