#rpgmakertricks

[vacarria]

RPG MAKER TRICKS #7 - THE HIDDEN FOLDER TACTIC

Yeah, you expected the Ao Oni chase system, right?

But it is I! The Hidden Folder trick!

And yeah, this is gonna save your butt. A lot.

Anyway, this is gonna be quite short for a trick. And this is more of a general trick (or tip) for anyone else in the game dev sector. Basically, what we’re going to do is to make the files hidden, most expected are the folders that contain the files that you need. (Ehem, ehem, encrypted files ehem, ehem)

This is quite simple. All you have to do is this.

1. Open Command Prompt (You can do so by pressing Windows + R then typing cmd)

2. There, put the following code.

attrib +s +h “<File or Folder Directory>”

3. And there, done!

If you think that making it invisible renders it unable to be used. Think again. Seriously. We only made it invisible to the eye, not to the system. Also, this is not similar to the ‘hidden’ option that you see in the properties. Legit, try finding it. Though there are several explorers (namely WinRAR) that can find said folders.

So congrats! Not only did you know something about computers, but also a way to hide you files. Remember, they can’t hack it if they can’t find it. Good day.

[vacarria]

RPG MAKER TRICKS #5 - SCRIPT CALLS

Again, this is another call-out/PSA. Props to the RMRK Community. Source is down below.

I’m also keeping this short. Hence, no read more/s.

Anyway, when you start out with RPG Maker, you’d gradually notice a thing called “Script Calls” when you’re editing events. This is by far the only advanced event command considering you’re going to use the engine’s language as your arsenal. And that is with consequences called logic/syntax/runtime errors.

That said, since again, this is also another call-out so I’d just add the link to it.

RPG Maker VX ACE Script Call Compilation

I can’t find any RPG Maker XP/VX stuff. Well, considering that you already know that compilations exist, search it yourself.

OR fiddle with the engine.

As what my math teacher said:

“Practice makes better, not perfect. Perfect is an endpoint; be better than perfect.”

[vacarria]

RPG MAKER TRICKS  #2: DOUBLE EVENT STACK (ADVANCED)

Welcome back to another post on...

RPG MAKER TRICKS (guaranteed not a lie).

And today, we’re going to discuss the oddly-made [Double Event Stack]. You wonder, how the fuck does this work in our day and age? And how the hell does it work?

Well, let’s cut the chit-chat and get some grub going!

For a better explanation, the [Double Event Stack] looks more on how two [Events] can be stacked in a singular [Tile]. Actually, it’s not just limited to just two [Events], but it’s better if we go for the double first. The n-ones are more... disastrous so to speak.

Anyway, that aside, doing it is quite easy. You just stack [Two Events] and that’s it!

...

Yeah, I know. You’re questioning as to how this is a trick, how [Two Events] being stacked up make a difference. *sigh*. You know what, I’m gonna quote this again from the last post.

“Easy enough for a kid. Powerful enough for a developer. (Enterbrain)“

Use your mind :v. If you didn’t notice by now of the many scripts that I’m going to reference right now by using hyperlinks, this is what you can do with this trick.

THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH THIS TRICK

(NOTE: THIS VIDEO ACTS AS HOW TO SET THE STACKING WHEN THE EVENT IS MOVING OR NOT. OR, GET THE VARIABLES X AND Y OF THE EVENT YOU WANT TO STACK WITH AND THEN SET ITS EVENT LOCATION ACCORDING TO THE VARIABLES. Also, sorry for the crappy English talk. I don’t even have a sinus or a running nose when I was recording this :v)

1. RANGE

In School Haunt (a game I created), if you’re close enough to a chaser, you’re as good as dead as it becomes faster than you. There’s also another ability where it could swap places with you should you be within the range. And that’s already the Ultimate ability of the chaser. Yeah, I know. That thing’s the reason why I delayed it for so long. But hey, worth it. At least I have gameplay right now unlike the excuse of a demo I made back then.

