UNKA JOSH'S PROFILE

Well, I guess you could use the following, rather clunky, way of doing it:

Create the text you want in a graphics program. Import it as a picture.

Create a parallel processing event that displays the picture, waits a certain number of frames, and then erases it, triggered by a switch.

Now, when you want the text to appear, trigger the switch. (Because it's parallel processing, don't forget to turn the switch off when you're done, of course.)

To allow for a button push to erase the image early, you need another event, with a conditional trigger that would erase the picture and reset the switch when, say, a button is pushed.

This will work fine if, say, you want the words "IRON, COLD IRON IS LORD OF THEM ALL" to appear dramatically on the screen and fade.

If you wanted to do this for every box of dialog in a game... well, I'd go insane. But perhaps my games are a bit talky.

Surely someone who can script in Ruby could do better than I, of course.

For the fourth question, well... I use a trick that isn't simple or easy, but does work.

(As the following will make clear, my Ruby-Fu is weak to the point of nonexistent. This may change someday, but in the meantime...)

First, I create a pic for that face image, by trimming down the battler image of the character. (I totally lack skills in the visual arts. If you can get better art, go for it!) Import the image as a picture.

Next, I create a common event for each character that I'm doing this for, that will display the image, say, right above where the message text would be.

Another common event will erase pictures displayed on the screen.

Now, whenever that character has dialog, I call the event that makes the picture appear before the 'Show Text' command, and call the erase event afterwards, so the image only appears while the player is reading the text.

It's clunky, but it works.

Now, if you want to do different reaction takes, I can think of two ways to do this:

1) Have artistic skills, and import pics of different facial expressions. This would be totally cool, and is beyond my ability. So I go with option...

2) If I want a character to, say, do a sweatdrop to show nervousness, I'll import an appropriate picture, scaled to the portrait size. I'll then create a common event which displays it over the place where the portrait would go, and then moves it slowly down, perhaps with a sound effect. This principal can be used to create a variety of emotional cues.

I still think that having art skills and using different actual facial expressions would be better, but hey, I work with what I've got...

If someone knows a better way, please let me know, as I am a rank amateur fumbling my way through game design on my own...

In what system?

I'm afraid I'm only at all familiar with RPGMXP, where it'd be a little tricky... well, I guess you could call a common event from the skill, and have the common event have a conditional branch, and show animation and inflict damage on all enemies if the button is pressed. I haven't tried this, though, so I'm not sure how it would work.

(If someone does, please let me know how it would work...)