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[Bizarre Monkey]

Introduction
This will probably be my best tutorial to date, and it will be a tough one to top, this is a fully interactive mine cart minigame, it started out as a fun sounding request from a good friend, and it spiralled out of control, I added a few more features recently, and consider it community worthy indeed.

The Basic Principle is that you press the arrow keys to move it, but theres a slight catch, it moves always, even if you aren't pressing anything, this makes the game rather fun, challenging and intense, there is a lot to explain if you want all the features, I'll just cover the Basic engine today, and the Demo can show you/give you the rest, I might add more on later.

5 Step Guide to a Healthy Minecart Level
If you are doing this from scratch or wish for a better understanding, continue reading, if however, you want to see it in your game quickly and just want to copy it from demo to game, scroll down to "Implementation".

Spoiler:

Step One: Barrels
The first thing we will make is the easiest, the Barrels. Make an event that looks like the one below. It doesn't have to be a barrel, actually it could be any obstacle, but reember, it's going to destroy you if you hit it.

Simple enough. If you simply want it to damage the players HP instead, thats up to you to invent.

These are placed along the tracks to make things challenging.

Step Two: Wards
These are even easier, these are simply to avoid the minecart going anywhere but the rails.

Make sure they are same as characters and don't have a graphic, don't tick them for "Through" either.

These are placed in small areas where mine carts don't go, i.e. anywhere without tracks.

Step Three: Player Wards
These are in place so players can't go waltzing on the track and finish the course without the danger of an unstable minecart. They are rather similar to wards, with a small difference.
1.

This is the Warding page, if we flip to the next page...
2.

And that is the through page, the page where players can surpass it, which is when they are in a Minecart which means this will generally give them an extra square of room when moving an unstable mine cart around, the regular wards would be deployed now.

Step Four: The Mine Cart
This is the trickiest of them, there are three event pages, we'll start with
1.

This is entering and turning the player into a minecart, for ease of configuration, set up and further inventions.
2.

The Controller, this will make sure the Mine Cart keeps moving, and will react to player arrow key commands.
3.

This is the Expired Minecart, after it has been docked. On that note, the docking event is the next and last step.

The Mine Cart Event must be placed at the beginning of the course.
Step Five: Exit Dock
This is the area where the minecart comes to a halt, your party member jumps out, and the game resumes normal. The first page is the trigger event.
1.

Remember to keep "Same as Characters", thats very important, when I was putting this system together it didn't respond when I had it below, but same as characters works fine.
2.

This is basically the minecart at the end of the tracks, same as character is requires, but text is optional.

You'll be glad to know that this concludes the 5 step tutorial.

Implementation
This is rather easy, simply copy the events into your games minecart course from my demo, you've probably had quite a fiddle around and therefore know how to do that, if you are confused you can read the 5 step guide.

Tutorial Demo
This demo has more features than I covered, you'll learn how to make cool stuff, I'm sure.

So without further Obstructions, here's the Demo: Mine Cart Madness [VX]

Special Thanks
First off, I would like to give Gen567 credit and thanks for the original idea that I sculpted the base project from, and the ideas for additional features. It is actually really fun working with this stuff.

Second, I would like to give a thank you to Isumi for composing a track of music for the scene my friend used this engine in, tell you what, I was surprised when I got an MP3 through skype called Mine Cart Madness, it was a nice surprise. Isumi's music is played in the title screen. If you want to use it though, make sure to credit Isumi himself, not me.

If there was someone I forgot, please do tell me.

Author's Notes
Overall, I think this was the most fun I've had making a tutorial demo, and hopefully it can see some expansions in the future.

You may also support it if you see fit.

CODE

[url="http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=48661"][img]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk297/BizarreMonkey/MineCartMadness.png[/img][/url]

This post has been edited by Bizarre Monkey: Aug 11 2011, 10:57 PM

[amerk]

Wow, quite a bit of reading, but very nicely detailed to make it easy enough to follow. I'm beginning work on RRR exclusive game myself, using their staff sprites, but I'm always looking for interesting ideas to spice it up, so I may have to consider this.

[Bizarre Monkey]

Thanks mate, good to have your feedback again. And feel free to use this to spice a project up, thats what I created it for. And remember, it can be themed on far more things than simple minecart escapades, you could make a dodgem cars game with this, the limit is your imagination(And ofcourse the limits of rpg maker VX).

[kingsofrpg]

Not bad, perhaps this could've been posted in the eventing sub-forum, looks complex enough

[Bizarre Monkey]

Not bad,

Thanks. :)

perhaps this could've been posted in the eventing sub-forum, looks complex enough

I already considered that, but people generally don't visit that subforum, at all. I had that happen with another of my tutorials, the Paintbrush system, once it was in there I actually forgot about it until I started making my own userbars to put in my sig.

