Let’s Make Character Animations Easy!

I’m going to be upfront and say that I do not like using the move route when making character animations. There are luckily scripts out there to bypass this (Galv’s move route extras is a must-have for those who like using scripts), but this tutorial is for those who hate using scripts or just want to have a bit of practice on other ways to make animations.

 

For this tutorial, I will be using the animated volcano made by Charlesthehurst. Make sure you put a $ before the name.

The Stepping Animation

 

This one is very simple. All you need to do is in the options menu, change it to stepping animation.

 

 

You can also choose the stepping animation in the autonomous movement section as well.

 

 

Then you should be able the click the Move Route… button under the drop down menu.

In there, click stepping animation on and repeat action.

 

You can also click Skip if cannot move, which will just ignore the action if it cannot be performed. This will keep the game from freezing typically.

 

Self Switch Method

 

Sometimes you can’t use the stepping animation. This method gives a little more control and you can change the speed of the animation, but it also means doing a little more work if you have an object you want to interact with. There are a few ways to go about this, but I will keep it simple and use the two easiest methods.

 

On the first event page, pick the first animation frame. Next, you need to have it set for a parallel process. I then chose wait 5 frames. This makes it a little faster than the stepping method, but it isn’t too fast. You can change it to what you like. Then, have it say self switch A is on.

 

 

The next event page, in the conditions, make sure that self switch A is on. This event page will look just like the first one with the next animation frame. This time however, you will have Self Switch A = off and Self Switch B = on.

 

 

The third event page will have the final animation frame and Self Switch B = off.

 

 

Now we have our animated volcano up and running!

 

To make it so we can interact with it, there are two methods I am going to show. The first one is very simple. Just make an event and have it set to below characters and the trigger be action button. Put it right next to the animation.

 

 

The second method is to use the event location.

 

First make the event we made above and have the trigger be same as characters.

Then, make another event anywhere on the map. Set that to autorun.

Go to tab 2 of the event commands and click on Event Location.

 

Change the destination to be right on top of the animated character.

 

Now, click okay and when you’re back to your event page, make a self switch A = on. Then make a new event page where the condition has Self switch A is on. This is just so the autorun stops.

 

 

Variable Animation Method

 

The self switch method is my favorite personally, but there are times that we have more animations than self switches. In order to solve this, we will use the variable animation method. This will be set up just like the self switch method, but instead, you will use a variable.  This is how it should look:

 

As a reminder, make sure you set the variable back to 0 on the last frame.

With this method, you will be able to have as many animation frames as you’d like. The downside is that it uses up a variable spot for each event animation on the map.

 

And that is my small and easy tutorial on different ways to make character animations.

 

[REQUEST] Kill X Amount of Monsters Quest

This was requested by PoorCollegeGuy.

✸ BioWiesel made a great addition to this here.

 

NOTE: I do not know much about the standard battle system since I never use it. There might be a better way to go about this. If anyone wants to add a better solution to this tutorial, please feel free to. I will link it at the top of this tutorial so people can get to it easily.

 

The very first thing you want to do is set up your map. For this tutorial, it will just be the front view battle system, so make a small area and select your slime encounters.

 

 

The next thing you need to do is create your NPC for the quest. For my quest, I am going to have the NPC ask me to catch ten slime (which seems a bit barbaric considering that I am a slime, but oh well. )

I will then put that to self switch A.

 

On the next event page, make sure that you have the self switch A condition set. Now, create a variable called Monster or Slime death. Then, create a conditional branch to where if it is greater or equal to ten.

 

Inside that, add the message to say that this quest has been completed. Then, make a self switch B = on at the end.

In the else statement, I am going to say something along the lines of “You have only caught x slime.” To do this and have it show how many slime you’ve caught, you need to have it set like this in the text box:

You’ve only caught \v[18] slime.

 

What this does is it generates what variable number it is for that specific variable. Since my slime death variable is on variable 18, I typed \v[18] in the text box to call the variable.

 

 

On the next event page, you are just going to have what it says after you’ve completed your quest.

 

 

 

Now we are done with that event!

 

Next, go into your database and go into the troops tab.

Where it says battle event, you will set the condition to 1. Slime’s HP is 1% or below.

Inside that, you will put Slime Death + 1.

Make a new event page and set the condition to 1. Slime’s HP is 1% or below and inside of it, put Slime Death + 1.

Do this for each enemy in the troop.

 

 

And that is how you make a kill x amount of monsters side quest without scripts!

[REQUEST] Tutorials on Doors

Requested by DonBab here.

 

I was going to just show one way of making a better animated door, but that isn’t as fun, so I will show a few things you can do with the doors.

 

Simple door animation

his one is a very simple setup and is good if you do not want to use the move route function and want to have better control on the door animation. For example, in a horror game, you could have it that the door gets jammed half way and you need to use an item to get the door unstuck.

