Menu Request ^^

[StrawberrySmiles]

Hi! I'd like to make a menu request for my game, Mercenary Maiden. Either a new menu, or one I can mess around with. :{

The concept is as follows:

I'll write a list! Lists are fun, right? ^_^;;

1. The first slot is locked to the first actor in the database.

2. The circles atop are large picture-icons and are the menu commands.
* Inventory
* Equipment
* Abilities
* Status
* Quests
* Variable 1/ Added Command
* Variable 2/ Added Command

3. The bottom shows Location, Money, and Play Time (the squares are icons too >>)

4. Everything should use the windowskin if at all possible. XD

5. Fame XX% and Guild Rank should use variables (guild rank would be based on the number obtained)

Feel free to ask questions or adjust things!

Thanks for any interest! ^^

 

[Glitchfinder]

Huh, I'm bored, I might as well pick this one up. Is this XP, VX, or VXAce? I know you're an artist, and thus don't like to be chained to specific limitations, but there are a few questions I have that should make this easier on both of us.

• What size (in pixels) will the icons at the top be? Ideally, they should all be the same size (and shape), but that's up to you.
• What size would you like the icon label to be? (Where you have Items in the example pic.)
• Would you like that label to always be on the left, or would you like me to do something silly like making the icons scroll so that the text is always to the left of the relevant icon?
• Are your choices for the names of the menus exactly what you want them to be, and would you like it if I set them up so that it's easily modified in the script?

Next set of questions:

• The primary character, the one that is detailed. Is there a specific character that will always be there, or is it a specific party slot? Or would you rather I made an easy evented script call to select which character goes there?
• Is the character's name supposed to overlap their icon like that?
• Is the icon inside a window, or is it merely a custom icon?
• What size font would you like the character's name in?
• How about the stats and their values?
• Are there any custom fonts or font families you would like it to use?
• Any font colors?
• Font shadowing?
• What size would you like the window it's in to be?
• These questions should also be answered for the other character info slots, along with whether you intend the name to overlap the outside of the window like that.
• Are the interior bits supposed to use the windowskin, or do you prefer a custom image behind them? (As in, the interior curved rectangles around the character status sets)
• From what I remember, the default RM* system only allows you to store numbers in variables without the use of scripting. How would you like me to deal with that with the guild rank? I can make an easy config to let you store that as a number in the variable, but if you're already storing it as text somehow, it makes it easier for me.

Final set of questions:

• What size are the icons along the bottom of the screen?
• Are they all the same size and shape?
• How much space will be needed for the name of the map?
• How many digits will the player's gold cap at? (More accurately, what is their maximum gold?)
• Will you have a maximum playtime that it stops recording at, or will it just go up forever? (For example, Pokémon games typically stop recording at 999:99)
• I noticed the cutoff bit at the bottom, where the map name and such are, seems to be attached to the window above in an odd way. Did you intend for it to not be a separate window? With how the RM* games handle windows, approximating that kind of attachment may be difficult and potentially slow, would you be satisfied with two separate windows instead, or maybe with a smaller window at the bottom that's being overlapped by the main window? (with the main window on top)
• What is the longest map name you currently intend to have?
• Will the location be stored in a variable, or will it be the name of the current map?

And one last question: Would you be willing to provide example graphics for me to use when coding and testing this menu, so I have an idea of what you're actually going to be using? The same goes for sounds and such as well.

It's been a while since I've actively worked in RM*, so while my coding habits are better, I'm not as familiar with the specifics of the RM* system as I used to be. Meaning it might take a bit longer, but it should work better than if I did this way back when. One of the areas I think this might be obvious would be my questions regarding playtime, as I can't remember if that was actually tracked by default. I think it was, though.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Thanks Glitchy! And I'll answer the questions as BEST as possible! I swear! :D

The maker is VX ACE.

Icon Size: 45 x 45 (35 pixels apart)
* Inventory
* Equipment
* Abilities
* Status
* CUSTOM
* Quit Game or CUSTOM
Icon Label: At the bottom please, 20 font size
Easily Mod the names of the menu ^^

***

* Primary character is the first actor no matter what (the main protagonist of the game)
* Not the first character, but the bottom three sure :D
* It's their face portrait ^_^ (roughly the size you see in the concept)
* 16 size font for character names (shrink 2 font sizes for other characters)
* 12 - 14 size for stats and values (shrink 2 - 4 font sizes for the other characters)
* No really custom font families; if you want you can make it so I can change it
* Mostly white, yellow and red (goes with the color scheme)
* Font shadowing on Names, Icon Names, and HP/SP
* Full-size
* All windowskin to match other windows!

****

* 24x24 icon size for the bottom of the menu
* Same size and shape? Yup!
* Roughtly the same - the font should probably be about 16 - 14 size though
* Probably 999,999 G
* Most likely it will stop at 99:99 - if someone played my game for longer, I'd be shocked.
* A smaller window is fine. ^^
* I have no idea yet, but probably only 3 words. >>
* The name of the current map

***

I can provide any graphics you want while you do this! Most will be placeholders, however since I'm still working. :P I'll give you the stuff. :D

Thank you for your interest, Glitchy! I appreciate it!

