TERMS OF USE πŸ“œ

ABOUT: PAID MATERIAL πŸ’²
If you have legally acquired my paid material, please do not distribute it. If you have obtained my paid material illegally, please do not distribute it and report it.
Working to create paid material and not making any profit from it can be demotivating.

ABOUT: FREE MATERIAL πŸ“¦
Free to use, but please give credit to ("Victor Sena" or "Victor SenArt").

Commercial and non-commercial use: Free to use;
Redistribution of materials: Free to distribute, but send link for me;
Edits and updates: Free for modifications.

Button (Size: 90x30)


Banner (Size: 143x40)

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Reforestation

Reforestation

Introduction
Welcome, dear apprentice, visitor, and maker, to my latest tutorial on RPG Maker VX/Ace, this time focusing on mapping. Here, I'll discuss how to create forests in your project. I hope you understand what I'm trying to convey. Any doubts about what I'm going to discuss can be clarified by reading the previous tutorial on maps.

Where Do I Begin?
Firstly, let's start with the height and width of the map. I prefer creating a small map to avoid difficulty in filling in details later and it's better for demonstration in this tutorial. After deciding on the size (I chose 45x38), we need to think about how the forest will be. I'll include an entrance to a cave, a river, and a cabin throughout this tutorial.


I'll start with the location of the cave, river, cabin, and the terrain, which will consist of low grass, high grass, and dirt paths at the entrances. It's better to have multiple entrances to avoid simplicity, such as a boss area, a chest, a village...

Regarding the cabin, I left the area with more dirt because it's a place where people walk, like paths made by horses with little grass and water, for fishing or swimming. Now, the river; I only outlined its location for now; I'll also add a supposed entrance to a cave in the empty space, center-top.

Why these gaps in the high grass? To make the player think about which path to choose and to determine where the trees will be placed, because sometimes we have to give options for them to choose whether to lead to a place with nothing, a chest, or an exit.

Walls A4
Now comes the part of the small entrance to the cave and the closed forest tile, which are from TileA4 of the exterior.


Notice that I used the closed forest tile over the high grass, then placed the high grass around it and the mountain using shift. Utilizing the shift, I used it with water behind the tree because those edges look strange. Additionally, I made some repairs to the map to ensure the paths are correct and there are no spacing issues.

Time to Copy!

After finishing the use of shift with the high grass, now it's "time to copy!" Let's copy the tiles using the other function of shift, as explained earlier.


First, let's create the other entrance to the cave. Either create a new map or leave space to copy. Make variations to use on top of what has already been used; it can be tiring, but the final result is worth it.

I'll also include a part of dirt and grass by copying, and another thing is to copy the edges of the river with grass to place behind the closed tree tile. To finish the terrain part, I'll use the darker water tile to give the impression of depth in the river.


Details and More Details...
Now let's move on to the objects of the map, but before that, I'll mention a few things to avoid:

  • Don't place identical objects next to each other, such as stones, holes, flowers, and bushes, depending on the format and purpose of your map, like a garden or a mine where it's not a problem;
  • Use objects according to the terrain; you wouldn't use a mushroom, dry bushes, and dead trees on grass terrain;
  • I prefer to avoid placing identical colors next to each other, like flowers; for example, I place yellow, red, white, yellow... This is optional.

Cave Entrances
Since I left a larger space and by preference, I used this larger bridge found in TileA exterior, and remember to use shift to not interfere with the terrain, turning it into grass underneath. Use various positions with trees, wall bushes with high grass terrain, dry branches in places with little high grass, colors of flowers far from each other at the entrance...


At the supposed entrance, we'll use the same methods as mentioned above. Additionally, I added a staircase to a lower part, where there could be a chest, NPCs...


Tent
Place the tent in a location with dirt and grass nearby and add other objects like chopped logs, a bucket with water, a place for a fire that sits on top of the dirt... You'll notice that the top part of the tent is obscured by the objects, but don't worry, just use events to replace them. And use what I mentioned about the entrance before.


