Inspiration Behind Battle Technician Series

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Introduction This article aims to explain the mindset and inspiration behind each of the volumes in the Battle Technician series. Battle Technician Volume 4 The plugins found in Battle Technician Volume 4 all center around skills. They are all also plugins that Yanfly has created in the past, either with Yanfly Engine Plugins or an earlier iteration of the Yanfly Engine script libraries. These plugins have been repurposed by the VisuStella Bunny Team to be remade for RPG Maker MZ. Here, we will also talk about the inspiration behind them making these plugins in the past so that you, as a game developer, may spark a new idea on how to use them for your game(s). Equip Battle Skills This is an article written by Yanfly. Now I'm a fan of games that give you lots and lots of skills to use provided that they have variety to them. But I'm also not a fan of sifting through huge skill lists just to find a single skill to use out of the bunch. This has been an issue that has plagued me since the RPG Maker VX era and it was around that time that I started to seek solutions from the various games I've played. Of the RPG games at the time were Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest which did not really address the second issue. In fact, they are the very reason I dislike having to navigate long lists of skills, especially after they've become obsolete. With JRPG's not providing the solution, I turned towards MMORPG's for an answer and of the one I found was Guild Wars. Guild Wars, not to be mixed up with Guild Wars 2 or that "event" mode in Granblue Fantasy, solves the issue spectacularly. The game gave the player 8 skill slots. The player would have to choose which skills can put into which slots. The rest are held in the reserve, completely inactive. Within these slots, there are other rules, too, such as a limited number of specific types of skills (such as Elite Skills, in which, only one Elite Skill can be equipped at a time). This equip battle skill system accomplished a few things: Reduced the need to sort through a bunch of skills Imposed limits on the player. While it's pretty evident why the first result is considered an accomplishment, it's not so obvious why the second one is considered a positive. Imposing limits on the player creates diversity of gameplay and actually allows for better creative expression. Since not all skills are available at once, players must experiment to find what best fits their current playstyle for their current point in the game. And as there's usually not a one size fits all solution (though some Guild Wars veterans may argue this), players will be constantly playing with the equip battle skill system throughout the game. In other words, the mechanic has massive staying power. In a way, one may compare this to Magic the Gathering, in how there are so many cards, a limited hand size, and yet, a near infinite number of combos. Magic's players often engage in discussion with one another to determine which deck works best for which situations. The same happened in Guild Wars as there's almost always ongoing discussion about skill builds and whatnot. I believe that through the usage of the feature in an RPG Maker project, it will also generate similar discussions with the player-base, too. This causes players to be engaged with the game while playing and not playing. As a result, I've made Equip Skill Slots for RPG Maker VX. Over time, this eventually translated into Equip Battle Skills for Yanfly Engine Plugins with Allowed Types and Skill Tiers as extension plugins. Now, all three of those MV plugins are remade into one as Equip Battle Skills for VisuStella MZ. I hope that through this plugin, game devs are able to recreate a community-drive to seek out optimal skill builds like Guild Wars did all while providing a better player experience. Skill Mastery This is an article written by Yanfly. When I first played a Disgaea game, I've encountered the skill mastery system. This system is a staple in many Nippon Ichi Software games. When a skill is used multiple times, the user becomes more proficient in it. It doesn't level up or morph into anything spectacular, but instead, the user does more damage with it, have better cost efficiency, better ailment success rates, etc. To me, this made a lot of sense and it's akin to what you see often in real life and fictional stories. I always found it cool when in an anime or manga, when a character tries to fight against a master mage. The character would use a high level spell while the master mage uses a low level spell. The master mage would win spectacularly with the low level spell, because of all the built up experience in using it. Such things were almost never possible in RPG's until this feature came to be. The best part is, this feature benefits both games with small skill lists and large skill lists. In games with small skill lists, it ensures that skills almost always remain relevant in damage. The more a player invests in a particular skill, the more it stays relevant for them. For games with large skill lists, it allows different skills for a variety of ways to grow. If a player wants to train a skill that grows in damage potential, they can. They can also do the same for a skill that grows in cost efficiency. Another skill growth path is an extension of effect duration. With these options, players can make way for their own play styles and get rewarded for it. The plugin first came to be as Skill Mastery Levels for Yanfly Engine Plugins. It is now remade as Skill Mastery with more options to boot, all while rewarding the player for their dedication of training their favorite skills. Skill Stealer This is an article written by Yanfly. The script was first made in RPG Maker VX Ace as Skill Steal. I did not remake it for RPG Maker MV as a plugin, but I did remake it as a Tips & Tricks effect. Granted, it wasn't the same, but it got the process done. Though the same effect can be translated into RPG Maker MZ, I opted for it to return as a plugin again as Skill Stealer. The reason being that there are just some effects that can be done with the plugin that couldn't be as a Tips & Tricks-type effect as efficiently. And that's the ability for the stolen skill to be only temporary for the better. This plugin was originally meant to be made as a supplement to the Equip Battle Skills plugin. This allows the player to acquire skills from enemies, similar to how Elite Skills were captured in Guild Wars. The player would have to go out and hunt the enemies with the desired skills to be stolen. Upon successfully stealing them, the player could then equip said skills and then continue the process again. That's for the permanent side of skill stealing anyway. For the temporary side, this is to add in a new style of gameplay where certain characters or classes are able to use a foe's strength against them in the same battle. The acquired skill being temporary allows for game devs to let players have fun with overpowered skills while having no lasting impact on the game balance for the rest of the game. Lots of fun can be had with this feature. Ending Statements And that's it for this article! Happy RPG Making! End of File