Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Reviews
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Articles
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Post History
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
[RMXP] CROP FARMING: TOOL SWITCHING METHODS
Posts
Pages:
1
TriangleGM
38
TriangleGM
View playlists
CloseI'm working on this crop farming toolkit to help non-scripters make farming games through events (and for myself, of course).
Current Progress:
Style Goals:
Next thing I want is a way to switch tools faster. The tools are designed as weapons with an element set called "Tool." Even while play-testing the other features, it's getting tedious to enter the menu, go down and select equip, select the lead party member, THEN select weapon to equip a hoe, use it, then all that again for a seed, and again for the watering can, then AGAIN to go back to a weapon so I don't accidentally walk into battle with a watering can. Clearly, there's a reason farming games don't work that way.
I've been working on setting up the L/R buttons to work on the map screen to cycle through available tools (and the last-equipped actual weapon). I've already had to add lines to Game_Actor and Scene_Equip to set up this tool-belt, and I haven't even gotten started on creating a display to show the change. It's fun figuring out how to do all this, but it has occurred to me that the player might find it more convenient to pick a tool from a list than have to cycle through all of them, especially since the seeds are included in the list of tools.
Then I realized I could probably just make a button that takes you directly to the lead party member's equip screen, and then back to the map. I could also put in the extra work to actually make a whole separate "Tool-belt Select Window" that would appear over the map. I don't really WANT to do that, but it would be the most like modern farming games, and I do understand the basic concept of drawing a window (a selection window would be new to me).
I partly want to make my own game, but I like all these ideas about the same from a player perspective, and I also want to make the completed framework available for other users. So, what do you think? I'm curious to hear from scripters and other designers or even just people who play farm games:
cycle tools, direct to standard equip screen, or whole new selection window?
Current Progress:
I've got Self Variables (need to check permission with DrakoShade to include that, WAY beyond my level, but from his post I found it in, I don't expect any problem), an overnight water-check (generously re-written for me by KK20), a run button, front activated 'through' events (so you're not hoeing under your own feet), and a working event methodology for the crops.
Style Goals:
In general, I do NOT want to transform RMXP into Harvest Moon (I actually found someone had over-ridden virtually all the default scripts to completely re-create the original SNES Harvest Moon, and he ALMOST finished the project. It was interesting, and certainly impressive, but useless for my purposes).
What I want, is RMXP + farming. I want to make a party-based full scale RPG that includes farming. It's more like an RMXP version of Rune Factory. My plan is, time of day works like farming games when on the farm, then halts or slows for exploring the "wider world." Players will simply have to remember to use a warp spell to go back and forth to visit home and look after things each day when they sleep at an inn on the road (or find some "farm claws" to help with that...)
What I want, is RMXP + farming. I want to make a party-based full scale RPG that includes farming. It's more like an RMXP version of Rune Factory. My plan is, time of day works like farming games when on the farm, then halts or slows for exploring the "wider world." Players will simply have to remember to use a warp spell to go back and forth to visit home and look after things each day when they sleep at an inn on the road (or find some "farm claws" to help with that...)
Next thing I want is a way to switch tools faster. The tools are designed as weapons with an element set called "Tool." Even while play-testing the other features, it's getting tedious to enter the menu, go down and select equip, select the lead party member, THEN select weapon to equip a hoe, use it, then all that again for a seed, and again for the watering can, then AGAIN to go back to a weapon so I don't accidentally walk into battle with a watering can. Clearly, there's a reason farming games don't work that way.
I've been working on setting up the L/R buttons to work on the map screen to cycle through available tools (and the last-equipped actual weapon). I've already had to add lines to Game_Actor and Scene_Equip to set up this tool-belt, and I haven't even gotten started on creating a display to show the change. It's fun figuring out how to do all this, but it has occurred to me that the player might find it more convenient to pick a tool from a list than have to cycle through all of them, especially since the seeds are included in the list of tools.
