HOW TO MAKE SLIDING BOOKCASES, PILLARS, ETC.

Tutorial to make items for sliding, puzzles.

  • dnel57
  • 03/14/2022 02:14 AM
  • 2333 views
This is a tutorial to show how you can use two tile high items that you can push to reveal hidden passageways, doors, etc. You can also create items like pillars, statues, etc. for sliding onto switches for puzzles.

First, ( if you don't have it) go to https://www.gimp.org/ When the page opens, click the red download button.
Choose Download Directly. May take a couple minutes to download. When done, check your Download folder and double click Gimp Setup. Click For all or For only you. Choose your language. Click Install. Takes a few minutes. When done, click Finish.
There should be an icon in your tray.

The next step is to go to your game editor page. Click Tools then, System Resources. When that opens, click Graphics/Tilesets.



You can use Preview to make sure it is the Tileset you want to use. For this tutorial, Use Inside_B as that is the one that contains Bookcases.
Click on Export and export it to your Pictures or Document folder[/b.
Now, open Gimp. It will look like this.


At the top left corner, click File. From the dropdown, click New
When that page opens, change the Height and Width both to 512. Make sure it says Pixels{px}
as this is the size of the Tileset that you will be using.
Then click on Advanced Options. Click on Fill with and select Transparency from the dropdown.


Then click OK.
You will then, see this:


The checkerboard is the representation of the transparent background and it is the Canvas.
As well as the top of the page having File, Edit, Image, etc., you can also get to all of those by right clicking the canvas.


There are a few things to do from the View section:
First go to View= Zoom. Slide your cursor over and select
4:1 400%
Next, go to View= Show Grid which will show the 32x32 squares that the images are made from.
Then go to View= Snap to Grid. Now find your Inside_B image and drag it to the Canvas. You probably will have to shrink your page so that you can access your image and the Gimp page.
If you get a window about color, click Keep at the bottom of the page.
Then you will have this:


Right click the Canvas again and click Image=Configure Grid
Make sure that the Horizontal and Vertical Spacings are both 32 Pixels[/b]. Click OK.
Use only the grey slide bars to move the tileset around to find the image you want to use In this case, Bookcase. . Otherwise, it will mess up the gridlines.
Right click the Canvas. Choose Tools= Transform Tools= Crop.Then, choose the image you want to copy taking extreme care to use the gridlines to outline the image. Once you have outlined it, hit your Enter button. You will have this:



Now, right click your Canvas File=Export
At the top of the page, give it a name like Bookcase.png
At the bottom, click Select File Type. Select PNG from the drop down. I think it is PNG anyway,but, I do this step to be sure. Now click Export. Another window will open. Just click Export again.
By default you will find the image in your Documents file. I move it to Pictures but, that's up to you.
That is the end of the first Gimp process.
Now, find your exported file.


Right click on it and select Rename. Add !$ before the name.


Now back to Gimp
As in the fist part of this tutorial, Open Gimp File=New. This time set the sizes to 96x256px
View=Zoom=4:1 400%
View= Show Grid
View= Snap to grid. This time, use your isolated !$Bookcase file.



Once you have it, Tools=Move Slide the grey bar at the bottom all the way to the left. Now slide the grey bar on the right all the way to the top.
Now, you carefully line the image up into the top left 2 grids. ( my preference)
You should see that it will seem to lock into the frames.





Once again, Right click your Canvas File=Export
At the top of the page, give it a different name. I gave mine the name Bookcase Block to distinguish it from the single pic.
At the bottom, click Select File Type. Select PNG from the drop down. Now click Export.
Another window will open. Just click Export again.
Change the name of this file by adding !$ to the name



Now, you can import this file into your System Resources=Characters (not tileset)
As long as the grids were lined up properly you should be able to put the bookcase image into an event, give it a Move Route=Move away from Player and be able to push it any where you like.
Make an Event on the page where you want the bookcase.



The Event should be Same as Characters/Direction Fix/Action Button

Double click the Graphic box and find your !$Bookcase Block image.


Double click the Bookcase image. It will appear in the Graphic box.



Give it a Move Route=Move away from Player by
Double clicking on the @ at the top of the right side of the page.
Go to Tab 2
Click Set Move Route



Click Move Away from Player
Click Skip if cannot move.
Wait for completion is optional. When selected you cannot move your character while the bookcase is sliding.
When it is not selected, you can walk behind it when it is moving.

When setting your move route, be sure to check that This Event is selected. Otherwise, it usually will default to Player.


You will only see half of the image when you place it on your map.

You will see the entire image on playtest.



You can now use this same process for other images like pillars, statues and others for puzzles.
You can add other items to your block. Up to 12

and just choose the one you want.

I hope this helps those who have wanted to do this in their games.

Comments good or bad always appreciated. Good Gaming to all!

Posts

Pages: 1
author=OzzyTheOne
I already know how to do this, but I just wanted to comment that I think this kind of tutorial is very helpful and beginner Ozzy would've loved to know this when he first started playing around with RPG Maker.

My only bit of feedback would be to explain why you are using "!$" in the file name and why the file needs to be 96x256px in size. Keep up the great work!

Thank you Ozzy The One. I will address the explantation for the !$ Thanks again:)
OzzyTheOne
Future Ruler of Gam Mak
4676
I already know how to do this, but I just wanted to comment that I think this kind of tutorial is very helpful and beginner Ozzy would've loved to know this when he first started playing around with RPG Maker.

My only bit of feedback would be to explain why you are using "!$" in the file name and why the file needs to be 96x256px in size. Keep up the great work!
Pages: 1