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Advanced note finder thingy

Ok, the title is a bad description for what this tut actually does, but it is the most relevant thing I can think of that openly describes what this event-based system does. My name is Systematicanfailure, and I will teach you to make a simple message system that can be used in quests, in cut scenes or even when a character in your game finds a message or piece of paper, etc.
What it'll look like is that your character will walk up to a book or something, maybe a piece of paper on the screen, in this instance, I'll use a book in the middle of some snow;
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/739/50741129qo4.png[/img]
And when they select the object of choice, in this case the book, the surrounding area will darken while the note appears onscreen.
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5994/45447187tv8.png[/img]

Here's the demo if you want to see how it works first hand:

All right, here is what you'll need:

Paint, or another image editing program
Any RPG Maker

There you go, that's all you'll need. A simple yet effective combination of tools can be the precursors to a great game, imo.

Step 1: Chuck on some heavy metal, open your chosen RM, then create a new event. Call it what you like, I'll call mine "Charred note in book" for referential reasons. Make the priority 'same as characters', and make the event graphic an open book. Finally, add a text command like so:

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/3868/87110973de0.png[/img]http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7296/31372223ru3.png[/img]

Step 2: Now your going to need the darkening effect, where the background darkens. Create a series of 'tint screens' with 'wait' commands of 6 second lengths, like so

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2547/48845333ix5.png[/img]

Then you'll want the note to appear.

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/1989/93891384sq8.png[/img]

The following wait commands will give the player ample amount of time to read the note, then it will disappear, after which, you'll want the screen to revert to normal.

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/5639/79414754uc6.png[/img]

Congratulations, you made an event in which the note appears in a professional manner! But wait, that's not all. You have to finish it off in an engaging way so that it looks...better, for lack of words. Here's how to make it so that you can revisit the note at anytime. Just follow the pictures, and the sound of my voice  :lol:

Step 3 (optional): In the same event, scroll to the end and put
Control Self Switch: A =ON
then create a new event page with the conditions set to
Self Switch A is ON
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/6678/29416141cr2.png[/img]http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/8479/96531855tq2.png[/img]

Then, on the new page, add text and a show choices dialog, along the lines of
"do you want to see the note again?"
"Sure thing"
"Nope"

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/2424/96389119nw8.png[/img]http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/4452/88301893gg9.png[/img]

Then, because I suck at explaining this part, copy everything that has been done in the following two pictures:

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/3889/91858941fx2.png[/img]

And if this tut has been followed properly, then you should have a fully functioning, note appearing...thing. I can't really explain it that well, only that it is quite a cool and simple little system. I will upload a demo so you guys can found out how it works first-hand, and copy it.
By the way, tell me if you find a virus in the demo, that would mean that I have one on my compu that I'd need to look for.
 
Instead of tinting, couldn't you just import the image with a black background (at 640x480) and set the black background to partially-transparent, then fade the image in?
 
I guess you could, however, the problem with that is is that you can't do that on RMVX, atleast not as far as I'm aware of. Otherwise, you could do. But if some newbies did it this way, they could learn for themselves how to use this system in other ways, for example, they could use the tint screen function in cutscenes and whatnot.
PS, I'm having a hard time finding a place to upload the demo to, were is the best place? I don't have money, so box.net is out of the question.
PSS, this was my first tutorial, how did I do?
 
Couldn't you just have a tint screen (-70,-70,-70) with a 36 instead of 1 frame time, and then have wait 36 frames?

Or will that not work?
 
Yeah, that will also work in RMVX, however, I don't know if it would in the other RMs, so I devised it the way I have just to make sure. Basically, the version in the tutorial is universal, however, those who'd rather use what you've posted are certainly most welcome. It's just down to personal preference.
 

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