+++ DYNRPG - THE RM2K3 PLUGIN SDK +++

Some more ideas for this that I just thought of while working on my game:


1) Allowing more Conditional Branches for monsters: I don't know if C++ can do this, but I find it silly that you can't do that many conditional branches for monsters, like for say if they have a status on.

2) Allowing Switch abilities to target one target: I think I mentioned this before, but aside from using the Attack type, you cannot target one enemy ever with an ability with custom coding (Switch abilities don't work this way). Likewise, would be nice to be able to target your own allies with a Command ability (Link to Event doesn't work for this, and there's no way to target your allies manually for abilities or to even attack).

3) Avoiding attacks: This one is another one that I'm irked about. So if a character is KO'd, that character will never be targeted by enemies or by any abilities that doesn't revive or target dead allies. However, it's impossible to copy this (you cannot just copy/paste the Death status as it doesn't do the same thing), so there's no way to set ANY status to where the target will not be attacked if they're under that status (for instance, say I want to have a character with the Exclusion status, and instead of having to custom code the status, I just make the character disappear completely and set No Action. I'd like to be able to not have that character targeted by anything so that the character won't be damaged/healed/buffed/etc.). I'm sure there's a way to replicate this somehow, and would be nice to have as it would make some statuses even more dangerous (that, and having something that does 0 damage regardless to a character with specific statuses. For instance, Invincible or Petrify).


Just some ideas to toss out there for you guys! I know nothing about C++ or Java, so I can't do these myself, but if anyone wants to take a crack at these...might be fun for others to use too!

Great work Cherry!

And dragonheartman, that battle system is looking pretty sweet! ;)

I thought of something, it isn't really that important, but it would add some flavour to the looks of some games, is it possible to have the icons we "call" using text shortcuts (i.e.: $a, $b, $c) with colours in the menu and battle menu? 3 Colours would be enough (ignoring the automatic shadow). This probably doesn't work with plugins and needs to be directly changed in the base system (I wouldn't know since my programming knowledge is very limited).

How about combined skills that can use the MP or/and HP (the HP skills are also something on their own) of several party members at the same time?

Yes, Xenomic, Conditional Branches checking the status for monsters and party members would be great, that would allow to make status like "Frozen" that shatters (instant KO) when hit with physical and also a Conditional Branches that checks what magic or elemnt was used on X monster or party member, that way if you use "fire" on a "frozen" character the status wears off.

I was able to do the "frozen" status using the DBS but only the instant KO when hit, and it's way to complicated to do it to various characters, and it's prone to bugs.

That should be possible with the Dynrpg :)

Cherry is maintaining a list on his website:

http://cherrytree.at/cms/lang/en/download/?category=8

author=iddalai
And dragonheartman, that battle system is looking pretty sweet! ;)

I thought of something, it isn't really that important, but it would add some flavour to the looks of some games, is it possible to have the icons we "call" using text shortcuts (i.e.: $a, $b, $c) with colours in the menu and battle menu? 3 Colours would be enough (ignoring the automatic shadow). This probably doesn't work with plugins and needs to be directly changed in the base system (I wouldn't know since my programming knowledge is very limited).

How about combined skills that can use the MP or/and HP (the HP skills are also something on their own) of several party members at the same time?

Yes, Xenomic, Conditional Branches checking the status for monsters and party members would be great, that would allow to make status like "Frozen" that shatters (instant KO) when hit with physical and also a Conditional Branches that checks what magic or elemnt was used on X monster or party member, that way if you use "fire" on a "frozen" character the status wears off.

I was able to do the "frozen" status using the DBS but only the instant KO when hit, and it's way to complicated to do it to various characters, and it's prone to bugs.

That should be possible with the Dynrpg :)

Thank you! For the colored icons, currently you can only do so with something like \c[n]$A\c[0] in messages, but you want this to extend beyond to all database entries? I imagine something like that is possible with some updates to DynRPG.

Your video looks great. That's the default BS, isn't it? HA! I have waited for something like this! Unleashing the power!

(Can I have a demo?)

Yes, that's the default BS. I'm glad I found this. It really inspired me to do some of the things I wanted to without resorting to a custom battle system. Re-releasing soon. :)

Here's another one that I just thought of recently: Changing monster's stats. Outside of abilities, there is literally no way to change a monster's stats in-battle (there's not even an option for it in the battle events).

On top of that, is it possible to have a "true" Reflect status? I'm sure there's a way to do it so that "If X ability has the "Magic" tag, then "Reflect" ability". Same thing goes for a "true" Invisible status (All damage does 0, or to make it even more unique, can go either physical/magical, or elemental/non-elemental).

author=iddalai
Yup, for messages it's possible to give one colour to the icons, but it doesn't work in menus, items or skills. If you make it possible for shortcuts like \c$A\c to be available in menus it still consumes a lot of space characters and thus the items/skills names must be too short. Do you think there is another way around this?

Yes and no. The colored icons not rendering is something DynRPG may be able to handle. As far as text limitations inside the rpg maker 2003 editor, I've used the Goliath Patch, which essentially modifies the game editor to make things a lot larger.

