RPG Maker MV Question: Animated Sex Scene with options?

[HydrogenHuman]

Hello everyone! I'm a complete newbie to game programming and I wanted to start off with RPG Maker MV to make an adult game.

I haven't been able to find an answer to this question, and I'm sure it's not that difficult to accomplish once I get pointed in the right direction.

I want to have animated sex sequences in the game that give the player the option to speed up or slow down a particular sex act. Very similar to most adult flash games like Meet N Fuck.

For example, lets say Krystal encounters Starfox in RPG Maker, and then he says, "Want to have some fun?" and it transitions to an animated sequence of Krystal giving Starfox a blowjob.

The initial animation will simply show Krystal looking at Starfox's dick, and the player will have the "Suck" option to select. After the player selects "Suck" Krystal begins the blowjob.

Then the player will have the option to go "Faster" or "Slower" as they choose, until they have the "Cum" option.

So basically the menu commands switch between the different animations of a faster or slower blowjob, with the variable of starfox reaching climax.

I know Flash games have implemented this function many times, but is it possible to do something similar in RPG Maker? I've seen RPG Maker games like Urban xlife accomplish something similar to this, but I have no idea how it works.

If anyone knows how this is accomplished I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you.

[x3Darkie]

That example is oddly specific. Are you by any chance planning to make a game with Krystal in it? Also, are you an artist? How experienced are you with RPG Maker?

I see two ways of achieving this. One, by animating the scene outside of RPG Maker and rendering it and turning it into a video file before inserting it into RPG Maker. And two, draw each scene and frame individually and animate it in RPG Maker using a series of show picture commands, variables and if you're feeling fancy, some use of script calls. I have no idea how wootch did this in Urban X Life, you'll have to decrypt his game and reverse engineer it if you absolutely need to know. I can tell you how to achieve the effect you want using the second way, but I have no idea how to do it in the first way since I've never done that before.

This is really not much different from actual programming, but with the second way, you'll first need to draw each individual frames and depending on how many frames there is in each scene, this would take a lot of work and get complicated real quick. But for the sake of this "tutorial," let's say we have 4 frames in each scene. Now when the scene starts, use show picture commands, wait and set variable with each frame. So it'll look something like this:

Loop start
Show pic (Scene1_1)
Set variable 1
wait 12 frames
Show pic (Scene1_2)
Set variable 2
wait 12 frames
Show pic (Scene1_3)
Set variable 3
wait 12 frames
Show pic (Scene1_4)
Set variable 4
wait 12 frames
Show pic (Scene1_3)
Set variable 3
wait 12 frames
Show pic (Scene1_2)
Set variable 2
wait 12 frames
Repeat from loop start

What this does is with each frame, it sets a variable to let the game know which frame it's currently on while the wait command determines how fast the animation runs, and it keeps looping to create an animation. When you want to make the animation transition to the next stage "seamlessly." Make it so when the player clicks faster, it waits for the game to fall into one of the variables before entering the next set of pictures. So it'll be something like this:

Choices select: Faster
if Variable is 2: else (keep playing original animation)
then
Loop start
Show pic (Scene2_1)
Set variable 1
wait 8 frames
Show pic (Scene2_2)
Set variable 2
...... (and on and on)

That's basically the gist of it. Depending on how experienced you are with RPG Maker, you can troubleshoot, optimize, tweak and/or change this system to suit your needs. If you need to see an example of the result, I did something similar to this effect with my custom evented main menu. Links to my blog is in my sig. It's the video on the latest post I made.

[HydrogenHuman]

First off, thank you so much for providing a detailed answer to my question. It really helps point me in the right direction!

I am not an artist, I am commissioning two artists, one for static work, the other for animation, and I'm very new to RPG Maker. Right now I'm compiling the various concepts of the game, like the animating loops, and getting a sense of how they work so I know what goals to strive for.

I gave the example of Krystal and Starfox just because I figured people here would be familiar with the characters. In the game I'm creating all the characters will be original and designed with the help of the artist I commissioned.

