Galv's Animations/Diagonal Movement/Character Frames?

@Bricrue - The Buck has 8 frames of animation. By default, RPG Maker only supports 3 frames of animation for some reason. There are plugins that allow you to increase the number of frames. There are some located in the plugin thread of this subforum, and there are others you can find in the plugins forum as well.

@Bricrue - if you have a character sheet set according to the plugin's instructions and properly named, everything should work. I have no problems with diagonally moving characters from PVG. I use Galv's Characters frames + Diagonal Movement + Character Animation and the sheet is named for example Eduard%(8). You must always have this %(8) at the end of the sheet title if you are using more than 3 frames. Number in parentheses = number of frames used by the character for movement. The standard RPG Maker sheet has 3 frames so sheet's name will be only Eduard. Proper naming is described in Galv's Characters frames plugin.

The size of the character sheet is also important for the frames plugin. If you use standard PVG character dimensions (128x128 per frame) so your full frame sheet's size must be 4096x1024.

I don't even care about getting the character to move diagonal at this point. I'd be even happy if I could get the figure to move up and down and left and right like the normal characters do. But I don't know if you have to resize the characters, or what I need to do to even get them to fit on the screen. Every time I even try I get like parts of several animations all in one, or I end up with having three figures moving at the same time. I just don't understand why its not simple to where you can just copy and paste like you can all of the other DLC's.

@Bricrue - To get the most out of the additional frames of animation, you will need plugins. I personally recommend Galv's plugins, which you can find at the top of a list of plugins I compiled in a thread that can be useful in conjunction with these resources:

https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...ools-list-useful-for-pvgames-resources.63602/

The top 3 are the ones you might want to consider utilizing (you download them, place them in the plugin folder inside your project, and enable them in your project - make sure they are in that listed order).

Then set up your sprite sheet according to the included instructions. It can be a bit confusing, so I will give you a sample template that I use for my characters:



The image dimensions are all set, and you will notice there is a chunk of blank space on the right side, you will need to leave that there in order for the plugin to read the image file properly (a jump animation would go there typically, I think, but these do not have one).

There's another thread here that also offers a bit of information on how to modify the plugin to allow for a different configuration in your sprite sheet so that you don't have to do quite so much copy/pasting (many thanks to @mlogan ):

https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/mythos-reawakening-diagonal-movement.107154/


-- As for why these can't just be dragged and dropped and used, that is because these are 8 frames of animation. For some reason unknown to anyone, RPG Maker only allows for 3 frames of animation by default, so a plugin is required to get use out of the full 8 frames.

Right now I don't even care about having multiple animations, I'm okay with the three animations, but I can't get them to work. When I run the game I get multiple characters on the screen. Is the only way to use this DLC to use a plugin?

That is the only way to use the higher number of frames of animation, yes.

It is difficult to help you because I do not know what you tried, what plugins you are using, or how you have anything set up. If you'd like, set up a test project with what you have and send it my way, I can take a look at it and let you know.

Assuming I don't want to use a plugin right now, being new I'll wait till I am more familiar with the game and then do plugins. So, is it not possible to even use the graphics because they use a higher number of frames? Like if I just wanted to use the normal, three frames that the graphics it comes with has. Do I have to do a lot of graphical editing to set that up? And if I do use a plugin, is it just a matter of installing the plugin, copying the graphics into the correct directory and they just work? Or am I still going to have to edit the file, position each frame thus requiring a lot of hours of graphical surgery in order just to get something to animate the right way?

Try putting a $ on the beginning of the filename example: "$spritefile.png" I don't know if this is necessary or not, it's been awhile since I've used RPG Maker.

Tried that... Okay let me try and explain all that I have done. First, I downloaded the Galv plugin. I put that file in my plugin folder. Now taking say the example you posted of the picture about, I copied that into my characters folder. Then I edit my character selecting the walking animation as the file I put in the character folder. When I run the game I get multiple sprites on the screen. So I edit the file, put a $ in front of the file I put in the character folder and ran the game again... Still multiple sprites on the screen. I don't know if Galv needs to be in a certain order, if I need to make any adjustments other then turning it on to true to be used... At this point I am just frustrated I bought the whole DLC when I have spent hours trying to get it to work without even the slightest feel of moving in the right direction.

Remove the plugin maybe. I'm spitballing really. Heh.

@Bricrue - I attach the picture in what order I have plugins from the test game for this purpose and still a link to the video where there is movement in all directions.

@Bricrue - It might be helpful to download the demo off of Galv's website. You can find the demo here: https://galvs-scripts.com/category/rmmv-plugins/mv-audiovisual-effects/#post-1432 You want to grab the "Mix Demo" as it contains all of the plugins and they are all set up with examples and everything. That is how I learned to utilize those plugins properly :)

@rooge - That mechanical thing is awesome. Not even sure how you animated that lol.

@Bricrue - Jesse is right, use the demo (I thought you already tried it) + download Jesse´s sample template from above and name it as you want, but at the end of the name must be %(8). I made a short video with this demo where I replace the original arrows with this sample - for video purposes, I named the Jesse´s sample template as Test_PVG%(8). If you have character sheets exactly according to the Jesse´s sample, everything should work just like in the video here.

