Introduction

This plugin lets you generate new images for characters inside the game by using a custom scene or plugin commands. It’s like the RPG Maker MZ character generator, but inside the game! You can create new images for walk sprites, face images, and battle sprites. Everything the player creates is saved into the save file.

Features

• Adds a character generator scene!
• Create multiple generators for different races, sex, classes etc.!
• Create new Face, Walk, and Battler images!
• Works with any character size!
• Support multiple character frames with Eli Character Frames!
• Customize the scene by changing window positions and size!
• Change the Hue color of the pieces!
• Organize your character pieces in nested folders!
• Stores created characters on the save file.
• Can restore original images from the characters.
• Can also create characters by just using plugin commands instead of using the custom scene!
• Works with Players, followers, and events!
• Works on mobile!

Compatibility

Eli Diagonal Sprites

To use diagonal walk sprites, place Eli Diagonal Characters above this plugin. In the Generator List, turn on the Diagonal Character parameter. The Generated Filename used by Open Generator or Create Character must follow the filename tag rules from Eli Diagonal Characters, because the generated filename becomes the runtime character filename.

Eli Character Frames

Put Character Frames somewhere above this plugin. To make them work, you need to reference the Custom Frame Name created on the Character Frames plugin, inside a Generator List parameter “Character Frame Name”.

How to use

Folder and Files

The first thing you need to do is to create a folder under the img folder, named “generator”, without quotes and in lowercase.

Inside that generator folder, you will place all the generator pieces you want to use.

You need to create sub-folders for your pieces. Let’s say you have on your generator: Clothes, Glasses, Hair, and Cloak. You will need a folder for each of them.

There is no limit to sub-folders or piece files. 

The pieces will be shown on the piece select window according to the alphabetical order of the filenames inside a folder. Because of that I strongly advise you to name your piece files in a pattern like this one:

• Body_000.png
• Body_001.png
• Body_002.png

Each piece type can be linked to another piece type. Let’s say, for example, you can have two types of pieces for hair:

Front Hair and Back Hair.

For the plugin to recognize they are linked to each other, they need to have the same filename(case-sensitive). Therefore, they will need to be in different folders. Example:

• img/generator/male/frontHair/Hair_001.png
• img/generator/male/backHair/Hair_001.png

So in the example above, both Hair_001.png files are different images. But when one of them is drawn, the other one will also be automatically drawn. Because they are linked.

So, when you have linked pieces, it is always advisable that you only set visible one of the linked pieces. And that will be the one shown on the Piece Category Window.

Characters

The characters created can be applied to the following subjects: Events, Players, and Followers.

The player and Follower are essentially actors. So, if your generator has Face and Battler pieces, they will be able to use it. But for events, even if your generator has all the pieces, they will only use Walk pieces.

Each subject can have multiple characters but only use one at a time. You can use plugin commands to change the subject's characters and even apply that same character to other subjects.

Scene

• The top window is the Main Command Window, which will point you to what you want to do on the scene.
• The left window is the Category Window, which lets you select the type of piece you want to draw.
• The big window in the middle is the Piece Select Window where you can select the image files to draw.
• Below that window is the preview window, which will show all that you have drawn.
• The one on the right is the Hue window, where you can change the hue color of the selected piece.

The navigation on the scene works like any other on the default RPG Maker. There is a confirm and cancel button.

If you want to change the hue of a piece or clear a piece, just press the cancel button until you reach the Main Command Window to select an action.

Plugin Parameters

Build Generator File

When Build Generator File is true during playtest, the plugin scans img/generator and writes the file: data/CharacterGenerator/generatorList.json 

During regular gameplay, deployed projects, and mobile builds, the plugin reads this JSON file instead of scanning the folders directly. After adding, removing, or renaming generator piece files, run a playtest with Build Generator File set to true once, then include data/CharacterGenerator/generatorList.json in the deployed project.

This is necessary to speed up the process of creating the generators and also to work on mobile. But it adds an additional code for it to work.

So, set this option to true every time you create new generators on the plugin parameter. While playtesting, if you do not want to add any new generators, you can set this to false.

Either way, it only works on playtest.

Command Window

This is the main command window where you can select what you are going to do on the scene: Create the character, clear a piece, apply Hue, and finish the scene.

• Width → The width of the command window. Can use formulas.
• Max Cols → The maximum amount of columns the window will have.
• Visible Rows → The maximum amount of visible rows the window will have. This also decides the height of the window.
• Commands → Set up the commands the window will have.
  • Name → That name will show on the window.
  • Symbol → Decides what will be the function of this command.
• Position → Set a position for the window.
  • Align X → Set the window X position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset X → An additional value to the Align X position.
  • Align Y→ Set the window Y position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset Y → An additional value to the Align Y position.

Command Symbols

• Category → Is the one used to activate the piece category window.
• Hue → Is the one used to activate the hue window.
• Clear → The one used to clear/erase the currently selected piece and his sub-pieces.
• Random → Will draw all the generator pieces randomly.
• Finish → Saves the current piece setup using the Generated Filename, applies it to the selected subject, and closes the generator scene.

