Heretic’s Caterpillar System

After Nicole mentioned it and I started digging a little deeper, I tried doing a couple of things with saves. One of the things that the script isnt supposed to do is limit anyone. So I had to rethink how to allow the "save anywhere" feature of the engine. One of the other bugs I came across was hitting F12 then reloading caused the caterpillar to stop following the player. Still working on that. But she was right. Exiting, then reloading from a non event called save would mess things up. A bunch of things were uninitialized so it was causing crashes.

I'll continue working and see if I can figure out whats wrong with the cat not following the player on an F12 reset / reload.

Try it now. Had to resave it in notepad to pull out funky formatting. I didnt update the notes or version number on there, but it is slightly newer code that should fix all the issues you had with saving.

Ok. Not sure if it is a script conflict. I hope like hell it isnt. I updated the demo and fixed two more bugs that werent included in the text version. Did you grab that version from the demo?

Nicole, I believe you have some sort of great difficulty in communicating with people. This appears to be the result of a lack of awareness that what is being said may not be clearly understood by others. "Judge: Did you or did you not commit the crime? Defendant: Yes. Judge: So does that mean Yes you did commit the crime, or Yes you did not commit the crime, which is it? Defendant: Yes. That one." The short lazy answers are very ambigious. They can be interpreted multiple different ways. Thus, the person listening to your response may not have understood your statement or question in such a way that doesnt leave it wide open to a complete and total misunderstanding. Although you may believe that your questions and answers make perfect sense to you, you have to understand that they are not perfectly clear to others, thus leading to misinterpretation, which can be a source of conflict.

The "last" one and most up to date one is in the Demo. However, as I said, your statements are quite ambiguous, and do not clearly express the information you are trying to convey. I had TWO versions. The first one was embedded in the Spoiler tags on the Website, but that didnt fix an issue with Empty Party, so it was again revised. It was also rather difficult to try to copy and paste from the website, and became out of date when it was again updated to fix crashing due to an Empty Party. As a result, it was removed from that post and updated to the Demo. This was done because many people may not read this far into the thread.

Now, I hope that I am not coming across as treating you unfairly. I am not trying to. I am trying to help you as best as I can. But I need questions and answers that there is no possible way I can misunderstand. So allow me to explain clearly what I would like. I would like you to answer with one of the following statements. Either say "I am using the version from the Demo that I just downloaded again. Version 1.96-BUGFIX" or "I am using the version that was in Post #40 of this thread, which was embedded with the Spoiler button on this webpage." Please reply using either of the aforementioned statements. So please clearly answer, which version are you using?

There is an option called REMOVE_VISIBLE_ACTORS, but it is a constant. That was something left over from the original script. If you need me to, I can change that so it can be a switch variable, like the Pause switch. It should be fairly easy to do. Like 5 minutes. Do you want me to change that into a Variable for you?

Right now, it is a Constant. That means basically you cant change it during gameplay. What it means appears to do exactly what youre requesting. When youre on an overworld map and change party members, it erases any events that you just kicked out. If you need to readd them later, you can unerase events, which the script is already set up to do automatically. The way it would currently work is any time a party member leaves your party, they'd get erased, but it would happen everywhere in your game. Hence the need to make it a variable for you…

Edit:

In regards to the request:

#1 Auto Create Events. It also causes more limitations than it opens up. If the event is auto generated, you wouldnt be able to do a cutscene that involved those events on the map, since the event editor only allows you to target events that have been created. I understand how many could see this as useful, but you'd have to understand how it can be limiting at the same time. Besides, its also a little over my head at this point. Im far from a great scripter

#2 I think it already exists, but it has to be explained a bit how to get access. You'd have to start getting into scripting a bit to understand how to get access to them. For example, what you'd want to check for would be something like $game_system.caterpillar.actors[0] to reference the 2nd party member. The whole system is based on Arrays, and Arrays always start "naturally" at 0 instead of 1. Did you have something specific in mind?

Sorry about the delay. Mother's Day. You know how that goes. Like a Fart in Church, and I dont even go to church!

Anyway, was looking into making that thing a variable and saw I completely forgot about this!

[code]
#—————————————————————————-
# * Check if visible actors should be removed
#—————————————————————————-
def remove_visible_actors?
if REMOVE_VISIBLE_ACTORS.is_a?(Integer)
return $game_switches[REMOVE_VISIBLE_ACTORS]
else
return REMOVE_VISIBLE_ACTORS
end
end[/code]

So it looks like if you wanted to assign that to a Switch, just change FALSE to the SWITCH NUMBER you want to use! Easy peesy! Its things like that which do impress me about the original script, albeit cryptic as all hell and not going to find it just from reading the original comments.