 

For this door, we are going to focus on this area:

I am not wanting my slimey to get stuck while the animation plays, and I also want to be able to have the option to close the door. For this, you can have fun with the conditional branches and buttons and have your player press a certain button to enter the door or else they just go through. However, in this tutorial, I am just going to use the show choice option to make it easier.

 

Create your first event and select the door graphic you want. The first page is really simple. All you need to do is have it set to same as characters and the sound effect you want. Then under that, select self switch A is on.

 

The next page, you are going to select the next animation frame for the door. Set the trigger to parallel process and the wait time. I chose 3 frames, but you can set it to how fast or slow you want it. I would recommend 3-5 frames, unless you’re making a slow and creaky door. Then, select self switch B is on.

 

The third page is just like the second one except with self switch C being turned on.

 

 

The fourth page is going to have the last animation frame and it will be set back to the action button. Make sure the direction fix is on and the waling anim. is off. This is to keep the event from looking strange.

 

Now, I want the option to close the door or enter it. The easiest way to do this is through the show choice option. In the close door option, you will turn each switch off with the wait command you picked when opening the door. Make sure you add the close sound effect too.

In the enter option, just click transfer player.

 

 

And that is how you make a simple door animation without the move route.

 

Variable door animation

This one is like the door animation above, but with variables. This is good if you want to close the door on the other side of the room too.

For this tutorial, we will be focusing on this section:

 

The steps are exactly the same as the one above, but where it says selfswitch, you will replace them with the variable you created.

 

Now that we have the door done, we will focus on the event on the other side of the room.

All you have to do is copy and paste the third page from your other event onto this event and change the transfer back to the other room.

The door is shutting from the other side, yay! However, we can still enter when the door is closed. Unless the player is a ghost, this is a bit problematic.

There are two ways to do this, we can make another event page or we can use conditional branches.

I will go with a conditional branch for this tutorial.

Make a conditional branch where if the door variable is equal to 3. If it is, you will copy and paste what we just did above in that section. In the else statement, you will be adding each variable to open the door like we did in the door event, but it will just be all together on one page now.

 

Now our door is completely made. Remember to use different variables for each door on the same map or else all the doors will be opening and closing on you.

 

Locking the Door

 

For this one, we are going to focus on this area:

 

 

Make the door exactly like either tutorial above. For this one, I am going to use the variable tutorial.

Now, make a key for your item.

 

Next, you will be using a conditional branch to check if the key is in the player’s inventory. If it is, the option will pop up for the player to lock the door if the door is closed. If you do not have the key and the door is locked, you will be told that the door is locked.

Here is what the full events should look like:

Door:

Other side of door:

 

Second Page:

 

End Table:

 

I hope this helps out.

[REQUEST] Add Different Character Faces in Text Box for Same Actor

Requested by Juztsacki

 

This one was a bit hard for me to title, but hopefully it makes sense in the long run.

The first thing you need to do is make your character creation map.

Now, make our first character option, which I chose Ralph. You want to create a variable called CHARACTER. When you select Ralph, that variable is going to be equal to 1.

You will do this for all your other selections, changing the variable number each time.

Now, you want to make your second map where you start after picking your character. Create your NPC and select the face set. Type in the message for that NPC.

 

Now, create a conditional branch under that and when the CHARACTER is equal to 1, make it so that Ralph’s face and message shows up.

You will do this for all the characters. It should look similar to this:

 

 

And that is how you make it so you do not have to pick different actors in the database.

 

Footstep Sounds with Terain Tags

As TheoAllen pointed out, using Region ID’s is pretty tedious. Here is another method of creating the footstep sounds.

 

Step 1 is creating your map. I am using the same map as before for this.

Go into your database and click on the tilesets tab. Click on the last button that says terrain tag and have the wood floor be 1 and the carpet be 2.

 

Next, you are going to make your event and have it set to parallel process. Set your variables Player X to Player’s Map X and Player Y to Player’s Map Y like you do in the Region ID tutorial.

 

Now, go back to the get location info in the map area of the event command tab three. However, instead, we are going to pick the Terrain Tag ID this time around.

 

 

Next, you will make a conditional branch where if the terrain tag ID is equal to 1, else if the terrain tag ID is equal to 2.

 

The next steps are exactly like how they were in the region ID tutorial. Add your buttons pressed, the wait command, then the sound effects you want to play.

This is how the end result should look:

The effects will be exactly the same as the region ID one, but it just places it in the terrain tag ID so you can use the region IDs for something else, and it makes things simplier.

Footstep Sounds with Region ID

This is a very easy tutorial on how to create footstep sounds with using region ID’s. To make things easier, we are not going to use the common events tab and will keep this event on our map. If you want this as a common event, you will just make it as a parallel process and connect it to a switch.