Then I realized I could probably just make a button that takes you directly to the lead party member's equip screen, and then back to the map. I could also put in the extra work to actually make a whole separate "Tool-belt Select Window" that would appear over the map. I don't really WANT to do that, but it would be the most like modern farming games, and I do understand the basic concept of drawing a window (a selection window would be new to me).
I partly want to make my own game, but I like all these ideas about the same from a player perspective, and I also want to make the completed framework available for other users. So, what do you think? I'm curious to hear from scripters and other designers or even just people who play farm games:
cycle tools, direct to standard equip screen, or whole new selection window?
It would depend on how many tools you had to access at a time, as to whether L/R would be viable.
If it's upward of 10-20, then sure, it might get a bit bothersome to switch, but if less it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, if you can remove items from your pack into a sort of storage container (seeds from one season going away until that season, for example) then you can cut down a lot of the faff.
The best thing about L/R use is that if you know how the items are set up in your pack (their order) you can move quickly to them by going back/forward. Even if you don't, scrolling through them quickly is easy enough.
That said, more than one method is nice. Say you have the menu where you can manually sort them, then when L/R is used a small minimenu showing the closest 5 as you scroll (the middle being your currently equipped tool, two to the left and two to the right) would help with finding things fast and easier.
If it's upward of 10-20, then sure, it might get a bit bothersome to switch, but if less it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, if you can remove items from your pack into a sort of storage container (seeds from one season going away until that season, for example) then you can cut down a lot of the faff.
The best thing about L/R use is that if you know how the items are set up in your pack (their order) you can move quickly to them by going back/forward. Even if you don't, scrolling through them quickly is easy enough.
That said, more than one method is nice. Say you have the menu where you can manually sort them, then when L/R is used a small minimenu showing the closest 5 as you scroll (the middle being your currently equipped tool, two to the left and two to the right) would help with finding things fast and easier.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
For switching between the Zelda-style exploration tools in my RMXP game I use a modified version of this Ring Menu script. I got rid of all the standard menu stuff in this script, and made it so when you press X it directly brings up a ring of the tools you own. This script was originally made to replace the entire main menu in a game, but I didn't use it for that, pressing Esc still brings up the main menu which is done in a more standard style.
Cycling through them with L/R seems fine also.
Having an entire RPG style equip screen in a farming simulator seems dumb and pointless. You only have one equipment slot and the items have no stats.
Cycling through them with L/R seems fine also.
Having an entire RPG style equip screen in a farming simulator seems dumb and pointless. You only have one equipment slot and the items have no stats.
TriangleGM
38
The ring menu is cool, brings back memories of Secret Of Mana. For my game, it's really just the tools I'm worried about though, and that's actually the same number of steps to get in, it just looks cooler. I like the idea of the slider, which I could probably learn to build off of what I've got going with the "toolbelt." Anybody know a good "menu building" tutorial?
My game isn't really going to be a "farming simulator" per se, more like a regular RPG that "just so happens" to include farming. With the focus more on large scale exploring/adventuring and less on "time management puzzle solving," it may not even have the ubiquitous timer for day/night, and it definitely won't limit carry space.
However, if I expect OTHER people to use the crop scripts I'm making for more typical farming games, I suppose I should include an option for a more appropriate menu system with the kit, and at least point them in the direction of a day/night system, I know there's already some out there in script land. And, also, yes, I'm going to be needing a storage box, preferably a series of magically connected storage boxes. (note to self: always spend more time in the "outline" phase of game design).
My game isn't really going to be a "farming simulator" per se, more like a regular RPG that "just so happens" to include farming. With the focus more on large scale exploring/adventuring and less on "time management puzzle solving," it may not even have the ubiquitous timer for day/night, and it definitely won't limit carry space.
However, if I expect OTHER people to use the crop scripts I'm making for more typical farming games, I suppose I should include an option for a more appropriate menu system with the kit, and at least point them in the direction of a day/night system, I know there's already some out there in script land. And, also, yes, I'm going to be needing a storage box, preferably a series of magically connected storage boxes. (note to self: always spend more time in the "outline" phase of game design).
Pages:
1