 

[Glitchfinder]

All right, that spurred a few more questions:

• Is the group of top icons centered? If not, how far from the left do you want them to start?
• Is the icon label supposed to be just under the icon? If so, is it always visible, or just when the icon is selected?
• If the label is only visible when the icon is selected, how do you want it to show up and vanish?
• What kind of indication will the selected icons have to mark them as the current choice? Will there be any kind of animation, be it an animated icon or movement?
• Will there be any kind of animation for changing your current selection? One of the most common choices for this kind of animation is to play a sound while having the icon "bounce". It's hard to describe, but I'm sure you've seen it in console games of some sort.
• Since you're using multiple font colors, would you care to add a mockup that shows what colors go where?
• Just in case RM* doesn't use font sizes the way Word does, would you care to give me a generic height for each font size you've listed, in pixels?
• Could you elaborate on the window sizing questions? I need at least a rough estimate of the dimensions you'd like them to have, as well as relative locations. (Relative to other things, or relative to the upper left corner, your choice) It would be best if I had that for as many windows as possible, although I can work based on your mockup.
• Would you be willing to give me the length of a map name in letters? (including spacing and such) I'll be using this to figure out how much space is needed, using a worst-case estimate using the widest character I can find (typically something like the @ symbol)
• If I told you I was willing to incorporate my keyboard/mouse/gamepad modules for this menu, would you want me to, and if so, how would you like me to use them?

In terms of example graphics, I'd like as much as possible. Windowskins, menu icons, character pictures. So long as they're the right size and shape, they'll work.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

YAY! >>

* Centered!
* Just under icon - only visible when selected
* Fade in/out if possible? D=
* Maybe just a highlighted circle around them?
* A sound would be great!
* I could I think - I'll have to test it in paint.net a bit. Names are 20 pixels in height, everything is 16 - 14 pixels in height
* Main character window: 475x120 pixels, 150x110 for other characters, 544x50 pixels for bottom part
* Right now Commercial District is the longest map name I have
* Eh, I don't want that much fancy dancy stuff
* I'll give you the images then (mostly all are placeholders :P

 

[Glitchfinder]

For those who happen to be curious, here is an in-progress mockup of what I've got thus far:

I say mockup only because none of those values are hooked up. Everything there IS fully functional, it just doesn't go and get the information it needs to display stuff.

 

[Jason]

Looks fucking amazing to be honest with you... nice work Glitch!

 

[Glitchfinder]

Looks fucking amazing to be honest with you... nice work Glitch!

Thanks. I kind of feel like I'm running poor Strawberrii in circles with all of my questions, though. The ones in this thread are only like half of them, there have been a ton more over Skype. I just want to make sure that the end product is something she wants, instead of something I halfway forced on her. She has yet to contradict a suggestion though, so I still do have that worry.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

I really like what you've been doing so far, Glitch!

Thank you so much. ^____^

You're best friend foreva! >>

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Glitchy, have you been busy as of late? o.o

 

[moog]

For those who happen to be curious, here is an in-progress mockup of what I've got thus far:

I say mockup only because none of those values are hooked up. Everything there IS fully functional, it just doesn't go and get the information it needs to display stuff.

ok that looks fucking fantastic.

 

[Glitchfinder]

Strawberrii, I just want to apologize for dropping off the map like that. I'm going to finish this, but I won't be able to work on it today or tomorrow due to being scheduled for full shifts at work, after which I will likely not be in any mood to actually program. That said, I have no work from Monday to Thursday, so I should have plenty of time next week to finish this.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

It's fine Glitchy! I can wait until then!

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

How are things going?

 

[Glitchfinder]

How are things going?

Well, we should all remember that "may your life be interesting" is a potent curse. Aside from being called into work repeatedly, I've had to help deal with various other issues around the house, like our hot water heater stopping. Hopefully, I can get back to this either tomorrow or on Monday.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

It's fine, I've just been... down about things not working out for me. I was checking in to see if something cool was happening. ^^;;

 

[Glitchfinder]

For those who are curious, I'm currently in the process of actually hooking the mockup into everything. I have yet to actually set up the buttons on top to process, which will come last, but that should be fairly easy. Here's the final mockup, complete with two things already hooked in:

(Those two things happen to be the map name and the current playtime)

Edit:

I've hooked up everything but the buttons at the top and the guild rank. Here's a picture with a three-person party as an example:

 

[Glitchfinder]

I'm done! I've already handed it back to Strawberrii, along with the modified graphics I was using. And I'm posting this message for all to see, because otherwise I'm not sure if she'll follow through with it: If you have any issues with the menu, just ask me about them. I'll see what I can do about fixing the issues. It's not like I typically have an incredibly large number of demands on my time.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

While testing battles I noticed that "Next Level" didn't update. D=

I thought I'd let you know!

 

[Glitchfinder]

While testing battles I noticed that "Next Level" didn't update. D=

I thought I'd let you know!

I'm not sure what you mean. Could you give me a bit more info? I just double checked to make sure it was hooked up, and it appears to be.