General/Events
The details mentioned in the previous sections can be applied to the rest of your map. Now, about the river, use aquatic plants and other objects that are events to add variation to your map, making it rich in details. Don't forget about events; use some tiles that couldn't be placed as events, the rest of the tent, stones with water, chests, smoke above the campfire, and others you want.


Acknowledgments

I would like to thank you for reading this tutorial and sticking with it until the end. Also, thanks to Enterbrain for creating RPG Maker VX/Ace.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Icon Art

Icon Art

Introduction
Welcome, dear apprentice, visitor, and maker, to my tutorial on RTP VX/Ace in the Pixel Art section. Here, I will discuss both theory and practice. I hope you understand what I want to convey and practice for those who are learning.

What is RTP?
RTP, or Run Time Package, is a simple yet comprehensive resource package used in Makers, containing graphics and sounds. Each graphic follows a pattern, which I will explain here regarding the RTP VX/Ace pattern in characters, so pay attention, my dear apprentices.

Which Colors?
Firstly, RTP VX/Ace uses a specific number of colors for each part of the icon. Take a look
at the icon from the RTP Iconset:

If you look closely, you'll notice which colors are used. For the border, it's always a slightly darker 1-pixel black, usually using a minimum of 6 pixels for shading, but this can vary depending on the space available for shading on the icon. White pixels are often used to show the lighter part of metallic, glass, and other objects that reflect light. The border pixel is also frequently used to provide highlights and sometimes serves as shading.

Shading, Do You Know How to Use It?
This part is the most important—shading, something that is quite useful and makes the project beautiful. It's important to know that shading in RTP icons comes from the upper-left corner. See some examples:
Did you look closely? Did you notice that the left side of the helmet, bag, and sword is brighter? This makes a significant difference, making the item's graphic look more natural. But there are other types of shading, such as on shields, which are somewhat cylindrical, and on armor as well

Let's Get to Practice, Shall We?
Well, enough theory; now let's get our hands dirty. First, let's take a model to start and a color palette, preferably vibrant colors and from existing icons, which are essential in VX/Ace. You can create or edit icons; the easiest way is to edit, just like the previous Pixel Art tutorial. The model or example image I will use is the clothing of Arkhan's favorite character, the administrator of "RPG Maker Brasil.NET".

Armor
I'll start by parts, first going for the breastplate, which will include the cape, as it seems fixed in the armor from the image. The base I'll take will be silver armor.
Let's go in numerical order:
1. I took the armor icon;
2. I erased the armor shape to make it similar to the character and fixed the edges;
3. I edited the shading on the shoulder pad to create some stripes like in the base;
4. I took the light bulb icon and used its colors on the armor;
5. I drew the cape with the border pixel and used it as shading;
6. I used the colors of the brown bottle for the cape, making it lighter at the ends to give the impression of depth, and adjusted the cape's border;
7. I took the orange from the coins to make the cross on the armor like in the character;
8. I edited the shading of the cape and slightly on the armor due to lighting.

Shield
Now let's move on to the shield; well, from the image, it seems wide and large. Like before, I'll edit an existing icon to make it easier for beginners in Pixel Art and to help me, of course.
In the same order:
1. I took the shield icon, which already has a cross;
2. I separated the shield by cutting it in half and spreading the parts to make the shield longer and wider;
3. I filled the cutout space with the cross colors on the shield and also did the shading, leaving the middle lighter, the left bright, and the right dark;
4. I took the white pot to use its color on the cross and modified it with arrow borders, copying and pasting the up arrow to put in the down direction;
5. I made right and left arrows, but smaller since the shield is not a completely flat surface, but somewhat cylindrical like the armor;
6. I made stripes in the shape of shuriken tips with white color;
7. I took the brown cloth to put on the shield and made shading to give it relief; if you look closely, you'll see the light pixel after dark and light again;
8. I changed the color of white to a beige that matches the model, taking tones from the image itself. Then, I took the red cape icon to make a rose. Since the space is small, I made some scribbles, and around it, I placed the border pixel to represent the heart on the shield in the image.