Piece Category Window

The window will list all the piece categories you created on the plugin parameters. Like Ears, Glasses, Body, etc.

• Width → The width of the command window. Can use formulas.
• Max Cols → The maximum amount of columns the window will have.
• Visible Rows → The maximum amount of visible rows the window will have. This also decides the height of the window.
• Position → Set a position for the window.
  • Align X → Set the window X position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset X → An additional value to the Align X position.
  • Align Y→ Set the window Y position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset Y → An additional value to the Align Y position.

Hue Window

It works similarly to the default Number Input window. However, the value set will be applied to the currently selected piece.

The value will range from 0 to 360.

• Title → Optionally, you can set a text to be shown on the window. If you don’t want to, just leave it blank.
• Auto Update → If true, when changing the HUE value, it will be set automatically into the pieces. Otherwise, after changing the value, you need to press OK to apply it.
• Position → Set a position for the window.
  • Align X → Set the window X position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset X → An additional value to the Align X position.
  • Align Y→ Set the window Y position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset Y → An additional value to the Align Y position.

Piece Select Window

There are 3 windows like that on the plugin to show the piece files of each type of image: Face, Walk, and Battler.

• Max Cols → The maximum amount of columns the window will have.
• Visible Rows → The maximum amount of visible rows the window will have. This also decides the height of the window.
• Position → Set a position for the window.
  • Align X → Set the window X position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset X → An additional value to the Align X position.
  • Align Y→ Set the window Y position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset Y → An additional value to the Align Y position.
• General Commands → These Are commands that do not draw pieces but have a different function. They will be shown on the window itself.
  • Command List → A list of the general commands you want to show on this window.
  • Command Index → If the general commands will be shown before or after the pieces.

Command Symbols

• Clear → Clear/erase the currently selected piece and his sub-pieces.
• Random → Will draw randomly the pieces of the active Piece Select Window.

Piece Preview Window

There are also 3 windows like that on the plugin to represent the Face, Walk, and Battler characters. Their function is to show the preview of the character that is being made.

• Position → Set a position for the window.
  • Align X → Set the window X position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset X → An additional value to the Align X position.
  • Align Y→ Set the window Y position aligned to the screen.
  • Offset Y → An additional value to the Align Y position.
• Row Order → Almost the same as above, but instead is horizontally oriented. Separate each order with a comma. If you do not want to change, set 0.

Walk Preview Window

Row Order

The walk preview window has a different logic to set up the Row Order parameter. On the other preview windows, the row order is just the row order:

• 0 = First row
• 1 = Second row
• 2 = Third row
• 3 = Fourth row

But, on the Walk Preview, the row order is created according to the character direction numbers. As so, the logic is like below:

• 2 = First row (Down direction)
• 4 = Second row (Left direction)
• 6 = Third row (Right direction)
• 8 = Fourth row (Up direction)

So, if you are using Diagonal Sprites, the following logic also applies:

• 1 = First row (Left+Down direction)
• 3 = Second row (Right+Down direction)
• 7 = Third row (Left+Up direction)
• 9 = Fourth row (Right+Up direction)

Meaning, if you want this preview window to cycle between all directions, you should set the row order like this:

• 2,1,4,7,8,9,6,3

If a Generator List does not have the Diagonal Character parameter set to true, it will automatically remove the diagonal directions from the row order.

Generator List

Here you can create as many generators as you want to be used on the scene. Meaning, you can create different types of generators, with different pieces. Letting you choose what you want to use. Examples: Human Male Generator, Human Female Generator, Beast Generator, etc.

• Generator Id → The unique ID for this generator. Do not use numbers alone.
• Diagonal Character → If true, it will enable diagonal character features. Need Eli Diagonal Characters.
• Command Order → You have four types of command order rules to choose from. They will decide how the pieces will be listed on the category window.
  • Default(Layer) → This will show the pieces according to their layer position.
  • Alphabetically → Will list the pieces alphabetically.
  • Piece Type → Will list the pieces according to the piece type order.
  • Alphabetically and Piece Type → Will do both.
• Piece Type Order → You need to use any Piece Type on the command order. This will decide the piece type order.

Face / Walk / Battler

Each type of sprite has the parameters below:

• Frame Order → You may want to animate some images on the preview window, like the Walk and Battle characters. You can think of that as a step animation for the Walk character. But you will decide the order in which they will change. Separate each order with a comma. If you do not want to change, set 0. The Face sprite does not have a frame order.
• Piece / Frame Size → This is the size your game uses for this kind of image. For example, by default, RPG Maker has a size of 144x144 for the face images.
• Random and Clear Command Image → The images to be used on the general commands for this type of sprite.

Piece Files

There are three types of pieces: Face, Walk, and Battler. Inside these parameters, you will start inserting the pieces you want to use for this generator. The order you insert them will be the layer order that will be drawn. From the lowest layer to the highest layer.

