Negatives in event conditions

I've just started using RPG maker, and I'm trying to nail down event spawning.

The player begins in a dorm room, and is supposed to take their notebook off of their desk. The desk is "terrain", and the book is an event set to same priority as characters. When you talk to it, it adds a key item to your inventory, and then it should disappear, so that you can't talk to it again.

This would be best handled by a self switch. I've run into two problems, however, that make this impossible:

• You can only set events to spawn if a self switch is on, and
• All self switches are created off.

I would like to have the event only spawn if self switch A is off, then once interacted with, set self switch A to on, thus preventing the book from spawning again. I would also be fine with having self switch A begin as on, and once interacted with, be set to off.

I know I could solve this with global variables or switches. I'd like to avoid that because the numeric references for switches and variables are going to make organization ridiculously difficult, and I want to only use them if I absolutely have to.

Just for clarity, it sounds as if you don't want the book to be there until something happens, then it spawns, then (once interacted with) it goes forever.  Is that correct?

You might try this:

First page, no graphic. no self switch set.  In the commands section put Self Switch A ON.  So clicking on the event will turn on the self switch.  (Though if there's nothing there, how will the player know to click it?  But that's a separate issue.)

Second page, with graphic, conditioned by switch A.  Input whatever needs to happen.  At the end, put Self Switch B on.

Third page, no graphic, conditioned by switch B, no commands.

He wants the notebook to be there at the beginning, and then vanish after it has been used...


@OP:


You'll need two event pages for this, like ksjp17 mentioned.


first page, no condition, notebook is there and does it work, control self-switch A ON after that.


second page, conditioned to self-switch A ON, no sprite, no content, priority above player.


The variables and conditions sometimes require a few out-of-the-box types of thinking, because they don't have negatives in the conditions and you'll need other properties like page priorities to simulate the negation.


If you have problems with that, follow the link in my signature, and then read the part about the sample games and the variables guide - that will help you get examples how events work.

That's why the variables and general switches can and should be named - one of the most important advices you can get here is to ALWAYS name your variables the second you select them in the control variables selection window...