Setting Up A Time System (Method 1)

This is the first way in which you can set up a simple time system, it is quicker than the latter but has less flexibility on specific times of day. If you are simply after an event that can turn your game from night to day then this is for you, if you want an event that can run hourly time with the ability to implement switches at virtually any time of the day, then click here.

Setting up your very own time system using events is incredibly simple and this tutorial is going to be very short. More importantly, I will then go onto explain the various things you can do to make your time system more relevant.

Step 1: Decide how long you want a day to last.

This tutorial assumes that you are going to use a simple 24 hour, 7 day system. I'm currently not implementing seasons because that makes things a little more complicated and for another important reason. Check out the very bottom of this tutorial to see why. So I've decided to take a leaf out of The Sim's book and consider a minute to be a second and therefore...an hour to be a minute. More importantly, this means that for every 24 minutes...we have a day. Now that we know how long our day is going to last, it's time for step 2.

Step 2: Break up your day

Throughout the day, we see certain changes. Sunrise to morning, morning to noon, noon to afternoon, afternoon to dusk and dusk to night. The cycle repeats but you need to consider when all of these events happen. The best thing to do (if you want it to be realistic) is to wait until tomorrow...note down what time the sun comes up (roughly), what time is starts to heat up, what time it starts to cool in the afternoon and what time the sun sets. This can be to the closest 15 minutes or to the hour, it's really up to you. I'm going to say that the sun rises at 4am, it starts to get warmer at 11am, it starts to cool at 3pm and gets dark at 8pm. Now for the difficult bit...calculating the conversion from the normal day to your game's system time.

I'm assuming that every day is made up of 24 minutes, each hour is a minute.

4am is 4 hours into the day...therefore it takes 4 minutes.

11am is 11 hours into the day...therefore it takes 11 minutes. I'm not going to repeat this because you should get the point by now.

You'll also need a good idea of the start time of your game...when does the game actually become playable?

This isn't really all that difficult but it would make sense to get these numbers down on paper. Now that you've done the number crunching...it's time to produce the script that's going to run this. If you've read my 'Weather System Tutorial then you'll know much of what I'm about to explain. Much like this other system, my time system revolves around a combination of checker and changer common events. One to watch the clock as it counts down and another to react to this change and restart a new clock. You'll see what I mean shortly.

Step 1:

The first thing you'll need to do is set up a common event. I have named mine 'First Day.' This event is simple in design and purpose. Essentially, this is the initial place-holder event, the commands that tell the game roughly what time it is that you will be starting, assuming of course that you are not starting at the beginning of a brand new phase. For example, I am starting my game at 10am...because 10am sits in-between the morning and noon phase, I have to create a new common event to handle the time difference. The event commands are as follows.

As you can see, the event is a simple parallel with the condition switch 'Time Start.' The timer begins with a countdown of 1 minute. Why 1 minute? Well if my game is starting at 10am, we must assume that it is in the morning phase because with 1 hour to go until the noon phase (which starts at 11am). Each minute represents an hour in game, therefore I need a minute countdown. Once this has been initiated, my event is no longer needed so I turn off Time Start and turn on Noon Check. Like I said previously, we've created an event to start the counter, now we need one to check the counter until it reaches zero, our checker event. Since the next phase will be noon, we're using the Noon Checker event.

Step 2: We now need to create our Noon Checker event...a very simple task. The event will be set up with a parallel Trigger and this time, a condition switch of 'Noon Check' (the switch we just turned on).

As you can see, this checker event is designed to look out for when the timer hits zero and, therefore we have placed a conditional branch with the condition of a timer of 0 mins, 0 seconds or less. When this condition is satisfied (time has ran out) the Noon Check switch turns off (because we will no longer be using this checker until the noon of the next day) and 'Noon Change' comes on. 'Noon Change' is the switch we require to turn on the next event, Noon Changer which will be in charge of, as I have said, restarting the timer and of course, changing the game to noon, whatever change you may wish to implement. 

Step 3: Our final event, the Noon Changer is built in a similar way to our previous 'First Day' event and is simply designed to restart the clock and set the switches around again and change the time of day in whatever way you wish. It looks like this. 

