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PostPosted: March 7th, 2006, 12:08 am 
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Alright, I'm making a pretty neat game, but I need to have some people's opinions about which maker to use. I'm have the RPGM1, 2, and 3, and am planing to great a game using them.

It's going to be a long game, something I can easily resove using the RPGM1. Now the RPGM1 rules over RPGM3 in complexity (yes it does; you can't even move NPCs around in and event [such as getting an item and walking back]), yet RPGM2 is much more powerful.

I would use the RPGM2 if it didn't take up so much space in order to do anything, resulting in a very, very short game (Note: I do have a game I plan to make for this called "Professor!").

I can't stand the RPGM3 (although I like the graphic improvements, plus the good battle system [despite it's slowdowns]).

I plan to make this game pretty long, and with a ton of features. No CBS though, it takes too long and takes up too much memory. Any recommendations?

And one more question. Can you all see my avatar all right?


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PostPosted: March 7th, 2006, 12:28 am 
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Yup, I can see your avatar fine.

As for which RPGM to put your game on, you've got it all wrong. If anything, you should be worried about using up memory on RPGM1, not RPGM2. Creating big cinemas and about any type of mini-game in RPGM1 eats up quite a bit of memory, which is why most RPGM1 games are put onto multiple memory cards. RPGM2, you most likely won't have to worry so much about using up memory. RPGM2 takes up 2000-some-odd memory on your card no matter how big your game gets (plus 600-some-odd for each save file, due to potentially having a game with 100 party members, 1000 items, 1000 variables, 1000 flags, 100 or less words/phrases, etc.). There are ways to gobble up memory fast with RPGM2, but not as many as there are with RPGM1.

Only one person has run out of memory on RPGM2 so far. And he was especially excessive in the stuff he put in (100 people in each of the two towns he had created so far, for example).

As for which one you want to use, you've already discounted RPGM3 (too easy to go through the resources on that one, especially with the 100-person limit). The real kicker between RPGM1 and 2, are if you want to have cinemas where people are walking as they're talking (RPGM1, they can't walk and talk at the same time, and you technically can't have more than one person moving at the same time), and if you think variables are necessary (since RPGM1 simply doesn't have them, and variables are necessary for keeping good track of amounts of anything). Also depends on how well you can use each Maker. If you haven't learned the ins and outs of RPGM2 yet, I might recommend RPGM1 for now. Although, I've found it quite fun to figure out RPGM2 (i.e. "LOL, I just made this guy look like he went through the taffy-pull!"). Plus fiddling with RPGM2's stuff can give you great ideas of what sort of things you could put in your game.

As far as variables go, I cheated by using items as variables. You can't keep track of how many items you had, so you simply either had none or 1+. Like say for example, you had to cut down trees within a certain amount of axe uses, you'd give yourself some amount of "Axe Usage" items, and get rid of one each time you used the axe, until you ran out. However, my game doesn't use items, and if you tried this in a game where you needed items like Potions and the like, it would look cluttered.

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PostPosted: March 7th, 2006, 2:03 pm 
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Thanks for the feedback, it is very much appreciated.

I find it funny that we both discount RPGM3 (because, like you said, there's simply no complexities there, other than variables that RPGM1 had).

I'm considering using RPGM2, but the only problem with it would be memory, because my games tend to be very, let's say... "option" heavy.
For example, I started working on a game called "AW:Agrian Cried" for the RPGM2. What I usually do when I start the game from the main interface is begin the game using "Beginner" data, then immediately switch the inferface over to "Hard", that way I, like you know, get data that would take me forever to create; that and it configures the battle engine.
Now the problem I had with AW:AC was that everything took too much space. I was limited to 1000 scripts, but found that approximately 500 were already in use. By the time I finished my first town, I had only 400 scripts or so left, and it seems odd because I have to create a script for walking into a house, one out, and one for the people inside, easily resulting in 3 scripts right there.

Then again, I see another benefit in RPGM1 because, when I run out of scenario memory, I simply pop in a second memory card and keep on going (which I've done a couple of times with other games), whereas it appears that you must stop with the RPGM2 when you run out of memory.

I wish I could use it (RPGM2), but there's too many memory restrictions (1000 char, 1000 events, 1000 scripts), which all sound like a lot, but it seems I'd run out very fast. In fact, by the time I got done with my game's opening seen, I had about 350 scripts left.

I guess the bigger question would be, how do I go about memory expansion with the RPGM2?


