Scenario is a great little program, but no program comes without errors. I am aware that David may not have the time to fix them, as he has already told me, but here we can post about glitches in Scenario and ways to work around them.

My first is a little gripe about boss battles. I don't know about other boss modes, but when I have the boss mode set to 'Big Boss', potions don't work!

In battle with a big boss, you may want to use a potion. But when you push ACTION on the potion of your choice, the potion just disappears and nothing happens! You've lost a potion and IT has had no effect.

Anyway, the more we explore the details of Scenario the more aware we are of bugs and how to get around them. :D

Hmm, I can battle with a BIG boss and use potions as normal. But for me, fighting an EASY boss causes problems. Sometimes, both Lo/Hi potions just add about 8 or 16 ish.
Other times, the LO potion works (like if I don't use a default boss?) but the HI potion acts like a LO. I create successful boss battle for potions for the other modes of defeat depth, however.
I am very happy to see that the half-life battle works so well. It does seem that it has been attributed the virtual battle style return of previous life to the half-life battle as well as simply the virtual battle.
The virtual battle being a custom defined critter page in the sprite messenger, where you create your own boss battle, and the virtual part is one of the special battle options, where even though you enter a battle, you don't actually maintain the lost life after completing the battle. I like those features a lot.

I can't actually find a use for the virtual battle. What situations do you use for it?

I intend it for a training session, like when you could be trained for military service to go on a mission. The team leader tests your skills.

Think Final fantasy 8, Seifer vs Squall. I have that in mind, a friendly rivalry where the winner gets to boast.

That's why I like the virtual battle. You can have two situations depending on who wins. So the "winner" of the battle gest to boast. If you win, it'd be on the page after the critter page, where you boast. Then lock to end page and terminate current.
Otherwise, jump to "you lost label" page for the rival to boast about his skills. Then lock and terminate in a similar way.

I may use it as part of a trial, where the enemy isn't trying to kill you, rather, test your skills. If you win, you are rewarded. If you fail, you simply get to try again another time. The good thing about it is. After losing the virtual battle, you can set in the sprite messenger for the player to have 1 HP left, and warn them about it.

Finally, my best idea, is that you and a rival are fighting to earn a special item.
Then, if you win, set alpha variable WIN to "yess", otherwise, set it to "nooo", something like that. The result of this battle will affect you later on, since when you meet the rival again, whoever has the artifact will be benefit.
For example, if you have it, it grants you +2 weapon when you call on its power during the next time you meet your rival. But if your rival has it, then you will be downgraded -2 weapon for the duration of the battle.

Great examples, though I've never played Final Fantasy VIII myself. Well, only the start. I might use that 'artifact' idea, in a different sort of way, later on in my game.

Also, what's up with that death icon!? As far as I can tell, it HAS to be somewhere in your world file, meaning whenever a player gets the 'game over' screen for failing at a task, he or she will start at the exact same space everytime, no matter how far into the player is.

Now I'm not sure if switches are put back to the way they were since the last save, or what... But even if they remained the same (more or less saving your progress), what about the locations of the airship and your boat?

Not only that, but it's terribly awkward. Is there anyway to use the death icon in sprite messenger, to send you back to your last save point?

Okay it's official, I am not allowing the player to restart anywhere after dying. in my games
Like myself... you can turn that flag off in the WORLD >> WORLD PREFS >> (#3) RESUME DEFEATED PLAYER part of the ESC menu during editing your world.
Also, if you have it on, then you would use the PLAYER >> LOCATION >> RESUMING POSITION to set that flag on, but only if your resume defeated player flag (mentioned above) is on.

The way I, and I'm sure you and other worldbuilders make your worlds, will NOT desire to have to start at the same place every time you die in battle.
Well, maybe that's just me, but the way I have designed my maps, is that you cannot always be able to travel everywhere, some parts become blocked off after a while, or you travel to another "island" and thus I don't want to have the player restarting back at the start. So like you say, it WOULD be good to be able to return to the last save point, but I can't in any way make use of the death icon in the sprite messenger to do this.
I tried [death]+[warp to]england
but that simply warps and ignores the death part.
SO it's not possible.

What you can do... is have a sprite that doesn't use the death icon but rely on the warp id's instead. Depending on where in the world the sprite is, anyway. There we have it.
Unless I've missed something vital.

But I do have plans for the death icon in sprite messenger. I have a few scenes where I have death/game over without battle.

Like when the player chooses a really really stupid route despite constant warning to go the other way. (why is it when you tell someone not to do something... they do it?) :rolleyes:
Or, perhaps they encounter an enemy without having obtained an item yet, that would mean instant death since they aren't equipped to take on such an opponent.

Well Shadow, the only thing I can suggest, if you're looking for that checkpoint effect, is to use the alpha variable to make check point counters. Then sprite messeges to set the alpha variable as the player crosses them...
~Sprite Messege~
[Alpha Var]cpt=1
[Terminate]x3

~Critter Messege~
Inqure [Alpha var]cpt=1
goto checkpoint1

Label checkpoint1
messege jump to warp ID cpt1
[terminate]

However, I learned the hard way that if just ONE page doesn't read to grant the player 1 hp, the entire messege will quit for game over... :/ your call mate... but there is no universal way to send random/normal critter encounters to a check point...

