MZ - Schala Z System Progress Blog (MZ Port of Moghunter's Chrono Engine)

I randomly decided to try and port Moghunter's Chrono Engine into MZ, no, I'm not joking. I've been in an RPG Maker mood again as of yesterday, and I was wondering "What if I can port the Chrono Engine into MZ without the use of Fossil, and also translate the Portuguese text into English?". So, I decided to fiddle around and see how far I can go. Keep in mind that I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to RPG Maker JavaScript, still not fully perfect, so this is gonna be a side thing for me.

Here is the progress so far.
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So far, I got the engine itself working without the need of Fossil, and translated the text, fixed the errors that were related to the windows, and bam, the basic stuff is working. Though, for some reason, despite being able to initiate and run from battles... no one can do anything. No attacks, no techs, no items, nothing. I have no clue if it's because of my meddling or because I forgot to set something up in the engine itself (I imported the tool map, database stuff, and images from the demo), but I'll eventually figure it out. If you do know the reason behind it, it'll be appreciated!

But for now, I'm quite happy with this small achievement I've made :]

Oh, and in case anyone's wondering, my main focus here is the ATB system, I have little to no interest in the ABS system. Also, I want to remove the engine's dependency of picture menus and probably code my own, because the engine's HUD is divided into separate scripts and I wanna make things easier to set up and use.

ABS mode works with FOSSIL since both Cross Engine and FOSSIL were made by Restart and he made them work together. Chrono Mode (ATB mode) probably doesn't though since Restart never used it.

Well, that's just more incentive for me to try and tackle the challenge of porting Chrono Mode into MZ heh

Just need to figure out why the commands aren't exactly working lol

You also don't have to use any of the MOG HUD plugins. With the right scripts you can use whatever HUD plugin you want. I showed how to use Chrono Engine with SRD HUDMaker here

I am aware of that, heck, I even did it with HUD Maker Pro last year.

I mean as in using the ones RPG Maker already has like the Actor HUD in battles and call it in the Chrono Engine script itself, and probably also go for a basic HUD for the commands. I did the former before about two months ago, so that should be easy for me to do, once I get to it.

EDIT: Update Mar. 22 3:09 PM
Managed to fix the attacking problem, but currently trying to insert MZ's default Battle Status menu when starting the battle. Been trying so hard to find the answer to it.

(Chrono Engine MZ) Update Mar. 24 12:47 AM
I essentially had to start the project all over again (not that much progress was made than what was already done) because I tried porting the Chrono Battle HUD into MZ... only for me to realize that I was using the Cross Engine version which has the plugin parameters botched and not working at all for some reason in Chrono Mode.

So, I started over again and this time downloaded and used the plugins still found in Moghunter's website to ensure that everything is working smoothly.

Though, I'm currently fighting to try and get the animations to work. I've been trying my best to alter the code and see what the problem was, but everything leads to this part of the code right here.

Now, before anyone says anything, I know what command212 is, it's the interpreter command for showing the animations, but it always shows an error message of "Cannot Read Property '0' Unidentified", which is strange, because from what I've researched, this is supposed to be how it's laid out, unless I'm missing something because I am porting an MV plugin into MZ. I tried some ideas with it in hopes of fixing it and showing the animations, but I couldn't think of anything.

If anyone knows the solution behind this, I'd gladly appreciate it.

I gave a look at the prototype of the original command212 method in MZ, it has a "param" argument.


Maybe that is your issue here?

Yeah, turns out that this was the problem. I knew it was that, but thanks to this guys in this post by bass2yang, I realized that I forgot to put the params argument in the gint_command212 function at the bottom.