Accessory
This time, I'll take an accessory from our model for this tutorial, the cross that he holds so
dearly for his prayers.

Again:
1. I took the icon of a cross;
2. I reduced it a bit to make the cross tips;
3. Then, I made shuriken tips again with the color of the cross itself;
4. I took the fire sword icon and took its colors to introduce them in the middle of the cross, as in the model image;
5. I corrected the shading on the gold borders to match the upper-left lighting;
6. Then, I made the cross's cord with a yellow line and added the border and shading.

I hope you understood and liked it. I apologize for not showing the other items, as the tutorial would be long, and the goal is to demonstrate how to easily edit an icon to resemble a desired image.

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Enterbrain for creating RPG Maker VX/Ace, and you for reading this
tutorial and following it to the end.



From 2023
"The icons are in the 'Tutorials' folder." ~ New and edited sprites included in the Art Material [2010 ~ 2023] package

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Basic Functions for Maps

Basic Functions for Maps

Introduction
Welcome, dear apprentice, visitor, and maker, to my second tutorial on RPG Maker VX/Ace, but this time it will be about mapping. Here, I'll discuss the basic functions for creating maps, essentially in theory, and I hope you understand what I'm trying to convey to you.

Tabs!?
First, I'll explain the mapping system of VX/Ace, the tabs. Unlike other versions, it has the tabs TileA, TileB, TileC, TileD, and TileE. In TileA, it's subdivided into animation terrain, for example, water, then normal terrain, walls, fences, and roofs, and finally, a general one. Then comes TileB, TileC, TileD, and TileE, which are for objects that overlay TileA.


In the VX version, you can use the tabs for the entire project, while in the Ace version, you can choose which tile, set of tabs, for each map.

Terrain Options
Now I'll talk about the terrain options you can apply to each tile. They are Blockage, Directions, Stairs, Grass, Counter, Damage, and Terrain.

Blockage
This option is used to mark where the character can pass or not and to pass under some tiles, like portals, trees, and others. The symbols are:

𐀏 - Passable.
 - Impassable.
- Above characters.

Directions
In this option, you choose which side of the tile the character can pass, examples of this are stairs, bridges, among others...


Stairs
Used to connect the ground with an upper part that was normally blocked in RPG Maker VX. Examples of this are castle staircases, mountains, among others...


Grass
Exactly 8 pixels in the graphics become transparent, giving an impression of tall grass, more realistic.


Balcony
As the name suggests, it's useful for shops, where you can place events that can be active even from the opposite side of the marked tile.


Damage
Tiles marked with this option will cause your character to lose health points if they pass through them, examples of this are lava, swamps, and others...
Terrain
Defines an ID for a tile. It is mainly used in event systems or scripts, which recognize a certain terrain ID with a certain action like a variable.

Other Functions
Shadow
This is a new function for RPG Maker Ace, where it's possible to erase and place new shadows, but there's a problem, they are very square, which makes it difficult to shadow round objects.


Shift
A very useful function in VX/Ace mapping, shift can be used in two ways, as far as I know. One of them is to keep a certain tile without modifying the surroundings, and the other is to copy the tile that has already been placed on the map. If you didn't understand, you'll see what I mean by the images.


See the difference? Well, you use shift while holding it and then apply it to the map with another tile, low grass according to the map and contour to give this effect of tall grass coming out of the mountain. Regarding the other shift function of copying.


I'll use the mountain to show the other function. You use shift normally on top of it, but now with the right mouse button, you hold shift and select what you want to copy and then just apply it, holding the key, in the desired place and we have this example above.

Some Examples

To conclude this basic tutorial on mapping. I will show some example maps using RPG Maker because there are some that have other methods with images (pictures) that I'm not yet familiar with.



Acknowledgments

I would like to thank you for reading this tutorial and sticking with it until the end. I would like to thank Arkhan Holycross who checked the spelling of my tutorial, Damyoro who explained to me what Terrain is, and Enterbrain, for creating RPG Maker VX/Ace.