(Note: No vids on this part. Layers are your answer. That’s what you’re going to do here anyway... plus I’m bored. I’m not a tutorial, just a tip guy. :v) 2. GRAPHICS

“You just wonder, how the fuck can you make an [Angel Sprite] appear to be hovering over you WITHOUT it looking like its flying towards you WITHOUT making a new sprite???” 

Well, you already got the answer to that problem. And it’s in the first video that I show you. But, let’s get to the point. This is not the only way you can do that. You could stack other events to make animation play at that event, rather than the event you don’t want it to be animated on. Another thing is that you could use this for some transformation parts, but IDK if you could pull it off.

Well, because I didn’t do it also. ANYWAY.

3. CAMERA TARGET & LIGHTING SYSTEM

Again, in School Haunt (i like self advertising), you’re capable of switching to two lighting options. One is capable of spotting chasers from a forward area, but you’re vulnerable from the sides and the back. One is that you’re capable of seeing your surroundings, but you’re unaware of what’s in front of you. This is something you can do with the [Event stacking]. Well, one part doesn’t involve this said trick, but what gives? Just giving ideas.

Well, sadly, this is where we end this part. And I’m not going to show you how to do it. My part here is that I only tell you that YOU can do it, not just me. That is if you work on that brain of yours. But I highly do not doubt your skills. Anyway, I’m off, and goodbye!

P.S. no spoilers this time. sorry. i want to make it a surprise.

[vacarria]

RPG MAKER TRICKS #6 - USING WEB BROWSER FOR PLAYTESTING (MV ONLY)

You may have noticed that you are unable to use a web browser for playtesting MV games unless the dire need of exporting it. Actually, you can use the web browser for playtesting, but you have to get through with just one barrier.

Yes, one.

This is the local file access flag. I don’t know why they added that, but it is the one reason you can’t use the browser for playtesting. Also, I’ve been very vague about the whole browser thing. While I don’t know how I can get through Firefox’s flag, I do know a one-way for Chrome.

For Chrome: 1. Open Notepad or any text editing software. 2. Put the following code:

start "chrome" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --allow-file-access-from-files exit

3. Save as [any_name].bat (ie. google.bat) 4. Run the new .bat file as an admin. 5. Open your game’s index.html and enjoy.

Also, the .bat file will not work unless you close Chrome and all of its tabs.

And that’s all! Apparently, I may go to a really long 2-week hiatus with this series (or more) until I find a new trick up my sleeve. Until then!

jk ao oni timed chases (with multiple maps to boot) coming soon

[vacarria]

RPG MAKER TRICK #4: THE NON-RTP ROUTE

This is more of a call-out to a certain blog post as well as from my personal experience of using this tactic, especially beneficial to slow-net peeps.

Anyway, after a long time of inactivity, I’m back!

Well, with something that is quite beneficial, of course.

Usually, when you’re exporting a project, you basically export the game’s contents, not the RTP’s. The RTP is just there, lying around in some other directory in your computer. Usually, the solution is to copy-paste EVERYTHING and just cluttering it with nonsense.

That is just making the game’s filesize larger, rather than being little. Don’t do this, especially if you have fans that are quite low on the internet.

Rather, there’s a way for this to happen. I’m not so sure with 2k, 2k3 and MV since I don’t have them. Even so that I have MV, I have a grudge on it considering how much it consumes compared to Ace’s and that it automatically exports the RTP along the game, iirc.

I’ll not be so vague this time around, so I’ll be quick this.

XP/VX/VXAce Route: 1. Open the Game.ini (Any project or game) 2. Search for any keyword relating to ‘RTP’ (RTP1/2/3 in RPGXP’s case) 3. Erase the line completely.

Well, that was quick. Anyway, once you’ve done this in a project, you’ll see that the RTP files are nowhere to be found. This will cause errors if you forgot that you used some parts of the RTP for the game. I’d recommend to take notes of the things that you need to copy to the game from the RTP before doing it.

As for the other RPG Maker version, I can’t do so. I did my best, so you should to as well.

You can find the 2k/2k3 solution in Tumblr or at any RPGMaker site. Good luck!