 

Step 1 is to create our map. For this tutorial, I am going to  have a wooden floor and a carpet area (I wanted to do grass, but we don’t have any in the interior tilesets).

 

 

Next, we are going to add the region ID. In the top area where the blue character is (the event button), click on the button to the right of it. It should be a square with different colored boxes. When you click on it, you should see all these numbers pop up in the tileset tab.

I am going to use 1 for the wood floor and 2 for the carpet. Fill in the whole map with the region IDs that you want to use.

 

Now switch back to the event tab.

 

Create a new event and have the trigger be parallel process.

The first thing we need to do is set up the Player’s X and Y. To do this, just create two variables called Player X and Player Y.

Now, set the variable Player X to Player’s Map X in the Game Data area.

 

Do the same exact thing with Player Y, except have it go to Player’s Map Y.

 

This is how the event should look so far:

 

 

Next we are going to set up the region ID.

Go to the third tab in the event commands and in the top right corner should be an area called Map. Go to the last button in that area that is called Get Location Info… and click on that.

Create a new variable called Player Region ID. For the info type, you will pick Region ID, and click Destination with variables. Choose the variable Player X and Player Y.

 

Now you are going to make a conditional branch. You will have the if the player region is equal to 1, else if the player region is equal to 2.

This is how the event should look so far:

 

Now make another conditional branch and have it where if the up button is being pressed, if the down button is being pressed, if the left button is being pressed, or if the right button is being pressed.

You will do the same exact thing in the conditional branch where the player region ID is equal to 2.

 

Inside the new conditional branches we made where we pressed the buttons, we are going to add a wait command so it doesn’t sound like a machine gun is going off when we walk. I like to use wait 15 frames myself, but you can play around with it and see what speed you want the footsteps to be.

 

Inside the region 1 conditional branch, we are going to add the sound effect. I chose the “knock” SE that come with RPG Maker. Place this under your wait commands.

In the region 2 conditional branch, I used the “blow6” SE since that was the closest I could find to a carpet sound.

Here is what the finished event should look like:

And that is how you create an evented footstep sound.   You can add as many region ID’s as you’d like and can turn it on or off on any map.

 

[REQUEST] Vehicle Music Changer

This is a request made by Vicious in this thread.

 

To make this really easy, I am going to keep the event on the map instead of on a common event. If you want this in a common event, just make sure you add a switch and have the common event set to a parallel process to it.

 

The first thing you want to do is go into the system database and make sure that the airship music is off.

 

Next, make an event and set it to parallel process. Then, make a conditional branch to if the airship is driven. In the else statement, make sure that you stop the music.

Click inside the conditional branch and create a new variable called Airship. Create a conditional branch where if the airship is equal to 1. Place the music you want the first airship to have.

In the else statement of the airship conditional branch, make another one where if the airship is equal to 2. Place the music you want the second airship to have.

 

The last thing you need to do is make another event. Set the first page to parallel process and the second page to action button. On the second page, make sure the self switch A button is on.

 

On the first page, select the Airship variable and set it to which airship music you want. Then under that, put Self Switch A = ON.

 

And that is how you make it so the airship can change music!

 

[REQUEST] Send your dog hunting

This is a request made by Captor Medicine in this thread.

 

The first thing you want to do is create your maps.

Now, you want to make an event and it might help to make sure it is the same event number on all maps. To make it easier, I am just using Event 1 and I am naming it Dog.

Now, in the conditions tab, click the switch button and label a switch. I called mine Dog and placed a dog graphic in the event.

Next you add a choice box and label it the interactions you want to have. I picked: Pet, Follow Me, Cancel.

Copy and paste this event in all the maps you want your dog.

And that is it for that event! You can place it on all the maps you want your dog and the system.

Here is how it should look:

 

Now you want to create a common event and have it set to a parallel process, then make a switch and call it Hunting.

First, create a conditional branch set to when your dog is in the party. In the else statement set the Dog switch on.

Now we will focus on what happens if your dog is in your party.

For me, I like to use buttons as a way to call the event, and since this is a smaller system, I plan on just using the choice menu.

In the common event you just made, create a conditional branch and set it to what button you want to press to call the event. For me, I am going to use the A button, so I will call the X button in the conditional branch.

Inside that conditional branch, set up the choice menu and place the interactions you want. For me, I picked: Hunt, Stop Following Me, Cancel.

In the Hunt choice, we are going to remove the dog from our party. Next, create a variable called Randomizer and set the random variable to how you’d like it. For me, I choice 0 – 3.

Then, create a wait command to how long you want your dog to hunt for. In my case, I set it to 400 frames.

Now, place your dog back in your party.

Next, create a conditional branch to when the randomizer is equal to 1. In mine, I have it so the dog found a potion.

In the else statement, set another conditional branch and have it equal to 2. In there, I put that the dog found magic water.

This is how mine looks:

 

And that is all to making a hunting system where your dog fetches the items for you.