 By Gemin-eye (FAQ #4)Reproduced by Norwolf
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| A Simple Switch | ||
| Some people seem to be having trouble understanding switches, (WHY!!??). Here is the best explanation I can think of to help you grasp it: A switch is used to make event commands turn on or off. Sometimes a switch is used to turn event commands off, [when the switch is on, the event commands are off, but when the switch is off the events commands are on]. However sometimes a switch is used to turn ON event commands. So when the switch is on, so are the commands. This sound confusing? Really all a switch does is turn pages in an event. The page may or may not have commands on it. (Note that variables can also be used like switches, but this is about switches sooo...). Let me break it down for you: If you make an event that has only one page, and you don't use a switch; the commands in the event will happen over and over. If you make a second page and make that page use a switch, then you add a "Change Switch" command on the first page to activate the second page. If there are no event commands that run automatically on the second page, then the event will end. Every time the event is called; the second page will be the page that is used, if the switch stays on. If you turn the switch off, it goes back to using the first page. Just think of it as this, to get to page two, you have to turn on a switch. To get back to page one you have to shut off the switch. Making a switch is as simple as naming it. You just select one you are not using and type a name in it. Then you can call on that named switch for whatever event you need it in. [With "Change Switch"] You can even reuse switches in different events. I can't explain it any simpler than that, so here's yet another example.
First you make the King event. In this event you will put messages (the King and the hero talking). That is all that will be in page one. Leave the event conditions alone, Put a graphic of the King in the 'Graphic' box, (People3 has a good one) and make the 'Start Conditions' "Push Key". In the event commands box, put in your hero/king conversation. (If you don't know what to make for a conversation, maybe writing rags isn't your thing. Just use your imagination.) It should look like: | |||
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| and so on. You can use "Message Style" and "Face Graphics" to make the messages more spiffy. I don't need to tell you how to do this, 'cause it's really easy to figure it out. Make a new page in the event. Select (put a check in) Switch. Click the [...] button select and name a switch "KING". Put in all the conversation you will want to have for when the hero has finished his quest. Use what you did above as an example. Now when the hero finishes his mission, you use a "Change Switch" ("KING") to turn on this page in that end mission event. You see how it works? I'm sure you must. If not, well ... I can't help you. Maybe someone else can. Good luck with your game, you'll need it. | |||
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| Once you learn the absolutely necessary skill of switches, you might need to know how to start your game. This is all about... | |||
| Opening Events |
| I'm going to use Don's SAMPLE game as a reference, since you will have this game in your Projects folder. Follow this order: ALT+p, ALT+c, ALT+p, ALT+o, select Sample Don's Adventures. Open. Click on the Init map (bottom left corner). You will see a big pink screen with a hero start position and an event. Double click on the event, See how its only one page. Notice how its Auto Start. You might now be thinking, "How could it be only one page with an Auto Start, that would loop the intro forever cause there's no switch." This is not true. You can kill an Auto Start with either a switch, or a Teleport. Look at the second last line of the Events Commands. That's how it's done. You make a map with either a complete black screen or a picture behind it, (right click on the map name ((bottom left corner)) and select 'Properties') and place your 'Starting Party Position', (right click on the map grid somewhere and select it from the pop up). You have to decide the actual commands that go in, usually it is part of the story. Take a look at what Don did in his intro for tips on what you could do in yours. | |
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| Your party has perished, but you don't have to end the game there... | |
| Victory and Defeat |
| You can set up a boss battle where if you get defeated you go to someplace, like a church, or the last save point. Virtually any command can be put in for "if defeated then..." and even "if party wins then...". This will be done in an event. On page 2 of the event Commands is an option called "Start Combat". When you click it you can choose to set the enemy/group you fight, or use a variable to determine the enemy group (random bosses!? you bet). You can set the battle background, the escape case, (whether or not the heroes can escape the battle), and the defeat case, and last an option to allow the player the first attack in a combat. The defeat case is what you edit to make it so that the hero won't be killed in a battle, just shipped off to a safe (or not so safe) place when defeated. Put a dot in "Independent Fo (fo=fork but gets cut off)" This allows you to change a combat's victory and defeat cases. (What happens after a special battle). Put your what happens when victory occurs in the Victory Case, and what happens when defeat occurs in the Defeat Case. You can put anything in either, teleports, move chara, whatever you need to make your story cool. If you can make a fork you can do this. | |
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| Random Monsters |
| How do you just set up random monsters though? First it's a good idea to go into
your Database (f8) and set up your monster parties. Once you have that done, you
just right click on the map name (box in the bottom left corner) and select "Create
Area", this creates the area where random monsters will attack the hero. When you first create it, you can select what monster parties will 'live' in this certain area. Just double click in the monsters party box and select them. I have heard that the more same types of monsters you put in, in comparison to other types will increase the rate at which they attack. (Example: If you have 6 Slimex2 parties, and only one Batx2 party, you will encounter the slimes more often than the bats) this is pure speculation, I have never tried this, also since its random it would be difficult to tell if this is really true at all. Click on the "Set Area" [...] button to draw a rectangle around the map area where you want the random encounters to happen. You can edit the area's size and monster parties at any time by right clicking on the Area and selecting 'Area Properties'. How do you set up the steps per encounter in an area (like in rm95)? There's an event command that does this. Just make an event within the Area and on page 3 is a command "Encounter Rate", set it for the number of steps a hero must take before he gets attacked. It seems more accurate than rm95, 1 step actually means every step the heroes take they will encounter a monster party. The higher the number the more steps needed before an attack occurs (999 steps max). Just make the event a Parallel Process. (by the way, you can change the battle music in the Database. System tab.) | |
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