Project FOSSIL (v1.0): Use MV plugins in MZ! 300+ plugins Fossilized!

Restart · 2021-04-16T09:31:04+0900

Project FOSSIL V1.0 By: FOSSIL TEAM Introduction Project FOSSIL (Fixing Old Software / Script Interoperability Layer) is a single RPG Maker MZ plugin designed to expand the use and usefulness of RPG MAKER MV plugins, by allowing them to work in RPG MAKER MZ projects. FOSSIL doesn't port plugins. FOSSIL makes porting unnecessary! I got a copy of RPG Maker MZ a little while ago, and I think the editor is even better than RPG Maker MV. The only problem is that it's competing with RMMV's deep library of plugins. MV had such a huge number of great plugins (thanks to the tireless work of Yanfly, Moghunter, SRD, Galv, and too many other authors to list here) that it will be a long time before they all get rewritten to work with the new engine. I decided to try to figure out a way to speed things up. Instead of having to change every single MV plugin to work with MZ, I'm going to see if we can change MZ so it can work with the old plugins, and still keep all the engine upgrades. That way, we'll have the best of both worlds. What I came up with was FOSSIL. FOSSIL does basic interoperability things - it makes MZ able to understand commands from old MV plugins. For instance, when you make a window in MZ, the engine expects you to hand it a single 'rectangle' which tells it exactly where the window should go, and how big it should be. In MV, when you make a window, what you hand the engine can be very different - it might just be 'how many lines of text there are in this window', or it could be 'the x coordinate, y coordinate, width, and height'. Before any of those commands get to the core engine, FOSSIL converts them into the rectangle that MZ expects. That way, you don't have to actually change how the plugin tries to create a window - FOSSIL just translates it into terms MZ can understand, and then it's fixed everywhere. Plus, this way, we can make old MV plugins work in MZ while still respecting any licensing they have. Instead of having to track down people who might have left the community, and asking them if we can copy their plugin and make a changed version, we can just use FOSSIL and make MZ understand what the plugin is trying to do. I have tried my best to minimize any side-effects from FOSSIL's existence. In my test projects there weren't any noticeable changes, but it's entirely possible I accidentally broke something. If that's the case, please post about it in this thread. I'm super excited about the possibilities with FOSSIL, and I hope a lot of people join in (hence why I'm crediting FOSSIL TEAM). I don't want this to be 'my' plugin, I want the whole community to be able to use all the MV and MZ plugins with the newest engine, and I think everyone here who makes MV plugins knows enough to help improve it. How to Use FOSSIL is a single plugin that must go at the beginning of your plugin list. There are no settings to tweak. Since FOSSIL isn't a port, you still need to have the original, unaltered MV plugins, and put them into your game as usual. So far I have tested over three hundred working plugins (see list), and there's a good chance that even if they aren't listed, most simple plugins will just work 'out of the box' with no tweaks. How to Write a Fix for Fossil FOSSIL now automatically detects where plugins are in the list, and applies patches directly before or after the appropriate plugin. For example, WAY_Core needs us to back up the plugin manager commands before WAY_Core actually runs and changes them. Since we need to run the code before WAY_Core executes, this requires a PreFix. Here's the code in FOSSIL that makes that happen: Code: Fossil.loadPreFix('WAY_Core',function() { Fossil.backupPluginManagerCommands=PluginManager._commands; }) //^ see that closing bracket and parenthesis? //That's important not to forget. The 'WAY_Core' parameter in loadPreFix tells FOSSIL which plugin it should be looking at. The code for the fix itself is within the function: Code: function() { Fossil.backupPluginManagerCommands=PluginManager._commands; } Because this is loadPreFix, the code will be run just before WAY_Core is executed. If you need to be before multiple plugins, you can list all of them in an array ['pluginA','pluginB','pluginC'], and it will run immediately before the first one in plugin order (ignoring plugins that aren't in your project). If we use loadPostFix instead, the code would be run immediately after WAY_Core. (And listing multiple plugins in loadPostFix will result in applying the fix immediately after the last one in the list). Plugin Order There is only one order possible: 1) FOSSIL.js (First plugin) 2) All other plugins. Other than that, put the plugins ordered the same way you'd put them in MZ or MV. Put plugins that extend each other together like usual. I can't really give more specific instructions than that, it'll all be on a case-by-case basis as normal. Using Old Plugin Commands You have three ways of using plugin commands for MV projects A: use the built in plugin comman…

● ARCHIVED · READ-ONLY

Started by Restart Apr 16, 2021, 12:31 AM 603 posts Page 14 of 31 View original ↗

thenerdmansion

#264 Aug 14, 2021, 10:45 PM Source

Greetings my fellow friend @Restart, some couple months ago I was the second soul to have wondered into this plugin post hoping that FOSSIL could revive this card game. Eventually we gave up because MV is asking to play animations and MZ has no animations instead using effekseer HOWEVERRR, Just now I had a light bul- I mean, Just now I had an idea!!! MZ can play MV animations if you transfer them over and that was our only reason for not being able to revive this magnificent plugin. Is there any chance you could give it a shot at reviving it again :D? The updated FOSSIL plugin will not run it but the old one that was 2 different js (pre.js and Post.js) would run the plugin perfectly until it was time to show animations and then it would break. I shall wait patiently for any results if you are willing to give it a nother shot :D. Also push.scene script command is no good. you will have to use the plugin command startDeckEdit to edit your deck in MZ. Here is the js demo :D