As you can see. the first thing to happen is the resetting of the timer. In this case, my timer is resetting to 8 minutes. This is because noon begins at 11am, and due to the fact that I do not need any changes until it starts to get dark (at 7pm) so I have set up an 8 minute timer (to signify the 8 hours between 11am and 7pm) This is done right at the beginning of your sequence so that time never really stops, even if you've set up a sequence of events to signify the changing of the day. In my case, mostly for the sake of testing I've set up a simple text command to tell the player that 'It's Noon.' Once this has passed, the event is no longer useful as it has achieved its function so the switch governing it is turned off. The switch that turns on the sequence of checkers and changers for the next time of day (dusk) is then turned off.

Step 4: Repeat this sequence of events for each phase in your day until you're back at the sequence you started at. You don't need to change the events that I've suggested for any of them except the timer's (which need to correspond to the duration between the phase that you are entering and the next phase in the sequence if you know what I mean.

Step 5: On the very first map of your game, where it actually becomes playable, you need to set up an event to initialise your time system. As you can see, the event needs to turn on the switch 'Time Start', initialising your Time Start common event and then erase itself. This is so that time does not restart itself at your chosen start point every time you enter that map. You may also find that in some cases, not erasing the event can cause a loop that freezes your game as it is concentrating on processing the same event, over and over and over and over and over.

Step 6: Playing around with your system, tweaking it to make it perfect and adding to it can be really rewarding so go a little crazy with it. Some of the potential things I have managed to implement (but won't put on here unless you ask for it)

• Stores that open and close in the morning and evening
• Certain events and monsters that only come out at night
• A complete change of scenery when night descends
• Different character behaviours during the evening and even the appearance of new characters in the evening

I'm still working on this but to be honest I'm more optimistic about my other system which, although being longer is actually simple and offers far more versatility as it creates a 24 hour day, not a day broken up into 5 or so sections.

Note: Why I don't use rolling seasons: The change of seasons is classically used to symbolise the passing of a long amount of time. If you intend to show a significant passage of time (a few months) then changing the seasons is the best way to do it...thus adding it to a rolling system would not be a good idea. Also, to get realistic seasons in place, you're going to need a long period of gameplay...literally hours. That would work if you're setting up an MMORPG or Sandbox game but not if you're just putting together a simple project.

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Creating a New RPG Maker XP Project

Creating a brand new project is the first step in producing a video game in RPG Maker XP and it's incredibly simple to do... 

1. Open RPG Maker XP. 

2. Click the 'New Project' icon found in the top left hand corner of the screen, number 10 on the diagram above.

3. This will bring up the New Project menu (shown above). Choose a folder name and a name for your project (these can both be changed in the future) 4. Click OK, and your new project will load up in a matter of seconds. As you can see, this new project will be relatively empty. RPG Maker XP provides everything needed in the scripts that come built-into the program (more about that later) and the RTP (Runtime Package) resources. While this guide will mostly use RTP-Based resources, a large host of unique resources are available on the internet. 

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Creating a New RPG Maker VX Project

Creating a brand new project is the first step in producing a video game in RPG Maker VX and it's incredibly simple to do... 

Step 1: Open RPG Maker VX. Step 2: Click the 'New Project' icon found in the top left hand corner of the screen. 

Step 3: This will bring up the New Project menu (shown above). Choose a folder name and a name for your project (these can both be changed in the future) 

Step 4: Click OK, and your new project will load up in a matter of seconds.  As you can see, this new project will be relatively empty. RPG Maker VX provides everything needed in the scripts that come built-into the program (more about that later) and the RTP (Runtime Package) resources. While this guide will mostly use RTP-Based resources, a large host of unique resources are available on the internet. 

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Understanding The RPG Maker XP Interface

This tutorial will give you a comprehensive breakdown of the features on the User Interface of RPG Maker XP. These tools will be used along with many others within the software itself.

Shown here is the initial page that will appear when RPG Maker XP is opened. Some of these tabs shown are not available until you have opened or started a new project. The function of each of these tabs will be explained here, but their uses will appear throughout the tutorials.

