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…

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Started by Restart Apr 16, 2021, 12:31 AM 603 posts Page 9 of 31 View original ↗

Restart

#164 May 20, 2021, 03:10 AM Source

Thanks to @HiddenAlchemist giving me a test project, I've gotten Yanfly's common event menus to work.

The size of the individual menus is a teensy bit different due to MZ having different fonts, but I've gotten the appearance to be about the same.
Restart

#165 May 22, 2021, 04:26 AM Source

I know I already got one minimap plugin to work, but now we have the one made by @SilverDash available in MZ as well.

It has an optional fog of war, and can be toggled on and off (or given as an item). I have most of the plugins in his master demo working, but haven't figured out the itemlog. Still, if you want the cool window-slide-in effect that he put in his core engine (you can see one sliding in from offscreen at the top left!), the event randomization, or the dash stamina system, you've got those as options in MZ now.
LyraVultur

#166 May 24, 2021, 12:37 AM Source

Been trying to get DreamX_ChoiceHelp working with no luck. Any ideas?
Restart

#167 May 24, 2021, 03:16 AM Source

LyraVultur said:
Been trying to get DreamX_ChoiceHelp working with no luck. Any ideas?
View attachment 190016
Haven't tried it yet, if you give me a link (or ideally a working MV test project), I'll take a look. What does your plugin order look like?

Anyway, thanks to @oriongates I've added UNCO_AmmunitionSystem to the list of compatible plugins (along with the crafting add-on).

I also added a bunch of miscellaneous plugins from the Victor Engine and Himeworks sets
LyraVultur

#168 May 24, 2021, 05:17 AM Source

Restart said:
Haven't tried it yet, if you give me a link (or ideally a working MV test project), I'll take a look. What does your plugin order look like?

Anyway, thanks to @oriongates I've added UNCO_AmmunitionSystem to the list of compatible plugins (along with the crafting add-on).

I also added a bunch of miscellaneous plugins from the Victor Engine and Himeworks sets
All DreamX plugins (including Choice Help) can be found here. Forum thread for Choice Help is here (includes screenshots).
Plugin order is a bit of a mess tbh, looks like this:
corvid

#169 May 24, 2021, 02:59 PM Source

Hi! First let me say thank you for this amazing plugin.

I'm trying to get this to work with Victor Engine's "Sprite in Windows" plugin, but it doesn't seem to be loading the sprites at all. I'm not getting any errors which is a definite improvement from before I implemented FOSSIL, but the space where the sprite/face should appear in the menu window is just empty. I tried adjusting the offset to make sure it wasn't simply loading off-screen, but no luck.

As far as I can tell the plugin isn't loading the sprites or battlers in the menu at all, so I'm wondering if there's some deeper incompatibility here that FOSSIL can't fix? Any ideas on what that could be? No worries if this is something beyond the scope of FOSSIL, I'm just trying to understand why this isn't working.
Restart

#170 May 24, 2021, 06:26 PM Source

LyraVultur said:
All DreamX plugins (including Choice Help) can be found here. Forum thread for Choice Help is here (includes screenshots).
Plugin order is a bit of a mess tbh, looks like this:
View attachment 190036
Hard to say what's going on given how many plugins there are (also, it looks like you missed the beginning of the plugin list? I can't see where Fossil_Pre and Fossil_Post are). Generally Fossil_Post needs to be between MV and MZ plugins to work. Not sure what's going on given the sheer number of plugins (and of course it's very difficult to tell what's going on with a VS plugin, by design).

corvid said:
Hi! First let me say thank you for this amazing plugin.

I'm trying to get this to work with Victor Engine's "Sprite in Windows" plugin, but it doesn't seem to be loading the sprites at all. I'm not getting any errors which is a definite improvement from before I implemented FOSSIL, but the space where the sprite/face should appear in the menu window is just empty. I tried adjusting the offset to make sure it wasn't simply loading off-screen, but no luck.

As far as I can tell the plugin isn't loading the sprites or battlers in the menu at all, so I'm wondering if there's some deeper incompatibility here that FOSSIL can't fix? Any ideas on what that could be? No worries if this is something beyond the scope of FOSSIL, I'm just trying to understand why this isn't working.

Odd. I tried the plugin out just now and got this

Which probably isn't what is intended positioning-wise, but does show the animated sprites.

Are you using VE_BasicModule as well? My test was only with basic module, sprites in windows, and fossil. Possible there's a conflict elsewhere.

Oh, and you checked plugin parameters, right? The last parameter on every VE plugin needs to be double-clicked, otherwise it defaults to including a long string of ==============================.
DK

#171 May 24, 2021, 07:01 PM Source

Great plugin!
corvid

#172 May 25, 2021, 01:29 AM Source

Restart said:
Odd. I tried the plugin out just now and got this

Which probably isn't what is intended positioning-wise, but does show the animated sprites.

Are you using VE_BasicModule as well? My test was only with basic module, sprites in windows, and fossil. Possible there's a conflict elsewhere.

Oh, and you checked plugin parameters, right? The last parameter on every VE plugin needs to be double-clicked, otherwise it defaults to including a long string of ==============================.
Interesting. I am using the basic module and I fixed those parameters but still get nothing. I am using non-rtp assets so I guess I’ll have to check if those might have something to do with it. I don’t have any other plugins installed either.
Restart

#173 May 25, 2021, 01:32 AM Source

corvid said:
Interesting. I am using the basic module and I fixed those parameters but still get nothing. I am using non-rtp assets so I guess I’ll have to check if those might have something to do with it. I don’t have any other plugins installed either.
Very weird. Can you check to see if the default SV battlers work?

