Interactive World Map Script V1.1(Test V1.2 Now!)

[kyonides]

[OT]
I wonder if "she" could be an ex gf ha ha ha.
[/OT]

I guess you still need to make that window wider. Town Name: still looks weird on that screenshot or mockup. The click here label seems to make it clear where you need to click to get and set a new town icon so it seems to be a good idea...

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

does it look better with a semi transparent window?
p.s. what time zone are you in blue?

 

[BlueScope]

ps. i freaking love this one
http://bluescope.deviantart.com/#/d21l25b

Well, glad you like it, and so do I, but it's none of my artworks, as you found it in my favorites :p Guess I can't really be pissed by you choosing someone elses, though, by the quality of the favorised artworks compared to mine ^^

(regarding that @kyo: not mine in the least )


So, let's get to the interface part... as kyo already mentioned, the 'Town Name' text is too narrow still. You also keep the 'No Icon Selected' text in there for some reason, which I don't get at all XD
On the next line, I'd differ between the 'Icon:' and 'No Icon Selected'/filename colors, as it's usually used within RMVXP (and of course other applications) to differ between fix text and changing/changeable text. The click here indicator should work nicely, but you may want to work on it visually... despite the fact it's 65x65px (aka doesn't make any sense at all and should always be a multiple of 32x32, meaning 64x64 in case you want a 4times zoom), a black/window-background-blue/whatever-alternate-color-you'll-use-for-your-icon-and-icon-filename-seperation color would work better, I think... maybe combined with a small white outline to make the text less canishing in appearance. Finally, making all the letters lowercase might look less cluttery than it does now, while that really is a very small part and might be my personal preference.
The spacing looks much better now, but for some reason, it looks larger between the 'Icon:' line and the actual icon than anywhere else. While fixing this, you may wanna get used to working with base numbers for the vertical alignment, again with multiples of 32: first line's y is 32*0 (which btw you don't have just yet), second line's is 32*1, third's (the icon's) is 32*2. The fourth's (map ID's) has to be adjusted manually, as you're including an image object that won't fit in the 32 roster. Why, you'll say, as it's also based on the number 32? Well, the y value is the difference between each text line's top point (unlike desktop publishing aplications, where this usually defines the base line y value), so the 32 is the actual distance between top points, not distance between base line and next following top point.
Finally, the transparency you mentioned: using opacity usually looks bad and unintentional; instead, use back_opacity, which will just make the blue background transparent and leave the border unchanged, while not attacking functionality at all. Talking about it, yeah, a transparent background does a lot for useability, I think... might wanna think about making the windowskin's background grayscaled and decrease the opacity to 50% or something (as I think you used the default 160 for opacity?)

Other than that, I like it... when will we get to see a tryable example? :p

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

once again a shit ton to think about bleh, i think im gonna work on functionality for a few days before i get back to design. btw tho its 185 not 160 :P as for the try able example...while i have all the code...i still have to go about making it all work together, each feature was designed by its self. so now im working to make it all work together. its hard because my update is already 200 lines of code alone. the 3 cursor types/ and tons of checking the keyboard for input is tons of code to keep straight

 

[BlueScope]

Sorry for bombing you with a lot of stuff I got on my mind, but as you know, nothing will ever be perfect, and it damn right never will be when I'm looking at it :p And well, you asked for it ^^

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

lol its all good, i just want the features to work more before they are pretty, shit ton of testing for me to do to find all the bugs

 

[zchin]

Hmmm, I"m using this script, and I can't seem to make it work... In the demo the only places that worked were the ones with the subsections in it. And when I click a place, nothing happens... Any help with this?

Thank you and have a nice day!

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

well ill start with verson 1.1 sucks, but ya ill look at that when i get home from work, i prob just moved the wrong version of demo on my box.net, because i have fixed this problem before in like a month i hope to have version 1.2 done which will be 1000 times better, look at my first post for all the stuff i added/fixed in new verion

 

[zchin]

Okay, but I must warn you. If you make a really big file and plan to release it later on, then you should back it up otherwise something could happen to it and then you wouldn't really want to make the whole update again and it will never get out making the people who use this script a bit disappointed... (talking from experience)

Thank you and have a nice day!

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

lol i lost this script back when i considered it version .7 and it took me 14 hours to rebuild it, i now back it up everyday before i work on it lol

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

blue i need some motivation, im finding bugs faster then i can fix them, not to mention tons of features i cant get to work right...got a good pick-me-up up your sleeve?

p.s. on the upside, i found a simple way to convert old code from earlier versions to work with new version, just requires some basic copy paste knowledge, and such

 

[BlueScope]

I'm not exactly sure what you want from me? ^^"

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

lol was just frustrated after working on script for 2 hours with no results, ignore me lol. i just really want to get this working for everybody

 

[zchin]

So do you think that the script will be able to be released this month? I'm really looking forward to it.

Thank you and have a nice day!

