Looking at its source code, I’d say there’s a very good chance it’s fully compatible outside of battle.
Make sure to load SceneCustomMenu after Live Menu and Pause, so that custom tiled backgrounds won’t be hidden behind the live backdrop.
It seems to require a base plugin that I don’t readily have, though, so I can’t actually test this right now.
Inside battles, unfortunately it resets its SceneManager._callCustomMenuFromBattle flag in a way that will glitch out when the battle is used as live background. This is likely patchable on my end, so please let me know if you’d like to open custom menus during battle.
(There could still be other glitches related to not blocking the battle processing in the right place. I’d have to properly test the plugins together to figure that out.)
Alternatively, I could easily add an option to not use a live background if a Scene_Battle is encountered on the scene stack.
For me, using Live Menu and Pause together with Triacontane's SceneCustomMenu would be perfect and it'd fit almost everything I need for planned games I had for RPG Maker in future.
I considered to change the engine due to issues regarding the battle's scene and menus.
Knowing you plugin makes me think going back to RMMZ.
I gave it a try and didn’t notice any glaring issues as-is: The battlers seem to appear correctly behind the menu and the battle didn’t proceed until the menu was closed. The battle also didn’t restart, as far as I could tell.
The battler sprites flicker for one frame when entering or exiting the menu. I think this is a general issue with Scene_Battle, as I can see it even without Live Menu enabled when exiting the custom menu (if I slow down the frame rate to make it more noticeable).
I’ll see if I can make the Scene_Battle load the current battler sprites once right when it starts, which in theory should fix this in general. That could cause a slight (likely unnoticeable) delay when entering battle otherwise, though, so I’ll make it optional.
You should otherwise be able to use the plugins together without issue already, but do let me know if you notice anything else!
Not unless someone buys me the plugin (as it’s paid), but even then I can’t guarantee it. It depends on whether I can reliably check for its custom scene (if it uses one) and somewhat on how that plugin is implemented.
I assume the current issue is that the 3D scene doesn’t become ‘live’ as menu background? If it’s an actual crash, then I might be able to fix that problem from the error message and stack trace alone.
I'm having trouble with the screen updating, like sprites not moving... though I am using MOG_Weather_EX a weather/efffect plugin and that's moving in the scene when paused but yeah. I can send you money to buy it it's like $25.
You could gift it to me here on itch.io (“Give this Plugin as a gift” checkbox), that’s easier in terms of fees. (Just as disclaimer: This is a special case where I won’t charge any commission fee for establishing compatibility with a paid plugin, since I’m quite interested in supporting this for my plugins myself.)
Just make sure the plugin isn’t obfuscated or such first, please! Wouldn’t want you to spend that for nothing.
I should be able to check whether it’s possible within a day or two, and I suspect I can finish this, if it is reasonably possible, within two or three weeks.
Hello! I am thinking of purchasing this plugin, but I need some clarification on how it works first. With this plugin, will I be able to open the default menu in the middle of battle? I want to allow players the option to open the menu at the beginning of battle to swap out skills and equipment and then have the battle resume when the menu is closed. However, I still want the game to pause when opening the menu normally in the map. Does your plugin allow this? Thanks!
This plugin can only cause the menu to run the map or battle scene in the background, and provides an optional alternative pause function to make up for that. In the case of battle scenes, any plugin that allows opening another scene in battle must also make the battle scene resumable (which isn’t trivial, so it’s rarely done. Battle Core VisuStella MZ has this feature I believe, but it’s implemented in a way that causes bad glitches when combined with my plugin here. I’d hook it to provide better support for the combination, but can’t do so due to the obfuscation there).
The most compatible way to implement this would be to add the necessary Window_s and logic directly to the Scene_Battle, but I’m not aware of any plugins that do this.
Yeah then I'm completely stuck. I'm trying to have a way to be able to change each party member's equipped skills and equipment optionally at the beginning of battle so you don't get soft locked on an encounter you can't win. (my game has a retry feature when you lose and a custom evented game over sequence)
I tried simply saving the troop ID, aborting the battle, opening the menu, and then restarting the battle using the stored troop ID but that did absolutely nothing and just caused the battle to carry on without switching on the battle music. I have no idea how to get this to work. I already have auto save enabled so maybe having this whole complex battle intro and game over sequences custom evented isn't worth it? I really wanted to have a disturbing game over sequence but that wouldn't work if you're seeing game overs all the time since they would be needed to reopen the game and change your equipment and skills.
I put this on my plugin idea pile (more like a skill that allows gear swaps while using up a round), but it would probably take quite a while for me to get around to that. Your players can quickly restart the game by pressing F5, if that helps.
I don’t think (un)equipping skills is a vanilla feature. Which plugin are you using for that?
You likely won’t find a compatible solution by any other developer then.
Their obfuscation hides the API of their original features, which means nobody else can interface with them with reasonable effort. Your best chance is to ask VisuStella about adding this feature directly or as another plugin.