1. "FILE" - Options on creating, loading, saving and compressing the RPG Maker XP Project.
2. "EDIT" - Options on cutting, copying, pasting, deleting selected areas and undoing actions.
3. "VIEW" - Options on viewing selected or all layers.
4. "MODE" - Selects a specific layer to edit.
5. "DRAW" - Selects the brush shape for editing the selected map layer.
6."SCALE" - Selects the scale or zoom of the map.
7."TOOLS" - Opens the database, material base, script editor, sound tester and options menu.
8 "GAME" - Allows game testing, title and RTP adjustments and a shortcut to the game folder.
9. "HELP" - Opens the Enterbrain RPG Maker XP help system.
10. "NEW PROJECT" - Opens a new RPG Maker XP Project
11. "OPEN PROJECT" - Loads up a previously saved RPG Maker XP Project.
12. "SAVE PROJECT" - Saves the RPG Maker XP project 13. "CUT" - Cuts out the selected area to be pasted elsewhere 14. "COPY" - Copies the selected area to be pasted elsewhere 15. "PASTE" - Pastes the selected area to a new location after it has been cut or copied

16. "DELETE" - Removes the selected area from the map 
17. "UNDO" - Undoes the previous action 
18. "LAYER 1" - Selects the bottom layer of the map 
19 "LAYER 2" - Selects the 2nd layer of the map 
20. "LAYER 3" - Selects the top layer of the map 21. "EVENTS" - Selects the events based layer of the map 22. "PENCIL" - Sets the pencil brush type for editing 23. "RECTANGLE" - Sets the rectangular brush type for editing 24. "ELLIPSE" - Sets the elliptical brush type for editing 
25. "FLOOD FILL" - Sets the paint bucket brush type for filling selected tiles 
26. "SELECT" - Allows the selector brush for choosing tiles to move, cut, copy, paste or delete
27. "1:1" - Sets the map scale at 1:1 28. "1:2" - Sets the map scale at 1:2
29. "1:4" - Sets the map scale at 1:4
30. "DATABASE" - Opens the game database where most of the game's options can be changed
31. "MATERIALS" - Opens the import/export window for custom non-RTP resources 
32. "SCRIPT EDITOR" - Opens the RGSS Script Editor to change game aspects 
33."SOUND TEST" - Sound file playback 
34. - PLAYTEST" - Opens the playable game in a new window It is important to become familiar with every aspect of the RPG Maker XP user interface as you'll be using all of it throughout creating your RPG Maker XP Game. 

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Creating a Main Character in RPG Maker XP

So you've laid the foundations for the project by creating the route folder and naming the game but what about characters? Characters are the driving force of the game, their experiences, actions, victories and mistakes are what drives an RPG therefore it's important to think about characters carefully when creating them. RPG Maker XP's database allows you to configure your character's appearance, attributes and personal information. Here's how...

First, open the database by clicking the 'Database' icon in the toolbar which opens the 'Database' window. Which should look like this...

To create main characters or 'actors' as they are known in RPG Maker XP, you must have the actors menu open, accessed by clicking the 'Actors' tab at the top left of the database. The image below shows the database screen broken down into it's various sections.

1. Actors Overview This is a list of all of your actors, RPG Maker XP gives you 8 default characters but you can delete these and add your own. Clicking on an actor name will open the information about the selected actor. 2. Change Maximum If you want more than 8 actors, you can simply click on this box and make the number higher. This number will be the amount of actors you can create. The minimum is 1 and the maximum is 999. 3. Actor Name This is the name that the actor will be referred to during battles, you can either choose a default name or allow the player to choose a name for the character using the events, this will be explained a little later. 4. Actor Class Actors are broken down into classes. Their class determines the equipment they can use, the magic that becomes available to them and their behaviour on the battlefield. 5. Actor Level This is broken down into two numbers. The first being the 'initial level', in other words, this is the level the character will start the game at. This is important because any characters that do not start at the beginning of the game will have to be set at the same sort of level that the other characters would have achieved. Failure to do so can make the game very difficult for the player. The second figure is the 'maximum level'. This simply sets the highest level that the actor can achieve.