 

[BlueScope]

...and THERE is your motivation :]

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

lol thats true blue, im hoping it will be, ive had to change a few things(which is reflected on the main post) but im really happy with what i have so far, all thats left is getting all the mouse clicking working without error(well getting time off work to do it is the real hard part lol). i still have tons of ideas i want to add to make this even better, but those will have to wait till version 1.3 lol

here is a screen shot:

@zchin: thanks!!! im glad at least one person is using this, im mostly using this to learn. but i wanted to make it cause ive never seen it done(good) and so far i think it is kick ass. (granted i know you havent seen new version sorry its taking so long, i added to many features at once)

p.s. is this too complex or hard to understand? every time i try to write it, i think i make it worse lol

Spoiler

=begin
ok this is pretty simple, copy and paste your Map_Items::Towns data from eariler
version 1 or 1.1 into a blank script page, use this one if you want. then add
World_Map.save after it. its that simple, please keep in mind if you want to use
the editor after you do this you need to run your game once then open and delete
World_Map.save or it will overwrite your new data with your old everytime you
run the program. if this is too confusing refer to simple instructions:

1.Copy paste old data
2.Add World_Map.save on next line
3.run game ONCE
4.Delete old data and World_Map.save


EXAMPLE:

Map_Items::Town.new(92,125,1,8,4,2,"town3","Saar",1)
Sub::Town.new(100,80,1,3,8,2,"town3","Shop",8,"Saar")
Sub::Town.new(380,130,1,18,5,2,"town3","Black Smith",9,"Saar")
Sub::Town.new(330,340,1,18,14,2,"town3","Home",10,"Saar")
Map_Items::Town.new(150,300,2,6,2,2,"snowtown","Alphian",2)
Sub::Town.new(120,80,2,16,6,2,"town3","Store",11,"Alphian")
Sub::Town.new(400,130,2,2,5,2,"town3","Armory",12,"Alphian")
Sub::Town.new(350,340,2,6,14,2,"town3","House",13,"Alphian")
Map_Items::Town.new(215,370,3,10,3,2,"mountain","Dwarven Mine",3)
Map_Items::Town.new(270,105,4,9,4,2,"castle","Royal Palace",4)
Map_Items::Town.new(425,340,5,10,5,2,"tower","Tower",5)
Map_Items::Town.new(450,100,6,9,3,2,"ruins","Lost Ruins",6)
Map_Items::Town.new(520,50,7,10,4,2,"forrest","Elven Forrest",7)
World_Map.save
#run once, then delete all of this
=end

 

[BlueScope]

As for the instructions on importing, I wonder why you did it that way... I actually don't know why you have files that need to be processed by scripts at all, but instead, I figured you'd use a database, and save it as a .rxdata file. The concept is simple: As long as you keep your database to simple values (meaning integers, strings, float, double, symbols, whatnot) and avoid using references to objects or anything that's project-dependant, you can just move the Map_Towns.rxdata file over. Then, instead of whatever you're doing up there, you'll be assuming all variables are where they should be - after all, that's what your editor makes sure of, right? Just ensure that your database file is completely plug&play, and you won't only have a fancy stand-alone cheese, but also have a file that's compatible to both RMXP and RMVX theoretically (if you rename or export it to .rvdata), in case you ever decide to do that. Meaning, you'll have one editor, but two ways to output.
The catch with this is: No matter how easy the way you described might or might not be (I honestly feel a bit lost on the instructions, but I don't think the actual process is that hard), there'll always be someone that'll turn away because it involves scripting - copy & paste, but still scripting. There's also people that'll just prefer the easier way (well, everyone does, but some people are purists :p ), and of course, there's people like me who might at some point just throw in in any kind of maker to test it, and need ages for it in comparison just to do that. (That's like Glitch asking me to test a script for him very quick, and instead, it takes me an hour to get it to work on my end while he laughs at me... well, of course, such a thing would never happen...... uch: )

Oh, on top of that, it's way easier to do this way, as you don't have the dependencies I suspect you have. Just if you're like "aww, I don't want to do all of that again, it was so hard " - it'll be faster this time ^^ (happened to me before... I almost spent a week working on XML parsing, and when I finally had it done, Julian (Mr. Gosu) nudged me about YAML really being the way to go... so, I switched over, which took me a mere hour XD )

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

it is an rxdata file, i load all data from the file, you need to do this to move your OLD data into the file. the new version DOESNT require any scripting, this is only for people who used my old system and Already did the scripting(due to old version needing scripting skills) here i will give you the save and load methods and i think you will understand.
[rgss]#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # * Save
  #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  def save
    filename = "Data/InteractiveMapData.rxdata"
    file = File.open(filename, "wb")
    Marshal.dump(Map_Items::Towns, file)
    file.close
  end
  #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # * Load
  #--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  def load
    filename = "Data/InteractiveMapData.rxdata"
    file = File.open(filename, "rb")
    Map_Items::Towns.merge!(Marshal.load(file))
    file.close
  end
[/rgss]

let me know if you still think there is a problem.

 

[BlueScope]

Ah... in that case, I of course got it wrong, and yeah, that's a pretty good way to allow older versions to communicate with the newer ones

 

[Kingdom Ablaze]

lol thanks, i just need to get the wording right