(This is also why I don’t guarantee compatibility with them for any of my plugins.)
I suggest you trying this plugin with the Triacontane's SceneCustomMenu, which requires the PluginCommonBase, usually found on \RPG Maker MZ\dlc\BasicResources\plugins\official (often as "pluginbasefunctions.js").
I briefly tested one of my menus that shows who is equipping what, and it apparently worked.
Alternatively, you can try generating a variable with the desired value according the troop ID, making a preview with of the battle emulating a battle scene, then using the plugin you have for changing skills. It can goes with plugin that alters battle transition, or let you use these effects outside the battle (when loading the pictures emulating it, maybe).
Also, try a confirming dialogue after the menu is closed. "Do you wanna fight or keep changing the skills?" So you call the battle instead of auto-running it. Idk.
Absolutely amazing plugin. I'm using the MMORPG plugin by Rodrigo Malizia, and by putting this plugin at the bottom of the list, it enables players to be in menus and still be able to participate in combat without missing the fight, it just pulls them out of the menu. Great job!
I’ll have a look, assuming that is a freely accessible plugin.
Edit:
I see what the issue is. Setting up the live background reloads the map data, which causes it to temporarily become null. SRD_AltMenuScreen_KH in particular assumes that $dataMap is always available when the menu is open, which isn’t unreasonable. Hm…
There is a way to cleanly avoid the reload in theory. It’s more complicated, but it will also greatly improve how well this plugin works with forcing the menu open during battle. I’ll have to rewrite how part of the plugin works, but I’ll try to get it done soon-ish.
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Do you know if this plugin is compatible with Triacontane's SceneCustomMenu?
Thanks.
Looking at its source code, I’d say there’s a very good chance it’s fully compatible outside of battle.
Make sure to load SceneCustomMenu after Live Menu and Pause, so that custom tiled backgrounds won’t be hidden behind the live backdrop.
It seems to require a base plugin that I don’t readily have, though, so I can’t actually test this right now.
Inside battles, unfortunately it resets its
SceneManager._callCustomMenuFromBattleflag in a way that will glitch out when the battle is used as live background. This is likely patchable on my end, so please let me know if you’d like to open custom menus during battle.(There could still be other glitches related to not blocking the battle processing in the right place. I’d have to properly test the plugins together to figure that out.)
Alternatively, I could easily add an option to not use a live background if a
Scene_Battleis encountered on the scene stack.For me, using Live Menu and Pause together with Triacontane's SceneCustomMenu would be perfect and it'd fit almost everything I need for planned games I had for RPG Maker in future.
I considered to change the engine due to issues regarding the battle's scene and menus.
Knowing you plugin makes me think going back to RMMZ.
If you point me to the base plugin required by SceneCustomMenu, I’ll do some testing to see how well I can make them work together in battle.
It's the PluginCommonBase, which might be on \RPG Maker MZ\dlc\BasicResources\plugins\official (more on this thread MZ - PluginCommonBase? | RPG Maker Forums)
Let me know if you can't find it.
Found it, thanks! (I am embarrassingly unfamiliar with the included DLC 🫥)
I’ll start looking into it, but it’s likely going to take a few days before I report back.
I gave it a try and didn’t notice any glaring issues as-is: The battlers seem to appear correctly behind the menu and the battle didn’t proceed until the menu was closed. The battle also didn’t restart, as far as I could tell.
The battler sprites flicker for one frame when entering or exiting the menu. I think this is a general issue with
Scene_Battle, as I can see it even without Live Menu enabled when exiting the custom menu (if I slow down the frame rate to make it more noticeable).I’ll see if I can make the
Scene_Battleload the current battler sprites once right when it starts, which in theory should fix this in general. That could cause a slight (likely unnoticeable) delay when entering battle otherwise, though, so I’ll make it optional.You should otherwise be able to use the plugins together without issue already, but do let me know if you notice anything else!
Can you add Compatibility for MV3D?
Not unless someone buys me the plugin (as it’s paid), but even then I can’t guarantee it. It depends on whether I can reliably check for its custom scene (if it uses one) and somewhat on how that plugin is implemented.
I assume the current issue is that the 3D scene doesn’t become ‘live’ as menu background? If it’s an actual crash, then I might be able to fix that problem from the error message and stack trace alone.
I'm having trouble with the screen updating, like sprites not moving... though I am using MOG_Weather_EX a weather/efffect plugin and that's moving in the scene when paused but yeah. I can send you money to buy it it's like $25.
You could gift it to me here on itch.io (“Give this Plugin as a gift” checkbox), that’s easier in terms of fees. (Just as disclaimer: This is a special case where I won’t charge any commission fee for establishing compatibility with a paid plugin, since I’m quite interested in supporting this for my plugins myself.)