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PostPosted: March 7th, 2006, 11:28 pm 
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How in the world did you use so many scripts so early?

Anyway, if it helps, starting on Normal will still give you all the important stuff. Easy just also gives you a bunch of premade maps, buildings, and party members. Normal uses up 398 scripts right off the bat.

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PostPosted: March 8th, 2006, 1:42 pm 
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Okay, I'll think about using normal instead, since Beginner gave me only 500 scripts, or whatever.

The reason I've used so many scripts is because I had 2 scripts for each location change in a town, then the script for a regular person, but then when a major event would take place, I would create a couple more scripts for every person depending on the situation. Townspeople would ask questions, you'd respond with an answer, the townsperson would say something different the next time you talked to him, and so on. That's ten easy, if not more (and that's only one person).

After I got done with the initial opening sequence (starting movie and some action), I had only about 350 to 300 scripts remaining.


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PostPosted: March 8th, 2006, 8:11 pm 
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Well, I hope you only used one script for the opening movie.

Anyway, there is a major shortcut that you can use for doors. It's a very useful command called "Game Info". It's under the script command Data. If you choose to Load game info, it'll store a bunch of stuff in important variables. One of these variables is #81: Map Number. Using this variable, you could drastically lower how many events and scripts are used for doors. Here's how it would work.

Create an event, call it "Door 1" or something to that extent. This event will be used as the first door found in every town in your game. Let's say you place it in maps #13 and #15 (how they're listed in the database).

When you use Game Info: Load on those two maps, it'll store the map number in variable #81. Knowing this, you'll first want to go to the Enter Map script, and insert the Game Info: Load command, that way everytime you enter a map, it'll load that variable (among others).

Now, you'll want to create a content script for your Door 1 event. You'll probably want to call the script the same thing. Start off with a Script Branch: Sort command. You'll use this to figure out which map you're in, and warp the player accordingly. Since one map Door 1 is in is map #13, you'll want to use Script Branch: Apply If, applying if Variable #81: Map Number is equal to 13. Put in the command to warp the player to the building you want. Now, use another Apply If, applying if Variable #81 is equal to 15. Put in a command to warp the player into the building that door is supposed to lead into.

Thus, you've effectively got two doors in two different maps leading into two different buildings, all using just one event and script. Just keep doing what I told you, applying whatever map number the door is in. Also do the same thing with a Door 2, Door 3, and however many other doors are found in a single map. If you want the door to animate when you go through it, put in an animation command before the Sort branch begins.

Quite a useful feature, yes? You'll probably want to learn about the other variables used in Game Info: Load, as well as the other info-loading commands RPGM2 provides. They all can provide great shortcuts like this, effectively making the 1000-script limit broken. If you were tricky enough, you could potentially script every single door in your game to a single event and script. Heck, if your game was short enough, you could potentially run your entire game in a single script (though it would take multiple events), although I wouldn't really recommend trying that.

Just make sure of two things: One, keep track of the maps your doors are used in. Things can't get skewy if you use the wrong map number or somehting like that. Two, if your maps move around in the database at all, you'll have to make sure to change the variables in the Sort sections to what the new map numbers are.

Hope that changes your mind on what is and isn't possible with RPGM2. It's especially useful for me. JH3D (my game) will have over 1000 objects to collect. It'd be impossible if I restricted each object to their own script and event.

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PostPosted: March 8th, 2006, 8:40 pm 
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Wow. That's extremely helpfull, thanks. I'll have to impliment it into the game when I start making it. I guess I'll use the RPGM2, since you've now shown me there's no good reason not to.

I've also come up with an event script compression form. Basically, for every one person I'll be using an event and one script.

This script will read that, when you talk to somebody, so many flags are used for that person.

Let's say I talk to this guy one time, he'll say one thing depending on my assortment of flags and their positions. If I talk to him later after a flag condition has been fulfilled, I can use a script branch to make him say something different with a flag.

To avoid repitition or complication (if you run a script branch without flag x being on, and the branch turns the flag on, you may run into a problem if the script branch ends and another branch starts up if that flag is on, making it automatically flow together), I've also worked on a method to compile the script upside down, that way they won't flow into eachother if one script branch effects a flag which may then be reflected further on.

I've decided to use the RPGM2, but now I just don't know what game to make. I've got two options, Fantasy Fantasia, or Professor Professor!, which is an entirely different kind of game.


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