MZ - [SOLVED] Help with Chrono Engine animations
Thankfully, the error is gone now, but now the animations aren't showing at all, but that's because of how MZ handles $gameTemp.requestAnimation; it requires both the target and then the AnimationID, when in MV, the latter was only required. So, it's gonna take me a bit to add a reference to the target without causing issues heh

EDIT (Chrono Engine MZ) Update Mar. 24 9:59 PM
I was thankfully able to fix 90% of the animation problem, and I say 90% because thankfully there aren't any errors when playing the animation, but the MZ animations don't seem to play at all, and when it comes to the MV ones, only the sound effects, flashes, and screen shakes work, but the sprites themselves don't show up. Maybe there's a conflict between the MZ and MV animations, I'm not so sure, but I'll figure it out. And hey, I think I've made good progress so far!

But before I end this, I gotta give credit where it's due to @/bass2yang, they were thankfully able to help me and I wouldn't have gotten this far without them, so huge shoutouts to them!

(Chrono Engine MZ (new name obtained)) Update Mar. 25 2:54 PM

I figured since I've managed to get the basic stuff for battles working, I thought I'd shift my attention to something else for a change. I was thinking of giving this project a new name to differentiate it from the base Chrono and Cross engines. I then learned that this engine was also on VX Ace and was dubbed the "Schala Battle System", so I figured I'd give the project Schala's name totally not because I actually have a huge crush on Schala to begin with (and Iris from Mega Man X lol).

So, between my mid-semester exams, I drew this little logo, and dubbed the plugin the "Schala Z System". Name could be subject to change, but I like the name, also a good little nod to the engine's first iteration :]


As for the system itself, I did do something new: Plugin Commands! I managed to convert the MV commands and give them the MZ treatment. Once again, I'm mainly focused on the ATB System/Chrono Mode so, unfortunately, ABS mode is not in my radar.



And in case anyone's wondering, no I have yet to test the Plugin Commands, and there are two reasons for that and they're pretty big:

1) For some reason, you can't interact with events, like at all. That boat event was there to test the MV animations, and I realized during that when the Schala Z System was on, you straight up can't interact with anything.

2) I also noticed that the plugin parameters don't even work regardless of what you've set up in the plugin menu, and can only be changed in the code.

The latter is definitely an MZ issue, but the former... I don't know. I mean, heck, when the Schala Z System was active, I was still able to attack on the field regardless if I was in a battle or not (I need to remove the ABS stuff to decrease confusion, but that's for later).

But yeah, so far, I've done some neat stuff for sure

EDIT Schala Z System Update Mar. 25 11:03 PM

This is a small update, but I figured out why the plugin parameters weren't working, it was because you need to set the plugin parameters were stored in the file name, and I made a cool mistake of changing the file name without changing that one line of code that needed it. But I now did that, and everything is working fine again!

I still need to find a reason why I can't interact with events and why the spell animations aren't showing, though

(Schala Z System) Mar. 26 3:32 PM

Another small update, I finally fixed the issue of not being able to interact with events! A quick trip to Fossil has shown me the problem, and just as I expected, it's an MZ thing because the command to interact with events is a bit different compared to MV, it's another missing parameter, which is pretty much the trend at this point heh

Honestly, for how much tweaking and fixing I have to do, I won't deny, this is actually pretty fun to do, and I feel like I'm starting to get an idea how JavaScript in RPG Maker works, so hey, it's going smoothly so far.

Also, I want to add a small bit of my idiocy when working on this for fun. I've been wanting to port MogHunter's other plugins into the mix like the Battle HUD, ATB HUD, etc. I implemented the battle HUD just fine and realized that the ATB meter looked wonky, and like an idiot, I missed the fact that in the plugin itself there's an option to animate the meters which require to be 3x its length.... and for some reason it was turned off by default for the ATB meter.... I'm not mad, this was actually kinda funny lol

EDIT: (Schala Z System) Mar. 26 11:42 PM
Well, I've successfully ported and translated the BattleHUD plugin, and thankfully everything is working... except the maxCols variables (the parameters that determine the amount of columns in the item and skill windows). I tried checking the parameters and the way they're set up and even tried to set them up manually myself with them, but out of everything, they won't work. I have no clue what the problem could be

(Schala Z System) Mar 27. 11:26 PM
I decided to take a break from constantly fixing major errors and bugs for today, and instead, focus on a little bit of customization! I am a digital artist myself, so I have to indulge in my natural habitat, leave me alone lol

I decided to customize the Battle HUD plugin, translate it, make my own layout images for it, and even include two minor fixes to it! The first one being that I changed the parameter name from "Name Bold Size" to "Name Outline Size" because... that's what Moghunter wrote for some reason and it made me think that it made the text bold.