TMCard
thenerdmansion said:
My bro, you are amazing. I was able to do plugin commands. These are the results ^^;

The deck editor in the menu and the battle scene are working correctly
View attachment 186464
This is what happens when the first move (attack) is attempted.
View attachment 186465
I should note that in the mv the background does blur out and in MZ the background does not blur out
View attachment 186466
Here is a pic of the console before the crash
View attachment 186467
Here is a pic of the console after the crashView attachment 186468
This was my attempt with this marvelous pre-post plugin that you've created. the possibilities are endless and I have no doubt that this plugin is going to grow more and will receive a lot more support. I am just an early bird with not much coding experience. I have also turned off the plugin that creates the 3D world to make sure it wasn't the cause and it did still crash ^^; the second picture of the console shows opacity: 0.5; filter: blur(8px) that is a code that isn't seen in the console before the crash towards the bottom of the code. I hope that helps ^^;

Update: I am reading that this plugin does not working past 1.6.2 version of MV
TMPlugin Card game ver0.1.7b Set-up Here is a link to the plugin
カードゲーム - #ツクプラ
Aerosys

#265 Aug 15, 2021, 10:24 AM Source

Hey Restart,

can you make the Plugin in a way, that it doesn't do anything when you start an MV game? It may sound a bit awkward, but I can explain:

My sample project is identical for MV and MZ; in other words: I export only data, img, and js files, and let the users create a fresh new project in their favorite engine so they copy-paste my stuff into their new directory.

To enable or disable FOSSIL, depending on which engine they actually use, is an extra step that we probably can solve.

EDIT: I use FOSSIL for 3rd Party Plugins, not for mine.
SigmaSuccour

#266 Aug 19, 2021, 10:26 PM Source

FOSSIL got a mention on the official, Japanese RPG Maker Twitter :LZSooo:

(Just came to drop this. :LZScheeze:)
Lunesis

#267 Aug 24, 2021, 02:35 AM Source

Restart said:
Hey, quick update.

As has been pretty obvious, updates have slowed down on FOSSIL significantly. Partly that's due to no longer being fully WFH - I don't have the free time to do the 5 plugins a day I was averaging at the start of the project. I was also told that some of the site admins thought that FOSSIL was having a negative effect upon the plugin making community, and while they didn't tell me to stop working on it, it kind of took the wind out of my sails and made working on this project a lot less fun.

It's not abandoned but my updates to the plugin will be less frequent - and of course, I'm still accepting community help to help make FOSSIL bigger and better, if anyone else wants to step up to the plate :).
Meh, if they don't like it they can update those hundreds of plugins themselves. Why should all of those useful old plugins go to waste, so we can sit around and wait and hope that they maybe get ported to MZ by someone? That's ridiculous. Doesn't seem like the original plugin creators really want to to that every five years when a new incompatible version of RPG Maker comes out. As far as I have heard, Yanfly and SRD are done with making plugins. Your plugin is objectively the single most useful plugin for MZ, anyone who thinks it's hurting the plugin community is blind.
TheCosmicSlug

#268 Aug 24, 2021, 11:42 AM Source

I second this, I am thankful for the sharing of FOSSIL code, studying it has helped me port a few plugins to MZ, and it certainly seems like its helping many more people.

Lunesis said:
Meh, if they don't like it they can update those hundreds of plugins themselves. Why should all of those useful old plugins go to waste, so we can sit around and wait and hope that they maybe get ported to MZ by someone? That's ridiculous. Doesn't seem like the original plugin creators really want to to that every five years when a new incompatible version of RPG Maker comes out. As far as I have heard, Yanfly and SRD are done with making plugins. Your plugin is objectively the single most useful plugin for MZ, anyone who thinks it's hurting the plugin community is blind.
Animebryan

#269 Aug 24, 2021, 01:24 PM Source

Speaking of porting, Yanfly/Visustella just recently announced that they're not planning to port every single Yanfly plugin from MV. I know a few plugins I was looking forward to were listed as not getting ported, so it would be nice if all of Yanfly's MV plugins were Fossilized for MZ.
Lunesis

#270 Aug 24, 2021, 02:56 PM Source

Animebryan said:
Speaking of porting, Yanfly/Visustella just recently announced that they're not planning to port every single Yanfly plugin from MV. I know a few plugins I was looking forward to were listed as not getting ported, so it would be nice if all of Yanfly's MV plugins were Fossilized for MZ.
Right! I would not be able to have Yanfly Overkill, Skill Leveling and DreamX Equipment Affixes just to name a handful. Right now I am trying to figure out how to use all those lovely tips and tricks from Yanfly's blog in MZ @ http://yanfly.moe/category/yanfly-engine-plugins/tips-tricks/ and this plugin makes it possible. I don't blame the Plugin makers for not wanting to remake all that stuff, it sounds like an immense effort. Makes you wonder why MV and MZ plugins are not compatible in the first place ;) $$$
Aerosys

