Ah-sung's Paperdoll

[DerVVulfman]

Ah-sung's Paperdoll
Version: 1.2

Introduction

This system allows you to render the player and party character sprites with their gear visibly rendered. The resources for the gear may be stored within a custom folder,  and may comprise of weapons,  clothing or armor,  and even alternate body components for the ingenious.  As to why it is referred to as a paperdoll system...

paper doll (noun)

1. A paper or cardboard representation of a person usually in two dimensions for children to play with.
   
2. Figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs.
   

Features

• Show the player equipment on the map
  
• Show the party member equipment in menu windows
  
• Show equipment on map events when defined
  
• Support for multiple image layering for any defined equipment
  
• Support for image substitution pending party member's existing gear
  
• Support to show party member equipment with select follow-party scripts:
  • Train Actor by Fukuyama
    
  • Squad Movement by Near Fantastica
    
  • Caterpillar by ccoa
    
• Support for different-sized resources
  
• Support for MultiSlots! by DerVVulfman
  
• Partial Support for Sprite Shadow by Rataime
  
• Partial Support for Sprite Sun by Rataime
  
• Partial Support for Sprite Mirror by Rataime
  
• BONUS: Includes command_355 Interpreter script call fix
  

Demo

( The Basic Demo )  --  Box.Com link
( The Extended Demo )  --  Box.Com link
* The Extended demo includes Fukuyama's Train Actor script, and MultiSlots! by DerVVulfman




Script

The system is a multi-script system.  Better the demos to handle them.



Instructions

Plenty, and all in the first page of the system.



Compatibility

There are sections overwritten, mainly within Sprite_Character's update method. The method re-worked to mimic the RMXP SDK © 2007+


Author's Notes

I tend to give my demos names of ladies, co-workers, fellow members or otherwise. This time, I chose to name it after one of the actress's from the Korean Horror movie "The Host" © 2006, Ko Ah-sung. She was also in the 2013 feature, Snowpiercer with Chris Evans and Sir John Hurt... but I never saw it.


Credits and Thanks

Basically, thanks to Icogil  who created a topic for designing a paperdoll system that allowed for variable-sized resources.  It spurred me forward.



Terms and Conditions

Free to use, even in commercial projects.  Just note that I need some form of due credit... even a mere mention in some end titles.

[DerVVulfman]

BUMP!
to version 1.2

On its release, Ah-sung's Paperdoll would likely have been heralded as the most advanced character sprite layering system within the RPG Maker line. It includes features that have not been witnessed in other like systems, even among plug-ins made for the python-based newer engines. Still, there is a time when one dabbles with their work and realizes that something may have been missing.

Those missing features have now been addressed.


Multiple Image Layering for Defined Equipment

Paperdoll layering assumes you have a a base character such as the actor, and draw another image atop to render it wearing armor or carrying a weapon and/or shield. Ah-sung's paperdoll granted the game developer the ability to choose the order in which the images are layered together with the ORDER STYLE system.

However, the game developer may encounter instances where an article of clothing or a piece of gear must wrap around the initial sprite, rendered and drawn behind the initial sprite as well as atop the sprite. One such example would be a 'cloak' worn by the hero as seen in the initial post. You may have the flowing cloak appear behind the hero, but the cloth that wraps around the neck shown atop.

Said image layering such as the cloak is now possible, and plays a part within both the Basic and Extra feature demos. But it need not apply to only worn gear. The demos now include an Archery Bow which Aluxes may now equip. While this takes a traditional weapon slot, weapons such as bows are traditionally carried in the left hand and not the right. However, both demos also shows that the Multiple Image Layering system can be used to place the bow within Aluxes's left hand when carried.

The bow is not anything special, just a couple of orange-ish lines... nothing special at all.


Image Substitution Based on Existing Gear

Yes, the system allows you to display different graphics for pieces of gear depending upon the actor, but a new feature has been added. This system allows game developers to have the actor's gear determine if any item is visibly changed. It does so by temporarily changing the item ID of something equipped so this new ID can be instead used when acquiring and rendering the sprite.

As an example, if an actor was wearing a cloak (again with the cloak), the cloak may look burly and large over the hero if he or she is wearing bulky armor. But if wearing modest clothes, it may drape over the character sprite instead. The system may generate a different ID if the hero is wearing any defined armor by the ID numbers supplied, and then use the temporarily updated ID for the cloak and choose a different cloak image.

The image substitution system does have to recognize the differences between armor and weapons, so it uses two different hash arrays... one for each. It also uses string (or text) to allow one to distinguish weapon IDs from armor IDs when defining what gear temporarily changes an item's ID.

An item's ID can be changed to another if another item (from a range) is also equipped, can be changed to one of two item IDs, and even change it to a different ID if multiple items in a row (all combined) are equipped. A more complex feature, it is shown within both demos. A simple use of it is shown in the Basic demo while a more complex version exists within the Extra demo.

Happy Gaming!!!



PS: Oh, now the first page explains why it has its name... or who it is.