Inspiration Behind The Waves Plugins
VisuStella, Caz Wolf, Fallen Angel Olivia, Atelier Irina, and other affiliated content creators.
Introduction
The Waves plugin series are the first batch of plugins published by team VisuStella MZ. These primarily focused on the essentials for RPG Maker MZ and the types of plugins general RPG Maker MZ projects would use. Here, we will talk about the thoughts, inspirations, and core ideas that went into the creation of each one of these plugins. We have split up these plugins across 8 waves, each released in a batch after some time. Use the knowledge however you see fit.
Wave 1Core EngineLove them or hate them, "Core Engines" are now a staple of RPG Maker plugin developers. I coined the concept in RPG Maker VX for Yanfly Engine ReDux and it has stuck with my script/plugin libraries ever since. Something I need to make mention of is that the Core Engines I create tend to differ in intent than the majority of Core Engines developed by other RPG Maker plugin/script devs. For me, the Core Engine has always been about modifying the underlying base code of that iteration of RPG Maker for the most fundamental features, such as window positioning, text colors, sound behaviors, file properties, and more. This stays true even for VisuStella MZ's Core Engine. For other plugin/script developers, the "Cores" that they make are often containers for code that is often ran through for their plugins/scripts and are often used as a requirement. This is not necessarily the case for all VisuStella MZ plugins. For the VisuStella MZ Core Engine, we had combined quite a whole lot of Yanfly Engine Plugins library's plugins into it. These range from the YEP Core Engine to Base Parameter Control to Level Up Growth Effects to Enemy Base Parameters to utility features like External Links, Key Name Entry, Key Number Input and more. We have also added many other features such as the Button Assist Window which is used to replicate the modern JRPG menu's button assistance UI. We also went as far as to incorporating Olivia's Anti-Player Stress features and Irina's Performance Upgrade. Simply put, these were cumulative effects I deemed useful for the types of projects RPG Maker developers are likely to encounter.
Battle CoreThe Battle Core is another staple from the script libraries I've made in the past ever starting from Yanfly Engine Melody. In fact, the majority of the features in the VisuStella MZ Battle Core are heavily inspired by Battle Engine Melody's design. The inspired features relate to the ability to flip battle systems, while also being able to adjust the appearance of the battle status, enemy design, and more. For RPG Maker MZ, we had to do more work with it than what was required of RPG Maker VX Ace's Battle Engine Ace. You see, ever since RPG Maker MV, the introduction of the BattleManager and Window_BattleLog have been introduced and they played a major thorn in the side of things. These two new classes are essentially separated from the battle scene and made into their own entities with functions that cross bleed into each other, for better and worse. In RPG Maker MV, the Battle Engine Core attempts to fix it, and while it does to a degree, does not do it completely as many can tell due to how floppy the forced actions are for that iteration. In RPG Maker MZ, we decided to go a different route for the Battle Core and rewrite the majority of the battle loop from the ground up (while still hooking the existing functions together with it). This allowed us a more foundation to use, which allowed for stronger Action Sequences (via Plugin Commands), a more suitable forced action system (ala queue system), and better support for custom battle systems (of which, VisuStella MZ boasts 8 different battle systems while YEP only barely manages to allow 3 different ones to exist). Needless to say, this is the battle engine I wanted to bring to MV but couldn't due. It's all because of the help from Olivia, Irina, and Arisu combined with my experience and wisdom in creating the foundation that a better battle engine was able to be made.
Main Menu CoreThe Main Menu Core has also been a staple of the previous iterations of Yanfly Engine libraries ever since ReDux. It allows for easier accessibility in adding new commands to the main menu, and then bridge those commands to scenes or common events. This was also the case for Yanfly Engine Plugins' Main Menu Manager. However, a problem plagued the MV plugin and that was there were always bound to be compatibility issues with it whenever people wanted to use a different window layout. This is through no fault of the MV plugin itself, but instead, due to the frontier-like environment made early in MV's lifespan. Plugin developers were not familiar with compatibility at the start, so a lot of the window placements and features were often overwriting the features found in the Main Menu Manager. We decided that for the VisuStella MZ version of this plugin we will tackle that issue, too. We provided a variety of UI layouts for the game developers to pick and choose from. These layouts came from many different popular game types found across AAA JRPG studios. With that taken care of, we can also avoid compatibility problems in breaking the core functionalities of the Main Menu Core.
Message CoreThere has always been a message script/plugin ever since Yanfly Engine ReDux and VisuStella MZ was going to be no different. What ended up happening this time though, was we decided to combine the majority of the message related scripts from Yanfly Engine Plugins into one. This not only reduces ordering problems, it actually provides better performance, too. I've also bought the rights from Irina to use her message-related plugins from RPG Maker MV like Auto Message Colors in order to add more features to the MZ variant. And through the usage of clever JS parameter design, users can add in their own custom macros, text codes, and effects through the Plugin Parameters. This created a strong core for anything message related as anything that benefits the message system can be carried over to different facets of custom text management where applicable.
Events and Movement CoreEvent-related functionality have been present since scripts found in Yanfly Engine ReDux. The majority of the Eventing plugins from Yanfly Engine Plugins have also been added to the MZ variant. On the movement side of things, there's been scripts for extended movement functionality ever since Yanfly Engine Zealous and that carries over to VisuStella MZ's Events and Movement Core. Even Yanfly Engine Plugins library's Move Route Core and Extended Move Pack have been incorporated into the VisuStella MZ variant. We decided to combine these two things (events and movement) together into one plugin as they are very closely intertwined on a code level. By combining these two, we also made it possible to create a foundation that allowed more complex plugins to be created such as Movement Effects and the Furniture System down the road.
Items and Equips CoreText
Skills and States CoreText
Elements and Status Menu CoreText
Save CoreText
Options CoreText
Wave 2DebuggerText
Dragonbones UnionText
Victory AftermathText
Button Common EventsText
Quest Journal SystemText
Visual State EffectsText
Picture Common EventsText
Party SystemText
Skill CooldownsText
Gab WindowText
Wave 3Battle System - ATBText
Action Sequence CameraText
Weapon UnleashText
Aggro Control SystemText
Battle AIText
Animated Map DestinationText
Grid-Free DoodadsText
Life State EffectsText
Extra Enemy DropsText
Wave 4Battle System - CTBText
Enemy LevelsText
Proximity CompassText
Enhanced TP SystemText
Auto Skill TriggersText
Animated PicturesText
Item Crafting SystemText
Anti-Damage BarriersText
Credits PageText
Wave 5Battle System - STBText
Weapon AnimationText
Weakness PopupsText
Skill Learn SystemText
Action Sequence ImpactText
Database InheritanceText
Horror EffectsText
Steal ItemsText
Encounter EffectsText
Wave 6Battle System - BTBText
Message Letter SoundsText
Battle CursorText
Class Change SystemText
Action Sequence ProjectilesText
Combat LogText
Bright EffectsText
New Game PlusText
Menu CursorText
Wave 7Battle System - FTBText
State TooltipsText
Visual Item InventoryText
Common Event MenuText
Visual Text WindowText
Visual FogsText
Equipment Set BonusesText
Limited Skill UsesText
Visual ParallaxesText
Wave 8Battle System - OTBText
Weakness DisplayText
Break ShieldsText
Weapon Swap SystemText
Boost ActionText
Skill ContainersText
Visual Battle EnvironmentText
Sideview Battle UIText
Patch NotesText
Ending Statements
Text
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