#271 Aug 24, 2021, 03:09 PM Source

Lunesis said:
Makes you wonder why MV and MZ plugins are not compatible in the first place ;) $$$
Unfortunately that's how Software works. Backward compatibility usually comes with high costs.
Lunesis

#272 Aug 24, 2021, 03:17 PM Source

Aerosys said:
Unfortunately that's how Software works. Backward compatibility usually comes with high costs.
I understand MZ is a lot different on the backend even thought it has a lot of similarities to MV, and I am grateful for the improved performance (and the included assets are somewhat nicer (but then people bash on RTP anyway)), but they are both using js so it's not like the huge jump from VX to MV. The fact that this plugin exists shows that compatibility is possible, but the developers didn't think it was worth doing. I think we as customers deserve better but as long as we are allowed to have passionate coders like Restart that do it for the sake of the community, we will be able to make the games we want whilst avoiding huge amounts of headache and frustration. Most of us are not coders, we got into the RPG Maker ecosystem on the sell that we could create our dream games without needing to be.
Animebryan

#273 Aug 25, 2021, 04:47 AM Source

Aerosys said:
Unfortunately that's how Software works. Backward compatibility usually comes with high costs.
It depends on what they're working with. MZ wasn't built from scratch, its actually the MV engine with added features. The proof is in the Tutorial option. MZ's tutorial selects menu options based on their position & some of those positions got changed when they added the Layer option, so the tutorial selects the wrong options & bugs out & freezes all because they were too lazy or overlooked redoing the tutorial.

Also, the javascript is essentially the same, upgrading from ES5 to ES6, despite the fact that ES6 was the newest standard in 2015, the same year MV came out
Javascript Versions

If they had simply utilized ES6 from the beginning & left the code alone between versions, all those plugins wouldn't go to waste. Of course, the real problem is Kadokawa being so lazy that instead of adding features built in to the editor, they take shortcuts like leaving their userbase (plugin writers) to add the features for them without paying THEM a single penny, talk about exploiting people for free labor.

The major flaw in relying too much on plugins is the compatibility issue when using plugins from multiple creators. Its one of the primary reasons Yanfly's collection was relied on so much. Having the most amount of features added from 1 plugin library/creator maximizes compatibility without being restricted to too small of a library of plugins.
Solar_Flare

#274 Aug 25, 2021, 05:47 PM Source

I don't think the switch from ES5 to ES6 is as important as you're implying. By itself, that switch doesn't have any implications for compatibility that I'm aware of. MZ is incompatible because they rewrote parts of the engine, and added some big new features. Any plugin that works with those rewritten parts is not compatible with MZ. However, MV plugins that don't touch things that got rewritten in MZ will still work just fine in MZ, regardless of the difference in JS version.
fizzly

#275 Aug 30, 2021, 06:55 PM Source

Have a question to dev, is Fossil works with mobile android deployment?
birdbert

#276 Sep 5, 2021, 05:59 PM Source

I've noticed a couple of mentions of SRD Character Creator EX in this thread. I am making an attempt to get it working in RMMZ with FOSSIL. Any pointers would be appreciated https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...character-creator-ex-work-in-progress.140190/
Misery

#277 Sep 7, 2021, 07:13 PM Source

I'm trying GALV_QuestLog but
◆Plugin Command：FOSSIL, 'Enter MV plugin commands'
：：OldPluginCommand = Galv.QUEST.activate(1);
...doesn't seem to work...
Misery

#278 Sep 9, 2021, 05:28 AM Source

Anyone knows if perhaps I'm doing it wrongly? (Since it's on the list...)
busbuzz

#279 Sep 9, 2021, 07:07 PM Source

I got referenceerror require not defined with this plugin as i was trying to deploy to web. I looked for plugins that had the function require in it, and found fossil, then removed fossil and the game worked, :(
Xelion

#280 Sep 10, 2021, 02:16 PM Source

Hi, I've seen that mjshi's StatPolygon is in the fully compatible list yet I don't see anything in the Status Menu. I've tried changing the plugin's config, also with an empty project but I have the same result. Other MV plugins seem to be working fine.
Any idea of what could be wrong?
Thanks!

Edit: nevermind, figured a way to make it work after trying some things.
busbuzz

#281 Sep 10, 2021, 05:07 PM Source

How can i fix compatibility for we and android?
Icenick

#282 Sep 14, 2021, 11:11 AM Source

What a great plugin!
I tried it with Yanfly Instant Cast and when I tried to start the game I got this error. What did I do wrong?

TypeError
Yanfly.Util.getRange is not a function
hsumi

#283 Sep 14, 2021, 08:47 PM Source

Woah, this is amazing!
I have nothing constructive to add, just that this is a fantastic plugin and thank you so much for creating it!