DYNDATABASEOVERRIDE

The DynDatabaseOverride plugin allows developers to override the default database values (and as of v1.1, switches and variables as well) of an RPG Maker 2003 game with data stored in .txt (which spreadsheet programs regard as "Tab-Separated Values") files. The plugin can override multiple parts of the database independently, at the start of a game run or in the middle of it, and will track any changes made and reapply them when a saved game is loaded.

Why would you want to be able to override the existing database? The first and most obvious use is to change the way the game works in mid-play. For example, suppose you wanted to give your game varying difficulty levels. By overriding the stat values of enemies, you could adjust the difficulty of combat at run-time, even allowing the player to switch back and forth between different stat setups. Enemy stats aren't the only things you can adjust -- you can also change values related to actors (AKA heroes), skills, items, and more.

Another possible use of this plugin is to simply be able to edit your game's data using a spreadsheet program (i.e. Microsoft Excel or Open Office Calc) rather than the RPG Maker 2003 database editor. Spreadsheets are powerful game design tools, allowing you to make sweeping changes to large groups of data and create formulas to drive values based on other values. The example spreadsheet DynDatabaseOverrideExamples.ods included in this project includes a sample formula which calculates an MP cost amount for a skill based on its stats. DynDatabaseOverride can also export the existing database values of a game at any time into .txt files, which can give you a good starting point to create your alternative data sets.

A new usage of DynDatabaseOverride as of version 1.2 is the ability to override the data for animations (and associated effects and frame cels). With this, it's possible to generate intricate math-based animation data in a spreadsheet and apply it in-game without laboriously hand-editing the animations.



Change Log

v1.2.1 (09/14/2023):

• Fixed bug: values green and blue were mixed up in exporting animations frames cels.
  

v1.2 (08/25/2023):

• Added support for overriding animations, animations effects, and animations frames cels.
  

v1.1 (07/09/2021):

• Added support for overriding switches and variables.
  

v1.0 (03/09/2021):

• First public release.