Map Enhancer Plugin Guide

mapEnhancerGuide.md

Map Enhancer Plugin Guide

Map Enhancer is a plugin for RPG Maker MZ and MV that allows you to launch an additional map editor within the game. This editor enables you to add visual decorations to your maps, manage passability, and organize objects into groups with visibility conditions.

Features:

1. Add and Edit Map Objects: Place visual objects on the map and customize them.
2. Passability Grid Management: Define impassable areas (collisions) on the map.
3. Groups: Organize objects into groups and set visibility conditions for these groups.

How to Launch the Editor:

The editor works only in game test mode on the map scene.

• Press F10 to open the editor.
• Press ESC to hide the editor.

Closing the game window or any of the editor windows will close all editor-related windows simultaneously.

Editor Layout:

• The main window is your RPG Maker game screen.
• The left window is the object selection window, where you can pick objects for placement.
• The bottom window provides hotkey tooltips. These tooltips change based on the mode or if an object is selected for placement.

Note: If a key is shown in [], you need to hold it down.

• Each mode have own hotkeys for editing objects or groups. For example, in Object Mode, you can hold R + rotate scroll wheel to rotate an object.

Example of Help Window in Object Mode when an object is selected:

Editor Modes:

• Object Mode (1): Add or edit objects on the map.
• Collision Mode (2): Set and manage the map’s passability grid (collision zones).

• Group Mode (3): Add visibility conditions for objects groups.

Press 1, 2, or 3 to switch between modes. The editor layout will change according to the selected mode.

Basic Controls:

• In the editor window, select a folder to view a list of objects for placement on the map.

• Left-click to place the selected object on the map.
• Right-click to cancel the placement.
• Mouse wheel allows you to cycle through objects (next/previous).
• Before placing an object, you can use hotkeys to edit its properties (see the hotkeys in the bottom window for specific commands).
• To delete an already placed object, double right-click on it.

Plugin Settings:

You can configure the following in the plugin parameters:

• Size of the editor windows and the help window.
• The language of the help tooltips.
• The hotkey to launch the editor (default: F10).

Customizing Editor Appearance:

You can modify the appearance of the editor windows by editing the .json files located in: data\PKD_MapEnhancer\ (all files starting with NUI_).

Files:

• CollisionsDatabase.json: Stores data on map collisions.
• LayersDatabase.json: Contains information about groups.
• MapObjectsDatabase.json: Holds data on placed objects.

These files are automatically generated by the program while using the editor. Do not edit them manually.

Adding Your Own Objects:

To add custom objects, create a folder inside img\PKD_MapEnhancer\Assets and place your .png assets in it.

Tip: Avoid placing more than 50 files in a single folder, as this can slow down folder loading in the editor.

Adding Animations:

To define an object as an animated asset, its file name must follow this format: Name!FramesCount.png

For example: AnimationTest!3.png

• FramesCount: Number of animation frames.
• Animation speed you can change inside Editor.

Adding Conditions for Groups:

Currently, only script conditions are supported for group visibility.

Example Conditions:

• To check a variable's value, use:

  $gameVariables.value(X) == Y

• To check a switch’s state:

  $gameSwitches.value(X) == true

• You can also use logical operators like AND (&&) and OR (||).

For example:

$gameVariable(10) > 10 && $gameVariable(10) < 20

Note: In editor mode, all groups are visible, even if their visibility condition is false.

Known Issues in Version 1.0:

• Long loading times when there are many images in a folder (MZ).
• Poor camera scroll performance using the mouse.
• No transparency settings for objects.