Switches and Variables (Part One)

Des · 2012-03-16T13:43:55+0900

RMVX Ace: Switches and Variables, Part 1 Introduction Howdy. Uncle Despain here, with the first of my RPG Maker VX Ace tutorials. This tutorial is going to tell you everything (well—almost everything) that you need to know about two of the most important features of the RPG Maker program: switches and variables. This is the first part of the tutorial, and it will teach you how and when to use switches. Part two will go a little deeper into the uses for variables. This tutorial is written for beginners who are diving into the depths of the program for the first time—but I'm not going to be covering the basic interface stuff (that will come in another tutorial). This tutorial is written with the assumption that you understand the most basic elements of the RPG Maker VX Ace interface. But before we start trying to use switches or variables, it's important to understand what they are. What is a Switch? Switches are much easier than they seem at first glance. A switch in RPG Maker VX Ace is just like the light switch on the wall next to you. A switch has two positions: on and off, and you can flip it whenever you want within events. Your game will keep track of which position each switch is in. When you flip a switch in an event, the game will remember if that switch is turned on or off. What those positions mean is up to you; the primary use is to activate or de-activate events, but the possibilities are limitless. What is a Variable? Variables aren't much more complicated than switches. Think about it this way: if a switch is like a light switch, then a variable is like a dimmer dial: it works the same way, but instead of only two positions (on or off), there is no limit on the amount of positions a variable can have. If you're familiar at all with programming, then you know that a variable is a stand-in for a number (a number that varies). In RPG Maker VX Ace, it works the same way: using events, you can set a variable to any numerical value, and the game will store that value. The variable can then be used in a bunch of different ways. If these descriptions still seem confusing at all, don't worry: it's time to start putting this stuff into action. Flicking a Switch We're going to start by creating a treasure chest event. After the player interacts with the chest for the first time and finds his booty, a switch will ensure that the chest remains empty. In RPG Maker VX Ace, you can use the "Quick Event Creation" command to have the program generate treasure chests for you—but for this tutorial we want to make the chest ourselves. Let's start off by creating a new event: You can choose a suitable chest graphic (remember to check the "Direction Fix" box to prevent the graphic from changing when the player interacts with it from an angle) and use an event command to add an item to the party's inventory. You'll probably want to create a message telling the player what he found, too. At this point, the event looks something like this: (click the image for a full view) Now, if you were to test play the game right now, you would see that the player can open the chest as many times as he wants. Infinite potions! The way to prevent this from happening is to use a switch. Insert a new event command at the end of your "contents" list: select "Control Switches" from the "Game Progression" command category. The "Control Switches" dialogue box is simple: select your switch (or a range of switches) and then choose whether to turn it on or off. If you click on the little "..." icon, you will see a list of all the switches that are being used in your game: You can give each switch a unique name, so that you never get confused as to what switch does what. It's useful to give each a switch a short but descriptive name. In this cast, we'll name our switch the suitably simple "Chest 1". Once you've got your switch selected, you can OK out of that, and then OK again out of the "Control Switches" box. Remember to set the operation to on. The contents of your event should now have this line: This line means that the event is setting the "001: Chest 1" switch into its on position (by default, all switches are set to off, so we are activating a switch when we turn it on). When the player opens up the chest and takes his booty, the switch will be turned on as well. Test play your game and give it a try. Interact with the chest, and then press "F9" on your keyboard to bring up the switches and variables debug menu. You'll see that switch 001, "Chest 1", has been turned on. But you can still open the chest a bunch of times and get infinite potions! The switch has been turned on, but it isn't doing anything yet. The next thing we need to do is make the game care that the switch has been turned on. Pages and Conditions At the top of the "Edit Event" window, there is a line of button for page controls. Go ahead and create a new page. An event page acts almost like a whole new event—you can give it a dif…

● ARCHIVED · READ-ONLY

Started by Des Mar 16, 2012, 04:43 AM 27 posts Page 2 of 2 View original ↗

SirKata

#21 Jul 5, 2016, 03:26 PM Source

Aidentheimmortalmage said:
So i appear to be missing something, I have a chest set up and have the self switches in the appropriate area, but If i open the chest and go to a new area, the chest will go back to being unopened. Did I miss something or am i just at the wrong tutorial?

It may be as simple as having "toggle Switch A ON" after the chest opened, and page 2 with switch A on, no text (or "the chest is empty") and only the image of an opened chest.

If that's not it, can you post screenshots of your event?
Aidentheimmortalmage

#22 Jul 5, 2016, 11:48 PM Source

Diablos97 said:
It may be as simple as having "toggle Switch A ON" after the chest opened, and page 2 with switch A on, no text (or "the chest is empty") and only the image of an opened chest.

If that's not it, can you post screenshots of your event?

I actually figured out my problem, i have several maps set up, all copies of the original maps, because I like to make things harder for myself and wanted it to persist through those maps.

But now that I spent the later part of yesterday actually sitting down and learning more about switches and variables, I realize I was doing something very wrong. Yay me being hard headed!

I appreciate the reply though!
SydStrong

#23 Jul 23, 2016, 05:07 PM Source

Hello, I'm very new to this forum and I don't know of I'm doing anything wrong so if I am please correct me.

I am trying to make a puzzle using the lever graphic, and I want the player to have to find the lever before being able to use the switch. Everything works except for even though the lever is not in the inventory, the graphic changes to the lever being in the switch and turned on. The switch isn't activated, and when the text on the screen that I placed is finished, the lever disappears again. I don't know why it does this. If someone has any idea what might be going wrong, I would greatly appreciate any help.
Andar

#24 Jul 23, 2016, 05:10 PM Source

@SydStrong: Please show screenshots of your event pages - we can't tell you what you did wrong without seeing what you did.
SydStrong

#25 Jul 23, 2016, 05:15 PM Source

Okay, here are all the even pages for the switch. This is the first game I've tried to make so if I made a lot of mistakes, I'm sorry >-<
SiriusGG

#26 Aug 15, 2024, 05:48 PM Source

Maybe just for completeness sake you could add that all switches are initialized to "OFF" and all variables to 0. Besides that: Great tutorial! :)

SydStrong said:
Hello, I'm very new to this forum and I don't know of I'm doing anything wrong so if I am please correct me.

I am trying to make a puzzle using the lever graphic, and I want the player to have to find the lever before being able to use the switch. Everything works except for even though the lever is not in the inventory, the graphic changes to the lever being in the switch and turned on. The switch isn't activated, and when the text on the screen that I placed is finished, the lever disappears again. I don't know why it does this. If someone has any idea what might be going wrong, I would greatly appreciate any help.

So is the player only supposed to flick the lever on once and then it shall stay in that position or is the player supposed to be able to interact with the lever as often as he wants after inserting it? And is it acceptable, inacceptable or even prefered if the player automatically flicks the switch after inserting the lever?

Edit: Oh lol I didn't see I just necro'd this post. My first post on this forum for which I just registered is a necro post :aswt:
Ms Littlefish

#27 Aug 15, 2024, 06:10 PM Source

Unfortunately that member has not logged on for 8 years. I imagine they may not be working through this tutorial any more. @SiriusGG