Just make sure the plugin isn’t obfuscated or such first, please! Wouldn’t want you to spend that for nothing.
You can find private contact details on my support contact page or join my Discord if that’s convenient and DM me there.
I should be able to check whether it’s possible within a day or two, and I suspect I can finish this, if it is reasonably possible, within two or three weeks.
Done. (This turned out to be a small and unexpectedly easy patch.)
Hello! I am thinking of purchasing this plugin, but I need some clarification on how it works first. With this plugin, will I be able to open the default menu in the middle of battle? I want to allow players the option to open the menu at the beginning of battle to swap out skills and equipment and then have the battle resume when the menu is closed. However, I still want the game to pause when opening the menu normally in the map. Does your plugin allow this? Thanks!
No, that’s not related to this plugin’s function.
This plugin can only cause the menu to run the map or battle scene in the background, and provides an optional alternative pause function to make up for that. In the case of battle scenes, any plugin that allows opening another scene in battle must also make the battle scene resumable (which isn’t trivial, so it’s rarely done. Battle Core VisuStella MZ has this feature I believe, but it’s implemented in a way that causes bad glitches when combined with my plugin here. I’d hook it to provide better support for the combination, but can’t do so due to the obfuscation there).
The most compatible way to implement this would be to add the necessary
Window_s and logic directly to theScene_Battle, but I’m not aware of any plugins that do this.Yeah then I'm completely stuck. I'm trying to have a way to be able to change each party member's equipped skills and equipment optionally at the beginning of battle so you don't get soft locked on an encounter you can't win. (my game has a retry feature when you lose and a custom evented game over sequence)
I tried simply saving the troop ID, aborting the battle, opening the menu, and then restarting the battle using the stored troop ID but that did absolutely nothing and just caused the battle to carry on without switching on the battle music. I have no idea how to get this to work. I already have auto save enabled so maybe having this whole complex battle intro and game over sequences custom evented isn't worth it? I really wanted to have a disturbing game over sequence but that wouldn't work if you're seeing game overs all the time since they would be needed to reopen the game and change your equipment and skills.
I put this on my plugin idea pile (more like a skill that allows gear swaps while using up a round), but it would probably take quite a while for me to get around to that. Your players can quickly restart the game by pressing F5, if that helps.
I don’t think (un)equipping skills is a vanilla feature. Which plugin are you using for that?
Visustella. Most of my plugins are visustella.
You likely won’t find a compatible solution by any other developer then.
Their obfuscation hides the API of their original features, which means nobody else can interface with them with reasonable effort. Your best chance is to ask VisuStella about adding this feature directly or as another plugin.
(This is also why I don’t guarantee compatibility with them for any of my plugins.)
I suggest you trying this plugin with the Triacontane's SceneCustomMenu, which requires the PluginCommonBase, usually found on \RPG Maker MZ\dlc\BasicResources\plugins\official (often as "pluginbasefunctions.js").
You can make a menu that changes skills and equips mainly using the RPG MAKER MV / MZ Script Calls - Google Sheets as reference. It's boring, but not hard.
I briefly tested one of my menus that shows who is equipping what, and it apparently worked.
Alternatively, you can try generating a variable with the desired value according the troop ID, making a preview with of the battle emulating a battle scene, then using the plugin you have for changing skills. It can goes with plugin that alters battle transition, or let you use these effects outside the battle (when loading the pictures emulating it, maybe).
Also, try a confirming dialogue after the menu is closed. "Do you wanna fight or keep changing the skills?" So you call the battle instead of auto-running it. Idk.
Absolutely amazing plugin. I'm using the MMORPG plugin by Rodrigo Malizia, and by putting this plugin at the bottom of the list, it enables players to be in menus and still be able to participate in combat without missing the fight, it just pulls them out of the menu. Great job!
Thank you! 😁
That’s not a use of this plugin I had expected, but I suppose making them as robust and unobtrusive as possible is working out well.
Haha I wasn't sure it'd work either, but I googled and this was exactly what I was looking for and decided to take a gamble. It 100% paid off!
Can you add Compatibility for Plugins that change the menu theme, Like SRD_ AltMenuScreen_KH? - Thanks :p
For the menu on the pause screen?
I’ll have a look, assuming that is a freely accessible plugin.
Edit:
I see what the issue is. Setting up the live background reloads the map data, which causes it to temporarily become
null. SRD_AltMenuScreen_KH in particular assumes that$dataMapis always available when the menu is open, which isn’t unreasonable. Hm…There is a way to cleanly avoid the reload in theory. It’s more complicated, but it will also greatly improve how well this plugin works with forcing the menu open during battle. I’ll have to rewrite how part of the plugin works, but I’ll try to get it done soon-ish.
The update is now live!
The ‘clean’ approach I had in mind wasn’t as clean as expected, so instead I prevented only the map data reload.
The only noticeable effect should be improved compatibility, but the menu should also open unnoticeably faster now in general.