[b]Version 1.98 Released![/b]

This version contains my long promised [b]Alternate Character Sprites[/b]!
– Dead Actors will now change into a Specified Sprite for Each Character

What this allows for is unique graphics for each and every one of your Characters in the game! Now, I'm not much of a Spriter myself, but someone with talent at making sprites could make some really creative stuff! Maybe you want your Lead Actor to have a Halo and Angel Wings, but another character to have Devil Horns and a Red Cape! Totally possible now!

Also included is [b]Non Party Followers[/b]!
– NPC's that follow the Player around but are not actually a part of the Party.

This allows for things like "Escort Quests". I also set this up so you could have more than one Non Party Follower at the same time. Actually, I didn't put ANY limits on how many Non Party Followers you could have so you could actually have a Caterpillar that goes right off the edge of the screen! This was done because I dont think it is my call to impose artifical limitations on people that may decide to use this script. If there are going to be any limits, those limits on how many Non Party Followers should be implemented by the person that makes their game.

Also heavily updated and modified [b]Multiple Message Windows[/b]!

– You can now show a New Window at any time using \*

– Introduced Auto Orienting Text Options: \$ and \% will try to automatically position Message Windows based on the Speaker's Direction

– MMW included a feature that allowed you to move around while a Message was displaying. It also included a feature that would close those message windows if the Speaking NPC moved off the screen. However, this caused some problems in that those Events would not pick up their Move Routes if it was a Repeating Move Route. That has been fixed. Basically, it allows for more "Chrono Trigger" style conversations where you can "Walk Away" from a conversation if you get bored with it instead of speed clicking through all of the text.

– Included some features to Automatically Pause on specific characters. Namely commas, exclamation points, periods, and question marks. They just put in a brief delay in an effort to make the way the text appears in the window as if it were a person speaking it.

– Included more features that I call "Foot Forward". It allows Actors to show a bit more animation rather than just standing there with their proverbial thumbs in their asses. It actually allows for more than that. If you set a Move Route to an Actor and have them move around, and use the "wait" command in the Move Route, the Actor will have a "Foot Forward" stance that will stay there until the Move Route has completed. "Foot Forward" allows for a quick reset of that pose without jumping into and out of Set Move Route

– MMW also used to have a nasty bug that prevented Choice Windows from functioning correctly when more than one Window was present on the screen. That has been fixed.

—-

Demo has been heavily expanded yet again in order to try to teach you about the new features, and provide examples of how to use those features. The demo also contains a ton of General Information on common criticisms that I have about so many peoples games. There is a Cutscene in the Demo where I build a Cutscene from scratch and evolve it into something that actually comes across as fairly decent. I have a heavy background in Film Making and Broadcast Entertainment, so you should know I have a good idea of what I am talking about. A lot of the information that I put into the Demo is stuff that come from the Pros. And I mean the Real Pros.

—

I also have a feeling that this version might be my Last Version. Honestly, I cant see anything else that I can possibly do with this Script. I've implemented every possible feature I could think of. I believe I have eliminated every bug in it, and there were some nasty ones in previous releases. I feel like this script is finished. And it has taken me quite a while and honestly, I couldnt count the number of hours I've pumped into making this thing shine as best as I could. I know that there are so many features, that you'll probably never have a use for all of them. But that isnt the point. The point was to make them available to you in case you need them instead of you needing them and not having them. Also, it isnt just about showing off a Script. Its about making YOUR game shine. And having that game be different from someone elses game, even if it uses the Same Script. So you dont have to use ALL of the features if you dont like them, but hopefully, there are enough to suit your needs. I'd probably call this Version 2.0 finally, but Im going to leave the last two slots of 1.99 and 2.0 open for Bug Fixes and Feature Requests, just in case there are any out there.

Let me know what you think! Either Feature Requests or if you find any Bugs, please post and let me know!

I dont believe people respond at all to facial expression portraits (pictures), regardless of how well placed they are. The problem being that once a person has observed that a picture is shown, they dont look at it again, regardless of positioning or changes in the facial expression. Nine times out of ten they go unobserved, thus, they fail to communicate the emotion of the scene. But I didnt write the script to exclude developers that want to use use pictures, just merely point out that using pictures too often is used as a "Crutch" to the point where developers wont put in a single bit of animation and rely solely on those facial expressions to convey the mood of a scene. That is when people start just spamming enter to get through the dialogue. If anyone prefers a picture solution, thats fine, its not my call. Im just saying that when developers are using the pictures as a Crutch, it comes across as excessively obvious, which makes the game come across as bad, which turns back and reflects on the person that developed the game.

