[XP] help with boss idea

[Dark_Kyu09]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I need to ask. How do you make this boss fight work in the RPG Maker XP's default turn-based battle system?

You see, in one of my project, there will be a boss fight that involves a villain holding a girl hostage.

The boss fight will have the party to fight the villain (armed with a weapon, of course) who also hold the bound girl as his shield. The player must be careful not to attack the hostage constantly, as it spells Game Over if the hostage gets killed.

There are hints, fortunately. If the villain doesn't taunt you, he let himself wide open for the attack. However, if he makes hints that he'll use the girl as a shield (for example, when he shouts, "Come and get me, you little runt!"), the player must NOT attack the villain or risk getting the hostage hurt.

Can this idea work at all? How do you make it work?

[Heretic86]

It doesnt sound too difficult.

In the Enemies Tab, create two characters.  One for the Boss, and one for the Hostage.

In the Troops Tab, first add the Hostage.  This makes the Enemy Select target the Hostage first.  Then add the Boss.

Since your Hostage is supposed to still be alive at the end of battle, you wont need extra scripts or coding to create an Event for the Battle.  In your Troops Tab, set a Condition to Enemy's HP is 0% or below and the Span to Battle.  Then in the list of Event Commands on the Troops Tab, set "Force Action...", set Battler -> Enemy #1 (the Hostage), Action -> Basic to "Escape", and Timing to "Execute Now".  As soon as the Hostage Escapes, the Battle is over.  The party will get Exp and Items.

Creating an Event for killing the Hostage is similar.  Troops Tab, create a New Event Page, condition to Hostage HP = 0% or below, Span = Battle.  Then set Game Over or how ever you want to "Punish" the player for killing the Hostage as an Event.

Enter dialogue as needed before calling the Final Event Commands of Escape or Game over.

[Dark_Kyu09]

Thanks, it really works.

But I need to ask, I still need ask about this. Like I said, he makes hints that he'll use the girl as a shield.

For example, during the third turn, the boss would say something like "Go ahead and attack." In the next turn, the players are prompted not to attack the boss (either by selecting 'defend' or use healing items) because if they do, not only the boss gets damaged, but the hostage will get damaged too (let's say -150 damage). The only way to avoid this is to defend, not to attack the boss at all. Can this be accomplished?

[Heretic86]

I think it can.  Good news is you might even be able to get away with it without using a Script.

Bad news is that you're probably going to have to start learning how to script to pull it off.  Luckily, scripting is no where nearly as difficult as you might think.  Aside from scripts, what I think might work would be to use a Switch to activate a Common Event when the Boss goes into his "Hostage" mode, and use your Common Event to watch for changes in the Boss' HP, and if they drop, then deal damage to the Hostage AND make sure to update the stored variable containing the Boss' HP. 

The problem I see is that in the default battle engine, the Enemies dont really move around at all, so you'll need to learn how to script to make them move.  Things like $game_troop.enemies[0].x / y (which is your Boss), or to swap positions so that the Hostage is targetted by the player first.  The player needs to clearly and visually understand that the Boss is using his Hostage as a Shield.

It is possible, but expect this to be both a very hard challenge, and an opportunity to learn.  Even some of the most experienced people on this forum might have a hard time putting together a battle scene that can accomplish what you want.