Well, yes, that... or alternatively you could send the death marker to a cell which automatically loads the player's last save...

But I don't know how to force that.

Hi Shadow:

* Hey nice SIG pplz ! :)

Phew !
You guys are really wringing out my little RPGMaker.
A lot of that stuff, Alpha Variables, Death Marker, and anything else that was pretty new for that time period is well BETA.

There is no way to automatically load the last save.
You COULD leave a little sign-post next to a SaveSpot and tell them:
"
Welcome to LIMBO.
To live again, - -
"
.. ?!? Hah, I can't remember (bringing up Scenario)
That's pretty bad when the author can't remember what he wrote.
Okay .. again,

"
Welcome to LIMBO
To live again, select FILE,
LOAD GAME and load your
last save. This is the only
way you can be
regenerated.
"

It's clumsy but you may have noticed that when you die you automatically get a chance to LOAD your last saved game so .. ?? What're you doing making a custom death script to reload the last save ?? :)

Progress continues for GBA Scenario.
Follow THIS link to both read and add your comments, suggestions, and/or recommendations to this RPGMaker in the works.
http://s9.invisionfree.com/Scenario_RPGMak...hp?showtopic=10

Ho do u make the characters do things?
eg: while talking spin around 500,000 times
I already know u can press tab and then the thing apears but it wont let me
use them. WHAT SHOULD I DO :angry: :angry: :angry:

When workig with what we call the NPC (non-playable chracters) you must use the sprite messenger icons in specific orders to have the sprite execute the desired action.

e.g. Create a sprite with any image, and combine a messege to it. If you wanted this sprite to move from where you placed it over to the left three spaces you would have to select the icon that looks like a head with RED hair, then locate the coloured arrow pointing left, and place a 3 after it. Make sure the face is the 1st letter on the line, and there are no other texts after these three. Save the messege, walk the player to the NPC and talk to it. It should move to th left three space. WIth nothing else to do it will either disappear or suddenly reappear where you had originally placed it.

*Note that the RED hair icon can be replaced with the YELLOW hair icon to move the PLAYER themselves in the direction of three spaces. In time your comprehension of the Sprite messenge and the works of its icons will evolve, and Scenario will suddenly become a whole LOT easier. Just visit me... er )_) us... here, and we will help you ASAP as best as possible.

A suggestion for you is to play through the "Sample" world available with Scenario and press tab in play where a question has occured to you or seems to be answered and investigate the scene with the editor mode before continuing on again by pressin tab where you want your character to appear for "Test play".

To Calimero:

Ru Mane has covered what I had in mind, but... I wonder are you extremely new to Scenario?
If not, forgive me for my following explanation. But any question is welcome, and often, the answer is direct. Keep asking questions, it is more than a good idea. B)

WHen you are ready to enter a message into a sprite...
(sprites can be of images-sprite character or critter - thus the scene activates when you talk to the NPC.
or they can be invisible, or a tile. In which case the scene you make with the message will activate when you step on that square).
SO when you are typing a message, you have many options open to you.

Pressing [ESCAPE] will bring up a menu of options:
Type - normal or critter page(for custom battle).
Location - where the message will display- top middle or bottom.
Speed - rate of speed at which text displays letter at a time.
Portrait - for an image of a face.
more.... for advanced techniques I won't go into here just yet.

Pressing [ENTER] selects those options.

But to relate back to your question, if instead of pressing escape like above, you press [TAB] that will bring up a big window full of different icons. Use the arrow keys to move to the one you want, then [ENTER] to select it. Then you'll see it present in the message window you had before.

Try and keep it simple at first, so if you want the player to spin, just use the command icons, on the same line: [player][spin~right/left~]3
that will make the player spin 3 times in whichever direction you chose as soon as the sprite is activated, by talking to a NPC in game, or by standing on the square with that message.
Finally, if you have lines of speech, try and keep them one separate lines from any command icons you use.

If you are struggling to make use of anything or work through the menus and options, let us know.

But as soon as you've got the hang of it, then Ru Mane's suggestions will really help you get worldbuilding like a pro :D Especially using the Sample world and looking into how certain cutscenes are made using the sprite messenger.
Enjoy!

To dw817/Topaz/our leader... who we also know as David. :ph43r:

Shall we continue to address you as Topaz, just like in the old Q&A?

Right, moving on. It struck me an idea regarding this death/reload idea.
Naturally, I prefer people to reload and try again if they die, but others may wish to keep on to the experience and items gained just before they died. Of course, this is dangerous since it may muck up certain cut scenes.

BUT, I wonder if it is possible for future Scenario release, no doubt GBA, that there could be a sprite command to actually call the SAVE procedure. SO we can actually have a cut scene where it saves progress, which aside from the normal Savespot tile that automatically allows saving, this could benefit the worldbuilder as when this save is carried out, flags/alpha variables/switches etc can be set, and thus called later in inquiries.

What about that? Wow, I actually came up with a plan! After a long day of football then tennis, the adrenlaine must be doing it.
Umm, any feasiblity with this?