If a mod or admin wants to put it there, that is fine, but I would seriously like for more people to see this than those up in the last 13 hours. I'm sorry if this comes across as cocky, but I really thought this was a good idea, especially since the last time I've seen a minecart mini-game in an rpg maker VX game was... well, I haven't played that many, a good 8 or so, none of which had a minecart mini-game in it. The only one I've even heard of having one is the one I made this system demo for.

And it's not actually very complex at all. You don't even have to deal with variables. It's even easier if you just boot up the demo and copy pasta the events, then modify them to your games setting and files.

I wouldn't have included the instructions for doing it from scratch if they weren't required. It just means a lengthier post and makes it look more complicated than it is.

[fmstwre]

hahaha! Sweet man! I've been looking around for games like these. This will definetely be used in my game :3

[Bizarre Monkey]

Glad I could be of assistance, mate. Just be careful, this system is a little touchy, and will frustrate the hell out of you if you don't do it right. It's like trying to overcome a learning curve like a cliff face... with spikes. Treat it well though and it will work like a little angel.

I can tell you a few barely reasonable but absolute issues. Placing Mine Cart Exit events on a rail with no floor underneath it, will cause it to not activate on touch. The Track being below characters isn't enough, we have to have a passable tile from A5 there as well. I have no idea why this happens, but it does. I've tested it and seen it myself.

The above error also occurs for the monster teleporters in the third map challenge, thus why they are suspended on a piece of rock from TileA5 with rails over it.

So yeah, Touchy, but when oiled right it will amaze you.

[kingsofrpg]

All of my tutorials are in the eventing section =P Except one, but it wasn't a complex event system

[Bizarre Monkey]

All of my tutorials are in the eventing section =P Except one, but it wasn't a complex event system

I don't mind if yours are, actually, after this has been in the publics eyes for 48 hours I would be okay with letting it going into the eventing subforum, I'd just rather it didn't.

This post has been edited by Bizarre Monkey: Aug 12 2011, 03:40 AM

[VirusBuster]

whoa cool! i've been trying to make one for ages, but always ended in fail. gotta try the demo~

[Bizarre Monkey]

Have fun, buddy. I did my best to make it easy to use and easily customizable. So it shouldn't be too difficult to copy it over to your project.

[dragonmark]

Really cool mini-game, thanks for posting it!

Also:

Spoiler:

[Bizarre Monkey]

Really cool mini-game, thanks for posting it!

Thanks, glad you like it.

Also:

Spoiler:

You see what I did there?

Spoiler:

This post has been edited by Bizarre Monkey: Nov 18 2011, 08:16 AM

[dreo]

Hey man that was an awesome game you made, but I hope you don't mind that I edited a wee bit. If you want to see it let me know.

[ShinGamix]

Mine cart mingames are some of the best.
Is there any way to use the NeoMode7+ to make a mode7 one?

[Bizarre Monkey]

Hey man that was an awesome game you made, but I hope you don't mind that I edited a wee bit. If you want to see it let me know.

No worries mate, its main purpose is to be expanded upon, a small mention in credits is all I ask.

Mine cart mingames are some of the best.
Is there any way to use the NeoMode7+ to make a mode7 one?

I'm not sure, I didn't know there was another attempt at mode7.

I love that 3d looking horizon shiz.

I'll find it and see if it can be a thing.

Good to have some replies too.

Warms my soul. :3

[dreo]

Here is my version.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zxncapwnmsetpc9

[Bizarre Monkey]

Downloading now.

@ShinGamix: Couldn't find NeoMode7+ on the boards, so do you mind sending me a link for it? If the question was if it could work with mode 7, the answer is yes, but with much trepidation, it would be quite fiddly, I can do it, but I'll wait for a Translated version of VX Ace before I don my Tutor's hat again. I'm having a hiatus from Dev until the 15th.

[dreo]

Hope you have fun with it.

[Bizarre Monkey]

I've run out of time for today, I'll get back to you tomorrow on this.

I got past level 2, but it looks like you didn't adjust the transfers to the correct map ID. Fixed it but I need sleep now.

I'll look into this more in 14 hours from now. (10 hours sleep, 3 hours for a MC server I attend, and 1 hour to have breakfast, brush teeth, and whatever other crap I have to take care of.

Shitt is so hellaciously busy with christmas and all, but I will get back to this.

(Lol at censoring shitt with one 't' with coal. xD)

This post has been edited by Bizarre Monkey: Dec 13 2011, 07:20 AM