• Command Name → The name used to reference the pieces on the category window.
• Visible → If true, the category window will show this piece on his command list. Set to false when this piece is a sub-part/complement of another piece.
• Frame Index to draw → This will determine what frame of the piece image will be drawn on the Piece Select Window. For example, in a Walk sprite, you have it in several directions. By choosing the frame, you will be able to decide what frame will represent the piece file on the window. By default is 0, 0(Horizontal and vertical frame), always separate them by a comma.
• Piece Folder → The plugin will get the image files inside this folder path under img/generator. Use one folder path for each Piece Folder field. Nested paths are supported, such as male/frontHair. Do not place more than one separate folder in the same field.
• Default Piece Index → Must be visible to work. This will decide what piece file image will be drawn by default when the scene starts. If you set it to -1, it will draw nothing and the preview window will appear empty.
• Allow Random All → If true, this visible piece can be changed by the Random command on the Main Command Window. If false, Random All skips this piece and keeps its current selection.
• Random Hue → If true, when using either the Random All or the In-line random command, it will also change the hue randomly.

Plugin Command

Some plugin arguments supports the Multiple operators

Open Generator

This plugin command is the one used to open the generator scene.

Subject Id

This will choose the subject you will apply the newly created character on the scene. It only accepts one subject. The accepted subject IDs are:

• 0 → Current event
• 1 or higher → Map event ID
• -1 → Player
• -2 → First follower
• -3 → Second follower
• -4 and below → Next followers

Generated Filename

Think of this as the created character filename or id. This will be used as a key to get the current created data to apply to the subjects. Must be unique, otherwise, will overwrite other created characters.Generated filenames are stored in lowercase. Blank spaces are removed when a character is created through Open Generator or Create Character. Do not use "Original" as a generated filename, because Original is reserved by Change Character to restore the subject's original graphics.

If you are using Eli Character Frames or Eli Diagonal Characters, place the required filename tags in this Generated Filename according to those plugins' filename rules.

Custom Character Frames

If your generator has custom character frame settings, you need to create a filename following the rules of the "How to use" from the Character Frame help file. 

Diagonal Characters

Same as above, but you need to follow the Diagonal Character rules for filenames.

Generator 

Here you can type either the index of the created generator on the plugin parameters or their ID(not case-sensitive).

Draw Character Pieces

This argument only works when the selected subject already has a generated character created with the same generator. If true, the scene starts with that generated character already drawn. If false, or if the subject does not have a compatible generated character yet, the scene starts from the generator default pieces.

Change Character

Generated Filename

The created character ID / Filename. If none exists, it will do nothing.

By default it is set as “Original” which will restore the subjects' original filenames, meaning their original graphics files.

Subject Id

This will choose the subjects you will apply the selected character on the scene. Accept multiple subjects. A subject can be:

• Events → Starting always with ID 1. If the current map does not have the event ID, the scene will not open. You can also use ID 0 to use the current event as a subject.
• Player → Id -1
• Followers → Use ID -2 for the first follower. ID -3 for the second follower. And so on.

Create Free Character

This plugin command creates or modifies a generated character without opening the generator scene and without using a Generator List entry. Instead of selecting a generator and visible piece indexes, you directly choose the image layers that will compose each image type:

• Face Pieces
• Walk Pieces
• Battler Pieces

Each list is drawn independently. The first entry in the list is drawn behind the next entries. The last entry is drawn on top.

It  stores the selected Face, Walk, and Battler layer lists as one generated character. When the game needs to draw that generated character, the plugin loads each layer image, applies its hue, and draws the layers in the order they appear in the array.

The command does not use the same pattern of the Scene Generator:

• Generator Id
• Generator List pieces
• Default pieces
• Visible Piece Index
• Piece Category Window order
• Linked sub-pieces
• Random piece rules

Because of that, this command is more direct and more flexible, but it does not automatically add matching Face, Walk, or Battler pieces when another type is selected.

Difference between Create Free Character and the generator scene

The generator scene uses a Generator List entry. It follows the configured piece categories, default pieces, layer indexes, linked sub-pieces, random rules, preview windows, and hue editing inside the scene.

Create Free Character does not open the scene and does not depend on a Generator List entry. It only uses the image files manually selected in the command.

Subject Id

The subject that will receive the generated character. This command accepts one subject.

• 0 → Current event
• 1 or higher → Map event ID
• -1 → Player
• -2 → First follower
• -3 → Second follower
• -4 and below → Next followers

Generated Filename

The generated character ID / filename.

If this ID already exists, this command replaces its image layer setup with the new one. The generated character can later be applied again with the Change Character command.

Do not use Original as a generated filename, because Original is reserved by Change Character to restore the subject's previous graphics.

Face Pieces

The image layers used to create the face image. Each entry has:

• Piece File → The image file to draw. The Piece File field points to an image under img/generator.
• Hue → The hue value applied to this layer, from 0 to 360.

Face images are used by actors. This means they apply to the player and followers. Events do not use face images.

Walk Pieces

The image layers used to create the walking character sprite. Walk images are used by players, followers, and events.

Battler Pieces

The image layers used to create the side-view battler image. Battler images are used by actors. This means they apply to the player and followers. Events do not use battler images.

Help File | Terms of use | Sample Project

Version 1.0.0

Version 1.2.0