Also, are you on the latest version of fossil?
corvid

#174 May 25, 2021, 11:45 AM Source

I tried with the default battlers but still they don't show. I even tried testing with a brand new project so it doesn't seem like it's related to any changes I've made. Also made sure to fix those last parameters, and checked for the latest version (0.3.06, right?)... Here's my plugin list:

Were there any other adjustments in your own testing that I might be missing?

UPDATE: @Restart Oddly enough I was able to get the charset option working in the test project I created (but not the sv battlers), yet this option still doesn't work in my actual project even when I go back to default assets (I also made sure the core script versions were the same, in case that matters).
I'm not really sure what the issue is here, but I don't really think FOSSIL is the issue. Perhaps some sort of caching problem? Not really sure if that's a possibility. In any case thanks for testing on your end!
DarkSearinox92

#175 May 25, 2021, 02:36 PM Source

@Restart
This work is incredible. My compliments, I will definitely test it!

I just hope there won't be any performance problems.
NewRetroGamer

#176 May 26, 2021, 10:55 AM Source

This is really impressive, congratulations on your work. Can this plugin be supported, since the author does not have access to MZ to import it on their own, or would it be difficult due to it redrawing the tilemap?
jonenglish91

#177 May 26, 2021, 05:30 PM Source

This is amazing! Would be great if YED SideView Battler could be ported over link to plugin here
Restart

#178 May 28, 2021, 09:08 PM Source

NewRetroGamer said:
This is really impressive, congratulations on your work. Can this plugin be supported, since the author does not have access to MZ to import it on their own, or would it be difficult due to it redrawing the tilemap?
I took a while looking at it, and unfortunately it seems like most of it would basically need to be rewritten. What the plugin is doing is essentially creating a clone of the existing tilemap functions (called tilemap2) and then stitching it onto the edge of the map when needed.

The problem is that MZ has very different tilemap objects. The most obvious example is that C47_Seamless map requires a 'pixi-tilemap2' plugin above it - this is just a copy-pasted version of the pixi-tilemap.js file in the MV library folder, with 'tilemap' renamed to 'tilemap2' throughout. MZ is different enough with tilemap rendering that it doesn't even *have* a pixi-tilemap.js file to begin with.

I think the general approach could be applied successfully in MZ, but this is definitely a case where a port is needed. Sorry.

jonenglish91 said:
This is amazing! Would be great if YED SideView Battler could be ported over link to plugin here
That looks interesting, but it seems like you need to create a custom battler imageset in order to actually use the plugin to its full potential. If you could put together a working custom tileset in a MV test project I can look at it.

Anyway, thanks to @LyraVultur giving me a testproject I've got DreamX's Choice Help Window working. I believe I have VE_MateriaSystem working as well too (@Ophiucus Games kindly sent me their project), and I've seen a few people say they wished it worked in MZ, so hopefully it'll satisfy that need.
jonenglish91

#179 May 28, 2021, 09:32 PM Source

Restart said:
I took a while looking at it, and unfortunately it seems like most of it would basically need to be rewritten. What the plugin is doing is essentially creating a clone of the existing tilemap functions (called tilemap2) and then stitching it onto the edge of the map when needed.

The problem is that MZ has very different tilemap objects. The most obvious example is that C47_Seamless map requires a 'pixi-tilemap2' plugin above it - this is just a copy-pasted version of the pixi-tilemap.js file in the MV library folder, with 'tilemap' renamed to 'tilemap2' throughout. MZ is different enough with tilemap rendering that it doesn't even *have* a pixi-tilemap.js file to begin with.

I think the general approach could be applied successfully in MZ, but this is definitely a case where a port is needed. Sorry.

That looks interesting, but it seems like you need to create a custom battler imageset in order to actually use the plugin to its full potential. If you could put together a working custom tileset in a MV test project I can look at it.

Anyway, thanks to @LyraVultur giving me a testproject I've got DreamX's Choice Help Window working. I believe I have VE_MateriaSystem working as well too (@Ophiucus Games kindly sent me their project), and I've seen a few people say they wished it worked in MZ, so hopefully it'll satisfy that need.
I just sent you private message
thenerdmansion

#180 May 29, 2021, 02:31 AM Source

Hi restart, sorry to bother. I thought I should bring it up that summoncore from SmRdmDud doesn't work when combined with the battlecore MZ plugin by Visustella. the plugin is behind a paywall and if you are interested if any kind of fix I would be willing to help you make the purchase of that plugin.
Restart

#181 May 29, 2021, 02:55 AM Source

thenerdmansion said:
Hi restart, sorry to bother. I thought I should bring it up that summoncore from SmRdmDud doesn't work when combined with the battlecore MZ plugin by Visustella. the plugin is behind a paywall and if you are interested if any kind of fix I would be willing to help you make the purchase of that plugin.
Thank you very much for the offer, but due to their obfuscation unfortunately I can't really do anything with VS plugins.

You might want to see if you can use the MV's YEP Battlecore in your project instead, since I know that one is compatible.
thenerdmansion

#182 May 29, 2021, 03:07 AM Source

Ahhh, yes. Their obfuscation is making some things very hard to work with indeed. Thank you for the quick response! I am still exploring options ^^.
LyraVultur

#183 May 29, 2021, 04:14 AM Source

Trying to setup JK's Mail System and get this error when I try and use it with FOSSIL in MZ:

As far as I can tell, that function was an MV one that doesn't exist in MZ? A working demo project of the MV version by the author can be found in the link above. Let me know if you want a tiny MZ test project as well.