And the second fix being that in the original plugin, the battler name and result numbers all used the Arial font, which looks out of place if you ask me. Now, the battler names now use the main font you set up in the system settings, and the result numbers now use the number font you set up as well, which makes things less clashing if you ask me.

Also, you may have noticed that I changed the column count, and if you read the previous thread, you'll know that I was struggling with it. I managed to fix it! Turns out that the item and skill menus the Chrono Engine uses are the same one used in the pause menu, but the maxCols parameters referencing the battle ones, so I had to alter the code to make them reference the vanilla ones. This does come with the cost of affecting the in-menu item and skills lists, but that's a cost I'm willing to take as of now, mainly because it would require me heavily altering the code to make it work with the battle menus, and I don't want to risk bricking anything or everything. So for now, this will suffice.

I'll stop talking for now, and I'll let y'all enjoy the new HUD I made for the engine. Also, I decided to test things out in a 1200x700 window size, want to try a different window size for once.







To be honest, I wasn't expecting to do all this in 6 days, I thought it was gonna take me way longer to get as far as I am now. Nearly all of the basic stuff is done, and all that's left is see what the heck is wrong with the spell animations and why they aren't showing up. I altered the command212 code and only got the sound effects and flashing working, there's definitely something else in the code that's causing this. If anyone knows a possible fix for this or if there's something else that makes the animations play, do tell me.

But yeah, so far, I've done some really great progress :]

(Schala Z System) Mar 30. 6:50 PM
Another update, and another video to showcase! Huge thanks to @bass2yang for helping me get the animations working correctly as now the sprites and Effekseer animations are displaying themselves correctly, sk a huge thanks to him (go check his stuff out, it's pretty cool)!

I can finally share a new video showcasing the engine's current state working in MZ, as well as properly showcase the new HUD in actions, so here ya go! :]


So what's next for me now that the basic stuff is? Well, I wanna take a break from coding for a bit and finish translating the plugins' help stuff into English. After that, I'll have to test stuff like Double Techs and Triple Techs, and in between them, I may try porting some of MogHunter's other plugins that use Chrono Mode, like the Action Name, the Combo Counter, the Dot Movement, and the Character Poses. Let's just hope they're not a hassle to port and get working like the Chrono Engine already was lol

You can see if you can get MOG_DamagePopup to work in MZ (it makes the damage numbers bounce or rise). Someone asked me to look into it but I only have a temporary trial of MZ and otherwise don't use it.

MZ - MOG_DmgPopupEffects MZ with added features!

Hmm... I'll try to get it to work when I get to it, it is on the list of stuff to implement. Definitely using that thread as a reference, though, that's gonna be a huge help for sure, so thanks :]

(Schala Z System) Apr 2 12:56 AM
Today, I have ported a few of the extra plugins that work with the Chrono Mode. Mainly, the Damage Number Effects, the Combo Meter, and the Action Name plugins.

Each one of them a small challenge on their own. The first one was because MZ renders damage numbers completely differently than how MV does it, the second one was a hassle with the pictures I had to set up, and the third one, well... I actually added a few extra parameters like horizontal padding, changing the maximum width, and the ability to specify the filename in the plugin parameters. That inspired some confidence in me to try and do the same for the other plugins like the base Schala Z System and the BattleHUD plugins, may try that in the future.

