Summons on a sideview battle system? General advise needed.

Started by littletomdj, April 12, 2012, 11:11:37 am

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littletomdj

Hi,

I've been working with RMXP for a while now & it's going well. But I've got to that point where I'm importing scripts & really trying to make the game my own... So... On to the topic.

I'm trying to make FF7 style summons. (not playable summons like FFX, just big moves).

I can do animations no problem & have already created a fairly sexy looking summon using that method.

What I really want to do is cut away from the battle scene though. Show an animation & return to the battle & display some sort of huge explosion or whatever.

I've seen a couple of scripts that allow for AVI  & flash animations to be played in RMXP. I've not managed to get them to work yet though & they've been described as "buggy" by the uploaders. There's a few queries I have about this. I think I best bullet point them.

* I don't really wan't to use big AVI files, the animations I wan't to use are fairly simple.
* Am I going to get problems calling a script during a move?
* I can create gifs in GIMP no probs, is there any recommend software for converting into .fla format?
* Is there a "go to" script for this. I'm sure it can't be an uncommon request.
* What should I look out for, file size? format? bit-rate? audio? What are the optimal compatible settings?

I'm no good with video, so if somebody has done this before what should I look out for?

Just to reiterate, the goal is to cast a spell, cut away from the scene & play an animation then return to the battle and continue the fight.
 
I bet there's a few different methods, I'm looking for the simplist.

Thanks so much,




ShadowPierce

Although not all of its features are usable, you might want to try Blizzard's Chaos-Rage-Limit System... It's extremely compatible with a lot of scripts and can be easily configured to do just what you asked... :3

http://forum.chaos-project.com/index.php/topic,110.0.html

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Quote from: Blizzard on February 16, 2011, 03:44:48 pmThere you go. It's the proof that SDK is crap. It's incompatible with itself.
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littletomdj

Thanks ShadowPierce but, I'm sorry this doesn't SEEM to be what I'm after at all.  :???:

Am I just being stupid & missing something?

This seems to be a quite advanced limit breaker system that allows you to summon monsters which become playable characters.

All I'm trying to do is create a sort of 'cut scene' when I cast certain spells. It's probably best NOT to think of these as "summons" at all.

I saw a guy on Youtube who's managed to accomplish it although he's using VX.

link here (to demonstate).


I doubt the following is particularly relevant but I'm using;
Paradog's ATB 2.61 and Animated battlers - Enhanced 13.7
&
Charlie Fleeds Skills Learning System 2.3
(I think I'm  going to get some compatibility issues whether the Chaos-Rage-Limit System works or not.)





ShadowPierce

Or, you could just use this: http://forum.chaos-project.com/index.php/topic,2992.0.html

Not sure about the compatibility, though... But I don't think it should mess it up that much... :D

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Quote from: Blizzard on February 16, 2011, 03:44:48 pmThere you go. It's the proof that SDK is crap. It's incompatible with itself.
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littletomdj

 :haha:Haha.. I think we're having a major communication breakdown here.

I'm not after an overdrive or limit breaker system at all. I'm not even after any sort of summon system really.
I'm just after a way of implementing a "cutscene" in battle when you cast a spell.

Thanks all the same for the effort. :)

ShadowPierce

Ohhhh, dammit I knew I was misunderstanding something... :xD: I just didn't bother watching the video... :P

Well, if you only want a simple cutscene, you can just easily use common events... Using the same picture number over & over with the Show Picture function, you can create a "pseudo" animated gif image... :3

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Quote from: Blizzard on February 16, 2011, 03:44:48 pmThere you go. It's the proof that SDK is crap. It's incompatible with itself.
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Calintz

what you need is a summon animation file. you don't need anything to be event-ed...you don't need anything to be scripted. what you need is a file containing your summon's animation, upload it into the animations folder in the RTP, and you need to put the animation together in the database and set it for use with the skill that summons the monster.

you can't have a "real" cut scene in a battle. you're not on the map, so events are pretty irrelevant. the simple way to do it is to use an animation file, or call a common event within an event process in the troops section of the database. if you take this route, have it check whether the player has cast-ed the summon skill.

littletomdj

Yes, these last too methods are much closer to the method I was thinking of employing.

Calintz suggestion is exactly the way I made my last summon. Although I can't use that method because I can't seem to make animations fully opaque (thus it doesn't look as though I'm cutting away from the scene). I've got the frames of the animation set to Opacity 255 & Normal blending yet the battle scene still shows through. I'm not sure why... I think there's some z-axis settings built into the sideview script I'm using... Headache.  :O.o:

I reckon I'll go with a combination of both of your suggestions. I don't think I'll get the same problem displaying a series of pictures as ShadowPierce suggested.

Neither of you have even entertained the idea of an AVI cutscene (or flash anim,mpg or whatever). I have seen scripts for it though. Are you just unaware of them or do you think they're overly buggy and odd to waste time with? tbh I wasn;t much looking forward to another script migrane anyway.

Well, thanks for the ideas. I'll send you both links to a vid of the finished summon in all it's glory once it's complete (whichever way I do it). That way you can get to feel like proud dads!  :haha:

Thanks again!

ShadowPierce

April 13, 2012, 09:09:55 am #8 Last Edit: April 13, 2012, 09:11:09 am by ShadowPierce
Does that mean I just made love to Calintz? :V:

Anyway, glad I was finally of help... :^_^':
Also, I don't recommend those scripts, they're insanely buggy and can cause your game to slow almost to a stop... Trust me on that one... :P

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Quote from: Blizzard on February 16, 2011, 03:44:48 pmThere you go. It's the proof that SDK is crap. It's incompatible with itself.
3DS Friend Code: ShowHide
1161-0627-9890

littletomdj

"they're insanely buggy and can cause your game to slow almost to a stop"

I thought as much. The authors themselves seem dubious & attatch warnings to the scripts.

"Does that mean I just made love to Calintz?"

Indeed it does, it was a beautiful thing!  :naughty:

Calintz

@shadowpierce:
do not deny that i am the best sex you've ever had. i'm a scorpio baby boy!

@littletomdj:
i use rmvx, which has a built in "play movie" function, though i'll never use it, simply because i don't think playing a movie in the middle of an rm game will blend well. seems pointless to me.

littletomdj

So, I think we can officially close this topic.
I just wanted to share a few last words.

Over the past two days I've been working on this summon animation non stop.

I was really dubious about importing 45 pictures to do a 'psuedo animation' but as it turns out, it looks great.
I used Synfig studio which crashed every five mins (I've never used it before and I suggest you don't try it) but, I got there in the end. I've had to do a couple of work arounds to get this to work too.

I really want to share the finished product. This gives me the excuse to find some movie capture software and upload some junk on Youtube. I'm at that point now that I can kinda start to help others out. I've got one or two bits to share already. It's just a matter of time.

 




Calintz

if you do decide to share, make sure to post the link so we can see.