6. Actor Experience Curve The experience curve is a tool that allows the user to define the growth of the actor. The image below shows the menu that will appear. It looks very daunting but the two numbers at the bottom are the only important parts of this menu. The 'basis' number is initial amount of experience that is required to reach level one. In the game itself, the figure isn't very practical as the character begins the game at least at level 1. This figure is important however when coupled with the 'inflation' number. This is the percentage increase of the experience required to move onto the next level. In other words, my current inflation is 35%, this means that every level up will require 35% more experience to achieve than the previous one. Put simply, it makes the levelling up system progressive, the higher the next level, the harder it is to achieve. To make the levelling up easier, simply lower the inflation and to make it harder, simply make it higher.

7. Character Graphic By double clicking on the character image, you can choose the specific graphic that you want the character to look like. The character graphic menu looks like this. Scrolling down the left hand column shows all of the graphics available to you. There are 200 RTP graphics available that come in all shaps and sizes. Not all of them are characters but all of them will come in handy. The image on the right hand side of the column is a preview of what the character will look like from each angle. In RPG Maker XP it is possible to change the colour of the character, this is done by changing the 'hue' which is found at the bottom of the menu. By moving the slider the hue will change allowing for some unique looking characters and objects. When you're happy with your choice, simply click ok.

8. Battler Graphic The battler graphic is the image that will represent the character during battles and in some of the menu screens. Selecting a battler is similar to selecting the character graphic. By double clicking on the image, this menu will appear. Once again, the left hand scroll box contains the many different graphics available to you. There are 100 different default graphics that all correspond to the various character graphics available. The file names for both images are usually the same so just look for matching names to find the battler for the character. The image to the right of the scroll box is a preview of the selected battler and you can also change the hue of the battlers using the slider at the bottom of the screen just like the character selection menu. When you're happy with the selection, click OK.

9. Parameters Parameters are the various stats that define how powerful the actor is in battle. The parameters are broken down into 6 different groups. HP, SP, Strength, Dexterity, Agility and Intelligence. HP: Stands for health points and defines how much damage a character can take before being knocked out of the battle. SP: Stands for skill points and is used to cast skills. Each skill has a different SP requirement and when the character's SP is depleted they can no longer cast any skills. Strength: A character's strength defines how much damage the character does with their physical attacks, the higher the strength, the more damage inflicted on the enemy.

Dexterity: A character's dexterity defines the hit rate of their physical attacks. Simply put, the higher the dexterity figure, the more likely it is that a character's physical attack will hit and not miss the enemy. 

Agility: A character's agility will define the evade rate of physical attacks. In other words, a character with a higher agility figure will dodge an enemy's physical attacks more often than a character with a lower agility figure. 

Intelligence: Intelligence defines the strength of magical attacks cast by the character. If a character has a higher intelligence figure, then their magical attacks will inflict more damage points.

By double clicking on any of the parameter curves, you will open this menu. The tabs at the top allow you to move between menu's for each of the different parameters.There are various ways to change the parameter curve for your character. The first and most simple is by drawing a new curve where the old one is. Simply hold down the left-mouse button and draw a line from the left of the curve to the right, this will then define a new curve as you have drawn it. The next is using 'quick settings'. By choosing one of the letters 

at the top of the menu under the 'Quick Setting' heading, you can change the parameters quickly using pre-programmed curves. The final, way is by entering the parameter figure you want to correspond to specific levels. Start by clicking on 'Generate Curve...' which will bring up this menu...

As you can see, this menu has a value for Level 1 and a value for Level 99, as you might have guessed these are the extremities (the most and least) level-wise that a character can achieve. When RPG Maker XP knows these values, it is able to generate a curve that will begin at the level 1 value and end at the level 99. The curviture is modified by using the slider found at the bottom of the menu. A middle curve will be completely straight, as the growth of the parameter is balanced the whole way through the growth of the character. If you choose a faster growth pattern, the curve will be steep initially but then begin to level out at later levels. A slower growth pattern will see little increase in stats during early levels but later levels will see a far larger increase. The image below shows how the curves will change depending on the growth pattern. Using the tabs at the top of the menu, you can change the stats for all parameters in whatever way you choose.

10. Starting Equipment The actor's starting equipment is the equipment that the character will begin the game with. By simply using the drop down menu's, you can select initial equipment and if you wish it, you can fix the equipment (so it can't be removed or changed) to the actor by clicking the 'fixed' box found to the right of the drop down menu. By customising each of these different aspects of your character, you can make a collection of completely unique characters that complement each other in different ways. 

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