Anyway, here's a WIP of the current Action Name Layout and Combo Counter. If there's a specific plugin related to the Chrono Engine you wanna see me port or any suggestions you want to give me, lemme know (as long as it's not for ABS mode, since I'm only focused on Chrono Mode for this project).

The level of "my game will be overhauuled day 1" if this does all i need it to. lol

(Schala Z System) Apr 8 11:42 PM
A small update all things considered, but I was working with @AquaEcho on porting the Damage Pop Up plugin into MZ as well as helping him add new parameters like changing the text color, outline, and even the spacing. He has the updated script on his thread here, so if you want to try it out for yourself, go check it out here, we may even add some new stuff to it in the future if we can.
MOG_DmgPopupEffects (modded for MZ compatibility))
I also managed to figure out how to adjust the spacing in the combo counter numbers so thankfully it doesn't look like there's too much space depending on how the number images are done.

Now, as of now, I may not do much with the Schala Z System as I did before. I'm still gonna work on it, don't twist my words, but because I have college and I also have a graduation project to work on, development will be slower than before unless I managed to find some free time to work on it, and I want to at least try my best to add as many QOL features into the engine and make a demo of it once I'm done with it.

But, if you have a suggestion to give, you can throw them in this thread right here, and I may give it a peak (NOTE: I'm not doing ABS mode, I'm mainly focused on Chrono Mode):
MZ - Schala Z Engine (Chrono Engine MZ) Suggestions Thread

(Schala Z System Filler Post and Small Update)
No, I'm not cancelling the project, just gonna put that first assumption out of your head :]
This is a little random thing I wanna share as a filler post of sorts, but I did something stupid yet fun. I managed to get the Schala Z Engine game working on a browser using Laravel (with some help from ChatGPT because I got stumped for a moment). Why did I use Laravel for this? It's for a college project, I swear. My professor wanted us to make something in Laravel, and I'm going all out with an RPG Maker MZ game running on a browser server lol



Yeah, that's about all I wanted to share right now. I paused the development of the Schala Z System since the last post because my college decided to be a bunch of d---- and crunch the hell out of me and everyone else. I've been focused on getting my college stuff done during the little amount of time they've given us, which means, yes, I haven't done progress with the Schala Z System. But, hopefully, I'll resume development once college is over and everything is set and done.

This project is a lot of fun and I don't want to stop working on it until it's fully finished! I'm also hoping to make a small demo showcasing the engine and share it to SAGE of this year (whenever that happens) just to give it a lil' more visibility.

But yeah, that's all I have for now, here's hoping I can finish college in one piece. Also, uhh... Touhou girl invaded website of my game >:v

Yes, I'm the one who drew that Star Sapphire in the background

(Schala Z System) Apr. 26 11:50 PM
This is a small thing, but I managed to change how dropped items behave. Instead of making them being dropped on the field and you have to pick it up yourself, it's like every other JRPG where you automatically get the item once the enemy is dead. It was simple, just add a function once the enemy is dead.

Though, I'm having issues trying to write the text of the items you received in battles. I may need to examine how the code renders the text and figure out how to do it. Any help is accepted, btw, as I'm pretty busy as of late

(Schala Z System) Apr. 27 1:05 PM
Alright, a bigger update this time as I managed to get some free time to work on this. I managed to do two things:
1) Figure out how to change the speed of the Phase animation, so, I'm definitely making a parameter for that.

2) I did what I wanted to do yesterday and managed to figure out how to make an item list in the results screen once you obtain an item from an enemy! It's all pretty good. However, and this is gonna annoy me, I cannot figure out how to make this thing an actual list and not a whole line of words.

I tried different methods to try and get this to work, but no dice. And before anyone asks, yes, I did try \n and \r\n, and none of those work. In fact, that's what's currently in the code for this thing.

I'll try and see if I can hopefully get this thing to be a list without resorting to making multiple sprite bitmaps for that. If anyone's willing to help, I'll gladly accept it