@Jesse - PVGames - I made a character sheet from Steam Automatons that is in the DLC Wild Steam for RPG Maker Ace. All I need is Gimp, where everything is just layered or I'm adjusting things for my own needs. I have all your DLCs and I use things from Ace also in MV (because I don't use Ace anymore). I'm trying to combine things for both programs, because I like a lot of things for ACE. I attach a picture from the battle where I made the background from scratch, I used your generator for the characters and the Giant scorpion battle sheet for the MV I created from the ACE Holder´s style battle sheet from DLC Monster Legacy (I like this extension because there are a lot of enemies that will enrich every game). I like what you're doing and your demo The Last Journey is a nice example of what we can do with PVG stuff.

Okay I was able to make some success, however is there anyway to get it to stop the animation when you stop walking?

Never mind, the file I was using didn't have idle animation.

Did you get it sorted out @Bicrue?
If not, you are always welcome to send me a copy of your project and I can take a look :)

Still playing with it. I think some of the issue has to do with the other plugins I am using. But from looking at the files I got from the DLC, even with the "Premade" characters, it seems like I still have to take those files and work them onto the master template I got from Galv's plugin.

Just seems like it should have been a little easier then that.. If I have to go through and build that much work I don't know if its worth the time.

Another thing is, when I open say the idle graphics from the DLC it has three frames, but in the master template it is using 8 frames. So I'm still confused. Sure I can download the demo, copy the example from here into the directory and get it to work, but understanding how it all works isn't clicking yet.

I hear you in regards to the confusion and frustration. It took me awhile to wrap my head around how it was all set up as well. Galv made his plugins well after I made the resources, and given the modular nature of the character creator pieces, I couldn't suddenly stop and make new sprite sheet formats to accommodate one plugin, but that did end up creating a situation where if someone wanted to use these resources AND Galv's plugin, they would need to do a bit of sprite sheet editing to set up their main character.

But in the end, it really isn't that bad, I swear! I mean, when you break it down, for Galv's plugin you just need to set up one sheet for your main character. You make that sheet 32 frames across (at 128 pixels apiece. so 4096 pixels total) and 8 frames tall (at 128 pixels, so 1024 pixels). If you use GIMP (it's free!) you can display a grid, and set that grid to 128x128 pixels and enable "snap to grid". The walking and running sprite sheets you don't have to do anything except put them into the bigger sheet in their necessary positions, no need to move around frames or anything.

Idle is a tiny bit more complicated because Galv did not really make a way to allow for different numbers of frames of animation for different animations, so you end up being forced to have the same number of frames across all animations, including the idle animation. The thing to know is that the plugin reads the animation frames from left to right, and once it gets to the last frame it loops back to the beginning again. So we need to set up the sprite sheet to have the 3 idle frames spread out across all 8 animation frames to make it work.

The idle animation sheet is composed of 3 frames, 1, 2 and 3. By default, RPG Maker plays such animation sheets in the following sequence: 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2... repeatedly. So for the 8 frame idle sheet for Galv's plugin, we can copy/paste the first 3 frames into place on the left side of the idle animation section. Then we need to take frame 2 and copy it into the 4th spot, and then 1 into the 5th spot, etc, so we end up with 8 frames in the order of 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2. That is the key part to understanding how to add the idle animation yourself to the sprite sheet. You end up copying the first animation frame and pasting it into spot 1 and 5. The second animation frame goes in spot 2, 4, 6, and 8. The remaining two spots are filled with animation frame three.

An easier way to look at it is that you just need to copy and paste the entire idle animation sheet into the first 3 columns of the big sprite sheet, then skip a single frame worth of space (128 pixels, or one grid square), and paste it again. The 2 remaining blank spots you just fill with the center animation frame from the idle animation.

It sounds more complicated than it is, though, and I am still willing to give you a hand setting it up.

Okay, I can understand your thinking that using that sheet to just make the main characters is all that is needed, but what about all of the NPC's as well? Am I missing something here? Don't all of the NPC's need to be setup as well in the same way in order to have them all walking around? Sure, if I want them to just stand there doing nothing it might be less work, but to have them moving as well then I'm going to have to do the same thing for them too correct?

And I do really appreciate the help. I'm sorry I'm off to a slow start but I am starting to understand things. I just need a little more push for information and I'm sure I'll be on my way.

If I were not using the Galv plugin, is there a way to setup the graphics not using it or was this DLC always meant to need a plugin?

To my knowledge, I don't think Galv's plugin handles NPCs. Someone can correct me if I am wrong. I think it only applies to the main, controllable character.

My resources were always designed to have a higher number of animation frames, because honestly, 3 frames of animation for movement looks ridiculous. It makes the character look like they have completely stiff joints. RPG Maker gets away with it with RTP graphics by having characters that are already abnormally proportioned where there head is like 50% of their entire mass and their tiny legs are just a couple of pixels in size, but more realistic characters can't get away with it. My older packs had the 3 frames of animation and honestly, it just never looked great. My resources are for more than just RPG Maker as well, and RPG Maker is the only game-making software I have ever seen that arbitrarily forces so many restrictions in terms of animation frames and animations in general (saying nothing of the map editor...)

There are more plugins than just Galv's for animation frames, though. I do not know all of them, but if you poke around the plugin subforum, I am sure you can discover others (and maybe someone here can chime in with any suggestions).

Galv's Character Frames etc plugins apply to all characters: player, followers, vehicles, events. :)