I'm wondering if the first method could be done in a similar way to the 2nd method you described, since a video is essentially frames put together. The artists I am commissioning are not familiar with RPG Maker, so I'm essentially learning the best way for them to format the artwork and animation for me to import into the game.

However, I think the 2nd method might be possible. The artists could draw each frame in photoshop for example, and then, after properly formatting the image type, give me each frame of each scene. Then I could import it into RPG Maker and follow the steps of the method you provided to create the animating loop, correct?

That sounds like that's how wootch did his animations, since he stated he made the game with RPG Maker VX Ace and FlashMX. He probably drew the frames and played them back in FlashMX to make sure it would loop properly, then took the individual frames and put them in each scene.

The artist I'm working with is familiar with drawing programs like photoshop, so hopefully what I said above would be possible.

Great job on the custom menu! I'm trying to create a simple menu that shows "Relationship" statuses of the different characters towards the protagonist, but that's another topic for another time.

Thanks again! If you think what I explained could work that will be very exciting for me to hear. I don't mind putting in the hard work, since I knew from the beginning it would be challenging.

[x3Darkie]

The second method is certainly possible, and I'm planning something similar to animate my main menu's background. One advantage I could see using the first method is that it could potentially go up to 60fps for a really smooth animation without lagging the engine by drawing 60 individual pictures per second. But doing it with the first method means you're gonna have a hard time syncing the frames and variables to create that seamless transition effect you want. MV has this feature (and I'm inclined to call it a problem instead) where it's optimized for mobiles instead of PCs. It loads the game assets on the fly instead of caching it so if your video file starts playing half a second later than it's supposed to, it'll mess up the variable counts. And since the loading varies from each system, it's damn near impossible to ensure it loads perfectly at the right time for everyone.

[HydrogenHuman]

The second method is certainly possible, and I'm planning something similar to animate my main menu's background. One advantage I could see using the first method is that it could potentially go up to 60fps for a really smooth animation without lagging the engine by drawing 60 individual pictures per second. But doing it with the first method means you're gonna have a hard time syncing the frames and variables to create that seamless transition effect you want. MV has this feature (and I'm inclined to call it a problem instead) where it's optimized for mobiles instead of PCs. It loads the game assets on the fly instead of caching it so if your video file starts playing half a second later than it's supposed to, it'll mess up the variable counts. And since the loading varies from each system, it's damn near impossible to ensure it loads perfectly at the right time for everyone.

Ah interesting, I didn't know the MV engine was optimized for mobile.

I'm looking to have smooth animations similar to the attachment below (NSFW, hidden by spoiler). It even shows the different options like I want. But if the engine will lag like crazy from it that won't be good. Is RPG Maker VX Ace more forgiving, or does it have the same problem?

I think the animation example is 38 frames over maybe 1.5 to 2 seconds, so that's around I think 15-20 fps? I could be wrong since I'm not an animation expert.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(NSFW) Example of animation for RPG Maker MV Game

Looping animation example.gif (1.63 MiB) Viewed 4025 times

[x3Darkie]

snip

I would assume MV runs better than its counterparts since it's running on JavaScript instead of Ruby. But I'm not a programmer so what do I know? No, but I can tell you for a fact that MV's engine literally performs faster and better than VX Ace. To what extent however, that would depend on the system in question. For example, a system that can run Skyrim on low-mid would certainly have no problem running the most demanding MV game (in terms of its eventing and scriptings) out there, but a system that couldn't run Half-Life 2 would certainly struggle. So basically what I'm saying is unless you have a particular attachment to VX Ace, there is literally no reason NOT to choose MV over it (okay, except maybe MV is more expensive, but that's besides the point).

I honestly doubt it would lag if you make it 24 fps, but once again, that depends on the system. I use 24 as an example since 24 seems to be a standard in the animation scene. While animation is not my forte, I know that actual animation involves techniques that cut down the work needed to make the animation "seems" to have more frames than it actually does. I'm sure there's someone out here that can elaborate on this.