Here's why. Our eyes are in the front of our heads and we eat meat. We are predators by nature. Our brains are hard wired to respond to any sort of movement, be that movement a sprite in a game, or response to a predator / prey situation. The human brain responds and interpretes even the most subtle shift in the position more quickly than it does changes in color or flash changes (changes in pictures) by orders of magnitude recognized by the multitude of tests of neuro-cognative response based tests. If the facial expression portrait could render the movement of a smirk or show the transition from not smiling to a full grin, then the face would be able to display the motion and then it would be a more effective tool. But as it stands, the pictures are static, and unfortunately, pictures still are far too heavily relied upon over any form of animation. It was the entire point of that cutscene in the demo. To allow you to observe for yourself that without movement, the characters feel lifeless.

One of the things I pointed out in the demo was that I'm not a spriter. So the script for the Alternate Spries functions as expected, the sprites I used were absolute crap. A spriter with real talet could do amazing things with it hopefully. However Sprites I do believe is where its at. The "foot forward" animation was limited because our sprite sheets show only 16 poses, and 4 of them are duplicates. What I think would truly help the quality of everyones game was if someone with more talent than I were to create a Sprite Generator that not only created our default sprite sheets for the walking animations, but other animations as well such as shaking their heads yes or no, shoulder slumps, arms up for victory, doing things with their hands, etc. But due to the excessive work that is involved in such a project, I can understand why such a Generator has never been built.

In regards to pictures, since I didnt try to impose any limits, lets just call it a matter of opinion and agree to disagree.

I'll see what I can do about using a different frame of animation. That is a good idea. Shouldnt be too difficult to implement as two of the frames show a standing animation. You'll probably see it up relatively shortly. IE, not two months.

Version 1.99 Released

Minor update. Ladder Effects were not disabling properly when the player was transferred from a Ladder to a Non Ladder. Fixed

—

I've been doing a lot of work on the Multiple Message Windows script that is bundled with the Caterpillar. When I first got to see Zeriab's caterpillar, it was already bundled with the MMW script, so I decided to just leave it that way and improve what I can.

Current MMW Change List

– MMW can now play SOUNDS while a character is speaking! Think Banjo Kazooie! Sounds are all customizable. The DEMO was updated to include a new map to show off this feature. So be advised that only ONE MAP in the DEMO will provide examples of sound. This is kind of a work in progress, but it is stable and functional enough to release.

– Choice Windows function correctly when two messages are being displayed

– Choice Windows can also Default to the 2nd or 3rd or 4th items in the List

– Message Windows can now go completely off the screen. Older versions of the MMW script would automatically "Flip" the Message Window if it went off the screen. This is OPTIONAL and can be turned on and off.

– Message Windows can now "Flip" when a Speaking Character turns. This allows for better visibility for your Players so that the text that is on the screen does not prevent the player from seeing what they want to see.

– Message Windows can be "Sticky". When a message "Flips", it will "Flip" to the Top or Bottom.
Sticky means that the following messages "Stick" to that location. Top or Bottom was implemented to maintain the visibility of the message itself. Since messages can also be allowed to go Off Screen, messages that appeared to the Left or Right were not always fully visible to the player which prevents players from being able to read them. You'll have to position your NPC's and / or set up your scripts accordingly to make sure that the player can read them.

– Gold Window positions can now be specified. I had some trouble with the Automatic Positioning of the Gold Window interfering with Message Windows, so I thought providing more specific control would be a nice feature that everyone should have.

– Maximum Distances from Speaking NPC's can be imposed. Windows used to close automatically if the speaking NPC was moved off the screen. I thought that to be a bit too far. This allows Players to walk away from a Speaking NPC and have that message window close at a much shorter distance. This is very useful for Optional Dialogue that a Player may not be interested in seeing. message.move_during needs to be true in order for this feature to work.

– Maximum Distance for Non Floating Windows can be imposed. A "Non Floating Window" means it isnt a Message Bubble. For example, a Sign. A Sign could display a message in a Non Floating window. This feature allows a Player to move away from that sign and for that Non Floating Window to be closed automatically.

