Friday, May 10, 2013

Testing chipsets in RPG Maker

First, let's get a game file set up.  You'll only have to do this once, and then you can test chipsets to your hearts content.
-Download RPG Maker here.
-Once in the program, the top left of the toolbar will have a "New" button.  You can name the thing whatever you want.
-Now you'll have a water-covered map, with a pre-installed chipset to the left.  Think of it like a really weird MS Paint, and the tiles are the colors.  Click the one you want and click on the map.  There's a small toolbar across the top of the chipset with drawing options.
-The tiles are divided onto two seperate layers on the map, with the ground cover on the lower layer, and the objects (the ones on transparent backgrounds) on an upper layer.  On the toolbar, you'll see three icons in a row that show a cursor on three different colors.  The first of those icons is the lower layer, the second is the upper layer, and the third is the event layer.  The event layer is where the coding goes, so don't worry about that one.

To bring your chipset into the program:
-There are two ways.  One is to find the folders that were made when you made a new file.  Inside, there's a folder called "chipsets."  Just copy and paste your own chipset into that folder.
-The second way is to find this icon:
In the window that opens, make sure the "chipsets" is selected on the left, and then click import.  Find the file, and then hit "OK" to import it.
-Now we need to make that file available as an option for our map.  Hit this button this time:
Then find the tab labeled "Tileset."
-This isn't as scary as it looks.  You can ignore most of the info on the page.  On the left is a list of chipsets available.  You'll need to add a new number to the list, so hit the array button at the bottom and add a new one.
-Select your new, empty slot.  Go up to "Name" and  "Tileset File."  You can name it whatever you like.  Then select the "..." beside the tileset file and choose your chipset.  Hit "OK" to get out of the window.

To apply the chipset to your map (last step!):
-On the bottom left is a file directory.  Right click on the map and choose "Map Properties."
-Find "Tileset" and choose your chipset from the drop down menu.

You're done!  Now you should be able to draw on your map using your chipset.

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