I also just did a test with 60 show picture commands over the course of 1 second. The result is that it didn't lag and looked incredibly smooth. That's coming from a system that runs Skyrim on max with mods, though I'm pretty certain if your system can at least run Half-Life 2, you wouldn't have a problem with 60fps show picture commands. And those options showing up on screen like that? It's completely achievable without external scripts or plugins, but it would certainly make your life easier if you do. MV also has mouse support too! Which is nice, I guess. You could allow player to use their mouse to click on the buttons. But I don't really use it. Why do I sound like I'm trying to sell you MV? I swear to god that's not my intention.

EDIT: I know I contradicted my previous statement implying that MV can't run the second method with 60 fps, but that's not really what I meant. I meant that the first method with the video files could potentially perform faster, but the problem where it loads on the fly is still there, and you're unlikely to be able to sync the variables and frames perfectly for everyone. Someone seriously need to document MV's performance... Why does such a thing not exist?

[kvier]

I would assume MV runs better than its counterparts since it's running on JavaScript instead of Ruby. But I'm not a programmer so what do I know? No, but I can tell you for a fact that MV's engine literally performs faster and better than VX Ace. To what extent however, that would depend on the system in question.

In my experience, MV is noticeably slower than XP/VX/VXace.

MV is "just" using Chrome's javascript engine, so for purely computational things, it's almost certainly faster than Ruby is in the previous engines, but the graphics compositing seems to be uniquely terribly handled even though it's going through WebGL/web canvas.

I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, but... well, there's a single point, for whatever it's worth.

[x3Darkie]

I would assume MV runs better than its counterparts since it's running on JavaScript instead of Ruby. But I'm not a programmer so what do I know? No, but I can tell you for a fact that MV's engine literally performs faster and better than VX Ace. To what extent however, that would depend on the system in question.

In my experience, MV is noticeably slower than XP/VX/VXace.

MV is "just" using Chrome's javascript engine, so for purely computational things, it's almost certainly faster than Ruby is in the previous engines, but the graphics compositing seems to be uniquely terribly handled even though it's going through WebGL/web canvas.

I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, but... well, there's a single point, for whatever it's worth.

I have no idea what that entails, but I assume it has something to do with MV loading things on the fly instead of caching them. I had to do some eventing wizardry in my game to ensure some of the pictures to load seamlessly instead of just popping into existence. (If you need to know, I basically just used the show picture command a couple frames beforehand in 0% opacity before actually fading them in, effectively caching them.)

But as far as I can gather, MV seems to be able to run a LOT of events on a single screen/map without lag while VX/Ace would tank if there's a same amount of events running. I forget where I've seen that video running that stress test before, so I may have to fish around a bit. I'll get back to you guys with that video should I somehow come across it again, but for now, take it with a grain of salt.

[HydrogenHuman]

I honestly doubt it would lag if you make it 24 fps, but once again, that depends on the system. I use 24 as an example since 24 seems to be a standard in the animation scene. While animation is not my forte, I know that actual animation involves techniques that cut down the work needed to make the animation "seems" to have more frames than it actually does. I'm sure there's someone out here that can elaborate on this.

I also just did a test with 60 show picture commands over the course of 1 second. The result is that it didn't lag and looked incredibly smooth. That's coming from a system that runs Skyrim on max with mods, though I'm pretty certain if your system can at least run Half-Life 2, you wouldn't have a problem with 60fps show picture commands. And those options showing up on screen like that? It's completely achievable without external scripts or plugins, but it would certainly make your life easier if you do. MV also has mouse support too!
Someone seriously need to document MV's performance... Why does such a thing not exist?

Sorry for the late reply, my e-mail didn't notify me I received replies to the topic.

That's great to hear that you did some successful testing with MV! I think you are right that MV is superior in terms of its performance, and I think Javascript makes it more versatile, imo.

[HydrogenHuman]

I have no idea what that entails, but I assume it has something to do with MV loading things on the fly instead of caching them. I had to do some eventing wizardry in my game to ensure some of the pictures to load seamlessly instead of just popping into existence. (If you need to know, I basically just used the show picture command a couple frames beforehand in 0% opacity before actually fading them in, effectively caching them.)

Interesting! And good piece of advice for having smoother transitions into images/scenes.