Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
As with several of the preceding screenshots, I have tweaked it, so that it can fit neatly within the confines of
this page. I've left out the Encounters section on the right side of the window. Encounters are relevant to monster
spawning, and I will be touch on them at a later time. Anyway,
•
Name
is the internal name of your map, that is to say, the name the map has while you're
working on your game in RMVXA. This can be edited, if desired. For example, MAP001 is the
internal name of the default map included in all RMVXA projects when they are created.
•
Display Name
is the name of the area as displayed in-game. When your player reaches an area
that has a non-blank display name, the game will display the area name in a small box near
the upper-left corner of the screen.
•
Tileset
: If you're using RMVXA Lite, the four tilesets available will be the only ones you can use.
In the full version of RMVXA, you can add more tilesets of your own choosing. In any case, and
as you might imagine, each tileset is created with a distinct graphical goal in mind. The map
properties default to Field, which is the tileset you would use for a world map.
•
Width/Height
control the map's size.
•
Scroll Type
allows you to make a map that loops in on itself horizontally, vertically, or both.
This is very good for a world styled much like our own planet.
•
Specify Battleback
allows you to set a background that will be displayed during combat with
enemies.
•
Auto-Change BGM/BGS
: This pair of options allows you to change the background music and
sounds when the player first enters the new map.
•
Disable Dashing
: Players can move in double time during game play by holding down the Shift
button as they move. You can disable this functionality on a map by toggling this check box.
•
Parallax Background
: This can be used to make a dynamic background that moves when the
player moves. It can be used for such things as simulating an elevator going up or down floors.
•
The
Notes
field is pretty much self-explanatory. It can be used to write down things related to
the map in question. If you want to write up a list of important events that occur on a certain
map, this would be the perfect place to put it.
Those are the relevant options. Let us set them, like so:
•
Name/Display Name: Second Area
•
Tileset: Exterior
•
Width/Height: 30/30
•
Auto-Change BGM: Field3
When you're ready, press OK. You will be greeted with a large checkerboard of nothing.
Why Is the Map Empty?
While MAP001 comes with water tiles already set, subsequently created maps are completely blank (to be precise,
that's the transparent tile). To answer the question posed by the section heading, it's just the way RMVXA works.
Worthy of note is the fact that 30
×
30 is large enough a map size to require you to use the scrollbars (even if you've
been following this topic while using RMVXA full-screen). Make sure your editing mode is set to Map Mode (click the
relevant icon or press F5) and then draw a rectangle with the Meadow tile that starts at (0,0) and ends on (23,15).