Edit: Oh and one more thing, I tested your "faster atb" plugin, the speed is perfect for the playing characters, and I know that someone else already mentioned that the enemies take too long to cast skills or attack (due to the time it takes for them to "flash"), is it possible to make this "flash" not halt other processes? Because the flash is just right in aesthetic terms, the only drawback is that they only attack or cast a skill after the "flash" and that slows downs the battle flow.

Agreed--that is a change made with DynRPG, not my own plugin. According to Cherry this will be fixed in a newer version. I really do like the lengthened skill name though. :)

Edit 2: Remembered something else, if we use a status like poison using the DBS then the affected character will receive poison damage everytime an enemy or hero acts, that's just wrong, a turn should be after each enemy and hero acts or after one of the sides acts. And is it possible to use attack magic on the heroes (i.e.: using fire on a hero affected with "frozen" status) or healing magic on enemies?

For poison, I definitely agree and that's actually pretty easy to do. As far as attack magic on the heroes, I'm not too sure if that's possible for the DBS.

It looks like a lot of the questions here are posed towards improving the battle system. I think a 'recommended' patch that would enjoy immense popularity would not only fix the bigger bugs in the battle system, but would take the broad and easy to implement suggestions from this topic.

It could even be made into a community thing, where a topic is made concerning the plugin during construction and ideas are thrown in from the community on what to add and not to add. It would be a way to really facilitate organic growth, and even more than one programmer could combine their efforts to do it.

So Large, it sounds like you want time-based regenerative effects rather than turn-based. That's actually fairly easy to implement as well. Every couple frames you can check if an ATB has updated, and if so, add/subtract health from the actors that are affected with the stat effects.

@Feld, there was a battle system patch that cherry posted on his site, the only issue was that it was largely specific to a certain project and wasn't general enough to be of much use (if I recall correctly). DynRPG works best I'm learning with smaller modular patches that just target specific features so users can pick and choose the patches of their liking.

For example, in SU I have the following plugins:

- menu_updater.dll, which updates stats dynamically in the menu (such as max HP) when certain gear is equipped
- animated_monsters.dll, which animates every monster. Even cooler, the poses are stored in a folder based on the monster name, so I have something like /Monster/Green Slime/1.png for the first monster frame. I want to see if I can include additional animations (such as death and maybe even hurt) before I release this.
- threat.dll, which actually handles the new "Focus" System and some of the DBS interface updates. This has bloated out to handle all sorts of DBS tweaks here and there and I wish I'd actually go back and separate some of this out, but for now it is what it is.
- condition_icons.dll is a modification of Cherry's condition icons so the conditions are animated.

Lastly, I've been having more ideas than time, so I haven't been able to rapidly develop all of the ideas for plugins I've come up with, but I thought of another you guys might like: a proper Enter Hero Name command. ;)

I just wish I could actually sit down and do these instead of saying "OH IT'S EASY GUYS"

double post whoops

@Feldschlacht IV
Indeed, most of the stuff I want from the plugin is basically DBS mods. Other aspect doesn't pique my interest as much

@DragonHeartman
That looks really neat. I like how you organized the DBS menu; it's *_*

But yeah, I have no experience in C++, so this stuff is moon for me. Still, just like in the past, I learn mostly from reverse engineering (Rm2k3), so if you release that threat.dll, please do let us know.

Speaking of which, does it function like the RM Patch? I.e. if someone without the patch (in this case plugin) edit your game, (does it revert back to original value ex. david and goliath patch) or... what would happen?


EDIT

To add to your long list of request, here's another one (two):

It always bugs me that to set a skill as "Switch", you'd need to assign it to skill subset (which cause clusterfuck) because it also includes EVERY skill you have in the other subset. This is redundant

And two, is it possible to add (and I am assuming this will be a big pain) "IF" condition when the player use a specific skill (that is also functional as battle skill).

To elaborate, if I recall correctly, setting skill as "Switch" = no targetting. Like in Alter Aila, the only way to do this is via how much MP has been reduced (to determine which skill is used). Not sure how effective it is, but I am assuming it is prone to error if you have MP Degen?

Basically, allowing the editor to activate a condition if a specific skill is used (though kind of impossible methink; due to the huge database). Ex. Arts sparking/learning system in Romancing SaGa Series (use a skill, might learn a better one down the line in battle)

Wherever on screen....now THAT I like the sound of. And yes, no exp after battles (much like the Virus status in FFIX).

That sounds nifty too, but don't wear yourself out doing all of these now eh? Twould be bad ^^;


EDIT - Now HERE'S one I didn't think about until now. Would it be possible to DIRECTLY change a skill's damage, variance, MP Cost, accuracy, etc. in the middle of battle without having to have multiple copies of it based on situations?

For instance, let's say we have a skill that has really high damage, but low accuracy (let's say....start of the game, 500 damage but 50% accuracy). Now let's say that there's a status or ability that increases the accuracy of your character's moves (either by a % or solid value), or say that before the fight, you had that character equipped with an accessory or piece of equipment that directly relates to that skill's damage and accuracy.

Dunno if that example is a good example, but hopefully it gets across what I'm trying to say? ^^;