I'm happy to report that I've pretty much gotten the hang of scripting in RPG Maker MV. Doesn't mean that any problem that crops up will be easy to solve, or that I will be able to solve any and all problems I encounter (especially the more complex ones, although the fact that there is a nice community of even better scripters than I working on commonly desired features helps a lot), but it means my abilities to get what I want out of this program (and my confidence in being able to do so) are stronger than ever.
I'm fairly confident coding in JavaScript by now - which isn't to say that I know the language back and forth, but I know the basic syntax, and figuring out how to do specific things is as easy as typing a question into Google and surveying the answers. The hardest part remains diving into the - as I said - tens of thousands of lines of code that make up RPG Maker MV, and a) finding the code you need to modify to get the results you want and/or b) trying to understand not so much the JavaScript, but how the actual program RPG Maker has been designed to function.
On the other hand, I haven't had this much of an opportunity to program since I finished my schooling (the barrier of learning a foreign language is surprisingly intimidating, even if most of the logic behind computer programming is the same no matter what language you're using), and I had forgotten just how much fun it is to code (barring all those frustrating times that your code fails, and you assume you've screwed up the logic, when it so frequently ends up being nothing more than a parenthesis or a semicolon out of place). It's the thrill of problem-solving. Some people like to fix things with their hands. Computer programming is the same, except you're using your mind - and that's always been my strongest tool.
So over a couple of weeks I pretty much absorbed myself into programming, and worked out a nice little plugin that I'd like to offer up to the community. It started out with me trying to figure out how to create an enemy that mirrors the player's stats, no matter what they happen to be when the battle is initiated. I couldn't find a way to preload those stats into the enemy's properties in the database, so I opted to run an event at the start of the battle that reads the player's current stats and then feeds them into the enemy (to do this, I made all the enemy's base stats 1, and then added the player's stats minus 1 on top of them).
It was an adequate solution, but in the process of working on it, I wanted to have a nice way to read the enemy's stats in-game to make sure they were what I wanted (and expected) them to be. So I embarked on creating something of a skill akin to the Peep command in Final Fantasy IV (since, to my knowledge, RPG Maker comes with nothing like it by default). It's probably come up in other places (although that's the first one that came to my mind), but basically it's a skill you can use in battle to investigate an enemy's stats (HP, MP, etc.) as well as its strengths and weaknesses (e.g., strong against fire, weak against poison, immune to sleep).
So this plugin started out very basic and functional, but as I went along, I realized how well it presented itself to user customization, and I decided to use it as an opportunity to learn a lot of valuable techniques in scripting for MV - like proper aliasing, utilization of plugin parameters, as well as plugin commands (although I finally opted for notetag functionality over plugin commands, in order to bypass the extraneous step of having to call a common event). It started out as pretty much one big function that did everything I needed it to do, but then I decided to split it up and write it in the format of the rest of RPG Maker's code, which is very modular and method-based.
The end result is a fair-sized monster of a thing (by my standards, that is - it's tiny next to some of those professional-level plugins you can find). And even though I still consider myself to be a beginner - or beginner-intermediate, at best - scripter, it's something I'm pretty proud of. I can't claim that it will be compatible with any and all other plugins, but I don't anticipate it having any significant problems (most of it is contained within a brand new class that I've written). So, if you get a chance to try it out, please tell me how you like it, and if there are any bugs you encounter.
My plugin in action.
Now, let me briefly describe what my Peep Skill plugin can do. (The plugin itself is fully annotated, so you should be able to figure out how to work it just by reading the description at the top of the file, or through RPG Maker's Plugin Manager). After the plugin is installed, all you gotta do to use it is type <peep> alone or with arguments (see the file for details) in the note box of the skill or item that you want to execute the peep skill when used in battle. When you use it, if successful, it will display on screen a list of the target enemy's properties. You can fully customize which properties are displayed and in what order, choosing from the following options:
Enemy's Name
Current and Max HP and MP
Basic Parameters (Attack, Defense, Magic Attack, Magic Defense, Agility, Luck)
Current States applied (e.g., sleep, poison, mute)
Current Buffs (attack up, agility down, etc.)
Elemental and State strengths, weaknesses, and immunities (all according to the enemy's traits listed in the Database)
Enemy's worth in both experience and gold
Potential drops (with probabilities)
As I said, you can choose any or all of these to be displayed, and you can even format them by adding in blank lines. The plugin is designed to wrap lines that exceed the length of the text box (you have to input the max character limit if you're not using the default font and size). And all of the text prefixes and terminology is modifiable. Plus, you can add the tag <peep:no> to the note box of any enemies that you don't want the player to be able to read the stats of, and even customize the failure message that is displayed! All in all, I'd like to think it's a pretty robust plugin. It does have a few limitations (it only works on enemies, and not actors; it only works on one enemy at a time; and it only works in battle), but hopefully it will be useful for whatever your specific purposes are!
Download: Peep Skill Plugin (for use with RPG Maker MV)
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