– Maximum Distance will Save your Settings in the event of an Automated Closure. This should save you extra work from trying to set up messages for each and every NPC. If a message window was closed automatically because a player walked away, those settings are restored. It is a little tough to explain. Say a Player reads a Sign (non floating window), then walks away and talks to an NPC. The Sign would need message.floating = false to display in the Default Window, but when they walk over to talk to the NPC, you dont need to put in message.floating = true for that message window.

– NPCs and Move Routes now continue properly if interrupted. If you trigger a conversation with an NPC, then move away prematurely, if the NPC was moving around, they will continue moving correctly instead of starting their move route anew, which would have caused NPC's to end up in unwanted positions.

— Other New MMW Features — (from previously released Caterpillar Revisions)

– Auto Comma Pause – This feature will automatically insert pauses based on punctuation, assuming proper punctuation is used. It was implemented with the intent of making the text appear in the way that a person would speak, by pausing after commas and at the end of sentences.

– Number Window Input Cancellation – RMXP allows developers to cancel choice windows, but nothing was implemented for cancelling a Number window. You can now allow your Players to cancel their Number Input Windows, and you can Detect if a Number Input Window was cancelled, making its functionality similar to the Cancel Branch Condition.

– MMW stands for Multiple Message Windows. The focus being on "Multiple" because Multiple Messaegs can be displayed. In previous versions, displaying Multiple Windows simultaneously required that the next messages be tagged with \+ at the start of the text, but, would only fire up both windows at the same time. I made a change so you can use \* to display the next message at ANY time, once those two characters are processed. This means you can have a message start to display some text, then display another window half way through. It eliminates the artificial requirement to display more than one message at the exact same time.

– Auto Window Positioning with \$ and \% – In previous versions, you could reposition a window to be on Top (Default), Left, Right, or Down from the Speaking NPC by using \^, \<, \>, and \v respectively. I found that it was more useful to Auto Position the windows based on the Speakers Direction. The \$ option will place the message window on Top of the Speaking NPC unless the Speaking NPC is facing UP, in which case, the message window will appear on the Bottom. The \% position will place the Message Window BEHIND the Speaking NPC. Thus, if the Speaking NPC is facing Left, it will position the Message Bubble to the Right of that NPC. I found this to be incredibly useful if you did not know what direction the Speaking NPC was facing. It prevents covering the Speaking NPC's and / or obstructing the Players view. Basically, it provides a greater range of Freedom to the Player to move around while NPC's are speaking.

– Caterpillar Positioning – Requires both the Caterpillar and my revision of Wachungas MMW Script. In order to cause a speech bubble to appear for another NPC or Player, \P[Event_Id] is used. \P[0] is used to make the Player speak. But to make a speech bubble for an NPC, \P[24] would be used, provided, of course the Event ID of that event is 24. The Caterpillar Positioning allows your party to be more dynamic. If you wanted your first Caterpillar Actor to say something, you would use \P[C2], C standing for Caterpillar. The Caterpillar is heavily event based, and each Cat Actor uses a different event, thus, in a more dynamic game, the Event ID of your 2nd Party Member may be very different, which makes eventing dialogue difficult. This is intended to make it much easier for you. Instead of using Conditional Branches, you just need to add one more letter to the dialogue.

— Future Versions —

At some point in the future, I still intend on removing the SDK dependancy. I also intend on at least attempting to make the Bubbles translucent, but because of the Message Tail, it doesnt look right. If I can figure out how to do that, MMW will probably get another release. There are a few other versions of MMW out there that at some point I want to tie together. One did get rid of the SDK dependancy, another is compatible with BlizzABS, which required some further tweaking, but has some features I havent built into this rewrite. I do hope to tie as many of these together, but these are things on my to do list and much further down the road. For now, I think this version should keep everyone happy.

That Auto Font Install script has always given me problems. If there were another way around it, such as being able to have a Game Folder, with a Fonts Sub Folder and just put any non system fonts in that, it would be much easier.

If you do remove the Auto Font Installer, you'll probably want to also change the Font in the Msg System as well. Its one of the options there so you can use what ever font you want. Comic Sans seems to work pretty well so just change:

" SPEECH_FONT_NAME = "Komika Slim","Comic Sans MS"

to just

SPEECH_FONT_NAME = "Comic Sans MS"

Having the two listed here sets Comic Sans MS as a fallback font if the first font doesnt exist. You'll also wanna change this line as well.

THOUGHT_FONT_NAME = "Komika Slick","Comic Sans MS"